บท 7: The Assassin
บรรณาธิการ: Transn
Gu Shenwei knew that flag.
It was now two years ago that the entire Gu Family, which included dozens of people, had left the Central Plains and traveled through the desert to the unknown Western Region. They had hired many helpers along the way to assist them in their journey. Among these was a helper who carried the Golden Roc Flag. He was not a guide, though he did always walk in front of the procession. He was not a servant either, for he did not do any chores. He always kept his distance from his employer and made the coachmen and other servants feel uneasy.
The journey to the Western Region was dull, but Gu Shenwei remembered clearly that the family never suffered any attacks from bandits along the way. Their safe travels seemed to confirm Master Gu Lun's good judgment in navigating the Western Region. However, in truth, it had been Golden Roc Fort that had protected them.
Golden Roc Fort was once the protector of the Gu family. This fact added to Gu Shenwei's confusion as to why, two years after the family's journey, the gang had become murderous butchers. He even began to doubt whether the bandit known as Eagle had made a mistake.
The two flag-bearers stood firm as the knight in black approached alone, carried swiftly by his horse. He stopped just over 10 steps away from Long Feidu and dismounted, putting down his longbow without haste, as if he were going to greet an old friend.
"What a rare visitor to Golden Roc Fort. A swordsman from the Snowmountain!
"Hey! You even dare to fight alone. This is indeed a rare sight."
"It seems that I have no choice. But in any case, I've undergone several days of training in the art of combat.
"I'm Long Feidu from Tanduo Peak of the Great Snowmountain."
Long Feidu held the sword in both hands, the blade slanting toward the ground.
"I've heard a lot about you. But I'm a nobody in Golden Roc Fort. It's not even worth mentioning my name."
The assassin in black drew out his blade, which was starkly different from the typical scimitar used by bandits. This knife was flat and narrow, with a blade barely two feet long. It would have looked like a needle placed next to Long Feidu's long sword.
The two combatants drew closer to each other. The onlookers all held their breath, waiting to witness the result of this duel.
Gu Shenwei was anxiously hoping for swordsman's success. He had already made up his mind that no matter how Long Dufei treated the two teenagers, he would not interfere again.
The killer and the swordsman came within three steps of each other, but neither made a move. They stared at each other, nodding as if they were merely acquaintances who would pass by.
Gu Shenwei's heart was in his mouth. He had witnessed and even had participated in a few fights. Both sides would ready themselves at a distance and continually adjust their positions while they came closer. But he had never seen anything quite like what was happening between these two opponents. It was so much like a casual dance that he felt no sense of murderous feelings waiting at the other side of the fight.
The two of them were standing shoulder to shoulder with less than a step's length between them. But they still stood staring at each other. Then, the murderous feeling suddenly burst forth. The long sword and the narrow knife waved simultaneously in the blink of an eye.
Though the onlookers were prepared and did not dare to avert their eyes, they were all shocked and leaned back unconsciously, as if the weapons were aimed at their own vital parts.
The sword and the dagger swung like lightning, but did not touch each other. The assassin in black stepped backward even faster than he wielded his dagger. In the blink of an eye, he already stood five steps away, just at the edge of the long sword's attacking range.
Long Feidu withdrew his move just before the strike reached its full power.
No one seemed to win the first round. Gu Shenwei thought the swordsman had been the stronger contender, but he questioned this assessment as he recalled something that his father had once said.
Gu Lun had always spoiled his youngest son and had never pushed him too hard to practice Kung Fu. However, once when Gu Shenwei was criticizing others' martial arts, Gu Lun became unusually serious. He pointed at his own eyes and hands, and said, "Having sharp eyesight is much more difficult than having skillful hands."
Gu Shenwei had not taken his father's words seriously then, but now he believed them.
