679 Impulse (2/2)

The officers looked on guard, and Azheba asked first, saying, ”Dragon King, how was your talk with King Riyao?”

”He summoned twenty-seven chiliarchs and asked them to swear allegiance to him.”

”Taking measures only when in urgency, King Riyao's reactions are really fast,” one officer said with disdain. The kings had long begun winning over the chiliarchs or even centurions, and Tuosai was the last to act.

”And he needs my saber.”

No one spoke. If two armies were confronting each other, no one would be afraid of the Dragon King. But no one could stay calm when his saber within ten paces of them.

”King Riyao also hopes that Instructor Shangguan can persuade you to serve him.” Gu Shenwei revealed the whole truth. He believed that the rumor would soon spread everywhere, so it was better for him to show it all on his own initiative.

Shangguan Ru curled her lips and contemptuously said, ”Tuosai really thinks highly of me. I've never pledged allegiance to him.”

”What did the Dragon King say?” Azheba asked, unnaturally.

”I agreed.”

The Dragon King's answer caused an uproar in the crowd. Azheba stopped his fellow officers and said, ”Of course the Dragon King would say yes in front of Tuosai. Aren't we all the same?”

The officers calmed down and one of them asked, ”What does the Dragon King really think?”

”My real thoughts are that I will help those who can help me the most in the future.”

The Dragon King's answer was snobbish and straightforward. Most of the officers were of his age and were not quite used to his talking style. They preferred to listen to grandiose words about friendship and loyalties. Someone questioned, ”The Dragon King only has one saber. What can he offer as help?”

”If the result of the election is not Commandant Gulun…” Azheba was more mature than the other officers and had also been the first to win over the Dragon King.

”Can't we do it ourselves? Must we use someone else's saber?” One officer defiantly said.

”Why don't you understand?” Azheba looked a little edgy, ”No matter who becomes the commandant, there will be a group of dissenters. They will try to protect their candidate just as we protect commandant Gulun. In that case, who in the camp is more suitable than the Dragon King to…”

Azheba didn't say the word 'assassinate.' After pausing for a brief moment, he continued, saying, ”We only have a brief window of opportunity. Once the new commandant comes out of his tent to receive the soldiers' allegiance, killing him would cause a riot in the army, and no one wants to see such a thing.”

The officers fell silent for a moment. Then the youngest officer among them asked, ”Won't the Dragon King be punished for killing in public?”

Gu Shenwei explained, ”First, I need someone to bring me into the tent where the result will be announced. This is simple. King Riyao will find a way; Second, I need a little chaos, either cheering or opposing moves. Either way, as long as the area is crowded, it'll be fine.”

”And then what?”

Gu Shenwei looked at this noble officer who was two or three years younger than him and said, ”There are many ways to kill a man, and several of them leave no traces. I will use one of those methods, and no one will suspect me as long as you don't sell me out.”

”We will never betray the Dragon King,” the officers promised incoherently. Most of them had met the Dragon King for the first time this morning and weren't particularly confident in this pale-faced and dispirited man of their age. They felt that the rumors and Shangguan Ru's description of him had both been exaggerated. But when the Dragon King said these couple of sentences in a flat voice, they were suddenly filled with confidence and even a touch of fear.

'There are many ways to kill a man.' Only the Dragon King could speak these words and give off a unique and powerful deterrent.

”So, the Dragon King is still on our side,” said Azheba excitedly.

”I want to hear now about what you can do to help me in the future.”

The officers all turned to Shangguan Ru.

Shangguan Ru had lost all desire to kill, but hearing the Dragon King's words still made her heart beat wildly. It was hard to tell whether she was afraid or excited. ”They will follow the Dragon King to the Western Regions to welcome Prince Duodun back, and also give the Shule Kingdom to you.”

”That's also what Commandant Gulun meant,” Azheba added. This meant that the hundred thousand Court Attendants would head to the Western Regions, which was a much larger army than Gu Shenwei's original plan of borrowing twenty thousand soldiers.

”You shall have my saber.”

Another alliance. Gu Shenwei felt that this would not be the last time.

Azheba and others took their leave. Red Bat wanted to hang up the curtain but stopped at Shangguan Ru's signal.

When there were only the two of them left in the tent, Shangguan Ru asked, ”Did you really mean what you said just now?”

”You know that I won't join hands with Tuosai, so it doesn't matter whether I'm telling the truth or not. With the current situation, I can only stick with them.”

Shangguan Ru heaved a sigh of relief and revealed a relaxed smile. ”I always can't see clearly in these situations.”

”I'm about to kill somebody. Don't you mind?”

”I'm not a nun,” Shangguan Ru replied as she had thought of this question long ago and had prepared an answer ahead of time. ”And you are also not a devil who kills the innocent. So I have nothing to worry about.”

The entanglement of intrigue, the intensity of the coming kill, and the meaningful smile between the pair of eyes all mingled and blended into a subtle atmosphere like the subtle hidden fragrance at midnight. Before Gu Shenwei even realized it, he had lost his control of himself and was holding Shangguan Ru in his arms, not having even heard what she just said.