781 Pinch the Sword (1/2)

Gu Shenwei had noticed long ago that some of the men in the audience were not common martial artists. Unlike how Dog Butcher who had focused on people's faces, Gu Shenwei instead observed their positions.

Assuming an air of indifference was within the capability of many people, but the positions they took would always expose their truest intentions: common people would choose the positions with the best view, and only people with hidden intentions would block the exits in a seemingly casual way as their eyes sweeped the scene, barely giving any glances at the kung fu competition in the ring.

Gu Shenwei moved backwards, signaling Nie Zeng to move forwards and start monitoring the front and sides, as he would be in charge of the rear.

A quarter of an hour later, the two quietly left and reconvened at a spot two streets away.

”Did you find anything?” Gu Shenwei asked in a low voice. There were people constantly coming and going in the street, which was the perfect camouflage for them.

Nie Zeng knew that the Dragon King was testing him and answered, ”There were at least twenty men in the yard who were not watching the kung fu competition, and outside the yard, there were another five or eight people hiding.”

It was about what Gu Shenwei had also noticed. ”And?”

Nie Zeng thought for a while before replying, ”They… they didn't seem to be on the same side, and they were all wary of one another.”

Gu Shenwei nodded, hinting for the teenager to keep talking.

Nie Zeng flushed slightly as he admitted, ”That's all. I didn't find anything else.”

”This kung fu competition was a farce from the very beginning. Everybody was talking about it as a joke, those participants are all ordinary sabersmen, and yet there are two or three groups of people who have paid an unexpected amount of attention to the competition.”

Nie Zeng also began to feel confused. ”Yes, and it seems that those people's kung fu skills must be pretty good as if they want to capture Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher.”

”Go find a position far away and just keep watching. Don't get close no matter what happens in there.”

”Yes.”

Nie Zeng had hoped that he would have a part to play in the upcoming fight, but he still obeyed the order without any dissent – this was an intrinsic part of his duty as a bodyguard and a killer.

Gu Shenwei returned to the arena and chose a position near the inn this time. He didn't watch from any of the rooftops on the periphery – although they were the best surveillance positions, they also exposed him to any observant onlookers. Instead, he lurked in a dark corner, wearing a black outfit and a mask that only showed his eyes – even if someone saw his eyes by chance, they would probably mistake them for polished rocks.

He had a feeling that this kung fu competition that had been held by Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher on a whim had caught the attention of a particular force, and that their intervention might result in the further participation of other forces.

This was not going to be a quiet night. To best prepare for the upcoming chaos, he needed to wait quietly.

In the courtyard, Old Man Mu's swordsmanship was getting smoother and smoother and the audience had started cheering for him. Finally, there were barely any people left who dared to go into the ring to challenge Old Man Mu, so he started showcasing his swordsmanship all by himself, and some of the audience even publicly beseeched him to take them on as apprentices.

The kung fu competition was coming to an end. On the rooftop where Gu Shenwei and Nie Zeng had been hiding earlier, several figures appeared.

That rooftop was not only an excellent observation spot, but also the only path to retreat into the city, so those figures were about to fight for control over it.

Gu Shenwei witnessed the whole process like he was watching a shadow play in the moonlight. The four figures were divided into two groups. The two opposing groups initially hid themselves from each other, and then they both showed themselves and gestured for the other side to back off. They both refused, took out their weapons, and threatened the other side back. But in the end, they didn't start a fight. They both compromised and agreed to share the rooftop, each side staying in their respective areas. They started monitoring the kung fu competition in the inn, and also maintained their guard against the other group.

Both of the two groups had helpers, evenly spread across the periphery of the inn. And the closest one was only a dozen steps away from Gu Shenwei.

Gu Shenwei was not able to see all of them from his current position, but of the ones he could, none of them were Golden Roc killers.

Jade City was the core territory of the Golden Roc Castle. Their men were all over the city and nearly everything was under their surveillance. It was unbelievable that not a single killer of the Golden Roc Castle had come to join in on this ”party.” The only plausible explanation that Gu Shenwei could think of was that the men of Golden Roc Castle had hidden themselves so well that they were staying outside of his sight.

Old Man Mu had been showcasing his swordsmanship for quite a long time and he finally had enough. There were no more challengers and the four gold ingots were still in their original place. Yet he was still unsatisfied, and in a loud voice he said, ”Tomorrow night the competition will resume. You have all seen my swordsmanship, right? Go back and do some publicizing for me. Tell everybody in the city about how good the kung fu of the ”Number One Devil Under the Sun” is, and… and the bounty will be doubled just to attract some real kung fu experts. Guys like you, who don't even have any clean clothes, should just watch and have some fun. And your presence will also be rewarded – free wine for everybody tomorrow night!”

The owner of the inn smelled the scent of a big deal and started applauding and cheering. Although those sabermen were humiliated by Old Man Mu's words, the part about ”free wine” still aroused their interest, and many of them even requested Old Man Mu to fulfill part of his promise in advance, claiming that they would be able to publicize better after drinking some wine.

The courtyard was filled with hustle and bustle for some time, yet the crowds gradually scattered.

Two encircling rings started contracting correspondingly. Every one of the audience members were under the surveillance of at least two pairs of eyes when walking out of the inn, and yet none of them were aware of their situation, talking excitedly about the promised free wine the next night.

The goal of the people who surrounded them seemed to be the same as that of Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher – they focused on the audience, trying to find some clues.

As the encircling rings contracted, the distance between the members of the two sides was growing closer, and some of their positions even began to overlap. Gu Shenwei sensed the killing aura grow thick.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click visiting.

Nobody could tell when or how the tangled fight started, and Gu Shenwei was no exception. He could only see a small part of the whole area, and unfortunately that was not the start of the fight.

Maybe it had been all planned out in advance, or maybe the darkness had caused excessive vigilance. Either way, the moment the last batch of sabermen walked out of the inn, the sound of weapons clashing rang out from some corner, and soon multiple people started randomly yelling, ”Ambush! There's an ambush!”

The two sides started fighting immediately. People poured out of every random crevice: the rooftops, streets, on trees, behind trees, and more. The sabermen were all startled and started running instantly, yet none of them made it out of the alley .