Death Scripture

All this while, Old Man Mu had been hiding in a corner of the forest that had never seen the sun. Naturally, the Great Snowmountain had been unable to track him down since they were searching the Land of Fragrance.

More than 1000 nobles were forced to enter the forest. They wandered around and soon entered the vicinity where Old Man Mu was. They disrupted his spiritual retreat and he was furious. He was even more enraged when he realized that he was unable to master the Five Hole Earth Punch.

The two fits of anger rose in him and he vented it all on the nobles who had accidentally barged in.

After killing more than a dozen of them, Old Man Mu calmed down and asked a few of the nobles about the events that had happened in the Land of Fragrance. He lashed out at the other nobles, including the now deceased Shili Luomo, “So many of you, yet you were beaten by a defeated army, are all of you still men even? No, I mean, are all of you still humans?”

He had forgotten that he had subdued the whole country using only cruel means of killing and some boasting. He began to scold the weak nobles, saying that they had no guts. The few nobles who unfortunately fallen into the clutches of the devil trembled as they took the oath, stating that they had received blood from the “Revered” and would go out of the forest to resist Dragon King with all of their might.

Old Man Mu’s anger gradually disappeared, he knew that these cowards did not have what it took to fight against Dragon King, so he plotted a plan for them, “You bunch of fools, don’t the slaves listen to you the most? Pretend to surrender to Dragon King and join the army, then encourage those idiots to rebel.”

Old Man Mu was very proud of his wit. Therefore, these “bunch of fools” quickly contacted their peers who were unaware of what had happened and walked out of the forest together to surrender to Dragon King. They were zealous in ordering the “bunch of idiots” to stage a mutiny.

Su Mohua did not see Old Man Mu, but he heard about what had happened from his brother. He had been hesitant all along; now that the conspiracy had revealed so quickly, he need not be in a dilemma any longer.

Gu Shenwei did not hear any important information from Su Mohua. To him, it was not important who led the mutiny.

“That’s it?” He frowned slightly.

Su Mohua became more and more flustered. He thought hard to see if there was anything else worth mentioning. It was not his intention to hold back any information, just that he was unable to differentiate the order of importance when it came to such matters. Therefore, it was only until the end when he came to what he thought was unimportant, “And, he wants the high priest, my brother…”

Gu Shenwei waved his hand to interrupt, “What does Old Man Mu want the high priest for?”

Gu Shenwei had lied about the high priest possessing Chapter Eight of the Wayless Book. That pedantic semi-paralyzed old man knew nothing about high-level Kung Fu, he had merely memorized the records penned by the ancestors and occasionally blurted out some shocking observations.

“No, I don’t know.” Su Mohua was both elated and nervous that Dragon King was finally interested in the information that he provided. “I heard that he had met the high priest before and talked for a long time.”

Gu Shenwei really could not understand what Old Man Mu could get from the high priest.

Suddenly, he felt that he must meet the high priest and clarify this matter.

Dragon King walked out of the tent. Su Mohua was perplexed. Bracing himself, he asked, “Dragon King, about my brother…”

“Go and tell them to think hard about what other information can be used to redeem their lives. Let me know before dawn.”

Gu Shenwei would never forgive the mutinous nobles easily. Moreover, he was certain that these nobles had withheld many secrets about the Land of Fragrance that even the slaves were unaware of.

The high priest lived alone in a small tent near to the imprisoned nobles, right in the heart of where the soldiers were lying in ambush.

He had a young disciple as a servant but that disciple did not stay with him at night.

The high priest smiled kindly upon seeing Dragon King. He was an easily contented old man who lived in a world built by ancient books. With the Flower Soul Forest burnt, and most of his disciples dismissed; even though he was surrounded by strangers with sabers and swords, all of these happenings would not change his world. It was as though he still lived in the straw hut inside the forest.

Beside him piles of ancient books were stacked, these were the only treasures that he refused to let go of. Gu Shenwei had quickly looked through the books once, but most of the content was meaningless. There were many Kung Fu skills mentioned in the books which were already long lost.

