For a period, he thought that he had reached the peak of his life, but all these years of being a king only seemed to have robbed him of his energy. He was utterly fatigued, both mentally and physically, and seemed to have aged several years at once.
He missed the days in Jade City when he was still the exiled Second Prince from Stone Kingdom.
Sitting on the meditation cushion, as the King listened to the low and gentle chanting of the sutra by the eminent monk, his mind had drifted thousands of miles away. He had been so naive at that time, thinking that he would never be subjected to despise and ridicule by people once he ascended the throne, but oh, how wrong he was.
During the period that he was absent, the Yang family had formed a pervasive web in the Stone Kingdom, so thick that it was practically impenetrable. Lying on the web and waiting for his prey was the giant spider himself, Prime Minister Yang Dou. The King was merely another insect trapped in his layers of the web. Unable to move, his only function was to attract the attention of other prey.
But even so, the disaster was not over. Soon, predators more fearsome than the spider would appear and when that happened, he might not even be able to retain his hollow throne.
He could only watch as the great Ju family line, one of the royal families of the Western Region, come to an end in his hands.
However, the reunion with Xu Yanwei had caused a surge of joy in his heart. It was as though she was a ray of sunshine, bringing forth long lost light and piercing through the thick web wrapped around him.
Taken aback by the sight of the King, Xu Yanwei would never have imagined that the Second Prince, who was still childlike four years ago, had turned into a dying old man.
In order to produce a descendant for the Ju family, the King often summoned commoners into the palace, therefore the appearance of Xu Yanwei did not cause a stir in the palace.
Xu Yanwei’s sympathy spread unchecked like a flood. Disregarding the fact that the Second Prince had once tried to kill her, she took it upon herself to arrange his diet, inquire about his medications, and dismiss any nasty people, while slowly instilling an idea into him: The Stone Kingdom rightfully belonged to the Ju family, and should continue to belong to the Ju family even in the future.
Once the timing was ripe, Xu Yanwei admitted that she had been sent by Dragon King.
The King had already guessed that was the case, but he didn’t mind. Since he was already surrounded by tigers and wolves, there was no harm in having another raptor around. Perhaps it could even help him break the encirclement.
Last night, Zhong Heng, the assistant to the Special Envoy of the Central Plain, entered the palace from Nengjue Temple unexpectedly. He came with Dragon King’s request for a meeting with the King.
Hence, tonight, protected by his most trusted guard, the King hid from the watchmen in the palace and secretly came to Nengjue Temple. Together with Master Fayan, they waited for Dragon King to arrive.
Fayan had gained the mutual trust of both parties. As soon as he arrived in the Stone Kingdom, the eminent monk advised the King against becoming a monk. His reason was, “Your Majesty has not yet obliterated your worldly desires. Even if you shave your head, it will not be beneficial for you.”
At least Fayan’s remarks proved that he was not in cahoots with Golden Roc Fort.
Although Dragon King and the King had met once, they had no chance to speak to each other since there were other suitors around at that time.
“Dragon King is always able to do as he wished.” The King spoke first, and he could not help but show a trace of envy in his tone, “Even when you were a slave in Golden Roc Fort, it was no exception back then.” He continued.
Gu Shenwei nodded in acknowledgment to Fayan when he arrived and sat on the other futon. He replied, “This is because I know how to satisfy as many people as possible.”
The King laughed dryly. Indeed, the people who had conspired to kill the First Prince back then had managed to get what they wanted, one inherited the throne as he wished and the other held on to his power as a Prime Minister. Only the guard who wielded the saber became the sacrifice in the conspiracy.
“I hope Dragon King can make me satisfied this time as well. Although, I have to apologize for choosing Shangguan Fei during the day.” The King said. He then paused for a while before adding grudgingly, “The power of the King of the Stone Kingdom lies in the hands of the Prime Minister now.”
