519 Supper (1/2)

Maid Lotus led Chu Nanping and two disciples of the New Moon Hall, tailing Shangguan Yun for seven days and eight nights. They had killed nine highly skilled kung fu masters, including Xia Wenxiong from the Qingcheng Sect, whom she hated the most.

Everyone else had died quickly, without a word. Only Xia Wenxiong was the exception. He had fallen victim to some unknown disease that caused soreness in his muscles. His right arm had a small, needle-like hole in it and the color of blackness started to spread outward from it. It began to fester under the eyes of everyone. No amount of gold medicines could stop it.

He begged the Cloud King and his companions not to abandon him. However, his voice (which was hoarse beyond recognition) and his blood-shot eyes had frighetened everyone. No one dared to approach him, and everyone left hurriedly for fear of being infected.

It was not until they had passed two hills that his shrieks finally faded away completely.

Shangguan Yun had never been so humiliated. However, he still ran away, using the technique of the golden cicada to disappear into the surroundings of the Gulping Wind Gorge.

Maid Lotus used few words to describe her experience. ”We killed nine people. Shangguan Yun escaped and the two disciples were killed.”

Maid Lotus's expression was as cold as usual, as if she had just spent an hour carrying out a trivial task. However, Chu Nanping looked different from before. A killer's temperament seemed to emerge from him -- a force that even the training tutor had not been able to instill in him for nearly a year.

Following Maid Lotus to carry out the task brought him great satisfaction. When he left, he was even more in awe of Maid Lotus than he was of the Dragon King.

”Is there anything else?” Gu Shenwei asked, knowing that Maid Lotus had something to stay since she had stayed behind.

”The three-in-one qigong is effective. You should see Shangguan Fei's current kung fu skills. It's shocking. He had only trained a little. I think we can start now,” she stated.

Shangguan Fei had been abandoned when he was with his third brother, Shangguan Yun. When the other kung fu masters escaped after protecting the Cloud King, they scattered away from each other. Only he stood where he was, panting with exhaustion. Seeing Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping, he smiled to greet them. ”Hey, are you coming here to save me? You don't have to answer. Give me some ideas, or better yet, give me something to eat,” he said to them.

He also came back to the camp of the Dragon Army. He thought there was no need to visit the Dragon King, so he found a tent and went to sleep.

Shangguan Fei killed Xia Yingxiong with a single punch. Maid Lotus went to examine the corpse deliberately, and what she saw shocked her.

Gu Shenwei raised his head and thought for a while. ”No rush, let's observe him for a while more,” he decided.

Maid Lotus's expression did not change. Gu Shenwei knew that she had her doubts. Ever since submitting the Death Scripture, the two had become practice partners in honing their kung fu skills. In terms of the great matter of the country, Gu Shenwei could ignore her. In terms of kung fu however, they had reached an agreement not to keep anything from each other.

Gu Shenwei owed her more than one explanation.

This was the night to resolve the problem. It must have been a result of being influenced by meeting the others before. Gu Shenwei felt that he had to explain himself now.

”Both Yin and Yang Strength and the Wayless Qigong are Internal Strengths that can easily go wrong -- Yin and Yang Strength in particular. The faster progress one makes, the more dangerous the situation one is in. Shangguan Fei did not look right. I will have to check it myself,” he explained.

Maid Lotus could still remember how Slave Yao looked before his death. Suddenly, his abilities had seemed powerful -- his Internal Strength, which grew from nothing to high strength, even took Mama Xue by surprise. Therefore, the Dragon King's guess could be right. Shangguan Fei was, indeed, ”not right”.

”Alright,” Maid Lotus nodded as she was about to leave.

”Wait,” Gu Shenwei called to stop her. He wanted to explain something else. ”The Eighth and Ninth chapters of the Wayward Qigong...” he began.

Maid Lotus grunted and waited for him to continue. This was a sore spot for her -- a secret that Gu Shenwei should have told her from the beginning.

”If someone tries to tell its contents to you, don't ever believe it,” he said.

”Including the Queen?” Maid Lotus queried.

”So someone has looked for you?” asked Gu Shenwei.

”Shangguan Fei,” she replied simply.

”Yes, including the Queen. She has memorized two chapters. There was no adulteration, but I had a guess,” he continued.

Gu Shenwei's guesses were usually very accurate. Maid Lotus knew what he meant immediately. ”The Queen thinks that is the real scripture. However, it was a trap from the start. Only, it had not been activated in time,” she concluded.

Gu Shenwei nodded his head. In the story that the priests of the Land of Fragrance had narrated, he could feel the resentment of a hundred years. The Golden Roc Fort's original owner was bitter towards the betrayal of the Shangguan family. He had hidden his most powerful divine kung fu in a pile of books. It happened to be the two missing chapters of the Golden Roc Fort. Since then, he had ignored them and had not allowed future generations to sort them out.

The plot of a hundred years ago was not much different from today.

”That is just my guess. Shangguan Fei was very interested in the eighth and ninth chapters. This is very good. You can help him with another experiment,” he said to her.

Outside the eighteen tents, Shangguan Fei sneezed in his sleep. If he had known that the Dragon King had such high hopes for him, he would have fled at all costs. He would rather be banished to the Jianghu than to practice two unknown chapters of the Wayless Qigong.

Maid Lotus laughed softly. Gu Shenwei was puzzled and baffled. He did not know what he said that was so funny.

”Nothing,” Maid Lotus said, steadying herself immediately. Her laughter had nothing to do with the Dragon King, but she felt a knot in her heart vanish easily. ”You wish for Shangguan Fei to train the Eighth and Ninth chapters voluntarily?” she asked.

”It's best to do that. I don't want to push him too hard,” said Gu Shenwei.