บท 37: Reincarnation Cliff
บรรณาธิการ: Transn
To avenge his family, Gu Shenwei felt like he had possessed the killing desire for a long time. He had just been trying to keep it hidden and avoid stirring it up.
But he found it hard to convert his killing desire into killing intent, especially when he had to use a wooden saber against his opponent. He could not even treat the twins of the Shangguan family as his enemies, let alone Slave Qian, who had once lived together with him.
However, the feeling of hatred was on call at any time. It mercilessly devoured its owner's viscera, hurting its owner, but it was unwilling to work on its owner's enemy.
Gripping the wooden saber with both hands, Gu Shenwei realized that he had to regard Slave Qian as the person he hated the most before stirring up the killing desire.
Shangguan Fa was the one who ordered the slaughter of the Gu family. Unfortunately, Gu Shenwei could not imagine what he looked like because he had never seen the Supreme King.
Shangguan Nu, the principal villain who killed his parents and elder brothers, was the enemy he had seen and approached. Nevertheless, regardless of whether Gu Shenwei wanted to admit it or not, his fear of the Eighth Young Master's figure had overwhelmed his hatred.
As for Han Shiqi, the traitor that lurked in the Gu's manor, Gu Shenwei had already stabbed him to death. His heart had no fear as it only held hatred for the dead man.
A strange feeling arose in Gu Shenwei's heart. Suddenly, he felt as if the wooden saber was turning into a part of his body. Although it was the first time he used it, he was very confident of his victory. In his eyes, Slave Qian became "Han Shiqi", who moved stiffly and could easily be defeated.
A drifting voice said, "Start." He felt that the order was like a hand releasing a fully-bent bow and he was the sharp arrow that was notched on the string.
The two teenagers simultaneously launched their strikes. Compared to their speed, their movements were rather bland. One approached by cutting down from above and the other chopped at the opponent's lower abdomen with a flat cut.
The contest ended after only one strike. If they were two famous people or adults, the onlookers would have regarded it as a typical duel between masters. However, they were teenagers. One was a heavily injured slave and the other was the weakest apprentice in his own sect. Therefore, the scene seemed quite ridiculous.
"Oh, what happened? Why did they stop fighting? Who's the winner?" Shangguan Fei shouted. He was confused like the majority of the people.
In the arena, Gu Shenwei was kneeling on one knee, his wooden saber was resting horizontally on Slave Qian's lower abdomen. Slave Qian was standing with a bent back, his weapon was pressing on Slave Huan's left shoulder.
If those were real sabers, one of them would have his abdomen cut through and the other would have his body cleaved in half. Both were fatal blows, so the key was who had been hit first. The one who was struck first would not have been able to move and, of course, would be the loser.
The two separated and retreated. Since neither of them was arrogant, they would not claim the victory for themselves. Therefore, everyone turned their eyes to Hu Shining. As the training tutor, he was experienced and had a sharp eye, so he would not misjudge the result.
Hu Shining kept a poker face, as if the two teenagers had made a big mistake. He walked toward Slave Qian, grabbed his wooden saber, and raised it high without saying a word. Suddenly, he forcibly broke the wooden saber with his bare hands.
Then, under everyone's surprised gaze, he approached Gu Shenwei with the two pieces of the wooden saber in both hands, silently presenting them to him.
Now that his killing desire had already disappeared, Gu Shenwei felt unsure of what was happening. Under Hu Shining's persistent gaze, he felt pressured into having to take the broken saber. He glanced at his opponent, Slave Qian.
Slave Qian flushed with shame. He stared at his own toes, as if he were naked under the watchful eyes of everyone but not daring to cover himself.
"Moonhold School wins."
As Hu Shining announced the result, Shangguan Ru and her fellows jumped with joy.
"One more round, one more round."
Shangguan Yushi urged, but Hu Shining declined while shaking his head. "There's no need for one more round. No apprentice in Carvewood Academy is a match for him."
The crowd was confused as to why the training tutor thought so highly of a slave. The twins had fought with Slave Huan once, and they felt that he was almost on par with them. They had never heard of such a compliment from Hu Shining.
