Death Scripture

The sound of drums was heard in the dead of night, and each drum beat felt like knocks on Fang Wenshi’s heart.

A military counselor should share weal and woe with their master, and a master should take their military counselor’s strength in advisement. However, the Dragon King did not open his mouth, forcing Fang Wenshi to make the decisions himself. He slowly retreated to the back door, in his heart, convincing himself, “You don’t know kung fu, so you’ll only get in the way if you stay here. The Dragon King hasn’t been able to think of anything, what say yourself?

The Dragon King, holding the Five Peaks Saber, stood freely in the middle of the hall. He seemed completely oblivious to impending assassination, closing his eyes in repose.

Tie Linglong showed calmness that did not match her age. Only the gently shaking fingers of her left hand showed a trace of nervousness and excitement. She glanced at the young swordsman and said, “Little Chu, let’s compete.”

Chu Nanping thought for a while before only spitting out an “okay.”

The three of them stood seven paces apart, tense and guarded.

Fang Wenshi was even more convinced that there was no place for him here. He calmly retreated to the back door. Just as he was about to leave through the curtain, he changed his mind. Fang Wenshi shook his head and thought to himself again, It’s not every day that I get the chance to show my loyalty. Let me take a gamble.

Countless shadowy forms of Taoists emerged from the ground and rushed into the hall.

Fang Wenshi sighed. Since he decided to stay, he only had one choice: to keep his head down and squat under the table.

The first attack from Chu Nanping was not to cut the enemy, but to cut the wick of the only lighted oil lamp in the hall. The last flame struggled on the tip of the sword before extinguishing leaving the hall in darkness.

Gu Shenwei opened his eyes. He was used to the darkness, and he saw more clearly in the faint moonlight.

Unless he was on the battlefield against an army of thousands, he would never rush into the battle. There was not much room to maneuver in the hall, so he had to use another tactic – bounding lightfootedly around the periphery of the assassins, just like a nimble grasshopper, and ambushing the enemy.

In order to keep up with the Dragon King, the assassins also jumped, scattering their team. This only helped Gu Shenwei to pick off them off in the air one by one.

Fang Wenshi was silently prayed: Let the Dragon King win quickly. This is the only chance to show loyalty, the next time won’t come so soon.

Sharp sounds of clashing weapons and wet sounds of blood being drawn could be heard. The impact of heavy objects falling made Fang Wenshi tremble in fear. There were no screams of injury and death, but that only made it more terrifying.

He dictated the deaths of millions on a battlefield without hesitation, but could not stand the sight of killing.

Internally, he rationalized: Just like a gentleman should stay out of the kitchen, the counselor should keep a distance from the killings. If he was always fearing for his death, how could he ever think about the bigger picture?

Fang Wenshi’s feelings did not last long as the sound of the fight suddenly stopped. Fang Wenshi did not dare to even blink, let alone move, until someone patted him on the shoulder.

Fang Wenshi broke out in cold sweat. Peeking his head out from the bottom of the table, he let out a bloodcurdling scream – the only scream of this killing.

He wriggled out from the bottom of the table and saw the oil lamp had been relit. There were seven or eight bodies lying in the hall, most of them were decapitated. Tie Linglong was laughing at herself. Fang Wenshi leaned on the table, nauseous and pretended, “I ate something bad last night.”

Then he remembered that he had not eaten last night, causing his face to blush red. Hurriedly, he said, “Who are these people? Were they sent by Golden Roc Fort or the Governor?”

“They are the people of the Meng family.” From the brief confrontation, Gu Shenwei had already ascertained the origins of these people. Only Meng Mingshu, who did not know kung fu, would send assassins to assassinate the Dragon King.

“Meng family?” Fang Wenshi’s surprise drove away any feeling of nausea. “Is there still someone who still supports the Great Snowmountain in Jade City?”

“Yes.”

Gu Shenwei took the lead and walked out of the hall, leaping to the rooftop. Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping carried the military counselor and followed.

In addition to not liking the sight of blood, Fang Wenshi found that he did not like heights either. Standing on the uneven tiles, there was no sense of stability. However, the sight in front of him made him forget all about it.

A raging fire ignited at the farthest part of South City, illuminating half of the sky.

“This, this…” Fang Wenshi really hoped that the Dragon King would disclose news in advance, any news, instead of letting his military counselor feel that he had been kept in the dark.

“That’s Joy Pavilion. Wildhorse is currently surrounded.”

“By the Tianshan Sect?”

“Not just Tianshan Sect, but also Golden Roc killers and machetemen of the city.”

“This…how is it possible?” Fang Wenshi had too many questions, and his tone couldn’t help but bear a hint of resentment.

“It’s all my hard work,” Tie Linglong hurriedly said. She had not had the chance to kill just now, so she did not mention the competition with Chu Nanping. “I took the Dragon King’s sword and went to see… someone in Tianshan Sect. They have been secretly monitoring Joy Pavilion since last night, and have been guarding all the exits.”

Tie Linglong was speaking too rushed. She took a deep breath before continuing, “Tianshan Sect secretly informed the machetemen in the city that they would gather at the vicinity of Joy Pavilion in the dead of night, and set fire to get rid of Wildhorse and his people.”

Fang Wenshi could only shake his head. The Dragon King always changed the paradigm when cornered. Eventually, he would slip up, but at leaste the current crisis had finally passed. “In any case, that Wildhorse is finally done for.”