Long Feidu had killed six outlaws with just a few maneuvers. The killers from Golden Roc Fort had noiselessly slaughtered dozens of people in the Gu family. Even though the assassin in black in front of him might not have been one of those killers, his Kung Fu skills could not be underestimated. Both of them were top masters. However, at such a crucial moment, their movements were so simple and even seemed a little rough. Each move was quite similar to the servant Yang Zheng's unchanged strike of his lance.
Gu Shenwei had already learned several sets of fist and sword techniques, and could make reasonable comments on the various schools of martial arts of the Central Plains. However, he would not be able to fight against even the most ordinary bandits.
"Superficial." His father once laid this comment on him, smiling and shaking his head.
The assassin and the swordsman crossed swords once again. This time there was no cautious approach. Instead, they dashed out like forceful arrows, or leopards pouncing their prey. In the blink of an eye, their weapons clashed, emitting harsh noises.
The assassin in black stepped back first. This time he retreated further than 10 steps away. He was visibly nervous, every inch of his hair standing on end.
Long Feidu wielded his sword again and stepped forward.
Gu Shenwei felt a flicker of shock, thinking the swordsman would chase his opponent and strike a fatal blow. He was wrong. Long Feidu immediately stopped after a single step. It was a stalemate.
The two opposed each other like statues for a long time, confusing the onlookers. No one dared to applaud. If they stood for the wrong team, they would pay with their lives.
"Mercy Powder. I should have thought of it." Long Feidu suddenly knelt on one leg, the hilt gripped in his hands. It was no longer a weapon but a crutch.
Gu Shenwei had no idea what Mercy Powder was, nor did the other onlookers. However, it was clear to everyone that a scheme had been plotted against the swordsman.
"You swordsmen always say 'I should have thought', but never prepare for it. Humph." The assassin in black scorned the loser without mercy.
"Mercy Powder has no color and no smell, but it's very harmful. The victim becomes weak and feeble. 15 years ago, the Supreme King swore to destroy it and never use it again. Now it appears again. Golden Roc Fort hasn't changed at all, still as untrustworthy as ever."
"Well, as knowledgeable as you seem to be, I'm afraid you're wrong. This is not Mercy Powder, so Lord King hasn't broken his pledge, and Golden Roc Fort maintains its honor, especially in keeping the rule that we never spare any survivors. You can believe that!"
The assassin in black walked behind Long Feidu as he spoke, and put the sharp tip of his blade against the swordsman's shoulder.
"That's it?" Gu Shenwei could not believe it, for he was expecting Long Feidu to fight back. However, it was merely a teenager's wish that good people should win and fairness should defeat trickery. The swordsman "should have thought of it". Nevertheless, "should have" could never become reality.
The assassin in black slowly stabbed the body with his narrow dagger until only the hilt was left outside. Long Feidu did not resist and died in peace. Only the corpse held the sword and knelt there. Not far from him lay the six bandits who he had killed.
The assassin in black held the bloody dagger and turned back to look at those bandits.
He had killed a real swordsman. True, his methods were dirty, but he was still the winner. Everyone knew that they would be able to kill him if they all united. However, in front of a bullying dog, they were like gentle sheep, frightened and submissive, no matter how rude they used to be while stealing other people's belongings and livestock.
The assassin looked at them with scorn and wiped the blood off of his dagger with Long Feidu's body. He slid the dagger into its sheath, walked back, and mounted his horse. After a while, he said grimly, "Finish your business and leave immediately. No one may stay."
The bandits felt relieved and kept nodding their heads to show agreement.
The Snowmountain swordsman had disappointed him, but Gu Shenwei was more contemptuous of the bandits. The dawn of revenge had faded away after shining briefly.
Gu Shenwei could not figure out how to defeat his enemies, the members of Golden Roc Fort. He had originally thought that once he mastered Yin and Yang Strength by practicing the ways taught in the shortcut manual, he would be able to kill all his enemies. Now he realized that it would not be easy.
He also realized something else. His father, his two elder brothers, and Master Shifu Yang would have been able to fight back if they had not been plotted against like Long Feidu had.
