328 Warning (1/2)

Chapter 328: Warning

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

Gu Shenwei sneered coldly.

Although he himself embraced and benefited a lot from the Shangguan family's motto ”Do anything to achieve your goals”, Gu Shenwei could not help despising the Ninth Young Master upon hearing his ridiculous offer. He knew Shangguan Ru well. She was obviously not the kind of woman who could be given to someone as a gift.

Shangguan Fei mistook the Dragon King's sneer for a sign of distrust and continued to explain. ”I can figure out a way to let my sister leave with you without being noticed. You just need to find a place to hide her.”

”You're a son of the Supreme King.” Gu Shenwei reminded Shangguan Fei of his identity.

”I know, but it's not my choice. I'd rather be a son of an ordinary man. I wish to spend my life in peace instead of fighting my brothers to death for a meaningless title,” said Shangguan Fei.

”I don't believe you,” Gu Shenwei said bluntly. He had never forgotten how the Ninth Young Master, an expert at pretending to be weak while preparing for a surprise attack, had assassinated Shangguan Yushi.

”Well, I understand. I lied to you inside the underground chamber of Bodhi Garden, but this time it's different. You'll have enough time to wait and see how this thing will play itself out. I can offer you more information right now. Once the princess of the Stone Kingdom gets married, the king will give up his throne and become a monk. Have you seen the monks? They're going to shave his head. This has been decided a long time ago,” said Shangguan Fei.

In Gu Shenwei's eyes, it was just a foregone conclusion that the king of the Stone Kingdom would abdicate after the princess's wedding, so he just replied matter-of-factly, ”Well, it's good news for the future husband of the princess.”

”Yes, but it's me who'll become the princess's consort. To be frank, I'm not interested in the princess; I'm just following my father's command. If I fail to complete this task, my life will be in jeopardy. You're different. No one will kill you if you fail to marry the princess. I might as well tell you that my father has prepared for this marriage for years. The king of the Stone Kingdom won't dare to allow anyone else to marry his sister. This thing is set in stone.”

Upon noticing that the Dragon King looked displeased, Shangguan Fei immediately added, ”I'm not threatening you. I'm just telling you a fact, and I don't want to compete with you even when I'm sure to win this competition. Look, giving up this competition now won't cost you a thing, and you'll get my sister for free. I promise you that she's 100 times better than the princess.”

Gu Shenwei would never trust Shangguan Fei no matter how sincere he appeared, but at the same time, he felt that it was not a bad idea to make peace with Master Fei for now. ”I might as well tell you a secret. The Golden Roc Fort thinks it has something on the king of the Stone Kingdom, but in fact, it's not the only one who knows the king's secret. You may not know that it was me who solved the murder case years ago,” said Gu Shenwei.

everal years ago, when Gu Shenwei had been a killer apprentice of the Golden Roc fort, he had accused Guard Ju of murdering Prince Ju Gaotai to cover up the fact that the real murderer was the prince's younger brother, namely the current king of the Stone Kingdom.

”The Golden Roc Fort must have been using this thing to blackmail the king of the Stone Kingdom and push him around all this while,” thought Gu Shenwei.

He knew that his guess was correct, since Shangguan Fei revealed a frightened expression when he mentioned the murder case.

”That's not the whole story,” Shangguan Fei said hastily and seemingly in false bravado. He looked worried. ”I know some other secret stuff about the king. The Stone Kingdom has borrowed a huge amount of money from the Meng family. The country can never pay off its debts. In short, the king won't have enough nerve to let the princess marry anyone else except me.”

”Even a coward can pluck up his courage when he's cornered; you should know best,” said Gu Shenwei.

Shangguan Fei's cheeks flushed red and looked as if he was about to lose control of his emotions at any minute. He suddenly threw up his hands and asked, ”What do you want? Do you have to kill me? It wasn't me who killed your father. I don't even know who he is. Come on, think about it. How old was I when your father got murdered? I was still studying in the school at that time. Be reasonable, Dragon King. I'm even willing to give you my sister. What else do you want? Just tell me.”

”I want a lot of things,” said Gu Shenwei, feeling that it was the time to end this conversation. ”Think again, what can you give me that is equal to the princess and her dowry?”

”My sister...” Shangguan Fei stuttered.

Gu Shenwei shook his head and walked toward the door.

Shangguan Fei knew what the Dragon King wanted—a country, which was not something he had to give someone else. Even so, he still held on to a small shred of hope as he said to the Dragon King, ”You can come to visit my sister at any time. She's been thinking about you all these years.” While he was saying this, the Dragon King had already walked out of the tavern. Shangguan Fei slumped down on the ground and buried his head between his arms, while repeatedly murmuring to himself ”I have to survive”. After a while, he lifted up his head, revealing a blank expression. He seemed to have made up his mind and announced, ”I'll be alive and well.”

It was pitch dark outside, except for a few lonely lights flickering weakly in the surroundings. When Gu Shenwei was walking toward the inn with Lin Xiaoshan, he saw two monks suddenly come out from behind a mud hut. The monks quickly left after giving the Dragon King a glance, seemingly very wary of his presence.

”You go first,” Gu Shenwei said to Lin Xiaoshan.

Lin Xiaoshan nodded in agreement and went back to the inn by himself. He knew that the Dragon King was a very secretive person and a first-rate kung fu master who did not need his protection.

Gu Shenwei watched the monks walking away and then saw Shangguan Fei come out of the tavern. Failing to find Shangguan Hong waiting for him outside the tavern, Master Fei stomped angrily and then headed for his camp outside the village.

After the Ninth Young Master's departure, Gu Shenwei went behind the mud hut. There were two people waiting for him.

Maid Lotus stood beside Shangguan Hong with a sword in hand. ”The monks interrogated him just now. I heard them mention your name,” Maid Lotus said to the Dragon King.

Shangguan Hong looked as if he was drunk and nauseous. To support his trembling body, he leant against a wall and put his hands on his knees. He raised his head to cast a glance at the Dragon King, while saying, ”They want to avenge Lianhua and Lianye's death.”

”Strange enough, they've waited for such a long time before taking revenge on me,” said Gu Shenwei nonchalantly. It seemed that he was not surprised at all to hear that even monks could not let go of their hate.

Shangguan Hong was somewhat irritated by the Dragon King's indifferent attitude and said, ”The monks just want to find evidence first. Besides, they won't let you off easily.”

”I didn't kill the monk,” retorted Gu Shenwei.

”Well, but they believe that you caused the death of those two monks. They're determined to hold you accountable,” said Shangguan Hong.

”Wow, they're indeed monks from the Four Truths Temple; it's typically overbearing of them. What about you? Did you tell them everything?” asked Gu Shenwei.

”Tell them what?” Shangguan Hong was still trying to tough it out.

Gu Shenwei approached him and whispered into his ear, ”You didn't work to kill Slave Qing quickly enough. He told me lots of things.”

These words staggered Shangguan Hong. He held the wall and looked as if he was about to throw up at any minute. When he finally straightened his back, he was pale and listless. ”So you know everything?”