914 A Beloved Son (1/2)
In two months, Shangguan Cheng would be five years old. On Chinese New Year's Day, he had received his present in advance – a real narrow saber. He had asked his father, ”Has it killed a lot of people?”
The Unique King had then unsheathed the narrow saber, put it in the hands of his son, and held his small pair small hands tightly. ”This is a brand-new saber. In the future, you will use it to make thousands bleed.”
The Unique King had had a happy new year because of this aspiration of his son's, in spite of the existence of the Dragon King's army camping outside the city.
In fact, Shangguan Cheng had no idea what ”killing” meant. In his childish mind, it was just a word that his father liked. Thus, he uttered this word frequently, just like the smart kids who frequently called out ”father” and ”mother.”
It was a tradition of the Shangguan family that their children started learning kung fu and reading at the age of five. There was still two months before Shangguan Cheng turned five, so the first time that he had seen someone be killed was when he saw that pale-faced man hacking a body into pieces.
'Is this killing people?' thought Shangguan Cheng. He regarded everyone in the stone castle as his father's subordinates, so he asked the Unique King, ”Father, did you kill someone again?”
A Green-faced killer carried the King Lord's youngest son forward, knelt down on the ground, and moved up the seven-step staircase on his knees. He lifted Shangguan Cheng up, handed him to the King Lord, and then descended the staircase on his knees.
As he held his son, the Unique King looked into those bright, sparkling eyes, and dimly felt that he looked somewhat like what Shangguan Ru had looked like when she had been a child. He was rather pleased, since his son wasn't scared at all after seeing such a gory scene for the first time. He believed that this son would surely make for an excellent heir to Golden Roc Castle.
After glimpsing at the Dragon King, who was standing at the bottom of the staircase, again, he felt even more certain that those rumors were ridiculous.
”Look, some people have come here to challenge Golden Roc Castle,” the Unique King said.
Shangguan Cheng curiously craned his head out of his father's arms. He knew what ”challenge” meant. He just wanted to see who was so audacious. He felt that the pale-faced man was very impolite, since he dared to look him in the eyes with a cold gaze.
”I don't like him,” Shangguan Cheng said, burying his face in his father's arms.
The Unique King put his son on the throne behind him and said, ”Father will chase him away.”
The Unique King was still as commanding as usual, but his tone had involuntarily become milder, making him seem uncannily similar to a common father. Even his movement of putting his son down appeared slow and gentle, as if he was afraid that he might hurt him by accident.
Looking on from the distance, Shangguan Fei was both sad and heart-broken. In all his memory, his father had never treated him like that. This privilege used to be solely owned by his younger sister, Shangguan Ru, and now it had been given to a child.
Under the influence of his mother, Shangguan Fei had always believed that he was the heir to the Unique King. Though this belief had wavered during his exile, he had never felt any distinct threat to his succession. But upon seeing that child stand on the black throne, he, for the first time, understood why his elder brothers had tried to kill each other, sparing no efforts.
Shangguan Hong was indifferent. He had never felt his father's love for him, so he naturally wouldn't be jealous. But when he saw the other side of the Unique King, the fear in him was greatly alleviated. 'It turns out that the Unique King is also only human, and he also has emotions that normal people must have. Then naturally, he must also have a chink in his armor.'
Shangguan Hong reached out with his hand to touch the hilt of the soft sword wrapped around his waist.
The deputy envoy, Sun Chengqi, just felt embarrassed. They had lost the first round, which was not a good sign. Using hidden weapons was a very despicable deed, but the Dragon King hadn't raised any objections, so it must be a tacit rule of the Western Regions. He looked in the direction of the Dragon King, trying to find a hint.
Two Green-faced killers escorted the second disciple of the Waning Moon Hall to the field of the competition. She was a middle-aged woman about thirty years old. Standing amid the blood with her head up, she said to the Dragon King, ”You're a mortal enemy of the Waning Moon Hall. I'm not going to thank you.”
Gu Shenwei glanced at her and then turned around to return to his own group without saying anything. He had his own thoughts and didn't have to explain anything to her.
”Miao Chengxin.”
A Central Plains guard walked out of the team, bowed to the Dragon King and Sun Chengqi, respectively, and then strode into the kung fu competition field, unsheathing his sword casually as he did so.
Gu Shenwei had conducted some inquiries into the backgrounds of these Central Plains guards. Miao Chengxin was a disciple of the Taishan Sect, and he was one of the best kung fu experts among everyone here. Nobody had any objection to him fighting the second round.
Golden Roc Castle also sent another Green-faced killer, a female this time.
Gu Shenwei knew her. The female Green-faced killer's name was Qian Ying, and she had once been responsible for protecting Shangguan Ru in the army camp. She also used to be a symbol of reconciliation between the Unique King and his daughter. Now, it seemed that she was finished with that job and thus no longer had to stay around the young master.
Qian Ying's weapon was not a narrow saber but rather two short sabers slightly longer than a dagger. Just like the first Green-faced killer, she also said nothing and launched an attack on Miao Chengxin the moment he walked onto the kung fu competition field.
Miao Chengxin felt that his kung fu was surely better than that of an obscure female killer, but the lesson that Dog Butcher had been taught was still vivid, so he didn't dare be careless. He wielded his sword and cautiously defended himself against the potential dirty moves of the opponent.
Tai Mountain was the head of the Five Mountains, and a key feature of the Taishan Sect's kung fu was its steadiness and mountainous might. Although Miao Chengxin's weapon was a sword, his moves were even more steady than Dog Butcher's Mountain-cleaving Sabersmanship. Like a giant, round boulder, his moves were slow but very damaging and fierce. Anybody who was hit would be killed right away.
Like a swift small stone flying around a giant boulder, Qian Ying maneuvered around her opponent as she nimbly attacked him, not daring to fight him head-on.
The disadvantages of Golden Roc Castle's kung fu skills were fully revealed.
Though the weapons and moves of the two killers were different, after seeing their kung fu, the Central Plainsmen found that there wasn't anything special about the Golden Roc Castle's kung fu. They felt that these killers' kung fu merely focused on fast speed, and that they always tried to circle around and attack their enemies from behind. If their first surprise attack was a success, then their subsequent moves would indeed be very difficult to defend against. However, in a face-to-face kung fu competition, their biggest advantage was meaningless.
Gu Shenwei had once had a kung fu competition with Qian Ying before, so he knew that this was her actual skill, and that she wasn't hiding part of her power. Maybe the kung fu of all the other Green-faced killers were also at this level.
Gu Shenwei warned himself not to underestimate the Green-faced killers. This kung fu competition was a compulsory task. When the Unique King really wanted to use this force, then by no means would he make this mistake. In another occasion, these Central Plains kung fu experts probably wouldn't even be able to see these Green-faced killers before getting killed.
After they had exchanged a dozen moves, everybody could tell that Miao Chengxin absolutely held the upper hand. However, they also believed that this killer of the Golden Roc Castle would sooner or later make a dirty move.
”Defeat him!” A childish voice came out from behind the Unique King. It was an imperative tone, ”Defeat him now!”
The Unique King coughed.
Qian Ying pounced on the opponent whose momentum was as strong as that of a giant rolling boulder. This time, she didn't dodge and instead attacked head-on. Instantly, she was devoured by sword-light.