There was an old monk from the Four Truths Temple who always had a kind smile as well, but it was a smile that made him look like an all-knowing god looking down from up high. The smile of the high priest, however, seemed like a smile that a child would possess, someone who had not yet grown up and knew nothing about the world. To put it bluntly, Gu Shenwei felt that the high priest had not yet matured in terms of intellect.

“Have you met Old Man Mu before?” Gu Shenwei asked calmly. There was no need, nor was it necessary, to speak harshly to someone like the high priest.

“You mean that shorty?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, he is very studious.”

It was a very strange judgment. Gu Shenwei was somewhat regretful that he did not come to clarify earlier. It suddenly occurred to him that during the few times when he spoke with the high priest, he had not mentioned Old Man Mu at all. Moreover, the high priest would never take the initiative to start a topic that was unrelated to Kung Fu.

“What did you guys talk about?”

“He said, ‘Old fellow, your Kung Fu must be quite good to be able to recognize that I am using the unique skill of Yuqing Sect,’ and I said, ‘Hey fellow, isn’t it easy? It’s all written in the books.’ Then, he said…”

Gu Shenwei quickly corrected his mistake. If this went on, the high priest would recount every word that he had said at that time. Although he might seem odd, the high priest did possess a good memory. It was so good that he was able to repeat a book he had read decades ago word for word.

“Then he realized that you don’t know Kung Fu.”

“How can I not know Kung Fu?” The high priest was never angry, but there was a slight surprise in his tone and facial expression. “I know the best Kung Fu in this world and I even teach it to many disciples.”

The high priest’s meaning of “knowing” was different from how normal people understood it. Gu Shenwei could only patiently wait for him to finish speaking before saying, “Sorry, I misspoke. Old Man Mu realized that you are very good at Kung Fu, so he came to you for advice.”

“Yes, he didn’t believe me at first, but later, he grew in admiration of me and even wanted to talk to me all night long.”

“Did he asked about the Five Hole Punch?” Gu Shenwei tried to be more specific in his questions.

“Yes, he said he wanted to test me, so he asked me if I knew how to master the Five Hole Punch by practicing until the highest level – the Earth Punch which belonged to the spleen.”

“So you told him.”

“Of course, this is too easy for me,” The high priest revealed his repressed delight like a child. “The Heart corresponds with Fire, and it begets the Spleen, which corresponds with Earth. When you reach the Heart Fire level of the Five Hole Punch, you need to maximize your full potential. However, the Spleen Earth level is the exact opposite. Earth is the highest virtue that tolerates all. Your Qi needs to be reserved, and your strength must be contained and not blow up…”

When the high priest began his lengthy speech. Gu Shenwei knew that he was reciting the contents of the books again because he had read about the records of the Five Hole Punch among the pile of ancient books.

Old Man Mu was clever throughout his life, yet he was fooled this time. He was actually impressed by the naive and pedantic high priest and had gone in retreat to practice the Five Hole Earth Punch according to what he had said. Of course, the results were unsuccessful.

Gu Shenwei started worrying for the high priest’s life. It was indeed strange that Old Man Mu had not killed the high priest off despite entering the camp several times. “Did he ask you about the Wayless Book?”

“Ah, Wayless Book. That’s the highest secret manuscript of martial arts from the Reborn Fort of Xuandu Peak. No matter how you practice all the Kung Fu in the world, there is always an end to it. Like the Five Hole Punch, the highest level is the Spleen Earth level. However, the Wayless Book is neverending. There is nothing to the way, therefore it is endless, neverending, limitless and infinite…”

The high priest was immersed in a fantasy of glory and pride and almost forgot to answer Dragon King’s question. “The shorty did ask about the Wayless Book. It’s a pity that the Holy King felt that this set of unique art was too mystical and did not find it fitting to spread it to the world, so he destroyed it and didn’t bring it to the Land of Fragrance. What a pity.”

