Death Scripture

The hall returned to darkness. This time, the situation didn’t become chaotic. Everybody just silently stood where they were, as if they would be attacked as soon as they spoke out.

“Puh.” Someone else lit a torch and audaciously walked towards the center of the hall.

Han Fen walked around Wild Horse and loudly declared, “He’s dead!”

The people picked up the torches on the ground and slowly lit them again. The hall became bright once more. Panic-stricken, the crowd slowly gathered around in several layers of circles, checking the end result of the duel.

Wild Horse was standing with his left foot in front of his right foot, and the sword in his hand was pointing towards the front. His head was slightly tilted up and his eyes, which were far apart, were as blank as usual. However, his face was red, imparting a dignified might to him.

But he had indeed died. Nobody saw any wound or blood on him, but nobody could sense his potent killing aura either.

Gradually, more and more people moved their eyes off of Wild Horse and looked at the Dragon King and Lotus.

The Dragon King had retrieved his Five Peaks Saber. There was another wound in his chest, around which some blood could be distinctly seen. Clearly, Wild Horse’s move had already lost its momentum when he had hit his target.

Gu Shenwei then said, “The Master Commander killed Wild Horse.”

Carrying her sword, Lotus looked around. The injury didn’t seem to have weakened her by even a bit.

The crowd knelt down. Both the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall and the disciples of the Essence Pavilion prostrated themselves. They were in awe of and obedient towards people stronger than them. The Master Commander had just proven that she was the strongest of them all.

Compared to the prostrating crowd, Old Man Mu felt as if he instantly grew taller, and he nodded in satisfaction. “That cunning guy, Shangguan Fei ran away so quickly. Dragon King, I’ve been watching your back this whole time.”

Shangguan Fei and the guard from the Heavenly Mountain Sect were originally at the passageway’s exit, so they had naturally managed to escape first. Meanwhile, Old Man Mu had been at the innermost part of the hall, so there had not been enough time for him to flee even if he had wanted to.

“Clear the bodies,” Lotus ordered. And with that, the disciples carried those bodies and left the hall in an orderly manner. There were still more bodies in the underground maze, which would probably take them quite some time to deal with. A dozen senior disciples stayed behind.

Han Fen circled Wild Horse twice and confusedly asked, “How did the Master Commander kill him? I can’t find any wounds.”

Lotus showed her tiredness again as she said in a low voice, “Ask the Dragon King.” Then she headed for the only chair in the hall. Han Fen hurriedly walked over to support her and then turned her head around and said, “Tell me later, Dragon King.”

Old Man Mu walked forward, gently poked Wild Horse in the leg, and with that, the body immediately fell to the ground. Old Man Mu suddenly fished out a dagger from his front inside pocket, bent over, slit the chest of the body open, and said in surprise, “No blood?”

The dagger was not stained with blood, and neither was there any blood flowing from the wound. Old Man Mu immediately realized that he made a mistake and corrected himself. “This is amazing. Wild Horse’s blood coagulated.”

“The Blood Coagulation Pill!” Those disciples of the Waning Moon Hall who had stayed behind all exclaimed amazedly in unison. Then, they glanced at Lotus at the same time, showing even more of a terrified expression.

Han Fen rushed over, knelt down, stretched out her finger, poked it into Wild Horse’s wound, and then laughed. “Dragon King, tell me how the Master Commander cooked him.”

“It was not because of the Blood Coagulation Pill.” Gu Shenwei first corrected her mistake. “Wild Horse knew that the Master Commander’s internal energy was very powerful, so he kept improving his swordsmanship. When he launched an attack on the Master Commander, the internal energy that he injected into his sword was more than ten times the amount of his actual strength.”

“Ten times?” Old Man Mu couldn’t help interject at this moment. With a wide knowledge of cultivation methods, he knew that it was already very difficult for most kung fu practitioners to activate even their full strength, not to mention double their strength or tenfold. “Is the Death Sutra really that powerful? Wild Horse increased his internal energy by tenfold… My God. Just like what Dragon King said, that was suicide!”

“If it weren’t for the fact that his opponent was the Master Commander, Wild Horse wouldn’t have committed suicide,” Han Fen said immediately, attributing the victory to Lotus.

