Chapter 176: Leaving
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The whole Jade City was shocked by the death of Sword Sacrificer Ye Silang. Even the Kun Society had won; it was immersed in an atmosphere of grief.
"She was waiting for you." Gu Shenwei told Shangguan Ru, who had just rushed here. His hand was still being held by the deceased. He needed Shangguan Ru to gently pry off the fingers one by one to get rid of the corpse.
Shangguan Ru was trying to act stoic. She did not cry but sat cross-legged before the bed instead. Both of her hands held on to Shangguan Yushi's hand. The hand used to tightly cling to Slave Huan so as to drag him down into hell with it.
The killers had all reached the hall. Maid Lotus had also arrived and Liuhua who was normally absent was also seen in a corner. All of the machetemen stayed in the courtyard, outside the hall while holding onto the handle of their swords tightly.
Before nighttime arrived, no one dared to utter even a single word. Shangguan Ru took a deep breath, just like someone who had just woken up. She rose, turned her head and with a calm expression on her face, said, "I want Meng Mingshi's head."
To everyone, Meng Mingshi seemed like the most obvious culprit, but Gu Shenwei had his reservations.
Before Shangguan Yushi died, she had put all the blame on Slave Huan because she recognized the hatred and desire to kill in him.
Gu Shenwei had always wanted to kill Master Yu, but he had nothing to do with this circumstance.
Shangguan Fei had indeed supported the Horned Dragon Society. He revealed how Meng Mingshi had employed Ye Silang and agreed to let Slave Huan bring one more person into the betting arena. Gu Shenwei knew he was walking on a tightrope, so he was being extra careful. He did not make any more requests to the Ninth Young Master.
The Horned Dragon Society had chosen Shangguan Yushi as their target. Gu Shenwei was as shocked as everyone else.
Perhaps the counterattack last night had finally riled up the Fifth Young Master. He was very suspicious of Shangguan Yushi's loyalty. Perhaps the surviving machetemen of the Horned Dragon Society wanted to exact revenge on their own accord. Or it could be that Shangguan Fei wanted to use the chaos to his advantage.
Gu Shenwei had so many doubts in his heart. Answers would be difficult to obtain with Master Yu's death.
The killers bowed down to the Tenth Young Master, indicating that they have accepted the order. Gu Shenwei felt the need to remind them that they had a ceasefire agreement.
Shangguan Ru stared at Slave Huan. Her eyes were as dark as charcoal and sparkled with faint sparks before finally dimming. "The South City is under a truce but the North City is not."
Meng Mingshi hid in his house. If anyone wanted to kill him, they could only do so by waging a war in the North City. However, this would violate the unspoken rules of the two societies and Golden Roc Fort's desire to keep the North City death free.
Therefore, Gu Shenwei felt that the only way to deal with this difficult situation was to accept it. He pulled out his saber and drew a line on the ground. This was the killer's way of saying that they would not give up before achieving their goal. The other killers followed suit and drew the same line on the ground.
The death of the closest friend brought forth the will and intelligence of the Tenth Young Master. She was not consumed with anger and did not leave all matters in her subordinate's hands, simply waiting for the outcome. She was in deep thought for a long while. She considered all the risks and difficulty of the entire plan.
"Let's do it tonight. Since everyone has assumed that the armistice has come into effect, let's surprise them. We'll drag Meng Mingshi to the South City. I want to behead him myself and present it to Master Yu."
Seven killers gathered together. They set aside their grudges and personal interests temporarily. Wildhorse was extremely concerned about the death of Master Yu. His desire for revenge was just as strong as the Tenth Young Master's. He came up with a plan quickly and used his fingers to signal it. Everyone understood his intentions.
Shangguan Ru led five killers and returned to the North City. Slave Huan and Maid Lotus would stay in the South City.
During the third watch of the night, two killers from South City sneaked under the wall that divided the two cities. Above their heads was the tower that overlooked the South City. On the opposite side of the tower was the base camp of the Horned Dragon Society. It was now a pile of rubble.
Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus wore outfits befitting killers. They hid in the shadows under the walls. Their task was simple. They only had to wait for their prey to hang from above.
Kidnapping a person in the North City was very difficult. Moreover, this person was the master of the Meng Family. This made things difficult. Gu Shenwei felt that Shangguan Ru's plan was too reckless, but he had no control over this matter. Wildhorse had promised to shoulder all the responsibilities and seemed to be hell-bent on making this work.
Everyone had a best friend. At this train of thought, Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of Maid Lotus and felt a strong bond of friendship with her. He wanted to open up and confide such feelings to Maid Lotus. He was sure that she would understand him and help him.
But he was a killer and he learned the Death Scripture. As such intense feelings wash over him, he would not be moved. The desire for revenge was still strong, and the look in his eyes did not sway even a single bit from his goal of revenge.
Maid Lotus, who was standing so close to Gu Shenwei, would never have imagined that there was a moment when the teen was so close to her in mind and spirit.
It was still very dark nearly at the fifth watch. Something dangled down from above the wall. Shangguan Ru and Wildhorse had actually succeeded. Gu Shenwei was speechless. Was the North City not as well guarded as he thought, or was the Fifth Young Master so foolish that he did not guard himself adequately? The victim should knew too well of the relationship between the two masters.
Wrapped within multiple layers of cloth was the body of a person. It was soft to the touch. Gu Shenwei slung it over his shoulders and left without a word with Maid Lotus. They did not return to Kun Society, but instead sped towards Pleasure Alley.
