Old Man Mu had killed many people in his life and had suffered injuries from many sabers, but none of them had surprised him like this one.
He was not a fool and had long passed the age of reckless ignorance. He was very well aware of the dispute between Dragon King and the three siblings of the Shangguan family, therefore, it was expected that they would go on their separate ways.
Before taking any action though, he had also carefully observed that it was definitely Dragon King and Maid Lotus who was walking in the desert. What’s more, he even noticed that Shangguan Hong, whom he had chosen, looked and acted like himself. Most importantly, after following Shangguan Hong for a while, he did not sense any strong Internal Breath or killing desire in this person.
The dagger was still stabbed into the lower abdomen and the arm gripping on to the belly was still as strong as an iron hoop. Old Man Mu wanted to channel his Qi to escape but was unable to do so as the dagger was stabbed right into the middle of his Dantian.
“Suffering a major setback due to carelessness…” Old Man Mu said vaguely as he was almost leaning into the man’s chest.
“You are too careless indeed.” The voice over his head was without a doubt Dragon King.
Yesterday at noon, Gu Shenwei thought of this idea when Shangguan Fei complained for the first time that he was implicated by Dragon King.
Shangguan Hong and Dragon King were similar in age and stature. There was once when Shangguan Hong even pretended to be Dragon King and killed Master Lianhua, yet nobody recognized him. Therefore, vice versa, Gu Shenwei could also impersonate Shangguan Hong as well.
Shangguan Hong, however, was not that willing toward this idea, “Old Man Mu said that the next one to be killed will be Maid Lotus, leaving me with her…”
“No, Old Man Mu will definitely kill you first, he wants to play cat and mouse with you, so he will not take action against Maid Lotus so soon. So you will be safer if pretend to be me.”
Gu Shenwei was so confident in his tone, it was as if he had already seen through Old Man Mu’s mind. Shangguan Hong was moved by these words, after all, he did not have much choice since Dragon King’s orders were inviolable.
Actually, Gu Shenwei was not completely sure. Old Man Mu tend to kill his targets from the weakest to the strongest, but that old fellow was also someone who would do just as he pleases, therefore it was possible that he would change his mind at the last minute.
So the two of them took on each other’s identities. Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru helped them to put on a disguise. Although there was not enough time to put on a perfect disguise, one could hardly notice any flaw in the dim night.
Appearance was easy to change, but not so much for temperament. Gu Shenwei could act out Shangguan Hong’s cowering attitude, but it was hard for Shangguan Hong to act like Dragon King.
“As long as the enemy managed to notice that something’s slightly off, the one who will die tonight will be you.” Gu Shenwei could only intimidate Shangguan Hong to brace himself.
If there was anything that could inspire courage in the men of the Shangguan family, it was death. Shangguan Hong immediately held his head high. Even though it was a bit too excessive, he seemed more similar to how Dragon King would look like.
Afterward, it was necessary that the group went separate ways. Old Man Mu had looked down on the “little brats” of the Shangguan family. Without Dragon King and Maid Lotus, his vigilance would slacken and it was unlikely that he would use all his strength as soon as he appeared.
Old Man Mu’s kung fu was unfathomable and Gu Shenwei hoped to gain a little advantage on the preparation front.
The Five Hole Punch aimed straight for the heart. That astonishing power, however, had an obvious shortcoming. Gu Shenwei tied the Dragon Head Sword and the Five Peaks Saber diagonally to his body and it acts as a protection for his chest from both front and back. He would be in an advantageous position as long as he managed to blocked the first move.
The most difficult thing was to hide his Internal Breath and his killing intention.
Gu Shenwei practiced the “Death Scripture” differently from Maid Lotus, so his killing intent was never as strong as hers, therefore he just had to control it more carefully. As for his Internal Breath, he would try to keep it in check as much as possible. In this way, his gestures would be more similar to Shangguan Hong who were poor in kung fu.
Even so, if Old Man Mu was a little bit more cautious, he could have noticed a flaw. Luckily, he was not and acted in a hurry instead.