“Sure, sure,” Old Man Mu agreed repeatedly, but his eyes were fixated on Wild Horse’s body the whole time. Currently, he had less than half of his former strength left, so he naturally envied those who were capable of increasing their internal energy by tenfold.

The Death Sutra itself wouldn’t increase anybody’s internal energy permanently, as it merely multiplied people’s internal energy at the moment that they mobilized it. Old Man Mu knew this. However, this was enough for him, and it would be enough for any kung fu practitioner.

The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall didn’t fully understand, but they had deduced two things so far. First, the Master Commander’s injury was not as serious as they had imagined, and her internal energy was indeed far more powerful than her disciples’. Second, the Dragon King’s warning was reasonable. Anybody who practiced the Waning Moon Swordsmanship would undoubtedly end up dead. Who could resist the temptation of multiplying their internal energy?

“Master Commander’s kung fu is matchless. We’re completely convinced.” Those disciples knelt down again. One of them made this remark and then the others repeated it in unison. For them, these two remarks were the most explicit forms of flattery and admiration.

Lotus’ sword was placed on a table. Watching the torches on the wall, she said, “Deliver this order to every disciple. From now on, anybody who practices the Waning Moon Swordsmanship without prior consent will be put to the sword.”

“Yes,” those disciples answered in horror.

“The Waning Moon Hall is to be rebuilt. Those who make contributions will be rewarded. I’ll impart the detoxification method to the one who contributes the most, which will enable them to bypass the risk of suffering a backlash. Then, they can start practicing the swordsmanship again.”

“Yes.” This time, there was excitement in the voices of those disciples. They had already tasted the power of the swordsmanship. It was indeed very difficult to give up.

“With regards to the true antidote to the Blood Coagulation Pill, everybody will get it after Han Wuxian is captured.”

“We’ll never forget Master Commander’s great kindness.” The look on those disciples’ faces was that of extreme gratefulness when they took their leave. Someone even took a stealthy glimpse at the Dragon King. Han Wuxian was in the Dragon King’s army right now, protected by him.

There were only four people left. Gu Shenwei said to Old Man Mu, “Go outside and tell them what happened here.”

“Um,” Old Man Mu answered but didn’t move. His eyes remained fixed on Wild Horse’s body. After quite a while, he reluctantly walked away. After a few steps, he turned around and said, “I think that Lotus’ idea of imparting the swordsmanship to those who make contributions is pretty good.” Before the Dragon King could reply, Old Man Mu ran out of the hall, clearly knowing that the Dragon King wouldn’t choose him even if one day he did decide to impart the Death Sutra to others.

There were only three people left. Lotus said to Han Fen, “I’ve sent Han Xuan somewhere safe and far away from this troublesome place. You don’t have to worry about her.”

The smile on Han Fen’s face was so big that her eyes seemed like they were about to disappear. “That’s great.”

“Han Fen, you’re the only disciple of the Waning Moon Hall who didn’t learn the Waning Moon Swordsmanship. Do you want to learn it? I can make an exception and teach you right now.”

Anybody else would have felt that the Master Commander was being partial, but Han Fen had never thought this way. She briefly scratched the corner of her forehead and then said with a fearful look, “Learning a new swordsmanship… must be tiring, right? Uh. The Dragon King said that that swordsmanship was potentially dangerous. I think that I should pass.”

Lotus sighed. Han Fen was the only innocent disciple in Waning Moon Hall now. She believed that back then, she had made a very wise decision in saving Han Fen from Han Wuxian’s elimination order. “Do you like staying around the Dragon King?”

“I do. The Dragon King is a nice guy. He sent a kid to play with me, who’s much more interesting than a doll.”

Lotus glimpsed at the Dragon King and then said to Han Fen, “Ask the Dragon King whether he is willing to let you stay with him forever.”

Stunned, Han Fen took two steps back and exclaimed, “Master Commander… wants to evict me?”

“I’m not evicting you. It’s just that you’re not safe here in Waning Moon Hall. You can always come back. Besides… ” Lotus said weakly.

