Maid Lotus turned around and asked Gu Shenwei in a low voice, “Do you want the bandits dead or alive?”
If it was an hour ago, Gu Shenwei would not hesitate and would say he wanted them dead. Now that he had regained his composure, he started to think things through from the perspective of hegemony rather than a killer. These bandits, who were miles away, were merely tools used by the enemy. Even if they were all killed, it would not weaken the enemy, but it would be useful if he could rope them in.
“You have a way to make them listen to you?”
Maid Lotus nodded and looked at Taoist Duansheng who was kneeling on the ground as she said, “The Dragon King spared your life, but you need to show your loyalty by doing some deeds of merit.”
“Yes, sure. Please tell me what to do, Fairy. I am willing to go through anything for you.”
“Make the bandits surrender and convince them to join the Great Snowmountain.”
Taoist Duansheng turned glum when he heard what she said, and he dared not accept the order. Although he was renown, he was merely a solitary bandit, and just his words alone were impossible to persuade those outlaws.
Maid Lotus then took out a small silk pouch and carefully pulled out three thin steel needles that were about two or three inches long. They were as thin as a hairspring and were hardly visible under the moonlight.
“I believe these three Bliss Needles are more than enough to attack six people. In order to round up bandits, one must catch their ringleader first. Do this and wait for the Dragon King. He expects to see six people rolling on the ground when he comes by.”
Taoist Duansheng had suffered under the hands of the Bliss Needle and knew what it was like. Afraid yet pleased, he repeatedly answered “Yes” and accepted the needles with his both hands carefully. However, he did not get up and leave immediately.
“Lift your head up,” Maid Lotus ordered before she struck his forehead with a flying kick.
Taoist Duansheng’s face lit up as he tried to channel his Qi. “Thank you so much, Fairy,” he said.
“Don’t assume that you are safe. If you dare to have other thoughts, I can make you feel like dying is better than living.”
Taoist Duansheng held the steel needles and kowtowed to Maid Lotus, before doing so to the Dragon King as well. “I wouldn’t dare to, I wouldn’t dare. I swear to heaven, I will forever be loyal to the Dragon King and you, Fairy,” Taoist Duansheng said as he stood up and retreated, his back hunched the whole time. After several steps, he turned and put away the needles and ran toward the bandits who were miles away.
“And now you are known as ‘Fairy’?” Gu Shenwei felt that there were some changes in Maid Lotus after she recovered from her qigong deviation.
“He just blurts it out without thinking. If you don’t like it, I will forbid him to address me as that again later.”
“No need for that, it’s quite a good title. ” Gu Shenwei looked at Maid Lotus and added, “You are worthy of this name as well.”
The corners of Maid Lotus’ mouth slightly turned up. She looked away, her face blushing a little as she did so.
Gu Shenwei realized what was different about her. Maid Lotus was more eager to help him and even seemed slightly impatient, as though she was in a hurry to repay his kindness.
He stayed by her when she was experiencing qigong deviation, and it seemed to have broken down a wall in her heart.
But Gu Shenwei warned himself to be careful, as Maid Lotus’ thoughts were as unfathomable as the depths of the ocean and he could never be sure. Therefore, he quickly changed the subject by saying, “The Blood Coagulation Pill is indeed a good way to control people.”
“It’s a pity to use it on him, but at least he is smart. He immediately returned to ask for mercy after realizing that his Internal Breath was unstable. Using it to order him to get some things done is still worth it, I suppose.”
The two of them rode slowly on their horses. During which, Maid Lotus revealed all kinds of occult sciences from New Moon Hall without Gu Shenwei even asking. “The Blood Coagulation Pill, once consumed, will stir up the Internal Breath of the person and cause his body to be heaty, the pain even more excruciating than that of the Bliss Needle; however, the person will not die. His Internal Strength will slowly disappear bit by bit within 49 days, followed by atrophy of the muscles, until he’s only just a bag of skin. He can’t do anything except swallowing food.”
