Chapter 220: Lifesaver
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The slave market of South City became busy and lively as summer arrived.
Though it was called a market, there was in fact not a single proper street in it. Myriad vans were parked in two rows facing each other on a stretch of barren land, leaving a narrow and bending channel in between where slaves and livestock were mixed together for the convenience of customers to choose.
Many people had been waiting for this annual market. The rich required dexterous servants, the brothels needed good-looking girls, the shops needed capable hands and bodies, while Golden Roc Fort's requirements were even more particular.
The killer apprentices in the Stone Castle came from very diverse sources, of which one of the most important was the slave market. Every year, the young masters would send men here to select and purchase young children, who would then be trained for several years outside before entering the Stone Castle when they were slightly older. As this was one of the key steps in developing future power, nobody would miss out on it, and fights often arose among them because of it.
This year was much more peaceful than usual. The Tenth Young Master appeared to be on a roll and had gained control of half of South City, causing the other masters to avoid her knowingly. Gu Shenwei practically did not come across any fights when he went to make purchases.
He visited the market for five successive days and bought a varying number of slaves each time. All of the traffickers knew who he was, and would recommend to him the most robust and brutal children, as they had done in previous years.
Another person, like the killer, who arrived every day was a master of the Meng family.
Mingxian was the name of Fourth Young Master Meng. Had it not been for the many troubles caused by his younger brother, Meng Mingshi, over the past two years that overshadowed his own deeds, he would have been Jade City's number one playboy.
Gu Shenwei had met the Fourth Young Master in the Bodhi Garden, and the latter had even joked about him before. In the killer's impression, this was a warm, cheerful, and banterous master.
Gu Shenwei would bow and give way every time they ran into each other at the market. Conversely, Meng Mingxian would ride his horse straight past the former with such a blank look that even his eyelids did not move. Most of the time, the master's servants would also not acknowledge the killer, save for a few occasions when a servant would come up to offer a perfunctory line or two.
Meng Mingxian did not care about his younger brother Meng Mingshi's grievances and did not hate the killer Yang Huan. It was rather that he truly did not see the killer paying respects. He did not give a hoot about the entire South City, let alone an ordinary killer from Stone Castle.
Governor Wei Song firmly believed that the Meng family was the enemy who killed his son. He wanted the killer to kill a master of the Meng family on his behalf before the forces of the Central Plain returned to Jade City.
Gu Shenwei had two choices, namely Meng Mingxian and Meng Mingshi, who both loved to seek fun in South City. After weighing the choices, the killer decided upon the former.
Killing Meng Mingshi would have prompted suspicions toward Kun Society. Gu Shenwei's goal was to instead cause outsiders, or at least the Meng family, to suspect the governor.
As a result of this messy reasoning, Meng Mingxian became the target of an assassination plot he had absolutely no idea about.
Fourth Young Master Meng's purchases at the slave market were mostly young girls of around ten years old. The Meng family possessed many concubines and preferred to foster them from young, much like the killers in Stone Castle. However, there was a saying in the market that the Meng family's vicious methods caused the deaths of many of the girls they bought. Therefore, every time the master arrived at the market, the traffickers would swarm up to him while the slaves would try to look as unkempt as possible and hid at the back.
The "good stuff" sold in the market were running out by the fifth day, but Meng Mingxian came once again and picked even more stringently than before. Those who were familiar with his practices in previous years knew he was buying for himself.
The moment of Meng Mingxian's assassination took place during the period when the market was most crowded. The dozens of servants and guards who accompanied him could only manage to cordon off a small space around which they stood shoulder to shoulder and faced outwards to prevent other people from getting near to their master.
More than a hundred steps away, the killer was busy bargaining with a trafficker. The ten or so machetemen who accompanied him traded glances with the master's contingent.
With no concern for the huge crowd of people around, Meng Mingxian's eyes lit up as he took a fancy to a young boy, and he grumbled at the trafficker for not laying out this sort of quality earlier.
The trafficker was anxious to quickly conclude this transaction. He put on a smile to hide his inner doubts as to why the slave had appeared, and replied, "I was keeping him especially for you, Fourth Young Master."
