Death Scripture

Gu Shenwei did not expect Maid Lotus to make the first move. He instinctively drew his sword to counter-attack, but he was already stabbed in the chest before he could complete his move.

Her sword entered his chest by a few inches, and was close to his heart.

“Now, do you understand?” Maid Lotus asked as she kept her sword. She had examined the Secrets of Love thoroughly but had only touched on the Heartless Swords technique out of the 64 types of kung fu. As such, she was not completely sure of her deduction, but she had to look confident as it was the only chance for her to let Slave Huan see the truth.

Gu Shenwei sheathed his sword as well. He looked pale as a ghost, and felt as though a worm was crawling inside his heart, trying to burrow out of its cocoon. “Why? Why did I not see it before?”

“You cannot be blamed, the Immortal’s Rope has enchanted more than a few people. Not many can escape from the Immortal’s clutches once he has talked about his visionary theories. Even somebody like me, who has never met him, had to spend a long time before I could spot any loopholes in it.”

“So there aren’t 64 methods of training?”

“Of course not, it’s just a wild theory thrown around by him. Even if there are different methods of training in a type of kung fu, they would end up serving the same purpose. There could never be a mix of sword craft, machete technique and boxing skills in just one type of kung fu.”

Maid Lotus’ explanation was very easy to understand, yet Gu Shenwei was at a loss. He was starting to see the truth.

The Immortal was indeed a great hypnotist. His words and teachings were mainly true, but a small part of the key points were not. It had convinced Gu Shenwei to go against his better judgement and unknowingly, he had fallen into the Immortal’s trap.

“The Heartless Swords technique… is not invincible?”

Maid Lotus laughed coldly. She knew that she could not make him snap out of his funk just by talking. She drew her sword again and pointed it at his chest, saying sternly, “I did not use all of my skills just now. Look at you, thinking that your sword craft has improved by leaps and bounds. Now, you are just a pawn to the Immortal. Think about Ye Silang, if there was indeed a set of sword craft that would make its practitioner undefeatable, would he have given up halfway?”

Gu Shenwei got up abruptly. “I’m leaving,” he said.

“Are you up to it?,” Maid Lotus asked.

He nodded his head, opened the door and stepped out into the night.

She sheathed her sword again. It was useless to try to make him stay. He would have to come to his senses on his own anyway.

Gu Shenwei returned to the third storey of the Joy Pavilion. He noticed that there was someone there, reading the texts on the screen.

It was Chu Nanping. He was staring at the screen fixatedly, while mumbling to himself and drawing in the air with his fingers.

So, he did not kill someone that he ‘did not want to kill’ too, thought Gu Shenwei.

He felt a little sympathy for the child, but nothing beyond that. Even though they were practice partners, they seldom interacted beyond their practice sessions. They had not reached the stage where they were able to trust each other yet.

Gu Shenwei stood behind Chu Nanping as he quickly gave the entire Secrets of Love a look once again. He could not control himself and let out a chuckle as he thought about how true Maid Lotus was. Also, the text containing the so-called 64 different methods of training were badly grafted onto the main body of the Secrets of Love. He was sure that he would have spotted it if he had studied the content on the screens without any ‘guidance’ from the Immortal.

In truth, there were more than ten types of different kung fu techniques and each of them was top notch. If he had not already learned the Death Scripture, he was sure that he would have been drawn to them. He realised that he had made a grave error in giving away the Death Scripture so easily to the Immortal.

However, he kept some of its contents secret from Immortal Peng – the 29 diagrams. He had memorised them by heart, but did not draw them out for the Immortal. This was done as he could not draw, and it was also a strategy that he and Maid Lotus had come up with together. They wanted to beat the Immortal at his own game.

Gu Shenwei chuckled again. As he tilted his head towards his practice partner, he realised that Chu Nanping was staring at him angrily. He was extremely unhappy with Gu Shenwei for breaking his concentration, and showed hostility towards him. He had forgotten that to be emotionless, one could not be angry.

“I am going to rest, continue studying and train at your own pace,” said Gu Shenwei flippantly.

He turned and walked down the stairs, returning to his room to sleep.

Chu Nanping sensed that there was something not right with the mocking and sarcastic tone of his practice partner. However, he was soon drawn back towards the contents on the screen, and resumed studying the words carefully. He did not know what had gone wrong, and why he was unable to strike.

As Gu Shenwei fell asleep, it was very clear that he only wanted one thing. I cannot let the Immortal get the Death Scripture so easily. I’ll make that dwarf pay, he thought to himself.

However, when dawn arrived, he soon became unsure again. He had indeed got some benefits from listening to the Immortal. The meridians across his entire body were now functioning better than before, and the most obvious improvement was to his Lightness Skill. He had even circumvented the inherent vice of his family’s Internal Strength technique, and was able to scale the walls easily now.

Even though the Immortal’s theory of the 64 different training methods was a lie, the techniques by themselves were truly top notch. There was also no question about Ye Silang and Chu Yangjun’s high level of sword craft – if Maid Lotus had not worked with him, he would not have been their match.

He was also sure that he was no match for many skilled denizens in the Joy Pavilion, even before he had fallen under the influence of the Immortal. And he did not even have to consider the skill level of the Immortal himself. The dwarf had achieved perfection with his kung fu, and Gu Shenwei did not even notice when he had moved during their previous encounter.

Who could say that the seventh stage of the Heartless Swords technique would not be equal to the Death Scripture? He thought.

Gu Shenwei stuck to his routine of waking up early to practice sword craft in the peach forest with Chu Nanping. Neither of them mentioned their failure to kill the previous night. After the practice session had concluded, they had their breakfast, and the boy went up to serve Immortal Peng while the youth remained on the first storey, sipping his tea.