The twins slowed down and surrounded Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei tied up Old Man Mu with a strong leather rope and threw him on the ground, the dagger was still quivering vertically from his lower abdomen.
“Kill him.” Shangguan Fei said fervently as he pulled out the saber.
“Maid Lotus wants him alive.” Gu Shenwei had promised her that he would not kill Old Man Mu.
“Maid Lotus? Isn’t she your slave? Why do you listen to her? This old fellow is too dangerous. The earlier you kill him, the better.”
Old Man Mu did not dare to exert too much strength, but he still managed to laugh out loud: “You jerk, your father, the Supreme King, still shows me respect, you know.”
Gu Shenwei still disagreed. He knew very well that Maid Lotus was not anybody’s slave.
As soon as the horse stopped on this side, Maid Lotus and Shangguan Hong who were half a mile away immediately rode their horses over.
Seeing the small shadow on the ground, Shangguan Hong almost tumbled down his horse. Even though he looked like Dragon King, his expression and temperament were completely different, “Great job, Dragon King, this is a very clever plot, Old Man Mu is just so-so, I guess.”
“I’m not dead yet, you know.” Old Man Mu was not happy at all being belittled in this manner, “Back in those days, more than a thousand kung fu experts besieged me and yet I managed to survived. So I will survive this time as well. Spout more nonsense and I will finish you first the next time.”
Upon hearing that, Shangguan Hong’s face changed, then he asked the same question as Shangguan Fei, “Why are we not killing him? His death will end all of our troubles.”
“He still has some use.” Maid Lotus simply replied.
Gu Shenwei understood what Maid Lotus meant. It could possibly be true that Old Man Mu claimed to have helped New Moon Hall to improve their kung fu skills. But he must have held back a trick or two. Maid Lotus was familiar with the kung fu style of her sect and was well aware of all this, but she wanted to know more about all his skills.
Maid Lotus had already reached one of the highest levels of kung fu, and sooner or later she would even surpass Old Man Mu if she continued to practice the swordcraft of the “Death Scripture”. Gu Shenwei did not truly understand her greed in this, but he did not want to interfere.
“Exactly, I am still useful. But will any of you be so kind to pull out this dagger from my stomach? I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold on for much longer and I will kill myself if I’m agitated.”
No one wanted to pull out the dagger. Even Gu Shenwei believed that it was better to leave the dagger in Old Man Mu’s stomach.
Wildhorse was watching from a distance and did not come forward to rescue him. Shangguan Fei looked back at him with great anxiety and continued to instigate Dragon King, “Let him die. Once he’s dead, even Wildhorse will leave us in peace, and we can travel faster.”
Among all of them, only Maid Lotus needed him alive. She jumped off from her horse, took out the green pills and said: “Do you know what this is?”
Despite the darkness, Old Man Mu recognized what Maid Lotus had in her hand at a glance, “Blood Coagulation Pill, one of the seven pills specially made by New Moon Hall, they can save lives or torment people and is made with the blood of the drug maker herself. If you consume it, you’ll become a slave for good. Come one, give me one of those pills.”
Maid Lotus looked at him distractedly, but she believed in the specially-made pills of her sect, so she flicked one pill and let it fall into Old Man Mu’s mouth.
Old Man Mu ate it like it was fried beans, chewing and swallowing it down, he quipped, ” Not bad, still the same taste, but one pill is not satisfying enough, give me one more.”
However, Maid Lotus could not afford to give him another one, the Blood Coagulation Pills were too precious and they were not snacks that could be given to just anybody.
Poof, the dagger popped out of Old Man Mu’s stomach and fresh blood gushed out, he snorted, and channeled his Qi to stop the bleeding. The ropes tied on his body snapped and broke into pieces.
Several sabers pointed at Old Man Mu’s vital points at the same time.
“Blood coagulation pills are the best to save a life.” Old Man Mu said licking his lips, as if he still had not had enough of it, not caring about the weapons around him.
