Death Scripture

Han Yu walked out of the shadow of that old tree. Actually, Gu Shenwei didn't have any deep impressions of her. He just felt that she seemed somewhat familiar.

It was hard to tell just how old this woman was. Both her voice and her manner gave off the impression of someone sophisticated and mature, but her face was that of someone in their twenties and thirties. The moonlight partly obscured any defining characteristic of her age, and her common features obscured it even further.

She straightened her right arm and looked at the sword in her hand like how a common woman looked at her nails. She slowly raised her head, obsessively staring at the tip of the blade as she briefly sighed, "If I lose, please cut my head off with this sword."

Shangguan Hong held his soft sword that was shorter than two feet in length. The blade was waving to and fro like a snake fleeing in the grass. Clearly, his internal Qi hadn't stabilized yet. He felt that he should say something, even the typical crazy words said by disciples of the Waning Moon Hall would be good. "If I die… If I die… "

But he didn't want to die. He hadn't killed his mortal enemy yet, and there was so much pleasure in life that he had only tasted but hadn't fully enjoyed yet, though he was no longer able to enjoy a certain part of them. "The Master Commander herself imparted this kung fu to me," he yelled, as if the words he uttered were a defensive charm. "She has more plans for me, and she doesn't want us to kill each other. Han Yu, you must've made a mistake. Or… Or… I want to meet the Master Commander. I won't fight you unless I hear her order it with my own ears."

Shangguan Hong couldn't stop himself from being afraid. All disciples of the Waning Moon Hall were half crazy. His efforts into swordsmanship could be deemed "desperate" at most, but those women would truly risk their necks to improve their kung fu. He had once witnessed a female disciple drinking the opponent's blood after killing him, and she had even invited him to join her and "devour the enemy's power" together.

Han Yu's gaze moved from the tip of her sword to Shangguan Hong's face. The obsession on her face turned to scorn. "Killing companions is how we disciples of Waning Moon Hall survive. Every disciple has killed at least three or four fellow disciples. If we don't do this, then how can we know who is better? You're in no place to speculate about the Master Commander's intentions. Tonight, only one of us will survive, who will then challenge the Dragon King."

Shangguan Hong's heart lurched every time Han Yu made a remark, but her last remark reminded him of something. "Dragon King, I'm working for you… I – I can tell you all the secrets… "

Shangguan Hong's previous performance showed that he didn't know many secrets, so Gu Shenwei said, "In Golden Roc Castle, people never spoke so much nonsense before a kung fu competition."

Shangguan Hong's face abruptly went deathly pale. Han Yu bowed to the Dragon King as a gesture of apology. Her lips clamped tightly, she walked towards her opponent step by step.

Shangguan Hong tried hard to concentrate, but the scene of Han Yu drinking his blood kept appearing in his mind, and he couldn't steady the soft sword no matter how hard he tried.

"You all want to kill me!" he yelled, his voice full of grief and indignation. "I didn't do anything, and I didn't hurt anybody. However, you all still want to kill me!"

He had forgotten about all the innocent people that he had killed to practice and refine the Waning Moon Swordsmanship, and he had also forgotten that the reason why he had accepted Lotus' favorable offer at the very beginning was because he wanted to be powerful enough to "hurt anybody" whenever he wanted to.

Shangguan Hong seemed to have broken down. He didn't walk towards Han Yu and instead backed off, his eyes blinking restlessly. Like a cornered ferocious beast, he was panic-stricken, but he still possessed enough strength to launch a final desperate attack.

Gu Shenwei suddenly recalled a warning given by Zhong Heng a long time ago: every member of the Shangguan family was a wolf.

Apparently, Han Yu didn't think much of that statement. Her sword seemed to have become part of her. Even if the opponent was just an infant, she would still attack without hesitation.

But the one who made the first move was Shangguan Hong. He roared in a deep voice like a drunk brawling in the streets. Even when he pounced on the enemy, the soft sword in his hand was still shaking unsteadily.

Han Yu made her move later than the opponent, but she first approached him with a standard sword strike. She concentrated all of her internal energy into the blade and launched an attack from a tricky direction. The opponent was in front of her, but she had stabbed with her sword towards the back of his neck.

By comparison, Shangguan Hong's swordsmanship was an amateur's show. All of his strikes were direct and simple, as if he were someone who knew nothing of kung fu.

In fact, both his bodily movements and striking speed were quick enough. But when compared to those of Han Yu, they seemed full of flaws.

Han Yu's swordsmanship was almost the same as Lotus' when she had been young. Gu Shenwei had stood in the dark and observed Lotus practicing her swordsmanship numerous times. Afterwards, he would always give Lotus his advice. This used to be their main method of improving their kung fu, until one day their opinions of the Death Scripture diverged so greatly that they had no choice but to go their separate ways.

Upon seeing this familiar swordsmanship, Gu Shenwei agreed with the statement in the scriptures which said that there were nearly thirty unique ways to cultivate the Death Scripture. There was no right or wrong one, and neither were there better or worse ones. Lotus' understanding of the Death Scripture, which was "killing others," and his own understanding of the Death Scripture, which was "killing one's self," were merely two different paths that led to the peak of the same mountain.

Han Yu hit her target. Gu Shenwei's heart lurched, his eyes immediately darting in the direction of Shangguan Hong. He had also hit his enemy. He had made the first move, but failed to gain the initiative, and he was a little slower than his opponent. But despite all that, he had still hit her.

Han Yu had been strictly following the path that the Master Commander had pointed out to her, but Shangguan Hong had taken a different, third path.

