Death Scripture

Wei Lingmiao had heard of the Golden Roc Fort’s Tenth Young Master. The last time he visited Jade City, Shangguan Ru had been a teenager, and hence, he had been uninterested. Now that he was back in Jade City, he had heard many stories about Tenth Young Master. He was unconcerned about who would be the Supreme King, but wanted to get to know more about this extraordinary fourteen-year-old ruler of South City.

“She’s alright”, Gu Shenwei replied indifferently. He had worked out a plan on how to mention the money, but was not expecting to talk about the Tenth Young Master.

Wei Lingmiao quirked his lips and smiled. The smile was gentle but flamboyant, attracting the glance of the female captain.

“I have met your master before. During Eighth Young Master’s wedding, she was running around in boys’ clothes because she wanted to see how the bride looked. I wanted to as well and both of us worked together to flip over the bride’s veil before Eight Young Master. However, we failed. Who would have thought that there was another thick veil underneath? Haha.”

Gu Shenwei had not expected Wei Lingmiao to know Shangguan Ru. He replied, “The Eighth Young Master must not have been very happy.”

“Who knows? At that time, the Eight Young Master was socializing with all the big shots from the Western Region and he probably did not even notice us. The Eighth Young Mistress probably didn’t know who we were. Ah, it’s funny to think about it.”

Gu Shenwei was fuming. The marriage of Shangguan Nu and the massacre of the Gu family had only been approximately one month apart. The Wei family must have heard of this tragedy but Wei Lingmiao still had the mood to tease the bride.

“The Eighth Young Mistress still wears a veil”, Gu Shenwei replied casually, as if making a side point.

“I guess her good reputation was overstated. If not, why would the Eighth Young Master rather stay in the desert and not go home? I heard that Shangguan Ru was growing more and more beautiful.”

His comments seemed lustful. Gu Shenwei was quiet and did not reply. He felt that Shangguan Ru had not changed much. Apart from the fact that she had grown slightly taller, her appearance remained the same.

Wei Lingmiao smiled again as he picked up the wine jug. He said, “You are a loyal killer.”

“All killers are loyal.” Gu Shenwei replied. Even as he spoke those words, he felt hypocritical. Several of them had discussed how to kill the twins not long ago.

Wei Lingmiao shook his head and did not say a word. The conversation was still about Shangguan Ru. Wei Lingmiao said, “I saw the Ninth Young Master just now. Both of them are twins but the Tenth Young Master must look different from him by now.”

“Not quite the same.”

Wei Lingmiao looked relieved. “That’s good.” He muttered.

Several small boats approached them. The noblemen in the hall who have discovered that their main guest was missing had caught up.

“Miao’er, why did you abandon us? The girls are crying.” Meng Mingshi said. Meng Mingshi and Wei Lingmiao were like old friends when they first met each other. Meng Mingshi learned from his older brother quickly and called Wei Lingmiao by his nickname.

“If we were to talk about tears, I believe this lake is filled with women’s tears.”

“Women’s tears? This is a good idea. Let me come back with a whip and I’ll increase the size of the lake.”

“Lao Wu, I thought you would be faithful. Weren’t you once deeply in love with a female killer? I have said before, that if there’s a Fifth Young Master in the Meng family, the women will feel blessed. I never thought that you would be so ruthless.”

Meng Mingshi shouted at Shangguan Fei, who was on another boat. “Master, can’t you see? Miao’er is interested in your killer. Give Master Wei your killer as soon as possible.”

Before the arrival of Wei Lingmiao, Gu Shenwei was observing the expressions of the two siblings. Meng Mingshi might have either forgotten about Master Yu or become more mature as he did not show any trace of hatred but instead, acted affectionately to Shangguan Fei.

Shangguan Fei was afraid of water and held onto the handrail of the boat tightly. He grumbled. “What’s good about a killer? His body is full of scars. Your hands might get hurt touching them.”

Everyone became quiet. No one could tell if the Ninth Young Master was joking or being sarcastic, but everyone started laughing when Wei Lingmiao laughed. The atmosphere eased up.

At dawn, the party ended. Gu Shenwei did not know which women had got picked to serve Wei Lingmiao. Both he and Shangguan Fei left early.

Once they reached home, Shangguan Fei sent away all other slaves and questioned Slave Huan. “Why did he come to you?”

“We were talking casually. We hadn’t talked about much before all of you arrived.”

Shangguan Fei did not really believe Slave Huan. Both of them knew each other’s secrets after all and both of them were cautious of the other. He said, “You are a killer. It’s fine if you play sides within these walls, but collude with an outsider, it guarantees your death.”

“I’ve always been loyal to Golden Roc Fort. My guess is that Master Wei just wanted that ‘Protective Talisman’.”

Shangguan Fei stopped asking. The one million taels of silver troubled him greatly, as though it was a mountain that was constantly pressing onto him. It was not easy to have got rid of them; he did not want anything to do with them anymore.

The banquet for receiving Master Wei lasted for three days and each night was similar. Wei Lingmiao seemed to be uninterested in the money. Instead, he was always looking for opportunities to ask about the Tenth Young Master. However, Gu Shenwei always gave perfunctory responses.

Wei Lingmiao would probably know that, in order to get close to Shangguan Ru, he would have to get past Slave Huan. Thus he was not bothered by the killer’s cold attitude. Instead, he responded with sincerity. On the last day at Bodhi Garden, Master Wei treated Gu Shenwei extremely well.

