Death Scripture

Gu Shenwei had once been to the Four Noble Truths Temple many years ago, but he now only had a faint impression of it.

Back then, he had merely been a common brown-belt assassin. He had stood in the dark hall and told his experiences to a large group of strangers, and then been asked to leave before he could even remember everybody’s face.

He was comparably more familiar with the thatched hut on the slope outside the temple. The Master, Tiger Monk, used to meditate there.

And now, he had returned to this place as the Dragon King. There were two 10,000-men armies stationed on the east and west sides of Jade, City respectively, and they were all at his command. Naturally, he was received differently this time. Nearly a hundred monks in Buddhist robes were standing in orderly rows at the entrance of the temple. They clasped their hands and saluted their honored guests even when they were still far away.

But the Dragon King was not the only honored guest. There was also the Governor of the Western Regions, Wei Song, the Prince Regent of the Shule Kingdom, and the Unique King, Shangguan Fa, who hadn’t appeared in public for many years.

This was Gu Shenwei’s first official meeting with Shangguan Fa.

In the sunlight, Shangguan Fa didn’t seem as tall as Gu Shenwei remembered, but the look on his face was just as sullen and rigid as always. His eye sockets seemed like a protection cover for his hollow eyes, concealing his sharp and piercing eyes as well as his daunting killing aura.

Shangguan Fa dismounted. His movements were not very smooth and he didn’t seem like a kung fu expert at all. Unlike him, the hundred guards behind him were wearing shiny armor with their heads up and chests thrown out, which made their master seem more ordinary by comparison.

The prince of the Shule Kingdom approached the temple from its west side together with the Dragon King while Shangguan Fa and Wei Song came from the east side. These four people represented four armies, and each of them were followed by a hundred guards. When they drew closer to the front of the temple, they simultaneously dismounted from their horses and walked on foot towards those Buddhist monks at the entrance of the temple.

Wei Song was about ten steps away from Gu Shenwei when he briefly nodded at Gu Shenwei, signaling a deep intimacy that only they themselves could sense while still maintaining a cold look on his face that was even more solemn than that of Shangguan Fa.

When they drew closer to each other, Gu Shenwei was finally able to see those two eyes more clearly. He only glimpsed them briefly, but he still felt great pressure. The influence of that fight in Heaven’s Pass still hadn’t worn off, and Gu Shenwei was not sure whether he still had enough confidence to pull out the Five Peaks Saber.

The head monk of the Four Noble Truths Temple was a monk about forty years old and still looked quite young. Standing among a group of dignified old monks, he was rather obtrusive. Clearly, he was very used to grand occasions. In front of these honored guests, he showed no timidity, and paid respects to each of them. The high-ranking official of the Central Plains, the domineering Dragon King, and the murderous Unique King were all paid the same amount of respect.

Walking into the temple, Gu Shenwei didn’t see Lianqing among these monks. He thought that maybe Lianqing’s status was not high enough.

The head monk walked in front of them, occasionally giving an introduction for the building they were passing by. Every time they arrived at an important hall, he always led these honored guests inside and kowtowed to the Buddha statues in it.

If a common pilgrim had a chance to kowtow before all the Buddha and Bodhisattva statues, they would shed excited tears. But Gu Shenwei paid no attention to those shiny statues, since he was secretly observing Shangguan Fa this entire time.

The Unique King acted like a pious believer. There were several occasions where he knelt down on a prayer mat and completed a standard ceremonial observance. Then, he would pray silently, which made the other three people too embarrassed to stand up first.

After they had kowtowed to all eleven Buddha statues, the head monk became clearly more respectful to the Unique King.

But Gu Shenwei had the opposite feeling. He didn’t know whether it was because of these statues or those spacious halls, but the pressure on him gradually disappeared. Although he wasn’t carrying any weapons, he had regained the confidence to pull out his saber again.

The Unique King was only a human after all. He just had started practicing the Daoless Divine Power a few decades earlier than him.

