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Chapter 225: Payback

As the Heart Cleansing Yard was the Golden Roc Fort’s internal justice department, once the news of Fourth Young Master Meng’s murder and the discovery of assassins within the Governor’s Mansion traveled back to the Stone Castle, investigations into both cases fell under Blademaster Shen Liang’s responsibility. No matter what the residents of Jade City talked about, a true expert could see traces of a Golden Roc killer’s handiwork in both cases.

Even though Gu Shenwei was alarmed to see the Blademaster at the Governor’s Mansion, he calmly paid his respects.

Wei Song sat at the position of the host and nodded half-heartedly in return. There was wariness in his eyes and he did not say a word, hinting that Shen Liang would be in-charge of all matters.

“You are known as Yang Huan, yes?”

“Yes.” Gu Shenwei noticed that Shen Liang had brought 10 killers along with him.

“On the 3rd night of the seventh month, where were you?”

“I was at the South City with the Kun Society,” replied Gu Shenwei after a moment’s thought,

“You remember very clearly.”

“I have to, as there was some incident that happened that day.”

“What incident?”

“I’m afraid I can’t say.”

Shen Liang’s gaze turned harsh. He knew that this killer’s original master was his own nephew Shangguan Nu, but was no longer under his care as Yang Huan now belonged to the Tenth Young Master.

“As the Blademaster of the Heart Cleansing Yard, I order you to speak truthfully.”

“I seek the forgiveness of the Blademaster, but I still cannot talk about it.”

Wei Song witnessed this interrogation with an inscrutable expression. He felt that there was no one he could trust here.

Shen Liang felt a flash of anger. No one dared to disrespect him within Golden Roc Fort. “Unless… it was Lady Meng.” He became hesitant. If what Yang Huan could not speak about was linked to the twins, he did not want to push further.

A killer came forward and suggested, “Blademaster, the assassin took a blow on his or her back that night, and the wound could not have disappeared so quickly.”

Shen Liang understood what his killer had meant. “Yang Huan, do you agree to disrobe for an examination?” This time, his tone was warmer.

Gu Shenwei lowered his head and thought for a moment. He then removed a stack of banknotes and some accessories from the front of this shirt, then quickly removed it. He turned around and stood back facing the others.

It was all quiet in the room, and Wei Song turned away after a glance at the youth’s back. Even though the others who were present were all killers, and specialized in using torture on their victims, none of them had seen so many scars on a living person’s body before.

There were simply too many scars on his back, and even the most experienced person could not have differentiated the old from the new scars. The examination could neither prove nor eliminate the possibility that Yang Huan was the assassin.

Shen Liang felt overcome by embarrassment. He had sharp instincts, and believed that both assassinations had something to do with this killer. However, he did not have any proof. If it was just an ordinary assassin in front of him, he could use the cruelest forms of torture to make the killer speak. But as to Yang Huan, he had to consider that Lady Meng could be possibly backing him.

Wei Song believed that this was all a show by the Golden Roc Fort and that it had finished. After all, how could it be possible for them to truly want to protect a Governor sent from the Central Plain? He decided to play along. “I believe that the assassin isn’t this Yang Huan. I believe that the true assassin has suffered a setback, and would never dare to return as long as the Golden Roc Fort is here to protect my mansion.”

Shen Liang took his leave in embarrassment. It was at this moment that he decided to find out the truth – even if he could not officially disclose it in the end. He wanted to know everything about Yang Huan. He wanted the youth to know that it was a huge mistake to be faking it in front of him.

Gu Shenwei felt that it was a farce as well, except that Shen Liang and Wei Song were the ones putting it up – the Central Plain was plotting behind the Golden Roc Fort to destroy it, yet these two were still trying to put up a front of giving and receiving protection.

When only the Governor and the killer were left, Wei Song spoke, “Blademaster Shen wanted to come, and I could not bring myself to reject him. However, I’ve never thought of you as the assassin. The most basic reason being, why would you kill me without having gotten the reward for your actions?”

“Please check, your Honor.” Gu Shenwei presented the banknotes with both hands to the Governor.

Wei Song did not receive the notes as they did not belong to him. He replied, “Keep it, when you go out later, somebody will give you a proof of receipt. What about the information that I asked for?”

Gu Shenwei kept the bank notes collectedly and replied, “There’s no mistake about it, and it seems rather serious, leading nearly to the total loss of kung fu.”

“Are you absolutely positive?”

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

Wei Song slightly leaned his body, and a tinge of excitement showed on his cold, hard face. “What evidence do you have?”

“There can be no evidence for such a thing. Your Honor would know that I’m speaking the truth by finding out more about the Wayless Qigong technique or the Wayless Book. A practitioner of such a technique suffers from periodic total loss of power.”

“Wayless Qigong,” repeated Wei Song softly, evidently not having heard of the technique.

“Good, you’ve done a good job. You’ve already accepted the money, what about the official post that I promised you, when would you want it?”

“When will your Honor leave Jade City?”

“One month later.”

“I wish to go along with your Honor.”

It would not be a good idea being caught trying to assassinate the Governor in the North City, therefore Gu Shenwei decided to change his plans.

“It won’t be a problem. I guess you won’t have an easy time with Blademaster Shen keeping a close watch on you. I’ll leave my post on the 13th day of the eighth month, and you had best arrive here punctually.”

Gu Shenwei felt that there was more than enough time for him. He planned to get the Wayless Book before dealing with the Governor.

Gu Shenwei lifted his head and gave the governor a glance when he retreated. He could not help but think, “Wei Song looks familiar to me, yet he couldn’t recognize the youngest child of his in-laws’ family anymore.”

Little did he know that Wei Song had felt his heart stir when he met the young killer. However, Wei felt that something so coincidental could never have happened and had quickly cast the thought to the back of his mind.