Gu Shenwei took out a few more pieces of rope and bounded Old Man Mu in several circles until he was completely wrapped into a ball. Then he placed him on a horse and led him as he continued his journey.
Meanwhile, Wildhorse was still following them, he was not too far and not too close and did not seem like he was in a rush to rescue the old fellow.
Although Old Man Mu was seriously injured, it did not stop him from talking idly. He had something to say about every single thing, “Bunch of idiots, is there no one who knows acupoints? Must you tie me up so tightly?”
“Dragon King, how could you? You are lucky you tied your swords on your chest to deceive me. I still haven’t practiced the highest level of the Five Hole Punch yet.”
“The Five Hole Punch concerns the Five Elements and the Five Organs. The Heart belongs to the Fire level, and I had just finished practicing it. You guys saw how I dug out people’s hearts, right? Actually, with just a punch to the body, the person’s heart and veins were already broken. I took his heart out to see if it was completely broken. But this was not the highest level, the Five Hole Earth Punch is the highest level, not only could it hurt the spleen, but it will also shatter the five internal organs.”
Everyone was silent but Shangguan Fei was fed up listening to him, “You can kill someone with just any moves of any of the five organs, what’s the use of learning the skill with the shattering of the five internal organs?”
“It’s not the same! It’s not the same!” Finally, someone replied Old Man Mu and he was very happy, but his face changed upon seeing the sun coming out, “Damn, quickly, cover me with a thick cloth, I can’t see the sunlight.”
“Don’t worry about him.” Maid Lotus walked on the other side of Old Man Mu as she controlled the ropes with her left hand, and continued to press her sword shaft with her right hand. She said, “The Seven Rotation Skill was practiced in reverse, therefore the yin and yang are upside down. The sun will damage his Internal Strength, but he won’t die from it.”
No one wanted to help him at first, and now even lesser people would offer to help.
As the sun rose, Old Man Mu seemed to look ten years older. Even his forehead, the only smooth part on his body, was slowly showing some wrinkles. He began to swear and his voice was booming. At least, for the first two hours, he did not sound like someone whose Internal Strength was damaged.
Old Man Mu spouted a lot of obscenities and Shangguan Ru had to plug her ears, before moving to the front.
The cursing did not have any effect and the sun was getting more and more blazing during the day. As Old Man Mu’s voice gradually became weaker, he changed his tune and started to ask for mercy instead, “Dragon King, and you, what’s your name, Maid Lotus, spare my life, or you can kill me. I’m suffering too much, I’m drying out, at least cover me with just one layer, I, I…”
Then, Old Man Mu’s head askew aside, and no sound came from him.
Maid Lotus rode with him and felt for his breath, before saying, “It’s okay, we can keep him in the sun for at least seven days.”
“And after seven days?” Shangguan Fei was still hoping to kill Old Man Mu.
“He will be disabled and it would be impossible to recover.”
“It’s such a crooked…” Shangguan Fei began to say but swallowed down the other half of his sentence. The Seven Rotation Skill was one of New Moon Hall’s occult science and he was a little afraid of Maid Lotus, the former killer of his family.
Around noon, Old Man Mu woke up, his voice was getting increasingly weary and hissed like a snake, he also seemed almost unconscious when he said, “Thirsty, thirsty… little baby is really cute… kill… don’t chase me… spare my life…”
Everybody else was indifferent. Only Shangguan Ru was unable to tolerate it any longer. She had already pulled out the cotton wadding from her ears, and after hearing Old Man Mu pleading, she became even more sympathetic toward him.
She did not talk to Dragon King but turned to Maid Lotus instead, “Do you have to torture him like this? At least cover his head with something!”
This was an awkward moment as Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru had not talked at all since the reunion. In the past, they were master and servant, and Maid Lotus could not pretend to ignore Shangguan Ru’s request, so she glanced at Dragon King and said: “If he recovers his skills, we are not his opponents.”
Then, after pausing for a moment, Maid Lotus still could not overcome her old habit, so she added, “We can cover his head with a cloth, he will suffer less pain.”