Chapter 295: Delicacy and Force
Chapter 295: Delicacy and Force
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Wildhorse used a fake brow ridge to change his looks. Under the shadow of the bulging brow ridge, his widely-separated eyes were not very evident on his face. However, Gu Shenwei still recognized him at first sight by his regal gesture and the way he gripped his saber hilt.
Gu Shenwei and Wildhorse had been enemies for years. Even a pair of intimate friends could not know each other better than they did each other.
They had duelled for three times. The first time, they had been cut off in midstream, and the second time, Gu Shenwei had suffered a total defeat. As for the third time, if Shangguan Ru had not deliberately let Wildhorse go, he would have been killed in the wilderness a long time ago.
Now, Wildhorse returned to Jade City, but Gu Shenwei did not intend to challenge the killer into another duel. He was in Wildhorse's territory now and did not want to expose himself when he was uncertain about the current situation. He swiftly left the peach forest while thinking, " Wildhorse will soon realize that I'm hiding somewhere around him. So, let him search around here."
After discovering that it was Wildhorse who had been impersonating the Dragon King, Gu Shenwei understood many things that had happened recently but he still could not figure out what Wildhorse and the Joy Pavilion wanted by doing so. It seemed to him that this would do no good to them at all. He knew that he still needed to find out more evidence to support his reasoning.
The first person he went to visit after leaving the peach forest was Mr. Hong in Blacksmith Village.
Mr. Hong was greatly surprised that the Dragon King came to see him again after such a short interval, but he still answered all of his questions truthfully.
"Does the Stop Kills Society know the existence of the Tianshan Sect?" asked Gu Shenwei.
"No, the Stop Kills Society is just a group of con men. They're good at deceiving others instead of intelligence gathering," replied Mr. Hong.
"You've been deceived by them."
"What? What do you mean? Dragon King."
As Gu Shenwei did not have much time to explain everything to Mr. Hong, he just continued to ask, "You've told me that there was a traitor in the Tianshan Sect. Where did he take refuge in the end? "
Mr. Hong seemed a little unwillingly to answer this question in the beginning, but after a moment's hesitation, he decided to be honest with the Dragon King. "To be frank, we don't know much about it except that it wasn't the Golden Roc Fort. Someone spotted him in the north after he escaped from the city. That's all we know about him. We've found out that most people who have been killed in Blacksmith Village recently were our sect members, and that all the dead members' names were known to the traitor. Given this, we reckon that the whole thing must have something to do with him."
During the whole conversation, Mr. Hong cautiously avoided mentioning this traitor's name.
"Keep a close watch on the Joy Pavilion and the Stop Kills Society. They're your enemies. I'll come back to you very soon."
With these words, Gu Shenwei quickly left Mr. Hong's place. The elderly man felt bewildered and wanted to ask further, but the Dragon King did not give him such a chance.
He had to solve many problems during the night and could not afford to waste any more time in Blacksmith Village.
After leaving the village, he went to Pleasure Alley to visit Xiao Fengchai.
Xiao Fengchai had not received many guests recently, as she had to run a bigger business and did not have enough energy to entertain the clients in her brothel.
However, tonight, a "guest" suddenly turned up uninvited.
Deep in the night, when the Dragon King broke into Xiao Fengchai's bedroom, she wore only a next-to-skin garment but she did not grab any other clothes to cover up her curvaceous body. "You just don't like to walk through the door, do you? Tell me, Dragon King, which window do you like best? I'll leave it open for you in the future," she smiled up at him and said.
"No, don't bother. I prefer to take a different route every time I come here," replied Gu Shenwei.
"Well, I welcome you at any time," Xiao Fengcha said with her arms open.
"I have a question for you."
"We're business partners, Dragon King. We should be honest with each other. You can ask me anything."
"That night, I heard Meng Mingshu say that if I died, your plan would be ruined. Can you tell me what this 'plan' is?"
"Why do you ask me this question? You know the answer, don't you? The Second Young Master Meng told you that he wanted you to help him take over the Meng Family's business in Shu-lik," Xiao Fengchai said while looking at the Dragon King with big, serious eyes and appearing to be very surprised and even a little discontent.