"Humph! Never mind, let's go." Shangguan Ru thought the training tutor was just making excuses, so she turned to leave.
Gu Shenwei gripped his own wooden saber in one hand while the other two broken saber pieces were in his other hand. Since he did not know where to put them, he walked over to Hu Shining and, with great respect, handed them back to him.
Hu Shining casually took them back, and could not help asking, "What's your name? Why aren't you in East Castle?"
"I'm Slave Huan, I practice Internal Strength."
Hu Shining shook his head in regret. From the killing intent he felt within him, he had thought that Gu Shenwei was a natural killer. It was a pity that he was not a killer in East Castle.
Gu Shenwei turned to catch up with his masters. Hu Shining stared at his back with regret. Suddenly, he thought that it might be risky for the two young masters to keep being around such a special teenager.
The idea just now flashed across his mind but he could not prove that the boy was dangerous. He had better not ask for trouble.
Behind him, the defeated Slave Qian suddenly held his abdomen and began to vomit violently.
When she saw Slave Huan coming out of Carvewood Academy, Shangguan Ru stepped forward and gave him a punch. She said with a smile, "You're good at saberplay, you've been hiding your strength from us."
Gu Shenwei knew she did not really mean anything by the punch, so he accepted the hit with a smile. Suddenly, he knelt down and said with inspiration, "Master Shifu, my Kung Fu isn't worth mentioning compared to yours."
"Who's your Master Shifu?" Shangguan Ru asked in a loud voice, but her smiling face was as beautiful as a flower. Obviously, she did not hate that title.
"When I stepped onto the arena, you recognized me as your apprentice on behalf of our Moonhold School."
With a serious expression on her face, Shangguan Ru sized Slave Huan up with her head tilted to one side. Suddenly, she burst into laughter and said, "Well, since you did quite well today, I'll take you as my apprentice. But remember, I'm strict. If you aren't obedient or don't work hard, I'll punish you."
"Of course. A strict teacher is as important as a father. My humble life is in your hands."
A few months ago, Gu Shenwei would have felt embarrassed just by watching others use such flattery. But now, he could do the same without any difficulty.
This was exactly how hardships and hatred would transform a person.
Shangguan Fei became unhappy about Shangguan Ru having an apprentice. He interjected, "Since I'm the deputy head of our school, I should be Slave Huan's mentor, too."
"Every apprentice should only have one mentor. If you really want to be a mentor, you could find other students to be your apprentice. Well, you two, pay respects to your Master Shifu."
The two young personal attendants were clever. On hearing Shangguan Ru's order, they immediately knelt in front of Shangguan Fei, calling him Master Shifu. They sounded even more sincere and friendlier than Gu Shenwei, so Shangguan Fei became proud and happy again.
Shangguan Yushi had been watching with a critical eye, and she could not bear it anymore. "Humph! They deliberately let you win. What makes you so proud?"
Originally, she was happy when Gu Shenwei won in the arena, but when she saw that he was taking the initiative and sparing no effort to please Shangguan Ru, she felt uncomfortable.
Shangguan Ru was in high spirits. She pulled her cousin's hand and said to Gu Shenwei, "Come and meet your Master Uncle Yu."
Gu Shenwei turned to Shangguan Yushi and said, "Nice to meet you, Master Uncle Yu."
Shangguan Yushi wanted to turn away, but she was firmly held tight by Shangguan Ru and had to receive Gu Shenwei's respects.
In the morning, Shangguan Ru was depressed about Marshal Yang's death. However, now she was cheerful because she had just set up a new sect and had received an apprentice. "Alas. This ceremony is too simple. Since Carvewood Academy has their own base, we should also have a base of our own. Where should we go?"
Everyone offered advice. Some proposed Moonhold Academy, some recommended Star Picking Academy, and some suggested a vacant house in Golden Roc Fort. However, Shangguan Ru did not like any of them, since they were not special enough to be a "base".
