Chapter 103: Exposure
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
After training for ten months in the Carvewood Academy, the fresh batch of apprentices came to the Pyrowork Academy. In the same day they honoured their masters, they broke the "no-kill order", and began a new round of slaughter.
In order to differentiate these two batches, the manager of the East Castle named them the Dragon Year apprentices and Snake Year apprentices, according to the year when they came in.
After the slaughter last year and the upcoming monthly tests, the remaining Dragon Year apprentices now numbered more than one hundred and thirty. This batch was universally acknowledged as the fiercest batch in recent years, yet so far no one had earned the name of "killer".
It was too difficult to exterminate the enemy six times in succession, thus in the previous years when the apprentices were not so ferocious, they might have been able to more easily earn the badge of the "killer". However, these weaker "killers" were relatively more inclined to suffer from the bloody carnage outside the fort.
The reputation of the Dragon Year apprentices attracted the Snake Year apprentices for comparison. Those men in the Snake Year considered themselves superior, disparaging even the killers - not to mention the elder apprentices.
Thus this slaughter's theme was the stronger batch instead of the stronger gang.
Even though, the slaughter did not come from anywhere.
The Dragon Year apprentices still remembered the "no-kill order", hence they acted carefully. Even though the Snake Year apprentices challenged them for two or three times, no one died and they only suffered light injuries. This was until a few annoyed elder apprentices found their Shifu and hinted that this order would not be canceled openly. Anytime a new batch came in, the slaughter would not be limited.
Because of this, the elder batch began to brew their plots. Before that, however, an accident occurred.
A Snake Year apprentice attended the monthly test on the fifth day when he entered the academy and killed the opponent. He inherited the custom of the former ones by taking the corpse to the cliff, where, unfortunately, he was shot dead by an arrow.
For the sake of hunting down the roc, the fort established several towers and sent men to guard them. Due to the lack of soldiers on patrol, some apprentices were sent to the arrow tower of the East Castle.
On that day, twelve Dragon Year apprentices stayed at the tower, where they saw the boy throwing the body. Simply for pleasure, an apprentice aimed at the boy and the others helped to install the heavy arrows.
But no one wanted the poor boy to die; they only tried to scare this year's arrogant apprentices. When they yelled at him, the boy waved his dagger to show his contempt. This agitated the man who controlled the crossbow, causing him to loosen it.
The iron arrow flew over with surprising accuracy. It broke through the boy's chest but did not stop there as it pulled and dragged the boy to hit the precipice. When they finally pulled back the rope which connected the arrow, they found the boy's body - only half of it remained.
The Dragon Year apprentices apparently dealt with those things better. Someone recalled a hint from their Shifu: "Once the new batch comes, the prohibition no longer exists." As a result, they unanimously decided that they should act first.
On that night, while the Snake Year apprentices burned with rage were talking about vengeance, the Dragon Year apprentices had already separated themselves into numerous parties and began their killing. In that night, 68 people were murdered.
The new apprentices' Shifu, who had predicted it, left the castle quickly the next day. The only thing they told their apprentices was: "Live, and you'll be the winner."
Tie Hanfeng did not recruit anyone. He was satisfied with Slave Huan's behavior in these days so he used this incident as an excuse, went downhill, drank wines, slept with women, and dealt with his business.
Obviously, Gu Shenwei would not miss this opportunity to practice his skills. He partnered with Maid Lotus, killing six men in one night. After that, they checked the corpse and evaluated the effectiveness of their movements. In the end, they dropped the bodies down the cliff.
This slaughter lasted for many days. The two teenagers killed many more men compared to last year. As a result, they became more proficient. Through their experience, they concluded that the 29 sword moves actually did not exist. Since it said one should kill the enemy with a single move, only one move existed.
The 29 sword moves were simply the explanation of a single move. As they comprehended the book at this level, they made further progress. They also knew, however, that they had walked on the path where there was no exit. Once they missed a step and let the enemy avoid their sword, they would be the slaughtered one.
At this time, their progress was interrupted by a boy called "Slave Zi".
Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had the impression that Slave Zi was also the apprentice the Eighth Young Master recommended. He was smart and bold, and learned kung fu when he was in the master's yard - earlier than the two teenagers. Yet Mama Xue ignored him; he barely communicated with Gu Shenwei or Maid Lotus.
In order to save his life in the slaughter, especially when the best Snake Year apprentices almost died completely, the border between the new batch and the elder batch disappeared. Countless new apprentices found the elder ones and hoped to be sheltered.
