Death Scripture

Chapter 310 - Enemies

Chapter 310: Enemies

The residents of Jade City and various forces were deeply shocked when they heard Dragon King had been attacked by an assassin while paralyzed on his bed.

Respondng to inquiries by those who were curious or with ulterior motives, Fang Wenshi shot down the rumor seriously, “There’s no such thing. Dragon King is fine. How could he be paralyzed?”

However, for the past few days, the military counselor would conclude the negotiations early and return the Dragon King’s residence in South City before dark. Hence, everyone knew that there was something wrong with Dragon King.

Indeed, Gu Shenwei could not get out of bed. His chest injury was minor and the state of his Internal Breath in his Dantian had also improved, but he could not move anything from waist down. The poison in the hidden weapon was the biggest problem. Although Lianye had driven out most of the poison, the little that remained was hard to remove.

Lianye felt that he had unintentionally caused Dragon King’s injury and was deeply disturbed. Hence, he used his Internal Strength to heal Dragon King every day and refused to leave Dragon King’s residence.

The injury would gradually recover but everyone was worried about whether Dragon King had the time.

The cloaked man who had escaped was a deadly threat. He knew better than anyone that Dragon King was vulnerable at this time and would probably come back again.

Tianshan Sect sent many swordsmen reinforcing Dragon King’s residence with more than a hundred guards. It was sufficient to fend off an ordinary attack, but there were still loopholes that a real master could make use of.

Fang Wenshi suggested Dragon King move into the residence of the special emissary from the Central Plains in North City, but Dragon King declined. One couldn’t bring weapons into North City. Hence, Dragon King would be a more precarious situation. North City could not hold off those who wanted to get rid of Dragon King.

Nothing much happened in the first two days. Shangguan Hong came upon invitation on the third day.

It was obvious that Shangguan Hong had not intented to visit Dragon King. He wore a thick and long cape as if he was a thief. He arrived at Dragon King’s residence in the evening and looked around warily after he entered the house, as though there would be an ambush.

The others retreated. Shangguan Hong took off his hood and asked nervously, “Why did you summon me? Aren’t you revealing who I am?”

“I saved your life.” Gu Shenwei was propped up with a pillow and his tone was weak and old.

“Saved my life?” Shangguan Hong did not understand Dragon King’s meaning.

“Lady Meng must have known that you were the one who leaked the secret. The reason why I summoned you was to remind her not to silence anyone, otherwise, I will disclose the secret.”

Shangguan Hong hummed in acknowledgment. He knew Dragon King was right, but didn’t want to admit it. He asked, “Will you disclose it?”

“If I am going to die, why would I keep the secret?”

Shangguan Hong seemed uneasy and paced up and down. He said, “What do you want? Lady Meng will never let your two men off. She said that unless you gave her the secret manuscript, she struggle with all her might. Furthermore, both of us didn’t have any evidence and you knew that the Lord listens to her.”

Gu Shenwei coughed feebly, “I’m not worried. Tell Lady Meng that I’m living well. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have a chance to struggle. I have already collected the evidence.”

“You have?” Shangguan Hong was startled.

Gu Shenwei stopped talking.

“That’s all?” Shangguan Hong was even more nervous.

“Yes.” Gu Shenwei looked at Shangguan Hong. He suddenly asked, “Did Zhang Ji get you to kill me?”

Shangguan Hong jumped and his face turned pale. He replied, “No. Mr. Zhang said that he would want to meet you again if the opportunity arose. I … I will take my leave if there’s nothing else.”

Before Dragon King could reply, Shangguan Hong pushed open the door and left Dragon King’s residence hurriedly. He was afraid the guards would stop him.

The talk was concluded hastily. Gu Shenwei stared at the door until he could no longer see Shangguan Hong’s shadow.

Monk Lianye entered the room looking very serious.

“Does he look similar?” Gu Shenwei asked.

“Yes.” Lianye voice was a mixture of grief and fury and clenched his fist. “I don’t understand why it is him.”