In the end, the smart Shangguan Yushi came up with a brilliant idea. She whispered in Shangguan Ru's ear, and the latter blurted out with excitement, "That's great! Let's go there."
With these words, she ran into the depths of East Castle with her cousin, followed by the other four teenagers, who were at a loss. Shangguan Fei asked while running, "Where are you going? Where are we going?"
It seemed that Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi did not know exactly where that place was either. They ran around in the alleys and frequently returned to the starting point. They ignored Shangguan Fei's questions, which made him so anxious that he jumped up and down and kicked his two "disciples" several times so that he could vent his anger.
As the six teenagers ran further and further, the yards they passed on both sides became less numerous. Finally, they saw a cliff at the end of an alley.
Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi felt refreshed. They kept running forward, while Shangguan Fei stopped chasing them, the color of his face paling. "I know where you're going. I'm not going."
The two young personal attendants were still running, but they suddenly realized something upon hearing Shangguan Fei's slightly changed voice. They immediately stopped and rushed back to their master's side.
Being the only one who was totally ignorant about the place, Gu Shenwei ran to the two ladies' side.
Shangguan Ru glanced back at Shangguan Fei and said disdainfully, "What a coward! You're not qualified to be a killer." Then she sped up. Shortly, the three of them arrived at the end of the alley.
It turned out the cliff was not there. A stone staircase slanted down until it reached a large fan-shaped platform dozens of feet down. The real cliff was situated right at its end, where there was no protection against falling.
"It must be here," Shangguan Yushi said mysteriously.
Gu Shenwei did not see anything special about that place except the landform. What surprised him was the familiar smell in the air, but he could not, at that moment, figure out what it was exactly.
"Hey, come back! That's Reincarnation Cliff. Let's go play somewhere else."
Shangguan Fei shouted from behind. The two ladies shrugged off his warning and smiled at each other. Shangguan Yushi turned to look at Slave Huan and asked, "Do you know about Reincarnation Cliff?"
Gu Shenwei nodded.
"This is where killers of Golden Roc Fort go up to heaven. The dead are dropped here."
Shangguan Yushi was waiting to see Slave Huan become panicked. To her disappointment, he only replied, "Ah," to show he finally knew what the place was, and he looked around out of curiosity instead of fear.
Gu Shenwei used to care for the wounded in Firewood Yard, and he had dropped many corpses off Ghost Cliff. He once wondered, now that the severely wounded were sent to Firewood Yard, what happened to those that had already died? Now he finally understood.
There was a similar place to Reincarnation Cliff in West Castle, and Gu Shenwei was cautious not to mention it. After all, his experience in Firewood Yard was not a good one.
Shangguan Yushi was astounded by Slave Huan's fearlessness. Even Shangguan Ru admired him a bit, since she had to pluck up her courage to come here.
Suddenly, they heard a sound of clanking metal coming from far away, like a bell that sounded in a welcoming ceremony. Next, they saw two men in black silently walk out of the alley carrying a corpse and heading for Reincarnation Cliff.
Shangguan Fei and the two young personal attendants turned pale. They hurriedly gave way to the men and pressed themselves against the wall.
The men carrying the corpse did not salute Shangguan Fei and continued moving forward with their heads down.
Shangguan Yushi's and Shangguan Ru's faces were a bit pale as well. But they only retreated a few steps and stood by the road. They watched the two men pass by and walk down the stone stairs.
The two men kept reciting some words. Gu Shenwei had also heard others mumbling them after Marshal Yang had killed several killers in a row. He did not listen carefully back then, but he finally heard them clearly this time.
"The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abyss.
"The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace."
There were merely 16 Chinese characters, and the two kept reciting them in a low voice, as if it was a mantra to drive away evil spirits.
Gu Shenwei was so deeply touched that he could not help asking, "What are they reciting?"
Shangguan Yushi continued reciting the words, while Shangguan Ru, as if she was afraid of disturbing someone, whispered,
"Death Scripture."
