Chapter 251: Third Year
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Blademaster Shen Liang opened a corner of the drapes so that he could take a peep outside. He hoped with all his heart that three years of running about was henceforth over. In less than half a month, he would be able to return to Stone Castle where he could possibly regain the Lord's favor and trust.
Whenever he thought of the two young killers who escaped in front of his eyes, he would fly into a rage, of which some was directed at the escapees and himself, while a small portion was directed at the Lord. He had acted before Lady Meng did and surrounded the defecting killers with his men, yet the result was a total catastrophe.
Who would have thought that Slave Huan would fly away on a giant roc? This was totally beyond the scope of human control.
Perhaps he should have predicted that Maid Lotus would escape by jumping off the cliff. The area around the Ghost Cliff had been the Barren Sect disciples' secret route to reach the top of the mountain. Although the iron nails fixed into the cliff walls had long been removed, the holes remained. However, he never imagined that the young female killer's Lightness Skill would be good enough for her to slide down a rope and later to dig her fingers in the holes as she scaled down the mountain. By the time he realized what was going on, it was already too late.
The only remedial measures which Stone Castle could employ after the fact was to plug the nail holes and to set up an Arrow Tower on the Ghost Cliff.
In order to make up partially for his mistakes, Shen Liang had fastened a fine rope around his waist and personally went down the cliff wall to check that most of the nail holes had been filled with dirt. Although some could still be forcibly dug into, even a person with amazing Lightness Skill would be terrified by the risks. As long as the person took one uneven breath, he or she would fall and be smashed into pieces.
Therefore, between the two escapees, Shen Liang admired Maid Lotus more.
The female killer was not only decisive but also brave without being reckless. She had shrewdly decided not to Slave Huan, and descended the cliff alone at the last possible moment. Evidently, she felt that he was a burden who could very likely have caused both of them to die.
What Shen Liang could not understand was why she wanted to defect. A killer as outstanding as her would never be moved by love.
Furthermore, there had been no trace of her since her disappearance, unlike Slave Huan who went around killing people and even allowed his giant roc to leave a distinctive mark - that of the eyeless corpses - everywhere.
Shen Liang viewed Slave Huan's actions as an open challenge toward him and Golden Roc Fort. He had sent people to where the eyeless corpses were and had covered practically every country in the Western Region, yet after dispatching teams upon teams of killers, the youth would somehow manage to slip away every single time.
Shen Liang had a feeling that Maid Lotus was hiding beside Slave Huan, and that as long as the latter fell into the trap today, he would be able to dispose of both defected killers.
It was currently the early hours of the morning. The camp was extremely quiet, such that the footsteps and the swaying of the weapons of the patrolling soldiers were clearly audible. Everything was proceeding normally. What even the soldiers did not know was that in this tent were hidden the best killers of Golden Roc Fort.
Shen Liang lowered the drapes and turned his head back to look at the three distressed people.
One of them was an old man with a dark face, thick arms, and a slightly hunched back. He was one of the most famous blacksmiths in Shu-lik, and was especially skilled at making swords. The other two people were his young disciples. They were bashful and uneasy to the extent that they did not even dare to raise their heads and take a glimpse of the killer standing in the doorway.
In a letter, Slave Huan had brazenly demanded Shu-lik's military camp to hand the blacksmith over to him. Shen Liang had thought, at one point, that this was a trap, until he personally read the letter that was worded brusquely and arrogantly:
Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks hereby orders every one of you to retreat three hundred miles within five days while leaving behind Daga the blacksmith.
Although there was no signature or Slave Huan's name on the letter, Shen Liang knew it was written by him. News of the unrest on the Great Snowmountain had long reached Golden Roc Fort.
Seven or eight months ago, the killer had fled into the Great Snowmountain and killed dozens of Danduo Peak's swordsmen with the assistance of a giant roc. He thereupon forced the chief, Long Xiaoshi, to make peace with the old enemy Luoshen Peak. Subsequently, a series of battles involving Greatsword Peak, Smallsword Peak, and Canopy Peak broke out. The intensity of these battles exceeded the results attained by Golden Roc Fort's many years of sowing discord.
