Chapter 22: Under the Bed
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei tried to suppress his sneeze. The sound had been relatively quiet, but all the same, it almost destroyed their plan. Fortunately, someone outside shouted just as he was sneezing.
"Boss, will Third Brother come tonight?"
It was Slave Ji who was lying on the bed. Gu Shenwei suddenly felt fortunate it was not his target, the killer, who had arrived. If it had been Han Shiqi who had lain on the bed, he undoubtedly would have perceived that someone was hiding under the bed, even with someone speaking outside.
Slave Ji sat up and said impatiently, "I told you, I don't know. If he comes, I'll tell you. Go back to your room!"
It was Slave Qi who spoke outside. He had spoken loud on purpose to let Slave Huan know that the target would probably not come after all.
Slave Qi followed the order and left. Slave Ji lay down again and muttered to himself. "Ambitious little bastard, you were still crying two days ago, but now you're so eager for it. I have to be careful. You're still too tender to compete with me."
Slave Ji talked to himself for a while and hummed a tuneless melody. After tossing and turning for an hour, he went to blow out the light and got ready to sleep.
Gu Shenwei remained motionless and did not dare to deepen his breathing. He put his hands over his nose to prevent himself from inhaling more dust and waited for almost an hour. After Slave Ji snored louder and louder, Gu Shenwei quietly crawled out and gingerly escaped from the room. Then he ran back to his bedroom.
The pair of brothers were waiting for him inside. It was safe for them to stay here, as the other five teenagers were sleeping in the other room.
The man did not arrive. Slave Qi heard a rumor that the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, had not adequately finished his task. Though they had succeeded in killing the target, they had lost a killer.
According to Golden Roc Fort's standards, a killer should strike the moment his target was unable to resist. If the target were to manage resistance, it would then be proven that the killer has made a mistake in taking the action.
Shangguan Nu was having a rough year. There were two tasks that he had failed to complete with perfection, which had lowered his position in his father's mind. As a result, he gradually became angrier and vented his anger on his subordinate killers and macheteman. It was said that someone had been hurt yet again under the blade of the Eighth Young Master.
In this case, Han Shiqi would not dare to fool around as soon as he came back, lest he aggravate the Young Master and suffer his blade for no reason.
However, it was a sort of torture for the three teenagers, who were eager for vengeance.
That night, Gu Shenwei hid under Slave Ji's bed for the third time. The previous two times, he had achieved nothing more than sweeping the dust from under the bed to prepare a relatively comfortable position for himself.
Han Shiqi arrived a bit late, but Slave Ji did not fall asleep. With only one knock at the door, Slave Ji, like a dog smelling out bones, jumped out of the bed suddenly, picked up the key behind the door, and opened the yard door with delight.
Han Shiqi either did not care about the curfew order or had managed to avoid the night watchmen so that he could come to Firewood Yard late at night.
"Third Brother, I missed you so much. Look, I've gotten thinner."
Slave Ji's feminine voice made Gu Shenwei's scalp tingle, causing goosebumps. Then Slave Ji laughed and acted coy, completely different from the overseer with the rosewood stick in his hands.
Gu Shenwei felt sick.
He had deep compassion for Slave Qi and Slave Xie, and understood why they persisted in assassinating this killer of Golden Roc Fort.
After the two guys outside lit a candle and sat together on the bed, Gu Shenwei held his breath and hoped that they would not stay long. If he had known Han Shiqi's exact position on the bed, he would have killed him immediately.
Han Shiqi spoke few words, for his purpose was to enjoy himself, not to cultivate emotion. After a while, he said, "Where's the scrappy kid? Call him in."
Gu Shenwei was startled. "Does 'the scrappy kid' refer to me?"
"Slave Huan? He's got an evil spirit. Don't call him tonight. The pair of brothers..."
"What evil spirit?"
"Well! There was a kid in the yard who went mad in front of the Eighth Young Mistress. Ah! The servant brought back by the bandit's daughter was no good. Slave Huan saw him off, so he got an evil spirit from him. I asked him to stay in the room and not come out."
"Don't talk about the business of the eighth yard. How unlucky the Eighth Young Master is! He's had so many problems from inside and out. It's got me on edge all the time. I'm afraid that he'll stab me someday just because he's in a bad mood."
"Yes, that's right. The Eighth Young Mistress's business is her own problem. I feel pity for the Eighth Young Master with that striking appearance and excellent skill at Kung Fu..."
"Hey, let's not talk about evil spirits. I heard what happened to the kid. He practiced Kung Fu and suffered from Qigong Deviation. It has nothing to do with any evil spirit. The woman called Mama Xue has already admitted that she was anxious to teach him Internal Strength. As a result, it killed him."
"Right, right." Slave Ji's mouth agreed with him, but his heart was not convinced. He himself was still inclined to believe that an evil spirit was responsible.
Hearing all this from under the bed, Gu Shenwei was startled. "Undoubtedly, Slave Yao learned Internal Strength by himself, and I intentionally made him suffer Qigong Deviation. Why did Mama Xue confess that it was her fault? Did she want to protect the Miss from the event of an evil spirit?"
Gu Shenwei could not figure out the reason.
"Go call the kid in. I'll drive the evil spirit out of him."
