235 Surprise (1/2)

Chapter 235: Surprise

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

The plot to assassinate the Supreme King was not successful. Although the people in the Fort had investigated for a long time, they failed to understand why it had developed into a massacre.

In West Castle, there was an alley that was close to the Eighth Young Master's residence. Many counselors from Whiterobe Academy were living there. Like the killers, they were following different owners and were the spokesperson for their respective young masters.

By the time when the Supreme King had fended off the assassins, half of Stone Castle could already hear Luo Ningcha's screams. Three of the most important counselors had heard of a piece of news: the Lord was assassinated.

Luo Ningcha was terrified and continued to scream. She became a direct footnote to the mysterious person's reminder.

Luo Ningcha's initial reaction wasn't due to the assassination of the Lord. Instead, she thought that Lady Meng had sent people to kill her. She was throwing tantrums and fearfully shouted, ”She wants to kill me.”

This was the first time that Shangguan Fa had seen Luo Ningcha's real character. He was surprised yet disgusted. He could finally understand why his Eighth Son, Shangguan Nu, would abandon such a beautiful wife and desert Golden Roc Fort. However, Luo Ningcha's misbehavior had saved her life as Shangguan Fa didn't think that she was the mastermind.

Shangguan Fa had even wasted some precious time to comfort the Eighth Young Mistress before he left. Although it was an open secret in the Fort that the Supreme King was lustful, he still had to keep his image in mind.

The situation had developed beyond Shangguan Fa's expectations.

He returned to the Inner Residence, and as usual, he secretly issued orders and inspected the fort. However he didn't expect that the news of the dead Supreme King would spread so quickly and that many people would believe it.

The Second, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Young Masters didn't regard Stone Castle as a safe home. They were guarding against one another and they felt beleaguered. Collusion and betrayal could happen at any moment. Some casual words and the meeting of each other's gazes could spark a fertile imagination and would cause them to fight among themselves. They relied on the Supreme King's ban on killing to maintain the delicate balance.

Not everyone believed the news that the Supreme King was assassinated. In fact, there were many suspicious things even before they saw the corpse. However, they were worried that someone would use the news to make preemptive strikes, so they had to strike first.

It was total chaos. The Fifth Young Master attacked the Second Young Master, the Sixth Young Master ambushed the Fifth Young Master, the Seventh Young Master charged into the Inner Residence to kill Lady Meng and Lady Meng wanted to kill everyone else.

When the Supreme King realized that the situation had gone out of control, the killing spree was already in the middle of being carried out, and he couldn't stop any of the orders. Shangguan Fa sent out many elite killers and several black-masked assassins around the city to announce that the Lord was still alive. Those who disobeyed would be cruelly suppressed.

The chaos in the Fort had died down at around midnight. Dozens of people, including the Sixth and Seventh Young Masters, had died in this ridiculous killing spree.

The Supreme King was furious. He imprisoned the Second and Fifth Young Masters and stripped Lady Meng of her authority. He found out that the culprit was that assassin, but he escaped unscathed and was nowhere to be found.

Gu Shenwei survived, partly due to his luck and partly due to the help of others.

Shangguan Fa was held back by Luo Ningcha, thus allowing the assassin to escape from the bedroom. A black-masked assassin saw Gu Shenwei just when he had jumped onto the roof. At the time, Gu Shenwei had not wanted to test his machete skills, so he fled. The black-masked assassin had closely followed behind him. It was as if he was Gu Shenwei's shadow.

Gu Shenwei couldn't outrun the assassin, but he was saved by an unexpected person.

As usual, Horsekeeper Elderly Zhang was still in the stable late at night. Luo Ningcha's scream made him quiver. For the first time in his life, he wanted to save a damsel in distress. So, he took a sickle and fiercely ran outside. He was slightly slow so he had let the assassin run past him, but he managed to stop the black-masked assassin.

The black-masked assassin killed elderly Zhang just like that. The old him would have silently stayed in the stable. He lost his life just because the lady had lifted her veil. The person who he wanted to save didn't require his help, but the person who he didn't want to save had managed to survive.

The black-masked assassin was delayed for only a moment. Although he had barely stopped for a short time, the assassin still managed to escape from him.

Gu Shenwei was grateful to Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi as they had played a game of ”assassination” two years ago. As they had covered every corner of Stone Castle, he knew every street and was more familiar of the area than the locals.

Gu Shenwei jumped from a low wall into a courtyard and shook off the black-masked assassin, who had been chasing after him. He then returned to the Eighth Young Master's residence. Just when he was about to enter his house, he saw Maid Lotus waving at him.

There were too many unexpected things this evening. Gu Shenwei entered Maid Lotus's house without much of a thought.

”Get on the bed,” Maid Lotus whispered.

Gu Shenwei jumped onto the bed. When he was under the blanket, he removed his night suit and mask, and threw them at Maid Lotus.

Maid Lotus was unfazed and neatly folded the outfit. Then, she placed them together with her clothes.

”My sword ... is still in the backyard.”

”Leave it.”

After Maid Lotus finished her sentence, a group of people poured into the courtyard. Someone shouted, ”Stay in the house! No one is allowed to come out!”

At this time, the fighting among the Young Masters haven't begun yet. Shangguan Fa was bent on finding the assassin. The night watchmen who heard the news first investigated the Eighth Young Master's residence.