บท 12: Names
บรรณาธิการ: Transn
The largest killer organization and the number one bandit gang in the Western Region were connected by a marriage. This was destined to cause a sensation in Jade City and be remembered for a long time.
Riding a horse among the bride-escorting procession, Gu Shenwei might have been the only person who was not interested in the wedding. He had been to Jade City once before. Now revisiting it, he was in a quite different mood.
Two years ago, the Gu family had marched laboriously in the desert for nearly a month. They initially had seen a densely populated place, Jade City. Parched, the first sip of water was like drinking bejeweled nectar. In the travelers' eyes, Jade City was comparable to an earthly paradise.
There were a large number of shops and taverns spread throughout the exterior of this city. All sorts of people from various places walked along the streets. It was the first time they had seen so many different races. They could not stop staring with wild abandon.
Master Gu Lun did not like this place, however. After staying for a while, he went to the yamen to exchange their passports. Once morning came about, they had to travel west. They were heading for an oasis manor that had been bought with the help of a bailee. The manor itself was hundreds of miles away.
"It's such a pity," thought both Gu Shenwei and his two elder brothers. His eldest brother had scolded his second brother for wanting to buy an exotic beauty, but he himself had stared fixedly at those beautiful women on the street, nearly falling off his horse.
Hoping to revisit Jade City to purchase a big-eyed, fair beauty someday, his second brother had kept quite a few private savings. He had hidden them under his bed.
The bride-escorting procession entered the city through the western gate and marched on the street with great fanfare. Both sides of the street were congested with onlookers. Everyone bowed, showing their respect and strewing flowers on the ground. It was a win-win marriage received like royalty.
In Jade City, the sword ruled all.
Golden Roc Fort was situated on the top of the mountain outside Jade City. The only access to it was a zigzagging mountain road, starting from the northern gate of Jade City. Seen from afar, the fort in the mountain looked like an imperial palace. The city at the foot of the mountain became its portal and its first line of defense.
Houses stood along the mountain road. Although it was not as populated as the city, it was not bleak. All the houses' doors and walls were decorated festively for the wedding in Golden Roc Fort. In fact, most of these households were associated with Golden Roc Fort in various aspects. By depending on the Supreme King, they could enjoy a good living.
The temperature gradually decreased with the rise in altitude, which brought a bit of briskness in the midsummer.
Approaching Golden Roc Fort for the first time, people would be astounded by the precipitous terrain. Under the mountain, no one would notice that the fort was built on an isolated summit surrounded by an unfathomable abyss. There was only a roughly 10-foot-wide stone bridge that connected the mountain road to the fort.
If someone were to walk on the bridge and look down, they would feel dizzy. There was no protection on both sides of the stone bridge. Clouds and mist drifted around and nothing could be heard.
As they passed over the bridge, everyone dismounted and began to walk. No one dared to risk the horses being frightened, lest they fall and break into pieces.
Cautiously and anxiously, they walked over the narrow stone bridge while holding onto the fort in awe.
It was an antique fort. In front of its gate was a vast, vacant piece of land, paved with bluestones, which was partially damaged.
The wall of the fort had huge rocks stacked up, varying in height. They were well-arranged with the lowest wall being 30 or 35 feet in height. On top of the wall, there were watchtowers spread with an infinite amount of piles of arrows. Countless flags rose up into the clouds.
If there were enough provisions, one man could defend against 10,000 enemies. No one would be able to break through the fort from the outside.
Gu Shenwei believed in the existence of the Will of the Divine more than ever. Because of that, he was able to enter Golden Roc Fort.
Opening the fort gate, the crowd stood at the entrance to greet the bride.
Gu Shenwei thought he could see Shangguan Fa, the legendary Supreme King. However, he was disappointed that he neither saw any other members of the Shangguan family except Shangguan Nu, nor got a chance to witness the scene of making ceremonial obeisance.
The 10 pairs of teenage boys and girls became the Shangguan family's property along with innumerable other dowries. They were taken over in Golden Roc Fort.
