180 Immortal Peng (2/2)
At the far end of the room, there was a huge screen full of Chinese characters, but Gu Shenwei could not clearly read any of them. This reminded him of Luo Ningcha who had never shown her true face.
The white-robed man came forward, bowed slightly while holding the sword with both hands, and returned it to its owner.
Gu Shenwei took the sword, hesitated for a moment before putting it back into his scabbard. No one spoke, and he did not speak either. But in his heart, he began to doubt whether his decision was right or not.
”Your swordsmanship is quite good. Who did you learn it from?” asked a one-legged man.
”My swordsmanship is not good enough, otherwise my sword would not have been snatched away,” replied Gu Shenwei.
”No, no. Your swordsmanship is good. It's a pity that you're not learning it right and you don't have a strong will. That's why you lost your sword,” a cman said.
”Who, who are you?”
”I've told you many times. I'm Immortal Peng.” This time the speaker was a handsome young man.
Gu Shenwei felt as if there was a disgusting and creepy reptile crawling around in his heart. He had seen mutilated corpses and mounds of dead people, but he had never felt as uneasy as he was now.
”You...” Gu Shenwei's eyes scanned the faces of dozens of people and finally fell on the screen. The real Immortal Peng was behind it and the others were just his mouthpieces. As he realized this, he was no longer as afraid as he had been previously, although he still felt that it was a little weird.
”Hey, Your Excellency is really good at fooling people,” Gu Shenwei said so while he was actually thinking about Xu Xiaoyi. That boy was here before and had been making inquiries for several days, but he did not report such an important piece of information.
”Those who knew me said I was sad at heart. Those who didn't know me said I was seeking for something.”
Gu Shenwei stared at the screen and ignored whichever strange person was talking this time. He replied, ”You seem to have expected me to come.”
”Hmm, I thought you'd be here a long time ago, but you were too skeptical and had wasted a lot of time.”
”Haven't you told your own fortune?”
”If you believe in fortune-telling, then it's true. If you don't believe in it, then it's nothing. Others believe in it when I tell their fortune. I don't believe in it, so I never tell my own fortune.”
Immortal Peng was frank. Gu Shenwei realized that his alertness was constantly diminishing. As long as he relaxed a bit, he would unwittingly feel at ease. Although he was surrounded by dozens of people, all of whom seemed to be top-notch experts, he did not feel nervous at all. He was very certain that no one would hurt him.
”Well, I'm here. What do you want from me?”
”You killed Ye Silang and Chu Yangjun.”
”Humph, were they your disciples?”
”No, they're just people who learned swordsmanship from me and then left me.”
In Gu Shenwei's eyes, Immortal Peng was deliberately mystifying things again. However, he soon understood that he had learnt a lot of martial arts skills from Mama Xue, but they were not master and disciple.
”So you had used me to kill them.” Gu Shenwei was not afraid to think of others in a most unkind way and he was rarely wrong.
”I didn't mean to kill them or to use you. It was just a competition between two styles of swordsmanship. I just wanted to know the result.”
It was a creepy conversation. Each time Immortal Peng spoke, he used a different voice which could come from any direction. Gu Shenwei stared at the screen and imagined that the other side to be a top-notch ventriloquist so that he could feel a little bit more normal. He said, ”The murderous sword defeated the dueling sword.”
”To me, the Emotionless Sword has surpassed the Affectionate Sword.”
”Haha.” Gu Shenwei raised his head and laughed. Suddenly, before his laughter ceased, he dashed toward the screen in an attempt to see Immortal Peng's true face.
A man appeared from nowhere to block his way.
Gu Shenwei immediately retreated. He should have changed his direction and rushed forward again, but he was startled by the look of the person in his way. His Internal Breath stalled for a bit, and he missed a good opportunity to attack.
The one that came out from behind the screen was a teenager whose face appeared to be immature, but his eyebrows and eyes strongly resembled Chu Yangjun's. It made him appear as gentle and tranquil as a woman.
”You are... Chu Yangjun's younger brother?”
”I'm Immortal Peng.” The teenager still repeated the same answer.
Gu Shenwei was startled and puzzled. Before he even knew it, he was gripped by the teenager on one wrist. Their hands seemed to stick together, regardless of how hard he struggled to free himself. He attempted to draw his saber with the other hand, but it was also held by another person.
The men who were gripping his wrists were holding hands with the others. Thus, they were connected to each other as they formed a circle.
Again, the killer lost his ability to detect the danger. It was as if he knew that everyone had no intentions to harm to him and that Immortal Peng was helping him.
A pitch-black cane, which seemed to be made from either iron or wood, slowly protruded from behind the screen, and was gently laid on the teenager's shoulder.
A current of gentle Internal Breath entered his left arm and exited his right three times before everyone loosened their grip. Someone retracted the crutch and the teenager drew back behind the screen.
”So that's why. Now I see,” Immortal Peng said again using someone's mouth. ”That's quite something. You've mastered such a swordsmanship despite having to keep the Peripheral Force suppressed.”
”Can you remove it?” Gu Shenwei blurt out with a trembling voice. The Peripheral Force was both an internal injury and his sore spot. He tried not to think about it, but the three-year period set by Mama Xue was drawing to an end and he was looking forward to a miracle.
”Yes, I can.” An old voice full of authority rang out. Gu Shenwei was startled by it even though he had no reason to be startled.
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