Chapter 321: Giant Crossbow
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Something had occurred in South City recently, but because it was neither a huge matter nor was it a small issue, not a lot of people seemed to care. However, it was a topic for discussion among those who drank.
The manager of the Southwall Tavern of many years, Lyu Qiying, more commonly known as Shopkeeper Lyu, had officially announced that he would sell off the tavern as he was heading to Shu-lik for retirement.
Shopkeeper Lyu, who was in his fifties, was not considered that old. He was in the prime of his life as his business was booming with enormous profits each day. Hence, it was indeed unexpected that he chose to retire at this time.
It went without saying that the drinkers were more concerned about their fine wine -- they were worried that there would be a change in the taste of the wines when Shopkeeper Lyu retired. It was only until the new manager publicly announced that everything in the tavern, from the supply channels to the preservation methods and prices, would remain the same, did the drinkers relax. After the drinkers bid farewell and well wishes to Shopkeeper Lyu, no one was interested in this matter anymore.
The way Lyu Qiying had departed so hastily also caused some speculations among people. It was as though he was fleeing something as he had left without even bidding farewell to all his relatives or friends. "I saw he visited Dragon King secretly the other day. Perhaps things didn't work out and he was afraid, that's why he left in such a hurry?"
Being relieved of his managerial position in the tavern made Lyu Qiying a little worried. But his fear was directed to the enemies of Dragon King, not Dragon King. As of right now, he was feeling more excited than afraid.
He was about to embark on a newer and bigger career.
Dragon King had plans to build up a business network in the Western Region, with Xiao Fengchai in charge of Jade City and Lyu Qiying responsible for establishing several strongholds in various other countries. The first stop was Shu-lik, the largest country in the Western Region.
He needed only to establish a solid foothold here and his career would already be semi-successful.
Lyu Qiying picked 37 out of over 100 machetemen who worked for him. They would protect him and his years of savings, traveling together to a land with broad prospects. These men were those who had followed him for a long time and were trustworthy and loyal.
It was a huge gamble but Lyu Qiying was as excited as a young man seeing the world for the first time, sitting in the carriage with a smile on his face even though he was already in his fifties. He only regained his composure when he looked at the missing finger on his hand.
It had been cut off by Dragon King several years ago, when Dragon King was still Slave Huan.
The hope of his success and the risk of his failure were closely linked to this cool-faced young man, but Lyu Qiying was not quite sure how to deal with this merciless Devil Emperor.
Dragon King was also present, hiding among the 37 guards.
Dragon King's absence was kept strictly confidential within Jade City. The Residence of Dragon King was not peaceful these days. Bold machetemen spied from afar and had even come closer to start provocations at timeswage small attacks, shouting and cursing in the dark and sending out hidden weapons. All this made people believe that the Dragon King was still in his residence, ready for any provocation.
Even the guards of the Residence of Dragon King thought that their master was in the backyard since Jiang served tea and water on time every day, and Xu Xiaoyi came to report as well. Things went on as usual, and the Dragon King still remained as mysterious as no one saw him.
With their cleverly machined plans, Gu Shenwei, together with Maid Lotus and 11 disciples from the New Moon Hall, left Jade City hiding in Lyu Qiying's team.
Except for Maid Lotus, the disciples of the New Moon Hall were all scattered around Jade City and seldom appeared. Only Maid Lotus was able to find them any time.
After the first night of camping, three guards went missing from Lyu Qiying's team, but almost no one noticed it, and neither did Lyu Qiying. The journey continued the next morning, with 10 female killers in the team, making Lyu Qiying feel at ease.
Gu Shenwei, Maid Lotus, and Guan Shang hid in the mountain nearby as they waited for First Young Master Meng, who would arrive one day later.
Among these three people, the former black-masked assassin Guan Shang from the Golden Roc Fort was the main assassin.
Normally, Golden Roc killers preferred to use their swords when killing in close proximity, before cutting off the heads afterward, just to be on the safe side. However, things were different this time. They had to kill people stealthily and not hurt the guards, but at the same time publicize it. Therefore, Gu Shenwei decided to launch a long-range attack using a crossbow.
Guan Shang was the best at crossbow among the three of them.
They brought with them a huge crossbow, so tall that it was almost the height of a grown man when straightened. It required the combined strength of five ordinary people to even notch the bowstring. The effective range was up to several hundreds of steps away, but the most effective distance was within 200 steps.
As Maid Lotus was in charge of monitoring the route, Guan Shang was practicing how to use the huge crossbow. Gu Shenwei helped her to stretch the bowstring and observed the effects, periodically giving her advice.
They had been doing the same thing all day. It was tiring and tedious but the three of them were killers who had underwent strict training and were, therefore, used to it. Especially Guan Shang, who had gone through the complete set of training for a black-masked assassin. She was definitely more refined in terms of technique and mentality than the other two.
Gu Shenwei secretly pondered what kind of evil medicine was the so-called "Blood Coagulation Pill" that made someone like Guan Shang switch allegiance. Or was this yet another double ploy? But. Maid Lotus seemed to trust Guan Shang.
Although she rarely revealed her true thoughts, Gu Shenwei knew that Maid Lotus was just as suspicious as he was.
First Young Master Meng's entourage finally arrived that evening.
The outskirts of Jade City were barren and desolate, and there were few places suitable for camping. It was not surprising that First Young Master Meng set up camp in the same area as Lyu Qiying.
