Chapter 73: Murder in the Night
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei had not sensed the slightest hint of murder in the conversation between those two. This was why he did not expect Master Shifu to decide to kill the horse-faced man, not to mention that Master Shifu had sent his apprentice to execute it.
"Why?" Gu Shenwei asked bluntly. Tie Hanfeng sternly stared at him, while Gu Shenwei realized that he had stupidly misspoken.
"I haven't brought my blade," Gu Shenwei said, realizing that he had made another mistake.
Nobody liked a talkative killer, nor would people hire a killer who could not kill without a blade. Gu Shenwei was ashamed for his stupid mistakes. Therefore, he took a chopstick from the table, hid it in his sleeve, stepped over a sleeping drunkard, and started to track down the horse-faced man.
Because there was no more business, the two fat servants in the doorway were putting bundles of weapons into a large wooden case. More than half of the customers left so unconsciously that they forgot to retrieve their stored blades and swords, nor would they be coming back to get them later.
Although Gu Shenwei did want a blade, he gave up the idea very quickly because he had decided to execute the task with just a chopstick.
Outside the place, a cool wind blew the smell of alcohol mixed with filth. As Gu Shenwei had never drunk so much wine, he stumbled along and almost fell over. Strangely, although his body was out of control, he did not feel very drunk and was conscious enough.
Standing in the doorway, he was able to spot the horse-faced man's silhouette right away.
The horse-faced man entered the city from a gap in the city wall and sneaked deep into the chaotic downtown buildings through winding street lanes.
Gu Shenwei quickly followed him. He leaned against the wall to throw up the wine after reaching a street corner. Then he felt much better because his hands and feet came back under his full control.
Although Shangguan Ru's "Assassination" was merely a game, Gu Shenwei had learned a lot from it. For example, when tracking he had to stay away from lights and straight streets, and stay close to dark shadows or intersections.
About 15 minutes later, they reached a place where the rooms shed dimmer lights than other places. Gu Shenwei thought that it was time to kill.
The horse-faced man was too drunk to notice anyone following him as he staggered forth in bright and dark mazelike lanes, yelling something from time to time.
There was a turn up ahead and Gu Shenwei picked up his pace and sharpened the chopstick by breaking it into a shorter one.
Gu Shenwei's heart was beating faster. An assassination in real life was so different from the one in the firehouse's monthly tests because a volunteered killer apprentice was prepared for killing from the start, and he took carrying off souls for granted. But when it came to this horse-faced man, this killer apprentice seemed to be struck by an inexplicable power and felt weak from head to toe. That was because Gu Shenwei thought that the horse-faced man was so real after seeing him drink, speak, and cry for his lost friend like a child.
After he turned the street corner, complete darkness descended. It was the ideal place for assassination, but unfortunately, he had lost the target.
The entire alley was silent, without any people or footsteps.
There was always something that could never be learned from schools. Nobody had ever taught Gu Shenwei how to discover and utilize his intuition, but in that instant, his intuition told him that the enemy was right beside him.
The horse-faced man silently thrust his weapon at Gu Shenwei. Apparently, he did not forget his dagger stored in that doorway.
Gu Shenwei lowered his head and narrowly avoided the stabbing blade. He could even feel the coldness of the metal as the steel dagger swept past his right cheek.
The two grappled and neither shrank back or called for help. Welcome to Southern Jade City. Death was the only solution here.
Although the horse-faced man's Kung Fu was average, he was so experienced in combat that he could wield the dagger like a master. After having survived three dangers and wasted two lethal attacks, Gu Shenwei finally mastered the horse-faced man's rhythm on his 15th stroke, and then stabbed the chopstick deeply into his shoulder.
They both attacked swiftly and the combat did not last long. Gu Shenwei felt exhausted after he had stabbed him, which pushed his opponent three steps backward. All of a sudden, he started to miss the Southwall Tavern's wine and became thirsty.
Lethally wounded, the horse-faced man still struggled to survive. He tossed the dagger away and stumbled toward the end of an alley with one hand covering his shoulder and the other stretching straight out as if there was some life-saving elixir lying ahead.
Gu Shenwei stood still, counting the horse-faced man's steps. When it got to the ninth, he could not help picking up the dagger from the ground and chasing after him.
That man's will to survive was unexpectedly strong.
Gu Shenwei grabbed the horse-faced man's hair from the back, thus forcing the man to raise his head, and then severed his throat with the dagger.
He failed to kill the enemy with one chopstick in one stroke. Were Pyrowork Academy's supervisor here, Slave Huan would have been judged as a failure.
Watching the corpse drop to the ground, Gu Shenwei was suddenly struck by panic. Although he had no sympathy for this man, he felt as upset as he had been when he was blamed by his father for his misbehavior in his childhood. Still holding the weapon, he hesitated whether or not to throw it away over and over again, and finally threw it off to the side in the street.
After all of that, he noticed some black eyes, which shone like cats' eyes in the darkness.
A boy sat on a short wall, holding a half-eaten melon—he had seen the entire scene of murder. He was nervous, excited, and obsessed about this. It was a surprise that he did not run away.
He seemed to be 11 or 12 years old, which was confusing, however, because his eyes looked as mature as those of an adult.