The more Meng Mingxian looked at the boy, the greater his adoration grew. He fished out a handkerchief to gently wipe away the dirt on the slave's face, revealing a layer of fine white skin which he wished he could take a bite out of right there and then.
The slave seemed very afraid and suddenly jumped off the van, bumping into the Fourth Young Master in the process, before he deftly slipped underneath the van. He had appeared very well-behaved initially, and thus nobody was prepared for this abrupt turn of events.
The trafficker tried methods of persuasion and then intimidation to get the slave to come out. Finally, he knelt down to drag the disobedient slave out by himself.
But there was nothing underneath the van. The child had run away without making a sound or shadow.
The trafficker was extremely shocked and felt that the matter had exceeded the limits of his comprehension. He stood up laboriously, but before he could think of a way to explain to the Fourth Young Master, the forced smile on his face froze at once.
There was a dagger stabbed into Meng Mingxian's heart. The master stood still, already dead.
Gu Shenwei had, with a lot of difficulties, persuaded Chu Nanping to do this for him. The obstinate young swordsman flatly refused to perform the role of the killer. "I shall only protect your safety and nothing more."
"What if I practice Emotionless Swordsmanship with you?"
"Oh, then alright."
Chu Nanping was as obstinate as a mule, and thus Gu Shenwei had to fully consider the consequences which his demands would bring. "We'll begin the practice after you've helped me to do ten things."
"Ten? That's a deal. Tell me what they are."
Gu Shenwei only spoke of one, and that was for Chu Nanping to disguise himself as a filthy slave and blend into the market where he would await an opportunity to kill Meng Mingxian.
After spending several days at the market, Gu Shenwei had acquired a complete understanding of Fourth Young Master Meng's habits.
When the market was in a great confusion, Gu Shenwei squeezed his way through the crowd to have a look. Chu Nanping had thrust the dagger so precisely that Meng Mingxian died on the spot. The killer helped to search for the assassin and found nothing. The slave trafficker crumpled to the ground and swore by the heavens that the young slave was not his, but nobody believed him. The master's attendants, who were eager to find a scapegoat, beat the trafficker until he was half dead, and carried him back together with the corpse to report in.
Gu Shenwei returned to Kun Society where he waited for Xu Xiaoyi's news.
Xu Xiaoyi had already freed himself from the grief of his elder sister's death and was once again roaming the streets. "Everyone's saying that Fourth Young Master Meng died too strangely. His murder comes not long after Master Wei's departure, as if he couldn't bear to part with his good friend."
This was sufficient for Gu Shenwei. Although nobody had openly suspected that the assassination was ordered by the governor, it would not be long before everyone guessed in this direction.
Xu Xiaoyi, who did not know that Chu Nanping was the assassin, laughingly commented, "People are saying that the master was killed by a young child. I'm guessing it could be you."
Chu Nanping was a bad liar and thus did not dare open his mouth. Gu Shenwei reminded the two of them, "Now that a member of the Meng family has died, it may not be safe for children outside. It's best if both of you remain at home and not go out for the time being."
As if comprehending something, Xu Xiaoyi blinked his eyes and replied, "Understood. I'll take care of Little Chu too."
Now that his sister was gone, the little building in Pleasure Alley naturally lost its purpose. Xu Xiaoyi had rented a cheaper house which was very out-of-the-way.
It had not been a flawless assassination. Sooner or later, someone would suspect the little swordsman from Joy Pavilion. Thus, Gu Shenwei decided to act upon Governor Wei Song as soon as possible so that everyone's attention would be diverted towards the vendetta between the Wei and Meng families.
In the evening on the day after Meng Mingxian's death, Gu Shenwei, equipped with a grappling hook and a short-saber commonly used by machetemen, swam across the border river and scaled the high border wall so as to sneak into North City. He reckoned that he would be able to kill Wei Song with an ordinary knife because the governor seemed to not know any kung fu.
