Monk Fayan was the type of person who somehow always appeared superior to you. If you were a beggar, you would feel inferior to him. If you were a king, you would still look up to him with veneration. He was always a notch better than you, no matter who you were or what you did.
In the meantime, he naturally maintained an approachable attitude without being condescending.
Gu Shenwei felt somewhat nervous in front of this monk.
He never dreaded fierce-looking opponents, such as Lianqing, as he believed that he could always take them on. Nevertheless, when confronted with Fanyan, he felt helpless as if he were an exhausted leopard chasing a prey who always managed to stay one step away.
The moment Gu Shenwei stepped into Fayan’s tent, the skinny monk smiled knowingly at him, seemingly having predicted the young man’s arrival a long time ago. Gu Shenwei disliked the monk’s attitude very much, as the monk behaved as if he already had everything under his control.
Lianqing was standing beside Fayan, breathing heavily as growls emanated from his throat. He looked like a fierce guard dog which was ready to open its mouth and tear the intruder into pieces at any minute on behalf of his master.
“Lianqing, relax. The Dragon King bears no ill will,” said Fayan. Surprisingly, the skinny monk had a very soft and gentle voice.
Upon hearing his Master Shifu’s remarks, Lianqing put his palms together, bowed to Fayan and drew aside to join the meditating monks. There were 6 monks inside this tent. Fayan sat in the middle, with two monks sitting on his left and three on his right. Lianqing was now sitting on the second meditation cushion on the right.
For a moment, Gu Shenwei really wished to tell the monks bluntly that he was indeed bearing some ill will, but he quickly banished the thought away since he did not want to act in such a juvenile manner. He nodded slightly to Fayan and said, “I’ve come to meet you, Master Fayan. I want to make a deal with you.”
In Gu Shenwei’s eyes, everything could be discussed. He needed to win the monks over as temporary allies, so he came here to visit Fayan right after Shangguan Hong’s departure.
“Ah, it’s a good deal, but we can’t agree to it.” Fayan firmly refused the Dragon King before hearing the young man’s proposal and acted as if he had seen through the Dragon King’s mind.
Gu Shenwei had intended to work together with the monks to fight the bandits, since some of these bandits planned to kill him, and the others wanted to snatch something from the monks.
“Master Fayan, do you think that I’ll be defeated?” asked Gu Shenwei.
“No, I believe you can defeat all your enemies, Dragon King. However, you’ve a particularly strong killing intent. I dare not get too close to you,” said Fayan.
Gu Shenwei glanced at the monks who were meditating beside Fayan and mocking them, “I’m pretty sure that they’ll display strong killing intents too once they get pissed off.”
“They’re different from you, Dragon King. Your killing intent keeps growing stronger while theirs has already showed signs of abating.”
Gu Shenwei was well aware that Fayan was just packaging his refusal in a friendly manner and said, “Well, masters, I have to excuse myself. Have a good rest.”
With these words, Gu Shenwei stepped backward toward the entrance of the tent. Fayan smiled and fixed his eyes on the young man, as if he had already known what the Dragon King was going to do next.
Gu Shenwei did not believe that this monk was really able to read his mind.
He promptly drew out his Five Peaks Saber and stabbed at Lianqing, who was sitting in a meditation position beside Fayan with his eyes closed.
This strike was enough to kill a first-rate kung fu master in jianghu, but it was stopped by someone using only a few fingers.
Fayan moved even faster than the Dragon King and used three fingers to stop his saber. “Dragon King’s saber is impressively quick, Dragon King,” said Fayan.
“You indeed have incredible Internal Strength, Monk,” said Gu Shenwei. He did not feel much energy coming through the monks’ fingers, but no matter how hard he tried, his saber still could not pierce through the defence of the monk.
“Impressive,” Gu Shenwei praised Fayan’s kung fu, before suddenly drawing back his saber and stepping to the right to strike at Lianqing again.
Lianqing remained in deep meditation with his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. However, his eyebrows began to knit together at this moment.
Fayan quickly moved to stop the Dragon King and used the same move to block the young man’s saber once again. Just as he was about to speak, he realized that he had been set up.
He suddenly heard a sharp weapon ripping the tent wall behind him and then saw a dark shadow darting toward him. Before the other monks realized what was going on, the shadow retreated as fast as the wind, leaving only an open gash in the tent.
