Death Scripture

Shangguan Fei did not understand how things turned out this way.

The six men outside the peach forest should have been unimportant characters. In the peach forest, the soldiers of the Horned Dragon Society were split into two teams. The first team was pawns, and only after when the Kun Society had sent the same pawns to encircle their rivals would Shangguan Fei send the second team of machetemen to appear suddenly. The latter would have encircled the enemy easily. Only after when everything was over would he be able to brag that he had appeared on the battlefield himself. Who would have dared to say that he didn’t have any courage?

His younger sister, Slave Huan, and Tuo Nengya; these three people should have been far away on the corner of the South City. They should have fallen into the trap and been killed by that fool, Guan Houlin. If his mother had chided him, he would be able to put all blame on the military counselor, or have brought the head of the military counselor to ask his mother for forgiveness. The big man might have been good in the past. Though he had been able to give Shangguan Fei the security that Shangguan Fei needed most; lately, Guan Houlin revealed more and more of his stupidity and could not be trusted anymore.

This was actually a perfect plan. It was as perfect as the plans of assassinating Master Yu and usurping the authority of the two societies. However, he had fallen into a trap.

Of the six negotiators, there were his sister Shangguan Ru and the old macheteman Tuo Nengya. Those people were not pawns either. They were the skilled experts of Kun Society led by Wildhorse and there was also the elite machetemen whom Tuo Nengya had hidden deep in the peach forest.

Shangguan Fei and the small number of machetemen that he led were not their match. They surrendered almost immediately at the moment when both sides clashed.

Shangguan Fei was shocked when he saw the coffin.

“I apologize to Master Yu.” Shangguan Ru’s saber was placed on her brother’s neck. She did not know the feeling in her heart. There was no joy of revenge and neither was there the slightest mercy.

“I’m sorry,” Shangguan Fei’s head was in complete chaos. He did not know how he had been seen through and neither could he foresee how his sister was going to deal with him. “I didn’t think of killing her. We were just playing. As always, I would never have thought that anyone would die. It’s those machetemen who didn’t take my advice. My sister, please spare me. I’m your twin brother. Mother will be angry. Please don’t kill me…”

Shangguan Fei pleaded while bursting into tears.

Shangguan Ru raised her head and looked at the people crowded around them. The masked Wildhorse had a glimmer of the desire to kill in his eyes. The old macheteman Tuo Nengya’s eyes were sharp and he nodded encouragingly.

They were all waiting for her to kill Shangguan Fei. Only she had the qualifications to kill a son of the Supreme King.

Shangguan Ru raised her dagger but did not let it fall. Instead, she took several steps backwards and took another saber from Maid Lotus’ hands. She threw it to her brother. “Don’t say that I didn’t give you a chance. Let’s duel. The loser will die and the winner will live.”

The circle of onlookers widened and made space for the twins.

Shangguan Fei looked at the blade on the floor. His body shivered, as if that blade was a poisonous snake at his feet. He rushed to the side of the coffin and clung tightly onto one corner. “I won’t duel. I won’t duel. Spare me, my sister. I’ll not fight with you. Master Yu, my sister wants to kill me. Please talk to her…”

Shangguan Fei rested his head on the coffin and buried his head in his arms. Before, in the Stone Castle, although Shangguan Yushi and his sister had often bullied him, when the bullying went overboard, it was Yushi who had always persuaded his sister.

Shangguan Fei was so flustered that he sobbed out the words: “Master Yu”. This did not arouse sympathy in his sister but instead it angered her even further.

Shangguan Ru waved her knife the second time, and spoke sharply. “Shangguan Fei, go ask Master Yu for help in Hell!”

The saber swung downwards and Shangguan Fei fell.

Wildhorse appeared very shocked. Tuo Nengya sighed softly. Maid Lotus held the Tenth Young Master and wished that Slave Huan could arrive as soon as possible. Without him, no one could calm down Shangguan Ru’s killing desire.

Shangguan Fei did not die. He only fainted in shock. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his sister was in tears.

“Oh, did you know? I’d never kill you! You actually hate me because of such a matter?” Shangguan Ru’s tears flowed more rapidly.

The hatred between the two siblings had naturally accumulated over a very long time. It only exploded because of how Shangguan Ru had once held the blade of her saber against her brother’s neck, threatening Mister Guo in order to protect Slave Huan and Master Yu.

Shangguan Fei was unaware of whether he was alive or dead. The words of his sister that entered his ears were as meaningless as the leaves on the trees that blew in the wind. “Sister, you’ve killed me. I ‘m going to tell mother. She’ll avenge me. Sister, you’re always bullying me. This time, you won’t be able to do that.”

Shangguan Ru cried even louder. She wanted to appear stronger and people who watched her included not only the killers of Stone Castle, it was also the machetemen of Kun Society, and outsiders like Tuo Nengya. All the education that she had received told her that she had to appear cold and heartless at this moment. Any moment of weakness would have encouraged her enemies and would bring misfortune upon herself. However, she could not bear it any longer. She didn’t have the heart to kill her own brother with her saber either.

At this moment, Shangguan Fei finally realised that he hadn’t died. There was also not a single wound on his body.

“Sister,” he simply couldn’t stand up. He hugged the leg of his sister and cried loudly in tears. He was also so tongue-tied that he couldn’t even plead for mercy.

Maid Lotus supported the Tenth Young Master and cast a glance at Wildhorse. Wildhorse’s eyes were burning with fire and he loosened and unloosened his grip on the handle of his saber. After repeating the action thrice, he finally hung his head to avoid the gaze of Maid Lotus.

