Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
This was the first time that Tie Linglong had ever been wounded. During a tangled fight, the side of her waist had been slashed. Despite the damage, she was responding well to treatment, and she was very happy about it. "'A killer without any scars is not a good killer.' The Dragon King always says this."
While putting away his medicine chest, Doctor Sun said in a complaining tone, "Those words of the Dragon King will do you no good. You're just a young girl. Why the h.e.l.l do you want to be killer and get scars? If you really want them so bad, isn't it much easier to just stab yourself with a saber a couple times?"
"That's different," Tie Linglong explained, smiling. "I'll get experience if I am jabbed at by someone else. But I'll get nothing if I jab myself."
"Nonsense. There isn't any difference in the scars of the two if you are jabbed in a vital part." Doctor Sun cautiously scratched the little hair bun that sat on top of his head with a meaningful look on his face. "During all my years in Jade City, I've treated a lot of killers, and I've also seen a lot of killers die before me. So while my kung fu may be just average, my eyes are pretty sharp. To be honest, you don't count as a killer at all."
Tie Linglong's face went cold, her right hand immediately going to the hilt of the saber. "Are you suggesting that I don't dare to kill people?"
"What's the big deal with killing people?" Doctor Sun was not afraid at all. Judging by this reaction of hers alone, he was positive that this little girl was definitely not a killer. "Even a child can kill people if it's really necessary, but killers are different. In their eyes, people's lives are nothing, and they neither feel guilty nor proud of killing. But look at you - you became so excited after merely being jabbed."
Tie Linglong released her grip on the saber hilt and inhaled deeply, affecting an air of thoughtfulness. "It takes time to become a true killer. I'm still learning."
Shaking his head, Doctor Sun didn't agree with Tie Linglong's confident words at all, "Don't wield a saber or practice kung fu for the next three days lest you aggravate the injury."
"There were several occasions when the Dragon King was wounded even more seriously, but I didn't see him sit still."
Doctor Sun got angry at those words. " Dragon King, Dragon King - is he a doctor? Is he capable of treating diseases? You want to hop around? Fine! When you start bleeding badly, I'm more than willing to dress your wound again - as long as you don't feel embarra.s.sed."
Tie Linglong blushed and, with that, she realized a killer shouldn't feel embarra.s.sed, so she tried to put on a severe look. While she was struggling and dithering about, Doctor Sun picked up his medicine chest and was about to walk towards the doorway. But when he turned around and raised his head, he saw the Dragon King and Han Wuxian together.
Doctor Sun was afraid of the Dragon King and even more afraid of Han Wuxian. Although it had been Lotus who had previously imprisoned him, he could strongly feel the style of the Waning Moon Hall in Han Wuxian, and that sent s.h.i.+vers down his spine.
"Dragon King, Hall Leader Han," Doctor Sun greeted them flatly and then ran out of the tent with his head down. Grasping his little hair bun, he intensely felt that he had compromised his image of a divine doctor.
But Tie Linglong was both surprised and rejoiced. She wasn't angry that the Dragon King had used her as a bait at all. On the contrary, she felt complacent about it. "Did I delay anything, Dragon King?"
"No. You did a very good job," Gu Shenwei said as he pointed at Han Wuxian. "Hall Leader Han wants to talk to you."
Tie Linglong had a special place in her heart for Han Wuxian. She liked the Jueyin Finger Techniques that Han Wuxian had taught her, and although she was wary of the way Han Wuxian did things, every time she met her, she couldn't help trusting her. Even at this moment, Tie Linglong still felt a sense of intimacy that connected her and Han Wuxian, and it was even more intense than her feelings for the Dragon King.
"About what?" Tie Linglong asked, perplexed.
"Stop practicing the Jueyin Finger Techniques that I taught you," said Han Wuxian gently, as if she were trying to persuade a child who was already full to stop eating.
"Um. I'll… stop practicing," Tie Linglong orally a.s.sented, but because of the Dragon King's presence, she had more self-control than usual. She felt vaguely uneasy and also somewhat surprised that she was so obedient.