There was a tinge of pride in her expression as she continued, “In order to remove the pain and protect your Internal Strength, you would need to receive the Jueyin Touch within 49 days. What’s funny is that the Jueyin Touch is also another means to control a person, but it counteracts with Blood Coagulation Pill when used together.”
“Just like Mama Xue’s Peripheral Force?”
Maid Lotus nodded, “Yeah, something like that. The Barren Sect was a branch from the New Moon Hall and specialized in kung fu from other non-mainstream schools; however, they are lacking in skill in the occult sciences when compared to us.”
She also introduced several other strange occult sciences that Gu Shenwei had never heard of. “It’s no wonder that the Golden Roc Fort vowed not to use them again when they signed The Agreement with New Moon Hall.”
“The Golden Roc Fort was short-sighted to remove one of its capabilities just to win the support of various powers. With their kung fu, they would naturally be invincible if they worked together with the New Moon Hall and its occult sciences. They could even take the emperor’s throne if they wanted to.”
Holding her head high, Maid Lotus looked confident as she talked about these details. Gu Shenwei’s heart stirred – he seemed to have touched a bit on the New Moon Hall’s true ambitions. Maid Lotus would not be so confident for no reason and must have been unconsciously influenced by her Master as well.
Realizing that she must have spoken too much, she smiled apologetically to him and said, “Now that the old monk knows that New Moon Hall and the Great Snowmountain are working together, I’m afraid the Four Truths Temple and other Taoists won’t be happy about it. If you feel that this is inappropriate, we can remain in hiding and assist you in secret.”
Many years ago, Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall signed The Agreement, whereby it was stated that the former would have to give up the occult sciences they had learned, and the latter would retreat into the desert and never leave.
Now that New Moon Hall returned to jianghu again, and was planning to use these occult sciences that were hated by the people of jianghu in broad daylight, they would definitely encounter heavy opposition and even hatred.
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Gu Shenwei said. As time went by, very few people could actually remember how terrible the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall could be. Gu Shenwei was definitely not one of them, so he said, “Everyone will have nothing to say as long as Golden Roc Fort is defeated.”
Maid Lotus deeply agreed.
Neither of them realized the great impact that the words “secret techniques of the New Moon Hall” would bring back then. Fayan knew everything but he did not explain to them about the risks and benefits. It was not because the old monk intended to hide anything from them, but he knew that the two of them were already deeply obsessed and therefore did not want to waste his breath.
Shrill shrieks came from the front, one after another, as though somebody was screaming just beside one’s ears.
“It succeeded. That Taoist sure have some use.”
Maid Lotus urged her horse forward. Gu Shenwei wanted to remind her that it might be a trap, but the shrill shrieks did not seem like how humans would sound and were by no means an imitation, so he sped up his horse as well.
Taoist Duansheng had performed his tasks dutifully. He draped on a robe borrowed from somewhere as he held a long sword and talked to the group of bandits with fervor and assurance. Six people were writhing around beside him like fish thrown ashore, but with the added effect of shocking shrill shrieks.
“Everybody, do not believe in He Sancai anymore; he was bought off by the Central Plain. The “Bandit King” was just a scam to fool you guys. They are officials, and we are bandits, how can we even be one family? The Central Plain just wants to use the opportunity to exterminate us. He Sancai betrayed his friends for personal gain! I have already joined the Great Snowmountain and pledged allegiance to the Dragon King. What are you all waiting for?”
The bandits were both shocked and furious. They could not understand how Taoist Duansheng had changed his tune so suddenly. It was not long ago that they heard his screams when he was being tortured, yet in the twinkling of an eye, he actually went to pledged his allegiance to the Great Snowmountain.
However, no one dared to come forward. The six people writhing on the ground were leaders of their own gang. Usually, they would not even make a noise when they were slashed by others, yet now they were shrieking and screaming just because of a needle prick. It brought deep fear to all of their underlings.
