926 Underground (1/2)
Shangguan Hong placed his right hand on the hilt of the sword, raised his head, and said, ”I'm here to request an audience with the Master Commander.”
Some passersby had already noticed him, and they were now pointing at him, but nobody approached the building.
A ripple of pride passed through Shangguan Hong. Unexpectedly, he was neither unduly nervous nor afraid. Though he was slightly flustered, it had nothing to do with either Wild Horse or those onlookers.
The so-called kingly aura was actually just him bullying the weak. This was the simple conclusion that he had arrived at. The reason why the Unique King was able to scare a person to death with a mere gaze was because his kung fu was the best in the stone castle, and because he had a large group of killers working for him. The reason why the Dragon King was so young yet had hundreds of thousands of troops at his command was also because of his excellent sabersmanship. And Old Man Mu was an even more drastic example – after he lost a considerable amount of his internal energy, he seemed to have transformed into a completely different person.
Shangguan Hong's accomplishing nothing in the stone castle had nothing to do with his talent at all. Zhang Ji's had given up on him merely because he had found Shangguan Yun, who possessed better kung fu as well as a better more background. But eventually, Zhang Ji had shifted the responsibility onto him, claiming that he was born with various kinds of weaknesses.
'Hypocrite!' Shangguan Hong thought angrily. And he conveniently switched the target of the anger he was about to vent onto Wild Horse. He even began to yearn for a public duel against this one-armed freak.
But seeing Wild Horse had disillusioned him. The face with eyes far apart disappeared, and he even closed the window.
Shangguan Hong's confidence that he had found in his sword quickly dissolved. He didn't know how to deal with this embarrassing situation. 'The Unique King and the Dragon King must know how to handle this kind of thing.'
Shangguan Hong felt that Zhang Ji was making a scornful ”Tsk, tsk” sound besides his ears, so he strode up to the gate and hammered at it.
The gate of the Essence Pavilion opened. The previous young sabersman, who had previously declared that they were open to business, walked out. He sized Shangguan Hong up and apathetically said, ”Go to Old Li's Tavern and wait.”
Shangguan Hong was stunned. ”I'm not here to hire a killer. Wild Horse knows-”
But before he could finish talking, the gate was shut with a seemingly bored and impolite bang. Shangguan Hong raised his hand and was about to knock again, but forbore himself from doing so. 'That man didn't say anything about killers, so maybe he really was asking me to wait for the disciples of Waning Moon Hall in that tavern.' The Master Commander always acted mysteriously, but he was still indignant about Wild Horse's scornful manner.
'I have to find a way to let the Master Commander know about how good my swordsmanship has become,' Shangguan Hong thought, believing this was the key to changing his destiny.
There were several back streets in southern Jade City, and there were hundreds of people called Old Li, but when these two clues were taken in conjunction, he could only think of one place that fit the description.
Soon, Shangguan Hong found the right place. He fastened the horse to a post outside and went into the gateway, looking in.
The tavern was dirty and disorderly. Groups of sabersmen were drinking and bragging inside. Judging from their conversation, all of them were here because they had become bored with the beauties and good wine of Retention Alley. Thus, they had come here to have a taste of the ”sabersmen's wine.”
Even in the past, Shangguan Hong had never gone to this kind of place to drink. He preferred quieter taverns where wines were cheap, and where guests spoke little words and were inclined to sit alone. In Old Li's Tavern, any simple movement could bring one a friend or an enemy.
Shangguan Hong, who was standing at the gateway looking around, immediately made an enemy.
A drunken, middle-aged sabersman walked to the gateway. He ignored the wide gap and fixed his eyes on Shangguan Hong. ”I know you.”
Shangguan Hong stepped aside, remaining silent.
”Why aren't you replying? Are you playing dumb?”
”I don't know you.” Shangguan Hong laid his hand on the hilt of the sword again.
”You slept with a whore but didn't pay, and you also cheated when gambling. Do you want to deny it? Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson for your father.” After saying these words, the sabersman pounced on him.
Shangguan Hong hesitated briefly. He believed that there was no need for him to use his sword to handle a drunk, so he merely raised his arm to parry the attack.
He was wrong. One of the Golden Roc Castle's traditional teachings was that one should make every move with ferocity, and that under no circumstances should one underestimate their opponent. However, the drunkenness of this red-eyed sabersman had clouded Shangguan Hong's judgement.
The sabersman drew a dagger when he was less than half a foot away from Shangguan Hong. Meanwhile, three other sabersmen rushed over and surrounded the target at the narrow gateway.
Shangguan Hong was taken aback, but it was too late to whip out his sword. He abruptly leaped rightward, hoping to find a chance to fight back.
The first dagger was stabbed into his waist, and the second into his right shoulder. There was only a gap several feet wide left for him to maneuver in, and by no means could Shangguan Hong have dodged the attack.
Pain, blood, confusion, and fear made Shangguan Hong feel like he was trembling all over, but he didn't want to be killed, and especially not by a bunch of nobodies in a cheap tavern.
The four enemies pounced on him again, blocking all of his escape routes.
Shangguan Hong fell to the ground, desperately reaching his hand out to pull the sword wrapped around his waist.
The guests inside looked on excitedly. Here in Old Li's Tavern, this kind of fight was usually the best dish to pair with wine. They didn't care about who won or who lost, and they certainly didn't care about whose kung fu was more advanced. They only wanted to see blood splattering everywhere.
As a result, when the strange man covered in blood struggled to his feet and glared at the enemies, a great cheer arose from those guests.
Shangguan Hong finally whipped out his sword and started attacking at a speed so fast that even he himself didn't expect it. The first slash, the second slash… Though the opponents had already fallen down to the ground like he had earlier, he still didn't stop.
Two sabersmen who had provoked him were down, soaked in blood. Seeing that the odds were heavily against them, the other two fled immediately.
Shangguan Hong swelled with anger. Wielding the blood-stained soft sword, he yelled at the cheering crowd, ”Wild Horse! Show yourself, you mute, you coward! Come here and duel me! I'm not afraid of you! I'm not afraid of you!”
The cheers grew louder.
Shangguan Hong suddenly became unprecedentedly vigilant. He abruptly turned around and saw that young sabersman who had asked him to come to Old Li's Tavern.
”You-”
For the second time that day, that man didn't let him to finish talking. He directly turned around and left.
”Stop! I'm telling you to stop!” Shangguan Hong ignored the cheering crowd behind him. With his right hand holding onto the sword and his left hand clutching the wound in his abdomen, he followed that man as he suppressed the pain. Compared to the humiliation that had been inflicted on him earlier, the pain was nothing.