Appointed as the young mistress's personal servants, the girls were sent to Shangguan Nu's residence, while the boys were assigned to a small courtyard. "Firewood Yard" was engraved on the lintel, so Gu Shenwei presumed that their duty from now on was chopping firewood.
For these newcomers, the wedding banquet consisted only of ethereal music and faint laughter.
It was a peaceful, endless first night in Golden Roc Fort for them. Apart from someone bringing them dinner, no one cared about the new property. The 10 teenagers slept in one room, sharing a large, heated brick bed that could barely fit them all.
The pointy-faced teenager, Lin Yang, was the first to recover from the shock. The handprint on his face had already disappeared and his confidence had almost recovered. He was the one that thought of making a pact with everyone. Proclaiming himself as "big brother", they were now sworn brothers.
"This is Golden Roc Fort, you know? All of the major royal families in the Western Region have to respect the Shangguan family. We're lucky... no, I'm lucky. I can succeed in winning the Supreme King's favor. If you gain favor in Golden Roc Fort, you gain favor in the entire Jade City. As for you guys, if you follow me honestly and learn how to deal with people, you may be successful someday as well. Don't blame me for not warning you that at least one person will get killed every day in Golden Roc Fort. You'd better watch out!"
Lin Yang liked to frighten people but he liked to be flattered even more. Therefore, several scared, pale teenagers catered to his commands, begging him for special care.
After babbling for almost two hours, Lin Yang slept with satisfaction. The other teenagers also fell asleep one by one. Gu Shenwei could not fall asleep. Closing his eyes and then opening them, he could not remember the last time he had slept well.
He had already entered Golden Roc Fort. His sister might be locked up in here somewhere. He could even imagine her crying. Although it was quite risky to probe the fort, he could not tolerate giving up.
Despite the possibility of Lin Yang waking up and the traps spread outside, Gu Shenwei still quietly crawled up and sneaked out of the room, barefoot.
In the small yard, there were doors on the east and west sides. Outside the eastern door lay a long and deep alley, which Gu Shenwei and the others had passed through to enter the yard. Knowing that there were guards during the day, he decided to go from the western door to check out the surroundings outside.
The door was unlocked, which was a good sign. It was totally dark outside, however. It took Gu Shenwei some time to make out the surroundings. There was a flat, muddy ground with lots of gravel and vague shapes of large trees not far away.
The place looked like the outside, rather than a part of Golden Roc Fort.
Gu Shenwei was surprised at how easily he was able to leave the fort. He gingerly felt his way forward. After taking 30 or 40 steps, he felt a stone fall and heard a strange sound. He stopped walking and looked down. He was startled.
He was already standing on the edge of a cliff. If he had taken one more step, he would have fallen into the abyss. No wonder there was no guards here. In fact, there was no need for guards.
The sound of a pebble hitting the precipice below made a strange, weak sound on such a silent night. It sounded like a sort of shrill whistle, like an echo from the netherworld.
Gu Shenwei was tense as he slowly backed away two steps and ran back into the yard.
Back in the yard, Gu Shenwei calmed down and carefully walked to the eastern door. After pushing against it, he found that the door was locked. He walked back a few steps to observe where he could climb over. He suddenly collided with something, however. Turning around, he saw a man looking down at him.
The man in all black wore a mask, camouflaged in the night. His right hand was placed near the left side of his waist. If one looked closely, one would recognize that the man's hand was holding a hilt. He was as quiet as a ghost.
"Is there someone who is also here to pay Golden Roc Fort a nighttime visit like me?" Gu Shenwei thought.
Gu Shenwei was astonished and delighted. He remained motionless and silent because of what had happened on the cliff edge. He was more vigilant than usual.
They stared at each other for quite a while. Eventually, the man-in-black spoke first.
"You are violating the curfew order."
Gu Shenwei was disappointed that the man-in-black was actually a night watchman of Golden Roc Fort instead of an accomplice. Golden Roc Fort was impregnable from the outside and inside.
