Death Sutra

Long Fanyun worked with Old Man Mu for the first time, so he was nervous .

Long Fanyun did not know much about Old Man Mu, but these days he had heard many rumors about him from people of Norland . He considered Old Man Mu as a devil, and his hatred and fear towards the old man increased . However, Long Fanyun was curious about Old Man Mu .

Now, Old Man Mu did not look like a bad guy . Instead, he seemed to be a poor old man who had not experienced many happy things . Long Fanyun could hardly connect this old man to that merciless Ferocious Old Devil .

Long Fanyun looked at Old Man Mu .

"What are you looking at?" Old Man Mu stared at Long Fanyun as he asked . He pretended to be an amiable man to please Dragon King and Shangguan Ru . However, facing swordsman from the Great Snowmountain, he exposed his bad temper . He continued, "Do you have a crush on me? You already have girlish Shangguan Fei to entertain you . "

All of a sudden, Long Fanyun became flushed . He reached for his long-saber, but he did not draw it . Until now he had not realized that he had not brought a weapon . He exclaimed, "I want to challenge you to a duel now!"

Long Fanyun could not stand this shame . He had a wife in the Great Snowmountain, so he could not tolerate being accused as a gay . Otherwise, he would have no face to return to his hometown .

Old Man Mu raised his head and looked at the furious swordsman . Suddenly he burst into laughter, his sinister smile hidden in his wrinkles . He replied, "Do not get angry . I"m just kidding . Everyone knows that only applies to Shangguan Fei . He is not good enough for . . .  I know Lord Long is straight and not interested in men . "

Long Fanyun"s anger subsided . He understood he was no match to this old man . But if this old man continued to provoke him, he would fight even he would be defeated .

Old Man Mu continued, "I finally understand why Dragon King chose you to pretend to be Cavalry Hang . You two not only look alike, but also have a similar temper . Listen to me . When we reach the encampment, you"d better pick out a soldier inside and fight him . I promise that no one dares suspect you . "

At this time, just after the second shift, the night was thick, and there was a man lying in the gra.s.s . Long Fanyun had stripped the man"s coat and put it on himself . The cavalry in Norland seldom wore undergarments . The man was not dead, only knocked out by Old Man Mu .

Old Man Mu was right . When Long Fanyun wore his coat, he looked like Hang Cavalry .

Long Fanyun got on the horse and opened a leather sack . He told Old Man Mu, "Hide in here . "

"Old Mu took a deep breath . For years, he had to hide in his leather bag as long as he acted during the day . But the only advantage of his loss of power was that he was no longer afraid of the light and that the leather bag was no longer a suitable shelter . He took a deep breath and murmured to himself, "I used to sleep with your woman, today I will steal your horse . I used to sleep with your woman, today I will steal your horse . . . "

Old Man Mu entered the leather sack . He looked around through the peephole, but he saw nothing . Therefore, he leaned backward to make himself more comfortable . "It"s not bad . Instead, I feel a sense of safety as if I were on my way home," he thought .

Old Man Mu did not have a home . The home he referred to was where he had learned kung fu from his master . His skillful master, envious fellow male apprentices and master"s beautiful wife stayed there . In fact, he did not remember the appearance of his master"s wife . But when he thought of her, Han Wuxian, the Master of Xiaoyue Hall, would enter his mind and then he would immediately drive those thoughts out .

Old Man Mu thought a lot in the leather sack . Long Fanyun was not as composed as Old Man Mu . The task Dragon King had a.s.signed to him was difficult and dangerous . He did not fear being killed during the task; however, he was afraid of failure: in which case he would be scoffed by his companions, and Dragon King"s plan would be ruined .

Dragon King wanted to teach King Rizhu a lesson .

Long Fanyun had heard that King Rizhu had cursed Dragon King, so he had supported Dragon King"s revenge . But when Fang Wenshi had heard Dragon King"s plan, he was stunned and tried to stop him . He said, "Please do not act on impulse . We have not reached their royal court yet . We can not offend King Rizhu . We"re here to negotiate instead of . . . "

Dragon King had taken him aside and whispered to him . Fang Wenshi reluctantly changed his mind and no longer opposed stealing the horse .

