Death Scripture

Two corpses were placed in front of them. They were so deathly pale that they looked like two dummies in the rough shape of a human. The prince of the Shule Kingdom glimpsed at them and his face became just as deathly pale. Gagging, he quickly turned around, walked to the gateway, and refused to face the bodies again.

Shangguan Fa stretched out his hand and pressed down on the wound in the first body’s chest. “A saber wound.”

The murder weapon was right beside the body. It was a typical narrow saber of Golden Roc Castle. The victim was Ma Lian’s bodyguard, and he had died from a stab to the heart. The cut on the skin was just the size of a fingertip, which suggested that the stab wasn’t deep and that the saber had pierced into and then been pulled out of the body very quickly, indicating that the assassin was a kung fu expert.

The second body was tentatively labeled as the assassin’s.

It was a very young man. His slightly open mouth gave him a slightly puerile look. There were two wounds on him: one in the temple and the other in the side of the abdomen.

“Sword wounds,” said Gu Shenwei. “The first sword blow caught the side of his abdomen, and the second one his vitals.”

These two sword wounds didn’t seem as clean as the saber wound in the first body, but given that the assassin’s kung fu was very good and that he had been vigilant, the one who had killed him should have had better kung fu skills.

The two who had just examined the bodies raised their heads and exchanged a glance, both feeling that this was incredible: they were standing in the same tent and talking politely instead of fighting.

It would take some courage for anybody to look the Unique King in the eye. Gu Shenwei wasn’t afraid of doing so. The longer he was around Shangguan Fa, the less nervous he became. From time to time, the impulse to whip out his saber even surged within him, but this impulse didn’t concern vengeance. It was only because he wanted to prove his strength.

Killing the Unique King was one of Gu Shenwei’s most potent sources of hatred, but at this moment, it became insignificant.

“You know very well who did this,” Shangguan Fa said, totally indifferent to the aggressive look in the young man’s eyes.

Shaking his head, Gu Shenwei refused to be the first one to name the killer. “I don’t know who this assassin is and neither do I know who killed him.”

Shangguan Fa’s eyes were as deep as the sea, as if no storm was able to penetrate its surface. However, the corner of his lips curved into the ghost of a sneer. “I believe that this assassin was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. The one who killed him should be Lotus.”

Deep eyes and a cold sneer: these two completely different expressions appeared on the same face, as if a poised old lion king was facing the challenge from a young male lion but only responded with a languid yawn.

Gu Shenwei was provoked. “There are no male disciples within Waning Moon Hall, and Lotus is not the only one who uses a sword.”

“Maybe. But then who do you plan to hand over to the Central Plains? Some sabersman in a shabby alley of southern Jade City?”

Gu Shenwei discovered that he had been tricked. This was what Zhong Heng called the difference between “the truth” and “a solution.” Hand over a murderer that seemed reasonable to the Central Plains was more important than finding the true mastermind. When he had denied that the Waning Moon Hall and Lotus were responsible, he had actually shackled himself to “the truth.”

“It was not a random assassination. It was well-planned,” he said, subduing the fleeting impulse to whip out his saber. “The murderer is the one who benefited the most from it.”

“Didn’t the Waning Moon Hall benefit from it?” Shangguan Fa moved his eyes aside, as if he were more interested in the two corpses. “I heard that those lunatics’ purpose is to throw the whole world into chaos so that they can profit from the chaotic situation. Isn’t luring the Central Plains army into the Western Regions in accord with this purpose?”

“The Waning Moon Hall is not the only side that wants the Central Plain army to come here. You want that as well.” Gu Shenwei paused for a while, observing the reaction of Shangguan Fa. “Two months ago, you handed over Thousand Horsemen Pass to the Central Plains. Didn’t you do that because you wanted a war?”

Unexpectedly, Shangguan Fa nodded. “That’s true. But back then you had more than 200,000 Norland cavalrymen at your command. Golden Roc Castle can only benefit from a war between two evenly matched sides. But now, the army of the Central Plains is overwhelmingly stronger than all the other sides here. Why would I lure them here given that?”

“I can still summon the Norland cavalry.”