"Just as I expected, Xiao Fengchai is not as candid as Mr. Hong," thought Gu Shenwei, as he drew his saber and approached her. "You know, the Dragon King kills people regardless of age and gender," said Gu Shenwei.
Xiao Fengchai smiled slightly. She had seen many different men and believed that the Dragon King was just another guy. She pulled her collar down a little to reveal a part of her white chest and let the tip of his saber touch it. "You know, men can do whatever they want at my place," said Xiao Fengchai.
She never knew that the Dragon King was not just another guy but a man who had solidified his hatred in his heart and would never let it go.
He looked into her eyes and slowly pushed his saber forward. They were very different from each other. One was as hard as nails, while the other was flexible like water. Both of them were confident and refused to back down.
Soon enough, the tip of his saber pierced through her skin, and she quickly gave up the battle before blood oozing from the wound.
"Alright, alright, you won." She felt somewhat offended, and her face was peach red. No matter how old she actually was, she behaved like an embarrassed little girl at this moment.
When Gu Shenwei withdrew his saber, Xiao Fengchai lowered her head to look at her chest and saw a red spot on it. She felt irritated and immediately pulled her collar up. After that, she picked up a robe and wrapped it tightly around herself. For the first time in her life, she had felt frustrated. "You must be dead inside or deeply in love with some woman."
"You'd better hire some real kung fu masters to protect you," Gu Shenwei said coldly to change the subject, as he knew that this woman would never easily admit defeat and once she spotted a chance, she would strike back.
"It's not easy to find real kung fu masters, especially for me. I'm only a weak woman and know nothing about kung fu. How can I tell who has superb kung fu," said Xiao Fengchai.
"Go on." He prompted her to continue, knowing that what she was going to say must have something to do with the plan of the Second Young Master Meng.
"Well, upon seeing that you, the Dragon King, become a kung fu master at such a young age, everybody is envious and... curious. The Second Young Master Meng heard that you took a manual from Immortal Peng. It's said that once a person masters the kung fu skills recorded in the manual, he or she will become a Peerless Ace."
"Does Meng Mingshu also want to become a Peerless Ace?" Gu Shenwei asked sarcastically, while wondering, "How come those rich guys in the Meng family suddenly become interested in kung fu?"
"No, he doesn't. He knows his limitations. He just wants to give that manual to his father as a present. Tell you a secret, Meng Yuzun knows kung fu and his kung fu is quite good, but he forbids his sons to learn it."
As the Dragon King had already known that Meng Yuzun was a kung fu master, he was not very surprised by the secret but he was glad that Xiao Fengchai had already begun to tell the truth.
"The Second Young Master Meng said that he wanted me to help him in taking over the business in Shu-lik City. It's a trap, isn't it?"
"No. To be frank, it's my plan." With these words, Xiao Fengchai slightly lifted up her chin, fear and admiration evident on her face, but this did not undermine her grace. "I'm not interested in kung fu. I just want to make more money at that time, but now I see how ridiculous I was. I can make lots of money, but it doesn't mean that I can protect my money. I used to think that Meng Mingshu would be able to protect me, but now I see that he isn't a big shot. I..."
Xiao Fengchai's voice got increasingly soft, and the admiration in her eyes was gradually replaced by a dreamy look. She looked as if she had lost her mind under the influence of some sorcery and was going to collapse there at any minute. At this moment, she was just a physically attractive body, and her apathy and elegance could only further stimulate a man's desire to force himself on her.
Gu Shenwei walked backward step by step, believing that he had already gotten enough evidence to understand and explain the current situation.
The next moment, he left the warm bedroom, embraced the cold winter night and inhaled deeply. The air was cold and refreshing.
"Xiao Fengchai is indeed worthy of her legendary name. Even I couldn't remain unmoved when staying with her. However, my hate is stronger than anything, and it's the source of my powers," he thought, while feeling proud that he could possess and use such a great power.
After the Dragon King's departure, Xiao Fengchai still remained immersed in her romantic fantasy. She floppily lay down in her bed and curled up while gently moaning. Different from the other prostitutes, Xiao Fengchai never deliberately made a gesture or gave a superficial performance. For her, every face she put on revealed a part of her nature, as she believed that she had to deceive herself first to deceive others. Gradually, she drifted into a light sleep, while thinking proudly and confidently that the Dragon King would fall for her feminine charms sooner or later.
