Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Hu s.h.i.+ning had warned them not to enter a prolonged engagement. But in the end, it turned out that they nearly got wrapped up into one anyways.
The s.p.a.cious King An's mansion suddenly became crowded. Most of the people in it were masked and in black. If someone let his companions out of sight for even an instant, he would be unable to distinguish his companions from his enemies forever after. It seemed as if none of the groups there had thought of putting on some kind of distinguis.h.i.+ng mark on their clothes in advance.
If he still had his former strength, Old Man Mu would have been more than willing to venture into the mansion. But now, he strictly followed Hu s.h.i.+ning's "order" - stand by. If anyone approached him, no matter if they were enemies or friends, he would transfer to another position immediately, always maintaining a safe distance from the battleground.
But Old Man Mu was soon disappointed. This was not the ma.s.sacre that he had imagined. Although the situation was chaotic, every side had their own targets and killing people was n.o.body's top priority.
The ten disciples of Waning Moon Hall, who had been the first ones to join the fight, suddenly encountered powerful enemies and their immediate response was to flee. Meanwhile, Han Wuxian was tightly carrying Han Xuan in her arms as her long hair ran past her waist. She stood in the middle of the courtyard and as she watched those on the run, she burst into laughter. However, she didn't pursue them, and was totally indifferent towards those in black who were swarming either before or behind her.
n.o.body cared about her either.
Followed by her men, Shangguan Ru went straight to a room on the western part of the mansion and then also carried someone out of it. Covering each other's paths, Shangguan Ru and her men started retreating. That person in her arms screamed, the shrill voice joining Han Wuxian's wild laughter.
It suddenly dawned on Old Man Mu that good girl was here to rescue Shangguan Shaomin.
Another group of Golden Roc killers, sabermen of Heavenly Mountain Sect to be precise, went past Shangguan Ru and pounced onto Tie Linglong and the other five killers of the Dragon King who had just rushed out of a room.
This was one of the few engagements that took place. After a few glances, Old Man Mu immediately realized that something was not right - the Dragon King was not among the common killers under Tie Linglong's command.
Old Man Mu quickly became uninterested. Seeing that Chu Nanping went to help them, he still didn't move. Looking around, he was searching for "big scenes." He thought, 'the Dragon King, Lotus and the Unique King are all ruthless people. They should be playing their trump cards and fighting a life-or-death battle.'
But he was disappointed yet again. Shangguan Fei's team entered the mansion but soon turned around and fled without even symbolically engaging the enemies.
Dog Butcher, who had always been the most obedient one, did something that greatly surprised Old Man Mu. He didn't flee or join the fight. Instead, he charged at a room in the eastern part of the mansion, followed by his five killers.
'It's King An who the Dragon King wants!' Old Man Mu was confused and also a little jealous. He had already confessed all his sins to the Dragon King, but the Dragon King still didn't trust him. Instead of him, the Dragon King had a.s.signed the most important task to Dog Butcher, who had been the last one to join the Dragon Army.
After been tightly wrapped up by Han Xuan, King An had become a portable hostage. But Dog Butcher and his team were intercepted by another group of Heavenly Mountain Sect's sabersmen before they could leave.
Old Man Mu watched this fight for a relatively longer time and for a moment, he mistook one of those people for the Dragon King. However, he soon found that the person's kung fu was different from that of the Dragon King. But he was even more surprised at the fact that all Dog Butcher's team members were top-notch kung fu experts, and their kung fu skills were very different from the kung-fu of the Western Regions; they were less aggressive but grander and calmer.
'They're all Central-Plainsmen.' Old Man Mu was completely bewildered and had no idea what the Dragon King's plan was.
Dog Butcher was also perplexed. He had accepted the task, but he didn't know the ident.i.ties of the members on his team. It was not until the fight started that he found some clues. "Eek, Taishan Swordsmans.h.i.+p… Qingcheng Sect… Dragon and Tiger Mountain… "
The five killers on Old Man Mu's team had left him behind and joined the fight. He also leaped down from the rooftop and entered a dark alley. He was still baffled, but he did know one thing for certain - neither the Dragon King nor Lotus would show up, and the fight, which he had expected to be intense and tangled, wouldn't happen either. After thinking for a while, he realized that a man as prudent as the Dragon King would never venture into northern Jade City since he already knew that this operation had been compromised.
Behind him, Han Wuxian's wild laugh abruptly stopped.
'The Dragon King's so cunning,' Old Man Mu thought in both annoyance and admiration. Maneuvering in those alleys, he followed Shangguan Ru and her men through southern Jade City.
It was probably because she had recognized her little aunt, but Shangguan Shaomin had stopped screaming a long time ago.
At the doorway of a dwelling on the riverbank in southern Jade City, Shangguan Ru handed her niece over to some female soldiers of the Land of Fragrance who had been waiting to welcome them. She then ordered all of her subordinates to go inside, turned around to face the position where Old Man Mu was hiding, and then said, "Come out."
Old Man Mu cupped his hands before his chest to pay respect to her as he walked forward, the tip of his sword rubbing against the solid ground with "crash, crash" sounds. "Good girl, it's good to see you. If I tell you that what I'm feeling right now are the same feelings as that of a young man finally being reunited with his mother after being away from home for many years, you wouldn't be too angry, would you? Because that's exactly what I'm feeling right now."
Shangguan Ru giggled. "I don't want to have a son like you. Why did you follow me here? Do you want to take her from me, or… are you sending a message for him?"
Old Man Mu had already walked in front of Shangguan Ru. He widened his eyes in amazement as he exclaimed, "Taking her from you? Sending a message? What're you talking about? You seem to be under the impression that I'm your enemy. I've never once forgotten that it was you who saved my life several times, and you also spared me once. Previously I couldn't find you. But now that I've found you, I'll surely continue to loyally serve as your subordinate."
"You're the Dragon King's subordinate. You took an oath in public," Shangguan Ru corrected.
"Even ten thousand oaths can't compare to my allegiance to you, good girl. You don't have to say anything. As long as you don't object, then I'll shamelessly be here. I would completely disregard even an allegiance to the Jade Emperor, not to mention the Dragon King."
Shangguan Ru knew very well that Old Man Mu was good at flattering and that his words were not reliable at all. She still smiled happily though, and then she seriously said, "So you're willing to follow my orders?"
"Sure. If good girl says 'go to h.e.l.l', then I'll do it without any hesitation. I'll do it with the sword if I have a sword, and I'll bang my head against the wall if I don't have a sword. Even if my hands and leg are tied, I'll hold my breath and suffocate myself."
"I won't give such a cruel order. I only want you to do one thing - go back and serve the Dragon King loyally, and do whatever you can to keep him safe."
"Er, of course. I'll follow good girl's every order. But to be honest, the Dragon King's kung fu is far better than mine. I can barely avoid becoming a burden for him. How am I supposed to protect him?"
"He's only one man and he doesn't have three heads or six arms. There must be something you can help him with."
Old Man Mu threw out his chest, clumsily whipped out his sword, imitated the swordsmen of Big Snow Mountain, and gave a vigorous swing. "With me as his companion, the Dragon King won't be alone any more. Rest a.s.sured, good girl. I can't guarantee that the Dragon King will never get hurt, but if he dies, I'll never see you again alive - don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I'll hide myself from you. I mean that I'll kill myself if he dies."
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."
"Hha, you degrade yourself too much. If you're not willing to do that, then n.o.body 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 grat.i.tude, 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 s.p.a.cious 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.