While North City was usually quiet, there was an apparent increase in the number of patrols on this night. The shock caused upon North City by Fourth Young Master Meng's death greatly exceeded that caused by Wei Lingmiao's. The former had been someone close whereas the latter had always been a distant figure. Aside from being sad at the loss of one of their kind, the rich families also became worried for their own safety.
Conversely, there were no changes at the Governor's Mansion. Gu Shenwei did not discover any hidden sentries after observing many locations around it.
This was going to be a reckless assassination for which Gu Shenwei had not done much homework beforehand. He had only been to the mansion once and did not have much of an understanding of its internal conditions.
Although Gu Shenwei's Lightness Skill was considerably better than before, he still slowly climbed up the wall by digging his fingers into its cracks, knowing that he had to keep a close watch on every move he made while inside the compound. As long as he could capture someone alive to extract information from, it should be easy to find out which room in the backcourt was the governor currently resting in.
In the end, however, Gu Shenwei would suffer a surprise attack in the forecourt. The assailant's machete technique had a distinct Golden Roc Fort style. He attacked swiftly and effectively from the back, making absolutely no noise.
Gu Shenwei was unable to ward off the attack, but managed to leap forward and rolled several rounds on the floor. When he stood back up, he was finally able to face the assailant, but a knife was already right before his eyes.
The failure of one of his movements caused his subsequent movements to be constantly a step behind his opponent's. Unable to exert his true strength, he could only take steps backward as the danger against him grew.
After the assailant had struck out nine times with his saber, a second saber appeared.
Gu Shenwei, who had been barely able to evade the first assailant, was struck on his back by the second one.
To be cautious was a principle which one could not refrain from violating once after abiding a hundred times. Gu Shenwei had committed many mistakes, and each time it was only when the lesson was hard enough that the relevant principle would be etched in his mind forever.
At present, he did not have the time or energy to consider all these. There was only one thought in his mind: avoid the next blow .
One of the assailants suddenly turned away, as if he had been struck, and his steps became a little clumsy. As he turned his back, he revealed an arrow on his shoulder, upon seeing which the other assailant slowed down his attack.
This was Gu Shenwei's only chance. Swinging his knife, he warded off the blow from the second assailant, caught his breath, jumped on to a wall, and fled towards the east.
Strangely enough, the assailants did not come chasing out of the Governor's Mansion.
Gu Shenwei ran into a secluded alley and leaned firmly against a wall. Hiding in the shadows, he did not allow the moonlight to shine upon him. It was only at this time that his composure suddenly disappeared and his heart began to pound rapidly.
The two assailants were true-blue killers from Golden Roc Fort. Their machete techniques were first-rate, such that if the fight had continued for just a little longer, Gu Shenwei would have died to them without being able to exert even half of his own kung fu.
The person who had saved him in the dark was even more unexpected. Although the person did so from a position of various advantages, he still needed to be a terrific marksman to be able to hit a killer from Golden Roc Fort.
Gu Shenwei returned to Kun Society in South City as quickly as he could. After changing into his night suit, he equipped his saber and sword and headed out once again. This time, he came to Liuhua's residence and knocked on the door.
Liuhua emerged from the unlit house, wearing a full set of attire. He looked aloof and did not say a word.
This was not a clue. Killers often did not take off their attire before they slept.
"Do I have to thank you?"
"You should make your words clear."
Liuhua expressed a trace of displeasure and abhorrence. At this point, even if he was indeed Gu Shenwei's lifesaver, the latter would not quite believe it.
"Did you go out tonight?"
"Tenth Young Master sent you to ask?"
Liuhua's meaning was very clear. As they were equally-ranked killers, he would not answer any of Slave Huan's questions unless there were orders from Shangguan Ru.
For no apparent reason, his expressions suddenly became extremely angry and his entire face turned distorted and blood-red, as if he was about to devour the slave facing him.
Gu Shenwei immediately clutched his sword shaft but released it almost as quickly. He would not have a chance to utilize his skills on this night.
With his body as stiff as a piece of slate, Liuhua collapsed on the floor, spurting a white foam from his mouth.
Not far away, a dull thud was heard from Shangguan Ru's room, as if something had dropped on the floor.