Standing to the side, Gu Shenwei remained silent.
Han Wuxian walked up to Tie Linglong, stretched out her hand and stroked Tie Linglong's face. "Do you know why you should stop practicing it?"
"Because… you don't want me to?" The uneasiness in Tie Linglong was intensifying with each pa.s.sing second. She had never pledged allegiance to Han Wuxian. On the first day when she had started learning kung fu from Han Wuxian, she had made it very clear that she wouldn't apprentice herself to Han Wuxian. 'Since when did I start to care about Hall Leader's thoughts so much?'
"No. You have to keep thinking. Think deeply. Find a reason of your own."
Han Wuxian's eyes were like two gleaming pools and they gradually merged into each other. Tie Linglong was involuntarily fascinated, mumbling "think deeply" to herself repeatedly. But actually, her thoughts had already fragmented and all she wanted to do was dive into the pool.
But someone blocked her path. It seemed to be the Dragon King, but it also seemed to be Chu Nanping, and it even looked somewhat like Nie Zeng at times. But mostly, it looked like a stranger. Tie Linglong detested it, so she stretched out her hand and tried to push that figure aside, but there was always a distance of two or three inches separating her fingers and the target. Every time she took a step forward, the figure would take a corresponding step backwards.
The area that that figure took up in her view grew larger, and eventually, it nearly blocked her sight of the pool. And its gaze was also getting severer and more distinct. It kept moving its lips and seemed to be blaming her for no reason.
Irritated, Tie Linglong roared "step aside," but even she herself didn't hear the two words.
She whipped out her saber and desperately slashed at the figure. When the blade was about to reach its head, she abruptly woke up.
In front of her, there were neither any pools nor any figures that looked both familiar and unfamiliar. She was still standing in the tent, but she was actually holding a narrow saber and had slashed at the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei peered over the wicked-looking saber before him and looked at Tie Linglong. "Fortunately, you woke up by yourself."
Hands trembling, Tie Linglong put the narrow saber back into the sheath. She had broken out in a cold sweat. Lowering her head, she saw that blood was oozing out of her newly wrapped wound. "It turns out that the Jueyin Finger Energy was a lie."
Han Wuxian's smile stayed unchanged. "The Jueyin Finger Energy is not a lie. It's very powerful once you master it, but there's another kung fu that can restrain it."
Stone-faced, Tie Linglong had returned to normal and was able to deduce what this "other kung fu" was. "Will I eventually be an utter puppet of yours if I keep practicing it?"
"The Seven Mind Control Techniques are very energy-consuming. I can't afford to use it on you too often." Han Wuxian's smile had always camouflaged her true thoughts, and n.o.body knew whether it was really just a smile or if she was performing some kind of secret art.
Tie Linglong's heart fluttered. She had thought that she knew the Waning Moon Hall well, but she had still been tricked. Recalling those previous conversations with Han Wuxian, she couldn't help feeling scared. "I… I didn't do anything, right?"
"Erasing memories is beyond my capabilities. You remember everything, so rest a.s.sured. You didn't do any 'bad things.'" Han Wuxian emphasized the last two words, seeming both disapproving and regretful.
"Why did you choose me…" The moment she finished the last word, Tie Linglong already knew the answer.
"Lotus thinks that you're useful. And so do I." Han Wuxian told the truth. "Besides, back then, you thought the world of the Dragon King, so of course I'd want someone to keep an eye on him."
The fear in Tie Linglong intensified again. She felt lucky that she hadn't put much effort into practicing the Jueyin Finger Energy, and that she had switched to Balanced Power halfway. Otherwise, she couldn't even imagine what the outcome would have been. "The Dragon King knew this all along?" She recalled that the Dragon King had once warned her to not get close to Han Wuxian.
Gu Shenwei shook his head. "I don't know much about the secret arts of Waning Moon Hall. I just thought that Hall Leader Han was not the kind of person that people can casually meet - that was, until today, when she came to me and confessed everything."
"Hha. Are you praising me, Dragon King?" Han Wuxian laughed, as if she indeed had been praised.