Following a winding path, they arrived at a simple meditation abode in a side temple. According to the narration of the head monk, several eminent monks had achieved enlightenment and passed away in this room. Gu Shenwei had never heard of any of their Buddhist names before.

Six monks were sitting in this meditation abode in a semicircle. Old or young, they were all chanting, holding prayer beads with their eyes closed. And they didn’t react to the arrival of these guests at all.

The smile on the face of the head monk gradually disappeared. He clasped his hands before his chest and paid his respects to these honored guests for the last time. Then he sat down onto a prayer mat and started chanting alongside those monks.

There were another four prayer mats in front of the seven eminent monks. As the Governor of the Western Regions, Wei Song sat on the mat facing south with his back to the seven monks. Gu Shenwei sat on the one facing east, the Unique King the one west, and the prince of the Shule Kingdom the one north. Gu Shenwei decided that he wouldn’t say a single word unless he had to.

This was indeed not the right occasion for talking. It seemed as if those silent monks were exerted some kind of mysterious restriction on this room, and it seemed more powerful than all the powers and armies in this mortal world combined. In awe, Wei Song said in a deep voice, “First, I’d like to thank the Four Noble Truths Temple for providing us with this meditation abode. These eminent monks are very merciful, and they want to prevent war and massacre. Our presence in this room means that we share the opinion of the monks.”

The seven monks were indifferent to the thankful words of the Governor of the Western Regions. Gu Shenwei and the Unique King also remained silent. Only the prince of the Shule Kingdom politely nodded.

Wei Song paused for a while, as if he was also chanting. When he spoke again, his voice became extremely solemn, though his volume remained the same. “Three days ago, the envoy of the Central Plains, Lord Ma, was assassinated while on a incognito visit in Jade City. After that, all sides made some unwise moves.”

The words “unwise moves” were an understatement of what had happened during the past three days.

Ma Lian and his personal guards had been killed on the border between southern Jade City and northern Jade City, and the assassin had also been killed afterwards. This event had caused a sensation to ripple through Jade City. As the supreme official dispatched to the Western Regions by the Central Plains, Wei Song had immediately ordered the army to advance ten miles closer to Jade City, demanding that Jade City hand over the one behind the assassination.

But Jade City didn’t currently have a lord. Nominally, its governor was Mo Chu, who was a Norlander. However, he had been missing for a long time. Golden Roc Castle was the de facto ruler of the city, but Golden Roc Castle denied responsibility for the assassination and claimed that the Dragon Army and the Waning Moon Hall were the ones responsible.

All the sabersmen of the Heavenly Mountain Sect, who were under the control of the Golden Roc Castle, took action. It turned out that they had never slacked off in their surveillance of Jade City. On the first day alone, more than half of the intelligence network that Xu Xiaoyi had been working so hard to build was destroyed. And he himself had only narrowly escaped. And then it was said that some disciples of the Waning Moon Hall had been beheaded in public.

Since the army of the Central Plains had moved forward, there nothing between the Dragon Army in the south and the Golden Roc Army in the north, and they had thus advanced towards each other, as if they would have a final showdown.

Not only had Gu Shenwei mobilized his army, but he had also sent his killers into southern Jade City to fight with the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and he had gotten assistance from Central Plainsmen. Prince Xiao had put dozens of Central-Plain kung fu experts under the Dragon King’s command. Nominally, they were the guards of King An, but they actually only answered to the Dragon King and Prince Xiao, and even Wei Song had no right to interfere.

Even so, the two sides were not evenly matched. Golden Roc Castle and the Heavenly Mountain Sect had a very solid foundation in Jade City, and they held an advantage in time, terrain, troops number, as well as many other aspects. To break their advantage, the only option that Gu Shenwei had was to dispatch the army of the Shule Kingdom.

Many innocent people had been involved in the conflicts between the two sides. There had been nearly two hundred casualties during the past three days, more than half of whom were unfortunate civilians without any kung fu skills to speak of.