Fayan released the saber and retreated to his meditation cushion. As he took a seat on the cushion, he said, “Congratulations to you, Dragon King. Your assistant has superb kung fu.”
The five monks sitting beside Fayan could no longer focus their minds on meditation. They opened their eyes and discovered that the part of garment covering Fayan’s ribs had already turned red with blood.
Upon seeing this, Lianqing roared with anger. When he was about to spring at the Dragon King, Fayan stopped him by saying, “No, Lianqing. I’ve told you that the Dragon King bears no ill will.”
“But, Master Shifu…” Lianqing did not want to let the Dragon King off so easily.
“The Dragon King has already recognized you. It’s a good thing for you. Now you don’t need to conceal your identity anymore,” said Fayan.
Suddenly, Lianqing’s face changed. “Master Shifu, I…” he stuttered.
Gu Shenwei stood at the entrance of the tent with unsheathed Five Peaks Saber in hand and said, “You’ve sacrificed a lot for your revenge plan during the past two years. You even shaved your head and became a monk for it.”
Ever since hearing the name “Zhuang Qiang”, Gu Shenwei could sense that someone’s face kept coming up in his mind. After spending a whole day recollecting his memories, he finally realized that it was that of Lianqing.
According to Shangguan Hong, the monks from Four Truths Temple planned to kill him during this journey to avenge the death of Lianhua and Lianye, but he could not understand why the monks hated him so much, since those two monks’ death was not directly caused by him. However, as a person who had also suffered from the pain of losing his close relatives, he could recognize the intense hatred in Lianqing’s eyes when he first met the monk.
Gu Shenwei believed that Shangguan Fei must have been planning to use Lianqing to kill him in this desert and he had better strike first. That was why he had asked Maid Lotus to work together with him to kill Fayan, the monk’s protector.
Beyond his expectations, Maid Lotus failed to kill Fayan with one blow. She withdrew immediately after wounding the elderly monk. This was a habit she had developed during her killer career. Gu Shenwei knew that now she was probably hiding somewhere nearby, preparing to launch another attack.
“Very impressive, Dragon King,” Lianqing said coldly. “You’ve seen through my disguise. I was indeed known as Zhuang Qiang before becoming a monk.”
By now, the other monks had already finished dressing Fayan’s wound. A dull red flush suffused the skinny monk’s face when he asked, “Lianqing, now the murderer of your brother is standing right in front of you. What’re you going to do?”
Lianqing turned around to bow to his Master Shifu and his seniors and then said, “I’m deeply grateful to you for teaching me so much during the past two years, Master Shifu, but I still can’t let go of my hate. I’m really sorry to let you down.”
Fayan still looked as calm as before, as if he did not feel disappointed at all. The flush on his face began to fade away, which meant that his wound was alright now. “You’re no match for the Dragon King,” said Fayan.
“I don’t care. He killed my brother, so I have to kill him!” Lianqing glared at the Dragon King and shouted. In this moment, he completely forgot about his Master Shifu’s teachings. He was not Monk Lianqing but Bandit Zhuang Qiang now.
Gu Shenwei could have launched a surprise attack on Lianqing and killed him when he was speaking, but he did not strike and instead walked out of the tent, waiting in the open for the monk.
Lianqing tore up his shirt, revealing his muscular upper body and a tattoo of a dragon engaged in fierce combat with a tiger covering his chest. He then drew a long knife out of his backpack, which was used by the monks to make clothes, and strode out of the tent, determined to fight the Dragon King till death.
Upon hearing the noise, all the monks in the neighboring tent came out. They were shocked at the scene before their eyes, but they could not interfere in this situation as their Master Shifu Fayan did not give them any order. In the end, they just pushed up the flap covering the entrance of the tent to let their Master Shifu watch the fight happening outside.
A dozen “businessmen” also came to watch the fight. They maintained quite some distance from Lianqing and the Dragon King and each of them reached into his own robe to grab his weapon, preparing to join the fight at any minute.
“Did my brother offend you before?” Lianqing asked harshly. After having suppressed his anger for more than two years, he wanted to ask the Dragon King all the questions he had about his brother’s death.
“No, I’d never met him before I killed him,” Gu Shenwei shook his head and replied.
“Did he block your path?”
“No, it was me who came at him, and not the other way around.”
