Death Scripture

It was a cloudy and bright night. Summer flowers gave off an unnerving smell of conspiracy.

When it was about the third watch, Gu Shenwei snuck out of his house. He went off the main road, heading for the yard he saw in the day.

Slave Ling had warned him not to wander, or to mess with Master Yu. However, on his first night in Inner Residence, he decided to break these two rules.

The sky was starless. Gu Shenwei held his breath. He almost ran into the night watchman twice, but he managed to make it outside the garden.

He climbed over the low wall, waiting patiently. After making sure no one was in the dark, he snuck under the crab apple tree, picked up a pebble, and flipped it at the windows of the central house.

Although the architecture style was different from that of the Central Plain, it was easy to tell the owner’s house. The only uncertainty was which twin lived here.

There was no response.

Gu Shenwei picked up a second pebble. This time he threw it harder, making a loud noise.

Still, there was no response, as if it was unoccupied. But, someone outside the house reacted.

Gu Shenwei’s hair stood on end. It felt like Shangguan Yushi’s assassination again. He then darted forward, while swiftly turning around. It was the armed boy he saw by day who was ready for a second attack.

The boy looked serious, even murderous. It was not a game.

Gu Shenwei’s position was unfavorable. There was not much room for his maneuvers. However, the armed boy was even better than Shangguan Yushi in kung fu.

Aiming the edge of his dagger at the intruder’s chest, the boy was determined to end the fight in one split. It was his duty and his honor.

A window was opened with a squeak. Then the boy hopped backward like a ghost under a spell, vanishing into the air.

Gu Shenwei’s blood froze. He could not understand the mysterious boy.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. Well, I’m supposed to see Master Shifu under orders.”

“Whose orders were that?”

“They’re yours, Master Shifu.”

“Mine?”

“In the daytime, didn’t you flash three fingers at me to meet you at the third watch?”

“No, I didn’t! You’re a traitor. I’ll punish you tomorrow.”

“Master Shifu, I know I’m guilty, so I came to receive my punishment today.”

Gu Shenwei knelt under the window, while Shangguan Ru only showed her head and yawned.

Lights were on in rooms on both sides. Shangguan Ru snapped. “Go to sleep, nobody gets up!”. Then the lights went out.

“You came too early. I haven’t decided how to punish you yet,” Shangguan Ru said sulkily.

“I’ve got an idea: We’ll drive him ‘out of Stone Castle, covered with a hundred daggers’. This is our practice.” Shangguan Yushi also showed her head.

Gu Shenwei actually wanted to say Shangguan Yushi failed to run away with Master Ru last night, which was a greater betrayal. But instead, he said, “It’s not the practice in our ‘Moonhold School’, Master Shifu.”

“Well, I haven’t worked out the practice, either.”

“It must be different from any other school’s.”

“Of course it is.”

Shangguan Yushi broke in again. “I say throw him straight off Reincarnation Cliff. It’s easier.”

“Do you want to kill me again, Uncle Master?”

Shangguan Yushi raised her eyebrows in fury. The failed assassination made her livid. She could control the feeling when Shangguan Ru was present. But hearing the servant talking about it, she wanted to fight back.

“No quarreling!”

“Yes, I’ll listen to Master Shifu,” Gu Shenwei immediately said.

Shangguan Yushi snorted and turned around, showing Slave Huan only the back side of her head.

“If you want to return to our school, get me out of here and venture into the world with me.”

“We can also venture into the Stone Castle. There’re so many aces in our castle. It’s possible you won’t run into many aces like them even you venture for a decade outside.”

“What a brown nose,” Shangguan Yushi murmured.

“It’s different. In the Castle, they all treat me like a child.”

“Oh, actually, I have an idea. A way they’ll take you seriously.”

“Tell me!” Shangguan Ru’s eyes flashed.

“Liar,” Shangguan Yushi said without turning her head.

“I’ll tell you a story first.”

“It’d better be interesting, because I’m tired.” Shangguan Ru’s chin was on her elbow. She liked stories, especially stories in the middle of the night.

It was pitch dark, only insects chirping. No one, not even the armed boy, would interrupt them. Thus, Gu Shenwei directly sat on the ground, slowly telling the story that he just remembered.

“That night, I told you many jianghu rules, but in fact, not all people follow the rules. Some people are bound to break those rules.”

“You’re talking about killers. Killers have rules too, and only our rules are different from others,” Shangguan Yushi said scornfully, without a look at him.

“No, I’m not talking about killers. In the Central Plain, we don’t have schools like Golden Roc Fort.”

“What kind of people are they?” Shangguan Ru became a little curious.

“They’re burglars.”

“Ah, you mean the Bighead Kingpin lot. You must hear it from your Mistress.” Shangguan Yushi deliberately interrupted again.

