301 Blame Me (1/2)

Chapter 301: Blame Me

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

The disturbance in the Rouge Forest was directed at the Dragon King, but it ended up with a battle between the Joy Pavilion and the Tianshan Sect.

Many members of the Tianshan Sect were killed by the Dragon King imposter, and the other members of the sect had not let go of their hatred. They were searching far and wide for Wildhorse and the disciples of the Joy Pavilion, far more enthusiastically than the Dragon King.

Gu Shenwei knew that Lianye's registering to take part in the Machete God Contest was most likely Wildhorse's idea, and deduced that the killer would send men into the Rouge Forest secretly.

He proposed to the Tianshan Sect, via Lin Xiaoshan, for them to work together.

Thus, the sect sent out more than 100 of its most trusted and skilled machetemen, and they hid amongst the audience as well, observing behind the scenes.

Most of Wildhorse's men were discovered when they drew their hidden crossbows and fired at the Dragon King. After their first volley, they threw down their weapons and wanted to escape, but were surrounded by the machetemen from the Tianshan Sect.

There were about 30 of them, and five of them were disciples from the Joy Pavilion. They did not flee when they realised that they were trapped, but drew out their weapons and charged at the Dragon King who was on the stage.

Fights were breaking out everywhere between both sides, and onlookers who did not know any kung fu started scattering everywhere, screaming and baying as they ran. More than half of the machetemen who had come to watch the contest decided to retreat from the affected area and watch from afar, while the others stood with the Tianshan Sect and helped to surround and pick off the assassins sent by Wildhorse.

It was also on this fateful day when people no longer differentiated between Wildhorse and the Joy Pavilion disciples. From that day onwards, they were known collectively as the 'Wildhorse Gang', and to everyone, Wildhorse was a far better representative of this ragtag bunch of grotesque beings than Immortal Peng ever was.

Gu Shenwei regained his confidence when he gripped the Five Peaks Saber. It was a confidence that allowed him to kill remorselessly.

It was a pity that most of the audience was scattered by then, and not many got to watch the Dragon King take on five highly skilled opponents.

Chu Nanping blocked away the incoming arrows directed at the Dragon King, but hesitated to strike upon seeing familiar faces from the Joy Pavilion. He overcame his indecisiveness and went forward, trying to force them away.

Tie Linglong had her chance now. She charged at an ugly-looking elderly woman wielding two short swords, and they were soon entangled.

Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong had only managed to engage with their opponents for a short while before the Dragon King struck.

He cut down the five Joy Pavilion disciples with only 11 strokes of his saber, and his speed was remarkable. When he was done with the last one, the first opponent was still shaking in a standing position—he had not even fell to the ground.

A few of the old machetemen who were lucky enough to witness the fight were shocked beyond words. They had never seen such a machete technique before—it was so simple and direct that there was no stance to speak of, and its only uniqueness was its speed. Every stroke was aimed at a vital part of the enemy.

”The Dragon King wins,” announced an old macheteman as he stood up, entirely oblivious to the fact that there was no audience left.

Monk Lianye had not seen the Dragon King cutting down the Joy Pavilion disciples, since he was lying half-unconsciously on the stage with a streak of blood coming from the corner of his mouth all this while. When he heard the old macheteman's words, he thought the macheteman was announcing the result of the match between him and the Dragon King. He firmly believed that the Dragon King must have used deception to defeat him.

When he finally came to his senses and sat up, he realized that he was lying on a soft bed, and saw a maid whose cheeks were flushed red holding a green porcelain bowl. She was surprised by him suddenly sitting up, and gave a loud cry. At least half of the medicinal drink in the bowl she was holding spilled out onto the floor.

”Where's Yang Huan?” asked the monk sternly. The maid did not know anyone by the name of Yang Huan, and stared blankly back at him.

”I'm here,” replied the Dragon King.

He had brought Lianye back to the his residence.

The Tianshan Sect had won a decisive victory—they killed more than 10 and captured six of their enemies. Only a few of the Wildhorse Gang managed to escape during all the chaos.

Lianye jumped down from the bed and channelled his Internal Breath once. He relaxed upon sensing nothing out of the ordinary. ”Come, let's fight again,” he said while giving the Dragon King a death stare.

”We'll speak of it again when you have removed the Peripheral Force in your body.”

Lianye's face became as flushed as the maid. ”How did you know?” he asked. He then thought about the duel he had with Yang Huan.

”The New Moon Hall is controlling you via the Force, isn't it?”

”New Moon Hall?” Lianye was perplexed. ”Haven't they been wiped out? What do they have to do with this?”

Gu Shenwei knew that he had guessed incorrectly that the New Moon Hall was involved. He quickly changed the subject, ”Wildhorse forced you and Master Lianhua to cheat by saying that he would remove the Peripheral Force from you, you...”

”Brother Lianhua did not cheat!” roared Lianye, his fists clenched tightly and his breath becoming faster. Jiang was frightened by him and took a few steps back.

Gu Shenwei did not counter, but merely continued looking at the monk. Soon, Lianye calmed down and sat unsteadily. ”The person who cheated was me, brother Lianhua was just... just espousing his mantra. He believed that Breaking Obsession could remove killing desire from people, therefore he was willing to explain his mantra to the machetemen. Those taels of silver... he never kept any of it.”

As Lianye spoke about Lianhua, he grew agitated and began hitting his head with his fists. ”I'm to blame, I'm to blame, if not because he wanted to cure me, he wouldn't have...”

Kung fu from the Barren Sect was known to work in strange ways. Originally, Lianye had only received a little of the Peripheral Force on his Shanzhong acupoint, and there was no visible harm done then. He thought it would be a piece of cake for him to drive the force out, but things worked exactly opposite as how he thought it would. The little bit of Peripheral Force in him was like a speck of dust floating around in his body, hard even to get hold of, much less remove. Once he let his guard down, it began growing until finally it became an ineradicable disease.

Gu Shenwei waited for the monk to vent out all his frustration, before he asked the question bugging him. ”Can Wildhorse remove the Peripheral Force in you?”

”He can, his Internal Strength is nearly at the same level as that woman,” replied Lianye confidently.

'That woman' was not referring to Luo Ningcha, but rather the Barren Sect's disciple, Kang Wenhui. It was she that infused that little bit of Peripheral Force into Lianye.

Gu Shenwei did not express the surprise he felt. ”Wildhorse is a killer trained by the Golden Roc Fort, how did he learn kung fu from the Barren Sect? Furthermore, the Barren Sect has nearly been wiped out, and the New Moon Hall does not accept male disciples. Wildhorse must have had a serendipitous encounter with someone during these few years, but Lianye would surely not know anything about it,” thought Gu Shenwei.

”If that is the case, Lianhua died because of you, and you should avenge his death.”

Lianye stood up again and took a step towards the Dragon King. ”You're right, Lianhua was killed by you. I'll take my revenge.”