218 Eavesdropping (2/2)

The giant red-crowned roc had long become fed up of following the sluggish pace of human beings. Before Gu Shenwei could say anything, and had only waved his hands, it had already disappeared into the clouds.

Gu Shenwei felt that the bird was a little callous. Conversely, Xu Yanwei admired him almost to the point of worship. ”Gee, to think you raised it! You're truly... a deity on earth.”

There was a slight change in the way Xu Yanwei looked at him. She had always felt an unspeakable attraction towards macho tough guys. But Gu Shenwei dispelled her fantasy. ”Stay here. The food and water should be enough for two days. Don't go anywhere or light a fire to get people's attention.”

They were in the middle of nowhere, and the surroundings were full of bushes and weeds, while there could even be wild beasts nearby. In the past, Xu Yanwei would definitely have clarified, ”Why should I remain here? Who shall protect me? When will someone come to fetch me?” This time, however, she simply nodded her head several times to indicate that she would absolutely not contravene the orders.

At night, Gu Shenwei slipped back into the big camp but did not return to his own tent. Instead, he cautiously made his way to the outside of Shangguan Nu's tent. He could not afford to waste a golden opportunity to kill one of his biggest enemies and frame either Bighead Kingpin or New Moon Hall.

This was a plan which he had come up with long ago. Killing the Fourth Young Master Shangguan Ruo and the black-masked assassin had given him tremendous confidence that he was ready to take revenge.

It would not be easy to evade the attention of a head killer and a black-masked assassin at the same time. Gu Shenwei had not slept for several days, but the fervent desire for revenge kept him going. Moving in circles, he approached the tent slowly and searched for the assassin's hiding spot.

The hiding spot was slightly unexpected. Instead of guarding on the roof of the Eighth Young Master's tent, the black-masked assassin was lying prone on top of an adjacent and bigger tent. He was wearing a cloak which was the exact same color as the tent, and was able to wrap himself completely in it.

Gu Shenwei discovered the assassin because when a gust of wind blew past, the roofs of the tents rose and fell with regularity, whereas only the hiding spot did not correspond.

”What is the assassin doing on the roof of Bighead Kingpin's tent? Could Shangguan Nu be thinking of harming his father-in-law?” Gu Shenwei thought, but promptly realized that his conjecture was false. The assassin was not guarding by his master's side because Shangguan Nu was discussing a private matter which he did not want anyone to hear.

Everyone had the potential to betray him, and even the black-masked assassin, who had to die before he could leave his master, was no exception.

Gu Shenwei first thought about killing the assassin but changed his mind. Instead, he moved round to the blind angle of the assassin's line of sight and carefully made his way to the back of Shangguan Nu's tent. Lying prone on the ground, he used his dagger to puncture a hole in the tent, on which he placed an ear and listened in on the conversation attentively.

There were two people inside - Shangguan Nu and Zhong Heng. Gu Shenwei was only able to hear a few broken lines as they were speaking very softly. Subsequently, he returned to his own tent, where a macheteman was waiting for his return. Without saying anything, the macheteman nodded at him and left at once.

Gu Shenwei felt asleep as soon as he shut his eyes. He only had a few hours to eliminate the fatigue of the past few days.

He had changed his mind and not killed Shangguan Nu because the words he heard made him conceive an even greater plan which could allow him to kill even more members of the Shangguan family.

Early in the morning the next day, the killer Yang Huan, who had been ”plied with wine” by the machetemen in his own tent for several consecutive days, finally sobered up. The gifts to be delivered to Stone Castle were also adequately prepared and ready to be sent out at any time.

While Shangguan Nu never came by to visit, Zhong Heng did so once. Gu Shenwei informed him that the gold was already well-kept and could be divided after the limelight had faded, to which the commandant did not object.

Master Wei and his entourage had died in the most desolate of places, and thus it would take several days before the news reached the big camp. All things considered, Gu Shenwei had managed to get ahead of the rumors.

The gifts which Bighead Kingpin prepared for his daughter included not just rare treasures but also twenty female slaves which he had specially purchased according to his daughter's request. Allegedly, Luo Ningcha was feeling lonely in the Stone Castle and wanted more people to accompany her.

The evening before setting off, Gu Shenwei went to have a look at the twenty female slaves and chose one of them to follow him. The registrar and guards understood tacitly what was going on and authorized her release, while the slave herself was also very compliant. Once out of the tent, she clung on to the killer and asked him many questions in her unpolished Central Plains Chinese.

Gu Shenwei requested two horses, one for the slave and one for himself, and left the camp under the cover of night. Though this appeared a little strange, nobody asked too many questions. The two of them were not from Iron Mountain, and nobody felt it was necessary to be a busybody.

Xu Yanwei had suffered a fair bit hiding in the wilderness for two days. The rustling of leaves in the wind terrified her, and so she had eaten only a few mouthfuls of the food and had not dared to sleep much. When she heard the clattering of the galloping horses, she quickly hid herself in the tall grass and only climbed out after hearing Mr. Huan's voice.

”Who is this?” Xu Yanwei questioned in surprise.

The female slave was also very surprised. ”Go, let's go back to the big camp.”

Gu Shenwei pulled out his knife and cleanly stabbed it into the female slave, who fell on the ground practically without bleeding.

Xu Yanwei's eyes stared wide open, yet she did not dare to scream, and almost stuck her entire fist into her mouth.

”Put on the clothes.”

Gu Shenwei turned his back. Although Xu Yanwei was becoming increasingly aware that things were odd, she had made up her mind not to ask any questions and instead leave everything to Mr. Huan to decide.

After midnight, the killer Yang Huan returned to the camp with his ”female slave” and kept her in his own tent. He only ”returned” her the next morning when the gift-sending contingent was about to set off.

The accompanying female slaves felt that she had changed slightly, but because every one of them was purchased from different places, nobody would fuss over a trifle like this.

By sending Xu Yanwei to Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei intended not only to keep a survivor with first-hand information alive but also for her to do something for him.

Gu Shenwei felt that it should be a simple task because he had overheard two important pieces of information from Shangguan Nu:

The Central Plain was indeed planning to act against Bighead Kingpin, and it would be within a few months' time.

Eighth Youth Master had already betrayed his father and Golden Roc Fort.