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Chapter 519: Supper

Everyone else had died quickly, without a word. Only Xia Wenxiong was the exception. He had fallen victim to some unknown disease that caused soreness in his muscles. His right arm had a small, needle-like hole in it and the color of blackness started to spread outward from it. It began to fester under the eyes of everyone. No amount of gold medicines could stop it.

He begged the Cloud King and his companions not to abandon him. However, his voice (which was hoarse beyond recognition) and his blood-shot eyes had frighetened everyone. No one dared to approach him, and everyone left hurriedly for fear of being infected.

It was not until they had passed two hills that his shrieks finally faded away completely.

Shangguan Yun had never been so humiliated. However, he still ran away, using the technique of the golden cicada to disappear into the surroundings of the Gulping Wind Gorge.

Maid Lotus used few words to describe her experience. “We killed nine people. Shangguan Yun escaped and the two disciples were killed.”

Maid Lotus’s expression was as cold as usual, as if she had just spent an hour carrying out a trivial task. However, Chu Nanping looked different from before. A killer’s temperament seemed to emerge from him — a force that even the training tutor had not been able to instill in him for nearly a year.

Following Maid Lotus to carry out the task brought him great satisfaction. When he left, he was even more in awe of Maid Lotus than he was of the Dragon King.

“Is there anything else?” Gu Shenwei asked, knowing that Maid Lotus had something to stay since she had stayed behind.

“The three-in-one qigong is effective. You should see Shangguan Fei’s current kung fu skills. It’s shocking. He had only trained a little. I think we can start now,” she stated.

Shangguan Fei had been abandoned when he was with his third brother, Shangguan Yun. When the other kung fu masters escaped after protecting the Cloud King, they scattered away from each other. Only he stood where he was, panting with exhaustion. Seeing Maid Lotus and Chu Nanping, he smiled to greet them. “Hey, are you coming here to save me? You don’t have to answer. Give me some ideas, or better yet, give me something to eat,” he said to them.

He also came back to the camp of the Dragon Army. He thought there was no need to visit the Dragon King, so he found a tent and went to sleep.

Shangguan Fei killed Xia Yingxiong with a single punch. Maid Lotus went to examine the corpse deliberately, and what she saw shocked her.

Gu Shenwei raised his head and thought for a while. “No rush, let’s observe him for a while more,” he decided.

Maid Lotus’s expression did not change. Gu Shenwei knew that she had her doubts. Ever since submitting the Death Scripture, the two had become practice partners in honing their kung fu skills. In terms of the great matter of the country, Gu Shenwei could ignore her. In terms of kung fu however, they had reached an agreement not to keep anything from each other.

Gu Shenwei owed her more than one explanation.

This was the night to resolve the problem. It must have been a result of being influenced by meeting the others before. Gu Shenwei felt that he had to explain himself now.

“Both Yin and Yang Strength and the Wayless Qigong are Internal Strengths that can easily go wrong — Yin and Yang Strength in particular. The faster progress one makes, the more dangerous the situation one is in. Shangguan Fei did not look right. I will have to check it myself,” he explained.

Maid Lotus could still remember how Slave Yao looked before his death. Suddenly, his abilities had seemed powerful — his Internal Strength, which grew from nothing to high strength, even took Mama Xue by surprise. Therefore, the Dragon King’s guess could be right. Shangguan Fei was, indeed, “not right”.

“Alright,” Maid Lotus nodded as she was about to leave.

“Wait,” Gu Shenwei called to stop her. He wanted to explain something else. “The Eighth and Ninth chapters of the Wayward Qigong…” he began.

Maid Lotus grunted and waited for him to continue. This was a sore spot for her — a secret that Gu Shenwei should have told her from the beginning.

“If someone tries to tell its contents to you, don’t ever believe it,” he said.

“Including the Queen?” Maid Lotus queried.

“So someone has looked for you?” asked Gu Shenwei.

“Shangguan Fei,” she replied simply.

“Yes, including the Queen. She has memorized two chapters. There was no adulteration, but I had a guess,” he continued.

Gu Shenwei’s guesses were usually very accurate. Maid Lotus knew what he meant immediately. “The Queen thinks that is the real scripture. However, it was a trap from the start. Only, it had not been activated in time,” she concluded.

Gu Shenwei nodded his head. In the story that the priests of the Land of Fragrance had narrated, he could feel the resentment of a hundred years. The Golden Roc Fort’s original owner was bitter towards the betrayal of the Shangguan family. He had hidden his most powerful divine kung fu in a pile of books. It happened to be the two missing chapters of the Golden Roc Fort. Since then, he had ignored them and had not allowed future generations to sort them out.

The plot of a hundred years ago was not much different from today.

“That is just my guess. Shangguan Fei was very interested in the eighth and ninth chapters. This is very good. You can help him with another experiment,” he said to her.

Outside the eighteen tents, Shangguan Fei sneezed in his sleep. If he had known that the Dragon King had such high hopes for him, he would have fled at all costs. He would rather be banished to the Jianghu than to practice two unknown chapters of the Wayless Qigong.

Maid Lotus laughed softly. Gu Shenwei was puzzled and baffled. He did not know what he said that was so funny.

“Nothing,” Maid Lotus said, steadying herself immediately. Her laughter had nothing to do with the Dragon King, but she felt a knot in her heart vanish easily. “You wish for Shangguan Fei to train the Eighth and Ninth chapters voluntarily?” she asked.

“It’s best to do that. I don’t want to push him too hard,” said Gu Shenwei.

