331 Backfire (1/2)

Chapter 331: Backfire

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

The Death Scripture swordcraft backfired on Maid Lotus.

Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had planned to dominate the situation by striking first, but now they ended up placing themselves in jeopardy.

The sword skill from Death Scripture required its practioners to charge forward without hesitation and to kill with only one stroke. During this process, one would have no time to think or maneuver. Maid Lotus had never expected Fayan to have such powerful kung fu until she broke into the tent to attack him. Instead of killing the monk with one blow, she only managed to wound him, and at the same time, she was jarred by his Internal Strength. The monk's internal strength swiftly rushed toward her Dantian, carrying along her own energy that she had infused her sword with.

As a result, she was now suffering almost the same pain as Gu Shenwei did during his qigong deviation attacks.

”I'm running out of time,” Maid Lotus said in a trembling voice while trying her best to remain calm. Her lips had become white from the chill inside her body.

”You feel so much pain that you'd rather die, don't you?”said Gu Shenwei, ”The pain will grow worse, and at the most painful moment, you won't get enough strength to kill yourself.” Gu Shenwei did not feel much sympathy for her, as it was Maid Lotus who had caused his periodical paralysis, which would make him feel as if he was continuously stabbed by icicles.

Upon hearing the Dragon King's cold remarks, Maid Lotus looked up at him, her eyes clear and peaceful. She looked as if she wanted to say something, but she was too weak to do so, as she had to concentrate all her efforts on fighting against the icy energy surging out of her Dantian.

The two of them gazed at each other for a while, and then Gu Shenwei knelt down beside Maid Lotus and whispered, ”Focus on guarding your heart meridian and give up on the other meridians. This will increase your pain, but only in this way can you save your own life.”

Maid Lotus stared at him for a moment and then she suddenly stretched out her cold and shaky hands to hold his hands, while saying, ”Guan Shang.”

She was unable to say anything after saying this name, but Gu Shenwei immediately understood her meaning and said, ”I won't let Guan Shang get close to you. I'll always stay by your side and protect you.”

Maid Lotus had once told Gu Shenwei that she did not trust anyone from the New Moon Hall. Upon hearing Gu Shenwei's promise, she finally felt relieved. She released his hands and closed her eyes. Her pain was becoming increasingly evident on her face.

Gu Shenwei fished out two small clumps of cotton wool and stuffed them into Maid Lotus' ears.

Maid Lotus had suggested that they work as each others' protectors before, but back then Gu Shenwei had not made his stand known regarding this proposal. Neither had he expected that it would have been Maid Lotus who needed help first.

As he watched Maid Lotus channeling her Internal Strength with a pained expression on her face, he could not help thinking what a good opportunity he had at this moment. The Great Snowmountain's alliance with the New Moon Hall was just temporary, and Maid Lotus and he would become enemies again sooner or later. If he did not take this chance to kill Maid Lotus, who had already surpassed him in swordcraft, he would have endless trouble in the future.

Besides, she would never know who murdered her, since now she was suffering from severe qigong deviation caused by her swordcraft backfiring.

Gu Shenwei gripped the hilt of his Five Peaks Saber, while imagining the feeling of cutting her throat with it.

He continued kneeling beside Maid Lotus and gradually suppressed his urge to kill her. He reminded himself that he had to learn to coexist with his foes and that at present, Maid Lotus and the New Moon Hall were still his irreplaceable allies.

Apart from that, there was so much that he wanted to find out about Maid Lotus, such as the reason for her frequent and random use of the Death Scripture swordcraft.

In accordance with Gu Shenwei's previous experiences, it would take at least 12 hours to recover from such a qigong deviation, and the first four hours would be the most critical period. During these four hours, Maid Lotus had to shut her eyes since she could not be disturbed or interrupted. Nevertheless, after four hours, when the day broke, Maid Lotus did not open her eyes, which meant the backfire caused more damage than Gu Shenwei had imagined.

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At this moment, the other teams in the camp were busy preparing to set out. Lin Xiaoshan and Guan Shang repeatedly came to the Dragon King's tent to ask for instructions but failed to get any order from him.

After the Golden Roc Fort's team left the camp, Gu Shenwei finally walked out of his tent and summoned Lin Xiaoshan and Guan Shang, commanding them to go first with the Great Snowmountain's team.

The two were very surprised. Guan Shang seemed to gather immediately that something was amiss, but she just tactfully bowed to the Dragon King to accept the order and left. After her departure, Lin Xiaoshan could not help but ask, ”Dragon King, what happened? Do you want me to leave some people behind for you?”

”No. You just need to escort her to the Stone Kingdom safely,” replied Gu Shenwei.

The Dragon King had asked Lin Xiaoshan to secretly bring Xu Yanwei and Jiang, who would work as Xu Yanwei's maid during the journey, to the Stone Kingdom. These two young women did not know any kung fu, so Gu Shenwei decided to let them stay away from this dangerous place.

Lin Xiaoshan still had some doubts, but he did not inquire further. Instead, he immediately went back to order the swordsmen to leave the camp. Before their departure, they left four horses for the Dragon King and tied them up in front of the Dragon King's tent.

When the teams packed their belongings and left the camp one after another, many people found it quite suspicious that the Dragon King's tent was still intact and began to exchange whispers.

The Dragon King was not the only one who stayed behind. Not far away from his tent, stood two tents, which belonged to the monks from Four Truths Temple. The monks could not hit the road today, since Fayan and Lianqing were both seriously injured.

By noon, Maid Lotus had not opened her eyes yet.

Gu Shenwei had stayed by her side for the whole morning and during this period of time, he had only drank two mouthfuls of water. He also kept his eyes closed for all this while to have some rest and get himself ready for the attack that would come sooner or later.

Nevertheless, the first guest he got was a monk from one of his neighboring tents. ”Dragon King, my Master Shifu invites you to come to our tent.”

Gu Shenwei walked to the entrance of his tent, and then he looked back at Maid Lotus and said in a low voice, ”I'm sorry, I can't leave this tent.”

The monk outside snorted grumpily and left.

After a while, Fayan came to the Dragon King's tent and asked, ”Dragon King, how's your friend's internal injury?” To Gu Shenwei's great surprise, the monk, who sustained a severe injury in his ribs, sounded very energetic and did not seem to have any difficulties in movement.

Fayan knew for sure that he had injured the assassin. Gu Shenwei was unable to conceal the fact, so he replied, ”Well, my friend will recover after a short rest.”

”Although I'm just an old monk, I think I may be able to offer your friend some help,” said Fayan.

The monk's extraordinary Internal Strength might be very helpful to Maid Lotus' qigong deviation, but Gu Shenwei did not dare to agree to the monk's request. Both Maid Lotus and he are extremely skeptical people, and they would never easily accept the help of others. ”Thank you, Master. She's alright. We don't dare to bother you with such a trifling matter,” said Gu Shenwei.