Chapter 284: Tianji
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
A total of ten female archers had suddenly appeared. Every arrow had hit their targets. More than a dozen ambushers were wiped out in just two volleys. Gu Shenwei did not even have time to catch one alive.
Even so, he still hurriedly checked it again. Unlike what he had imagined, these ambushers were not the accomplices of Boss Mo. They were Golden Roc machetemen. Their Golden Roc logo was not on the shoulder of their coats, but it was hidden under their collars.
"Dragon King, please follow us," the leader of the group of female archers said as she took the lead and jumped off the roof.
Gu Shenwei followed silently. He became more and more uneasy. These women knew too much about Golden Roc Fort's plans as they could have laid in ambush at the periphery all the time.
The group of people came to a nearby residence. The female archers put down their bows and arrows, quickly changed into their black suits, covered their faces, and picked up their sabers.
Someone threw Gu Shenwei a set, and he also changed into it. The Five Peaks Saber was exactly the same as the Golden Roc Fort Saber, therefore there was no need to change it.
Soon, eleven people transformed into Golden Roc killers. They even had the Golden Roc logo on their shoulders. Gu Shenwei even received a fake killer waist token.
One could walk freely in Jade City with this disguise and the waist token.
The female lead archer nodded and said, "Dragon King, please."
Gu Shenwei walked past her and suddenly drew out his saber. Before the other women could react, he was behind the chief and had his saber on her neck.
The nine women pulled out their sabers simultaneously and surrounded him.
"Put down your sabers. The Dragon King means no harm," the female chief ordered. The nine subordinates withdrew their sabers obediently, but they were still surrounding the Dragon King.
"No harm? I'm not sure about that." Gu Shenwei would never follow people who he was unfamiliar with, especially those who were obviously related to Golden Roc Fort.
"Master said that this might happen." The female chief was not nervous at all. "I have a keepsake."
"Keepsake?" Gu Shenwei exerted slightly more force and the female leader had to raise her head.
"Yes, a keepsake. Bring it over." The female chief did not dare to open her mouth and could only squeeze out a few words from her throat.
A woman came over. She was holding onto a sword in its scabbard with two hands.
Gu Shenwei did not let go. He had no impression of this sword.
The woman slowly pulled out the sword in front of the Dragon King. It was a short, thin sword.
Gu Shenwei was shocked.
"Does the Dragon King believe me now?" the female chief asked.
Gu Shenwei still had many doubts, which were unexplained. He said, "How could she..."
"It's a long story. Does the Dragon King want to talk about it here or after we have reached a safe place?"
Gu Shenwei sheathed the Five Peaks Saber. He wouldn't believe anyone easily, but he was familiar with the short sword that the female archer showed him. It was the gift that he had received from his father when he was a child. It was first stolen by Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu and then it was passed on to Shangguan Ru. Shangguan Ru then returned it to him. When he fled from Golden Roc Fort, it was abandoned at the Reincarnation Cliff arrow tower.
Had Shangguan Ru sent someone to save him?
Gu Shenwei was puzzled. Shangguan Ru should have been placed under house arrest by her mother for a while. Even Kun Society had fallen back into the hands of Shangguan Fei. When did she form such a female archer team?
"Is it the Tenth Young Master?" he couldn't help but ask.
"It is the Tenth Young Master. It is not advisable to stay here for a long time. Dragon King, please."
Gu Shenwei was still skeptical, but he still decided to follow them.
This trip from the South City to the North City was quite far. The checkpoint was already closed for passage, but the guards let them pass reluctantly because the female chief had a "sole" waist token.
The final destination exceeded Gu Shenwei's expectations as it was the Meng family's Bodhi Garden in North City. The garden was completely desolate as the famous four-colored lotus flowers had passed its blooming season.
The group of people arrived at a rock garden at the southeast of the pond. Two women uncovered the withered vines to reveal the iron gates within. They knocked several times rhythmically. The iron gates were pushed open from the inside.
Gu Shenwei suspected that it might be dangerous, so he couldn't go any further. Even if Shangguan Ru appeared, he wouldn't believe it entirely. Three years was enough to completely forget a person, let alone her personality and preferences.
"I think it is safe enough here."
No one could have imagined that the Dragon King would hide in the Meng family's Bodhi Garden. It would be relatively safe here as long as there was no thorough search being carried out.
The female chief took off her mask and smiled, "Dragon King still refuses to believe me completely."
"You haven't said anything yet."
The female chief nodded at her subordinates and the nine of them entered the iron gate and closed it from the inside. The Dragon King and the chief were left outside.
"My name is Guan Shang, the Shang in a businessman." The female chief revealed her name as the first step to win the trust of the Dragon King. She then briefly summarized the experiences of what Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru had been through in the past three years.
Lady Meng had confiscated her daughter's saber, placed her under house arrest and forced her to wear women's clothing, but she could never give up the "Tenth Young Master" in her heart.
Shangguan Ru's kung fu, ambition and intelligence exceeded Shangguan Fei's. Lady Meng had high hopes for her. She hoped that her daughter could, not only be independent, but also to help her brother in winning the position of the Supreme King. Unfortunately, after the death of Shangguan Yushi, she had changed to a completely different person, and she was no longer as ruthless as she once was. She was even willing to betray her own family for the sake of a slave.
