176 Negotiations (1/2)

One could still feel the heat emanating from the house that burned down last night. The corpses scattered all over the ground had not been dealt with. The two societies were preparing to negotiate for peace. To the people of the North City, this was a planned affair. The people of the South City were however, worried. They didn't understand what these machetemen were up to.

The casino was selected as the location for the negotiations. The master's was surnamed Sa, and the place was thus called Sa Casino. Since the wee hours of the morning, there had been machetemen gathering around here. They were all vagabonds and all wanted different things. Some were here to watch the commotion while others were here hoping to find a job. Still, some did not believe that peace could be easily achieved, and wanted to fish in troubled waters.

Half an hour before noon, people from the two societies started arriving at about the same time. One side was enthusiastic, while the other looked gloomy. The Horned Dragon Society suffered grave losses and the surviving machetemen's hatred could not be easily quelled. From the looks of it, it seemed possible that they were not here for negotiations. They looked like they were here taking a last stand.

Shangguan Fei sent out all 50 of his machetemen which were led by seven killers. They separated the two groups of rivals and blocked off a long alley so that no one could enter. Both the merchants and the occupants had been removed from their homes that morning. The machetemen guarded both ends of the narrow alley and forbade anyone from entering.

Both sides sent a number of swordsmen without any weapons to check on the security of the Sa Casino and its surroundings. When all was clear, the representatives entered the casino.

Gu Shenwei did not bring any weapons. He walked into the alley alone. He was being watched by the crowd that was present. Both Gu Shenwei and the Horned Dragon Society's representative arrived at the same time.

Gu Shenwei did not recognize this macheteman. The other person did not introduce himself either. Both men's tasks were simple. They sat down on opposite sides of the table. Three killers stood at the door and two secretaries presided over the negotiations.

Gu Shenwei had thought that the negotiations would be simple. However, it turned out that the other person was serious. He was extremely particular about the time, location and names. He nitpicked on every little detail. Gu Shenwei was really worried that he would be trapped.

The negotiations went on for over an hour. Both sides finally agreed that a temporary truce would start at three this afternoon and will last for 36 hours. The second round of negotiations would take place the next day. The leaders of both societies would take part and the negotiations would be hosted by the Ninth Young Master of the Golden Roc Fort, Shangguan Fei. The location would be at Sa Casino.

The negotiations had finally ended. There was still 15 minutes before the temporary truce took effect. The representative of the Horned Dragon Society let out a sigh of relief. He then carried a scroll with the written agreement and ran out of the casino without saying a word.

The two secretaries had also ran outside, leaving only the three killers to watch over Slave Huan. They left and closed the doors to the casino from the outside.

Gu Shenwei moved to the end of the table. He took out a hidden sword from under the table. He turned around to face Ye Silang, who was just exiting the inner room.

Both men had been waiting for this moment. After staying silent in several standoffs, the two men were exhausted. No one spoke. What's said has already been said. To someone who was about to get killed, words not only seemed unnecessary, they were an insult.

Both of them pulled out their swords and took a step forward at the same time. There was not a hint of hatred present in this encounter. Their only goal was to kill the other party. That was all.

Ye Silang's took a glimpse at one of the beams in the room, where Maid Lotus was hiding, lying in wait to carry out an ambush.

Ninth Young Master Shangguan Fei had satisfied both Fifth Young Master and Slave Huan's requests. He allowed two people to enter. Those machetemen would not be able to find them while the three killers received an order to ignore them.

Two killers would face one swordsman.

The swordsman took a step forward. They calculated each oncoming blow with precision. If the enemy thought that moves in the Rouge Forest were being used again, they would regret it.

Gu Shenwei stood firmly, looked down and closed his eyes. He looked like a coward who was awaiting his death.

Ye Silang stabbed. He was clearly over ten steps away from the killer, but the killer had suddenly closed in on him. His body was bent like a new moon and the sword in his hands gleamed like the moon.

The moment he unsheathed his sword, the swordsman swivelled to the right. With a swift move, he would be able to kill the first killer in a single blow. The sword would then swing upwards to block a blow that came from the top.

That was only if everything was as he expected.

Gu Shenwei leaned forward. He held a backhanded sword in his right hand and kept his arms close to his body. The tip of the sword was only a few inches above his head. It seemed like he wanted to deflect the swordsman's deadly attack with his head.

The tip of both swords clashed. They parted just as quickly as they came into contact. Gu Shenwei felt like he took a huge blow to his head. He took a few steps back to maintain his frontward-leaning posture.

Gu Shenwei did not die, but his sword had broken into pieces.

Ye Silang's sword was intact, but he died. He died due to the sword that came down from above. He thought that he would be able to fend it off successfully, but alas.

As a result, his sword did not pierce into the flesh of his opponent. It clashed with another sword instead.

The two masters engaged each other in this duel. They advanced and retreated, advanced and retreated. When their weapons hit their target, they retreated, not allowing the opponent to lash out as he struggled. Ye Silang was planning to pierce his opponent's neck with his sword, and then turning it upwards towards his head. But when the two swords collide, the force that came was greater than what the swordsman was ready for.

Everything had been thought out. The amount of force used to attack, to change up the moves and to defend. Ye Silang's calculations were precise but because of how his sword clashed with the other sword, his plan was botched.

The long sword broke the killer's sword. He then immediately changed its direction to confront the assassin, but it was a little slower.

What Maid Lotus needed was this little bit of time. Her sword gently hit the head of the macheteman and repelled him backwards by ten steps.

The duel had finally ended. There was no audience. Only two killers and one swordsman were present.

Gu Shenwei held the broken sword in his hand. He maintained an inaccurate squatting posture which looked ridiculous, but he looked serious.

Maid Lotus stood in a corner, masked and dressed in black. The tip of her sword was pointing towards the ground. The blade was smooth and gleamed. It had not been tainted with even a single drop of blood.