Chapter 223: The Convict
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The changes to Shangguan Ru occurred gradually. The death of Master Yu was only the beginning, and when she found out that the murderer was her own brother, Shangguan Fei, it was as if something had died inside her.
In the past, she had erected a mental barrier in her mind, and within that barrier, she treated killing as a game. The victims were no different from tools, target boards or flora - when they were killed, they did not suffer even a little bit.
However, outside of this barrier, she believed that all beings had feelings, and towards these beings, she felt the same amount of pain that was inflicted on them.
From this point onwards, Shangguan Ru could never rouse her killing desire again - she could not bring herself to strike the mortal blow even if it was towards her most hated enemy. The feeling of joy when one's weapon pierced into the target's flesh was lost to her forever.
That being said, one aspect that didn't change was that she still wanted to be strong and did not like to lose. She thought of her weakness as a type of sickness and wished to be cured of it someday. She did not care much about the threat of qigong deviation.
She had known since a young age that the Third Brother was the rebellious one in the Shangguan Family. It was said that during his saber awarding ceremony when he was 13 years of age, Shangguan Yun openly declared that his saber would never be drawn from its scabbard. It infuriated his father so much that he had nearly killed his worthless son with his own hands.
When Shangguan Yun left the mountains for his pilgrimage, he did not stay in the South City to apply his abilities according to tradition. Instead, he brought along the 10 killers assigned to himself and went wandering in the jianghu and did not return to the Fort after the usual one year period. When he finally returned home, seven years had already passed. His travels brought him as far the Central Plain, and he had indeed never used his saber. The killers who went with him had also returned in good health.
The Third Young Master continued to drift along aimlessly in life, choosing not to gather machetemen to form his own Society, nor to compete with his siblings. He kept a distance away from his own family while leading a chaotic lifestyle in the Jade City. What was extraordinary was that the 10 killers who had gone along with him on his pilgrimage remained steadfastly loyal to him. They never left him, even when they had a chance to return to their original masters.
Even an experienced killer like Tie Hanfeng, who was much older than Shangguan Yun and had been through many tough situations with the Supreme King, also could not help but fall under the influence of his new master. He became more worldly, as his image as a killer slowly faded away.
Shangguan Ru first met her Third Brother six years ago, when she was eight. It was the day he was to be confined in the underground dungeon. She had never known the reason why he was imprisoned, and at that time she was not really concerned - she felt that Third Brother must have done something wrong and earned the displeasure of their father.
She had visited him along with Master Yu a few times, out of curiosity. She was quickly enchanted by her elder brother's easy-going attitude, but was soon forbidden by Lady Meng to visit him again when she learned that the siblings were getting along a little too well - she had wanted her daughter to get to know about Shangguan Yun and treat him as a negative role model.
Shangguan Ru sighed while she realized that the last time she had paid her Third Elder Brother a visit was two years ago. She was already weary of the world in less than a year into her training and only at the young age of 14. Lately, she had been thinking about Shangguan Yun, and she would have found a way to see him again, even without her mother's approval.
Gu Shenwei had hoped that the two siblings would discuss more about the Wayless Book, but after a few words, their conversation strayed away from the topic and became aimless chatter.
"Both Eldest Brother and Fourth Brother are dead," Shangguan Ru said.
"So it has begun? Who killed them?" asked Shangguan Yun, the smile on his face fading a little but not completely disappearing.
"Eldest brother died in the hands of Shangguan Fei, while I allowed him to kill Fourth Brother," she said while directing her brother's attention to Gu Shenwei.
For the first time, Shangguan Yun looked taken aback and he looked at Gu Shenwei, while firing off a series of questions. "Tsk, tsk, what is your name? How old are you? Who taught you kung fu? You must be highly regarded by the Stone Castle, right?"
Shuangguan Yun had suffered the side effects of not having conversed with anyone for too long, leading to him speak impatiently. Because he was imprisoned deep underground, he did not know anything about what went on above in the Stone Castle.
"I'm known as Yang Huan, 17 years of age, my Master Shifu is Tie Hanfeng, and the Tenth Young Master thinks highly of me," said Gu Shenwei without missing a beat. He felt the need to follow up with another statement. "Tie Hanfeng was also killed by me," he added.