"I am new here, I did not know. I, I need to pee."
"You belong to the Eighth Young Mistress?"
Gu Shenwei nodded desperately.
The man-in-black hesitated, loosening the hilt that he was tightly holding.
"There is a chamber pot in the room."
Gu Shenwei knew that he had just narrowly escaped. He quickly nodded and ran back to the bedroom, finding the chamber pot. He was so nervous and afraid that the night watchman might still be spying on him outside, therefore, it took him a while to be able to urinate a little.
Lying on the brick bed, he still felt his heart beating wildly.
"No more risks." He warned himself secretly.
The other teenagers were sleeping soundly, snoring unceasingly.
Gu Shenwei had not thought about how to exact revenge yet. Worse still, the next day, he found it was quite hard to see Shangguan Nu.
Firewood Yard was not a place for firewood storage. It was a place for the dead.
Without a high status, anyone who was injured or sick would be sent to this small yard to await their death. In Golden Roc Fort, there were many who had a low status and could not receive any medical treatment. As Lin Yang had said, "At least one person dies every day."
Bighead Kingpin's daughter was enjoying her honeymoon while the 10 teenagers she had brought here were assigned to look after these dying people. They fell into "hell" when they woke up.
It was more painful to touch the dead and watch the wounds bleed and fester than to watch people being slain by swords. After one day's work, these teenagers looked decades older, silent and depressed. A rotten scent lingered in their noses. Even Lin Yang became dull, not saying a word.
The man in charge of Firewood Yard was in his 20s. He was thin and weak, with a little acne dotted on his pale face. It seemed like he had fallen ill and was sent here to wait for death, but after a long time, he became "the master" here. He had kept on living.
With a surname of Han, the man in charge was called "Slave Ji". He gnashed his teeth as he introduced his own name, as if blaming his terrible name on the teenagers.
He always held a roughly 3-foot-long rosewood stick and liked to say, "Hitting softens your bones, and teaching makes you good slaves."
The rules in Golden Roc Fort were stricter than in the Iron Mountain Gang. The first thing Slave Ji did after taking over the new servants was to give them new names. The naming was quite easy. He picked Chinese characters in sequence from the Thousand Character Classic and added one character, "Slave", to it. Excluding some taboo-breaking and complicated characters, there were 700 or 800 characters left, used by successive servants.
This was how Slave Ji had gotten his name.
He took out the name booklet, which was filled with all different kinds of signs, finding which characters were still available.
"San, Lv, Xiao, Yao, Xin, Zou, Lei, Qian, Qi, Xie, Huan, and Zhao. Well, Lv and Zou are used already, there are still 10 characters left, just enough."
The place for naming was in a yard next door. An old man with white hair and particularly loose skin was in charge of the naming. Slave Ji would confirm the character while the old man would find the matching iron mold and heat it up in the fire, turning the mold red.
Even though the teenagers were unable to understand Central Plain Chinese, they knew what would happen next. They glanced at each other. No one wanted to be the first.
"Hurry up! There are a lot of things to get done." Slave Ji urged them impatiently.
Lin Yang, with the new name of Slave Yao, pushed Gu Shenwei, who was beside him. Gu Shenwei became the first one to have his new name branded on his right arm.
Slave Huan.
His new name unexpectedly shared the same character with his nickname.
For the brother pair, the elder one and the younger one were called Slave Qi and Slave Xie, respectively.
On the teenagers' arms, two ugly characters and a flying bird were imprinted. The flying bird was the symbol of Golden Roc Fort.
Watching his new underlings with beads of sweat on their foreheads, Slave Ji felt quite content. He even showed his characters on his arm for everyone to look at. He pulled down his sleeves and said,
"Now, you're men of Golden Roc Fort. Whether you're alive or dead, you're now Lord King's servants. Right now, your lives are in my hands."