Prime Minister Yang Dou voted in the King’s stead and merely reported to the results to the King without even seeking instructions in advance.
“Soon, the royal power will be returned to Your Majesty.”
The King had already learned a painful lesson from his previous experience with the Prime Minister. He knew that by seeking the help of a stronger influence, he would end up paying a huge price for it. So he asked, “What rewards are you seeking, Dragon King?”
“The Stone Kingdom will need a Prime Minister and a strong army eventually.”
The King sighed, he was unable to escape his fate of being a puppet after all. But these were not important. He only cared about one thing. “But the King of the Stone Kingdom must be someone who carries the Ju surname.” He said.
“There is no need for Your Majesty to be in such a hurry to abdicate. Take good care of yourself and nurse your body. You still have time to produce a prince. Even if it’s unfortunate that you are not able to have offspring of your own, it is still up to Your Majesty to decide who will succeed the throne.”
The King felt the need to state things clearly, so he added, “Dragon King should know that the Ju family is not without successors, there are still a few distant relatives around. And they are of a legitimate royal bloodline. If I am unable to get the blessings of the gods, I will still only appoint a successor among them. No matter who my sister marries, he has no right to succeed to the throne, and neither does her offspring as well.”
Gu Shenwei straightened himself up and said, “I am ‘Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks’, I don’t need other titles.”
The King thought for a long time as he knew verbal agreements like these were not binding. Even if it was written in black and white on paper, it might just end up being empty words. But he had already come so far, there was no point in stopping. After considering the next step, he said, “In that case, everything will be as you wished, Dragon King.”
The King put his palms together to salute and bowed to Master Fayan before leaving. He would have to ask Zhong Heng for more specific details after he returned to the palace.
During the whole negotiation, Fayan had remained aloof and detached from the conversation. After the King had left for quite some time, he opened his eyes and smiled. It was a smile that made him seem like he was looking at all living creatures from a god’s perspective. Looking at Dragon King with his penetrating eyes, he asked, “When are you planning to return the personnel file, Dragon King?”
Gu Shenwei was unable to get rid of his disgust and hatred for the monk. He really wished he could resolve his differences with the monk with a saber, but he said, “The monk has met some people with ill intentions and your things were stolen. I happened to bump into them coincidentally and managed to snatch it from them.”
The smile on Fayan’s face disappeared. After lowering his eyes and reciting a few words of the sutra, he asked, “How many people were killed?”
“Twelve. Three survived, but probably not for long.”
“And how many people do you plan to kill next, Dragon King?”
After thinking for a moment, Gu Shenwei replied, “Countless.”
The monk recited a few words in silence again, before saying, “Old monk has some words for you. I hope Dragon King can listen to it.”
Gu Shenwei nodded slightly.
“Great evil must be controlled by great wisdom, and great wisdom itself must adhere to great events. Great events, however, must be consolidated by great responsibilities.”
“And which one do you think I lack in, Monk?” Gu Shenwei asked with sarcasm.
“Great responsibilities,” Fayan answered without hesitation. “Seeking revenge itself cannot bear the weight of great responsibility. Compared to Supreme King, your ambitions are too small, Dragon King. So, although you possess great wisdom, you are not able to do great evil.”
Gu Shenwei suppressed his emotions and sneered, “Supreme King’s ambition is to be in possession of more women and try to wrangle a real royal crown if possible. I am indeed inferior compared to him.”
Fayan smiled again, then he said, “It’s alright, as long as you can remember the words of this old monk. Now, when does Dragon King plan to take out the personnel file?”
“It’s not with me.” Gu Shenwei said. He knew that the old monk’s Kung Fu was unfathomable and he probably could not gain the upper hand if they really fought, so he had given the package wrapped in cotton cloth to Maid Lotus for safekeeping. “After looking through the file, it seems very important.”