“Although I didn’t kill Master Lianhua, he died because of me. Shangguan Hong wanted to silence me, but he didn’t dare to attack me. Hence, he pushed the blame to me. He hoped that Four Truths Temple and killers in the fort would erupt into a rage. Of course, this is my guess. Now, some people saw Master Hong leaving Dragon King’s residence in one piece. So, you are now free to move around.”

“Amitabha.” Lianye bowed with his palms together. “I will be back as soon as possible.”

“No. Don’t come back. Shangguan Hong is the son of Supreme King. Great Snowmountain will not meddle in your personal grudges. Please come back after you have settled it.”

Lianye nodded solemnly. He turned around and left the house, disappearing into the twilight.

Gu Shenwei had doubts about the cloaked assassin who had appeared three days ago but had finally resolved his doubts when he met Shangguan Hong just now. He also understood the reason behind Lianhua’s death.

Meng Yuzun, Lady Meng, Joy Pavilion and Wildhorse all wanted the Death Scripture. They didn’t want Dragon King to die now. Golden Roc Fort and Governor had great influence. If they had sent assassins, it would not just be one person.

Lianhua’s assassination was also very strange. He was slightly pedantic and would not have offended the various forces in Jade City. It seemed that the mastermind wanted to push the blame to Dragon King. However, he had been crushed by a censer and had his rice poisoned. Such killing methods were completely unlike those used by Dragon King.

Slave Qing was Shangguan Fei’s steward. Gu Shenwei would think that the mastermind was Ninth Young Master, but he had some doubts. Shangguan Fei knew that Wildhorse would impersonate Dragon King. Why would he risk killing Lianhua before Wildhorse?

It was only until Lin Xiaoshan had said that Lady Meng had sent someone over to negotiate and Gu Shenwei blurted out Shangguan Hong’s name, when he realized that his enemies were not only those powerful forces but also those insignificant nobodies.

Shangguan Hong was one of them. Gu Shenwei had gotten hold of his secrets in Shu-lik. He must have asked Zhang Ji for help after returning to Golden Roc Fort. Zhang Ji must be Dragon King’s hidden enemy.

The teacher who had helped Slave Huan would never betray Golden Roc Fort for anonymous student.

With this in mind, Gu Shenwei remembered that Shangguan Hong’s figure resembled his own. He could easily disguise him, impersonate Dragon King and deceive Lianye.

As for the cloaked assassin, Shangguan Hong and Zhang Ji must have thought a way to hire him. The two of them were uninterested in the Death Scripture and they might not even know its existence. They only wanted to silence Dragon King, but they were not very competent and could not hire many masters.

Even after sending Monk Lianye after Shangguan Hong, Gu Shenwei felt slightly regretful. He had hoped that he could get Zhang Ji to support Great Snowmountain. However, now that he knew about the matter, it would be impossible to get Zhang Ji’s support.

It was already completely dark. Gu Shenwei lifted the quilt, jumped out of bed and placed his swords at his belt.

The young maid Jiang came in. She was pleasantly surprised to see Dragon King off the bed. She said, “Dragon King …”

Gu Shenwei raised his forefinger and motioned her to speak softly. Jiang lowered her voice and asked, “Have you recovered?”

Gu Shenwei shook his head. He had not fully recovered as there was some poison left in his body. He couldn’t move his Internal Breath smoothly, but he could stand up and move his swords.

“Don’t let anyone in tonight,” he said to Jiang. “If someone barges in, don’t block him. Stay in bed and don’t move.”

Jiang widened her eyes and nodded. She detected a hint of danger in Dragon King’s tone and whispered, “Will there be assassins tonight?”

Gu Shenwei nodded his head.

He had foreseen the danger from Shangguan Hong’s eager posture. Although this illegitimate child of the Supreme King had the best counselor to help him, he was inexperienced and could not hide his secrets.

Gu Shenwei jumped onto the table and then leaped onto the roof. He would try not to use his Internal Strength.