“Besides, the Master Commander needs a trustworthy liaison. More importantly, she needs someone to monitor the Dragon Army’s movements.” Gu Shenwei finished Lotus’ sentence for her. “Come with me. I’m willing to take you in.”

Han Fen smiled more happily at these words. “Oh, I see. Of course I’m the only one who’s suitable for this job. Rest assured, Master Commander. I’ll be an excellent spy. Dragon King, tell your subordinates to keep their secrets somewhere safe.”

“Go outside and guard the entrance. Don’t let anybody come in without my permission,” Lotus ordered.

Han Fen twirled her way out of the hall as she hummed a weird tune.

There were now only two people and a corpse left.

After a long silence, Lotus said, “Everybody must be thinking that Han Fen knows the formula for the production of the antidote. Thus, you’re the only one I can entrust her to.”

Han Fen was the Master Commander’s henchwoman, so the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall would naturally suspect that she was an insider.

Gu Shenwei didn’t ask about the antidote because Han Wuxian was also involved in this issue. The situation would only become more complicated if he brought this up. “She’ll be very safe with me.”

“And, thank you.” Finally, Lotus said these words.

“Wild Horse is also my enemy. He wanted to kill me all along.”

“Ha. I was never a shrewd judge of character. I didn’t expect that Wild Horse would… I thanked you because you kept my injury a secret from those disciples. We both know that you were the one who killed Wild Horse, not me.”

“It was us who killed him. If it weren’t for the fact that Wild Horse thought that we would join hands, he wouldn’t have multiplied his internal energy to such a dangerously high level.”

Lotus kept silent for a while. No matter what, the Dragon King hadn’t exposed the fact that she was too feeble to wield a sword, which had ensured her status and safety in Waning Moon Hall. In order to overawe Old Man Mu, she had to use up the small amount of internal energy she had had left. So, she had actually been bluffing when she had been facing Wild Horse. And of course, she had been totally powerless to defend herself against the revolt of those disciples.

“This is the ending of the Death Sutra.” Watching the body on the ground, Lotus said, “An internal energy ten times more powerful. If I had known this earlier, then I would have used my sword when I was in Golden Roc Castle.”

This was the first step towards the abyss. If Lotus had used her sword to fight the Unique King, then it would have been nearly impossible for her to find another opponent after defeating him, which meant that she would have suffered a backlash sooner or later.

Gu Shenwei didn’t say anything. Lotus of course understood this, so there was no need for him to remind her.

“The Unique King’s internal energy is slightly more powerful than mine,” Lotus continued explaining. “Though he was also injured, he didn’t exert his full strength. By the way, those moves of yours are amazing. They can make the swordsmanship more powerful without mobilizing too much internal energy. This is a very good way to avoid a backlash.”

“Um. But it’s still very difficult to defeat the Unique King if these moves are all we have. A kung fu expert from the Central Plains came here earlier. I think that he’s as powerful as the Unique King, if not more powerful than him.” Gu Shenwei knew that Lotus was suspicious of the origin of these moves, but he didn’t want to tell her about the patterns in Golden Roc Castle.

“Luo Qikang.” Lotus uttered this name. Clearly, she had already heard about his deeds. “I can help. After I regain my internal energy, neither of them will be a match for us once we join hands.”

Gu Shenwei had made this suggestion through Han Fen. After several months, he had finally received a positive answer.

“But I have one request,” Lotus said.

“Go ahead.”

“I’ll only help you defeat one of them – either the Unique King or Luo Qikang. You can choose one. Think of it as me repaying the favor that you did for me today. After that, we’ll go our separate ways. I know that the Dragon King wants to be the Lord of Jade City, but I’m sorry to tell you that I want that position as well.”

“I thought that the Waning Moon Hall just wanted to secretly create chaos.”

“Both covert and overt operations have their own strengths. The Waning Moon Hall has other strengths that you have not seen yet. Anyways, I’m going to compete for the position of the Lord of the City.”

“Okay. I’ll make a choice after you recover.”

Gu Shenwei then took his leave. He had achieved his aim – to forge a temporary alliance with Lotus, and get rid of the threat that he had been facing for so many years.

There was only one person left in the hall, staring vacantly at the body, the blood in which had already coagulated.