I have to wait for a better opportunity, if I make my move on Immortal Peng now, it will be to my disadvantage. It wasn’t an illusion when he showed me that his level of kung fu was much higher than mine, he thought.

However, Maid Lotus’ admonishment that he had been tricked kept replaying in his mind. He now has an image of her as a stern teacher nagging at him continuously. Gradually, he grew angrier as he thought about her. He began considering how he would kill his only trustworthy companion again.

After making up his mind, he returned to sipping his tea and enjoyed the pleasure of having his acupoints beating along with the percussion instruments.

He had fallen into the Immortal’s trap again. It was not until it was nearly evening when he changed his mind again.

His Baihui and Xuanji acupoints had beat at the same time, something which had not happened before.

In the past, when he channelled his Internal Breath throughout his meridians while drinking tea, there was no reaction from these two acupoints. He had also never experienced two acupoints beating at the same time before.

As the sounds from the percussion instruments stopped, the two acupoints kept beating as if they were two miniature drums. They belonged to the Ren and Du meridians and soon enough, all acupoints along these two meridians were beating. Before the next round of sounds came from the percussion instruments, all of the acupoints along Gu Shenwei’s twelve meridians and eight extra meridians were beating as if they were insects jumping in a hot wok.

As the acupoints on his body kept beating, the Internal Breath in his Dantian circulated so quickly as if it were a wild horse which had just broken free from its reins. It had completed a grand circulation in no time.

Gu Shenwei tried to stabilise himself with great effort, placing all of his weight on his right palm which was on the table. He could see about 10 or so denizens looking alarmingly at him. He knew that something extraordinary must have happened to his appearance.

He was unaware that he was shaking so violently that the fake scars that he had pasted onto his face came falling off, and he had reverted to his original appearance. His face turned red and pale alternatively. It was no wonder that the others were looking at him.

The sounds of the percussion instruments began again after half an hour, and all but his Baihui and Xuanju acupoints stopped beating with it. However, the speed at which they were beating at was slowing down at last.

Gu Shenwei had broke out a sweat and soaked several layers of his clothing. He stood up and began walking up the stairs briskly. No one was sure what he planned on doing.

The second storey of the Pavilion was already empty, and the last visitor who had come to have his fortune told was already heading downstairs. He was shaking his head and muttering to himself, “This is amazing. Things are going to get better.”

Gu Shenwei made way for the visitor and continued up towards the third storey. The eight puppets who usually spoke on behalf of the Immortal were seated at different positions and were unmoved by the sudden appearance of the youth. They looked like life-like wax figures.

At this moment, the screen was pushed away and the real Immortal Peng appeared.

Chu Nanping acted as the Immortal’s mouthpiece and spoke, “You’re courting your own death.”

The dwarf had already sensed the youth’s killing intent, even though others who were present had no idea what the youth was planning to do.

The Immortal’s disciples who were drinking tea at the first storey realised something was amiss when the last few percussive sounds did not come. They swarmed up the stairs and formed a semi-circle in front of the Immortal. They looked at the youth in horror. There were always people who came and went from the Pavilion, but no one has ever dared to challenge the Immortal.

Gu Shenwei remained silent. He never liked talking too much when he was on a killing mission.

The beatings of his Baihui and Xuanji acupoints were gradually slowing down, and the moment to strike was slipping away from him.

His blow was simple and ungrand. No one would have thought that it would manage to hit a top notch martial arts master like the Immortal himself.

Yet, it hit its intended target. The Immortal threw his crutch away and pressed his fat and tender hands against his neck. There was no blood that was gushing out yet, but his hands would turn red very soon.

“It’s impossible!” exclaimed Chu Nanping. He spoke of his own accord, startled by what he had just seen. He kneeled down and supported the dwarf, who was going to fall.

More than ten disciples were stunned and looked as if they had just seen the sky fall down. Some of them sat lifelessly on the floor while the others wiped off their disguises. As Gu Shenwei saw their true faces for the first time, he realised that most of them were not as ugly as they made themselves up to be. There were even familiar faces amongst them.

The Immortal was still alive, but had lost his ability of ventriloquism. He looks like he is full of rage and bewilderment. He could not understand why he was defeated by the youth.

“I have forgotten all of the kung fu that you have taught me.”

Even Chu Nanping, who was fully aware of the deal that the youth made with Immortal Peng, could not understand the real meaning behind Gu Shenwei’s words.

Only Immortal Peng understood what he meant. His eyeballs looked as if they would have leapt out of their sockets. He released his bloodied hand from his neck and tried to grasp at the youth. However, his body failed him and he sagged down on his servant’s arm. Soon, he stopped moving.

As Gu Shenwei looked at the dwarf’s corpse, he felt relieved. His Baihui and Xuanji acupoints were not beating anymore. The Peripheral Force in his body used to carry the danger of qigong deviation, but it had saved him at his most dire moment.

The evil secrets of the Barren Sect was so potent that it had prevented another force from controlling its host.

Immortal Peng died as a result of his own treachery.

Gu Shenwei’s level of kung fu had diminished greatly when he started practicing the Secrets of Love and the Heartless Swords techniques; likewise, the Immortal’s skills had become much lower when he began practicing the Death Scripture. He had not noticed this change in himself, and it led to his own death at the hands of the youth.

As Gu Shenwei turned to face the panic-stricken disciples, he noticed that a number of them showed an obvious desire to kill him.

The youth had rid himself of all distracting thoughts, and was back to being a killer again.