Chapter 121: The Dream
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei picked a leaf and chewed it. The bitter taste kept him from weariness.
The sun rose high. Surrounded by chirping hypnotic and tiresome whoosh, Gu Shenwei felt at a loss, just as what he felt before every action in the past. His being suspicious always led him to an extreme that he thought his plans were lame and impossible to work out.
But there was no turning back. Gu Shenwei even felt his hunger was submerged by the tension in his abdomen.
This was what he had to do. Without Shangguan Ru, he could never return to Golden Roc Fort. Thus his chance for revenge would be even slimmer. What's more, Maid Lotus, his principal ally, was one of the abducted people.
Shortly after noon, the people Gu Shenwei had been waiting for finally came, though very late.
They were three women in red robes instead of black and five captives, who were under those women's control. From far, Gu Shenwei saw them riding on horses.
Gu Shenwei had not expected the horses. He had followed their footprints for four days, so he was quite sure they were on foot. It never occurred to him that the strongholds of the Barren Sect might have horses there.
There was no time to change the trap, and the original plan must go on.
Two red-robed women road ahead, five captives walking behind with another woman after them.
About a hundred steps from the river bank, the land fell steeply and rose again. The lush grass on both sides covered a path over, and the passengers had to walk through them.
The first red-robed woman passed by with her horse entirely hidden in the grass, only half her body being seen. The second woman followed her close.
The arrow flew out from the grass and shot right at the second woman's crus. It pierced through the muscles and stuck into the horse. Neighing in extreme pain, the horse suddenly leaped forward, knocking the front horse aside.
The arrow was supposed to be shot into the heart.
In the grass, the crossbow was set up with a branch attached to it and a stick attached to the end of the branch. 10 steps away from it, Gu Shenwei controlled the timing of the launch. For this, he had practiced for two hours, but it merely injured the enemy's crus.
Gu Shenwei had rehearsed the whole plan countless times. As soon as he launched the crossbow, he stood up quickly, picked up the short bow and arrows, and then shot at the first red-robed woman.
The first woman rose to the bait. She jumped toward the crossbow and got shot when she nearly touched the ground. Screaming, she fell down but did not die. Slave Huan was far from comparable to Liuhua in the shooting.
The last woman leaped in a row and was only a few steps away from Gu Shenwei. She tried to scratch at Gu Shenwei with her bony fingers like claws.
Gu Shenwei threw away the short bow. His saber was stuck into the grass, unsheathed.
He tipped up the saber and stabbed at the women so fast that it seemed as if the women dived at the saber by herself.
This was the only perfect attack in his plan. The last red-robed woman was hit in the neck, falling to the ground.
In the same time, Gu Shenwei got five bloody scratches on his chest. The woman was so strong that she launched her final attack before dying.
With her leg stuck to the horse, the second red-robed woman urged the horse on and disappeared in a little while.
"Slave Huan!"
All things happened so suddenly that the five captives did not react until Gu Shenwei killed the women. Shangguan Yushi was the first one to cry out in horror.
"You're not dead!" Shangguan Ru continued, more delighted than surprised.
"I'm not dead." Gu Shenwei responded. He walked to the first woman, who was shot but not dead. She got the shot in the abdomen, lying on her back and panting. She was unable to resist.
Then, he untied the five teenagers.
Compared with the five captives, Slave Huan was the one who seemed to have suffered more. His clothes tattered, his face covered with dust, and his hair matted with grass, he even lost his shoes.
The five captives were all well clothed, but they were slightly sluggish and seemed to have lost their Internal Strength.
After the joy of being rescued, the teenagers became angry at the injured woman. Shangguan Yushi grabbed the saber from Slave Huan and wanted to kill the woman.
"Keep her alive." Gu Shenwei stopped her.
"Why?"
"We need to ask her about their background."
"Hum. No need to ask. I know it clearly."
Shangguan Yushi killed the injured woman and cut off the two corpse's heads. Those were her essential trophies, and she wanted to take them back.
Besides the spoken one, Gu Shenwei got another unspeakable reason to keep the woman alive. He thought she was from the Barren Sect and might know how to remove the Peripheral Force. But even if she were still alive, he would not get the chance to ask her alone.
The five teenagers were captured purely by chance.
The three huts in the Oasis were the places where Barren Sect trained their Primary disciples. There were eight disciples of ordinary martial arts and one Master Shifu. All the disciples were killed by the teenagers from Golden Roc Fort while the Shifu was murdered by Gu Shenwei in the underground chamber.
That three red-robed women were there for routine inspections. One day earlier or later the teenagers went there, they wouldn't have run into them.
As Gu Shenwei had expected, the knockout powder those women used was the Mercy Powder, which Golden Roc Fort had agreed not to use anymore. Compared with the effect of the ordinary knockout powder in the Fort, the effects of Mercy Powder lasted longer. The red-robed women mixed the powder with the food and forced the captives to eat it every meal. Were it not for Gu Shenwei's timely rescue, the teenagers would gradually lose their Internal Strength within 10 days.
