Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
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 pet.i.tioning 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 sh.o.r.e 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 a.s.signed 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 s.h.i.+ning and the others immediately left. Despite how curious he was, Dog Butcher also followed them and left the tent.
As long as n.o.body 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 s.h.i.+ft 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."
After leaving the tent, Old Man Mu frowned, wondering what had happened between the Dragon King and the good girl.
There were only two people left. But Chu Nanping's anger had subsided by now. He knew what the Dragon King would say, and he also knew he had no words to contradict him. In the end, he merely nodded, paid his respects, turned around, and left.
Gu Shenwei sighed to himself. The Death Scripture was not the only path to solidify a certain mood. Chu Nanping's pursuit of the Emotionless Swordsmans.h.i.+p had also achieved similar ends.
In these minor disputes, Gu Shenwei believed that he would no doubt be the winner. He would either obtain a truly incomparable kung fu master or see two people that he liked come together. He wouldn't force Chu Nanping. He would only offer him opportunities to choose from.
Dugu Xian had been waiting for the Dragon King to summon him all along. What Gu Shenwei had kept secret from those killers had to be clearly explained to the Commander-in-chief of the Dragon Army. This was especially so since Gu Shenwei couldn't afford to let Dugu Xian command the army with misunderstandings.
"So, the Dragon King decided to ally with the Central Plains?"
"This is just a transaction." Gu Shenwei quickly forgot about Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong as he explained, "Prince Xiao wants to prove one thing to the royal court of the Central Plains, that with the help of just a few kung fu experts and the strategy of forging alliances, he can achieve just as much as what others can achieve with hundreds of thousands of troops. Taking King An back is just the first step. All of the kung fu experts from the Central Plains will from now on nominally belong to King An and partic.i.p.ate in the rivalry for Jade City in his name."
Dugu Xian was a general, so it was very difficult for him to understand Prince Xiao's thoughts; he could only speculate that this was relevant to the disputes in the royal court of the Central Plains. "What benefits can the Dragon Army get from this? What att.i.tude should I have towards the Central Plain armies in the north? Should I regard them as future allies or potential enemies?"
"Never trust the Central Plainsmen." Gu Shenwei hoped that these words would be forever engraved in Dugu Xian's mind. "Prince Xiao might switch sides at any moment, so you'll have to beware Central Plainsmen as much as you beware Golden Roc Castle."
"Yes," Dugu Xian understood what he should do, but he became even more confused about the Dragon King's intentions.
Then Gu Shenwei answered the first question of General of the Left. "As a reward, both King An and those kung fu experts from the Central Plains will live in the encampment of the Dragon Army and be under my command."
Dugu Xian nodded. "I hope that we're not letting a fox into the henhouse."
"I'll be cautious."
Dugu Xian took this opportunity to raise a question that had been nagging him for a long time. "I've been thinking about this for a while now - originally, it was me who a.n.a.lyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the armies of the Central Plains as well as the Norland before the Dragon King did so, and I might have… have exaggerated the advantages of the Central Plains. I hope that that didn't influence the Dragon King too much. It's hard to say whether we'll win or not if we have a final showdown right now with the Central Plains, but defeat is definitely not certain. If we fight them after their troops have traveled a long way and become exhausted, the odds are actually very much in our favor. Actually, the Dragon King's act of allying with the Central Plains instead of the Norland cavalrymen seems riskier."
Dugu Xian was not the only one who had such doubts. Many others also didn't understand why the Dragon King had given up on the Norland armies that were already under his command. Some hadn't had the chance to ask, and some others didn't dare to ask.
"Your description is a reason, but it is merely one of the reasons." Gu Shenwei thought for a while. "You said that the Norland cavalry could attack at will and that they could also retreat at will. However, the West Regions can't. Although Jade City, Shule Kingdom and Xiaoyao Lake make up half of the Western Regions, they're still just a tiny area compared to the Central Plains and the Norland. If the Norland cavalry loses a battle, they will flee into the depths of the gra.s.slands, and the Dragon Army will definitely not be a match for the armies of the Central Plains. If the Norland cavalry wins, the Norlanders will be hailed as the savior and protector of Jade City, and I will have to let them stay - or at the very least, let them stay on the border for an extended period of time in case the Central Plains attacks us again. Neither of the two are a viable long-term solution."
Dugu Xian nodded in complete agreement. The new Khan of the Norland was still a child. When he grew up or when another, more powerful Khan's descendant replaced him, the gra.s.slands cavalry would probably turn from protectors into invaders. In that case, the Central Plains would by no means offer to help the Jade City.
Dugu Xian felt this reason alone was enough, but Gu Shenwei continued - he was explaining to not only the General of the Left but also himself. "Golden Roc Castle has always been a two-timer. It's been using the Norland cavalry and colluding with the Central Plains at the same time. Someone once told me that I have to sever all of a target's relations with other people if I want to kill the target without any repercussions. The Norland and the Central Plains are like Golden Roc Castle's two arms. I have cut off one of them, and I still have to cut the other off."
Taking a glance at his disabled arm, Dugu Xian believed that the Dragon King's words were reasonable. Like a student, he nodded silently so as to not disturb the Dragon King's train of thought.
"Last but not least, both the counselor and I believe this: the Central Plains won't be able to rule the Western Regions for long, and the only choice it has is to adopt Jimi System 1 . Even if the Central Plains takes control of Jade City, the final beneficiary will still be the most powerful local force."
The Dragon Army had already become more powerful than the army of Golden Roc Castle, and this was the main reason why the Golden Roc Army and Fang Wens.h.i.+ had decided to cooperate with Prince Xiao.
Dugu Xian still didn't quite understand, and he couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure that the Central Plains can't rule the Western Regions?
Gu Shenwei raised his head slightly. "Even if King Kuari were alive, he wouldn't have ascended to the throne. However, some of his thoughts were unique and also very reasonable. He said that the Norlanders could only be farmers and would eventually end up becoming Central Plainsmen if they went to the Central Plains. The same is true for the Central Plainsmen. If they go to the gra.s.slands, they can only be herdsmen and sooner or later, they will integrate into the Norland. The Western Regions' territory is not very large and its population is spa.r.s.e. Since ancient times, there has always been numerous small countries stuck between two powerful ones. Even when the small countries were under the strictest control, they still managed to stay independent to a large extent, and it was neither luck nor wisdom that they relied on."
Intrigued, Dugu Xian asked, "Then what was it?"
"The desert." Deep in thought, Gu Shenwei seemed to be intrigued as well. "There is not enough water and gra.s.s for Norlanders here, and Central Plainsmen won't be able to reclaim enough farmland here. The more soldiers they send, the heavier the burden on their shoulders. What the Dragon Army needs is this - to not become the victim of a powerful nation's momentary fury."
Dugu Xian took his leave. Gu Shenwei stood up and left the tent, realizing that there was a flaw in his plan: the Dragon Army was more powerful than Golden Roc Castle, but it was also more likely to become a victim.
With a smile on her face, Han Wuxian leisurely walked over, ignoring the astonished look on Old Man Mu and the others' faces, as if she didn't realize that her betrayal had already been seen through.
