Chapter 239
Chapter 239 Eavesdropping
The moment of weakness after dispersing the internal energy helped Gu Shenwei develop a deeper understanding of the Death Sutra swordsmanship.
This was a blood-stained swordsmanship, which needed incessant killing to improve. The more advanced the swordsmanship, the more vigorous the murderous heart, and vice versa. The two were actually the same thing in a sense; regardless of one’s practice method being the Dao of ‘killing oneself’ he had adhered to or the way of ‘killing others’ Lotus had chosen, the endpoint was the same: To be conquered by the murderous sword and merge with it.
In the face of desire, obedience was victory. Love was a desire, the sword was a desire, and killing was also a desire.
Gu Shenwei used to feel very agitated being dominated by the Death Sutra, but now he couldn’t wait to embrace it.
He had completed the fourth cycle of practicing the Daoless Divine Power and had not yet recovered his internal energy, but after each practice, he could feel a strand of powerful internal Qi quickly circulating in his meridians and disappearing after a few full circulations like a river flowing through a desert.
But he believed he could retain this strand of internal Qi in his dantian soon.
He saw the changes in Lotus and Shangguan Ru. Although the divine power practiced by the latter was wrong, she still made rapid progress. With the powerful internal energy as the foundation, Shangguan Ru could even put the emotionless swordsmanship into good use, which was very impressive. And Gu Shenwei also felt it harder and harder to keep up with her.
Just like watching Servant Yao falling to Qi deviation, Gu Shenwei looked on coldly at Shangguan Ru. Occasionally he could see some signs, such as her feeling stuffy in her chest and believing that it was the hidden trouble instilled by the expert of Waning Moon Hall that hadn’t been removed cleanly.
He would have continued living like this for a long time in the castle, secretly practicing the Daoless Divine Power, watching Shangguan Ru fall into Qi deviation, a.s.sa.s.sinating the Unique King, messing up Golden Roc Castle, slaughtering people, and then going for Wei Song to figure out some facts. He had never imagined that his grand plan would be ruined by a small figure without even completing the first step.
The whole matter started when Luo Ningcha suddenly summoned Servant Huan. Gu Shenwei hadn’t entered the eighth young lord’s courtyard for a month and thought that he no longer had to meddle with her from now on.
The att.i.tude of Luo Ningcha made the killer wary. She seemed to have changed into a different person, suddenly became concerned about Servant Huan who had been ‘possessed by evil,’ and even said many comforting words. Even she herself seemed to
be a little uncomfortable with her change and said some nonsense. “It’s been a month and you’re still not dead, so perhaps you still have a chance to be saved. Why don’t you go find a monk to conduct a religious rite to dispel the evil? I’ll pay for it.”
There were other maids in the room, so Gu Shenwei could only thank the Miss for her kindness, saying that the Mss had shown extreme patience and magnanimity towards the servant and that he felt much better and would recover soon.
After chatting casually for a while, Luo Ningcha found an excuse and sent away all the maidservants. Then she walked out from behind the screen and asked in tone like that of Xu Yanwei, “Do you miss me?”
The truth was ‘no’, but Gu Shenwei instead replied ambiguously, saying, “I don’t dare.”
Luo Ningcha took it as tenderness and flattery. At first, she was only trying to use her charm a little, but now she had lost control of her feelings. She raised her hand and caressed the killer’s face, “You’re better than both the father and son.”
Gu Shenwei suddenly felt disgusted. Without the internal energy and the Death Sutra, he couldn’t control his mood as well as before. He took a step back and avoided the hand of Luo Ningcha. “Miss must have something to tell me?”
Luo Ningcha’s expression immediately changed, swinging her hand walking back behind the screen. Although she didn’t wear a veil now, some of her habits couldn’t be easily changed. “Ungrateful. Servant Huan, do not take yourself too seriously. As long as I speak a word, the King Lord will kill you at any time.”
This was the woman Gu Shenwei was familiar with. “I’m loyal to Miss, and as long as Miss says it, I’ll do it myself without the King Lord’s help.”
Luo Ningcha liked to hear such words, so she kept silent behind the screen for a while before saying, “I do have something to tell you.”
“Whatever you need, Miss.”
“Hmm, your internal energy is gone, but you are still as clever as before. People in the castle all have a counselor or strategist or something, so how about you just offer me advice from now on? Even if you lose your kung fu for the rest of your life, I can still raise you.”
“Does anyone want to do harm to Miss again?”
“Humph, who dares.” Luo Ningcha was full of confidence, her voice revealing her former arrogance. Then her voice got weak and said something that Gu Shenwei didn’t hear at all.
“What did Miss say?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Though Gu Shenwei was well prepared for everything, he hadn’t expected this and his mind buzzed, and his expression
expression also changed. “Whose …”
“Hee, don’t daydream. It’s only been over half a month and has nothing to do with you.”
Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief, which made the Miss upset again. “You really are ungrateful. You behave as if I had spared your life as soon as I said that it had nothing to do with you. Are you such a coward?”
Gu Shenwei understood Luo Ningcha’s intention now, so he ignored her criticism and said, “Miss is letting me advise on covering up the matter?”
“Yes,” Luo Ningcha excitedly cried out. “You are really clever.”
“Does the King Lord know of it?”
“I haven’t told him yet. That old woman Meng loves to kill pregnant women in the castle. I don’t want other people to know too early, but sooner or later they will find out. You have to figure out a way for me in advance, so I know how to deal with them. It will be best like … that Shangguan Hong. Everyone had thought that he was the King Lord’s nephew for over a dozen years, but he turned out to be an illegitimate son. And I want this kind of effect.”
