567 Divine Kung Fu (2/2)
”Yes, I promised,” Gu Shenwei said as he pulled out his Five Peaks Saber and laid it flat on the table. ”Norland has also made a promise and broken it. Who broke the promise? You know better than I do. So, I am not bound by any restrictions now,” he said.
Fu Yuan looked at the saber on the table, ”You dare not...do you want to be called...”
The saber shimmered in the glow of the candle light. Fu Yuan could not say for sure whether or not he was dazzled or if the knife really moved. He felt his face go cold, raised his hand to touch it, and saw his hand was covered in blood.
”I'm not good at, nor do I like, torturing people. My approach is simple, but usually effective. How long can you bear it?” asked Gu Shenwei.
Fu Yuan was trembling, not because of the bleeding, but because of fear and humiliation. He was silent for a moment and then asked coldly, ”What do you want to know?”
”Where is he?” Gu Shenwei asked, meaning the partner who was practicing kung fu with Fu Yuan (as there should have been one). Maybe he was hiding in the dark, waiting to strike at the right moment?
”He is not here,” replied Fu Yuan.
”You know how to control the elderly, women, and children, but you don't know how to answer questions,” Gu Shenwei said, threateningly.
The saber seemed to rise again. Fu Yuan became more humiliated. He answered quickly, ”They really aren't here. They left to perform other tasks,” he answered pitifully.
”How many of them?” asked Gu Shenwei.
Fu Yuan evaded the question and asked warily, ”If I tell you the truth, you won't kill me, will you?”
”No,” answered Gu Shenwei.
”Aren't you afraid of my lord taking revenge on you?” asked Fu Yuan.
”You and your lord need me to live until the day I die, so why should I be afraid?” asnwered Gu Shenwei.
”Everybody says the Dragon King is not easily fooled, and that's true, sure enough. Since you already know that, I have nothing to hide,” said Fu Yuan.
After the disciples of the Joy Pavilion had been split up, there was a fight between the two groups. In the end, most people turned to the new Master Immortal. Only eleven of the disciples refused and left. ”They were the most powerful ones, and they were the best disciples of Immortal Peng. Had they not left, it wouldn't have been easy for the Dragon King to destroy the Joy Pavilion,” explained Fu Yuan.
The eleven disciples did not have a clear goal, so they just walked around aimlessly. Gradually, the influence of Immortal Peng on them became weaker and weaker, and they finally began to see the real world instead of the illusion they'd been living in.
They realized that their previous life was a complete hoax.
They discussed what to do next, and then reached an agreement: they should revive Immortal Peng's tricks. Before long, they stopped calling them ”tricks” and renamed them ”divine kung fu”.
But first, they needed a place to stay. Just like the other disciples of the Joy Pavilion, they were also eunuchs. So, the best places for them to go were to the various lords' residences in Norland.
Fu Yuan became one of their disciples in King Dari's tent. ”They collected more than 20 disciples in total. I was the only one that stuck to the end and understood the kung fu. Everyone else failed,” explained Fu Yuan.
Fu Yuan did not mention what had happened to those who had failed. Gu Shenwei did not ask him, either.
Fu Yuan had only learned a little Internal Strength before and did not master other forms of martial arts. Having learned the divine kung fu from the eleven disciples of the Joy Pavilion, he could manipulate others to do things for him. Therefore, it did not matter whether he had other skills or not.
The eleven disciples did not have the ambition to control the world. The biggest reason for choosing King Dari was that the Lord was becoming incompetent and easy to control.
However, divine kung fu was not very helpful for Fu Yuan in manipulating King Dari. Most of the time, he had to please the Lord through sweet talking and observing his needs.
Besides, the eleven disciples had never learned hypnotism directly from Immortal Peng. They could only revive it based upon their memory and understanding. For that reason, Fu Yuan needed naive children and teenaged girls, who were as easy to control as the simple-minded King Dari.
”It's not very successful. See, they are dull and can't feel any pain. Except for this, I can't make them do anything else. We're talking in front of them, but they are like the blind and deaf -- no different from the walking dead,” Fu Yuan said.
Fu Yuan's words were full of disappointment and regret, as if the five victims were to blame for the failure of the divine kung fu.
He refused to reveal the names and whereabouts of the eleven disciples, saying, ”I can't tell. I won't tell, even if you kill me. Besides, they never wanted to seek revenge upon the Dragon King. They also had nothing to do with the plan, which is a matter for Golden Roc Fort and the lords to consider.”
”The plan” was to assassinate the Khan and then frame the Dragon King for it.
Gu Shenwei was supposed to keep pursuing for information about the plan, but he could not help but ask a question: ”What about the hostage you took? Where did you hide him?”
”Hostage?” Fu Yuan looked very surprised. ”Somebody took the Dragon King's man?” he asked.
”Answer my question first,” demanded Gu Shenwei.
”Dragon King, you are a smart person. How could you misunderstand this? The lords need the Dragon King alive to bear the charges of killing the Khan. None of them would kidnap your man to put you in danger, because nothing good would come from that,” Fu Yuan said.
Gu Shenwei thought he had always been calm, but now he realized he had made a big mistake. The three suspects he had in mind were all wrong, and the major suspect had been omitted all along.