Death Scripture

Chapter 913: Hidden Weapons

What was different about Luo Ningcha was that she had born him a son. Though he was also a bastard son, he had been acknowledged by the Unique King on the day that he had been born, which was a treatment that Shangguan Hong could only long for.

As a result, when it had been rumored that his youngest son’s natural father was also the Dragon King, the Unique King had become furious and killed the first one who had implied this in a message to him. He hadn’t believed this malicious rumor at all. The most important reason had been that a woman like Luo Ningcha would have never fallen for Servant Huan, who had merely been a common servant and killer back then.

And Luo Ningcha’s deeds during the past few years were further proof of this. All of the men that she had seduced were royal members of either the Norland or the Central Plains, which had occasionally proved beneficial for the Golden Roc Castle. But if she had no interest in the current Dragon King, then how Servant Huan have possibly managed to get into the bed of the then Mother Lord?

Occasionally, the Unique King would gaze at his youngest son, hoping to find some clues, but he didn’t remember what his other sons looked like when they were young, and he certainly didn’t remember what he himself looked like as a child either. Since he was the King of Killers, how could he find the time to care about these petty things?

But the seed of suspicion had nonetheless been sowed in his mind, waiting for a chance to root and then sprout. It was only when the Dragon King offered to stake the Unique King’s youngest son that the seedling broke through the soil.

The Unique King’s facial expression remained unchanged. He took merely one step forward, but the people around him felt as if his body had grown several times larger, and as if he had grown wings on his back just like a giant roc; his entire demeanor now gave off an intense killing aura.

Even Sun Chengqi, who had no kung fu skills at all, sensed danger and involuntarily backed off several steps in a row. “We can talk about this. The Dragon King was merely suggesting.”

Gu Shenwei didn’t back off. He peered back into the Unique King’s hollow eyes. No matter whose son that kid was, as long as he could give the Unique King a heavy blow, Gu Shenwei would not hesitate to use him.

The Unique King stared at the Dragon King and said, “Bring Cheng’er here.”

He had provoked the Dragon King by offering to have a kung fu competition, but he himself had also been provoked.

The Unique King’s killing aura gradually subsided, until only very few people could feel the killing intent still bubbling inside of him. Sun Chengqi was greatly relieved. He secretly thought, ‘You’re a court official, not a Jianghu hero. It’s normal that you can’t handle this kind of pressure.’

“Then let’s have a kung fu competition. Is it going to be only one round or…”

“The game shouldn’t end that quickly. One round, one stake.” The Unique King suddenly turned around, walked up the seven-step staircase to the throne, and casually pointed at a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, who was then pushed forward by two guards.

She was a female in her twenties. With a gloomy look on her face, she neither turned her head back to look at the Unique King who was the enemy, nor did she stare at the Dragon King who was going to save her. Head slightly down, she was mumbling something in a low voice with her eyes closed.

Han Fen said loudly from behind, “Sister, don’t be afraid. If we die, the Dragon King will help us cut our bodies to pieces. Even the God of the Underworld won’t take us in if we don’t have intact souls.”

Sun Chengqi’s heart lurched, unable to figure out if this weird woman was more horrifying than the Unique King.

The Unique King waved his hand again. A killer among the ranks handed his torch to the companion beside him, walked to the front of the staircase, knelt down on his knees, and bent over with his forehead against the ground.

Gu Shenwei turned around, walked up to his bodyguards, and said, “Dog Butcher.”

Sun Chengqi followed the Dragon King closely. Though he was not a Jianghu kung fu practitioner, he had heard of some rules of Jianghu before. So, he asked in surprise, “The competition starts just like this? No rules? How are we going to decide who the winner is?”

“The one who gets killed or surrenders loses, and the one who is standing in the ring in the end wins,” said Gu Shenwei simply. This was Golden Roc Castle’s rule. In both his and the Unique King’s eyes, there was no need to explain this.

Zhang Ji stood at the side silently. He knew that what happened today didn’t concern him. In front of the Unique King, he could behave arrogantly, lecture him, and be stubborn. However, there was a line he was not supposed to cross.

