190 The Killing of the Immortal (1/2)
Gu Shenwei did not expect Maid Lotus to make the first move. He instinctively drew his sword to counter-attack, but he was already stabbed in the chest before he could complete his move.
Her sword entered his chest by a few inches, and was close to his heart.
”Now, do you understand?” Maid Lotus asked as she kept her sword. She had examined the Secrets of Love thoroughly but had only touched on the Heartless Swords technique out of the 64 types of kung fu. As such, she was not completely sure of her deduction, but she had to look confident as it was the only chance for her to let Slave Huan see the truth.
Gu Shenwei sheathed his sword as well. He looked pale as a ghost, and felt as though a worm was crawling inside his heart, trying to burrow out of its cocoon. ”Why? Why did I not see it before?”
”You cannot be blamed, the Immortal's Rope has enchanted more than a few people. Not many can escape from the Immortal's clutches once he has talked about his visionary theories. Even somebody like me, who has never met him, had to spend a long time before I could spot any loopholes in it.”
”So there aren't 64 methods of training?”
”Of course not, it's just a wild theory thrown around by him. Even if there are different methods of training in a type of kung fu, they would end up serving the same purpose. There could never be a mix of sword craft, machete technique and boxing skills in just one type of kung fu.”
Maid Lotus' explanation was very easy to understand, yet Gu Shenwei was at a loss. He was starting to see the truth.
The Immortal was indeed a great hypnotist. His words and teachings were mainly true, but a small part of the key points were not. It had convinced Gu Shenwei to go against his better judgement and unknowingly, he had fallen into the Immortal's trap.
”The Heartless Swords technique... is not invincible?”
Maid Lotus laughed coldly. She knew that she could not make him snap out of his funk just by talking. She drew her sword again and pointed it at his chest, saying sternly, ”I did not use all of my skills just now. Look at you, thinking that your sword craft has improved by leaps and bounds. Now, you are just a pawn to the Immortal. Think about Ye Silang, if there was indeed a set of sword craft that would make its practitioner undefeatable, would he have given up halfway?”
Gu Shenwei got up abruptly. ”I'm leaving,” he said.
”Are you up to it?,” Maid Lotus asked.
He nodded his head, opened the door and stepped out into the night.
She sheathed her sword again. It was useless to try to make him stay. He would have to come to his senses on his own anyway.
Gu Shenwei returned to the third storey of the Joy Pavilion. He noticed that there was someone there, reading the texts on the screen.
It was Chu Nanping. He was staring at the screen fixatedly, while mumbling to himself and drawing in the air with his fingers.
o, he did not kill someone that he 'did not want to kill' too, thought Gu Shenwei.
He felt a little sympathy for the child, but nothing beyond that. Even though they were practice partners, they seldom interacted beyond their practice sessions. They had not reached the stage where they were able to trust each other yet.
Gu Shenwei stood behind Chu Nanping as he quickly gave the entire Secrets of Love a look once again. He could not control himself and let out a chuckle as he thought about how true Maid Lotus was. Also, the text containing the so-called 64 different methods of training were badly grafted onto the main body of the Secrets of Love. He was sure that he would have spotted it if he had studied the content on the screens without any 'guidance' from the Immortal.
In truth, there were more than ten types of different kung fu techniques and each of them was top notch. If he had not already learned the Death Scripture, he was sure that he would have been drawn to them. He realised that he had made a grave error in giving away the Death Scripture so easily to the Immortal.
However, he kept some of its contents secret from Immortal Peng - the 29 diagrams. He had memorised them by heart, but did not draw them out for the Immortal. This was done as he could not draw, and it was also a strategy that he and Maid Lotus had come up with together. They wanted to beat the Immortal at his own game.
Gu Shenwei chuckled again. As he tilted his head towards his practice partner, he realised that Chu Nanping was staring at him angrily. He was extremely unhappy with Gu Shenwei for breaking his concentration, and showed hostility towards him. He had forgotten that to be emotionless, one could not be angry.
”I am going to rest, continue studying and train at your own pace,” said Gu Shenwei flippantly.
He turned and walked down the stairs, returning to his room to sleep.
Chu Nanping sensed that there was something not right with the mocking and sarcastic tone of his practice partner. However, he was soon drawn back towards the contents on the screen, and resumed studying the words carefully. He did not know what had gone wrong, and why he was unable to strike.
As Gu Shenwei fell asleep, it was very clear that he only wanted one thing. I cannot let the Immortal get the Death Scripture so easily. I'll make that dwarf pay, he thought to himself.
However, when dawn arrived, he soon became unsure again. He had indeed got some benefits from listening to the Immortal. The meridians across his entire body were now functioning better than before, and the most obvious improvement was to his Lightness Skill. He had even circumvented the inherent vice of his family's Internal Strength technique, and was able to scale the walls easily now.
Even though the Immortal's theory of the 64 different training methods was a lie, the techniques by themselves were truly top notch. There was also no question about Ye Silang and Chu Yangjun's high level of sword craft - if Maid Lotus had not worked with him, he would not have been their match.
He was also sure that he was no match for many skilled denizens in the Joy Pavilion, even before he had fallen under the influence of the Immortal. And he did not even have to consider the skill level of the Immortal himself. The dwarf had achieved perfection with his kung fu, and Gu Shenwei did not even notice when he had moved during their previous encounter.
Who could say that the seventh stage of the Heartless Swords technique would not be equal to the Death Scripture? He thought.
Gu Shenwei stuck to his routine of waking up early to practice sword craft in the peach forest with Chu Nanping. Neither of them mentioned their failure to kill the previous night. After the practice session had concluded, they had their breakfast, and the boy went up to serve Immortal Peng while the youth remained on the first storey, sipping his tea.
I have to wait for a better opportunity, if I make my move on Immortal Peng now, it will be to my disadvantage. It wasn't an illusion when he showed me that his level of kung fu was much higher than mine, he thought.