The fourth person who secretly learned Wayless Qigong from Golden Roc Fort appeared as well. Everyone in the Flower Soul Forest, especially Old Man Mu, was surprised.
He turned and looked at Shangguan Fei, “Hey, aren’t you the weak and incompetent son of Supreme King? Did you learn the divine kung fu as well?”
“That’s right. Just like the three of them, I am qualified to make a deal with you as well.” Shangguan Fei’s eyes flickered around as he said that. He was usually afraid of the dark, but right now he was thankful for the cover of darkness. “And I am willing to deal with you alone.”
Old Man Mu had the perfect plan intended for Dragon King and the other two so he was very displeased at the sudden appearance of Shangguan Fei. He said, “You mentioned that you know Wayless Qigong. Prove it.”
Shangguan Fei had practiced Wayless Qigong for about three years now but never dared to show his skills to anyone. Even at this moment, he did not have the courage to display his Kung Fu in front of Dragon King. “Uh-”
Just as he hesitated, Shangguan Ru called out, “Are you crazy, brother? Once Old Man Mu gets his hands on Wayless Book, he will kill you.”
“No, not at all.” Old Man Mu said with a smile. He squeezed his legs, forcing the Blessed Child under him to turn around so that he could face everybody. “For someone who betrayed their close ones and friends, this fellow suits me so well! Maybe I will even accept you as a disciple if I’m in the mood.”
“I would be more than honored if I have such an opportunity.” Shangguan Fei bowed to Old Man Mu with his hands wrapped in a fist. Then he straightened himself and told Shangguan Ru, who was away from him, “Sister, I am not the one who is crazy. But you should really think it through and stop being so silly. Our father and Dragon King, they want to kill us both. If Dragon King wins, he will want to seek revenge. If our father wins, he will still regard us as his humiliation and get rid of us. We have no other choice but to save ourselves. Come over to my side, Senior Mu won’t kill you.”
“No.” Shangguan Ru refused flatly. “Old Man Mu is a murderous devil. I’d rather die than work with him. And his words cannot be trusted, don’t believe him.”
Shangguan Fei shook his head. He had been walking on a tightrope all this while, and even at the end of the tightrope was still an abyss. Old Man Mu was not someone trustworthy, but he was willing to take a risk and switch to another tightrope. “Senior Mu, actually I have been helping you all along. I was the one who secretly cut the rope for you.”
Maid Lotus glanced quickly at Dragon King. Everybody except for Gu Shenwei at that time had suspected that Shangguan Ru was the one who helped Old Man Mu escaped, but he had already guessed that it was Shangguan Fei who cut the rope.
Old Man Mu curled his lip with disapproval. “You are very bold indeed. Did Supreme King misjudge you? Do you need me to help you plead for leniency? Supreme King still gives me some face, you know?”
Shangguan Fei’s eyes lit up for a moment before darkening again. He was no longer a child and was well aware that Old Man Mu was just humoring him. Moreover, his father would never give face to others. “I appreciate your good intentions, Senior. I only want to exchange the Wayless Qigong with you. As for reconciliation with my father, it’s better if I handle it myself.”
“Gee, what a good child. If everybody is as reasonable as you, this old man here won’t have to spend so much time plotting schemes or conspiracies. Alas, why can’t the world be simpler?”
Gu Shenwei was not going to stand here and listen to the two of them exchange hypocritical banter, so he said, “Old Man Mu, now that you have already found a partner to deal with, do you dare to come out and duel with me?”
“Don’t worry, we are not in a hurry.” Old Man Mu said readily, “It is indeed quite tricky for me to handle the three of you. Don’t worry, I will come up with something, it won’t take much time. Well, Shangguan Fei, show me the Wayless Qigong, let me see if you have really learned it.”
Wayless Qigong was a set of Internal Strength, and it was hard to display it without the complement of high-level Kung Fu. Both Dragon King and Maid Lotus were able to make full use of the potential of the divine kung fu as they had learned the Death Scripture swordcraft. However, it was somewhat difficult for Shangguan Ru. Instead of the Kung Fu learned from Golden Roc Fort, it was actually the Seven Circles seven apertures Heart Stopping Finger that she learned from Old Man Mu that enabled her to make good use of the potential of the Wayless Qigong. Compared to them, Shangguan Fei fared the worst.