.
It was already late at night, and day would break within a few hours. Nevertheless, Gu Shenwei still had several places to go. After a moment of thought, he decided to pay the messenger of Shu-lik a visit first.
The messenger lived in a residence in North City. It was a property owned by Shu-lik and located near to the Governor's Mansion. Among all the places that Gu Shenwei wanted to go tonight, only this place was least guarded. At that time, no one, not even the messenger himself, expected that the Dragon King would ask Shu-lik for help.
When Gu Shenwei arrived at the residence, all the guards there had already left their positions to sleep. He entered the backyard of the residence without much efforts, planning to persuade or even bully Shi Yin into bringing him to the Special Emissary from the Central Plains, but beyond his expectations, he came across an old acquaintance in the yard, who would help him easily achieve his goal.
That person was practicing saber skills in the darkness. After a while, she paused and murmured to herself, "Why does my saber technique improve so slowly?"
"It's because your hatred is not deep-seated enough," said Gu Shenwei.
"Dragon King!" Tie Linglong shouted excitedly. The next minute, she lowered her voice and asked, "Is it really you?"
Gu Shenwei revealed himself to her, and she ran toward him with her arms open cheerfully. When she was about to hug him, she recalled that the Dragon King was cool as ice and disliked such enthusiastic responses and she embarrassedly stopped.
"Why did you come here?" The Dragon King sounded as calmly as always, seemingly nonchalant about reuniting with the little girl.
"You tell me, why did you leave me behind in Shu-lik City? You still think that my saber skills are not good enough and I can't protect you like Little Chu does, don't you?" asked Tie Linglong.
"The Prince is your brother," replied Gu Shenwei.
"I don't want a brother. I want revenge, but he always declines to reveal who killed my family. He knows it, but he just refuses to tell me," Tie Linglong said grumpily.
Gu Shenwei knew who killed her parents, but he did not want to tell her either. "When this little girl grows up, she'll figure the whole thing out and discover that it was her half-brother's mother who had her parents killed," Gu Shenwei thought to himself and then he said, "I killed your grandfather, you can take revenge on me."
"No, that's different. My grandfather was a killer. He killed people and people would kill him. That's the way of doing killer business. However, my parents were common people, and they even did not know any kung fu..."
Tie Linglong could not help sobbing. She quickly lifted up her hand to wipe her tears away as she thought, "I shouldn't cry. The Dragon King used to tell me that a killer had to be cold and unfeeling, but I just couldn't control it. I never expected that the Dragon would suddenly appear in this place. It's his fault. He caught me unprepared."
Upon seeing this, Gu Shenwei sighed in his heart, "Tie Linglong has been practicing the first four chapters of Wayless Qigong all this while. She'll definitely become a kung fu master someday but she can never make a qualified killer. What's the reason for this? Is there anything wrong with my training methods? Or, is she just not endowed with the qualities needed for a killer?"
"So, why did you come here?" asked Gu Shenwei.
"I've come here to look for you," Tie Linglong stopped sobbing and replied smilingly. She was delighted to see the Dragon King suddenly appear in front of her. "I planned to find Little Chu first, but my brother forbade me to..."
"Your brother is here?" Gu Shenwei cut her off and asked astonishingly.
"Yes, he is, but he told me not to tell the others that he's here. Only the black-faced messenger and I know it. It's alright to tell you this, since he wants to meet you here," replied Tie Linglong.
Gu Shenwei had a guilty conscience since he had betrayed Shu-lik. Upon hearing that the prince wanted to meet him, he suddenly felt much relieved. "The prince still seems to trust me. As long as he's the prince of Shu-lik, the country won't treat the Great Snowmountain as an enemy."
"Bring me to meet him," Gu Shenwei said to Tie Linglong.
He had discovered enough facts, but he always bore in mind that "looking for the truth" and "solving the problem" are completely different concepts.
He was faced with lots of problems and had to deal with the Golden Roc Fort, the Governor and Four Truths Temple at the same time. He was well aware that all he needed to do was to offer them enough solid evidence while concealing a part of the truth.