Slave Zi came to Gu Shenwei almost the moment he entered the academy. Even if Gu Shenwei refused, he still badgered him. These two teenagers thought about whether they should kill him, but at last, they let him live in case they caused any trouble with Shangguan Nu. They did not predict that it was just this boy who caused them troubles.
Unknowingly, Slave Zi became their shadow who followed them everywhere and served them. He was pretty clear that only by following these two ruthless devils could he find a safe place to avoid the thuggery.
Due to the vast number of dead lives in their hands, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus never left any corpse at the scene. They gradually acquired stronger influence, which even surpassed that of Wildhorse and Liuhua. Some former members of the Tattooed Arm Gang were surprised by their change. This reminded the teenagers to restrict their behavior and reduced the frequency of assassinations.
"Deadly Duo" became one of their nicknames.
After their blood oath every ten days, the Dragon Year apprentices needed to pay respects to their masters - even in slaughter period. However, they were not allowed to take their saber out of the East Castle.
When the master was gone, they would kowtow in the yard to indicate the completion of the task.
Shangguan Nu always went outside for affairs. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were asked to kowtow toward an appointed killer, who would normally be Liu Xuan.
Gu Shenwei remembered him. When he just entered the castle and walked around casually in the valley, it was Liu Xuan who blocked him. If not for Slave Yao's help, he would not have been able to overcome the predicament.
Slave Yao commented on this killer with a phrase Mama Xue used, "Liu Xuan's kung fu is mediocre yet he wants to show off. When he raises his saber, he always swings his right hand."
After several meetings, Liu Xuan seemed to grow an interest in Maid Lotus.
When they built the gang, by studying the swordbook and killing people to practice the swordcraft, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus formed a solid union. They trusted each other more than lovers, relatives, and friends. Gu Shenwei always neglected that his company was a beautiful girl.
Due to her calmness, keenness, and sense of propriety, Maid Lotus could win others' trust easily. She had friends almost everywhere, even among her enemies - but her appearance also helped her.
There were not too many female apprentices in Golden Roc Fort; they consisted of only one-fifth of the total population, not to mention their numbers after the slaughter. Few of them could be called a beauty since Maid Lotus was the absolute best. She would not be ashamed even when she entered the Inner Residence.
Maid Lotus' beauty brought her many benefits as well as problems.
At the end of this year's slaughter, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus came to pay their respects, while Shangguan Nu was still absent. After Liu Xuan accepted their respects, he uttered an odd phrase, "I heard you have two special sabers, so why don't you bring them to me someday?"
The teenagers knew they had caused trouble.
They took the normal saber to attend the test and rarely showed their thinned sabers in public, so who discovered the anomaly and reported to Liu Xuan? They suspected Slave Zi at first.
Maid Lotus had a great relationship with the maid of Luo Ningcha, thus, through the inquiry, she was certain about their suspicion. Slave Zi was acquainted with Liu Xuan because Liu Xuan could be considered a half Shifu of Slave Zi.
The teenagers regretted that they had missed the chance to kill this shadow boy. Finishing his life now would result in vengeance from Liu Xuan. What they worried more about was how much Liu Xuan knew.
Neither Gu Shenwei nor Maid Lotus wanted to hand the Nameless Swordbook over, even though it would be considered a great contribution. As they comprehended the profoundness, they were hooked. The more people they killed, the fiercer they were, thus they became more obsessed with it. Now they kept the book in turn, and considered it much more significant than their lives.
This evening, Liu Xuan came in without an invitation. He let Slave Zi ask Maid Lotus out and meet in a remote yard in the south of the Woodensaber Alley; this yard was not in the allowed slaughter region. Liu Xuan did not think that these apprentices were better than him but considering the others might come together, he would not be able to handle it. He was cautious.
When Slave Zi sent Liu Xuan's message, he appeared reluctant. "You just saw him this morning, why didn't he tell you directly? Hey, isn't it nonsense?"
Gu Shenwei suggested that they killed Liu Xuan and Slave ZI this time. Once they moved their bodies to the north of the Woodensaber Alley and entered into the slaughter region, their crime would be forgiven.
Maid Lotus did not agree. They knew nothing about the information Liu Xuan held, or how wide this information was spread. Killing them prematurely would alert the others.
The next day, Maid Lotus brought the bad news: Liu Xuan once supported the action of hunting down the roc by the cliff. Though at last, they blamed a drunken killer, yet they still noticed the strange sabers on the scene. The masters of these sabers had not been identified. But, for a quicker closure of this case, no one spread out this news.
Slave Zi unintentionally found their unique sabers, and he reported to Liu Xuan as a joke. In Liu Xuan's deduction, the ones who sabotaged the action also included those two apprentices.
Liu Xuan was not quite right, but he was close to the truth.