บท 13: Oaths
บรรณาธิการ: Transn
Gu Shenwei's new name was Slave Huan, and the first dying man he cared for was in his 20s. The young man had three deep cuts on his chest, and he seemed to have lost all sense of sensation as he quietly lay on the brick bed without a groan or any requests. Except for his faint breathing, he appeared to be dead.
Gu Shenwei was not really looking after the man, but rather watching the man's life fading away because the only assistance Slave Huan provided was to give him a bowl of water.
The only generosity Golden Roc Fort bestowed upon the injured was to not bury them while they were still alive.
The teenagers, who had just spent their first night in the fort and were still not familiar with their names, were sent here to take care of the dying people. With the strong smell of blood, they began their new life at their new "home".
Usually, a dying person only needed one caretaker. However, this was the offseason so he was the only patient in the yard. Therefore, Slave Ji asked all the teenagers to come over and get used to it, while he himself stood far away from the door with his nose covered.
"Now you see the fate of killers," Slave Ji said.
Slave Ji seemed to gloat over the man's misfortune, while the latter gave no response.
"He's Slave Jie, and he entered the fort on the same day as I did. Now look at him, he's lying there waiting for death, while I'm standing here watching him die. Haha, if you want to be a killer, strive for it in your next life."
Slave Jie did not refute the claims; perhaps he had not even heard Slave Ji's words. However, Slave Yao (Lin Yang) dared to look up and say, "But, one can be somebody once becoming a real killer, right?"
That provoked Slave Ji. "Yeah, be somebody. All of you go become killers. If anyone of you lives longer than me in East Castle, I'll kowtow to him. Look at yourself, you would dare to be a killer? Humph."
Slave Ji waved his rosewood stick menacingly, but he did not want to get too close to the dead, so he walked away. In his mind, Slave Jie was already dead.
Slave Jie died at dusk, and the teenagers were quite reluctant to touch the dead body. However, under the threat of that rosewood stick, they were forced to carry the body to the western door and threw it into the abyss.
"It's the final destination for all the servants in Golden Roc Fort. It's called Ghost Cliff. Listen carefully, there's a strange sound, isn't there? It's like a dying person groaning."
Slave Yao scared them, and the other teenagers ran back as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Slave Ji stood by the West Yard and snorted. No one knew whether he thought it was laughable or contemptible.
Gu Shenwei then followed the crowd. The night before, he had come to the cliff and heard the scream.
Later on, the teenagers learned from Slave Ji that the cliff outside the West Yard was named Ghost Cliff and that Slave Yao had not made up the story. However, nobody knew how he knew about the cliff.
Ghost Cliff was a triangle platform, in the middle of which there were the remains of a stone table. It was said that the dead had been previously cremated with a heap of firewood on it. That was the origin of the name Firewood Yard. Since Golden Roc Fort changed its customs, the stone table had gradually been demolished, leaving nothing behind but a little rubble and charred burn marks.
Over the next few days, the teenagers were tasked with waiting for somebody to die and then throwing the corpse off Ghost Cliff. Most of the dead were young people who had dreamed of being killers, entered East Castle to be apprentices, but had been ruthlessly kicked out.
Golden Roc Fort was divided into several relatively independent districts. East Castle was used to train killers, while West Castle consisted of various types of yards, such as Firewood Yard, specializing in the disposal of the dead.
Even while knowing that more people died than survived, people still wanted to enter East Castle, which was difficult for those teenagers to understand. Most of them agreed with Slave Ji—they preferred to be an alive, obedient slave in West Yard rather than a dead killer.
However, the ambitious Slave Yao seemed to think differently and repeatedly suggested that he had the potential to be a killer. Nobody took his words seriously because he was incapable of Kung Fu, and his constitution was not better than anyone else's.
Gu Shenwei used to think about whether he should strive to get into East Castle. Golden Roc Fort's killers had slaughtered the Gu family, and he thought being trained to be a killer and using it for revenge was a considerably attractive idea and a perfect plan in his mind. However, it would not be easy to make it come true.