Shangguan Fei thought it over, then he smiled and said, “The sky is so dark right now. It will be hard to gauge whether or not my Internal Strength is real. Let me recite a paragraph of the manual. You’ve traveled around and are well-informed. I’m certain you are able to distinguish between real and fake.”
“That’s true. Nobody can try to fool me with fake manuals. There is always something in common among the Kung Fu in the world. This old fellow here will be able to tell whether it’s good or bad, highly-skilled or not. Recite then, boy.”
Shangguan Fei scanned the three of them and decided that as long as someone started acting suspicious, he would immediately cry for help. Then, he recited a section of words from the Wayless Book. It was not very long, about a hundred words or so.
Shangguan Ru’s face turned red. Both Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei exchanged an undecipherable look.
The words that Shangguan Fei had uttered was the last two sections of Chapter Seven, it was accurate and not single word was incorrect.
Old Man Mu’s wrinkled brows furrowed as he concentrated on memorizing it, and he repeated it again in a low voice once Shangguan Fei finished reciting. For someone his age, he actually managed to memorize everything perfectly.
Both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus looked at Dragon King. This was a good opportunity to attack Old Man Mu.
Gu Shenwei shook his head slowly. There must be a reason for Old Man Mu to choose this place to meet with them. They would only fall into his trap if they acted too rashly.
Old Man Mu pondered about the meaning of the words uttered by Shangguan Fei. Slightly anxious, Shangguan Fei smiled and said, “Senior, this is part of Chapter Seven of the Wayless Qigong. It is connected to Chapter Eight and it is really accurate.”
The chapters of the Wayless Qigong was directly connected and one would need to possess the previous chapter in order to learn the next chapter. This was why the successor of the Holy King of the Reborn Fort was unable to learn the Kung Fu even after hundreds of years. Both Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had realized quickly that the scripture was incomplete at first.
“Yes, that’s right.” Old Man Mu seemed to believe him, smiling happily.
Suddenly, like a fallen leaf picked up by the strong wind, Old Man Mu got up from the Blessed Child’s shoulders and made a few turns before appearing at Shangguan Fei’s side within moments. Like a young eagle catching a grown large sheep, he grabbed him by the neck from behind and quickly returned to his original position, setting his prey down by his side.
This was yet another good opportunity to make a move, but Gu Shenwei was still unmoved. He was determined to wait for Old Man Mu to strike first.
Shangguan Fei grew pale and was too frantic to display the Wayless Qigong that he had learned. He shrank involuntarily and said, “Senior, you…”
“Idiot, I’m protecting you. We are now in the same boat, I can’t possibly let the others get to you, can I?”
“Thank you, Senior…”
Shangguan Fei wanted to say a few more words of gratitude, but Old Man Mu waved his hand impatiently, “Save it, keep all the bootlicking for later. Only say it when I want to hear it.”
“Okay.” Shangguan Fei bowed deeply. He even dared to raise his head and look straight at Dragon King and his sister. “Don’t blame me. I am the most innocent out of all of us. All of you have ambitions, but I have none. Yet I always get dragged in because of others.”
Gu Shenwei did not speak. He knew all along that Shangguan Fei harbored evil designs, but he never would have imagined that of all people, he would actually pledge allegiance to Old Man Mu. Shangguan Ru was right, once Old Man Mu gathered all eight chapters of Wayless Book, the first thing he would do would be to kill off all possible competitors.
“There are three people in front of you, who do you want to kill first?” Old Man Mu asked exuberantly.
“Uh-” Shangguan Fei lowered his head as if embarrassed to look at them, then he said a name that surprised everybody. “Maid Lotus.”
Even Old Man Mu was puzzled, “Maid Lotus? I would have thought it would be Dragon King, or maybe your sister if you are more heartless. What grudge do you have with Maid Lotus? Did you two have a fling and she dumped you?”
Shangguan Fei disliked such talk even more than Maid Lotus, so he explained, “No, I just cannot accept it. She was originally a slave in the Stone Castle, and only became a killer because she was good at currying favor and gained the trust of her master. But she stole the Wayless Qigong and pledged allegiance to New Moon Hall, the nemesis of Stone Castle! This is even more infuriating than Dragon King’s betrayal.”