Judging from Maid Lotus’ temper, Taoist Duansheng knew that it was better to please Dragon King than to please her, so upon hearing the galloping sounds behind him, he turned to the six men shrieking on the ground and said, “Do you know the power of the Bliss Needle now? Hurry and beg the Dragon King for mercy, only he can save all of you.”
Gu Shenwei took a closer look under the moonlight to confirm that Taoist Duansheng was not up to any tricks. He looked at the six people who were pricked. There was He Sancai the Invincible Machete of Tianshan, Zheng Tai the Sand Devil, Ouyang Jing from Tiger on the Hill, and Zhang Xin the One-armed Saber. He didn’t know who the other two were and assumed they were probably a prominent figure in some other smaller gangs.
Already unable to bear the torture of the itching pain, not only would these people surrender, they would even be willing to kill each other off if asked to do so. As such, they rolled and crawled in front of Dragon King, “Mercy!”,”I surrender!”, were all they could say desperately.
Gu Shenwei turned a blind eye to them and looked around at the bandits, waiting for them to declare their stand.
Although these bandits were not large in number – about 100 men in total – there were still many gangs among them. He Sancai’s men, along with the underlings of the other five men, was merely half of the total number. Terrified by the shrieks of their leaders, they quickly put down their weapons, wanting to surrender; however, only a few people expressed their intentions while the others still seemed hesitant.
A bandit raised his torch and shouted loudly, “What’s there to be scared of? Let’s capture both the Dragon King and that b*tch and force them to hand over the antidote!”
These words indeed expressed the thoughts of some people. Taoist Duansheng was eager to perform in front of Maid Lotus, so without waiting for Dragon King to speak, he already rushed over and cut off the head of the man who spoke with his sword.
He was a well-known solitary bandit within the Western Region, and just his kung fu alone was almost on par with Maid Lotus. His sword moved so rapidly that the head had just landed on the ground when he returned to his original position.
“People who show disrespect towards the Dragon King will be beheaded! Same goes for people who show disrespect to the Fairy! Off with their heads!” Taoist Duansheng stood upright as he held his sword, showing his “loyalty”.
He Sancai was recognized as the leader of the bandits, but even he was unable to withstand the pain from the Bliss Needle. He had long cast his ambitions to the winds, rolling around, he shouted, “Surrender… All… Surrender… Dragon King, have mercy…”
A large number of bandits gradually begin to kneel down on one leg upon hearing that. The first few were somewhat hesitant, but the rest did so more readily afterward. “Respects to Dragon King”, “Long live the Dragon King”, “Dragon King, have mercy” were some of the cries from them.
There were also more than ten bandits who were unwilling to surrender and did not care about the lives of He Sancai and the rest. They leaped onto their horses, preparing to leave.
“Let none of them live,” Gu Shenwei issued his first order. From his experience as king of the Great Snowmountain, he knew very well that if these unwilling bandits were spared, half of the bandits kneeling before him would escape before dawn.
Maid Lotus galloped swiftly and threw out hidden weapons continuously. These bandits, more than 10 in number, fell from their horses without even having the time to disperse. Their whole bodies were twitching about and it did not look like they would not live for long.
Taoist Duansheng’s face was as pale as ash as he watched on. Maid Lotus’ skills were even better than he imagined. He finally realized that he could never escape from her grasp, so he said, “The Dragon King is invincible. The Fairy is invincible!”
He was the first one to kneel on both knees and kowtowed. The other bandits were shocked by the vicious killing methods of Maid Lotus as well and put their other knee down, formally kowtowing to the Dragon King.
The shrieks continued but Gu Shenwei was not in a rush to save them. Maid Lotus had just shown him a way to quickly strengthen his force, and he needed to make good use of it. These people might never be as loyal as the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain, but they could also be an asset for him.
What he could not be certain of was the extent to which Maid Lotus and New Moon Hall were willing to be used.