The undercover Golden Roc killers either fled the Great Snowmountain or were killed. However, news of the conflicts continued ceaselessly and showed no sign of end. Shen Liang had made the prudent decision to remain as a bystander, but that was only until this "Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks" suddenly popped up.
Shen Liang could not help but let out a disdainful snort. "The defected killer and son of a servant dares to call himself a chief and leader. Slave Huan must have gone mad."
Upon hearing the snort, the two blacksmith disciples startled up as if they had accidentally stepped on burning charcoal. They covertly gazed at their master for a moment before lowering their heads back down, afraid that an inappropriate expression in their eyes would invite death upon themselves or their master.
Twenty killers were hiding within the same small tent. Nonetheless, the blacksmith and his disciples did not see even the slightest trace of them.
The only killer who did not hide was Blademaster Shen Liang himself. He was certain that Slave Huan and Maid Lotus would arrive to perform a sneak raid. Both of them were killers trained by Golden Roc Fort after all. Even though they had defected, their behavioral patterns could not have deviated from that of killers.
Everything would end today.
Four days after the threat from the Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks, when the sun had just risen and the dewdrops had yet to evaporate, the guards spotted in the distance a knight slowly riding his way out of the pass of the Great Snowmountain. The strange thing was that their forward scouts and sentries did not provide a single notification.
As the news rapidly traveled up, more and more people gathered in front of the camp to get a view of the knight and his black horse.
"Is he the 'Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks'?" the general asked in astonishment. He felt that the Golden Roc killers had made a mountain out of a molehill and had wasted their efforts setting up an ambush. The person whom they wanted to kill was coming directly toward them alone.
"Could it be that everyone in the Great Snowmountain has died, leaving him to proclaim himself as king?" Laughter broke out when someone made this conjecture.
"But where are the scouts?" Someone else raised this cautious suspicion, but his voice was drowned out by the uproar around him.
A bodyguard soldier beside the general drew his bow and shot an arrow at the knight. The arrow scraped the knight's arm and landed on the ground, causing the knight to rein in his horse.
The laughter in the camp grew even louder. Most of it was to ridicule the soldier's archery technique.
Shen Liang was a little skeptical of the news, but when the noise outside became ever more clamorous, he felt obliged to come out and investigate. The killers remained lying in wait in their original positions, in case the enemy was just feinting to divert attention.
"Is that the person you seek?" the general asked.
Shen Liang nodded his head with a gloomy look on his face. "Yes."
It was indeed Slave Huan. Shen Liang was able to recognize him even though he was still a far distance away. The once-childish face had matured a little, but it had not acquired too many scars over three years of running about and away. The only thing was that his complexion was paler than Shen Liang remembered, as if he had been constantly hiding underground.
"Prepare the arrows," the general ordered. For several days past, he had been infected by the anxiety of the Golden Roc killers, and did not expect that the "Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks" would be a lunatic like this.
"Wait a moment." Shen Liang remained doubtful, for he saw only Slave Huan but not Maid Lotus. Although the former had killed many people, he did so with the assistance of the giant red-crowned roc. In Shen Liang's eyes, Maid Lotus' swordcraft was more impressive.
The general was a little displeased. This was Shu-lik's military camp, in which the Golden Roc killers were merely guests, yet his orders were interfered with. Nevertheless, he swallowed his dissatisfaction. With twenty killers hiding within the camp, he had no choice but to act carefully.
Shen Liang summoned ten of the killers. There was no longer a need to keep them secret at this stage. They walked out of the camp and spread themselves out as they charged toward the knight. They had separate duties. Three of them would be responsible for killing the man while seven of them would monitor the skies. The giant bird was the target which they were taking more precaution against.