The second person who she looked at was Tuo Nengya. Slave Huan anticipated that the Tenth Young Master might not be hardened enough to kill her brother. Thus, he insisted on letting Tuo Nengya join in this action in the peach forest. Within this circle of people, only this old macheteman would dare to kill the son of the Supreme King.

Tuo Nengya’s expression was rigid. He gripped his saber tightly.

Gu Shenwei was advancing extremely rapidly. However, as he was leading a group of machetemen while also carrying Guan Houlin who was as inert as a zombie, he simply could not quicken his pace.

Guan Houlin felt that he was definitely going to die and in the other moment, he felt that Slave Huan was deceiving him. After traveling for two streets, he collapsed onto the ground and did not stand up. “I’m not going. Let me go. I’m going to a place far away and I’m never coming back.”

Gu Shenwei only ordered the few machetemen to take turns carrying the strong brute and continued to move forwards.

He did not sense a killer’s resolve from Shangguan Ru. After the death of Master Yu, the young lady had been changing everyday. She seemed more and more unlike a master of Stone Castle. The killers who saw her on a regular basis did not seem to have noticed such changes. However, Gu Shenwei, who had not seen her for months, was very aware of these changes.

However, he could not appear in the peach forest. This would have aroused the suspicion of the enemy and brought on the bad reputation of a “killer leader”. Regarding this point, he could not appear at the scene of the murder. Both he and Shangguan Fei had thought about this point.

Their only hope was pinned on Tuo Nengya. That old macheteman was a man of principle. He would do anything for revenge. Golden Roc Fort could not scare him.

Just as Gu Shenwei was deep in thought, Maid Lotus knew that he had miscalculated. They were all killers of Stone Castle. They had become used to seeing everyone from a killer’s perspective. However, Tuo Nengya was a macheteman and had his own set of rules.

Tuo Nengya was moved by the Tenth Young Master. Maid Lotus did not understand why but she could tell that the old macheteman was truly moved. He would not kill Shangguan Fei in front of the Tenth Young Master even if this was this only chance for revenge despite knowing that Shangguan Fei would kill him after the day was over.

When Gu Shenwei finally arrived, he only saw the end.

Wildhorse lifted Master Yu’s casket in despair. After several months, it was ready for the burial.

Shangguan Ru stopped her tears and looked at Gu Shenwei who had just arrived. Her tears were about to fall again and Gu Shenwei felt the disappointment in his chest. He walked over and spoke softly. “Everything has gone smoothly. We’ve fought a victorious battle.”

Shangguan Ru smiled apologetically. She had let many people down, especially Slave Huan.

The men of Kun Society had left. Gu Shenwei let the machetemen protect the Tenth Young Master. He stayed to take care of the aftermath but he did not let Guan Houlin go.

“You won’t have to return the Young Master’s favor,” Gu Shenwei said coldly.

Tuo Nengya raised his head and was not moved by the teenager’s sarcasm. “I kill wild beasts and not rabbits. I kill men and not weaklings. I’ll still take revenge for my hatred of the great Young Master. However, only the Supreme Master is worthy of being the target for my revenge.”

From how the old macheteman saw it, Shangguan Fei was only a child who was terrified. He was not a man at all.

Gu Shenwei laughed coldly. He thought about how foolish he was. This macheteman was as stupid and stubborn as the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain. Despite knowing how killers were unscrupulous, he still wished to fight honorably and openly. Tuo Nengya created a goal that he would never be able to achieve in order to make himself look great and righteous. From the eyes of a killer, he was simply shirking his responsibility.

“When do you plan to attack Stone Castle?” Gu Shenwei’s hatred burned in his chest and his words became sharper.

Tuo Nengya was still quiet. “You’ll see it. As long as you don’t go around stirring trouble, you’ll see it in ten years.”

Gu Shenwei did not even know if he lived beyond this year. He had the impulse to vent his anger by killing the person in front of him but eventually, he controlled himself. “You want to leave the Jade City?”

“Well, I want to roam the Western Region and gather a team that will be able to defeat the troops of the Golden Roc Fort. Not everyone is afraid of the Supreme King.”

“Bring him away.”

Guan Houlin had not met the Ninth Young Master. However, he suspected that he had been deceived. That old macheteman who had said that he wanted to roam the ends of the earth and to escape was now quitting. “No, no. I’m not leaving. I’m going to ask for forgiveness from the Ninth Young Master. He’ll forgive me. You lied to me. You won’t lie to me for a second time.”

This was perhaps the most foolish military counselor in the whole world, Gu Shenwei thought. “The Ninth Young Master did not kill you. He only used you to make me fall for the trap. Now you’re worthless. The first thing he’d do would be to kill you. That’s even faster than killing me.”

A weird smile appeared on Guan Houlin’s face as if the killer was a good friend. Deliberately, he teased him with harsh words: “Haha, I’m not going to fall for the trap. The Ninth Young Master wouldn’t kill me on account of our relationship… You know, he wouldn’t kill me.”

Gu Shenwei pulled out his saber and, before the smile on the tall and big teen had vanished, he plunged his saber into his chest and pulled it out immediately. The huge body crashed down onto the floor.

“I want to let people see that he had escaped out of Jade City alive.”

“No problem.” Tuo Nengya readily agreed.

Gu Shenwei returned to Kun Society by himself, thinking of the current situation in his mind.

Now, Shangguan Ru would never become a master. Everyone became all too aware that the vulnerability she had shown was a great taboo of the Golden Roc Fort. By allowing herself to assume the role of a weak character, she was encouraging wolves from both within and outside Stone Castle to tear her into bits sooner or later.

Her usefulness was diminishing. Gu Shenwei was no longer able to carry out his revenge through her.

Perhaps he should kill her now.