227 Spoiling the Plan (2/2)
”Can I take a look?”
”No.” Came Luo Ningcha's steadfast refusal. She then laughed continuously before adding, ”Poor little Slave Huan, do you think your story about treasure fooled me? I knew the thing you lot were eyeing could not have been simple as a treasure map. Even that old bitch is willing to make peace with me for this thing. My husband is incapable but full of ambition. He told me that he would take over the position of the Supreme King sooner or later, and had wanted to learn various kung fu techniques, such as Wayless Qigong. However, the lord was not fond of him, and as such, he never even knew where the manuals to the techniques were being kept at. Imagine now that I have the Wayless Qigong in my hands.”
Gu Shenwei wanted to tell this woman that her father would be finished soon and she would be losing her backing. The aftermath of the Bighead Kingpin's end would be stirring up so much dirt that it would be enough to bury her ten times over.
”Miss, you've done great service in the name of the Eighth Young Master,” said Gu Shenwei nonchalantly. He knew that if Luo Ningcha knew that the lives of three people were dependent on the wooden slab in her hands, she would not have wanted to give it up even more.
”Humph, I didn't do it for him.”
”Do you plan to learn it yourself?”
”Pfft, I don't have the time to learn kung fu.”
”So, you've another smart move up your sleeve, Miss.”
”Hehe, do that old bitch and the little girl want this wooden slab very badly?”
”I believe so.”
”Don't give me all that, if you dare to come up with something to trick me, Slave Huan, I'll... exchange this wooden slab for your life.”
After hearing this, Gu Shenwei felt relieved instead of fear. He now knew that Luo Ningcha did not have any plan in mind as to how to use this wooden slab. He realized that she probably just had taken it to spite and taunt Lady Meng. He was getting more confused as to whether she was too foolish or too smart.
”Miss, you're too sharp, I can't hide anything from you. I shall tell you the truth then. There's a rule within the Stone Castle that only the lord can learn the Wayless Qigong technique. Lady Meng stole the manual as she wanted one of her twins to be the next Supreme King. However, she was ambushed by your sneak attack, and now you have her in the palm of your hand.”
”Are you suggesting that she would agree to any demand of mine?”
”Of course, as long as you hand over the wooden slab.”
”Um, I shall consider it seriously. I'm too excited today and can't think of anything. Tell that old bitch to continue waiting and not to play any dirty tricks. I hid the slab in a secure location, and even Maid Cui and Maid Wan don't know where it is, so none of you lot will be able to find it. If I'm threatened, I'll spill all the beans out to the public, and let the lord know that you lot have stolen the manual to the technique.”
Gu Shenwei had to admit that Luo Ningcha had everything in control now. He knew that he had to coax her slowly to listen to his reasoning, as she never considered the consequences of her actions. Even though she was simple-minded and her motives were easy to understand, it was impossible to predict what she would do next.
Lady Meng did not receive Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus when they came to the Inner Residence with the other nine wooden slabs, in the pretense of being ill. Shangguan Ru, however, had already recovered from the incident and felt a mix of anger and humor out of it all. She asked the two killers, ”What does Eighth Sister-in-Law actually want?”
After listening to Gu Shenwei's brief explanation on Luo Ningcha's ideas, Shangguan Ru was even more confused than before. ”She hadn't even thought about her conditions before she decided to take one of the slabs to blackmail us?”
Luo Ningcha was like the rapids. Even though you could see clearly into the water, the force of its flow was ferocious and no one could predict the direction of the currents.
”Miss Luo... does have a strange temper,” said Gu Shenwei helplessly.
”It's all because of me,” said Maid Lotus. She had not broke free of the web of self-criticism. ”If only I had held on more tightly... or if only I could've remembered the words better,” she added.
”How could you be blamed? You hadn't got any rest over three days, it would be impossible to remember so many words. I should be blamed, for not carrying the slabs for you at that time.”
The two teenage women took turns to take the blame, and Gu Shenwei said after listening to them for a while, ”We have to think of a way for Miss Luo to give up the wooden slab.”
The three of them read the contents of the remaining nine slabs. Maid Lotus had inscribed very neatly in very compact and small script; it was hard to think that she had done it in the dark of the night.
The contents of the first two slabs were familar to them, as it was the last portion of the strange script in the Death Scripture. Shangguan Ru had only learnt up till the first thousand words and was surprised to read them here.
What followed next was a complex set of Internal Strength mantra. While reading it, Shangguan Ru kept exclaiming in delightful surprise, ”I know this part!” However, the contents grew unfamiliar for her when they came to the sixth slab.
The Internal Strength technique taught within the Golden Roc Fort was derived from the Wayless Book, and improvised from a small portion of it. The true Wayless Qigong technique was many times stronger in comparison, and each Supreme King managed to rule over all his killers because of this fact.
They looked at each other after they had finished reading all the slabs. Luo Ningcha had coincidentally took the last one, and they could still start practicing the technique even without it; but they could not finish learning it.
As she knew that Luo Ningcha's importance was diminished substantially due to this reason, Shangguan Ru thought of her mother's words: What would a man of the Shangguan Family do?