Chapter 52: Night Visit
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Supreme King, Shangguan Fa, stood with his hands across behind his back. In front of him, a dozen of killers carefully held up the two giant roc bodies, and one killer held the female roc's head.
He appreciated his prey with pride.
Golden Roc Fort, Golden Roc Fort, such had been the name of this fort for more than 100 years. But who had ever seen a real Golden Roc? Who had captured the Golden Roc? Only he, the Seventh Supreme King had done it and brought the greatest glory to this stone castle.
It was a symbol, representing that Golden Roc Fort would have its heyday. Also, the dreams, which the former Supreme Kings had not realized, would soon come true with his efforts.
Shangguan Fa was immersed in great satisfaction and pleasure. But a fly in the ointment was that one roc's head was severed. He could hire the best craftsman in the world to stick the head back and renew the perfect specimen, so that no one could notice it had been destroyed, but Shangguan Nu could not shake the feeling that it was an annoying imperfection.
Holding their breath, a dense hoard of killers stood on Giant Rock Cliff and waited calmly. The one who had overpowered Gu Shenwei carefully observed Lord King's every gesture. Once Supreme King gave him the hint, he would kill this slave without any hesitation.
"Did you catch it?"
A clear voice asked. In the world dominated by Supreme King, she was the one only who dared to intrude.
Shangguan Ru squeezed in from the back of the giant rock, pushed the statue-like killers away and rushed toward his father.
"How did they die?" Her voice sounded full of surprise and dissatisfaction.
"The giant roc isn't an ordinary bird. It would rather die than surrender to others, so no one can catch them alive." Shangguan Fa lowered his head and patiently explained to his daughter. Instantly, the most powerful king of killers in Western Region turned into a benign father.
"Just the same as the rocs, the Shangguan family is also extraordinary, right?"
Shangguan Fa was very pleased and answered, "That's right. The Shangguan family is far from the ordinary. We're the dominators, the destroyers, and the almighty leaders. But we aren't as same as the rocs either, because nobody can force us to commit suicide."
Gu Shenwei felt his heart would blow up the next minute. It was Shangguan Ru that divulged the secret to Shangguan Fa.
The Ninth Master must have gone to Giant Rock Cliff furtively. She was going to surprise Slave Huan but accidentally saw the giant rocs. Later, she left stealthily and told her father.
Gu Shenwei had once thought that he was more mature than other youth of the same age. But now, he realized how ridiculous he had been. A 12-year-old young girl could fool him and trick him without much effort.
"Dear Ru, it's you who found the Golden Roc, so you contributed to it most. Say it. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. You can have anything in this world."
"Well, my dearest father, you've given me the best things from around the world. What else could I ask? Em... How about rewarding this slave? Without him, none of us could have seen the Golden Roc, so we should reward him appropriately. "
Unexpectedly, Shangguan Ru was asking rewards for Gu Shenwei, who was surprised and did not understand the reason. Actually, everybody present knew this slave had not informed the masters of the Golden Rocs' appearance in time, so he had committed a capital crime. However, he was only a slave and no one took his life seriously enough to care that he would disobey the Ninth Master's will, so nobody disagreed with her.
Even Supreme King, Shangguan Fa, was too happy to forgive a low-status slave. He had never let off any traitor since the first time he held a saber at the age of five.
"What do you want, kid?"
Shangguan Fa cuddled his daughter, still proudly watching the dead Golden Rocs. He did not look at the shivering slave behind him.
Gu Shenwei could not control the fear that quickly spread from head to toe. He was afraid of this man who commanded the slaughter of the Gu family. The fear came from the depth of his mind, which spread more quickly than his sorrow and hatred through his body. Gu Shenwei despised his cowardice, but he could do nothing to stop it.
"I... " Gu Shenwei's throat was extremely dry, as if hot molten iron were being poured down into it. "I want to be a killer!"
The killer squeezed his neck and jerked his arm, as if he could not help laughing.
Shangguan Fa looked back at the slave crawling on the ground and he could only see the slave's back. This was the superiority of Supreme King, who stood high above the masses. People in front of him could only expose their backs, which was less-intimidating. However, it was also a disadvantage for the dominator, in that he could not see people's faces, which revealed their true emotion.
"To be a killer?"
"I've practiced kung fu before. The only thing I want is to enter East Castle and become a killer apprentice. If I didn't practice kung fu very well, I would still be able to die without any regret."
Disasters had unceasingly honed this young man. Gu Shenwei had proficiently buried the sorrow in the depth of his mind. He wanted to take advantage of this chance and strived for his benefit.
"Okay." Shangguan Fa turned back to see the two Golden Rocs. For him, this low-status slave no longer existed in his world.
People in Giant Rock Cliff had left and Gu Shenwei was the last one to walk away. He lost his soul and could not get rid of the idea: he, himself, caused the death of giant rocs, however, the chief criminal was Shangguan Ru.
Although his dream of becoming a killer apprentice had come true, it could not comfort his great sorrow of losing all his family members.
Soon, the comfort appeared to be more insignificant.
Gu Shenwei returned to the stone room. Within minutes, Mama Xue ordered a servant to call him to her room.
There were only Mama Xue and Gu Shenwei in the room. Her face looked quite pale with anger.
"You stupid and ungrateful dog! How dare you conceal the rocs' appearance from me?"