Gu Shenwei had not spotted this witness during the entire time because he had been focused on the horse-faced man.
How should he deal with the witness? Kill him or just ignore him? Gu Shenwei was not sure about the solution, which surely had been taught in Carvewood Academy. He was the only one who hesitated about that among hundreds of killer apprentices.
The boy finally swallowed the food that had been in his mouth for quite a while and carefully said, "I just came outside to eat some melon."
It was late at night, when even the drunks that sought hangovers had gone home to sleep. This kid's statement could not have been any weirder.
It only took one step for him to jump toward the wall so that he could drag the boy off. However, Gu Shenwei lost the desire and will to murder again, so he stepped back and decided to leave.
The boy apparently misunderstood this juvenile killer's movements and immediately said, "Let me help you throw the corpse away. Do you know where to dump it?"
Gu Shenwei had no idea, and taking care of the corpse had never even occurred to him. Just after hearing the boy's words, he thought that it was necessary.
"Get down here and take the body."
Gu Shenwei commanded the boy, trying to sound cool and tough.
The boy swiftly threw his melon away, landed on the ground, and ran over to the corpse. Then, he struggled to carry the corpse on his back and staggered forth. But unfortunately, he fell harshly to the ground only after two steps.
"I'm not lying, it's way too heavy."
The boy again struggled to crane his head out from underneath the corpse. He looked innocent, yet not scared.
Despite the fact that he was unsure whether the boy was pretending or not, Gu Shenwei carried the corpse on his shoulder. He was adept at it.
"I'll show you the way," the boy said, starting to run fast.
Gu Shenwei followed him closely and found out the boy could not do Kung Fu.
The boy took a shortcut so that they reached the city's edge very quickly. As they marched on, they saw fewer and fewer houses around them, and an infinite darkness that looked like countless layers of black veils enveloped Jade City off in the distance.
"The wasteland is ahead. People dump corpses there."
The boy sounded like an expert. While the young killer was looking off into the distance, he sneaked into the alley beside them and desperately ran away. He was afraid that the killer might murder him to silence a potential informant and dump his body right on the spot.
Gu Shenwei did not go after that boy because one kill was enough for this night. He continued to go ahead for a while, and then tossed the corpse into the bushes. He stood still, staring into the gloomy and stagnant night sky and listening to the hollow howl of a wolf. He agreed with the boy that this place must have consumed many of the corpses in Jade City.
He almost got lost in the winding alleys, and it took him a long time to find his way back. Once he returned to the Southwall Tavern, it was almost dawn.
There were only a few people left inside the tavern. They were sound asleep, either lying on the ground or on a table. Gone were the manager, servants, and the two fat doormen.
Tie Hanfeng sat on a chair, with his face upward and mouth wide open, sleeping deeply just as usual.
Gu Shenwei seated himself in front of Master Shifu. The wine that remained on the table did not attract him at all.
After a sudden shudder, Tie Hanfeng woke up and ground his teeth. He looked at his apprentice coldly, indicating that he became sober.
"Master Shifu, it's done."
"Where's the head?"
"...I dumped the corpse in a wasteland."
"A leopard just can't change its spots. There are more than enough corpses in this city for you to carry. Maybe you can count on this business to make a fortune, you dimwit. Bring the head back to me, and leave the rest for the dogs next time."
"Aye, Master Shifu."
This murder was thus ended. Except for adding some field experience for a killer apprentice, it did not create much of a stir in Jade City.
This trip away from the mountain had a decent impact on Tie Hanfeng because he gave up the life he had already been accustomed to. He had lived an indigent life for three months, only to train a killer who could never attack from behind. After that feast of wine in his revisit to the Southwall Tavern, he realized what mattered the most, hence, he left his apprentice alone.
"If nobody can beat you in Pyrowork Academy within one year, it means that you've been trained enough. Who can foresee the future?"
After that, Tie Hanfeng left his apprentice to take care of his own "business". He frequently went downhill and spent the night outside.
Tie Hanfeng thought that he had completely solved the plot against Slave Huan. He figured out that the horse-faced man, as his "business" partner, tried to remove his name of killer mentor by bribing people inside the fort to kill his only apprentice, only to force the iron cripple to accept unfair terms of splitting money.
This name was so vital to Tie Hanfeng that without it, he was only a half-retired old killer in Golden Roc Fort that could not even find a low-paying escorting job.
Now that the horse-faced man was dead, his apprentice was safe. But that was only the thought of Tie Hanfeng, Gu Shenwei still had a suspicious mind.
The first that one he suspected was Miss Luo Ningcha, a stupid woman with poor social relationships. He excluded her from his list shortly after because it might be tough for her to bribe a killer apprentice.
The second one was Shangguan Yushi, who had never truly dropped her guard against Slave Huan. Killing Slave Huan in Pyrowork Academy was in her best interest.
There were about 10 days left until the fourth monthly test. Since Gu Shenwei had sensed that there was someone following him every time he went to dump corpses, he chose to throw corpses from Reincarnation Cliff instead of Giant Rock Cliff, which he did not dare to go anymore.
Rather than telling this to Master Shifu, Gu Shenwei decided to conduct this investigation himself.