The assassin in black rode his horse forward, turned eastward at the intersection and entered the territory of Golden Roc Fort. The two flag-bearers followed him closely, like two female lions following after a male lion who had just defeated an intruder. The onlookers at the west of the intersection were merely frightened wild dogs.
"Finish your business and leave immediately." Gu Shenwei immediately understood the meaning of this sentence, and discovered that he was to be treated as merchandise.
Soon after the assassins of Golden Roc Fort left, a group of traveling merchants came from the northern mountain pass in a long caravan. Some of them rode horses, and some drove carriages. They wore a variety of different clothing, a miscellany of many hundreds of people.
The merchants and the bandits formed two opposite groups with a clear boundary, but they reached a peaceful agreement on this road. Both sides were waiting for each other. The bandits took out goods and people they had robbed, behaving like new salesmen. They sold all they had to the merchants who walked by. In fact, they could not tell the names of most of their goods.
Those merchants loved this kind of business as it was cheap. If they were lucky enough, they might even get a rare treasure from those bandits who knew nothing of its true value. Most importantly, the T-junction was safe. Even the most vicious bandits had to hold back their impulses, not daring to touch one finger of the merchants who carried gold and silver.
They had already paid the protection fee to Golden Roc Fort, the largest gang of bandits in the Western Region. In return, they gained privilege, which protected them from small groups of bandits.
The trade was in full swing. Soon the bloody smell of the seven corpses washed away. When Gu Shenwei peered through the crowd to view the nearby Snowmountain swordsman, he found that the body had fallen on the ground and the long sword had disappeared. Naturally, the corpses had been robbed and nothing was left.
With so many feelings welled up, Gu Shenwei became overwhelmed. By contrast, the two teenagers in front of him did not have many thoughts at all. They had just narrowly escaped, and the assassin of Golden Roc Fort was their unexpected "savior". Now they had to save themselves.
They began to untie the rope using their teeth. The rest of the captives were stupefied for a moment before they all realized that they were now free. Their "masters", the six bandits from the Eagle Gang, were dead.
Unfortunately, "master" was not an uncommon thing at this T-junction dominated by bandits and merchants. Before the captives untied their ropes, a few merchants had already arrived. They commanded their slaves to cut off the ropes and were ready to take all of the "commodities".
Some of the captives submissively followed their new masters while others tried to explain to the merchants.
"I'm not a slave!"
Gu Shenwei cried out at the Big Beard who was coming for him. The other two teenagers also shouted in another language. No matter what languages they used, their cries were only answered with laughter.
The Big Beard put away his short dagger and grabbed one of Gu Shenwei's arms to drag him to a cart. Gu Shenwei was full of anger. Having no other outlet to vent it, he kicked the Big Beard with all his strength.
Although Gu Shenwei was young and his Kung Fu was poor, the power of the kick was not at all weak. The Big Beard cried out in pain and angrily punched Gu Shenwei in his lower abdomen.
This punch was even harder than the kick. Even though Gu Shenwei had thought of how he might defend himself, he was beaten down before he could take any action. The Big Beard hit more heavily than the manor servants of the Gu family.
The Big Beard intended to continue the beating, but a merchant snapped a few words, which probably meant that he should not beat the slave to death, as he was "purchased" goods.
The Big Beard, who had been kicked, happened to bear grudges. He deliberately knocked the teenager's head against a wooden fence when opening the cage. Gu Shenwei felt dizzy as he was thrown into the cage.
Gu Shenwei was not alone in this cage. A person, who was bumped against by him, screamed and kicked him away. Gu Shenwei rolled aside. After a long while, he regained consciousness and found that the trade caravan had started their trip to the east to follow the Golden Roc Flag.
There was more than one cage cart, all following in procession. Oxen with great horns were pulling the carts, and ferocious barbarian knights rode by their sides.