บท 38: A Lesson
บรรณาธิการ: Transn
From Shangguan Ru, Gu Shenwei learned that "Death Scripture" was a rebirth mantra passed on from generation to generation in Golden Roc Fort. As time went by, most of it had been forgotten, and only these two sentences were left.
Gu Shenwei meditated upon the words: "The living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace" and felt as if a knife were being twisted in his heart. It occurred to him that he was the "living" one, who was suffering in grief, but had the "dead", the members of his family, really "settled in peace"? If he could know their afterlife, maybe he would not need to bear the heavy burden of revenge.
Perhaps ignorance was the root of "the living suffer in grief".
The two men who had carried the corpse returned empty-handed. They bowed to salute the young masters as they went by before silently advancing with pale faces. Soon afterward, they disappeared into the depths of the alley, as if they had been affected by the ghostly atmosphere.
Shangguan Fei refused to play any longer. The two ladies also felt uneasy and did not insist either. Thus, the adventure was over, and the newly started ceremony of the "Moonhold School" to recruit new disciples came to an eventual end.
Gu Shenwei wanted to continue playing the "game", as it would be helpful for him in pleasing Shangguan Ru. However, Shangguan Yushi seemed to be wary of him. She requested to go back to the Inner Residence right after they left East Castle. Shangguan Fei, who was frightened, naturally agreed with her. Since Shangguan Ru was not able to dissuade them, she had no choice but to follow them.
Gu Shenwei and the other attendants were unqualified to enter the Inner Residence, so they were left behind. After the young masters left, Slave Qing bitterly scolded Slave Huan in front of everyone before their dismissal.
Hearing Gu Shenwei's report in the evening, Mama Xue was interested in the little game of the "Moonhold School" very much. She asked him to encourage Shangguan Ru to continue playing it. "You see. As long as you work hard, you can always make it. You should beg Master Ru to teach you Kung Fu. You'll benefit a lot if she, as the Lord's daughter, agrees to teach you a few maneuvers."
Although he knew it was not Mama Xue's real intention, Gu Shenwei eagerly said yes. He became more and more curious about this woman. "Does she want to learn Golden Roc Fort's Kung Fu secretly? But she's already powerful enough, especially with her Iron Fingers. Since she doesn't want to be a killer, what could be in Golden Roc Fort that is so attractive to her?"
"It's good that you beat Slave Qian. He may not be happy, but it doesn't matter. He needs to be prodded a little to teach him a few lessons," Mama Xue continued.
Gu Shenwei agreed while his heart sank. He had offended many people today just to please Shangguan Ru.
After bidding farewell to Mama Xue, Gu Shenwei returned to the stone house and quietly recalled what had happened that day.
He did not expect to be able to defeat Slave Qian with just one strike. He was also surprised by the fact that "the killing desire" could improve his Kung Fu so much.
Lying on the brick bed, Gu Shenwei tried to summon his "killing desire" again.
It was easier said than done. The killing desire was unlike a servant who came at his beckon. Gu Shenwei first tried facing the air and then the wall, but there was no change in his inner state. How could he have the killing desire toward a lifeless object?
He assumed he had to find a living person to practice it on.
Elderly Zhang was sleeping soundly at the end of the brick bed, opposite Gu Shenwei. They were more than three feet away from each other, which was almost the same distance as two opponents would be in a Kung Fu competition.
Gu Shenwei tried to imagine Elderly Zhang as Han Shiqi, and it worked. His killing desire gradually rose, and even without any weapon in hand, he believed he could kill the man with a finger, since there were so many weak but vital parts of a body, such as the eyes, throat, or genitalia.
His killing intent became stronger, and Gu Shenwei could hardly resist his urge to kill. All of a sudden, he realized where his killing desire came from.
The so-called killing desire was actually hatred without fear.
When he hated a person, it often meant he feared that person. Only by conquering fear could he transfrom his hatred into the killing desire and even power.
Gu Shenwei had already practiced this when he competed with Slave Qian during the day, but he only understood it now.
He suddenly saw the light as a brand-new world of martial arts loomed a few feet away from him.
However, the light disappeared in the blink of an eye. He only saw two frightened and raging eyes.
