Death Scripture

It was impossible for a killer of Golden Roc Fort to ‘live in seclusion’ in Joy Pavilion. Just as Gu Shenwei was concentrating on getting his Internal Energy to flow through all of his meridians for a second time, people and trouble away from Hope Alley came looking for him.

First, unwelcome visitors who he knew, but had no direct connection to him, came uninvited to the Pavilion.

They did not recognize him as he had followed the example of those around him, and disguised himself by drawing many ‘wounds’ across his face.

They were led by Shangguan Fei’s ‘military counsellor’, Guan Houlin. He chatted with Tang Ji, the supervisor of the teahouse, for a while, and both parties ended the conversation on bad terms.

Upon seeing Guan Houlin, Gu Shenwei abruptly remembered that the reason he had given Shangguan Ru for coming to this place was to investigate Guan Houlin’s background. Fortunately, he quickly got the information he wanted from the disciples of Immortal Peng. He was familiar with them now, and they were no different from ordinary people once they were not under Immortal Peng’s control.

According to the disciples, Guan Houlin had wanted to become a disciple of Immortal Peng when he had been a broke macheteman, but he had been rejected by the immortal due to his inaptitude. Now, Guan Houlin came back to Joy Pavilion again as the military counsellor for Shangguan Fei who owned the largest gang in South City, asking for protection money.

Hope Alley was never any gang’s territory. Residents of the alley never accepted any outsider’s protection or pay protection money to anyone. Thus, Guan Houlin’s request was immediately being rejected.

Everyone in Joy Pavilion remained calm and thought of the incident as trivial. Gu Shenwei felt a little pity for Shangguan Fei. There were many skilled kung fu masters in the pavilion and Hope Alley, and the Ninth Young Master would surely lose badly if he came looking for trouble. There was a reason why the Alley was not under the control of any power in the City.

On an evening in the fourth month of the year, not long after Guan Houlin’s visit to Hope Alley, Gu Shenwei encountered another group of people as he was practicing kung fu in the peach forest. This time, they came looking for him specifically.

Gu Shenwei was alone at that time, as Chu Nanping was Immortal Peng’s servant and could only leave when the immortal was resting.

Around eight people dressed in black leapt down from the peach trees in succession and they each took up different positions around Yang Huan, surrounding him closely.

Gu Shenwei felt irritated as he looked coldly at these familiar faces, with his long sword in his hand. He was immersed in the world of sword craft now, and did not like to be disturbed.

Shangguan Ru walked in a semi-circle around her own subordinate, asking, “Are you practising swordcraft?”

“Yes, I am,” he replied bluntly.

Shangguan Ru had not expected such a reply from him, and was stunned for a moment. Gu Shenwei was also amazed by his own tone and quickly came to his senses. He immediately went down onto one knee, released his grip on his sword, and asked for forgiveness with his head down, “I’m sorry, Master Ru…”

“How should I explain all of this? ” Gu Shenwei thought. He could not think of any reasonable excuse.

Instead of becoming angry, a look of pity came across Shangguan Ru’s face as she said, “I should have gotten you out sooner, you’ve fallen for the ‘Immortal’s Rope’.”

“I what?” Gu Shenwei lifted his head in bewilderment.

“The Immortal’s Rope is a form of Immortal Peng’s sorcery, once you’ve fallen for it, you would come to believe anything he says and stay by his side willingly, never leaving him. Luckily, you haven’t been under its influence for too long, and still can be saved. Leave with me now.”

“No, no, I did not fall for the Immortal’s Rope, I can leave anytime, but I’m already so close to…”

Gu Shenwei stopped talking but looked like that he had something to tell the Tenth Young Master in private. Shangguan Ru waved off the other killers and got him to stand up and continue talking.

“Immortal Peng can remove the Peripheral Force from my body, and is close to succeeding.”

“You’re still not cured of it yet?” It was Shangguan Ru’s turn to be amazed. She thought that Slave Huan had been fully cured of the force after the Barren Sect was destroyed.

“I thought I was, at that time. It came back again.”

“You kept it from me all along.”

“There are many things for you to worry about, and I don’t wish to add to your troubles. I thought I could be cured in a few days, and never knew I would be delayed here for so long.”

“I have to remind you that Immortal Peng is highly skilled, but is also very dangerous. You should be wary of him.”

Gu Shenwei was surprised that the Tenth Young Master was not mad at him for being ‘missing in action’ for the past two months. He replied, “Yes, I’ll leave Joy Pavilion soon. No one is holding me back. In fact, Ye Silang walked out of here of his own will too.”

Shangguan Ru nodded. She looked as if to be wrestling with her emotions before sighing and saying to Gu Shenwei, “Fine, stay here for the moment, but remember what I told you. Once you fall under the influence of the Immortal’s Rope, you’ll find a reason to stay here. I believe that what you told me is true.”

Gu Shenwei kneeled again before his master. His reason for staying in Joy Pavilion was of course genuine. He did not have much time to cure his qigong deviation now, so he had to stay here to save his own life.

When he lifted his head again, Shangguan Ru had already left.

That day’s sword craft practice did not go down smoothly. Gu Shenwei and Chu Nanping were practicing the second stage of the ‘Sword is Heavier than Mountain’ condition, and had each placed a piece of heavy metal flat on their swords. Not only did they have to channel their Internal Breaths to ensure that their swords would not break under the pressure, but they had to prevent the metal pieces from flying off when they brandishing their swords quickly. Gu Shenwei was not concentrating properly and his sword play was uncertain. As a result, the metal piece came off his sword continuously.

Although Chu Nanping was younger, he was blunt and did not hold back in criticising his practice partner. He sheathed his own sword, turned around and left, while saying, “You’re getting emotional. It’s a waste of time.”