“Now that you have the money, I have to be careful of you.”

What was meant as a joke by Wei Song came as a warning to Gu Shenwei. After leaving the mansion, he thought carefully about the governor’s current position and decided to set up surveillance teams to monitor his movements. Now that the governor had got the intelligence he wanted, there was a possibility that he could flee from Jade City before his term was up.

It turned out that the Wei Song was not the only one who wanted to flee. When Gu Shenwei returned to his residence at the North City, Xu Xiaoyi came to inform him that Wu Shengqing had left with Parro, “I tried to persuade them to stay, but they would not listen to me. She said that it wasn’t safe for them to stay, and it would bring trouble to you, while he said that he couldn’t thank you enough for your kindness. Whatever it is, they’ve left without planning to repay you.”

Chu Nanping, who was concentrating on carving a suitable wooden sword, lifted his head to interrupt, “Madman Wu does not seem mad anymore.” His long sword was confiscated upon entering the North City, and this had made him uneasy to no end.

Gu Shenwei could not refrain from shaking his head. “It was remarkable that a woman could have so much influence over a man. To be heartless like a killer is the right thing to do. If you miss somebody else all the time, how could you kill and remain at peace with yourself?”

Gu Shenwei reminded the two youths not to go wandering about for the time being, as Blademaster Shen Liang was searching for leads on the assassins throughout the entire city; the danger period was not over yet.

He then made a trip back to the Kun Society in the South City, making some arrangements with capable machetemen that he trusted. He bypassed Liuhua, who was overseeing the Kun Society on behalf of the Tenth Young Master. He kept the marksman in the dark as to his actions.

Back at the Stone Castle, the person who was the most delighted to see him was Shangguan Ru. She questioned Slave Huan over every detail and seemed to think that doing good deeds was better than being a killer. When she heard that Wu Shengqing had fled Jade City with Parro, she clasped her palms together and prayed for them to have a safe and peaceful journey.

Gu Shenwei felt that there was an ominous tone to Shangguan Ru’s well wishes. In the Stone Castle, only the dead were ‘peaceful’.

Shangguan Ru finally was willing to pass on the secret to the Wayless Qigong technique after what had been promised was accomplished. However, she would not directly break her oath of secrecy to her brother, and purposely left behind a written message for her Eighth Sister-in-law to bring to Gu Shenwei.

“What does it mean? What’re you two up to?” Luo Ningcha questioned as she placed the note in a slot of the wooden wall. She was increasingly displeased at being made use of. There was only one line on the note: ‘The day of recital is the 15th day of the seventh month’.

Gu Shenwei understood the hidden meaning of this sentence.

Since Slave Huan had already uncovered the secret, Shangguan Ru could begin to explain in greater detail to him. “The Wayless Qigong technique is remembered by heart by the temple guard. As even a few wrong words could lead to qigong deviation for the practitioner, they’ve come up with a way to make sure that the guard does not remember the wrong words. On the 15th day of the seventh month of every year, the temple guard will recite it once. There are 15 Sacred Masters in Six Kills Temple each of whom has mmemorizeda portion of the technique. They’ll take turns to corroborate their parts with the temple guard. Once there’s any deviation, even if it’s just one word, they’ll have to request the lord to personally verify which version is correct.”

It was a complicated and tedious way to keep a secret, and the only benefit was that it was extremely safe.

Gu Shenwei had snuck into Six Kills Temple with Shangguan Ru and the others before, but it could not be considered a success, as they had been spotted from the beginning and only managed to steal what they came for because Mister Guo wanted to catch them in the act.

The second time anyone snuck into Six Kills Temple was when the Barren Sect came to kidnap the temple guard. They could not be considered to be successful as well, as Gu Shenwei had spilled the beans before they acted, and the Supreme King let them grab the fake temple guard to follow their trail.

This time around, there would be no more holding back – from either the trespassers or the guardians of the temple. The recital day as of prime importance and sensitivity to Six Kills Temple, and security would expectedly be tight. It would be impossibly difficult to get close to the temple guard.

Gu Shenwei felt that Shangguan Yun’s leaked intelligence did not amount to much, and he had only one chance to strike. He would most probably be dead on the 15th day of the seventh month next year…

“Why don’t we kidnap the temple guard before the recital day, and force him to divulge the technique,” suggested Gu Shenwei. His plan was not to act so covertly, and it was similar to that of the Barren Sect.

“It won’t do,” said Shangguan Ru enthusiastically. She still preferred this type of adrenaline-inducing game which did not involve killing anybody. “The temple guard has sworn an oath to not leak a word of the technique to anyone other than the Lord, even under the threat of death.”

Gu Shenwei himself did not think much of oaths, but he was aware that there were killers in the Golden Roc Fort who stuck to them. The temple guard came from a killer’s background, and torture or death would probably not scare him much.

While Gu Shenwei was busy with the rescue the past few days, Shangguan Ru had not kept idle. She had thought of a plan, which was largely inspired by him.

The plan was workable, but its problem was that it involved too many people. This would increase the probability that someone would spill the beans. This mission was different from rescuing a concubine of the Supreme King, as no one, not even Lady Meng herself, could bear the responsibility of being involved with eavesdropping on the recital of the Wayless Qigong technique.

Maid Lotus was listening at the side all the while, as she also had a role to play in Shangguan Ru’s plan. When the other two were hesitating, she interrupted, “Not everyone involved has to know the entire story. I have a way to keep our secret safe, and it can also allow Miss Luo and Lady Meng to patch things back up.”

After Maid Lotus touched up a crucial part of the plan, the three youths went their separate ways and begun preparing. At this time, there were only six days left to the 15th day of the seventh month.