It was at that time that the Kun Society stepped forward. Shangguan Ru was against pointless killing, and she had been acting in unison with all of the organizations in different ways since the beginning of the year. They had written letters to the four armies, hoping that the armies would intervene and stop the assassinations. Although the armies had never replied, those organizations had never stopped petitioning. On Gu Shenwei’s desk, there were at least fifteen letters, the contents of which were exactly the same, and the name “The Four Noble Truths Temple Kun Society” was among the signatures of every one of those letters.

Shangguan Ru had given the Kun Society to the Four Noble Truths Temple. All the members of the Kun Society, both the female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance and the former apprentice killers of the Golden Roc Castle, had sworn oaths before the statue of the Guanyin Bodhisattva that they would never kill anyone unless their lives were threatened.

The Kun Society’s appeal for a ceasefire hadn’t made any difference, and several of its members had been killed in those chaotic fights, which was the very reason why the monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple had intervened.

An eminent Central-Plains monk, who had come here to learn some scriptures, had paid Wei Song a visit and his words worked like a charm. Wei Song had withdrawn the army to its original position and the two armies, which had been eyeing each other with hostility, were isolated again. Wei Song canceled the note concerning the arrest of the mastermind and invited the leaders of the other three armies to a consultation.

Last night, the chaotic battle had come to an end. Both sides made achievements but also suffered losses: the Heavenly Mountain Sect had naturally taken control of Jade City from Golden Roc Castle and become a indisputably powerful force, but not every part of the city was under its control – at a high cost, the killers sent by Gu Shenwei had managed to occupy a large area in southern Jade City and a small area in northern Jade City, which became their foothold in public.

But the biggest beneficiary was the Central Plains. Without losing a single soldier, Wei Song had managed to subtly tell everybody that the Central Plains was the true owner of Jade City.

But in front of the three leaders, Wei Song still appeared indignant. After the usual pleasantries, he began to speak in a severe tone. “The envoys represent the dignity of our emperor, which must not be profaned. But the Lord Envoy was actually assassinated. This issue must be addressed as soon as possible. Otherwise, death will come to not only me but also the whole of Jade City as well as all everybody present in this room.”

The prince of the Shule Kingdom didn’t dare to speak. Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Fa were having a contest of patience. Wei Song continued, “So, three leaders, I want you to be honest with me on this – do you know the identity of the assassin or not?”

The prince of the Shule Kingdom waited for a while and then had no choice but to be the first one to talk. “In the name of all the gods in heaven as well as the ancestor of the royal family of Shule, I swear that I, myself, as well as those with status inferior than mine, from the commonest soldiers to the cheapest servants, have nothing to do with this assassination.”

Shangguan Fa was the second to speak. He spoke at a moderate speed, and there was a distinct arrogance in his tone, which made his attitude seem very different from the one he had shown when he was in front of those Buddha statues. “I didn’t sent anyone to assassinate the envoy of the Central Plains. In fact, Golden Roc Castle didn’t get any benefits from killing him.”

“The Dragon Army didn’t benefit from the assassination of the envoy either.”

Both of them refused to swear. The prince of the Shule Kingdom was somewhat regretful, feeling that he had overreacted.

Wei Song seemed to be very satisfied, and nodded. “l’m relieved to hear the promises of the three leaders, but things are still not over. I’ve sent a dispatch to the Imperial Court and reported the assassination of the envoy. This is my duty. Barring any accidents, the Imperial Court will decide to declare war. To prevent this disaster from happening, we have to find the truth as soon as possible. Capture the mastermind, escort him or her to the Central Plains, and then maybe the emperor’s anger will subside.”

This was a naked threat, but it was a potent one. Nobody wanted the army of the Central Plains to show up, as that would ruin the balance between them.

Wei Song sighed briefly. “I think that we have only three days. Any later, and the imperial edict will be issued and we won’t be able to change it even if we manage to arrest the assassin.”

Neither the Dragon Army nor the Golden Roc Castle had received any benefits from the assassination of Ma Lian. Gu Shenwei was eager to ask Wei Song whether he had been expecting the Central Plains to wage a war against Jade City all along.