Shangguan Fa stared at Gu Shenwei again, the look on his face more callous than flat. “No, you can’t. You have begun to care about the lives of the troops, and you’re afraid of heavy casualties. Besides, you know that a final showdown is pointless to you. No matter which side wins, the Norlanders will retreat to the grasslands, and you will have to face the Central Plains’ attack alone. So, once the army of the Central Plains starts advancing towards the Western Regions, you will immediately attack Golden Roc Castle, and after that, you will be on the run just like you used to be.”

Neither Golden Roc Castle nor the Dragon Army could benefit from the intervention of the Central Plains. Gu Shenwei had no choice but to admit this, but he loathed Shangguan Fa’s condescending tone. “I want to see the body of the envoy of the Central Plains,” he said, abruptly changing the topic.

Wei Song was waiting for them in another tent. Upon hearing the Dragon King’s request, he shook his head seriously. “I don’t know about the customs of the Western Regions, but the Central Plains respects the body of a noble very much. It was already unfortunate enough that Lord Ma had to be assassinated in the city, and his body is already in the coffin. I can’t open the coffin and let him suffer an autopsy.”

The Unique King didn’t seem to care much about it. He took his leave and returned to Jade City with his guards.

When there were only two people left in the tent, Wei Song’s attitude became amiable. “In front of the Unique King, I have to behave in a businesslike manner. If you really want to check the body, I’ll see what I can do.”

Gu Shenwei shook his head. He had changed his mind. He decided not to ask Wei Song for any help for the moment. “That won’t be necessary. I don’t think I’ll be able to find anything. In three days’ time, I’ll give you the murderer, Lord Wei.”

Wei Song slightly lowered his voice. “This is a good chance to take revenge. If there is any evidence that Golden Roc Castle was involved in the assassination of Lord Ma, I can give the order to capture Shangguan Fa without the Imperial Court’s official consent.”

The intent look on Wei Song’s face was so sincere that Gu Shenwei would have believed Wei Song if his will were a sliver weaker. Gu Shenwei’s acting skills were also not bad. He nodded approvingly. “This is indeed a good opportunity. I just sounded him out. Shangguan Fa really might be involved in the assassination of the envoy.”

“As long as you provide a motive… ” Wei Song intimately patted Gu Shenwei’s shoulder and repeated, “As long as you provide a motive…”

Before leaving, Gu Shenwei paid Dugu Xian a visit. The one-armed general still had those 10,000 Central Plains troops under control, but he only had the right to act in self-defense, and he hadn’t been empowered to order them to attack proactively. When it came to large-scale movements, he still had to follow the orders of the Governor of the Western Regions.

Dugu Xian didn’t know much about criminal investigations, so he only put forward a possibility concerning the future situation. “If, by any chance the Central Plains refuse to let this go, we can’t let the war happen in Jade City. You’ll have to order the Norland cavalry to intercept the army of the Central Plains, and they should try to lure the enemy into the flat grasslands. That way, we’ll stand a much better chance of winning.”

This was the worst-case scenario. Gu Shenwei asked Dugu Xian to formulate an operational plan, and then he left this issue aside, since he still wanted to find the murderer.

In the afternoon, Gu Shenwei entered southern Jade City. Hu Shining had secured a territory in the southeastern corner of the city, and he had built up over ten layers of safeguards, which was more than enough to defend against a siege of large numbers of sabersmen.

All sides had agreed to a ceasefire in the Four Noble Truths Temple. Zhong Heng had been working on this issue. When Gu Shenwei arrived, southern Jade City was in peace and was somewhat unduly quiet. Even the number of people coming here for pleasure had decreased.

Gu Shenwei was no longer the apprentice killer he used to be, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t conduct an investigation himself. So as usual, Zhong Heng became his front man, and Xu Xiaoyi assisted him.

It only took Xu Xiaoyi half a day to restore his intelligence network to its former condition. “It’s a tough time for business, but that makes it easier to buy intelligence. The Dragon King doesn’t care much about money, right?”

Gu Shenwei didn’t. With the Meng family’s wealth as a guarantee, his promise was worth gold. Besides, both Xiao Fengchai and Lü Qiying had their own way of making money, so the Dragon King didn’t suffer any heavy financial losses.