Gu Shenwei looked back inside the cage. A dozen children were huddling in the haystack and all staring at him fearfully. He had no idea who it was that his weight had been thrown upon just now.
The hope for joining the Great Snowmountain was broken, and he had no choice but to start all over again. He reached his hand to his chest for the white handkerchief in order to check whether there were any of those words that he desperately wanted to read.
But the white handkerchief was gone.
Gu Shenwei felt dizzy. He searched his whole body, but could not find it, not even a trace of it in the nearby piles of hay.
บท 8: The Pointy Face
บรรณาธิการ: Transn
He must have lost the white handkerchief when fighting with the Big Beard. Gu Shenwei clung to the wooden palisade of the cage and looked back, but he could only see a long string of oxcarts. After quite a while, he was able to get a wider view when it made a turn.
The T-junction was out of his sight, and the fleet was already off in the distance.
Gu Shenwei gripped so tightly that his knuckles became pale. He looked back blankly and could not believe that the family's secret manuscript had gone just like that.
"Did you guys... see a piece of white cloth?"
With his last ray of hope, Gu Shenwei turned around and asked the other children in the cage.
However, no one answered or even looked up at this newcomer. Gu Shenwei did not know whether it was because of the language barrier or simply unwillingness.
"A piece of white..."
Gu Shenwei tried to show the size of the white handkerchief with his hands, but he said with less and less confidence. All the children were so skinny in rags. They would not be interested in a piece of cloth at all.
"They didn't understand what you said."
After the oxcart moved some length, a teenager in the corner finally spoke up.
This teenager was probably the same age as Gu Shenwei. He was comely with a pointy face. Compared to the other children, his clothes were clean. The cage was very small, but he occupied an entire corner by himself. Playing with a straw stick in his hands, he was staring at the newcomer inquisitively.
"The white handkerchief, a piece of white cloth. Have you seen it?" Gu Shenwei urgently asked.
The pointy-faced teenager thought for a while and shook his head. "No. Does it matter much?"
Gu Shenwei sat down, disappointed. His mind was going blank.
"Where are we going?" he asked unconsciously after quite a while.
"Jade City."
Gu Shenwei knew this city. It was the major city in the Western Region. As a transportation hub, it attracted numerous trade caravans to gather there. It was a paradise for feasting, but hell for living by using daggers and swords. He had stayed there for one night before, and suddenly thought, "Isn't Golden Roc Fort outside the city?"
Gu Shenwei looked up just in time to meet the pointy-faced teenager's gaze, as if there was something weird about him that could attract the teenager's constant attention.
"Do you know me?" Gu Shenwei asked with a hint of anger. Only the two of them in the cage could speak Central Plains Chinese. However, Gu Shenwei was in no mood for making friends, as he had become a slave, and had also lost the crucial secret manuscript of the Gu family.
"A rich kid." The pointy-faced teenager sneered. His tone was frivolous and full of sarcasm.
"What are you talking about?" A flame of fury sprang to his head, though for the most part, the pointy-faced teenager was not the true source of this anger.
"Nothing. Once we arrive in Jade City, all of us will be sold, but no one will buy you to be a young Master again. I'm kindly reminding you that it's not easy to adjust going from a young Master to a slave. The slaves have their own rules and ways of living. Do you want my advice?"
Gu Shenwei nodded, for his words sounded very reasonable.
"Wash your butt clean."
The pointy-faced teenager said this solemnly and showed a slight smile. His smile became more and more obvious, and finally turned into crazy laughter that carried on and on.
Gu Shenwei could not understand what he meant for a long time and only felt uncomfortable with his presumptuous laughter. He gradually realized the obscenity of it. However, the best time for taking offense had passed. In his limited, extravagant life experience, he had never learned how to deal with this kind of situation.
The pointy-faced teenager gained an advantage by his words and became more impudent. After the roaring laughter, he pretended to be serious and said,
"Take it easy. A young Master like you looks quite clean. When we arrive in Jade City, surely there will be people queuing up to buy you. You'll have a bright future. Haha, your butt will be busy."