Gu Shenwei was seized by a sudden rage upon being reprimanded by an 11-year-old child. Without thinking, he picked his sword up and chased after Chu Nanping. He struck at Chu’s neck when he was close behind.

He was not using the Emotionless Sword technique but rather sword craft from the Death Scripture. It was the kung fu that Gu Shenwei was most familiar with, and he could always kill his target with it.

This time though, he would be disappointed.

While the tip of Gu’s sword was still one foot away from its target, Chu Nanping had already turned around, and struck out with his own sword. Gu Shenwei was forced to retreat, and was left standing against the trunk of a tree, with the young child’s sword held against his chest.

The Death Scripture taught to strike with only a blow, and if it failed, the opponent would have the upper hand.

“Rage is also an emotion, therefore to be emotionless you cannot be angry. What’s the matter with you today?”

Gu Shenwei pushed Chu Nanping’s sword away and walked out of the peach forest without saying a word. He needed time to think alone.

He had only begun to notice after so long that Secrets of Love and Death Scripture were two completely different types of kung fu. The former was grand and encompassed many variations, while the latter was subtle and taught to strike with only one blow. Without him noticing, his original kung fu had been weaker after he had begun to practice the Emotionless Swordsmanship.

Gu Shenwei was walking aimlessly towards the outskirts of Hope Alley, and started feeling frustrated after a short while. As he looked back, he saw a solitary light in the room on the third floor of Joy Pavilion. He felt a sudden impulse to look for Immortal Peng directly. He wanted to know why the immortal was interested in the Death Scripture when the scripture was obviously the direct opposite of Secrets of Love.

Gu Shenwei continued walking forward. Even though his sword craft had become weaker, his Lightness Skill had improved and his walking speed had greatly increased. Soon enough, he was already out of Hope Alley, and it was the first time he had entered a different region of South City after learning Secrets of Love.

There seemed to be no change to the streets, except that the snow had already melted off and they had become dirtier.

He met Maid Lotus in a room at the backyard of the Southwall Tavern. She had come to the peach forest with the Tenth Young Master to see him previously, but did not have a chance to speak to him then.

“What went wrong?”

Maid Lotus’ tone was always calm as still water, but this time, a hint of concern came from her voice. Slave Huan was supposed to meet up with her once every three days, according to the original plan, but this was the first time they had met at the pre-determined location in two months. She had watched him from afar while silently in hiding many times, but had never shown herself before.

“I don’t know.”

Gu Shenwei’s restlessness was more evident the farther he was away from Joy Pavilion. It was as if there were a murder of crows nesting in his heart and were flying in all directions as they sensed impending doom. He wanted to return to his place of quiet and peace.

He slumped down, surprised at and despising his own weakness.

Maid Lotus came towards him and placed a palm on his shoulder. “I’ll help you,” she said gently.

Gu Shenwei lifted his head to look at the teenage woman whom he was most familiar with. He was surprised that her voice could sound so sweet. Even though he did not drink, he felt intoxicated by these four simple words she said.

Before being aware of his actions, he had already wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his face on her flat lower abdomen, keeping silent.

Maid Lotus was surprised and lifted her hand, seeming to want to push Gu Shenwei away. At last, however, she rested her hand on his head, lightly caressing it. After a while, she said to him, “Tell me everything.”

Gu Shenwei felt much calmer when he made his return to Joy Pavilion. He had also felt a tinge of guilt, as he was never so intimate with a woman before. This made him question himself as to whether he was still a killer.

Maid Lotus had recorded with brush and paper as he dictated to her the detailed process of his training, and also what he remembered of Secrets of Love. However, he did not have complete memory of it, as out of all 64 different techniques, he had only scrutinised the Heartless Swords technique.

Gu Shenwei felt that he had gained a new form of strength, and that he could use it to counter Immortal Peng’s sorcery, no matter whether it was called hypnosis or the Immortal’s Rope.

He did not return to his room which was near Joy Pavilion to rest, but went to the empty Pavilion, walking up the stairs with big steps.

The solitary light on the third level was still burning brightly. He drew the screen closer to the light and read every word on it carefully.

There was no doubt about the fact that 64 different methods of practicing the Secrets of Love meant that it comprised of 64 different kung fu techniques. If Death Scripture was just different to practioners of different ways of interpretation and different skill levels, the Secrets of Love was like a huge melting pot comprising of everything.

Unknowingly, he was fascinated again with the Heartless Swords technique portion.

The technique consisted of seven different states: Becoming Lighter than the Sword, the Sword is Heavier than the Mountain, Becoming One with the Sword, Intention Follows the Movement of the Sword, Heart and Intent are One, Containing Emotion in the Heart and Not Allowing Emotions in the Heart. Each state dealt with a different type of kung fu, targeting the practioner’s Lightness Skill, strength, speed, concentration, reaction, killing intent and determination. In the end, one would become an extension of one’s sword when striking.

Gu Shenwei never considered the final stage of practising this sword craft technique. He was a ‘heartless person’, and had to be decisive and firm.

“Do not control your feelings, unleash them. Those are a redundant part of your heart, therefore expose it and then remove it. To be heartless you need to love first, by killing off the love in your heart, is to become heartless,” Gu Shenwei muttered to himself.

He was aware that he had said these words involuntarily without any thought.

Gu Shenwei had not noticed that the short Immortal was not more than 10 steps away from him, tall crutch in hand.

“How did Ye Silang leave Joy Pavilion?” croaked Gu Shenwei. It was as if he had lost control of his vocal chords and had to expend much effort to use them.

He then answered his own question in a voice that was slightly stiff. However, he spoke fluently, telling a story that he himself had never heard before.

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