390 Unique Skill (1/2)

As Shangguan Ru followed Old Man Mu and disappeared into the night, several youths who were staying in the tents at the edge of the military camp cried out, ”The Blessed Child is being taken away! He's being taken away!”

Old Man Mu did come to kidnap someone indeed. His target was neither the high priest nor Shangguan Ru, but the young disciple who had been accompanying the high priest.

According to tradition, this disciple was referred as ”the Blessed Child”, and was the heir of the high priest. He would go on to become the ”12th successor of the Reborn Fort of Xuandu Peak and the sixth High Priest of the Flower Soul Forest” in the future.

He was only 11 or 12 years old and of noble birth. In order to become a high priest, he was trained to be as submissive as a slave and was usually quiet around others, as though he didn't exist. Other disciples were sent home but he insisted on staying by the high priest's side and continue to receive guidance from him.

He wouldn't even be squeezing in the same tent as the other youths tonight if it weren't for the fact that the high priest had to act as a bait.

At that moment, Gu Shenwei came to realize what Old Man Mu was plotting. He leaped out of the ambush spot, wanting to give chase, but stopped in his tracks. As the Dragon King, thousands of soldiers were waiting for his command, he could not possibly take any chances.

But Shangguan Ru was by no means Old Man Mu's opponent.

Just as Gu Shenwei hesitated, another figure flew out of the military camp.

It was Maid Lotus. Gu Shenwei was somewhat relieved.

Gu Shenwei summoned the soldiers who were lying in ambush and quickly ordered the whole troop to be divided into four groups and take turns to be on duty. Even though Old Man Mu had escaped, that did not mean that the danger had been eliminated.

Afterward, he immediately went to look for the high priest. There was surely some matters that he had not clarified yet, and the way the people of the Land of Fragrance talked grated his nerves. The thing about them was that these people would answer what was asked, but they always said less than necessary.

What was the secret that the high priest was unaware of but the Blessed Child knew about?

Gu Shenwei's doubts were answered immediately. Contrary to what he had thought, it was a secret that both the master and disciple knew, and Old Man Mu only needed one of them.

The high priest was dead.

The medical high priest of the Land of Fragrance was in the camp and quickly came over to take a look. He concluded, ”He was poisoned. It was most likely added into his food and its effects kicked in around midnight.”

Old Man Mu wanted to be the only one who knew about the secret, so he had killed the high priest who was in charge of Kung Fu and only kept the heir alive.

But it was impossible for him to poison the food.

The truth soon came to light. The high priest had eaten alone yesterday evening, and the people who cooked and delivered his meals were all investigated and questioned. All of their testimonies aligned and their suspicions pointed toward a noble soldier.

u Mohua was zealous in serving the high priest and had not aroused anyone's suspicion at that time. After pleading with the Dragon King last night, he went to the edge of the camp and replaced a fellow soldier's place for guard duty, waiting nervously for the ”Revered” to take him away.

But Su Mohua was stumped after Old Man Mu disappeared. His mind was blank and he even lost the strength to escape, staying put until he was brought in front of Dragon King.

It was not that Old Man Mu had forgotten about his loyal slave, nor was he punishing him, therefore, leaving him behind. He was merely using Su Mohua to make sure Dragon King knew what had happened and make his victory even more perfect.

It was very simple. Both Su Mohua and his brother had pledged allegiance to Old Man Mu under his coercion and had different tasks to carry out.

In fact, Old Man Mu was heavily invested in the mutiny organized by Su Mohua's brother and the nobles. The change of attitude from the slaves was indeed something that he had not expected.

On the other hand, Su Mohua was responsible for another plan. He was tasked to secretly persuade the high priest and the Blessed Child to escape from the military camp and seek refuge with the ”studious Revered.”

The high priest was someone who resigned himself to adversity. Be it Dragon King or Old Man Mu, to him, they were no different from the nobles of the Land of Fragrance. But the high priest lived by a principle - he would never take the initiative to do anything, anybody could come and take him away, but nobody could ask him to leave a place by himself.

The high priest was paralyzed and together with the Blessed Child, lived in a tent not far from Dragon King. Old Man Mu would not want to take the risk since it would be difficult to bring the two of them out of the camp.

The trap that Gu Shenwei had set up had provided Old Man Mu some inspiration.

And he had succeeded. The Blessed Child was in his hands and the high priest had killed by poison. Moreover, he had also led Shangguan Ru out of the camp in the process. All his goals were achieved.

Old Man Mu's hatred for Dragon King was not only because of that one stabbing. The truth was that being deceived by Dragon King was a grudge that he had long harbored, and he finally felt a little avenged this time.

At dawn, Su Mohua along with the other nobles who were involved in the mutiny were beheaded in public.

Gu Shenwei sat inside the high priest's tent, looking through the ancient books in hopes of finding any possible clues. But there was nothing. That secret must have been passed down by word of mouth instead of being recorded in books.

Gu Shenwei felt incredulous that Old Man Mu had only spoken with the high priest on one occasion and was able to make him divulge the important secret. So he summoned five noble soldiers who could speak Central Plains Chinese along with the medical high priest for questioning.

He felt that Old Man Mu probably learned about the secret from the nobles instead of the high priest.

The impact of beheading in public had not yet disappeared. The six men knelt as soon as they entered the tent, swearing to Dragon King that they had not participated in the mutiny.

Gu Shenwei listened for a while before asking them to provide a detailed introduction and information about the nine high priests of Flower Soul Forest.

Nobody knew what was Dragon King's purpose in doing so, so they could only say what they knew and what they remembered. It pertained to all sorts of information and mostly irrelevant. In the end, it was the medical high priest who mentioned something of interest to Dragon King, ”I know a mantra that can bring back the dead, but I will only pass it on to my heir.”

”You can only pass it on to your heir?” Gu Shenwei was not interested in the mantra, but he was fixed on the mention of the heir.

”You are the master, you can listen to it as well, Dragon King.” The high priest quickly added, then he said, ”But it's not effective every time...”