"A model killer."
Shangguan Yun's tone did not change in the slightest bit while giving his judgement, but Gu Shenwei felt that it was laced with sarcasm. He did not speak again. He did not envy these two unconventional siblings - one of them ended up living the rest of his life aimlessly in an underground dungeon while the other ended up being used by everyone around her and was hanging on to her life by a thread.
"He saved my life many times," emphasized Shangguan Ru, but it did not change her brother's image of the killer.
Shangguan Yun said while looking at his sister, "Have you also started to fight for the fake title of the Lord as well?" There seemed to be a slight tinge of pity and regret in his expression.
The title of Supreme King was not one of a true Lord, and was not recognized by every country. However no one spoke about or even dared to imply this fact in the Stone Castle.
"I don't know," Shangguan Ru shook her head while saying. "I want to compete for it, but... I can't bring myself to take action."
"Haven't you already killed Fourth Brother?"
"There were some things that I could bring myself to do in the past but not now. I can't even kill a dog or a cat now. Third Elder Brother, do you have a way to cure me of this sickness?" asked Shangguan Ru.
Shangguan Yun began laughing again, this time sounding even happier than before. He said, "Sister Ru, you do not have any illness, it's the complete opposite, you have cured yourself of your sickness. To be killing is the true sickness, and only you and I are truly normal in our family."
Gu Shenwei lightly gave a disapproving 'Hrumph'. As Shangguan Yun did not display any form of authority and was confined in the underground dungeon, he was not in awe of the Third Young Master.
"Despise me as you wish, you promising killer. However, I do have to say that you are already incurable."
A true killer should never be ruffled, and should not even have the thought of retorting, never mind entering a debate. However Gu Shenwei was converted into one midway through his life, and still could not control the occasional impulse to give killers a better reputation. He asked the Third Young Master, "Let's say if someone you loved was murdered, would you witness it then not seek revenge? How about if you had taken a blow from a machete, would you let the attacker kill you and not strike back?"
"That's different, being forced to kill and to kill for a living are not the same things."
"There is always specialization in every industry. Someone who occasionally uses the forge will not be in the same league as a blacksmith, while a bunch of hooligans cannot be compared with the same number of soldiers. If you do not practice, when it comes to time where you are 'forced to kill', how could you defeat someone who 'kills for a living'?"
For the first time, Shangguan Yun gave the killer serious consideration. He said to the youth, "It seems I was wrong to call you a model killer just now. As a killer, you do seem a little too talkative."
"Third Elder Brother, you should answer his question and not evade it," said Shangguan Ru with a gleam in her eyes. She had still not made up her mind, and felt that there was truth to Slave Huan's words.
"I'm a normal person and cannot imagine myself in such an extreme situation. If you do not like the water, why do you have to you pick up swimming for fear of drowning?"
Gu Shenwei now truly despised this Third Young Master. He blurted out, "Somebody by the name of Wu Shengqing says he does not have long to live. He wishes to ask you, is Parro still alive?" He would not have acted so rashly, even in the company of people he trusted the most. However, Shangguan Yun had a strange quality which made those around him unconsciously lower their guard.
Shangguan Yun's expression changed drastically. He retreated a few steps and leaned against the stone wall, seemingly being unable to stand by himself.
Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru had met Madman Wu when they were in danger at the Gui Garden. Wu had said a few baffling words to them at that time. Now, Gu Shenwei deduced that Wu Shengqing and Shangguan Yun must have been connected inextricably.
Shangguan Ru stood up and blinked once towards Slave Huan, signalling for him to stop speaking. She then went up to the side of her brother and asked, "Who is Parro? Madman Wu... Wu Shengqing saved my life once, who is he as well?"
Shangguan Yun turned around and continued stepping backwards until he could see the lonely crescent moon hanging in the night sky, muttering the word "Parro" again and again. After a while, he spoke, "Wu Shengqing mastered the Unstoppable Wind together with me, and Parro was the woman that we both fell for."