Because of Luo Ningcha’s scream that night, it was no longer a secret that the King Lord had ‘favored’ his daughter-in-law, but even so, the Miss had to do something to save her face. Gu Shenwei thought for a while and said, “There’s no need to wait. Tomorrow Miss could tell other people that the eighth young lord had also come back to escort Big Head G.o.d’s coffin and hadn’t been seen by anyone.
“That will work?” Luo Ningcha wasn’t satisfied with this idea, “The time difference is half a month, and if Shangguan Nu won’t admit it, won’t I be even more humiliated?”
“It doesn’t matter whether the date is right or not. As for the eighth young lord, if I’m right, he will definitely not deny it. Or at least, he won’t deny it in public.”
Luo Ningcha was sort of clever, and once reminded by Servant Huan, she came to understand many things. “You are right. Shangguan Nu hasn’t broken up with the King Lord yet. He’s not afraid of me, but he’s afraid of the King Lord, so … You are really cunning, that little girl Shangguan Ru still wants to get you back, but I will not let you go. You have to offer me more ideas, so let’s beat that old woman Meng and her family together. When the baby in my belly grows up and becomes the Unique King, I will let you … What do you want to be?”
“I will be satisfied as long as I can stay with Miss.”
“Mm, you are better at
better at talking, Servant Huan.”
Luo Ningcha’s voice became tender and sweet again, Gu Shenwei anxiously asked for leave. He quickly retreated out of the room in several steps, not caring whether the Miss agreed or not.
It was just getting dark and there weren’t many people in the backyard. Gu Shenwei took a deep breath and thought that must find a way to untangle Luo Ningcha’s situation. She would cause him trouble sooner or later, not to mention add a child to the Shangguan family, which was tantamount to adding an enemy to the Gu family.
Gu Shenwei was still thinking about it, while out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man hiding behind a pillar. Without internal energy, his eye and ears were not as sharp as before, but he was still vigilant. Although it was only a quick glance, he had guessed the man’s ident.i.ty. “Servant Xin, let’s go.”
Servant Xin walked out from behind the pillar as if he had just seen Servant Huan, his face filled with surprise. “Lord Yang, you came out so soon, I thought I had to stay here a little longer.”
“Hmm, Miss didn’t have much to say. What are you doing here? We are not allowed to enter the backyard casually, you know that.”
“Yes yes, it’s getting a bit cold. I brought Lord Yang a robe, and forgot the rules.”
Servant Xin had really brought a robe. Gu Shenwei let him help put it on, walked several steps and abruptly stopped. “I’m really silly, Miss asked me to carry the incense burner away at the beginning, but then she said something else and I forgot it. Come, let’s go move it together.”
“Miss said so?” Servant Xin asked, his voice filled with surprise. Then he realized the problem of his words and anxiously added, “Lord Yang, to tell you the truth, I’m only a humble servant, and I’m a little… afraid of Miss.”
“It’s all right, Miss is not as the same as before, and you’ll be fine as long as you don’t look up.” As he finished, Gu Shenwei turned and walked back to the Miss’s room.
Servant Xin hesitated for a while at the spot before following behind.
Luo Ningcha had already calmed down, so she was very dissatisfied with the return of Servant Huan and the knock on the door, “What is it? I’m going to bed; go get the maids.”
“Miss, you forgot that I haven’t moved the incense burner yet.”
“What … ?”
Luo Ningcha had just blurted out a word before Servant Huan pushed open the door, followed by a cringing flunky, whose head almost touched the floor. She seemed to realize something and said, “It’s not too late to move it tomorrow.”
center style="margin-top:25px">move it tomorrow.”
“Since I’m here, we can move …” As he talked, Gu Shenwei walked around Servant Xin, closed the door, turned around, and suddenly cut Servant Xin’s neck with his palm.
Gu Shenwei, however, forgot that he had lost his internal energy and that his strength was now only slightly bigger than his peer. Servant Xin took the blow, plopped down to the ground and sc.r.a.ped his forehead, neither dead nor fainted. He rolled to the side and sat up with one hand supporting the ground. Puzzled, he looked at Servant Huan and asked, “Lord Yang, what are you …”
“What did you hear?”
“I heard nothing … No no, I wasn’t even listening … Lord Yang, what do you mean?”
Gu Shenwei had never trusted Servant Xin. After Shen Liang’s visit, he became more aware that Servant Xin was spying on him for Washing Heart Yard, so he refused to be closely served by him. He hadn’t expected that Servant Xin would become more and more daring and even come to eavesdrop on his conversation with the Miss.
Gu Shenwei didn’t have any internal energy, Luo Ningcha didn’t know kung fu, and Lotus and the other killers were guarding the front yard, so no one had found this spy.
“You’re Miss’s servant, so you’d better tell the truth. Miss will forgive you and protect you.”
“I really didn’t …”
“You report to Washing Heart Yard every day. Shen Liang must have offered you a lot of benefits.”
“No no …”
“What do you know about Miss? How much did you tell to Shen Liang? Why is Shen Liang spying on the Miss? Is he dissatisfied with Miss? Or does he wants to plot against the King Lord?”
“I didn’t say anything about Miss.” Shocked and scared, Servant Xin was overwhelmed by the series of questions from Servant Huan. “You are from the Gu family, Sabrelord Shen already knows it. Miss, I really didn’t say anything about you, I …”
Luo Ningcha had been silently standing by with her hands behind her back. All of a sudden, she raised her right hand and smashed down with a jade sculpture paperweight. Servant Xin’s acted surprisingly fast and dodged it. Knowing that he was in a critical situation and that he would die if he acted cowardly, he jumped to his feet and tried to storm out of the room. Once he ran out, he could shout and attract the people of Washing Heart Yard. By that time, he might still have a chance to keep his life.
Gu Shenwei was long aware of this, he took one step forward and blocked the doorway. But he overestimated his strength and was knocked down to the ground by the desperate Servant Xin.