The best time to assassinate was naturally before dark, when the line of sight was more ideal, the camp slightly more disorganized and the guard perimeters not completely set up.
Gu Shenwei and Guan Shang draped snow-white capes over themselves as they hid on the mountain while Maid Lotus lurked on the side of the road to surveil closely. All three of them observed First Young Master Meng. There were several excellent opportunities to assassinate but they did not strike.
Golden Roc Fort had sent 30 killers and 100 machetemen to protect First Young Master Meng, it was quite a powerful force and Gu Shenwei knew he would not be able to break through this line of defense even if he led all his people to attack.
Besides, they were also a very experienced force.
Before they set up the camp, five killers and 10 machetemen had already arrived earlier to search the camp and the nearby hillside. Anything out of the ordinary was not spared.
The area where Guan Shang had practiced the crossbow was just several miles away from the camp, and there were messy footprints and traces of damage that could not be have been caused by ordinary crossbows.
Gu Shenwei soon realized that he had not been not careful enough. He should have chosen a place farther away. Luckily, it was a narrow escape for them as the machetemen did not advance further to the crossbow practicing grounds. They had apparently decided that the search had extended far enough.
Despite this, Gu Shenwei still kept this in mind, marking it down as a mistake.
There was a huge boulder on the hillside about 200 steps away from the camp. That was the place Guan Shang chose for the assassination attempt, it was also the place where the Golden Roc killers inspected most carefully. Two of the killers somehow did not seem very satisfied with this area as they came back to patrol a few more times, before sending a macheteman to stand guard there. It was this macheteman who created the biggest headache.
Gu Shenwei and his team hid well without a trace. But they could not carry out the assassination before dark as it was impossible to get into attack position. The only thing they could do was wait, which was the most fundamental task of killers.
When night fell, the macheteman guarding on the stone of the hillside lit a fire to stay warm. It also acted as a way to communicate with other machetemen at the foot of the mountain.
Soon, the people in the camp were preparing to go into their tents to rest. There was not much time left for the three assassins.
When they had discussed the assassination plan earlier, Gu Shenwei suddenly recalled how Shangguan Ru's shadow had been reflected on the window, and drew up a backup plan based on this: if they had no chance launch an attack before dark, they would wait until First Young Master Meng returned to the tent, and kill First Young Master Meng by aiming at his shadow.
There were a lot of loopholes in this plan. What if the First Young Master Meng decided to rest right after he entered the tent without even lighting a lamp? Not to mention, it was very difficult to judge a person's exact position just according to where the shadow was.
But Gu Shenwei was still wanted to give it a try. He had no more plans except this one. Otherwise, he would conceed to return to Jade City with Maid Lotus and Guan Shang right away, and allow First Young Master Meng to live for another one or two months.
But even if they were to carry out this backup plan now, they still faced another obstacle: the macheteman guarding the giant stone.
The macheteman was from Golden Roc Fort and they could not kill him.
Maid Lotus sneaked back and reported that First Young Master Meng had already lighted a lamp in his tent. They should take action as soon as possible.
After whispering and perfecting the whole plan quickly, they launched into action.
Gu Shenwei suddenly felt excited. It was a long-lost but familiar feeling. He had no choice but to admit that cooperating with Maid Lotus had rejuvenated him. If the people beside him had been Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong, he would have no choice but to give up on the assassination.
Once again, he realized that he had failed in training killers.
Gu Shenwei quietly approached the macheteman on the giant stone. When the macheteman was yawning, it gave Gu Shenwei an opening to appear and spread the poison. He quickly took off his cape and stood still, completing all of these in the blink of an eye. The macheteman fell, and Dragon King took over his guard duty. Even if someone had been monitoring from the camp at the foothill, he would just assume that he had been seeing things for a moment.
New Moon Hall was skilled in concocting poison, making it easy to swiftly knock out a macheteman.
From a distance, Gu Shenwei was no different from a macheteman as he was wearing black clothes under his snow-white cape.
He noticed a vague shadow casting on First Young Master Meng's tent. It was too large to make it out clearly, hence it was difficult to judge the location of the master based on this.
But he decided to give it a go anyway. He could not waste this opportunity.
Guan Shang came up behind him. Holding the huge crossbow, she crouched low and wait for Dragon King's command. Gu Shenwei was also waiting for the signal.
A faint light lit up at the foot of the mountain. No one would have noticed it if they were not looking closely.
"Up."
Just a brief word and Guan Shang immediately stood up. She set up the huge crossbow on Dragon King's extended left arm and aimed at the blurred shadow on the tent.
Gu Shenwei was quietly counting down while Guan Shang was carefully calibrating. They would only have one chance at this. Whether they succeeded or not, they would have to withdraw immediately.
Maid Lotus was at the edge of the camp at this moment and had a clearer picture of the situation. The people in the tent stood up as a group of guards passed by. Maid Lotus blew on a piece of tinder that had been ignited ahead of time, immediately extinguishing it before retreating.
Gu Shenwei counted to 10 for Maid Lotus to get to a safe place.
Guan Shang pulled the trigger and an iron arrow of about five or six feet flew out.
They immediately discarded the huge crossbow and quickly climbed down the mountain.
The guards in the camp were immediately alerted and blew the whistle.
But the arrow was already on its way.
When the iron arrow reached the target and dozens of people in the camp headed for the huge stone, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus were already headed for Jade City that very night. Guan Shang stayed behind to confirm the final outcome.