After horsing around for three days, Master Wei finally got down to business. Commandant Zhong Heng, who was in charge of the meeting, invited the Ninth Young Master over to discuss a private matter. The Ninth Young Master naturally understood what this private matter was. He calmly admitted the merger of the Horned Dragon Society and Kun Society and mentioned that the Tenth Young Master was calling the shots. Should there be a need to discuss any further, the best person to speak to was killer Yang Huan.

Just like that, Gu Shenwei had a private meeting with Wei Lingmiao and Zhong Heng in a study in Bodhi Garden.

“Manager Yang, the day after tomorrow is d-day. I believe the Tenth Young Master has prepared the money.” Zhong Heng said frankly.

Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, “No, you will have to wait for another month.”

Zhong Heng was not easily ruffled and continued smiling. He looked at Wei Lingmiao. That flirtatious master appeared indifferent and was rifling through the books that no one had read before. He did not say a word.

Zhong Heng shook his head. “Manager Yang, this is not what we have agreed on.”

Gu Shenwei wanted to push the Governor’s boundaries and said, “Well, you can’t say that. At this juncture, I have no other choice. I don’t have enough money and I can’t produce money out of nowhere.”

Zhong Heng’s smile was almost gone. He had made a few deals with the young killer previously, and had even received his monthly basic salary. He felt that Yang Huan was sensible, but he had never thought that Yang Huan would breach a contract. He said, “If the Tenth Young Master has difficulties, we can’t help her either. However, she could ask Stone Castle for help.”

This seemed like a threat. Gu Shenwei played dumb and replied, “The Tenth Young Master will never ask anyone for help. Either you reduce the amount, or you wait for another month. There’s no other way.”

“Does the Tenth Young Master want this?” Zhong Heng asked. He was surprised and angry as Yang Huan had embarrassed him in front of Master Wei.

“This is all her idea,” Gu Shenwei said with certainty. In fact, Shangguan Ru did not even care about this matter at all. Slave Huan had been given free rein to handle this issue.

The atmosphere became still. Gu Shenwei had planned to aggravate the Governor and then observe the reaction of Stone Castle, so that he could find out how the two parties communicated. He wanted to know how much influence this obscure Governor had. When the massacre of Gu family had occurred, Wei Song had not appeared concerned. There must either have been unforeseen circumstances or some other reason.

Golden Roc Fort was an organization of killers. In the Gu family massacre, the client that requested the massacre remained unknown. Gu Shenwei felt that the relationship between Governor, Wei Song, and his family was a major clue.

Wei Lingmiao suddenly turned around and absently said, “It is plausible to wait for another month.”

“Master…” Zhong Heng said. Even though Zhong Heng would not pocket the bribe, he was subject to the Governor and did not want to bore the blame of acceding to Gu Shenwei.

Wei Lingmiao waved his hands as though he knew what he was doing. He said, “But, there are some conditions.”

“What conditions?” Gu Shenwei asked coldly.

Wei Lingmiao coughed sharply and Zhong Heng immediately retreated.

“You should know what I’m thinking about.”

Gu Shenwei knew what he meant but Gu Shenwei did not want to help. Gu Shenwei said, “I’m just a killer. I know nothing except for killing people.”

Wei Lingmiao laughed. He was not as easily provoked as Zhong Heng. “Alright,” he said, “we can delay the transaction if you help me kill a person.”

“Who?” Gu Shenwei asked casually. He had not expected Master Wei to actually come to him with such a request.

“I’ve never considered that. Let me think about it. I’ll let you know in two days. I believe that killing people is easy for you, right?”

“I’m ready all the time.” Gu Shenwei said. Though nodding his head slightly, he wished he had a knife with him so that he could have threatened Master Wei for the truth.

Gu Shenwei returned back to South City, but Xu Yanwei remained at Bodhi Garden. She might have stood a chance of serving Master Wei, but the competition was fierce. There would be many prostitutes left behind and no one dared to boast that she had captured Master Wei’s full attention.

Gu Shenwei noticed a carriage in front of the entrance of Kun Society. Several servants were moving presents which were wrapped in silk to the courtyard.

Accompanied by Maid Lotus, Shangguan Ru was practicing her writing in the study. She saw Slave Huan entering and asked, “What is going on? Wei Lingmiao has been sending items over everyday. Isn’t he here to ask for money? Why is he being so generous?”

“He likes you, Master.” Gu Shenwei answered honestly.

Shangguan Ru was shocked. Maid Lotus withdrew backward, as if she could blend into the wall and disappear.

“Bold and shameless fella. Aren’t all the women in Jade City enough for him?”

Gu Shenwei had expected Shangguan Ru to react with such vehemence. Then, an idea sprang up in his mind. “Master Wei will not give up so easily,” he said.

Even though Shangguan Ru had lost her will as a killer, it hardly meant that she was a weak or easily deceived woman. She commented. “Oh really? Then let’s do something ‘difficult’ so that he will give up.”

“He is the son of the Governor.”

“So what? I didn’t even want to hand out the ‘Protective Talisman’. It’s time to teach the father and his son a lesson.”

“It surely is.” Gu Shenwei thought. But Gu Shenwei wondered that to what extent the lesson should be.