Death Scripture

If Tie Hanfeng was still alive, he would surely have given his disciple a harsh lesson for not complying with the rules, always trying to get to the bottom of a matter, and ultimately inviting trouble to himself.

Zhou Huan might not have been an important figure, but his death was even more influential upon Kun Society than Marquis Gao’s assassination. The latter’s death was glorified by Kun Society, whereas Zhou Huan was a merchant in the rice and flour trade and had paid protection fees to Kun Society. Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru was therefore responsible to find out who the real murderer was and take revenge on Zhou Huan’s behalf.

The reputation which Kun Society had only recently built up would go down the drain if it was unable to provide a reasonable explanation for the case.

As he looked at the corpse, Gu Shenwei finally understood the commandant Zhong Heng’s intentions. Perhaps, that wily old fox had secretly investigated the rice shop earlier, and did not know who to hand the corpse over to. Fortunately for him, Shangguan Ru and Yang Huan came of their own accord, and were the ideal people to take up the matter.

The near hundred merchants of the rice and flour trade were in a state of jittery anxiety. Shopkeeper Mi, who had just lost a finger, hurried over to salvage the situation. Beating his chest, he assured the crowd, on his family members’ lives, that Kun Society would handle the matter properly, and that everyone else would be safe.

Zhou Huan’s death also attracted attention from Stone Castle. If it was a homicide, it would mean that one of the two societies, Kun and Horned Dragon, had violated the regulation not to interfere with the merchants’ dealings.

This was a time when a “problem” needed to be “solved”. The simplest and most expedient thing to do would be to announce that Zhou Huan had committed suicide. After all, based on the observations at the scene, he indeed appeared to have slit his own neck. As for his motive, the ready-made explanation was that he had done so out of love for Marquis Gao.

The pressure trickled down the chain of command. Gu Shenwei was merely an ordinary killer whose opinions were insignificant and would never reach the ears of the administrators in Stone Castle.

That evening, Shangguan Yushi appeared in public on behalf of Tenth Young Master to invite representatives from the rice and flour trade to watch a reenactment of the death scene. Most people, after taking a glimpse, would run out of the shop without having observed the scene carefully. Despite not speaking much, Master Yu was able to make the entire street believe that Zhou Huan had committed suicide out of love.

However, what followed at the same time was a new explanation for Marquis Gao’s death. Many people made their own inferences and came to the same conclusion – the true murderer was Zhou Huan, who committed a crime of passion, with the rice grains left on the female prostitute’s bed serving as proof.

Rumors surged in Jade City regarding the emotional entanglement between two males and a female prostitute, upon hearing which some sneered while others lamented. But few people made the connection that since the real murderer was identified, the duel between Ye Silang and the killer Yang Huan was no longer necessary.

Kun Society and Horned Dragon Society reached a tacit agreement that they would not make irresponsible remarks regarding Marquis Gao’s deaths. Both societies continued to assume that Yang Huan was the killer, and consequently, the duel would have to proceed on time.

The duel was no longer about seeking truth, and was instead a contest for superiority between two emerging powerhouses.

The matter was becoming simpler – Gu Shenwei simply needed to focus his attention and get ready to kill. However, he was unable to get his head together for some reason.

He could accept the “problem-solving” explanation which was that Zhou Huan had committed suicide, but he would not have an easy conscience in doing so. He knew that someone was making use of the battle between the two societies to seek personal gain, and wanted to find out who it was and whether the person was a friend or foe.

Therefore, he gave a secret order to Maid Lotus and the Xu siblings to continue looking for clues regarding Marquis Gao’s and Zhou Huan’s deaths. He stipulated that they could only operate in secret and must not let anyone know that Kun Society was still searching for the true murderer.

At this point in time, he needed to start making preparations for the duel. Ye Silang was a real master through and through. Although they had never wielded a sword in front of each other before, there had already been a contest of willpower and killing intent between them, and thus the mutual impressions were deep.