First, he was pressed for time. Being the young Master of the Gu family, he could be recognized at any moment, so he had to get his revenge as soon as possible.
Second, the training in East Castle would be cruel and bloody, and few succeeded in surviving. He was afraid that he might die there without getting his revenge.
Third, the real problem was that an inferior family servant like him was not qualified to enter East Castle without a recommendation.
Gu Shenwei expected the enlightenment of the Will of the Divine again, but nothing happened.
Since he had entered Golden Roc Fort, it seemed as if the Will of the Divine had become blocked and kept out. He had no method for finding his sister or taking revenge. Now, not to mention exterminating the Shangguan family, he could not even see the edge of a piece of clothing belonging to Shangguan Nu.
He was genuinely afraid of becoming stuck in Firewood Yard and being forced to carry the dead for the rest of his life.
Not just him either, all of the teenagers had the worrying feeling about being forgotten. Golden Roc Fort did not seem to intend to treat the 10 children seriously. Like those dying people, they thought they would waste their lives in such an ominous yard until the arrival of their death.
The fifth day since arriving at the fort, those teenagers saw their first glimmer of hope.
Mama Xue, serving Miss Luo Ningcha, arrived.
Although the teenagers had never been treated in a friendly manner by Mama Xue, they had, in fact, suffered a lot of pain from her Iron Finger. Still, they felt as if they saw their kin, for only she could save them out of the abyss of misery.
That afternoon, Mama Xue opened the door, entered, and as usual spoke briefly. "Follow me."
The teenagers that had been cleaning the dead's room nearly gave out a cheer. However, Slave Ji stood by the door. Under the threat of his rosewood stick, no one dared to show any obvious pleasure.
"Who are you?"
Slave Ji looked at the unknown middle-aged woman in surprise. The woman walked so quietly that he had not heard her footsteps, which displeased him.
"I'm Miss Ningcha's wet nurse."
Slave Ji frowned, for he had never heard of Miss Ningcha in the fort, and the woman, flat as a coffin, did not look like anyone's wet nurse.
"What Miss?"
Mama Xue poked Slave Ji with one finger, and with a trace of a blush, Slave Ji grunted and fell down in the threshold.
"Let's go."
Mama Xue turned around and walked through the yard door, and the teenagers hurried to follow her. With a crafty mind, only Slave Yao helped Slave Ji pick himself up and whispered the woman's identity to him.
Passing through the eastern door, the alley, and then after several turns, Mama Xue led the 10 teenagers to the Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu's residence. All of Golden Roc Fort's masters' residences were gathered in North Castle, far away from Firewood Yard. Faced with numerous crossroads along the way, Gu Shenwei observed carefully, but was able to only memorize 60 or 70 percent. It was surprising that Mama Xue could find them easily, despite the fact that she was a newcomer.
The Eighth Young Master's residence faced south and consisted of inner and outer yards. Though it was not quite large, it looked fairly chic and quiet. It was hard to imagine that the master of this place was a killer.
Mama Xue pointed to the empty area in front of the main hall and gave the order: "Kneel down."
Except for Gu Shenwei, who hesitated, everyone did as Mama Xue said.
He thought about how he had made up his mind to take revenge by all means and that he could bear anything. Therefore, he quickly bent his knees and knelt on the ground simultaneously with the others.
Mama Xue still glanced at him, but it was not his hesitation that had caught her attention, but rather his upright back.
Along with the teenagers, there were 10 girls and several close maids that were already kneeling there with a restless look, indicating that something big had happened.
At the open door, there was a translucent screen, revealing a slender silhouette.
"Are they all here?"
"Yes, Miss."
Bighead Kingpin's daughter did not like the title of Mistress, so her close maids still called her Miss. Because of this, all of the servants that had come along with her were required to call her Miss.
"Let them make vows, one by one."
It was the voice of Bighead Kingpin's daughter from his memory, the one whose tone had been void of the shyness or happiness of a bride, but full of uncontrollable anger.