The cowardly personality of Shangguan Fei really disappointed Lady Meng. All his intelligence and wisdom seemed to have disappeared after he had schemed to kill Master Yu. He took refuge in North City and entrusted all his affairs to others. In the long run, his influence would only be limited to the Kun Society of South City. In comparison to his surviving brothers, he couldn't even protect himself, let alone have a chance to compete for the throne.
There were fewer and fewer people who Lady Meng could trust and rely on. She had to consider grooming her daughter again.
After Shangguan Ru was placed under house arrest for a year, Lady Meng released her secretly. Almost no one in Stone Castle knew about this, let alone any outsiders.
Shangguan Ru was only fifteen years old that year, and it was possible to remodel her.
This was a very secretive plan. Even the Lord was unaware of this.
Before her release and the maturation of the twins, Lady Meng had started to implement these plans.
On the surface, Lady Meng had an ordinary relationship with her family. However, in the eyes of Patriarch Meng Yuzun, this distant niece was closer than his own daughter. He knew very well that it would be a great help to the Meng family if Lady Meng was in power in Stone Castle.
Meng Yuzun had been acquiring suitable girls from the Western Region. Some of them had been trained and were given by Lady Meng to the Supreme King. The rest remained in North City and were secretly trained as killers.
This team of female killers had begun to take shape when Shangguan Ru was released. After two years, she became the leader of the team and named it "Tianji Society".
It was more difficult for women to train with sabers. Even though they were supported by strong Internal Strength, they were still inferior to men who started at the same time. Under the advice of Shangguan Ru, they focused on practicing the bow and arrow in order to make up for their own shortcomings.
"We all swore allegiance to the Tenth Young Master." Guan Shang was full of respect when she mentioned the Tenth Young Master. "We do not accept the command of anyone aside from the Tenth Young Master and Lady Meng. Even the Lord couldn't order us directly."
Gu Shenwei was very surprised. Shangguan Ru had lost her killing desire three years ago and was no longer suitable to become a killer. However, she had received more than ten years of education for males. With such ambitious aspirations, it was very likely for her to restore her old self with the help of her mother.
He remembered that glimpse in front of Four Truths Temple. Shangguan Ru was riding on a glorious steed in women's clothing. She hadn't expressed any tinge of coyness.
"Is she here?"
"No, the Tenth Young Master would only come once in three to five days. But, she ordered me to help the Dragon King at all costs."
"Had Lady Meng allowed the Tenth Young Master to do so?"
Guan Shang was silent for a while, then she said, "Lady Meng did not know about the order given by the Tenth Young Master, and would not know about it in the future as well."
Gu Shenwei still couldn't quite believe Guan Shang's story. In the end, the short sword was the one which touched him. No one should know about the story of Shangguan Ru giving away the sword.
There were many caves in the artificial mountain. There were countless crisscrossed paths, which led to different rooms, and some of the rooms were quite spacious. As he passed by, Gu Shenwei saw many women and girls who were practicing their sabers and shooting arrows.
The Meng family must have spent a lot of effort on creating this secret base, and they were certainly unwilling to use this just to protect the Dragon King. Gu Shenwei could not help but think about exactly how much control Shangguan Ru had of this place.
The room that was assigned to him for resting in was a stone room. There were no windows because it was deep underground. There was an iron grid on the door panel for easy ventilation, but it looked similar to a cell.
The door of the "cell" was not locked so Gu Shenwei could enter and exit freely. However, the paths were too complicated. It was easy to get lost without a guide, therefore he rarely went out.
It was difficult to tell the time as he was living in a place where there was no daylight. Gu Shenwei waited for Shangguan Ru, but she never came.
"The lord suspected that there was a traitor in the fort, so he was conducting a thorough investigation. The Tenth Young Master was unable to go down the mountain for a while." Guan Shang came every day. She answered every one of his questions and also brought news from the outside at the same time.
Cases of the Dragon King's imposter killing people and placing flags were continually emerging. Golden Roc Fort was exhausted, but they had only killed a few nobodies. Most people still thought that the Dragon King was the mastermind. No one believed that he was fighting alone.
Through Lady Meng, the Tianji Society had very accurate and timely sources of information in Stone Castle. All traces of the Dragon King had disappeared in these few days. The Supreme King was puzzled and had sent more Golden Roc killers to search the city. The safest place within the entire Jade City was probably the underground of Bodhi Garden.
The female killers of Tianji Society were very interested in the Dragon King. Even though Gu Shenwei had lived there for less than a day, he found that people were often peeking at him. To these women who had been receiving secret training, the Dragon King was a legendary figure because only the greatest killer had the ability to escape from dozens of arrest attempts from the Golden Roc Fort.
On the third day or so, there was finally a courageous female archer who quietly approached the Dragon King's room. She first gave the Dragon King some small gifts and fine snacks, and slowly began to talk to him.
Almost overnight, Gu Shenwei found himself becoming a story-telling grandfather and was forced to recall his training and escape career to a group of ten to fifteen-year-old girls. There were occasional, exaggerated cheers.
Unknowingly, the girls began to ask for pointers on machete skills. Among all of their naive questions, there were a few which had great insights and Gu Shenwei was surprised by these questions.
However, he still believed that these people would not become qualified killers. He also believed that the Tianji Society was a team that belonged to Shangguan Ru. These women, like Shangguan Ru, lacked ruthless killing desires.
Maid Lotus was a real female killer.
Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of her. It was also because of the image of Maid Lotus that he could see the flaws in Guan Shang's story.