Tie Linglong smiled awkwardly. The Dragon King had saved her once again, and she had lost count of the number of times that he had saved her. "Given that Hall Leader Han has this kind of skill, why were you still got betrayed?"
There was still a smile on Han Wuxian's face even while she was sighing. "Lotus apprenticed herself to me after learning many kung fu skills of another sect, but she didn't learn many kung fu skills of the Waning Moon Hall. Besides… her heart is made of stone and not easy to soften. She defeated and imprisoned me. I was unable to perform secret arts then, so naturally I couldn't keep the other disciples under control. However, there was still a group of disciples who were highly loyal to me. Most of them were killed by Lotus and the Dragon King. There are only a couple of them left, hiding in Jade City. It was them who helped me rebuild the Barren Sect."
Besides answering Tie Linglong's question, Han Wuxian talked about many other things, and they were clearly meant for the Dragon King.
Tie Linglong feebly sat down on the bed. Even under these circ.u.mstance, she still didn't hate Han Wuxian. However, she was determined not to practice the Jueyin Finger Energy and any other evil kung fu of the Waning Moon Hall ever again.
Gu Shenwei felt that this tent was a proper place to talk and that there was no need to find another place. "Hall Leader Han has given me a gift. Now, we can continue to talk."
Hands clutching her chest where her heart was, Han Wuxian gave a relieved smile. "Did this gift make up for my previous meeting with the Unique King?"
Startled, Tie Linglong jumped up. "Impossible! How could you… You're the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall. Hasn't the Golden Roc Castle been your enemy for generations?"
"Hatred that has lasted generations is not as intense as the resentment in the present." Han Wuxian sighed again. The smile on her face had become saccharine and Tie Linglong saw the ugly side of this smile for the first time.
In order to kill Lotus, Han Wuxian was willing to do whatever it took. When she had felt a premonition that sooner or later, the Dragon King would operate with Lotus, she had turned to the Unique King. Despite him being a predestined enemy of hers, he was also one of the very few people naturally hostile to the Waning Moon Hall, and also someone destined to kill Lotus.
"But you changed your mind again… " Realizing that she had stolen the Dragon King's lines, Tie Linglong sat down quietly and her vigilance against Han Wuxian increased.
"I should have thought of this earlier." Han Wuxian turned and faced the Dragon King. "Why would a woman as smart as Lotus let me take Han Xuan from her so easily? Alas, I never learned my lesson, and I still underestimated her."
"I distinctly saw you carry Han Xuan in your arms. That wasn't her?" Tie Linglong couldn't help ask curiously.
"That was Han Xuan, a female Gu I spent over twenty years nurturing. Originally, she could have given me a power as great as that of the Daoless Divine Power. Unfortunately… Unfortunately… Lotus beat me to it."
Tie Linglong watched Han Wuxian in amazement and then looked at the Dragon King. "What's a female Gu?"
Gu Shenwei understood Han Wuxian's words, and he was rather surprised. "I thought that you were the only one who could benefit from female Gus." Gu Shenwei had such a thought because, previously, Han Wuxian had never seemed to be anxious about this issue.
"Originally, I was. I don't know how Lotus managed to find a solution, but Han Xuan is no longer a female Gu. All the Qi stored in her… has been taken away by Lotus." Han Wuxian was in grief and agony. There was no smile on her face - which was very rare - and she suddenly seemed a little older than before.
Gu Shenwei finally understood what Lotus had been doing during these days of no news of her.
"Lotus has made great progress in her kung fu once again and she's nearly invincible. I suspect that even the Unique King is no match for her now." The smile reappeared on Han Wuxian's face, as if she had forgotten the pain in her. "Besides the Dragon King, n.o.body can overpower her."
"I don't want to lie to you, but I'm not even the Unique King's match," said Gu Shenwei coldly.
"Kung fu is not necessarily the only way to overpower someone." Han Wuxian blinked, looking as joyful as a teenage girl.
Tie Linglong became more perplexed, but she didn't ask any further questions because the Dragon King's face was growing horribly severe.
