778 Hiring (1/2)
Dog Butcher was terribly nervous. This was the first time they were carrying out a mission on behalf of the Dragon King, and yet he was the only one who'd arrived on time, and all the others had been late.
”Old Man Mu asked me to come and report to you first. He… he's still stalking them.”
”Who's he stalking?” Gu Shenwei didn't get angry.
”Han Wuxian.”
”Why's he stalking her?”
”Here's the thing…” Dog Butcher took a sip of water to try to ease his nerves, and then started narrating what he and Old Man Mu had discovered in the last few days.
Han Wuxian was clearly not alone, and there were clearly some other Waning Moon Hall members that had been assigned to Jade City, whom even Lotus didn't know about. During the last three days, Han Wuxian had visited seven places in total: five of them were in Southern Jade City and the other two in Northern Jade City — and each with different amounts of time.
And the people she'd met ran the gamut from blacksmiths, prostitutes, casino owners, prostitutes, old sabermen, and merchants all the way to fugitive nobles.
”I wrote down all of their names and addresses,” Dog Butcher said as he produced a piece of paper.
Gu Shenwei took it, casually left it on the table, and then asked, ”What about the people from the Central Plains?”
Dog Butcher was worried that Dragon King might not be satisfied, and he hesitated for a moment. ”We haven't found them yet. Old Man Mu said that Han Wuxian's movements were suspicious, and that she must be up to something, so the Dragon King should make some preparations.”
Gu Shenwei's voice turned slightly severe and he wanted to pressure Dog Butcher somewhat — though not too much. Just a little. ”I'm not surprised that Old Man Mu would make decisions without my permission, but I didn't expect that you would also do the same thing. If you want to achieve something in the martial arts world, this is not the right way to do so. Since you have made a voluntary decision to work for me, you have to do exactly as I tell you.”
Dog Butcher flushed red from embarrassment. He wanted to defend himself, but he also felt that it would be a betrayal if he continued to hide behind Old Man Mu, so he just lowered his head and stopped speaking, his feet nervously rubbing one another where he stood.
”Your kung fu is better than Old Man Mu's, so you should be the one calling the shots.”
”But I'm inexperienced.”
”Old Man Mu used to be a vicious bandit who always acted alone, and the enemies he made back then were numerous. On the topics of socializing with commoners and extracting intelligence, how much experience do you think he really has? Don't be fooled by his brags. When he comes back, I'll have him report to you. Remember, you lead him. Not the other way around.”
Dog Butcher was encouraged and replied with a loud ”yes.” When he turned around and walked out, he gave off a confident air.
Nie Zeng had been watching all this carefully from behind the Dragon King. He took a step forward and asked, ”Han Wuxian's movements were very suspicious. Shouldn't you be worried, Dragon King?”
”Han Wuxian used to teach you kung fu, right?” Gu Shenwei didn't answer his question directly.
”She did. While we were still in the Norland. But she hasn't taught me anything recently.”
”That's because I told her to stay away from you.”
”Why?” Nie Zeng was surprised.
”Someone once told me that a servant always serves his master with expectations of a reward. He considers every amount of his humility and subservience as an investment and expects to be rewarded as this investment increases over time. Yet, the master tends to take his servant's service for granted, which is the typical origin for many betrayals.
Nie Zeng felt that these words were reasonable, but also that they had nothing to do with Han Wuxian. Although he didn't want to carry that woman on his back, the reward he received was usually greater than what he expected, so he was pretty satisfied and held no grudges about it.
Gu Shenwei continued his explanation. ”There's always a disparity between the investment and the reward. Not just between masters and servants, but between all interpersonal relationships. I have to warn you — the mindset of the Waning Moon Hall is different from that of normal people, and the disparity is also far greater. You might think that you're exchanging even favors, but from her side, Han Wuxian probably thinks that you owe her a huge favor.”
Nie Zeng went numb — Han Wuxian had never indicated that she had wanted something from him, but judging by her peculiar personality, it did sound strange that she would teach him kung fu so willingly. ”I can see what you are saying now.”
”And the Waning Moon Hall also claims their rewards in their own particular ways. You just have to remember one thing: you don't owe her anything.”
Nie Zeng nodded, feeling that this warning from Dragon King was unnecessary — he had never thought that he owed Han Wuxian anything.
After finishing this topic, Gu Shenwei brought the discussion back to the original issue. ”I don't want to dig up Han Wuxian's secrets simply because it does me no good to do so. Me and her, while we have a common enemy, that's the extent of our relationship. When the job is done, I expect to cut all contact with her.”
Nie Zeng was still pondering over Dragon King's words when someone opened the door. Shangguan Fei rushed in hurriedly as he gasped out of breath, ”Sorry I'm late. Eek, where's everybody? Am I too late?”
Clearly Shangguan Fei had sprinted here. Sweat was dripping off him and much of the foundation and blush he had used for his disguise had been washed off. And the formerly straight hair bun on his head was now tilted, which made him look even weirder than Han Wuxian.
Nie Zeng was startled. He reached out his hand to grab his saber hilt, and almost pulled it out.
Shangguan Fei also discovered that he was in a mess. As he cleaned himself up, he said, ”The schedule was too tight and I barely made it here. Please forgive me, Dragon King. I didn't mean to be late…”
There was no fear in Shangguan Fei's voice — on the contrary, he sounded a bit self-satisfied, as if he had acquired some important intelligence that gave him a considerable amount of confidence.
Nie Zeng loosened his grip on the saber hilt. Knowing that Shangguan Fei's act of beating around the bush was an indication that he wanted to make the report alone, Nie Zeng took the hint and left the room. Then he saw Tie Linglong, standing transfixed in the courtyard.
Shangguan Fei turned his head and watched Nie Zeng leave. After making sure that Nie Zeng was out of earshot, Shangguan Fei whispered excitedly, ”The Dragon King won't be able to guess what kind of intelligence I found.”
”So it has nothing to do with the green-faced assassins?”
Shangguan Fei smiled embarrassedly, but he was sure that the intelligence he was about to offer was of greater importance than that about the green-faced assassins. ”I met my mother, and she told me a lot.”
”How's Madam Meng doing?”