Parro's surname was Chen, and her father was a big protector of the satin trade. She had chanced upon Shangguan Yun and Wu Shengqing while admiring the flowers in the Gui Garden during the spring season. From then on, their lives were intertwined together.
Both men tried all means to woo her. They respectively sent her flowers in the night, stood outside her window and serenaded her with the flute, pretended to have met her by chance on the street or begged her maid to pass her a personal message. When Parro had decided to be with one of them, the other swore that he would remain single for the rest of his life, and willingly became her guardian.
"Who did she choose? It was you, wasn't it?" asked Shangguan Ru anxiously.
"How I wished that the person she chose was not me," said Shangguan Yun softly. The smile was gone from his face. When he squinted his eyes slightly, he became a splitting image of his father, Shangguan Fa. Gu Shenwei felt fearful, and regretted his earlier verbosity.
"And then?" Shangguan Ru's voice slightly trembled as she asked. She had the feeling that her brother's reply would break her heart.
"I brought her back to the Castle, where she was raped by that old animal. I wanted to kill him, and ended up being imprisoned here."
The blurry images in her memory of that fateful day became clearer now to an ashen-faced Shangguan Ru. She had even begun to remember what Parro looked like, but she had not known about her relationship to her Third Elder Brother, nor about the role her father had played in the incident.
Gu Shenwei had wanted to mention to the Third Young Master that this was the sorrow one would feel, to be incapable of killing. He decided not to speak, and just like a true killer who would not draw attention to himself, he retreated into the shadows, leaving the two siblings to their conversation.
"Maybe you're right, maybe I have yet to completely separate myself from the Stone Castle. However, both being unable to take revenge and killing people are just different forms of suffering. When fate comes calling, whatever you decide to do will be wrong anyway," Shangguan Yun turned his gaze to the killer, his expression gradually becoming warmer.
Gu Shenwei remained silent. He felt his heart becoming more resolute - he had only known the insufferable pain of being unable to take revenge, and had never felt the pain of killing another before.
"Did Wu Shengqing turn insane because of this incident?" Shangguan Ru did not want to question her brother any further, but felt she needed to know how it ended.
"Partly because of it. He was only in rage and not of clear mind then, but not insane. It was Immortal Peng - he controlled Wu's feelings, and thought it would be a good opportunity to force Wu to complete his training in the Unstoppable Wind technique, but it ended up driving him crazy."
Gu Shenwei would have guessed that Immortal Peng definitely tried to play his 'Having Feelings' and 'No Feelings' trick again.
"Immortal Peng is already dead, it was also... him that killed Peng," said Shangguan Ru, bringing her brother's attention to the killer once more.
Shangguan Yun was stunned. Then he began to laugh loudly and said, "It's good that he's dead, he had it coming." When he thought about it a little more, his mind was filled with questions, so he asked Gu Shenwei, "I would never have thought that your kung fu is so good, that it was good enough to kill Immortal Peng with your own hands. But why did the Supreme King not have you killed? That is very strange."
"Did our father know Immortal Peng? How come I have never heard about this before?" a curious Shangguan Ru asked.
"They were more than mere acquaintances - they had studied the 'Secrets of Love' together before. The dwarf had given him many things, and in return the Supreme King did not interfere in the matters of Hope Alley, leaving it to run its own course under the hands of that bunch of weird people."
Gu Shenwei finally understood that Shangguan Fa had wanted to kill him because of Immortal Peng, and not to take revenge for both of his sons. However, this was not an important issue to him - his real motive was the Wayless Book. "Is Parro still alive?" he asked, emerging from the shadows.
"She's still alive," said the siblings in unison.
"We should let her leave the Stone Castle as Wu Shengqing would very much like to meet her."
This statement struck a chord with Shangguan Ru, and she looked joyfully at Slave Huan.
"Do you have the ability to make it happen?" After he said it, Shangguan Yun immediately changed tack and continued, "You should have, since you have killed so many people."
"It shall be known whether I have the ability or not once I am put to the test. However, you have to pass on the Wayless Qigong technique to the Tenth Young Master."
Gu Shenwei surmised that it would be easier to get the Wayless Book from Shangguan Yun than trying to force it from the temple guard. It would be his new plan.