The killers each carried a saber in one hand and a quick crossbow in the other. The bolts were smeared with enough Antiaris poison to kill an elephant.
The Shu-lik soldiers could not resist slyly curling their lips. They were not in Jade City, and over here, the practice of outnumbering the enemy was ill-accepted and even somewhat looked down upon.
Without dismounting his horse, the knight slowly raised up a saber which was exclusive to Golden Roc Fort, and blew upon the horn which hung on his chest.
The officers and soldiers of Shu-lik were astounded. They had never heard such a high-pitched call before.
The ten killers nervously halted their footsteps and raised their heads to search the skies for a giant roc which looked like a dark cloud.
Before the bugle call ended, more knights surged out of the mountain pass. Heavy swords rested on their shoulders as they silently spurred their horses on. Only the convergent rumbling of the horses' hooves upon the ground accompanied the sound of the bugle.
The general and his soldiers abruptly changed countenance. "Just how many knights does the Great Snowmountain have? A thousand or two? Or even more?" They had never seen so many swordsmen appearing at the same time. These uncouth mountain people engaged in endless fights from the time they were born. To be able to gather a few hundreds of them as a team was in itself a remarkable achievement.
There were, in total, less than a thousand soldiers in the military camp. They were usually more than enough to intercept individual or small groups of swordsmen. However, compared to a large cavalry army which came rolling down from the snow mountain, they were effectively like an egg against a stone.
The horses picked up speed and the heavy swords began to move away from the swordsmen's shoulders. A murderous atmosphere pervaded throughout heaven and earth, such that the smell of death filled up everyone's noses.
The ten killers standing in front were like a few lonely treelings situated in the wilderness while facing them was a furious thunderstorm which would uproot every one of them.
Unable to decide whether to continue carrying out their orders or to run for their lives, the killers quickly lost the chance to choose.
The swordsmen did not even need to use their swords. The horses stomped the ten killers into pieces as they sped past.
"Arrows! Arrows!" The general bellowed as a premonition of his destruction arose in his heart.
The soldiers frantically moved into formation and drew their bows.
A dark cloud drifted past over their heads.
"Demon Bird!"
The moment this terrifying name was mentioned, a soldier was already lifted into the sky, and just as quickly, he was heard screaming in agony as he fell out of the air. His voice was so chilling that half of the soldiers immediately discarded their weapons and prepared to flee.
Shen Liang did not dare to believe what he was seeing. The person was well and truly Slave Huan. How could he have become the "Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks" for real?
The blademaster staggered his way towards the tent, pushing aside any soldier who blocked his way. Even if the current operation was a failure, the blacksmith had to be killed so that Slave Huan would not obtain him.
As the camp was in chaos and everyone was scrambling to get on the horses, the general ordered his bodyguards to create a way out for him by killing their fellow soldiers.
Nobody paid attention to what was going on in the tent. When Shen Liang dashed into it, he saw that there were two new people protecting the blacksmith and his disciples.
One was a gentle yet cold youth who was holding a long sword, while the other was a green-eyed girl who wielded a saber.
The remaining ten killers were nowhere to be found.
Shen Liang hastily exited the tent. He had already lost the will to fight, and wanted to run away together with everyone else.
The swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain charged into the camp like a flood submerging every living thing on the road. Meanwhile, the giant red-crowned roc was busy flying up and down like a child happily playing his favorite game.
Amidst the crowd, Shen Liang saw Slave Huan dismount his horse, before sheathing his saber and pulling his sword out. The onrushing knights automatically gave way to the "Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks", so that the two men who possessed sabers could have an isolated space for a life-and-death duel.
Shen Liang pulled his saber out. As the blademaster of Heart Cleansing Yard, he was certainly a very well-known figure.
Within the tent, while his two disciples were trembling with fear, Daga the blacksmith remained calm as he spoke. "I'll need fifty kilograms of Wushan refined iron if I am to forge the world's sharpest sword for your master."