"What, what the hell are you doing?"
Elderly Zhang was sleeping tight before he was suddenly woken up by an indefinable panic and sense of crisis. He opened his eyes and happened to see the murderous Slave Huan.
Gu Shenwei was suddenly awakened. His killing desire, like a little shy beast, immediately hid in the darkness after being scolded and refused to show itself anymore.
"Nothing. I, I can't fall asleep."
"Can't fall asleep? Go out to stare at the moon if you can't fall asleep. Why are you staring at me?"
"I'm sorry, Elderly Zhang. I didn't mean it."
Elderly Zhang seemed shaken. He turned over while cursing and tried to fall back asleep with his back toward Slave Huan. But he did not dare to close his eyes anymore, so he swore again, rolled out of bed, and went outside after putting on his clothes. He was in no mood to look at the moon, so he went to the stable to attend to his treasured horses.
"A man isn't as reliable as an animal," Elderly Zhang murmured.
As a result, Gu Shenwei had offended one more person by the end of the day. However, Elderly Zhang's reaction reminded him that he had better not practice summoning the killing desire at random, as it could easily catch the eyes of bystanders. Even an ordinary man like Elderly Zhang could sense it, let alone others who knew martial arts. That training tutor of Carvewood Academy, who had suddenly changed his attitude during the day, further proved this.
It would be undesirable for him to make such a conspicuous display if he wanted to hide his identity and seek revenge in secret.
The next day, Gu Shenwei failed to please Shangguan Ru, since the twins simply did not show up. Slave Qing was not surprised about this. He yawned and said, "The new year is coming. Madam will surely keep them around. Perhaps we'll be free for some time."
However, Shangguan Yushi did come to school. It was the first time that Gu Shenwei had seen her attend the school all by herself.
Without Shangguan Ru around, she looked colder and prouder than ever before. She pushed over a student, who was standing at the entrance and talking with his fellows, and went straight in without even casting a glance at him.
Blue in the face, the student clenched his fist and was about to curse. But on seeing that it was Master Yu that had pushed him, he swallowed his words. Although both of them were descendants of the Shangguan family, they held vastly different statuses.
Gu Shenwei knew he would invite a snub if he went over and called her "Uncle Master Yu", so he stood far away, not wanting to provoke the little devil.
But trouble was always like this—the more one tried to avoid it, the closer it followed.
Since the twins did not come to school, according to rules, their attendants could be dismissed. When disordered reading was heard from the school, Slave Qing allowed most people to leave and only kept seven or eight teenagers who were normally fighting partners.
Slave Qing went to chat with the other attendants, while these fighting partners stood in the corner of two walls. Suddenly, someone said in a low voice,
"You shouldn't have done that."
It took a while before Gu Shenwei finally realized that this person was talking to him, as the speaker did not mention his name or look at him.
"What?"
"You shouldn't have called Master Ru 'Master Shifu'," another teenager said.
Gu Shenwei was quite at a loss. When he saluted Shangguan Ru as his Master Shifu, she was quite pleased. Besides, he did not understand why the news had spread so fast.
"Well." Gu Shenwei casually replied, not taking it seriously since he became inured to the servants' jealousy and competition. Just because he had not taken Slave Qing's advice and won the two young masters' favor, Slave Qing had turned a cold shoulder to him. As a result, none of the attendants at the entrance were friendly toward him.
"You still don't understand?" a third teenager asked.
Gu Shenwei was confused. It seemed that these teenagers were warning him not out of jealousy, but out of kindness.
"What should I understand?"
On the other side, Slave Qing was chatting happily and laughing loudly, while all the teenagers kept silent. Among the attendants, the fighting partners had relatively low statuses, and they dreaded Slave Qing the most.
But to some extent, Slave Huan was their "savior". Since the slave who was Master Ru's match had come, they had lived a much better life. A few of them were even lucky enough to remain uninjured for several months, so they did not want to see Slave Huan run out of luck.
