296 Reciprocation (1/2)

Chapter 296: Reciprocation

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

It was pitch dark the moment Gu Shenwei returned to his temporary home, which was now widely known as Residence of Dragon King. Although it was his own place, he still persisted in his old habit of quietly sneaking into a residence at night and leapt over the wall to get into the compound.

He had to be prudent since Wildhorse and Immortal Peng were not bound by the three-month truce agreement. As for the other disciples of the Joy Pavilion, who were particularly fascinated by the three-storey building, they would definitely want to take revenge on him for the destruction of the pavilion.

Gu Shenwei easily dodged the guards who were patrolling the courtyard and returned to his room. The moment he entered it, he sensed something amiss and took hold of his saber shaft.

Without his permission, no one was allowed to enter his room, but at this moment, he clearly felt that someone else was inside it.

”This person is breathing evenly, seemingly not making any effort to hide himself or herself. It looks like he or she is—sleeping.”

With this thought in mind, Gu Shenwei quietly unsheathed his saber and gently drew his bed curtain open.

Behind the curtain, there was a fully-clothed girl who curled up in his bed. Under the dim light, he could see that she was fast asleep and had a smile on her face. He guessed that she was probably dreaming of something good.

He recognized that she was one of the maids from the Great Snowmountain, but he did not know her name. ”Ahem,” Gu Shenwei coughed lightly.

The young girl woke up with a start. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and suddenly saw the Dragon King standing beside her with Five Peaks Saber in hand. She was scared as well as ashamed, her cheeks turning bright red from blushing. She jumped out of the bed and said incoherently, ”Dragon King... I was... You... I didn't know... Please forgive me.”

Like all the other people from the Great Snowmountain, this girl did not have the habit of kowtowing to her superiors, so she just huddled at the bedside and awkwardly begged for mercy.

”What's your name?” Gu Shenwei asked nonchalantly while bringing his saber down, but not sheathing his weapon.

”Jiang,” replied the girl, who was frightened.

It took Gu Shenwei a minute to understand that ”Jiang” was her name instead of a cry of fear. ”So your surname is Long?” asked Gu Shenwei.

Most residents of the Great Snowmountain were surnamed Long, but this convention did not apply to the girl. She shook her head in disagreement while saying, ”No, I'm from the Qin Valley clan of Luoshen Peak.”

Each of the five tribes of the Great Snowmountain was divided into several clans. A person from the Qin Vally clan usually was surnamed Qin.

”Qin Jiang?” asked Gu Shenwei.

”No, just Jiang,” the girl shook her head again and said.

Despite that Gu Shenwei was respected as ”Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks”, he did not know much about the customs of the Great Snowmountain. He guessed that the probable reason this girl had such a strange name was that women were not allowed to use a surname in her clan. ”What're you doing here?”asked Gu Shenwei.

As the Dragon King spoke softly this time, the girl named Jiang did not seem to be so scared anymore, although her face was still red. She revealed a childlike smile and said, ”I came here to serve you, Dragon King.”

”I've never asked you to come here.”

”But my tribal chief ordered me to serve you. He instructed that I should make sure that you get a good rest and...”

”I nullify all the commands that he gave you.”

”But... But...” Jiang stuttered, feeling confused. She felt that she had to follow her tribal chief's order, but at the same time she dared not to act against the Dragon King's will.

”Go back to your room. I'll call you if I need you,” Gu Shenwei said in a low voice, trying his best not to sound too harsh.

”Um,” Jiang replied and then walked toward the door. After walking a few steps, she hurried back to pick up her shoes on the ground and then swiftly ran out of the room. Her face was redder than before, and it appeared that she was working hard to hold her tears back.

Gu Shenwei had decided long before that he would never keep a servant in his bedroom, for he knew that the betrayal of such a servant would lead to serious consequences. He thought of Jiang's intrusion as an accident and did not pay much attention to it.

He quickly forgot about the girl, sheathed his saber and sat on the bed, thinking about the information divulged by Shangguan Hong.

”Using Shangguan Ru as bait to lure me into a trap indeed sounds like a plan made by Lady Meng and Shangguan Fei.”

Gu Shenwei snorted and continued to think, ”Master Fei, you underestimate me. You consider this thing as a childish game—who's whose friend, and who's whose foe. I'll never fall into your trap.”

With this thought in mind, Gu Shenwei fell into his bed, sinking into sleep with his saber in hand. He fought numerous people in his dream that night.

The next day, he had to deal with a lot of chores and thus did not go out.

Xu Xiaoyi came into his room to remind him that he had to find a way to replenish their capital, as they had spent a lot recently and it was hard even for any shrewd merchant to support an army of thousands with so little money.

Xu Xiaoyi also told him that someone had spotted the Joy Pavilion's disciples in a valley outside the city and promised to find their whereabouts within three days.

When Xu Xiaoyi was reporting to the Dragon King, Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong were fighting each other with wooden sabers on the other side of the room. Tie Linglong was very talkative and kept commenting on Little Chu's moves, as if she was his tutor. The teenage swordsman listened attentively to the girl and only made responses to her comments occasionally.

Gu Shenwei listened to Xu Xiaoyi's report, while watching Chu Nanping fighting against Tie Linglong. Suddenly, he asked, ”Chu Nanping, where do you think the Joy Pavilion's disciples would be hiding?”

Chu Nanping thought for a moment and replied, ”No, I don't know. Even if I know, I'll never tell you.”

Gu Shenwei believed that the youth had answered truthfully. The boy's last sentence sounded quite blunt, but that was his style and Gu Shenwei had already got accustomed to it. ”Did Immortal Peng ask you anything about your new sword techniques?” asked Gu Shenwei.

He had taught Chu Nanping some Death Scripture sword skills and was a little worried that the straightforward teenager might tell Immortal Peng all the skills that he had learned if being asked.