The Barren Sect and the Golden Roc Fort had been into a feud for many years. Shangguan Ru knew a little about the origins of this sect. It was said that the Barren Sect was once a subordinate of the Golden Roc Fort and betrayed the Fort when the fifth Supreme King was in charge. Then it set up its own sect but finally was wiped out by the sixth Supreme King.
However, a few years later, the Barren Sect risen from the ashes and from the sect came several masters. The feud between the two killer gangs significantly affected the stability of the entire Western Region. Finally, several mighty kings came forward and called for both sides to end the fighting.
In the Four Truths Temple outside Jade City, the Golden Roc Fort entered into an inviolable agreement with the Barren Sect. The Golden Roc Fort promised not to use the means like Mercy Powder to kill others since then, making it able to stay in Jade City. The Barren Sect voluntarily retreated into the desert.
Few people remembered the details of that event. All in all, the Barren Sect vanished in Jianghu and did not show up again for decades.
As for the reason why they left the desert to reappear in Jianghu and why they forced the people of Golden Roc Fort walked southward into the desert, none of the teenagers knew it.
When the three red-robed women found out that Supreme King's daughter was one of the captives, they immediately took the five prisoners away with delight. As for the boy who had fallen into their trap, they took it for granted that the Master Shifu could kill him, so they ignored him.
"Since the Barren Sect broke the agreement, my father will definitely kill them all," Shangguan Ru growled. She recalled the Barren Sect when being questioned. Before that, She never associated the black-robed women with that long-disappeared sect.
Only Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus knew that it was not the first time for the disciples of the Barren Sect to leave the desert, as Mama Xue had even gotten into Golden Roc Fort.
The five teenagers were naturally unable to take revenge, and the escaped women put them in danger even more.
Both horses running away, the teenagers could only walk forward. They drank a lot of water by the riverside, which was one of the best ways to weaken the effect of the Mercy Powder. After crossing the river, they walked westward along the bank for a while before turning toward the southwest, hoping they could make their way to Jade City by feet.
No one knew how long the tramp would be.
Gu Shenwei was the only one that equipped with a saber among the six. Liuhua took back his favorite short bow without saying a grateful word. The crossbow was handed over to Shangguan Ru while the longbow was given to Shangguan Yushi, with less than 20 arrows left.
Gu Shenwei gave his dagger to Maid Lotus and Wildhorse could only be unarmed.
They marched forward the same night without rest, identifying their direction from the black mountains in the south. They did not stop until next noon. Gu Shenwei felt like he had just closed his eyes before he was awakened. Liuhua hunted several birds, and everyone shared a part of the raw meat and fresh blood, temporarily covering up their hunger.
Their Internal Strength had recovered, but it helped them little in walking.
In the third night, Shangguan Ru was the first one to break down. For she was so young and never suffered like this, she could not withstand the march nor walk any farther. The others took turns carrying her forward. After a long walk when Shangguan Ru decided to rest in any case, everyone was relieved.
Starting with Wildhorse, the four brown-belt assassins kept watch in turns.
Gu Shenwei was the last one. He sat in the grass on the high ground, enduring the lingering sleepiness and mosquito bites. When he looked at the crescent moon, he felt as if his mind was solidified that he could think about nothing, even the most straightforward idea.
He fell asleep, but the sight before his eyes remained the same only that he was not sleepy anymore. He was at peace and in delight as if he was floating in the cloud. With the noise of flying insects became obliterating, he could hear the wind whispering through the grass and the ethereal sound of the flute.
He was confused that he did not like the instruments such as the flute, but why he heard the music in his dream?
Straightening up, he tried to wave away the illusory scene before his eyes several times, but he failed. At last, he had to push his eyes open with his fingers.
It was still the same scene, but the crescent moon faded, and the morning came.
A tall woman came over to him and bent down, smiling.
Although Gu Shenwei didn't know her, he began to let his guard down seeing her smile which was as warm as the spring breeze. He then smiled weakly at her, watching her poke at his chest with one finger.
Gu Shenwei closed his eyes and fell into sleep again, unburdened and dreamless.
When he woke up, the sun had come up. Shangguan Yushi complained about his neglecting his duty, even though everyone was in a sound sleep and nobody woke up in time.
"There was a woman who came last night..." Gu Shenwei said. But while speaking, he thought it might be a dream. He stopped saying to avoid being laughed at.
Sure enough, Shangguan Yushi snorted dismissively. Three days were long enough for her to forget that the slave boy had saved her life. "What woman? You might have a nightmare for you fears the Barren Sect so much."
The others shook their heads as well, indicating that they saw nothing. Refreshed a bit, Shangguan Ru asked with a smile, "Tell me, Who did you dream of?"
Gu Shenwei forced a smile. "I can't remember."
Actually, he distinctly remembered that woman's face, a face of fantastic beauty and clear-cut facial features that on no account could he see her just in the dream.