As Slave Qing's laughter faded, the teenager who stood closest to Gu Shenwei said in a low voice, "You shouldn't get too close to Master Ru, or Master Yu will be unhappy."
Gu Shenwei suddenly realized what was happening. No wonder Shangguan Yushi had been behaving so oddly since he called Shangguan Ru "Master Shifu" in Moonhold Academy yesterday. It turned out that she had kept trying to shake him off because she was jealous of him.
While it was understandable for a servant to be jealous of another servant, it was difficult to understand why a master would be jealous of a servant. Gu Shenwei could not help shaking his head with a bitter smile.
"He doesn't know!" a teenager shouted in surprise, but he immediately covered his own mouth.
"Don't know what?" Gu Shenwei was a bit annoyed, thinking, "If you really want to help, why not make it clear to me?"
"Master Yu... killed someone."
After a long silence, a teenager explained in a low voice, and then nobody said anything.
Gu Shenwei did not understand why the teenagers dreaded a girl who had killed someone so much, since Golden Roc Fort was full of killers who had committed innumerable murders. Even he had killed people, one of whom he had personally stabbed.
But anyway, he had seen Shangguan Yushi's brutality with his own eyes. Once, she had stepped on a fighting partner's arm and broken it in public. Right now, the poor teenager was standing next to Gu Shenwei, his face ghastly pale.
At class break, Shangguan Yushi did not summon anyone to fight with her. It was not until all the students and the old teacher had left at noon that a student came out and ordered the eight fighting teenagers waiting outside to go into the school together.
Strictly speaking, these teenagers had been assigned to the twins and did not belong to Shangguan Yushi. However, Master Yu's order was no different from Master Ru's, so nobody dared to disobey.
Slave Qing did not go in, but continued waiting at the gate.
There was not a soul in the school yard. The young personal attendants led them to one of the rooms in the eastern wing.
In the room, the writing desks had been moved to the corners, leaving an empty area in the middle. Shangguan Yushi sat on a chair, her personal attendants standing behind her and several children of the Shangguan family on both sides.
It did not seem as if they were going to have a competition. Gu Shenwei's heart skipped a beat, realizing this game targeted him.
Shangguan Yushi hated people winning too much of Shangguan Ru's favor, especially when that person was just a servant.
"You little imp, why don't you call me Uncle Master now?" Shangguan Yushi asked.
"Your humble servant would not dare." Gu Shenwei knelt down.
To take his revenge, he had to degrade himself and tried his best to behave like a slave. When humiliated by his master, he first thought what Slave Yao would do in the same situation.
The pointy-faced teenager, whom he had murdered, was still influencing him from the unseen world.
"You wouldn't dare? I saw that you were very bold yesterday. Is this the first day for you as a slave? How dare you flout the rules after serving the new master for only a few days! How dare you call her Master Shifu. Do you think you have that privilege?"
"He was brought by the Eighth Young Mistress from the bandit camp."
A young attendant whispered to Shangguan Yushi, which intensified the latter's hatred toward Gu Shenwei. Since the Eighth Young Mistress was on bad terms with Madam, who happened to be the twins' biological mother, naturally the people around Madam disliked Bighead Kingpin's daughter and anyone brought here by her.
"The Eighth Young Master sent me to..."
Gu Shenwei was trying to defend himself when Shangguan Yushi suddenly stood up in a rage and kicked him. "What a bold mongrel! You're as much of a nuisance as your cheap master. You don't deserve to live in Golden Roc Fort."
Gu Shenwei only hesitated a bit, and was suddenly kicked in the chest. Although he had made some achievements in practicing Yin and Yang Strength, he could not bear the young lady's kick. He rolled backward and felt spasms of pain in his ribs when he knelt down again.
Shangguan Yushi had not vented all her anger, so she turned to the other seven fighting teenagers and ordered coldly, "Slap him in the face, and teach him how to be a slave."
Gu Shenwei felt the blood surging in his body. No matter how hard he tried to imitate Slave Yao, he was not a real slave after all. For him, humiliation was more unbearable than death. The killing desire hidden in the depths of his heart became restless and itching for action.
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