There were two reasons why Long Fanyun worshipped Dragon King who was several years younger than him . For one thing, Dragon King was skilled in martial arts . For another, although he showed no mercy to his enemy, he seldom forced his subordinates to follow his orders; instead, he could always find a proper reason to persuade others, which Long Fanyun admired most . "Dragon King and I rarely speak or laugh, but Dragon King could be eloquent if necessary, while I can not .

Compared to Dragon King, Shangguan Fei is just a talkative joker," Long Fanyun mused .

Long Fanyun spat towards the ground at the thought of Shangguan Fei . "Why did I think of Shangguan Fei? It"s a huge disgrace to Dragon King to compare Shangguan Fei to him," he thought .

Dragon King"s plan was simple . Old Man Mu made was in charge of knocking people out, while Long Fanyun stole the horse . Long Fanyun had a similar temperament to cavalry from Norland . Besides, he knew horses so he could tame Flame Foal .

The defenses at the Naihang Tribe encampment were loose . Compared with the men there, the horse would be more difficult to handle . According to his observation, this horse could wake up dozens of soldiers including King Rizhu with a single neigh . Therefore, this task mainly depended upon Long Fanyun .

Old Man Mu could easily knock out soldiers . Even if he was in danger, he could quickly run away . As for Long Fanyun, Old Man Mu would not help him . After all, Dragon King had not asked him to keep Long Fanyun safe .

When they were approaching the Naihang Tribe encampment, Old Man Mu reminded Long Fanyun, "Hurry! Rush in!"

"What?"

"Rush in, idiot . Are you waiting to be questioned? I just said you looked like people from Norland . Have you forgotten their style?"

Long Fanyun understood what Old Man Mu meant . He galloped up to the encampment and shouted around, acting like a drunk .

Several guards rushed out to the gate of the encampment . They questioned Long Fanyun in the local tongue, but Long Fanyun ignored them . Instead, he rode faster and broke into the encampment, nearly hitting the guards .

He entered the encampment . The guards cursed him angrily, but no one chased after him .

King Rizhu had his reason to have such a loose defense . No one dared provoke him in Norland . Although he ranked last among ten lords, even King Dari, who ranked first, needed to pay some respect to him .

He thought himself a sensible man . "I pretended to be on a hunt . I intend to meet Dragon King before the other lords do . I will not meet danger during the hunting or the meeting . Therefore, I do not need my men to be on patrol day and night . The war is coming, and I will have my opportunity to strike . "

Long Fanyun and Old Man Mu would come later . For the cavalry in Norland, midnight was the best time for them to drink . The whole encampment was holding a feast . Soldiers with wine bowls and meat on their hands rode around aimlessly . They saddled their horses even if they only needed to enter the tent next to theirs .

Soon Long Fanyun blended in with the crowd . He often got a big bowl of liquor, which was strong and hot . When he drank it, he felt like his throat and stomach were on fire . Particular drinkers might dislike it, but Long Fanyun enjoyed it .

After he finished ten bowls of liquor, Long Fanyun had the same thoughts as people born in Norland . "A man should drink . It"s a pity that Dragon King does not drink," he thought .

Long Fanyun managed to approach the tent of King Rizhu in a roundabout route . However, he could not find an opportunity to steal the horse .

Lights inside King Rizhu"s tent were on . At least thirty men stayed inside . They drank and sang without order . Sometimes they spoke their local language, and sometimes they spoke Central Plains Chinese .

Flame Foal was chained up in front of the tent . Under the light, it looked b.l.o.o.d.y red . The horse ate fine cereals, receiving attention from the crowd . The horse raised its head and gave a neigh now and then . Every time it would neigh, it would win praises from the crowd .

King Rizhu was in good mood . He raised his bowl of liquor and cried in Central Plains Chinese, "It"s a pity that Flame Foal is not a man . Otherwise, I would pa.s.s my t.i.tle to it . Look at it . It looks like a king . Except for Khan, who deserves to be a king better than it? The king of the Central Plain is not even qualified to feed it . "

"Exactly . As for that boy toy who claimed himself as Dragon King, it is his honor to catch a glimpse of Flame Foal . He dared . . . " someone followed .