Everything that Gu Shenwei had said so far was just a ploy to probe the monk. However, the monk seemed like he had no experience in negotiation; he did not take precautions against Gu Shenwei and merely said whatever was on his mind. “Well, it’s nothing much, actually. The file recorded the names of the kings and nobles of the Western Region before and after becoming a monk.”
“Imagine if the file was to fall into the hands of people with ulterior motives. What if they kidnapped some eminent monks from the Four Truths Temple based on the names in the file and use it to threaten all countries?”
“You overestimate it, Dragon King. Whether he was once a king or a beggar, he is but a monk after shaving.”
“But these kings are not monks. How can a son not worry if his father is kidnapped after becoming a monk?”
Gu Shenwei was in a slightly better mood once he was back in control of the negotiation. He hoped to see the monk reveal his true colors.
“That means it was destined for him to experience such a calamity in his life. None of these matters. What does Dragon King want from this old monk in exchange for the personnel file?”
The monk finally brought up the core matter at hand, so Gu Shenwei demanded coldly, “The Sumeru Mustard Mantra.”
“Dragon King and the lady are in danger because of the qigong deviation. This manual of mine does provide some help in relieving the problem.”
Gu Shenwei did not speak as he waited for the old monk to make up his mind.
However, Fayan shook his head unexpectedly. He said, “I’m sorry, the old monk cannot use the Sumeru Mustard Mantra to exchange for the personnel file.”
Gu Shenwei stood up and said, “It’s alright. If I can’t exchange it for the divine kung fu, I might as well sell it for a good price.”
“Goodbye, Dragon King.” Fayan was still unhurried. He said, “Old monk has a presumptuous request, however. Is Dragon King able…”
“No.” Gu Shenwei refused blatantly. “I don’t kill people, but people will want to kill me. No one can stop the killing that is going to happen in the Stone Kingdom.”
Once again, the monk lowered his eyes and recited some sutra under his breath as Gu Shenwei walked out of the room. He was not in the least bit worried that the monk would divulge the secret meeting. Fayan regarded himself as a Holy Monk, and he would never harm a being. Gu Shenwei’s plans were related to the King’s life and death, and even if the monk disclosed the secret meeting, he had a way to deal with it.
Maid Lotus appeared once Gu Shenwei left Nengjue Temple. She knew that things had not gone smoothly from the look on Gu Shenwei’s face. So, she offered, “How about letting me capture one or two young monks? I can force them to tell us about the secret of the divine kung fu.”
He shook his head. Just as he approached the city gate, he suddenly realized something and stopped in his tracks. “Return the personnel file to the monk.”
“What?” Maid Lotus had always able to quickly discern what he was thinking, but she was caught off guard this time.
“Return it to the monk, go now.”
Maid Lotus accepted the order and withdrew. She did not understand his intentions, but as always, she was willing to follow orders unconditionally and would not try to get to the bottom of it.
Gu Shenwei climbed over the city wall and returned to the courier station outside the city.
Soon it would be morning, and everything had to be settled by today. But his mind was never free from anxiety. Fayan’s words only helped to increase the uneasiness within him. He did not understand. Other than wanting to be a king, what other ambitions did Supreme King have?
Outside the wall of the courier station, Gu Shenwei hesitated again, before walking towards the nearby tent campgrounds.
Shangguan Ru did not stay in the courier station like her brother. It seemed as if she had intended to keep a distance with Golden Roc Fort as her tent was located on the edge of the camp.
He bypassed two hidden sentries and went to the back of the tent. Suddenly, he did not know why he was here.
Then, he picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it at the tent.
After a while, Shangguan Ru walked out of the tent, her eyes slightly swollen. It was unclear whether she had not slept well or she had just cried, but she raised her head slightly and pursed her lips stubbornly into a thin line.
“Your brother wants to kill you, be careful.”
Having said that, the burden in Gu Shenwei’s heart felt even heavier. Without waiting for Shangguan Ru to reply, he quickly retreated, almost startling the hidden sentries nearby.