323 Turn around (1/2)

Chapter 323: Turn around

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

This place was even more shabby than that chaotic machetemen village; there were houses of mud and straw that followed one after another with their interconnecting doors. Strangers entered and left, but nobody seemed to care.

There was nothing of value worth to be stolen or robbed in those houses.

Gu Shenwei passed through one mud hut after another, also passing by a thin and weak boy; an old shivering woman; two men in a deep sleep; a flock of chickens; some cows and sheep leisurely chewing lay. Finally he found his target.

A skinny man was laying on his heated brick bed, and his skin was sallow and flabby as if he had not eaten for a long time. Only his eyes, still bright and shiny, gave him the expression of a sick lion ready to jump off to hunt at any moment.

In his hand, there was a saber with the scabbard, which was as battered as this room, and could barely cover the knife.

As this person was not very famous in Jade City and recently almost vanished without a trace, Xu Xiaoyi had to spend a lot of energy to locate his whereabouts.

Gu Shenwei sized him up for a while, but still could not recognize him, so he asked, ”Are you Hu Shining?”

The skinny man seemed already dead; he did not have any reaction. Only after a while did he roll his eyes and look suspiciously at his visitor, sighing slightly.

”Are you the training tutor of the East Castle's Carvewood Academy?” Gu Shenwei could not refrain from asking another question. He really could not associate this skeleton man with the strong master Hu.

A few years ago, Hu Shining was a training tutor of Golden Roc Fort, specialized in training a dozen teenagers who wanted to become killers. It was him who regretted that Salve Huan once refused a complete initial training and recommended this unusual disciple to Tie Hanfeng.

A year later, however, he lost the position as training tutor.

As usual, the castle of the killers was full of complicated personal fights. Hu Shining was thought to be part of Young Master's faction, thus once Shangguan Chui died, he would be purged too.

He could choose to retain the name of Golden Roc's killer, live in a small house on the side of the mountain, receive a basic monthly salary, and spend his last years in this way. At that time though he was not yet even forty, and as many killers don't accept their age, he voluntarily refused to have any connection with Stone Castle, becoming a wandering macheteman.

The first two years passed by without any problems and Stone Castle's killers were part of the same circle and helped him a lot; however, they had an unwritten rule: Never take part in a fight with Golden Roc Fort. Therefore, at the time of the kunqiu war, these middle age killers chose to stay aloof.

During the following years, however, Hu Shining began to experience bad luck and misfortune one after another. First, he had a serious disease and had spent almost all his savings, then the two missions he took part in did not go very well and thus he lost his client. He began to be marginalized even in the circle since everybody believed that as training tutor, he lacked real fight experience, and he did not deserve to stay with the other killers.

The second time he lost a personal battle, he became a completely vagrant macheteman. Common machetemen though also had many kinds of circles related to sects, families, acquaintances, and money. There was no one like him and after accidentally having offended some small Protectors, he became an unwelcomed macheteman.

In this way, he gradually ended up in the poorest corner of South City where even bandits could not find the way, eating dull and waiting for his end.

During all this time, Hu Shining did not receive any information and thus did not know anything about the outside world. He didn't even know that the man standing there was the legendary Dragon King. Furthermore, he could not recognize that this was that Slave Huan who was so determined in becoming a killer.

This was probably someone who came to kill me for revenge, he thought, hoping that he would attack soon.

Gu Shenwei thought that the kindest way to treat this middle-age macheteman, who had lost his fighting spirit and his vitality, was to give him a saber, but he said, ”I've got a job for you.”

Hu Shining twisted his neck and looked at this pale young man with astonishment. Then, recognizing some characteristics that only Golden Roc's killers had, he asked, ”Who are you?”

”My name is Yang Huan.”

”Yang Huan?” Hu Shining repeated his name, but it did not ring any bells in his mind. ”I don't even have a saber, so I'm afraid I can't help you.”

That young man was clearly related to Golden Roc Fort. He was definitely starving to death and to avoid any trouble he did not want to be involved in any fight with Golden Roc Fort.

”Think about it. Whenever you want you can find me at my residence.” Gu Shenwei was a bit disappointed and felt that he found the wrong person.

Gu Shenwei turned around and took two steps when, Hu Shining, still lying on the brick heated bed, suddenly uttered a sentence, ”You always turn right, this is not good.”

Gu Shenwei stared blankly for a while; he had never noticed this detail of always turning right. Since he entered the room he had only turned around once, so how could that man say ”always turn right”? Gu Shenwei suddenly regained interest in the half-dead Gu Shining.

”If you want, this is your job.” Gu Shenwei added before going away, ”Correct young people's mistakes.”

Gu Shenwei was standing at the entrance of the courtyard, after having passed again through the poor and indifferent residents. He was thinking about his habit of turning right when he suddenly took his hand out and grabbed a teenager from a bundle of straw mats leaning against the wall.

Just as the other poor people who lived there, the young man was dressed like a beggar, and on his dirty face there were frostbites, yet his hand was holding a short sword.