831 Questions Arising at Nigh (1/2)
Shangguan Ru's tent was no different from those of other people's. Even as Gu Shenwei looked at it from far away, he seemed to be able to hear the faint sound of her breath. After a while, he sneaked into the nearby camp of the Second Consort.
This camp was much larger. The Second Consort's exclusive tent was giant and very obtrusive. Most of the people in the camp was asleep. There were only a few guards awake, aimlessly pacing back and forth to keep themselves warm.
After observing the camp for almost an hour, Gu Shenwei started approaching his target slowly. He believed that nobody would have anticipated his unexpected operation, but being extremely cautious had become an ingrained habit.
From time to time, he would hide himself in a certain position. The emptiness behind him was like a bottomless cliff, making his flesh creep from the discomfort.
There was a little tent next to the Second Consort's main tent. Most people wouldn't even notice it during daytime.
Standing at the door, Gu Shenwei tapped the hilt of his saber twice. In this quiet night, the sound was exceptionally clear – for vigilant killers, it could even be deemed a little harsh.
Gu Shenwei moved to another position immediately.
Quite a while later, a figure came out from behind the tent instead of from inside.
After staring at the Dragon King's position for a while, Qian Ying the green-faced assassin turned around and walked toward the outside of the camp. Hunched over, she moved in the shadows just like common Golden Roc killers did, except her speed was extremely fast, like a fleeing snake.
Gu Shenwei followed her closely. Before long, they arrived at a relatively secluded spot in the camp. Still cloaked in the shadows, Qian Ying suddenly stopped, turned around, and faced the Dragon King.
”I want to ask you something,” Gu Shenwei said. He had to stand underneath the cold moonlight.
”Why should I answer?” This was the first time that Qian Ying had ever spoken before the Dragon King, and her voice was just as plain as her appearance.
”Because I'll defeat you.”
”I made a promise,” Qian Ying replied. She had promised the Unique King and Shangguan Ru that she would never hurt the Dragon King.
”You did. But if I attack you and you fight back, you wouldn't be breaking the promise.”
Qian Ying kept silent.
”If you win, whether I'm alive or not has nothing to do with you. If you lose, you just have to answer a few questions truthfully. Don't worry. None of the questions have anything to do with Golden Roc Castle.”
Green-faced assassins were better at concealing their emotions than common killers, but when Gu Shenwei had first met Qian Ying, her eyes had revealed a tinge of hostility as she was leaving the tent. From that, Gu Shenwei had thought of this idea of a kung fu competition.
Qian Ying hesitated.
”I killed Guan Shang,” Gu Shenwei added.
Guan Shang had been another female green-faced assassin, and she was also Shangguan Fei's guard as well as a spy sent by Waning Moon Hall. Gu Shenwei and Lotus had killed her in the An Kingdom's royal palace in Xiaoyao Lake because she had been supporting Han Wuxian.
There was no friendship among green-faced assassins, but deep down in their hearts, all of them were very proud.
”This doesn't count breaking my promise?” Qian Ying asked uncertainly.
”I will be the one to strike first. You'd just be defending yourself.”
Qian Ying fell silent again. Gu Shenwei unfastened the Five Peaks Saber and slowly placed it on the ground. He had been gradually ridding himself of the restrictions that were the killers' rules. Since the opposing side didn't have a narrow saber, he wouldn't use his weapon either.
The first move Gu Shenwei made was not to charge at Qian Ying, but rather to meld into the shadows.
He would abandon the rules of killers, but he wouldn't give up the killer skills he had honed.
Behind them, there was one of the few livestock pens of the army. The cattle and sheep in it were the main source of Norland armies' provisions. And at this moment, this pen had become natural camouflage for the both of them.
In a blink, Gu Shenwei circled behind Qian Ying, drew a dagger, and feinted with a stab.
Qian Ying counterattacked quickly and fiercely. Without any obvious movements, the dagger in her hand was already approaching the Dragon King's chest.
Gu Shenwei slipped into the livestock pen from below the rails. Qian Ying pursued him hotly.
Most of the livestock were asleep, still standing, and unaware of these two intruders. They let the two move around under their bellies, unconscious of the fact that sharp daggers were moving to and fro beside their tender legs.
Both Gu Shenwei and Qian Ying had been trained in Golden Roc Castle, which meant that they generally wouldn't leap to any high positions – in other words, they would rather stay on the ground.
Nobody was here to witness this intense fight. The distance between them never grew more than five steps apart, and they were grappling each other fiercely for most of the time. The two daggers flickered before their eyes, constantly passing through each other, but never actually clashing.
Although they didn't have any prior agreements, they both wordlessly agreed to not stab any livestock. As a killer, it would be shameful to make unnecessary noises.
Qian Ying's kung fu was somewhat different from Guan Shang's – it was far better. Sending her to guard Shangguan Ru indicated just how much the Unique King liked his youngest daughter.
If it were just one or two years ago, Gu Shenwei believed that he would have had to use Death Scripture swordsmanship to defeat Qian Ying. But now, he had more alternatives.
After around thirty moves, Gu Shenwei had grasped Qian Ying's general attack pattern. Even as the dagger in his right hand continued dancing without any change, he thrust forward with his left hand in a palm attack.
Qian Ying hit back head-on.
Gu Shenwei was startled. He had exerted his frosty Qi in that attack, but she seemed totally uninfluenced. Not having enough time to analyze how this could be, he had no choice but to continue striking with increasingly faster palm attacks.
Qian Ying met each palm attacks with her own, refusing to retreat a single inch, which was why Gu Shenwei nearly failed to control his internal power and almost slapped her to death when she suddenly fell down.
After kicking Qian Ying's dagger aside, Gu Shenwei cautiously bent over and checked on her.
Qian Ying had passed out. The accumulated frosty Qi in her body had finally gone beyond her tolerance.
Qian Ying gradually came around. The first thing she saw was a giant, round cattle belly which looked like a huge falling rock in the darkness. The Dragon King was not around.
She grabbed her dagger and gently mobilized her internal power only to find that the coldness in her body had disappeared. The only plausible explanation was that the Dragon King had cleared it from her body.
Gu Shenwei had returned to the position where the fight had originally began and retrieved the Five Peaks Saber.
Standing behind him, Qian Ying felt an indescribable feeling in her heart. The Dragon King, who used to be just a common killer, was better than she could have ever imagined. She felt that this was very frustrating.