Dog Butcher was a little nervous. Before they came here, the Dragon King hadn’t mentioned the fact that there might be a kung fu competition. He was also a little excited. Having a spur-of-the-moment kung fu competition in a grim spacious hall with not only some strange disciple of the Waning Moon Hall but also his own life as the stakes – this was somewhat similar to the Jianghu that he had imagined.

He walked out of the group, stopped ten steps away from his opponent, pulled out his single saber, and waited for that man to stand up.

Prostrate in front of the staircase, that killer stayed still silently, like a pious believer prostrating himself before a statue of god.

“I’m Dog Butcher.” Dog Butcher identified himself, but restrained himself from saying which sect he was from, thinking of this as a compromise between the rules of the Central Plains and that of the Western Regions. He hoped that his opponent would also stand up and say this. Standing in wait, he began to feel embarrassed.

The Unique King was standing on top of the platform like a statue with more than half of his body in the shadows. He was as still as the two golden-crowned giant rocs behind him.

As if having received a signal from his master through some mysterious means, the killer abruptly stood up and unsheathed his narrow saber. He leaped backwards, and when he was halfway to Dog Butcher, he turned around and slashed at his head.

Killers didn’t have a habit of identifying themselves.

All of the Central Plainsmen were startled. They had heard of the unscrupulousness of killers before, but they had still believed that this killer would more or less show some respect to his opponent in front of the Unique King and so many guests of the Central Plains. They didn’t expect that he would still choose to start the fight by launching a sneak attack.

But the Western Regioners knew that killers had no rules, and that they had nothing to follow even if they wanted to be polite.

Dog Butcher was startled, but he didn’t panic and he fought back instinctively.

After the two exchanged the first move, Gu Shenwei drew a conclusion that this man was not a common killer but a Green-faced assassin.

He had met a couple of Green-faced assassins before and fought them, so he knew that their kung fu was different from that of normal Golden Roc killers. Their kung fu was more diversified, and narrow sabers were only one of the weapons they were skilled in. Most of them had other skills.

Dog Butcher’s opponent was best at leg techniques.

Gu Shenwei’s swept around, and it suddenly dawned on him that all of the Unique King’s subordinates in this main hall, over thirty of them, including the guards escorting the prisoners, were Green-faced assassins.

The Unique King had made all his killers join the Heavenly Mountain Sect, and these Green-faced assassins had replaced those killers. They now made their presence known in public and no longer hid in the dark.

Gu Shenwei was pondering why the Unique King had done this. The fight between the two had entered a life-or-death phase.

The kung fu of the Green-faced assassin was far better than that of common killers, but their biggest advantage was their ability to hide themselves, which enabled them to sneak up on their enemies and blindside them. They could perform assassinations without any team. But in a kung fu competition ring, the advantage of this Green-faced assassin had turned into a disadvantage. Besides the first move, he never got another chance to launch a surprise attack.

Dog Butcher had collected himself, and his saber strikes were growing quicker and quicker.

Behind him, those guards of the Central Plains were even more amazed. They knew that Dog Butcher was an elder of the Kongtong Sect, but his sabersmanship didn’t seem like that of the Kongtong Sect. He constantly switched moves halfway, not even finishing his current move sometimes. Because of this, his striking speed was much faster than normal, but it didn’t fit with the fighting style of a member of a prestigious sect.

Someone briefly shook his head, thinking that Dog Butcher’s Master Shifu would surely be furious if he were here to see Dog Butcher’s sabersmanship.

Dog Butcher was also uneasy. Recalling his elder sister Tu Pianpian’s rebuke, he was not sure whether he was really going further and further down the wrong path.

Which one was better – the complex, profound martial arts of prestigious sects, or the Jianghu techniques which were best for a dogfight? This question occurred to Dog Butcher and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Finally, he made up his mind – he wanted to give it a try.

Dog Butcher switched to another fighting style. His saber strikes slowed down, and his feet movements became steadier. His sabersmanship was both defensive and offensive; a typical and perfectly standard example of the Mountain-cleaving Sabersmanship of the Kongtong Sect.

Besides Sun Chengqi who couldn’t tell the difference, all the other Central Plainsmen nodded, thinking that this was how a kung fu expert of the Kongtong Sect should fight. ‘Just fight in a steady and calm manner. It’s only a kung fu competition. Is it really necessary to fight madly like a Jianghu bandit?’

