869 Explanation (1/2)

King An was like an innocent citizen who had been captured by a devil. In his eyes, everyone in front of him was a monster, and even the gentle-looking Chu Nanping seemed capable of eating him alive.

And then there was the Dragon King. This was the first time that King An had ever seen the man who had taken his country as well as his throne away from him. The horror in him clouded his judgement, and he failed to see the signs that signaled his favorable situation, like the fact that there was no murderous intent or anger in the Dragon King's face.

”Don't… Don't kill me. I surrender to the Dragon King. And I'll abdicate the throne and become a commoner.” King An had meant to talk while kneeling, but his legs were so limp that he could only sit on the ground, desperately petitioning for his own life.

Gu Shenwei stared at Chu Nanping until he withdrew his anger and moved aside. Then, Gu Shenwei turned and faced King An, who was trembling constantly. ”Your mother's a princess of the Central Plains.”

”Ah?” King An was confused by this remark. After a while, he collected himself and replied, ”Yes, yes. My mother's a princess of the Central Plains. I'm a descendant of the Central Plainsmen. Dragon King… ”

Gu Shenwei waved his hand and stopped him from speaking any more. ”You've been abducted by the Unique King. You must have suffered a lot, right?”

King An was clearly not a smart person, and he was stunned yet again by Gu Shenwei's words. The temporary residence that was King An's mansion was surely not as large and luxurious as the royal palace in An Kingdom. However, there was still many precious and unique treasures in Jade City. As long as he had money, life in this city would be far more comfortable than that in the remote southern shore of Xiaoyao Lake. King An still had some valuable items that he hadn't sold yet. Besides the torturous feelings in his heart, he hadn't actually suffered much.

”Er… Yes, I did suffer a lot. The Unique King placed me under house arrest and didn't allow me to leave the house. He then tried to force me to abdicate the throne every two or three days, and he also sent a couple of eccentric women-”

Gu Shenwei waved his hand again and signaled the people beside him to move aside. Pointing at a couple of Central Plainsmen at the doorway, he said, ”They're kung fu experts from the Central Plains, and they came here to rescue you. You can leave with them now.”

Ever since he had opened his eyes and seen Han Xuan last night, King An had been through a vacillating series of highs and lows, and it culminated into this moment, where he was completely perplexed. He didn't even understand the insinuation of ”kung fu experts from the Central Plains,” and he just followed his instincts and said, ”I'll never forget the Central Plains' great kindness, and I'll also remember all the favors you've done to me, heroes. Someday, I'll make you officials of high status…”

King An was like a piece of rotten wood. Gu Shenwei had lost interest in him and nodded, giving his permission for those Central Plainsmen to take King An away.

Dog Butcher was uncertain about whether he was considered a Central Plainsmen or not. After dithering around for a short while, he decided to stay in the tent.

”This operation was a great success,” said Gu Shenwei. But when he saw that everybody still looked confused, he explained, ”The aim of this operation was to rescue King An. For confidentiality reasons, I kept it a secret from you all.”

In most cases, killers would be unaware of the objectives of their tasks, so they were not irked by the Dragon King's decisions. But Dog Butcher faintly felt like the Dragon King had used him, despite the fact that he had been assigned an important task during this operation. But none of the others said anything, so he also kept silent.

Discovering that his fleeing hadn't brought any negative influence to the operation, Shangguan Fei was greatly relieved, and asked, ”This King An is clearly just a coward who's terribly afraid of death. Why did the Dragon King rescue him?”

”Are you not afraid of death?” Old Man Mu asked rhetorically, casting a meaningful look at the Dragon King. ”Besides, why should the Dragon King tell you his thoughts?”

”Of course I'm not as valiant, fearless, intelligent or wise as Old Man Mu. I was just curious. To answer me or to not, it's totally up to the Dragon King,” Shangguan Fei said modestly.

Even Old Man Mu had to nod, thinking, 'This kid is really a quick learner.'

”That's all for today. Everybody may leave now.” Gu Shenwei indeed didn't want to explain his thoughts in front of so many killers.

Hu Shining and the others immediately left. Despite how curious he was, Dog Butcher also followed them and left the tent.

As long as nobody mentioned his cowardly flight, Shangguan Fei didn't care about anything else. Chu Nanping and Old Man Mu were the only ones left who refused to leave.

Old Man Mu pushed Shangguan Fei out of the tent. Glancing at Chu Nanping, Old Man Mu took a couple of steps forward and said, ”Dragon King, I met the good girl. She asked me to deliver a message to you.”

”Hmm.”

”She made me promise to her that I'd do my best to protect Dragon King, and that I must stay by your side even if some day the Dragon King and the good girl becomes enemies.”

”Um. Got it.”

The Dragon King's response was unduly bland. Old Man Mu watched him carefully without even blinking, but he still didn't see any sign of a mood shift on his face. Fairly disappointed, he said, ”Oh, there's one more thing. The good girl reestablished the Kun Society, and she has gathered a hundred female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance at her command. She also has… also has over two hundred apprentice killers. She said that Golden Roc Castle didn't want them, so she took them in.”

This time, the Dragon King didn't even make a bland response. Old Man Mu then said awkwardly, ”That's all. There's no more. I'll go rest now.”