“Then why did you kill him?” Lianqing raised his voice. Their conversation attracted more and more on-lookers. Upon seeing this, those “businessmen” removed their hands from their robes.
“Because he had great kung fu. I needed to kill such a kung fu master to improve my swordcraft.” Gu Shenwei continued to speak in a calm and neutral tone, as if everything he said was a grain of common sense.
“Haha.” Lianqing flared with anger and then said with a laugh, “To improve your swordcraft? What a reasonable explanation. Today, I’ll kill you to improve my machete skills.”
Usually, Gu Shenwei never talked so much with his opponent, but when he glanced across at Fayan, who seemed to be reciting some Buddhist incantation inside the tent, he decided to continue this conversation.
“Did you and your brother always kill people for very valid reasons?”
“Of course,” shouted Lianqing, but almost immediately he realized how hypocritical he sounded, so he added, “My brother and I were bandits. If we didn’t kill anyone, how could we get our loot?”
“I’m a killer. If I don’t kill anyone, how can I improve my skills?” said Gu Shenwei.
Lianqing was struck speechless. “Now, you’re a monk. If you can’t let go of your own hate, why bother to pray to Buddha everyday?” asked Fayan, who still remained inside the tent.
“I…” Lianqing had no reply. Two years ago, he had chosen to become a monk in Four Truths Temple because he planned to seek for opportunities to kill the Dragon King under the cover of this prestigious temple. He had never expected that he would have been so deeply influenced by the Buddhist doctrines. Now he sincerely hoped to become a Buddhist, but he still could not give up the thought of avenging his brother’s death.
Suddenly, some on-looker sneered coldly, “What’re you waiting for? It’s your divine right to avenge your brother’s death. If you don’t do so, you’ll be despised by the others.”
Upon hearing that, Lianqing felt no more hesitation. He lifted up his long knife and charged toward the Dragon King.
Lianqing took three big steps forward while the Dragon King took three small steps backward. In the blink of an eye, the monk was only about two meters away from the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei carefully calculated the distance between them. When he took the third step, he just touched the ground with the toes of his back foot, and then he leapt forward and raised his saber to strike at Lianqing. When the Dragon King launched his attack, the monk had not yet firmly pressed his front foot on the ground, so his stance was not very steady.
Gu Shenwei brushed past Lianqing and then continued to run several steps under the influence of inertia. The moment he stopped and turned around, a drop of blood slid down his Five Peaks Saber.
Lianqing had practiced for days to prepare himself for this duel against the Dragon King. He had never expected that he would have lost the fight because of one false move. It made him change from the offensive to a defensive during the very last minute of the fight. Although he managed to protect most of the vulnerable parts of his body by doing so, he still failed to dodge the Dragon King’s saber. He got stabbed in his ribs just like Fayan.
“Your kung fu is not so good as your brother’s,” Gu Shenwei said matter-of-factly. He failed to kill Lianqing with one blow since this time he had used a saber instead of a sword. Compared to the saber techniques he was using now, the sword skill that he had used to kill Lianqing’s brother, Zhuang Heng, was much more powerful.
“Killing is so meaningless,” said Lianqing, as the warm energy inside his body as well as his hatred toward the Dragon King were gradually dripping away. Now he knew how death felt like and realized how absurd his urge for revenge was. He slowly sat down on the ground in a meditation position and continued repeating those four words “Killing is so meaningless”.
Gu Shenwei sheathed his saber and nodded to Fayan. It turned out that their failure to strike a deal did not prevent them from achieving their respective goals.
After that, he walked toward the tents of the Great Snowmountain. All the on-lookers in his way simultaneously stepped aside to let him pass.
He spotted a familiar pair of eyes in the crowd, but these big and black eyes were on a shallow male face.
He and the “man” looked at each other for a moment, but neither of them said a word.
Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief when he returned to his tent. Many people in this camp had come here to assist Lianqing, but they had never anticipated that the Dragon King would have struck first to spoil their original plan. They could have worked together to kill him when the duel ended, but none of them had the courage to do so and thus missed this chance. They did not know that the Dragon King’s guard was not around.
Maid Lotus should have returned to her job after injuring Fayan, but Gu Shenwei had not sensed her presence all this while.
Now he found out that she was sitting on the carpet inside the tent and her face was as pale as his. Apparently, she was severely wounded.