Jiang pushed her little bed next to the big bed. She blew out the candle, put on her gown and lay on the bed. She held her breath and kept her eyes wide open. She didn’t dare to move, lest she disturb Dragon King, who was hiding on the roof.

The night grew deeper. Gu Shenwei had regained the feeling of being a killer once again. How much time did killers spend waiting? He couldn’t figure it out. The time spent waiting might be longer than the time spent sleeping.

Eventually, Jiang could not bear it any longer and fell into a deep sleep. Her breathing was steady as if dreaming sweet dreams.

He felt that she should not stay with him let alone come to Jade City. He needed to get rid of these meaningless thoughts. Too many things had happened that should not have and he couldn’t be bothered with any of these thoughts.

“Pong.” There was a slight noise from the window as though the snow on the roof fell to the ground. The killer who was lying on the beam was instantly alert. The assassin he had been waiting for had arrived.

Gu Shenwei gripped his sword tightly. As he had little Internal Strength to use, he had to make the first strike and kill the enemy in one blow.

However, the assassin seemed too cautious. He hadn’t even entered the house.

Gu Shenwei pricked up his ears. Apart from Jiang’s gentle breathing, he couldn’t hear anything. It seemed that the sound was caused by the falling snow.

He thought that there had been an accident outside but did nto jump down to check, wary for any traps.

A burst of footsteps passed by the door. It belonged to the guards of Dragon King’s residence, who were patrolling.

In order to hide his intention, Gu Shenwei had not given any special instructions to the guards tonight. Everything was as usual.

Those machetemen and swordsmen couldn’t fend off a real assassin. The sound of footsteps went away; it seemed that no one found anything out of sorts.

Gu Shenwei still believed the sound was created by an assassin who had come and gone, instead of falling snow.

He thought the assassin was here to reconnoiter the area. He was slightly nervous as this would mean that there might be more than one assassin tonight.

Who did Zhang Ji and Shangguan Hong send? They had no money and power. They could only rely on Zhang Ji’s glib tongue and it seemed unlikely that they had convinced any capable Golden Roc killer, unless it was a retired killer who had left Golden Roc Fort.

Killers usually reached their peak before they turned forty. They could only seek some idle job, teach young killers or voluntarily give up the title of Golden Roc killer. Or, like vagrant machetemen, they could look for clients.

Gu Shenwei suddenly remembered who the cloaked man was. He had met the cloaked man once, but had not thought about it as it had happened a long time ago.

Another enemy came. There was no sound this time, but a sudden shadow flashed across the window.

A tiny hole was poked through the paper window. An assassin was listening attentively. Gu Shenwei made breathing sound, which was consistent with Jiang’s breathing sound to indicate that there were two people in the house.

The shadow disappeared for a while. Then, a small wooden pipe was stuck into the room and a thin stream of smoke drifted in.

It wasn’t the knockout powder, which was commonly used by Golden Roc Fort. The assassin obviously didn’t want to leave any evidence relating him to Golden Roc Fort.

After fifteen minutes, a dagger was stuck through the crack in the door, as it tried to unlock the door.

However, the dagger stopped moving when its tip appeared on the other side of the door. The person outside seemed to be hesitating.

Gu Shenwei was extremely nervous. He was in a very dangerous situation. His right hand gripped the sword shaft tightly. He might have to run the risk of aggravating his wound and use Death Scripture swordcraft.

The threat had not gone. The assassin outside had suddenly disappeared. Gu Shenwei even doubted that he had heard it wrong. The dagger was left at the door. Then, it moved up without warning.

The feeling of impending danger grew stronger. Gu Shenwei had not been so nervous in a long time and this nervousness had nothing to do with his injury.

The door cracked open. It was only wide enough for a gust of wind to enter, but a person managed to slip through the small gap.

A woman in a plain dress looked up when she entered the room, right at the place where Dragon King was hiding.

The chill in Gu Shenwei’s body suddenly intensified and he found himself trembling. Then, he fell off the beam.