“No, Wildhorse has already escaped,” Gu Shenwei corrected the military counselor.

“Why?” Fang Wenshi wished that he had also practiced kung fu and could compel the Dragon King to tell him the truth, even just once.

“Wildhorse is a wise man, he will have definitely escaped in advance. But this is also beneficial, Golden Roc Fort has gained another enemy.”

“Great Snowmountain had also gained another enemy,” Fang Wenshi muttered.

The fire at Joy Pavilion woke the entire Jade City and Gui Garden, which was just separated by a wall. Many people connected the two fires together, sure that they were caused by the haunting of ghosts and gods.

News of the event was released after dawn. It turned out that there had been many foreign machetemen in Joy Pavilion. It was these men who, in the name of the Dragon King, had killed many people and erected the black blood flags.

Many machetemen in South City had received mysterious information to gather. Last night, thousands of machetemen rushed into Hope Alley and the abandoned Gui Garden, attacking Joy Pavilion from all sides before setting them on fire.

Naturally, such actions could not be strictly kept secret. The dozens of disciples, including Immortal Peng, had escaped. More than a hundred foreign machetemen had been killed in the chaos. Afterwards, people found many resurrected flag bearers who had committed suicide by swallowing poison within the heap of corpses.

There was no survivors, but Tianshan Sect had previously captured a prisoner. After learning that their accomplices had all been wiped out, the captive had finally revealed everything, admitting that they had been impersonating the Dragon King.

Even so, the residents of Jade City were skeptical. The name “Tianshan Sect” had not been heard before. It was a secret organization among the machetemen. It was hard to convince anyone that they had just spontaneously appeared.

However, at noon on the day of the fire, Golden Roc Fort made a speech. The Golden Roc killers had “caught” several prisoners who confessed that the act of killings and raising the flags had been under Wildhorse’s command, and had nothing to do with the Dragon King.

In an instant, the public enemy of Jade City that had been Yang Huan, the Dragon King, became Wildhorse.

The name of Wildhorse was immediately familiar to all, and quickly became the target of public resentment. Unfortunately, as Gu Shenwei had predicted, Wildhorse escaped. He was not found in the hundreds of corpses.

Gu Shenwei obviously did not reveal that the first few raised flag killings had been committed by him, because he had achieved his goal, with even better results than he had expected. The residents of Jade City, who had once been tortured by the Dragon King, were tired of living on edge. Negotiations for peace became the most talked-about topic in the streets, and almost everyone expressed their support.

The negotiation was a matter between Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort. Outsiders had no right to speak of it, but their attitudes played a part to promote it.

The Special Emissary from the Central Plains first stated that he did not want to see the hard-won stability of the Western Regions destroyed. The Central Plains was willing to act as a mediator and guarante the safety of the Dragon King and his entourage before the negotiation began.

The Four Truths Temple then held the dharma assembly in public. Hundreds of monks chanted and prayed for Jade City. They hoped that the Dragon King and the Supreme King would be able to lay down the butcher knife for the sake of the people.

The Meng family also supported the negotiations for peace. Although seeming insincere, Meng Yuzun claimed that it was best for both sides to lay down their weapons. However, he did not intend to participate in this matter.

Unexpectedly, the Shu-lik also supported the negotiations for peace. The camp occupied by Great Snowmountain was nominally their country’s territory and they were prepared to make some demands for it.

Golden Roc Fort was reluctant to express their position. Three days later, news came from the West. Dugu Xian had gathered 10,000 people to attack the Great Snowmountain’s camp.

This was the Supreme King’s plan: to eliminate the Great Snowmountain as quickly as possible, rendering the peace negotiations meaningless.

The situation was obvious in a glance. If Golden Roc Fort could win in a few days, the Dragon King would be cut off from everyone. There was no need to mention anything more. If the war continued, there would be far more deaths and injuries. Then, Golden Roc Fort would lose the support of allies and more likely to accept or even propose peace..

In those few days, the residents of Jade City paid attention to the war in the West in an unprecedented interest. Every day, large groups of people braved the cold and waited at the western city gate. When they saw someone quickly riding in on a horse, they would shout out their questions.

Gu Shenwei had no time to return to the camp. He could only wait for news. Fang Wenshi was talked without end, as if comforting the Dragon King, when he was in fact, he was cheering himself up. “The Supreme King must have calculated wrongly this time. It’s already winter, everyone that has read the art of war should know that this is the least suitable time to attack. Ha, that Dugu Xian. I thought he was a bit talented but turns out, he is a coward. Dragon King, you can rest assured that the Great Snowmountain camp is impregnable. They can definitely defend against the attacks.”

Two days later, Fang Wenshi’s tone changed. “Dragon King, the Great Snowmountain’s defenses will hold, right?”

On the fourth day, Fang Wenshi paced back and forth in front of the Dragon King. “No, I have to let the Central Plains give pressure and force Golden Roc Fort to retreat.”

However, the Special Emissary from the Central Plains was powerless. The Supreme King refused to meet them, giving various excuses. Even the Governor of the Norlands, Mo Chu, was sent, but they seemed to be playing a game of hide-and-seek, with the Supreme King nowhere to be found for days.

Everyone felt that the war had gone on for too long. Finally, on the seventh day, shocking news came from the west: Golden Roc Fort’s front-line commander, Dugu Xian, had sent people back to the city and publicly advised the Supreme King to negotiate peace.