"I, Mama Xue, swear to the heavens that I'll be loyal only to Miss Luo Ningcha, daughter of Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain. I'll follow my lord's surname Luo and never change it. If I break my oath, I'll be punished with lightning and thunder and fall into the bottom of hell with no chance for reincarnation."
Using sincere words, Slave Yao followed Mama Xue and swore an oath first. If Gu Shenwei had not known Slave Yao well, he would have thought that Slave Yao had been serving the Miss for many years.
Slave Yao could inquire about some news. For example, he knew of Ghost Cliff, which proved that his way of dealing with people would be helpful in Golden Roc Fort.
Gu Shenwei still needed to get to know the enemies' lair, so he followed Slave Yao and he was the second one to take an oath. With the new first name and surname, he opened his mouth to swear. Meanwhile, he repeated in his mind, "I'm Gu Shenwei."
It was not easy for the teenagers who could not speak Central Plains Chinese well to swear an oath, so Slave Yao volunteered to be their translator. Although they stuttered while repeating Slave Yao's words, the teenagers unexpectedly finished their oaths.
However, no one knew why Bighead Kingpin's daughter suddenly made them do so.
After the oath-taking ritual, the Miss behind the screen asked, "Mama Xue, who do you think is well-suited?"
"The other things are unimportant. The key point is that the person must be clever, so I think he's suited."
The person she pointed to was Slave Yao, and he instantly moved forward two steps on his knees. He kowtowed as he said, "I'll go through raging fire and boiling water for Miss."
The Miss did not comment on what he was suited for, saying only, "That's him." With that, the impromptu show of swearing allegiance thus ended.
Later, the teenagers were sent back to Firewood Yard by a maid, except for Slave Yao, who was left alone and did not return until nightfall.
Slave Ji grumbled in a low voice while he locked the yard door. Now that he was aware of Mama Xue's identity, he would not dare to directly challenge her. Therefore, the only thing he could do was to give a torrent of oblique abuse. In his eyes, the 10 teenagers "belonged" to him, and Mama Xue and the Eighth Young Mistress's interference broke his control and challenged his benefit.
Slave Yao did not mind Slave Ji's verbal abuse. Back in the communal room, he kicked off his shoes and jumped onto the brick bed. Lying on his back, he let out a relaxing sigh, after which he kept silent for quite a while.
Everyone knew his temperament and understood that he would brag about the special treatment from the Miss sooner or later.
Eventually, Slave Yao said casually, "From tomorrow on, I won't be looking after the dead with you." He said this as if he had suddenly thought of something unimportant.
"Why? Will you leave here?" someone asked curiously. In Golden Roc Fort, Central Plains Chinese was the common language, and several northern barbarian teenagers had learned a few words so they could kind of communicate.
"Mama Xue's going to teach me Kung Fu. I'll be a killer soon."
Everyone was startled by his words. Slave Yao had shown his interest in being a killer previously, however, it was unexpected that good fortune would fall on him so fast.
"Can you?" Slave Qi said in his ponderous Central Plains Chinese. Although he and his brother, Slave Xie, had participated in the sworn brother ceremony, they had never forgotten Slave Yao's betrayal.
In fact, everyone had similar doubts about whether Slave Yao could become a killer. The first dead man they saw had been a killer apprentice that had been kicked out of East Castle. With such a weak body, Slave Yao probably would not stick to it for one day and would be carried back to Firewood Yard.
"You know nothing," Slave Yao said disdainfully. "Killers are still human beings. They have different ranks, and also follow the social rules. An ordinary person that entered would die, but the Eighth Young Master and the Eighth Young Mistress recommended me. Who would dare to kill me?"
No one could refute his words. They knew nothing about the real situation in Golden Roc Fort.
However, Gu Shenwei had been moved by his words.
He did not want to waste time becoming a killer, but if he could gain the masters' favor and recommendation, it would be possible for him to get close to Shangguan Nu.
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