97 The Rescue (1/2)

When he entered the house, Gu Shenwei felt that something was wrong. When he did not find any signs of living people both upstairs and downstairs, he was panicking as he rapidly searched the whole place again.

The Xu siblings had escaped, and all of the valuable items were taken away. There was only the saber which he had used before and it was placed on the extinguished stove.

Gu Shenwei sat down in disppointment, wondering where the sister and brother could have escaped to. They would be easily discovered in the city and there were either high mountains or the Gobi desert around the city. In this season, leaving the city would be suicidal, and the nearest populated place was several days' walk away.

Then he realized that he was wrong again. The one in the cape was not a sentry of the Golden Roc Fort.

Gu Shenwei sprung to his feet and ran out of the house. He wanted to find someone to clarify one thing and to find a horse. He ran towards the Southwall Tavern, where he could ask the manager even if Tie Hanfeng was absent.

As soon as he passed the gap in the city wall, Gu Shenwei saw his Master Shifu walking out of the tavern.

Tie Hanfeng came to his apprentice and asked, ”What's going on? Everything is a mess out here.”

The fire outside the city and the fact that the killer apprentices were searching for Elderly Dragon everywhere had been spread throughout the city. It was natural for such a well-informed person like Tie Hanfeng to hear of such things.

”It's an emergency, I need a horse.”

Tie Hanfeng believed his apprentice and turn to the tavern. He came back after a while, followed by two sleepy counterjumpers who was leading two horses.

”Will you go with me?”

”Sure.”

Thinking that it might be better, Gu Shenwei mounted the horse and asked, ”Which way leads to Stone Kingdom?”

”There are only two ways from Jade City, one eastward, the other westward. Stone Kingdom is in the south, so they could have gone either way.”

Gu Shenwei contemplated for a while, then he suddenly had an inspiration, ”Let's go west.”

He remembered that short sword. The handle had fallen into the stove and the sword tip was pointed towards the west, which must have been a message that Xu Xiaoyi had left behind for him.

They rode straight to the road on the west. Tie Hanfeng finally had the chance to ask Gu Shenwei, ”What are you going to do?”

”I will rescue them,” Gu Shenwei answered and spurred on the horse harder.

Tie Hanfeng frowned. He did not like to ”rescue” because he thought the duty of a killer was to kill.

Any moving object would be easily found in the vast expanse of wild grasslands. When the sun was high in the sky, Gu Shenwei saw a slow-moving carriage that was accompanied by a knight. The knight was wearing a black cape and it stood out even though the cape was supposed to be inconspicious.

Hearing the clip - clop of the two horses, the carriage stopped by the road side with the knight standing guard in front of it. Gu Shenwei and Tie Hanfeng approached the carriage and, when the curtain on the carriage was raised, they saw the Xun sister and brother.

Xu Xiaoyi lowered his head with a slightly flushed expression. Xu Yanwei was surprised and angry, ”Why is it always you? Do we owe you money?”

Upon seeing them, Tie Hanfeng frowned a little. But he paid more attention to the knight, who's obviously hiding a sharp scimitar underneath the cape.

”You owe me your two lives,” said Gu Shenwei coldly, ”so I can't let them be taken away by others.”

”It was your decision to save us. We didn't ask you.” Xu Yan replied rigidly.

”So what about this time? The second prince wants to kill you, and I'll never help you unless you ask for it.”

While Xu Yanwei was bewildered, Xu Xiaoyi spoke first, ”Brother Huan, the second prince is taking us to Stone Kingdom, not killing us.”

The knight, who had kept his silence until now, said, ”My mission is to escort Miss Xu and Mr. Xu to Stone Kingdom and I never had the intention of killing them.”

Gu Shenwei simply ignored his words. Although the Xu sister and brother had been making a living in South City and knew more about the ways of the world, they were far less perceptive than him in front of a real conspiracy.

”Just think about it. The second prince had killed his brother, which we all know, and so do the insiders of Golden Roc Fort, the Meng Family and the commandant. But you two are different because you are not only insiders, but also living proofs. Of all the insiders, you are the only ones who have seen Guard Ju commit murder and know that ”Master Mi” is the second prince. Think about it. It is neither necessary nor useful for the second prince to kill me, but will he keep both of you alive? As soon as you leave the territory of the Golden Roc Fort, this guard who claimed to 'have no intention of killing' will surely destroy the proofs.”

The coachman carefully looked back. He took this job because of the generousness of the employer, but he did not want to be killed.

Looking puzzled, the Xu sister and brother turned toward the knight together. The knight raised his hood and revealed his firm face of a fourty-year old man, ”His Majesty missed Miss Xu very much and just wants to meet you soon. I can guarantee your safety, Miss Xu, please don't worry.”

Gu Shenwei turned his horse around and said, ”I've said enough. The choice is up to you.”

Xu Yan bowed her head in silence, and Xu Xiaoyi shouted, ”Turn around, turn around, we're not going to Stone Kingdom.”

The coachman had been waiting for such words, however, he had to wait for the knight's instruction.

”How about you, Miss Xu?” asked the knight.

Feeling perplexed and alarmed, Xu Yanwei thought hard about her decision. Finally, she sighed and said, ”Let's return to South City first, we're not in a hurry to go to Stone Kingdom.”

After a moment of silence, the knight took off his cape and drew out his scimitar. ”So I have no choice.”