That was undoubtedly an insult.
Gu Shenwei leaped forward and pounced at the pointy-faced teenager, but he stumbled over the children in the middle. They rolled up into balls and yelled in pain, which aroused a guard's attention. Without saying a word, he took out a club to randomly thwack at the chaotic scene inside the cage.
The children quickly separated. Each of them got some hits, as did Gu Shenwei. The pointy-faced teenager in the corner, however, was beyond the reach of the stick.
The pointy-faced teenager was trying his best not to laugh. After the guard left, he gave a hearty laugh that shook his belly until he was nearly out of breath.
Gu Shenwei did not expect there to be such an annoying person in the entire world. Besides the assassins in Golden Roc Fort, he had never hated anyone as he hated this pointy-faced teenager.
Gu Shenwei was not the only target of the pointy-faced teenager's teasing. He always kept silent for a moment, and then suddenly blattered. He implicitly or explicitly talked about the miserable experience of becoming a slave, which provoked or scared the listeners into crying.
The pointy-faced teenager could speak several languages. The children in the cage came from different places, but he could talk to almost every one of them. He even made an abundance of various expressions and gestures to match his sensational rumors.
"Some masters even like to eat kids, especially kids at our ages. Every year, these slave traders will pick a group of children with the most tender meat and sell them to the rich who practice such a special hobby. He'll declare that you are disobedient, and that you talk back to your master and have plans of running away. Then he'll tie you uptight and wash your butt clean. He'll torture you while cutting your flesh to eat, slice by slice. He'll roast it or boil it. There're all kinds of ways to eat a slave. When the masters eat you, you'll be still alive, watching helplessly."
The pointy-faced teenager showed his two rows of white teeth, stuck out his tongue, and licked his teeth. "Wash your butts clean" was his favorite pet phrase.
He would not stop until a child at the age of eight or nine cried out. Then he would take a short breath out of satisfaction.
Soon after that, Gu Shenwei got accustomed to the pointy-faced teenager's causticity and chatter. He now felt like a terminal patient. Now that knowing the deadline would come soon, he had given up the will to survive. If he had any expectation at all, it was that death would soon come.
The trade caravan moved very slowly, day and night. The slaves were occasionally released to relieve themselves. Gu Shenwei was like a walking corpse without any resistance and did not even try to escape. He completely lost his confidence. Even the Will of the Divine had abandoned him, no longer giving him any hints.
The atmosphere of the trade caravan became more and more cheerful, as Jade City was right in front of them. There would be wealthy buyers, raptured brothels, and fine liquor. It was all waiting for them. Most crucially, they had entered the territory of Golden Roc Fort, which meant no more danger.
However, this sentiment was broken at noon on the third day. At that time, it would take the caravan only one more day to reach Jade City. The rest of the path was smoother with more green plants, and villages appeared. It did not look like a place where bandits would show up.
At that moment though, a gang of bandits appeared in front of the trade caravan. The people at the back could not see the actual situation, but the bad news was passed along one after another.
"There are some bandits in the way."
"How can there be bandits here?"
"Where's the killer from Golden Roc Fort? Isn't he leading the way for us?"
"Don't worry. We have so many people. There're only a few dozen bandits."
"Bighead Kingpin? It's Bighead Kingpin. Oh my god!"
Gu Shenwei was also somewhat impressed by Bighead Kingpin, who always appeared in horror stories. Those stories were so extraordinary that Gu Shenwei had always regarded him as a mythical figure and did not even expect to find out that he was real.
"It's over. Bighead Kingpin loves eating kids the most. No matter whether your butt is clean or not, he'll eat it anyhow."
The pointy-faced teenager turned pale and repeated it in four or five languages. His expression was not as frivolous as usual and his voice was trembling, which made his remark seem a bit more authentic.
