769 Borrowing a Horse (1/2)
Gu Shenwei looked down at the book in his hands as his horse slowly trotted forward. The autumn sun was so bright he had to move his eyes away every now and then to rest them while he pondered over the meaning of the words.
He had read through this small booklet many times, which summed up the general principles of the Daoless Scroll, and could almost recite it entirely by heart. But every time he thought of something new, he would read through the booklet again. Although he felt he understood most of it, there were still many abstruse parts that he couldn't even scratch the surface of, and he would need to find a Taoist priest to explain it to him.
But Gu Shenwei had confirmed one thing. The Daoless Scroll and the Death Sutra must have been written by the same person. As a book of general principles, it elaborated on the essences of both training manuals. And the more he comprehended of it, the more helpful it was towards his practice of both internal and external martial arts skills.
With this booklet, Gu Shenwei could already incorporate the Death Sutra Sabersmanship into his sabersmanship, and he no longer needed to wield a sword anymore. As he stroked his saber hilt, he couldn't help but think of Lotus, wondering whether he had surpassed her in kung fu or not.
There was a carriage parked by the side of the road ahead, and five men were standing with their backs against the carriage, staring at him from a great distance.
Gu Shenwei put away his book and urged his horse to speed up to a gallop.
The five people varied in height but all of them looked very young and strong, and the oldest of whom could be no more than thirty years old.
The young man in the middle casually threw a stone at him. However, Gu Shenwei easily caught it, stopped, threw it on the ground, and then stared back at the five sabermen.
Their sabers were not very well hidden, as they peaked out from behind their legs.
”What's the matter?” asked Gu Shenwei.
The sabermen revealed a typical sarcastic smile especially common to young arrogant men. To them, the rules of the world were very simple. First, the saber could solve all problems; second, the world revolved around them.
”We want to borrow your horse,” said one of a saberman in a laid-back tone. It seemed that he hadn't consulted the other side at all.
In front of the carriage were two horses, but one of them had already fallen to the ground, dead. Gu Shenwei took a glance and then drily said, ”Well, what can I get out of it?”
The five sabermen laughed together, and one of them took out his saber from behind. ”You can walk to Jade City and enjoy the early autumn scenery on the way.”
Gazing at the monotonous wilderness, Gu Shenwei shook his head and merely said, ”There's nothing to enjoy about it. Are you all robbers?”
The saberman patted his left palm with his saber and curled his lips before contemptuously asking his companions, ”Are we robbers?”
The saberman in the middle thought for a brief moment before playfully replying, ”No. Bandits are not allowed to exist in the territory of Jade City. We're just borrowing it. Maybe we'll meet again in the future and return it to you.”
The saber-wielder nodded vigorously. ”Yes. We are borrowing it. Kid, come on down.”
Gu Shenwei had always been a very suspicious person. He had asked Han Fen to disguise herself as him while he would travel around alone. He didn't even bring the Five Peaks Saber with him. Instead, he had only taken a common narrow saber with him. But as soon as he saw these five people from afar, he had suspected that he had been exposed.
He looked the five people up and down one by one, but could not tell who was an expert amongst the five.
He then observed the terrain before approaching. Now, he looked around once more and still found no signs of an ambush. In fact, this area was a boundless plain and wasn't an ideal place for an ambush at all.
Gu Shenwei dismounted from his horse and walked three paces sideways to make sure that there was no one in the carriage. Were these five people really just inexperienced arrogant young sabermen?
The saber-wielder walked over and said, ”This kid is not bad, very obedient. Leave his package with him.”
The other four nodded in agreement as if they had done a great deed of kindness.
Instead of stopping the saberman from throwing away his bundle, Gu Shenwei walked around the carriage slowly and after reaching the opposite side, even lifted the curtain of the carriage to take a look inside.
The now four sabermen standing there felt both surprised and amused by his actions, but no one said anything. They did not want to look stupid.
The other saberman thrust his saber into the ground and untied the last bundle from the horse. He was just about to remove the saddle when he felt that something was amiss. He stooped to pick up the bundle, searched for a while, and then took out a narrow saber.
”Heh, he uses a saber, too. And it's even a narrow saber of Golden Roc Castle.”
”Woo-hoo,” the five people gave out a special roar of laughter. Only a small group of close friends would make such a uniquely strange noise.
Gu Shenwei happened to turn around and once again confirmed that there was no ambush and that none of the five were kung fu experts.
”You are a killer?” asked one of the sabermen with a contemptuous tone who obviously thought that it was impossible.
Gu Shenwei wasn't the kind of person who would leave a heavy first impression, and he looked even more ordinary after disguising himself. Even experienced Jianghu wanderers might not see through him easily.
”Not anymore,” said Gu Shenwei.
The five people laughed again, but this time it was a burst of normal laughter because they really thought that his answer was interesting.
”Then why do you still have this saber? Were you hunting rabbits on the side of the road?”
Gu Shenwei went up to the speaker and drew out his saber. ”To defend myself.”
His movements were very simple but surprisingly quick. In an instant, the saberman was left with an empty scabbard in one hand and the bundle in the other. His actions were like those of a clumsy attendant unable to fathom his master's intentions in time.