The person most excited about the duel was Shangguan Ru. She attached multiple meanings to this life-and-death fight; it would not only showcase Kun Society’s strength, but also serve to take revenge for her kidnapping.

However, Slave Huan’s recent behavior deeply confounded her and many other people. He did not focus on practicing his machete skills, nor visit Rouge Forest to familiarize himself with its terrain. Instead, he spent a large part of each day sitting down in deep contemplation, as if he could rely solely on willpower to defeat a swordsman.

In actual fact, Gu Shenwei valued the duel greatly. Under normal circumstances, Death Scripture could not be practiced. He, together with Maid Lotus, had killed too many people, and their swordsmanship and machete skills had reached a point of stagnation. Ordinary kills had become meaningless to him, and only a master like Ye Silang could stimulate his potential to develop further.

Ye Silang was like a conundrum placed in front of a genius – it was not easy to solve, but solving it would entail stepping up to a higher level.

“If only swords were allowed,” Gu Shenwei could not help thinking. This thought was, however, fatal to himself and not his opponent. Death Scripture required its practitioners to reach a state where there were completely no distracting thoughts. The tiniest bit of doubt or inquietude would cause a massive reduction of power.

Kungfu was not like the growth of a tree, which could only increase and not decrease, and was easily measurable. Instead, kungfu was like climbing stairs; one could ascend but also fall off, and the determinants of victory, defeat, survival, or death included not just one’s weapon skills but also which side the environment was more favorable to, who had the greater willpower and killing desire, etc. The slightest of changes to these factors could result in a disastrous defeat for a kungfu master, let alone an ordinary combatant.

Since his machete skills could no longer be improved, what Gu Shenwei needed to do was to clear the distracting thoughts and temper his willpower.

“If only swords were allowed.” He was unable to banish this thought up until the morning of the ninth day of the first lunar month.

Rouge Forest was already prepared. Many people had gathered outside the woodland, with the rich arriving by carriage, while the poor made the journey on foot. This sort of excitement was not seen every year, and nobody wanted to miss out on it.

Almost none of the spectators had brought blades, and even the machetemen left their weapons at home or concealed them safely. Nobody wanted to be seen as ill-intentioned, and furthermore, Golden Roc Fort and the Meng family of North City had spread the word that anyone carrying blades would have no grounds to complain if they were attacked without an explicit reason.

Kun Society’s men were first to arrive. Its band of machetemen had expanded by several times to reach more than a hundred in numbers. They brandished their blades deliberately, and under Tuo Nengya’s command, neatly arranged themselves to guard the Tenth Young Master.

Horned Dragon Society’s men would follow behind. Its recruitment of machetemen was even larger at approximately three hundred men. However, they were disorderly and clustered around a few noble masters. They constantly hollered as they walked, as if to impose themselves on the venue. Among them was a youth in his twenties who was said to be the chosen Machete God. His appearance attracted a great deal of attention, causing crowds of people to swarm towards the moving contingent. This practically resembled a case of a guest stealing the limelight from the host.

It was no longer a secret who the leaders of Horned Dragon Society were. There were, in total, five of them, but with Marquis Gao’s death, four remained. Fifth Young Master merited the title of society owner by virtue of outlaying the most amount of money, while the other three masters were each of royal blood. Behind them followed 23 later-enlisted members who were also well-known figures in North City.

Far away from the crowds, Sword Sacrificer Ye Silang was shielded by a group of machetemen. He was wrapped in a purple cape, and hid his face in a hood so that nobody could see his expressions.

The machetemen created a passageway for Fifth Young Master to move towards the side of Kun Society. At first, he cheerfully exchanged a few courteous words with Tenth Young Master, but the exchange quickly descended into a quarrel. Shangguan Yushi held back Shangguan Ru and declared loudly, “Talk is cheap. Let’s see who’s the real deal by way of blade!”