Before this, back in the desert, when Old Man Mu uncovered Maid Lotus’ real identity, the twins immediately understood what had happened that year. Because of this, Shangguan Ru became much quieter. Although Shangguan Fei pretended like he did not care, in his heart, he saw her as an unforgivable traitor.
Deep down, Shangguan Fei still regarded himself as the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort.
The three people in the semicircle stood at ready. Old Man Mu rubbed his hands together and laughed dryly, “That’s right. You reminded me- the evil woman is a disciple of New Moon Hall, she’s my enemy! She must be Han Wuxian’s favorite disciple if she is able to learn the “Manual of Seven Secret Techniques” at such a young age – I like her too, hehe, I really like her a lot…”
Old Man Mu struck before he even finished his words. He moved forward in a strange pattern, jumping from the Blessed Child’s shoulders to the ground seven steps away. Then, like a bouncing ball, he jumped toward the right and faced a tall flower tree. His toes tapped lightly on the tree branch as he leaped toward another flower tree.
Like a lightning bolt out of control, he bounced around the Blessed Child and Shangguan Fei. At first, there was still a faint shadow visible, soon, only whooshing sound of wind could be heard and he was hardly seen.
Old Man Mu’s trick did not last long; just when everybody was puzzled, he launched a sharp attack.
His target was not Maid Lotus in the center, but Shangguan Ru who was about ten steps away on her left. Gu Shenwei was unable to help since he was standing on the other side of Maid Lotus.
“A-“, Shangguan Fei could only utter half a shout before Old Man Mu returned to the Blessed Child’s shoulders again, “What a close shave! Dragon King, you are really something! The two girls teamed up with you so well!”
Old Man Mu had not succeeded in his attempt.
Maid Lotus seemed to have realized Old Man Mu’s real target, so she drew her sword the same time when he started attacking. She stabbed at the direction where he would definitely pass by- But she was slightly slower than Old Man Mu.
Using Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills, Shangguan Ru shifted suddenly and was almost as fast as Old Man Mu. Although she was still far from mastering the skill, it was more than enough for her to avoid a fatal attack.
Old Man Mu could only retreat, but he was attacked by Dragon King in the midst of doing so — Gu Shenwei did not rescue the other two, instead, he leapt toward Old Man Mu just as he was retreating, hoping to intercept and kill the enemy.
The three of them had actually discussed this plan beforehand, it would be the same regardless of who Old Man Mu attacked first.
But Old Man Mu’s swiftness was still beyond imagination. He had suffered in the hands of the Dragon King, so he was extremely vigilant. He would rather stop ahead of time than to take a risk, therefore, Gu Shenwei did not manage to strike a blow to him.
The three of them returned to their original positions, and silently lamented their fail attempts.
It was the first time that Shangguan Fei experienced Old Man Mu’s empty promise but he did not dare to complain. He coughed before saying, “Senior –“, and was harshly cut off by Old Man Mu. “Shut up! Didn’t you see me trying to gain momentum here? Your disruption caused me to lose my concentration!”
Old Man Mu seemed to be venting his anger on him, and Shangguan Fei was frightened. He dared not speak again, his face flushed.
But Old Man Mu gave a composed smile once again and said, “My good grandchild- Look at me, I am more than enough to be your grandfather, right? Don’t be afraid, I am not treating you like an outsider. What did you want to say? Say it.”
Shangguan Fei would not dare to deny this “grandfather”, so he swallowed his saliva and braced himself before saying, “Senior… grandfather, I have already proved to you that I know the first seven chapters of the Wayless Qigong, but you…”
Old Man Mu raised his left leg and stepped on the Blessed Child’s head again, then he said, “My good grandson doesn’t believe in grandfather? Oh well, this is a business, of course, our goods have to be genuine.” Then he stepped a little harder and said, “Come, child, recite two paragraphs of Chapter Eight. 50 words, anything more or less, and I… will eat your little arm first.”
The Blessed Child was so scared that his teeth were chattering, however, everybody else was concentrating and listening attentively. They still had not confirmed if the descendant of the Holy King had really memorized Chapter Eight completely.