As he spoke, Han Shiqi's voice was somewhat indecent. Slave Ji smiled knowingly. Meanwhile, Gu Shenwei under the bed was terribly frightened. Their assassination plan had appeared to be flawless, but they neglected that the killer would not believe in the evil spirit.
Once they found that Slave Huan was not in the room, all of their planning would be in vain.
Slave Ji grinned as he rose from the bed. Gu Shenwei moved the little sharp knife slightly and intended to take immediate action as soon as Slave Ji was far enough away. However, the problem was that he did not know Han Shiqi's exact position, therefore, he could only rely on his best guess.
This tactic had the lowest probability of hitting Han Shiqi in any vital area of his body, but it seemed that he had no choice left.
On the bed, Han Shiqi spoke suddenly. "Who is that? Who's sneaking around?"
Gu Shenwei was startled again. As he was about to make his move, a voice came from outside.
"Is Third Brother here?"
"I said I would call both of you. Piss off," Slave Ji angrily shouted.
The person outside was Slave Xie. Slave Ji had already been vigilant and impatient toward the liveliness of the brothers.
"Yes, boss. Eh, isn't Third Brother in the room? I'll go ask my elder brother to come together."
"Who says you guys are going to serve tonight? Go to sleep!"
"But boss, you taught us that we should..."
"Little bastard, you've really got some nerve to talk back."
Slave Ji patted his rosewood stick in his palm, intending to teach the naughty Slave Xie a lesson.
But it seemed that Han Shiqi's interest was piqued by Slave Xie. "Wait a second. Just let the pair of brothers come in. I want to know what you've taught them."
"Hehe! Third Brother, you've seen what tricks I have up my sleeve."
Once Slave Ji went to call Slave Qi, Gu Shenwei felt relieved and quietly move the sharp knife back to its previous position. He could find the position in the darkness, as he was so familiar with it.
But now there was another problem. Han Shiqi and Slave Ji had wasted too much time chatting on the bed. Almost 15 minutes had passed. Gu Shenwei slowed down his breath for a long time and was already feeling suffocated. He desperately needed a breath of fresh air.
Slave Qi came in and closed the door. Slave Ji did not follow him, which seemed to be the only part of the plan so far that had gone without a hitch.
Han Shiqi jumped out of bed. As his feet landed on the ground, Gu Shenwei took a deep breath.
"So, you've improved since last time, hmm? Come here, I feel tired today. Let me see your tricks. Don't disappoint me, or you'll learn the way of my fist yet again."
"I assure you, you will be satisfied." It was Slave Qi's voice. Slave Qi still could not call him Third Brother. Gu Shenwei could sense that he was a little nervous.
"Satisfied..." Han Shiqi repeated in an ambiguous way.
"Third Brother, let's sit on the bed." Slave Xie was not normally talkative, and he appeared to be calmer than his brother.
"Take it easy."
What happened next, Gu Shenwei could not understand. The voices and groans that he heard sounded quite strange and ugly as if something filthy was invading his ears. Initially, he blushed and nearly could not control his breath. But soon, the power of vengeance and anger allowed him to recover and focus on the point just above his head.
The brothers employed all their skills. However, this time Han Shiqi preferred to stand up rather than to get on the bed, no matter how hard they tried.
Another 15 minutes passed. It was the longest 15 minutes in the three teenagers' lifetimes. Suddenly, Han Shiqi gently let out a cry, followed by the sound of someone being hit.
"Little bastard, I knew that you had evil desires. You want to plot against my penis. How dare you!"
"You killed me. I want to kill you in revenge," Slave Qi said.
Gu Shenwei was surprised and did not know if Slave Qi could not bear such humiliation and had taken action in advance. He wondered whether he should get up help them or stay under the bed.
"Thwack, thwack!" It was the sound of someone being beaten, followed by a cry from Han Shiqi that grew more and more excited.
"Hah! My methods are more fun. I'll give you a taste of something new."
"Let my brother go!" Slave Xie shouted.
The pair of brothers in Han Shiqi's hands looked like weak lambs, whose screams and struggles only stimulated the former's evil desires.
Then someone jumped onto the bed. "Come and get me, bastard."
It was Slave Xie, who had held mastery of Central Plains Chinese for less than a month, but could shout abuse as well as Slave Ji.
With a bang, another person landed on the bed. Judging from the landing sound, Gu Shenwei guessed that it had to be Slave Qi being thrown on the bed by Han Shiqi.
"Haha, a couple of fledglings. Let me join your little game. Now that you can understand my words, it'll be more fun."
Gu Shenwei understood the brothers' intention. They were using Han Shiqi's enjoyment of a challenge to entice him onto the bed.
Gu Shenwei cleared all the thoughts in his mind and quietly waited for the signal to make his move.
The bed was almost turned upside down as continuous cries filled the room, but Gu Shenwei blocked all the commotion from his mind.
"Brother!"
Finally, the signal had come. Gu Shenwei even could not recognize who said it. Blood was flowing to his head. He wanted to exert all his strength, but had no strength at all. He wanted to move swiftly, but acted slowly as if he was frozen.
The sharp knife passed smoothly through the seam of the bed, as if moving through the air.
Then it encountered a hard obstacle and could not be pushed any further.