868 Another Master (2/2)

Shangguan Ru nodded, indicating that she understood. ”What if there's a conflict between me and the Dragon King?”

”That's not possible. Even if the Dragon King's ruthless enough to do that, good girl won't.”

”I mean if that happens.”

”Then I'll have to break my promise and switch over to the good girl's side again.”

Shangguan Ru shook her head. ”That is not how loyalty works, and it's not what I want.”

Old Man Mu scratched his forehead. ”Alas, I'm indeed too old to understand what you youngsters are thinking about. All right. I owe you several lives, and I understand what you mean. In any case, I'll do my best to protect the Dragon King, even if the good girl, yourself, is the opponent.”

”Exactly.”

”Alas, you just gave me away like this, good girl. Even if I were a dog, you should be a bit heart-broken at this moment, shouldn't you? Besides, I made a promise that I'll bite my own master when necessary.”

”Ha-ha, you degrade yourself too much. If you're not willing to do that, then nobody can force you to.”

”I am willing to do that,” Old Man Mu answered firmly. Then he glanced at the courtyard behind Shangguan Ru. ”May I ask what this place is? And where did you recruit all these kung fu experts? It doesn't seem like they're from the Land of Fragrance, are they?”

”Humm. You want to collect intelligence for the Dragon King right now?”

”Absolutely. I'm loyal to him.”

”This is the headquarter of the Kun Society. I have a hundred female soldiers at my command. All the others have returned to the Land of Fragrance. I also have 237 teenagers here. All of them used to be apprentice killers in Golden Roc Castle. They have no other place to stay, so they joined the Kun Society. That's all.”

Old Man Mu memorized this information and made a deep bow before Shangguan Ru. ”Green mountains never change. Blue water flows forever. Today we're friends, but some other day we may become enemies. All of my gratitude, grudges, love, hatred – they are what they are. I've never taken any promises seriously in my whole life, but this promise that I've made to you today is an exception. I promise you that I'll take good care of the Dragon King, and so I've repaid you for sparing me several times previously. From now on, we're even.”

Upon hearing his words, Shangguan Ru felt both poignant and amused. ”'Today we're friends, but some other day we may become enemies'. Please tell this to the Dragon King too.”

Old Man Mu bowed again. Before dawn broke, he left southern Jade City and headed for the encampment of the Dragon Army, thinking that with good girl's order, he would be much safer if he stayed on the Dragon King's side.

He wasn't the last one to return. The Dragon King's spacious tent was full of people. Shangguan Fei was busy narrating how his team had managed to narrowly escape from northern Jade City. Dog Butcher was in the doorway, talking with several strangers in whispers.

Old Man Mu pulled at the coattail of Dog Butcher's clothes. ”What's this about?”

Dog Butcher's face was full of excitement, ”The Dragon King's so competent. He actually recruited a lot of kung fu experts from the Central Plains. Let me introduce them to you. This is the Taishan Sect's renowned… ”

”Wait a minute. I know the word 'ridiculous,' but I don't know the word 'renowned.' Why did you bring King An here?”

”Heh-heh, you should ask the Dragon King. I don't know why either.”

Old Man Mu thought that Dog Butcher didn't know any inside information either. Thus, he looked around and asked, ”Where's my woman? Why am I not seeing her?”

”I have no idea. Han Wuxian ran faster than all of us, but she never came back. Right, you ran even faster. Why did you return so late?”

”Heh-heh, you should ask the Dragon King.” Old Man Mu imitated Dog Butcher's previous answer, and then he exchanged eye contact with all those kung fu experts from the Central Plains who appeared a little uncomfortable, so as to let them know his status in this tent. Then he squeezed his way towards the Dragon King, planning to report his conversation with Shangguan Ru. This would be quite an accomplishment for him.

He had just taken a couple of steps forward when someone rushed in from behind him. That man was even more aggressive than Old Man Mu. He pushed all those in front of him aside and nearly stamped on Old Man Mu who was short and in his way.

It was Chu Nanping. There was blood all over him. His handsome face was full of anger and thus he looked somewhat hideous.

Old Man Mu moved aside in time. Shangguan Fei tactfully shut up. King An, who had been untied, was so scared that his knees buckled and he fell onto the ground.

Chu Nanping stared at the Dragon King, ignoring the others. ”She's hurt.”

”Tie Linglong?”

”Hmm.”

”I'm sorry to hear that. Tell Doctor Sun to take a look at her.”

Gu Shenwei's voice was bland. Last night, he had achieved his ends and also found many of his enemies' flaws.

Chu Nanping obviously had his own thoughts. He couldn't understand how the Dragon King could be callous enough to use even Tie Linglong as bait.