Gu Shenwei hastily kneeled down. He had forgotten that the information that Supreme King was so fond of the giant roc would be important to Mama Xue.
Slave Huan's silence made Mama Xue angrier. In order to enter Golden Roc Fort, she had waited for many years. In order to achieve the ultimate goal, she would have to wait for many more.
"It seems I was wrong. Once I believed you, but you've betrayed me. I've been too nice to you. Raise your head, kid."
Mama Xue spoke harshly to him and bent down, showing her iron-like finger. She poked Slave Huan's Xuanji acupoint on his chest.
She only poked once, but the power was unprecedentedly strong. A hot stream of inner strength was passed into Gu Shenwei's body, as if a wild fall wind swept the fallen leaves, and rushed to his Dantian.
A fire was burning in Gu Shenwei's body. Every inch of his skin, every part of his organs seemed to be reduced to ashes. Gu Shenwei fell down heavily. Like a fish out of water, he twisted and turned while his mouth opened and closed repeatedly but could not make any sound.
Two months ago, Gu Shenwei had experienced the qigong deviation. But it could not compare with what he was experiencing now. He wanted to die but he could not. He wanted to live, but he would not. The burning sensation inside even drove out the sorrow and hatred in his mind. The only thing Gu Shenwei would like to do was to beg before her, but he could not say any words suffering the great pain.
A stream of hot air spewed out from his throat, as if he had vomited all his organs.
Mama Xue sat back in the chair. Slave Huan's pain did wonders to assuage her anger. She tasted her tea and thought about her plan, regardless of Slave Huan's rolling and twisting.
After the two hours torture, Gu Shenwei felt he had gone to the hell and then returned to the world.
"How did you feel? My Iron Finger kung fu was not worse than Supreme King, right?" Mama Xue said sneeringly.
"I won't betray you ever again. Please forgive me, Mama Xue," Gu Shenwei begged in a hoarse voice.
"Get out!" Mama Xue shouted.
Gu Shenwei dragged himself back to the stone house and lay weakly on the brick bed.
Fire could burn anything, but it also could cast steel. Gu Shenwei grinned silently. The pain had gone and his heart became harder. Since that moment, all people in Golden Rock Fort were his enemies and they deserved to die.
Suddenly, some sentences in the Nameless Swordbook ran through his head. Gu Shenwei felt these words became suitable to describe his situation—only the heartless could kill people. Perhaps the content in this book was not just a joke.
Gu Shenwei jumped off the brick bed and practiced Yin and Yang Strength. He smiled again.
Mama Xue's finger power could not only bring pain, but also could bring the benefit of his Internal Strength practice. The power, passed by Mama Xue in order to punish him, conversely, helped him improve to the third level of Yang Strength.
But how could it happen? Mama Xue absolutely would not help him.
Gu Shenwei had gained some clues on the bed. Now, he finally understood the reason he was able to improve his Inner Strength. It was the Nameless Swordbook.
Gu Shenwei once spent three days reading it carefully. Even though he still did not understand it very well, he had memorized many of its sentences. When being tortured in Mama Xue's room, he unconsciously recited these words. Although the content did not help him relieve the pain, these words helped him turn Mama's energy into driving force.
Due to the great pain at that time, he did not realize it. Now, the whole thing clicked.
"What kind of book is it?"
Gu Shenwei became confused. It was not a simple sword manual superficially. The notes seemed to describe a way of practicing Internal Strength.
Gu Shenwei was so excited. He even wanted to come to Giant Rock Cliff and immediately find the book to read it. But he gave up the idea, because, in the afternoon, he could not enter East Castle without following the twin masters. He had to wait until the next morning and then would be able to read it.
That day was seemingly a blessing day in disguise: The giant rocs were murdered, but Gu Shenwei became a killer apprentice; Mama Xue induced qigong deviation in him, but he started to understand the essence of Nameless Swordbook.
Yet the situation seemed somehow incomplete. That night, as Gu Shenwei and Elderly Zhang slept tightly, someone knocked the door.
They sat up simultaneously. The person had entered the room and was standing at the entrance.
"I have something to tell you."
It was Shangguan Ru. Although it was too dark to see the comer clearly, Gu Shenwei could clearly distinguish her voice.
Elderly Zhang even felt sleepy, but was still a loyal servant. He pretended to hear nothing and laid down again. The devoted servant began to snore, as if he had only been sleepwalking.
Gu Shenwei was surprised. The girl, who he hated now, came to visit him at midnight.
"Does she want to play a new game with me? Or is it a new conspiracy secretly supported by Shangguan Yushi?"
Gu Shenwei dressed quickly under the blanket and said in a low voice, "What can I do for you, Master Ru?"
"Am I your Master Shifu ?"
"Of course. What's your order, Master Shifu?"
Shangguan Ru stepped out of the stone house and waved at Gu Shenwei to follow. He stuck closely behind her, but secretly took precautions.
"Do you seriously take me as your master?" Shangguan Ru asked again.
Outside, the moon cast its velvety light on everything. Gu Shenwei clearly saw Shangguan Ru's serious face. She was not as happy as she had been during the daytime and carried a big parcel on her back. Besides, there were two sabers under her right arm, the real iron saber, not wooden ones that they used daily.
Gu Shenwei said humbly, "Yes, Shifu. Once my Master Shifu, always my Master Shifu, I'll... What I said is true."
"Well then, flee from the castle with me. Right now."