At Pleasure Alley, Xu Xiaoyi opened the door of the house. It was dark but he could vaguely see the silhouettes of the people inside.
"Got it?" Tuo Nengya asked.
"Yes." Gu Shenwei responded, putting the captured victim on the ground.
"Mr. Huan, would you care to explain why these men are here when they are not here to sleep or to pay? Do they think that this is a brothel?" Xu Yanwei complained from upstairs.
"Return to your room." Gu Shenwei ordered. Xu Yanwei felt a little intimidated by him now. She snorted and quickly returned to her bedroom.
About 2 dozen machetemen took action. Before long, they had put together a makeshift mourning hall. The corpse of Master Yu was placed in the middle. Candles and incense paper were prepared but they were not lit.
Xu Xiaoyi sensed that something was amiss. But he did not dare to say anything. He crept silently up the stairs and went into his sister's room. Both siblings understood the gravity of the situation and looked at each other. They were too afraid to think of the outcome.
Downstairs, the machetemen swarmed out of the house. They guarded the entrance and the back of the house. Some even climbed onto the roof. One could say that the brothel has now been hermetically sealed.
As dawn approaches, Shangguan Ru led the machetemen to the place. They had passed by through the checkpoints and seemingly had nothing to do with Fifth Young Master's disappearance.
Maid Lotus lit candles and Gu Shenwei opened the wrapped package. He doused water on the person inside to wake him up.
The Fifth Young Master was simply too careless. On the night when he killed Master Yu, he did not stay in his house. Instead, he went out drinking. There were only a few taverns in the North City. There was only one that had a much more elegant atmosphere compared to the rest and Meng Mingshi had been there. He did not notice that he had been followed the moment he stepped out of his house.
It seemed like Shangguan Ru and Wildhorse had no use for such a complicated plan that they came up with. Shangguan Ru put his hands together, thanking Master Yu's spirit for blessing them from Heaven.
Wildhorse and Shangguan Ru jumped onto the roof of the tavern. Fifth Young Master was actually drinking alone, to their amusement. Even his servants had been taken outside and no one dared enter.
Meng Mingshi was so drunk that the two kidnappers only had to put some knockout powder in his mouth before carrying him out through the window. No one was disturbed and they did not have to kill anyone. This went unexpectedly well. When they reached downstairs, Shangguan Ru pulled Meng Mingshi by the hair and looked at his face. She was making sure that she had not caught the wrong person.
When the servants realized that their master was missing, the unconscious Meng Mingshi was already in South City. The anxious servants ran back to Meng's residence, shivering with fear, contemplating whether they should awaken the great master. But in South City, Shangguan Ru was already standing before the Fifth Young Master's body, his hands holding a blade. He was prepared to behead the said person.
After this incident, explanations would be given out as followed: Fifth Young Master had assumed that the South City had entered a truce. Hence, he had secretly run to a familiar brothel in Pleasure Alley but he ended up falling into Shangguan Ru's hands.
As for the agreement of the truce, Shangguan Ru also had a set of explanations. She was not afraid of the fact that the Meng family might resent her. Nobody would dare to touch her if a plausible explanation was provided. Moreover, the Horned Dragon Society had once kidnapped the Tenth Young Master and had thought of killing her. However, they did not succeed.
Meng Mingshi opened his eyes. He was hungover. It felt like all his bones had been broken and somehow reattached again. He did not realize where he was for a long time. When he could clearly see the sword in Shangguan Ru's hands, he was startled and immediately sat up. He quickly sobered up too.
"You... who are you? Where is this place? What are you doing? Don't do anything stupid. I will call for help..." There were only masked killers in the house. One thing that he knew for sure was that this was Pleasure Alley. Meng Mingshi could not be more familiar with the layout of the house. However, he did not know whose house this was. "We... we're currently in a truce."
Shangguan Ru knew that Meng Mingshi would say this. She yelled at the door. "Who's outside?"
"Machetemen of the Kun Society." Tuo Nengya replied loudly.
"Who is the leader of the Kun Society?"
"Tuo Nengya."
"What about Shangguan Ru?"
"Has been removed from the member's list."
"Yang Huan?"
...
Shangguan Ru repeated every single one of the killers' names. The only reply that he got was: "They have been removed from the members' list."
"Kun Society and the Horned Dragon Society may have agreed to a ceasefire, but we're no longer members of Kun Society."
Meng Mingshi felt that Shangguan Ru was obviously insisting on something absurd. But he could not think of anything to refute him. "You... I'll go back and tell my grandmother. The Meng Family is not done with Stone Castle yet."
"You can't go back. Grandmother's good grandson will be leaving her first."
Meng Mingshi had only just understood what Shangguan Ru meant now. He turned pale. "No, no. You can't kill me. I..."
The anger that Shangguan Ru had been suppressing for a long time finally exploded. "I can't kill you? I can't kill you! How dare you! If you wanted that, you shouldn't have killed Master Yu."
"Master Yu?" Meng Mingshi came to his senses. When he saw the corpse of Shangguan Yushi, his face changed. He clambered towards the body with an unexpected energy and lifted one of her hands, as if to ascertain if she was really dead.
"Let go of her!" Shangguan Ru was both astonished and angry at the same time.
Meng Mingshi turned his head. The grief on his face stunned Shangguan Ru.
"Don't you know already? It was not me that sent men to kill her. How could I have killed her? I love her, and she loves me. Tenth Young Master, we have both been in love for a very long time."