The high priest had always respected his distant ancestors. However, he held an entirely different view from the Holy King on this matter.

The records about the predecessor of Golden Roc Fort on the ancient books were mostly a mixture of truth and falsehood. Gu Shenwei believed that even Zhang Ji, who was well informed, would not be able to distinguish the truth from it. But some things could still be judged according to human nature. Of course, the Holy King would not destroy the divine kung fu. There must be some reason as to why he did not bring it out of the Stone Castle. Perhaps the Holy King himself had not even come to the Land of Fragrance, he could have been killed by the killers and his descendants who managed to escaped made up a series of stories about it.

Gu Shenwei decided to end his speculations here. He was not interested in the history of Stone Castle and it was getting late. Old Man Mu would barge into the camp any time now. “High Priest, please rest well. I will come back and consult you again in the future.”

The high priest was somewhat reluctant as Dragon King took his leave. He finished what he wanted to say in his mind, then mumbled to himself, “Dragon King is not as studious as that shorty.”

With this information, Gu Shenwei believed that it was quite possible that Old Man Mu was really interested in the high priest. He only told Maid Lotus about it while the rest remained in ambush. Regardless of whether Old Man Mu’s target was Shangguan Ru or the high priest, Gu Shenwei’s plan remained the same: Old Man Mu will die by the arrows.

The military camp gradually quietened down. Because Old Man Mu would come and kill every night, the soldiers outside the ambush circle were all on standby and ready to fight.

Just after midnight, Old Man Mu appeared. But he did not show up in public, instead, he used another way to make it known that he had accepted Dragon King’s challenge.

“Dragon King, you little bastard. Even if I die, this old fellow here will never forget that you once stabbed me in the belly! Clean your belly, I will do the same and stab you as well!”

Old Man Mu was using the Seven Magical Tones. It made many people agitated, and although they did not lose control, their hidden tracks were easily revealed. This was how Old Man Mu managed to discover the men in ambush.

“Good girl, I will return the remains of Dragon King to you after I am done with him. Haha, it may not be whole, but I guarantee he will still be alive.”

Old Man Mu had already fully recovered his Kung Fu and no longer needed Shangguan Ru’s help. He boldly spoke his mind and knew what could unnerve her the most.

Shangguan Ru turned red all the way up to her ears. Thank goodness the night sky was able to mask her expression, and even the last trace of sympathy that she had for Old Man Mu disappeared.

Gu Shenwei was not affected by his words. Old Man Mu had been shouting similar words for the past few days and these would not offend him.

This was a life-and-death duel. As long as Gu Shenwei adhered to this principle, he would not entertain foolish thoughts. There were many ways to kill people. Moreover, in the eyes of killers, every means was legitimate and reasonable.

Old Man Mu became more and more excited as he talked, and his words grew more gruesome as well. But he still did not enter the ambush circle. Even though Old Man Mu thought highly of himself, he was no fool.

There were several occasions where he would try to barge in a few steps and immediately retreat and disappear into the darkness without waiting for the soldiers lying in ambush to react.

Gu Shenwei had all the time in the world. He knew that no matter how imperfect the process of killing was, people would quickly forget all of these afterward and only remember the glory of the winner and the pitifulness of the dead.

Old Man Mu spent a long time hassling with them. After two hours, he finally ran out of words to say and stayed silent. Everybody was relieved.

Less than half an hour later, Old Man Mu’s voice rang again. This time, he no longer used the Seven Magical Tones, but the excitement in his tone was undeniable. “Goodbye, Dragon King. I will come and find you again, good girl!”

He did not kill anyone at all.

Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that he had made a grave mistake.

Someone had made a mistake far more grave than him, however. Old Man Mu’s last words had exposed his position and a figure shot out like an arrow from ambush.

Shangguan Ru could not stand Old Man Mu’s verbal humiliation any longer, she had to vent her anger. There were other ways to punish the enemy other than killing.