“You found her?” he asked.

“I did.” Xu Xiaoyi glanced at Zhong Heng and then continued. “This Lord Ma wasn’t on a “incognito visit.” Clearly he was on a “incognito whoring.” Five nights ago, he stealthily moved from the Four Noble Truths Temple into northern Jade City, and for the next two consecutive nights, he went to Retention Alley to squander money. If it weren’t for him being stabbed, he would have been there during the past few nights as well. He was obsessed with that bitch.”

Xu Xiaoyi had found that prostitute and the one who had asked her the questions was Zhong Heng. “I was a little late. Someone from Golden Roc Castle had already gotten to her, so she was very cautious with her words, but she swore that the guest was just a common person and that he had paid her a lot of money. She said that there was nothing suspicious about the guest, and that she hadn’t told anybody anything.”

“Was she telling the truth?”

“I think so. She didn’t seem to know that this previous guest of hers was the envoy of the Central Plains.”

“That’s weird.”

“Um. Ma Lian only spent two nights in Retention Alley, so there shouldn’t be many people who knew about him going there. If the prostitute is not the one who divulged the secret, then it must be someone around Ma Lian who did it… ”

“Or someone from Golden Roc Castle,” Xu Xiaoyi didn’t want to be ignored, so he interjected with this statement immediately. “All of the guards at the checkpoints on the border between southern Jade City and northern Jade City are Golden Roc killers. They opened the gate for the envoy of the Central Plains at a regular time every night, which means that someone in Golden Roc Castle must know about Ma Lian’s identity.”

Ma Lian had still been bribed secretly by Golden Roc Castle. Zhong Heng felt a little embarrassed. Fortunately, the Dragon King didn’t mention this. Gu Shenwei said, “The more suspicious Golden Roc Castle looks, the more unlikely it is truly responsible for this, because this is not how they operate.”

“You’re right, Dragon King,” Xu Xiaoyi was still confused, but Zhong Heng had already understood what the Dragon King was trying to say. “It’s very easy to find evidence concerning Golden Roc Castle, but I suspect that the Unique King has some crucial pieces of evidence that can prove his innocence at the last moment.”

Gu Shenwei suspected that this was the reason why Wei Song wanted to “frame” the Golden Roc Castle. He wanted the Dragon King to believe that he had succeeded, and then he would overturn the Dragon King’s accusation with a crucial piece of evidence.

“Then we’ve narrowed the suspects down to those around Ma Lian.” Gu Shenwei made an deduction. “Even this person is not the mastermind, he should be the one who divulged the secret.”

“This person’s more likely than the latter,” Zhong Heng had thoroughly investigated them in the shortest amount of time. “I sent someone to inquire about it. There were about five or six people who knew about the envoy’s whereabouts, and all of them are common attendants. Even if they held grudges against Ma Lian, they’re unable to hire professional killers. Thus, it is more likely that one of them was bribed and disclosed the information. If I can get the consent of the Central Plains to make some official inquiries about this, then I might be able to identify this person.”

“Go to Wei Song. He’ll consent.”

“Yes,” Zhong Heng answered. At the thought of meeting with his immediate superior as the Dragon King’s Prime Minister, he had complex feelings.

After talking with them for a little longer, Zhong Heng took his leave. Gu Shenwei requested Xu Xiaoyi to make more inquiries about the movements of the Golden Roc Castle, and then he rested alone for about an hour. When it was completely dark outside, he had someone call Shangguan Hong in.

Gu Shenwei was badly short-handed in southern Jade City. All those with decent kung fu skills had been assigned here, and Shangguan Hong was no exception. However, he was seldom dispatched to perform tasks.

“You were hurt?” Gu Shenwei asked when he saw him.

Shangguan Hong subconsciously touched his waist. “I got anxious while practicing kung fu and twisted my waist.”

This was not a perfect lie, but Gu Shenwei didn’t ask any further questions. “Tonight, you’ll be performing a task with me.”

“Yes,” Shangguan Hong answered respectfully, surprised by the Dragon King’s trust in him.

“Let’s go find Lotus,” said Gu Shenwei. He never hesitated when he needed someone’s service.