The duel did not begin immediately. Both sides dispatched a team of machetemen to search the forest and make sure there were no ambushes.

The crowds outside the forest were becoming restless. It was freezing out there, and many people stamped their feet on the ground in order to keep as warm as possible. They could not help but urge loudly and kick up a huge fuss. The machetemen punished a few of the noisiest spectators, leaving a little bit of red on the snow. This, perhaps, satisfied a few people’s desire for some excitement.

Amidst the chaotic clamoring, the two duelists entered the forest and quickly disappeared out of sight. This caused the spectators to regret their behavior, and they began to exchange updates on what was going on.

“Did Kun Society’s killer bring a sword?”

“No, I personally saw only a knife. It seems like Ye Silang was wrong; how could a killer be a swordsman?”

The name “Yang Huan” was, as of yet, foreign to most residents of Jade City. They instead referred to him with the more general “Kun Society killer”.

The betting arenas of South City certainly did not want to let slip of such a good opportunity, and thus colluded to organize a huge betting event. Judging from the odds, Ye Silang was more favored. He was, after all, a long-renowned swordsman. Conversely, who knew what the “Kun Society killer” had done before?

After the duel ended, many people who self-professed to be far-sighted would claim that, from the start of the duel, there were signs that it would be dull and boring, except that nobody could tell it would be dull and boring for such a long time and yet conclude in such a dramatic fashion. The organizers of the betting event were outraged and ran into conflict with many of the gamblers.

After entering the forest, Gu Shenwei quickly distanced himself from Ye Silang. Of the two of them, the latter was the one who wanted the battle to be decided quickly.

The messy trails of footprints in the forest was a source of advantage to the killer by helping him to hide his tracks. He had devised a tactic to delay time as much as possible, and only show his hand when Ye Silang became impatient and careless.

The killer was skilled at this waiting game. Instead, the swordsman did not have this sort of patience.

Rouge Forest was not very big, and its widest part was no more than two or three miles across. Wearing a set of white clothes, Gu Shenwei laid prone under a tree holding his breath. He endured the biting cold and tried his best not to think about whether he was holding a sword or a knife.

Once, Ye Silang flashed by, with his purple cape fluttering in the cold wind like a flower which had bloomed in the wrong season, only a dozen steps away from Gu Shenwei’s position, and vanished in an instant. The latter self-admitted that his Lightness Skill was way inferior to the former’s.

Seeing that the swordsman was vigorous and inspirited, Gu Shenwei knew he had to wait a little longer.

The audience outside the forest was increasingly agitated. The duel, which had been publicized for several days, was not supposed to be this boring. Two hours had passed and they had not heard any loud screams or seen any fresh blood spilled. The only thing they saw was the occassional and brief appearance of the purple cape. Meanwhile, not a shadow was seen from the “Kun Society killer”.

If the result was decided by popularity, Kun Society would be overwhelmingly crushed.

Shangguan Ru, disdainful of the crowd’s ignorance, dispatched several machetemen to explain the differences between a killer and a swordsman to everyone. “A killer seeks to deliver a surprising one-hit kill. Ye Silang may be moving about vigorously for now, but he’ll certainly lose not only the contest but also his life. The killer will carry his head out of the forest.”

The image of a human head being carried out of the forest reinvigorated the crowd, but they remained concerned as to how long it would take. “We haven’t been able to eat and the weather’s cold. Can’t the killer act sooner?”

The dramatic ending took place six hours after the duel had begun. The sky had turned slightly dark and a significant portion of the audience had left. When they heard the cry from the forest, some of those who were leaving turned back.

Thousands of people stretched their necks to see “Kun Society killer” carrying Ye Silang out of the forest. However, they were puzzled and disappointed that it was not the latter’s head – Ye Silang was still alive.

“There was an ambush.”

In a low voice, Gu Shenwei informed Shangguan Ru that his second duel with Sword Sacrificer Ye Silang was once again interrupted.