“Not entirely the same. Bighead Kingpin is a bandit who robs publicly, while the burglars attack at night and disappear. Everyone knows them, but no one sees them. Well, this may describe the top killers. However, they’re not interested in people, but only priceless treasures.”

Shangguan Yushi could not think of any famous burglar at the moment, so she just grunted.

“The one I’m talking about was the famous top burglar in the Central Plain, known as ‘Dexterous Dragon’. He had a habit of bragging about his doings, embarrassing the owner. He was also very bold. He stole from prominent families, officials, and even Heaven.”

“You’re exaggerating.” Shangguan Yushi could not help but criticize him.

“I’m not exaggerating. The Dexterous Dragon pulled off a dozen of big heists. But he was still not satisfied. Then he went to the imperial palace to rob the place. You may know the emperor in the Central Plain claimed to be the son of God. The Dexterous Dragon stole from the son of God. Isn’t that stealing from Heaven?”

“What’s so great about the imperial palace? The guards could never compete with Golden Roc Fort’s.”

“Hush. Let him finish. What did he steal?”

Shangguan Ru became interested. Although she was from the Western Region, she knew emperors were different from kings. Golden Roc Fort could not compete with them.

“The Dexterous Dragon stole more than 30,000 kilograms of gold and silver from the Great Treasury. It’d take a lot of effort even by cart. But no one discovered it until several days later when the gold and silver appeared in civil markets. Rumors flew. The guards knew it. Many people lost their jobs and lives because of this.”

“The burglar loved money,” Shangguan Ru said.

“Yes, the Dexterous Dragon did. But he also spent a lot. More than 30,000 kilograms of gold and silver were spent in less than a month. But money was nothing compared to the missing jade seal, which greatly disturbed the imperial court.”

“He stole the jade seal? Why did he want that?” Shangguan Ru laughed.

“It took several days to find that the jade seal was missing? Was the emperor just lazy?” Even Shangguan Yushi became interested.

“They found out on the second morning. But they all thought it was stolen by someone in the palace. They didn’t realize it was a burglar. After stealing the jade seal, the Dexterous Dragon issued about 100 imperial edicts in a row, releasing many felons. He even announced an Imperial Confession saying ‘I myself was low in virtue and acted unkingly’.”

Shangguan Ru chortled. She was starting to like the burglary profession.

“You can imagine how chaotic the imperial court became. Nobody knew which edicts were real. They were reluctant to accept the edicts, and also reluctant to disobey them. Therefore, the Dexterous Dragon earned another alias—Emperor’s Student. He was even called ‘the Overlord’ among the people.”

“He really misbehaved and knew how to have fun. What happened then? What did he steal next?” Shangguan Ru’s eyes shone with admiration.

“Then the Dexterous Dragon died.”

“What?” The two girls cried in doubt. Finally, Shangguan Yushi turned her head around. “What a storyteller! The hero dies at the climax!”

“The guards were so anxious that they spent five months in pursuit and arrested tens of thousands of people. Finally, they found out Dexterous Dragon’s whereabouts. 300 imperial aces were sent to capture him, and 10,000 soldiers were on standby.”

Gu Shenwei paused for a moment.

“Was he killed?” Shangguan Ru asked.

“No. The Dexterous Dragon killed himself. He didn’t leave any confession. Thus many people thought the real burglar was still alive, hiding. People even gave him another nickname—Red Bat Lady.”

“Ha, you’re lying. Everyone knows Lady with Red Sleeves is one of the ‘Three Heroes of Wind and Dust’. She’s not even a burglar.” Shangguan Yushi had spotted a hole in the story and yelled out immediately.

“Not the same person. She’s the bat lady because the Dexterous Dragon hid by day and came out by night like a bat. She also died in a red dress. That’s why she was called Red Bat Lady.”

“The Dexterous Dragon was a woman?” Shangguan Ru asked in surprise.

“Yes, she was.”

“I bet you made this up. It’s such a bad story,” Shangguan Yushi said and pouted. She always disbelieved Slave Huan.

“It’s true. You can ask those who’ve been to the Central Plain. They must all know it. I heard it from the one who had seen Red Bat Lady’s body.”

The theft in the imperial palace was the last and biggest case before Gu Lun resigned. He managed to retrieve the jade seal himself. Gu Shenwei remembered it well. But he also added some details to the story to impress the two audiences.

This was not a complicated or happy-ending story. But the two girls liked it. They leaned on the ledge, thinking about the story.

“At first, you said we could do something fun in the Castle. You were talking about this.” Slave Huan’s promise crossed Shangguan Ru’s mind.

“Yes.”

“We can’t really kill people, but we can steal things.” Shangguan Yushi also realized that.

“Steal something special. We can surprise them.” Gu Shenwei encouraged them. He thought they would better steal something from Six Kills Temple.