King Rizhu downed a bowl of liquor and threw the bowl out of the tent . The bowl did not hit Flame Foal, but it almost hit Long Fanyun, who was pretending to have lost his way .

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d . He dared make terms with me . I guarantee that he will kneel on the ground to beg my forgiveness at dawn tomorrow . Do not treat him nicely . If I do not teach him a lesson, he will mistake Norland for a small kingdom in the Western Region . "

They freely cursed and insulted Dragon King when they drank . Everyone took pleasure in abusing Dragon King loudly . They used all swear-words they could think of .

Long Fanyun was irritated by their words, so he intended to ride forward . At this time, Old Man Mu"s voice reached his ear, "What are you going to do? Do you intend to commit suicide? Let me get out of the leather sack first . "

Long Fanyun was reminded by the old man"s words . "Even if I died here, I could not hurt King Rizhu The best retaliation is to steal his favorite horse," he pondered . However, he could not stay here to hear them curse Dragon King, so he said to Old Man Mu, "I will ride around, and then come back here later . "

"You are a fool . We can not wait to steal the horse until they go to sleep . I will cause chaos, and you can take this chance to steal the horse . I will meet you outside the encampment," Old Man Mu suggested .

"King Rizhu hates you so much . Once you were discovered . . . "

"Haha . What do you think turns me from a tall, strong man into a short man? Although I am a good kung fu master, I have a handsome look that even the king"s concubine did not want to miss me . That"s why I altered my appearance . . . "

Old Man Mu did not stop bragging . Long Fanyun opened the leather sack and let Old Man Mu jump out .

Old Man Mu instantly disappeared into the darkness, leaving Long Fanyun waiting alone anxiously . He had no idea how Old Man Mu was going to attract the attention of King Rizhu .

Soon he knew .

The disturbance took place far away from the encampment . But soon an increasing number of Norland cavalry called their buddies and rushed to where the disturbance had broken out . When they arrived, they joined in the fights .

The sounds of fights overwhelmed everything, and it soon reached King Rizhu"s tent .

"What the h.e.l.l is happening?"

A soldier rode to them and said with a red face, "Fights! They are fighting against each other . I do not know who started it . "

King Rizhu said, his eyes sparkling with anger, "A group of little s.h.i.ts dared fight in my encampment . Let"s go . I will kick their a.s.s . "

Everyone followed King Rizhu, except Flame Foal .

Long Fanyun had already gotten down . He lay on the ground and pretended to be asleep; no one paid attention to him .

As soon as King Rizhu and his men left, Long Fanyun immediately got up . He took out a black cloth from the leather sack, tied it to his belt and walked up to Flame Foal . Instead of taking the action hastily, he stretched out his left hand to stroke the horse, and then grasped a handful of grain with his right hand to feed Flame Foal .

After that, he opened his black cloth and tied it on Flame Foal . It did not resist .

King Rizhu called a group of people to appreciate the horse daily, so it had lost its vigilance to humans .

Long Fanyun was still angry when he was about to ride Flame Foal . He walked into the tent of King Rizhu and urinated into two jars of liquor .

King Rizhu thought it was a perfect day . That group scuffle erased the displeasure Dragon King had brought to him in the day .

"Did you see how I kicked that kid"s a.s.s? He knelt on the ground, crying for his mother . Who dared look down upon me for my age? Even after ten years, I can defeat kids around twenty!"

King Rizhu poured a bowl of liquor for himself and took a swallow of wine . It tasted odd . When he raised his head, he saw his subordinates gazing at the empty plot where Flame Foal had been chained up . He turned around, and found his favorite Flame Foal disappeared . When they had returned to the tent, they were too excited to notice the horse was gone .

Long Fanyun awaited Old Man Mu at the rendezvous . He saw the cavalry of Norland rushing out of the gate madly towards Dragon King"s encampment .

Long Fanyun had no idea how Dragon King was going to handle King Rizhu who had lost his mind . He was not good at schemes, but he believed that Dragon King could handle it properly .