“Have you ever considered the possibility that the three-in-one kung fu has no hidden dangers and the Eighth and Ninth chapters have no issues? Shangguan Fei’s kung fu would increase so rapidly and surpass yours and mine. Then, he would not be so obedient,” Maid Lotus warned.

Gu Shenwei considered this possibility. He felt that there was only one way to resolve this. “The best outcome is that the two sets of Internal Strength can come into use. We only have to get rid of Shangguan Fei himself. Watch him closely. He is good at disguising himself. Shangguan Yun must have taught him many things,” he said.

Maid Lotus finally realised why the Dragon King wanted to choose Shangguan Fei as his trial target. Kung fu skills were not restricted to age and would not remain static on someone’s body. Once a person learned the supernatural manual, and even if he was unable to continue with his training or sustain his vigilance, he would still be an expert. Shangguan Fei’s timidity would always be his Achilles’ heel, no matter how great his kung fu skills were.

“I will keep an eye on him,” she agreed.

“Okay,” Gu Shenwei said, feeling that he had more words he should say. However, he could not think of them. “Go rest,” he finished.

Maid Lotus excused herself.

Gu Shenwei did not feel like admitting it, but was forced to: the anxiety that had plagued him for days had vanished. But he was so drowsy that he could barely lift his head.

He needed a good rest.

Maid Lotus was not sleepy at all. In this quiet night, she had more worries than anyone else. She refused to complain because that was a sign of weakness.

In the days while she was away, the tents in the camp were kept reserved for her. The disciple, Han Fen of the New Moon Hall, cleaned it for her every day.

Even though Han Fen kept complaining that Maid Lotus had betrayed everyone, she did not really believe that. She believed that the Managing Master had her reasons. She did not have to think about it, even if she did not understand everything. Worrying too much would cause her a headache.

“Managing Master,” Han Fen said, standing at the door’s entrance, a light gleaming in her eyes, but not daring to say another word.

“Well, how did you know I had returned?” Maid Lotus asked, surprised.

“The Queen sent men to send supper, saying that the Managing Master must be tired and asked you to pay attention to your health,” she replied.

Maid Lotus was shocked. She could not understand why the Queen would try to pander to her. Moreover, it was the Dragon King who let her help Shangguan Fei steal the Eighth and Ninth chapters.

The Queen did not know that Maid Lotus had organized an assassination to kill her two years ago.

“Take them away,” Maid Lotus said.

“Huh? Not eating anything? There is chicken soup…” Han Fen said, then felt that she had said too much again. She shut her mouth immediately and picked up the food bowl, leaving the tent. She thought for a while and decided to wake Han Xuan up to share the meal. She didn’t even think to ask if it was too late.

Maid Lotus’s doubts were answered the next day at noon. It happened in the tent of Miss Ming Zhen.

Ha Chilie was dead, and Ming Zhen had not figured out any of the details. So, she sent Han Fen to invite Maid Lotus over. On the surface, it was to thank her for her care after all these years, but in actuality, it was to find out the cause of her fiance’s death.

Maid Lotus refused twice, but finally agreed the third time. She heard Han Fen say that Ming Zhen now served the Queen.

Ming Zhen had no desire to return to Gulping Wind Gorge. After Gu Shenwei found this out, he handed her over to the Queen and let the two become acquainted with each other as sisters. Ming Zhen knew her identity now and was willing to be the Queen’s maid. In the end, she stayed with the Queen as a “female officer”.

The meeting was a little awkward. Maid Lotus had forgotten how to chat with a normal lady. “Ha Chilie was killed by Shangguan Yun. I’m sorry that I failed to save him,” she remarked.

Maid Lotus skipped over details of how she killed people with her bare hands. She did not want to lie deliberately, but to protect Ha Chilie’s image and the tribal soldiers from rebelling, she had to.

Ming Zhen resisted her grief. She only had a vague impression of Ha Chilie, and her feelings towards him were even more vague. She was sadder about her own fate. “He… didn’t suffer, did he?” she asked.

Maid Lotus fell silent for a while. She had killed Ha Chilie with the Divine Rotation. That was like torture to the living. It was hard to use “suffering” to describe it. “I don’t know,” she answered instead.

The two had nothing more to say. The meeting should have ended there, but as Maid Lotus expected, the Queen “happened” to come in.

This was a deliberately planned encounter. The Queen had found an excuse to hold off Xu Yanwei in order to speak with Maid Lotus alone.

Ming Zhen was unaware that she was being used, but when the Queen came in, she understood at once who the extra people were. She immediately excused herself to serve tea and handed the tent over to these women, whom she dared not provoke.

“I don’t know if last night’s supper suited your palate. It was made at the last minute. There weren’t many choices available,” the Queen said, smiling. Her tone was warm and gentle. Obviously, she did not treat Maid Lotus as a normal guard.

“Very well, thanks for your care and concern, Your Highness,” replied Maid Lotus.

The two were both worried and kept quiet for a time. The Queen felt that Maid Lotus was similar to the Dragon King, so she resisted the temptation to ask other questions and started to broach the main issue. “By the way, have you heard? The Dragon King has handed the glory of the Seaside Slope victory to the women archers of the Land of Fragrance. This is a glory to us women. In the future, who could say that women are unfit for battle?” she began.

“Yes, women are fit for the battlefield,” Maid Lotus said perfunctorily.

“That ‘queen’ of the Land of Fragrance, named Shangguan Ru- I heard she is the daughter of the Supreme King. The Dragon King actually trusts her very much. That is strange, isn’t it? I have never met her. Can you tell me about her?” she asked Maid Lotus.

The Queen pretended to be curious, but Maid Lotus was furious. This woman had crossed her bottom line. She could not allow herself to be used and taken advantage of.