Gu Shenwei noticed the change of Dog Butcher’s fighting style, but he didn’t intervene. Kung fu was a personal issue. He could impart techniques and theories to other people, but he would never aske them whether they were willing to accept it, or how much they were willing to accept.

There was a kung fu that suitable for each person. Gu Shenwei would never have this kind of confusion that Dog Butcher was having.

Dog Butcher became more confident. After he switched to the Mountain-cleaving Sabersmanship, he hadn’t become disadvantaged. Instead, he was fighting more unhurriedly. Previously, when he had been trying to strike as fast as he could, they had exchanged every move in an instant, and even when he had held the upper hand, he still might have been hit by a saber strike at any moment. But now, things were different. He was fighting in a safe and steady way through the Mountain-cleaving Sabersmanship. He was slowly gathering his strength, waiting for the right occasion to arise. And when it did, he would defeat the opponent with a single strike.

The Green-faced assassin didn’t change his fighting style. His saber strikes were fast, and his footwork was even faster. He leaped up and down and swished here and there, slashing at Dog Butcher constantly from various directions. And his opponent only fought back once every three or four of his moves.

But he was unable to breach Dog Butcher’s defense. Every time Dog Butcher fought back, he always aimed at his vital parts and forced him into giving up his offense.

This Green-faced assassin was a top killer, and it was not merely sabersmanship and leg techniques that he was good at. He was also waiting for an opportunity. When Dog Butcher fought back again, he didn’t dodge. Instead, he advanced head-on.

Dog Butcher briefly hesitated. Not only had he switched to a more prudent sabersmanship, but his mentality had also become more prudent. He was wavering between killing his opponent and teaching him a lesson.

There was a gleam of cold light. Dog Butcher knew that he was in danger and that it had not been his opponent but rather himself that his previous hesitation had saved. Before his saber strike lost its momentum, he abruptly leaped backwards, wielding his saber to parry the blow.

“Hidden weapons! He used hidden weapons!” A couple of Central Plainsmen indignantly yelled in unison. It was supposed to be a tacit rule that dirty tricks were not allowed in a kung fu competition.

With a pained scream, Dog Butcher fell into the crowd and two Central Plainsmen caught him. He had still been hit, with three wounds in his shoulder, chest, and thigh, respectively. Blood was gushing out from his wounds.

Gu Shenwei immediately took out a small wooden box and put an antidote into Dog Butcher’s mouth. He reminded the Central Plainsman who was about to strike Dog Butcher’s acupoints to stop the bleeding, “Let him bleed. He’ll be fine in a while.”

The Central Plainsmen became more indignant. A subordinate of the renowned Unique King had used not only hidden weapons but also applied poison on the hidden weapons. This deed was even more shameless than that of the lowest Jianghu sects in the Central Plains.

But they were in the Western Regions, so they didn’t say anything, instead waiting to see how the Dragon King would react.

But the Dragon King’s response greatly surprised them. At the same time, they also realized how different the rules of the Western Regions were from the rules of the Central Plains.

“The Central Plains has lost the first round. The Unique King won,” said Gu Shenwei.

The Unique King was still standing there like a statue, as if he was totally indifferent to this result.

Beside the bottom step of the staircase, a Green-faced assassin whipped out his saber and cut off the head of the disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.

Gu Shenwei leaped forward, unsheathed the Five Peaks Saber, and cut the body of that disciple into pieces before the head touched the ground. Every piece of the body flew to a different position, forming a circle around the field of the kung fu competition.

The Green-faced guard just watched and didn’t attack the Dragon King.

Han Fen and the other disciple of the Waning Moon Hall said in unison, “The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace.”

As if infected by the words, those Green-faced assassins also said, “The living suffers in grief, and the dead settle in peace.”

Those Central Plainsmen were all transfixed with shock. In their eyes, from the Dragon King to the Unique King and their subordinates, none of these Western Regioners were sane.

Staring at the ground covered in blood, Gu Shenwei felt a wave of nausea overcome him. His body always reacted in this way in similar situations since his childhood. It had never disappeared. He had just gotten used to it.

A childish voice came from the side. “Father, you were killing again.”

Gu Shenwei and the Unique King turned their head to the side at the same time and saw Luo Ningcha’s son.