He wanted to live. When he was in Golden Roc Castle where he was constantly under the malicious supervision of Madam Meng, he had tried his best and managed to survive. When he had been abandoned by his biological father and his instructor, he had struggled even harder and managed to survive yet again. After his penis was cut off by Shangguan Fei, he had still chosen to swallow the humiliation and live on, and he had never ever thought of committing suicide.

It was a short road to travel from killing people to fighting for survival. Lotus had set strict rules when imparting swordsmanship, but Shangguan Hong had broken through those restrictions. He couldn't compare with Han Yu in various aspects, but he did have one advantage over her – his will to live was so strong that it enabled him to endure unbearable pain.

He didn't pounce on Han Yu but instead pounced on her sword. He took that unavoidable stab head-on and then thrust his own sword at the opponent.

Han Yu's sword sank about five inches into her target's body, which was a standard depth. Her aim hadn't been that good due to the opponent's dodging. She had failed to hit the heart. She should have whipped out her sword immediately, but the enemy's lethal blow had already caught her by then.

Shangguan Hong stabbed his soft sword through Han Yu's body, to the point where a large part of it was protruding from her back, which though not exactly in accord with the substance of the Death Scripture was still very effective.

Shangguan Hong's face was hideous, as if he had just killed not a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall but rather Shangguan Fei, Zhang Ji, or someone else that he hated with this sword strike.

He slowly took two steps backwards and pulled out his sword in the same motion. Blood gushed from the wound in his chest and quickly dyed his clothes red.

As a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall, Han Yu had always been prepared to die. Even in the last moment of her life, there was no regret on her face.

Suddenly, Shangguan Hong rushed forward, steadying the body that was about to fall and ferociously bit into her neck. He could be cruel and crazy as well. No matter how much blood his enemy made him lose, he would drink the same amount of blood from his enemy.

After a while, he stood up and turned to face the Dragon King. He raised his hand and wiped off part of the blood around his lips. His voice was hoarse but his tone was joyful. "I'm not afraid of bleeding, Dragon King. Do you still remember? I said that I have too much blood and that I have to frequently let out blood. Ha-ha, this stupid woman was just doing me a favor."

Shangguan Hong had just found a new way of overpowering enemies, but it was a dangerous one. True kung fu experts would hit the vital part with one sword strike, something he wouldn't be able to survive no matter how much blood he had.

Shangguan Hong was on the verge of going crazy. If anybody pushed him mentally at this moment, he would never be able to return to normal. He had forgotten that the Dragon King was his next opponent. He mumbled excitedly, "Yes. I understand. I understand… I'll kill Shangguan Fei first, and then Zhang Ji will be second… No, Madam Meng will be second. I'll make them die face-to-face. That's right, face-to-face… And then Zhang Ji, and then Shangguan Ru, the Unique King, all members of the Shangguan family, all those who once laughed at me or disdained me. And the Dragon King… "

The Dragon King was walking towards him. Shangguan Hong woke up from his sweet dream. He backed off several steps, arching his back like a cat. In his eyes, there was no respect, only hostility, the soft sword still quivering in his hand.

But Gu Shenwei ignored him. He walked up to Han Yu, picked up the sword on the ground and glanced at it under the moonlight. "This is indeed a good sword." After saying this, he swung the sword at the body and separated Han Yu's head from her body. "You have to honor the last wish of the deceased."

Han Yu's wish had been fulfilled.

The Dragon King's cruelty pulled Shangguan Hong back from the brink of insanity.

"It was her who wanted a kung fu competition," Shangguan Hong's voice was quivering like his sword.

"Nobody blames you." Usually, Gu Shenwei's voice was flat, but at this moment, it cooled down Shanguan Hong's frenzy like a bucket of cold water.

Shangguan Hong's arms drooped, his soft sword feebly falling into the thick snow on the ground. "I still have to have a kung fu competition with Dragon King."

"That's true. This is the second task."

"No!" Shangguan Hong shrilly yelled. "This is not the Master Commander's intention. Han Yu made a unilateral decision. It was all because of her… "

"She died. And this is the second task."

"Then there must be someone else here. I'm sure." Shangguan Hong was even pleading with his eyes. His will to live told him that he should not have a kung fu competition with the Dragon King, "It's… It's him!"

Shangguan Hong did a twirl, as if that "him" was hiding somewhere nearby. "Wild Horse, show yourself. I know it's you."

Nobody answered. Gu Shenwei said, "Wild Horse, you renamed yourself Immortal Peng, didn't you?"

Shangguan Hong didn't quite understand. He knew who Immortal Peng was, but he didn't know why Wild Horse would change his name.

Gu Shenwei's remarks worked. Someone came out from behind a tree not far away from Shangguan Hong.

Shangguan Hong immediately backed off next to the Dragon King's side. If he had to choose between a monster and a foe, he would rather stay away from the monster.

That was indeed Wild Horse. His eyes, which were far apart, were his ever distinctive features. He didn't open his mouth, but a voice could be heard, "Why is your Death Scripture Swordsmanship so different?"

Shangguan Ru had once told Gu Shenwei that the last disciple of the Essence Pavilion was Wild Horse's companion. He offered the Wild Horse advice and also spoke for him.

"The Essence Pavilion should know this very well," Gu Shenwei replied. The manual of the Essence of Perceiving Passion said that there were sixty-four methods of practicing this kung fu. Although that was a lie, the disciples of the Essence Pavilion always took it seriously.

"The Master Commander didn't hand over all of the scriptures. Immortal Peng is very unhappy."

Shangguan Hong was astounded. Lotus had his antidote, and he couldn't afford to let it fall into someone else's hands. "Where's the Master Commander? Did you lock her away?"

Wild Horse took another two steps forward, his eyes fixed on the Dragon King. His lips didn't move but a voice spoke up again. "You haven't finished the second task."

Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Hong had the same thought: something must have happened to Lotus.