All the children in the Western Region had heard the story of Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain. Once reminded, they all fell into a panic. Some timid children even curled themselves up in the haystack, shivering and not even daring to look up.
It was not Bighead Kingpin himself that spoke to the trade caravan at first. When the whole caravan was scared to death, a frightening voice came in.
"Don't be afraid. I'm a friend of the Supreme King. I don't do business in his territory. I'm not coming here to steal. I only want to buy something."
The merchants felt even more surprised that Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain wanted to "buy" something. No one dared to answer him, for fear that it was the bandits' slang. Once one stepped forward to fawn, what he got might be a fast knife.
After Bighead Kingpin's underlings threw two big packs of shining silver on the ground, the leader of the trade caravan ventured to ask,
"What would you like to buy, my lord? We have..."
"Slaves."
After hearing that, the merchants took three steps back all together. They all huddled together and wondered who had offended this big demon to the extent that he wanted to buy from them.
It was indeed unexpected that Bighead Kingpin would be an ordinary buyer. A skinny middle-aged woman came out of the bandit caravan and led a small team to check each slave cage. Then she let the team drag out the children that she liked.
The merchants felt relieved, but the slaves, who heard the news, were truly frightened. The pointy-faced teenager was stunned at first. Then he fumbled in the haystack, picked up two handfuls of ash and smeared it on his face.
His move reminded everyone. Even the despondent Gu Shenwei also joined the group to grab the ash, trying his best to make himself the ugliest and the most inconspicuous that he could be.
The skinny woman seemed to be capable of seeing through the children's guise at a glance. It did not matter how thick the ashes were on their faces. She simply glanced over the cage and chose two children.
Gu Shenwei made up his mind and jumped out of the cage by himself. The pointy-faced teenager was paralyzed in the corner, holding onto the hope that he could be safe, but a bandit eventually dragged him out.
The skinny woman finished her job quickly. In the end, she picked out 10 boys and 10 girls. All of them were around 10 years old. The two teenagers who had been chased by the Snowmountain swordsman, Long Feidu, were also chosen.
"Virgin boys' and virgin girls' flesh is the most tender. We are bound to have our butts washed and wait to be eaten."
The pointy-faced teenager only spoke in Central Plain Chinese this time. Then, he disappointedly followed Gu Shenwei, grasped his arm firmly and walked toward their new master.
Bighead Kingpin was at the forefront of the caravan the entire time. Gu Shenwei only heard his voice, but had never seen him. At this time, he boldly looked up and got a glimpse of him. Though he had already prepared himself emotionally, he was still scared. He wondered how there could be such a horrible person in the world.
Bighead Kingpin rode a dark horse. His upper body alone was almost as tall as a normal person. His name fitted him well, as his head was as big as a bucket, with loose fluffy hair that made his head look even bigger. He looked like a large ancient vessel carved with a Taotie (a mythical ferocious animal). With his giant eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, he resembled a statue just coming out of the temple.
His naked upper body had tight muscles, shining in the sun.
His black horse was also different. It was a circle bigger than an ordinary horse. With dense teeth and fierce eyes, it was like a fierce carnivorous beast.
Gu Shenwei somewhat believed the legend of Bighead Kingpin eating people. The pointy-faced teenager behind him staggered and almost fell on him.
Bighead Kingpin's caravan had many horses. More than a dozen horses were immediately led out. The new boys and girls were forced to mount the horses and ride by themselves or with others.
The pointy-faced teenager decided to stick with Gu Shenwei. He rode on the same horse as Gu Shenwei and wrapped around his waist from the back. No matter how hard Gu Shenwei struggled to get rid of him, the teenager would not let go.
The Iron Mountain bandits had bought enough people, so they turned the horses eastward and galloped away. There were nearly 10,000 taels of silver left on the road, enough to buy dozens of slaves. The merchants were still in shock. Though Bighead Kingpin had disappeared, no one dared to take the money.
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