Invitation

Yao Nu stared at Huan Nu for a long while, his expression confused and dazed. It was as if he no longer recognized him, yet also as if he could not see him at all, his gaze merely happening to pass over him. Suddenly, a flush spread across his face, and he reached out and seized Huan Nu's arm tightly.

"I'm sick? It's you! You can save me, right?"

"I can save you." Gu Shenwei jerked his arm free stiffly. "Give me the White Silk first."

"White Silk, White Silk..."

Yao Nu muttered to himself as if he had never heard those two words before. The flush slowly faded from his face, his chest heaved violently, and his arms flailed wildly, pounding against the earthen kang beneath him with loud thuds. Then he began laughing again, his voice hoarse and strangled.

Gu Shenwei hurriedly pressed his hand against Yao Nu's Tianchi Acupoint again and sent his inner breath in through the method of Yin Jin. But his Internal Force was far too weak. He could not suppress the Yang Jin rampaging through Yao Nu's body like a great flood, and soon he was utterly exhausted, while Yao Nu did not quiet down for even a moment.

Only a master like Xue Niang could forcibly subdue the Internal Force of someone suffering from Qi Deviation.

Gu Shenwei gave up on treating him. He tried to avoid the wildly flailing arms and searched Yao Nu's body again, carefully examining even his most private places, but still found nothing. Yao Nu must have hidden the White Silk somewhere else.

After struggling for nearly half an hour, Yao Nu finally exhausted his strength and gradually calmed down. His arms still twitched now and then, while broken hoarse sounds came from his throat, like a drowning man making his final struggle.

"White Silk! White Silk!"

Gu Shenwei shook Yao Nu's body hard, hoping to squeeze out the last trace of life in him.

Yao Nu had entered a state of delirium. The flush came and went across his face, fading only to return. At times, he would gather a little strength, using all of it to babble incessantly.

He could not recognize Huan Nu, and did not even know there was anyone else beside him. He spouted nothing but delirium, sometimes boasting, sometimes cursing, and sometimes begging. He was like a one-man-show actor playing every role himself.

Gu Shenwei was thoroughly disappointed. Divine Will had only helped him complete half his plan. Yao Nu was about to die, yet the White Silk containing the shortcut to cultivation was still nowhere to be found.

Yao Nu's condition fluctuated between good and bad. He struggled from morning until the sun sank in the west, but no doctor came to treat him, and Xue Niang did not come either. In everyone's eyes, this was merely a trivial matter, not worth any attention.

Gu Shenwei sat on the floor with his head resting against the edge of the kang, listening half-heartedly to Yao Nu's intermittent gasps and the isolated words that suddenly burst out. It was impossible to hear any clue about the White Silk. Yao Nu had completely forgotten it, and had even forgotten Golden Peng Fortress. Everything and everyone he mentioned came from his past experiences.

Yao Nu's former master must have been an extremely vile person. As a result, he was filled with resentment toward the world as well. That was the conclusion Gu Shenwei reached from the jumble of words.

Strangely, sitting beside a dying man did not frighten Gu Shenwei in the slightest. His entire mind was focused on his plans for the future. Compared with Yao Nu, who was moving step by step toward death, Gu Shenwei's own life was hardly any more secure. In another day or two, perhaps he would be following in Yao Nu's footsteps.

If they met in hell, how would he explain himself to Yao Nu?

"Hey, I was the one who caused your Qi Deviation, but you hid the White Silk and got me killed too. Let's call it even."

How would Yao Nu react? Perhaps he had already found a new backer in hell, so he would not care about becoming a ghost. But if he still harbored improper ambitions, Gu Shenwei swore that he would kill him a second time, even in hell.

"Huan Nu."

Yao Nu suddenly called his name. His voice was calm, as though nothing had happened. Gu Shenwei, who had not been particularly frightened all this time, felt his heart jolt. He turned to look at the dying youth on the kang.

Yao Nu's eyes were frighteningly bright. The sunlight outside was dimming, yet his pupils seemed to burn, giving off the strange radiance unique to someone experiencing a final resurgence of life.

"You can't escape. I'll be waiting for you in hell."

Those were Yao Nu's final words. It was as if he had gained the ability to read minds and had seen through Huan Nu's thoughts. After speaking those words, which sounded both like a threat and an expectation, he let out a long breath and his head lolled to one side.

Gu Shenwei's heart jolted again. He reached out to feel Yao Nu's breath and knew that he was dead.

Without calling anyone for help, Gu Shenwei carried the corpse out through the west gate and threw it from the end of Ghost Cry Cliff. His body felt lighter, but his heart still seemed to bear a great stone that he could not cast off—and perhaps never would.

When he returned to the sleeping quarters, the other youths cautiously avoided him. He climbed onto the kang, and even the person closest to him kept a distance of three feet, as if afraid of being infected by the evil aura on him—the evil aura of the dead Yao Nu.

Gu Shenwei had no strength to care about any of this. He was too tired. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, without even the energy to think about how to deal with Han Shiqi's imminent return.

Events would not unfold according to his wishes. Early the next morning, Han Jinu struck the edge of the kang with the Rosewood Cane to wake the youths and loudly announced that they did not need to go to the Eighth Young Master's courtyard to pay their respects. Eighth Young Madam suspected that all the youths were carrying evil aura, so they were to spend the entire day cleaning Kindling Courtyard, because "Third Brother" had already returned and would be staying the night.

Gu Shenwei's heart jolted. He still had no way to deal with this danger. It seemed he could only find another opportunity to fight.

As it turned out, Han Jinu temporarily solved the problem for him. His gaze was full of disgust, but it was directed at someone else. "Is that boy dead yet?"

Gu Shenwei nodded.

"Thrown away?"

Gu Shenwei nodded again.

"Take off your clothes and let them burn them. You're not allowed out of this room for three days."

Gu Shenwei felt a little more at ease. He did not care about being possessed by evil aura. On the contrary, this likely meant Han Shiqi would not bother him for the time being.

He had escaped disaster, but someone else would have to suffer in his place. Han Jinu pointed at Qi Nu and Xie Nu. "Come with me."

The youths hurriedly left afterward as well. None of them wanted to stay in the same room as Huan Nu.

Gu Shenwei took off his clothes and threw them outside. Before long, someone collected them and tossed in a new set of clothes.

After dressing, Gu Shenwei searched the entire room again, leaving no corner unchecked. He even opened every stone tile that could be pried up as far as possible.

There was no White Silk. The dead Yao Nu had hidden it extremely well. Gu Shenwei suspected that it might already have been destroyed. As long as Yao Nu had memorized the words and diagrams inside, he had no need to keep it.

The youths sharing the room did not dare return to the sleeping quarters. It was not until nearly noon that Qi Nu and Xie Nu, the two brothers, came back. They had also been exempted from labor and were waiting wholeheartedly for Han Shiqi's "favor."

The three of them sat together in silence, the atmosphere exceedingly awkward.

They might have become friends, but because of a misunderstanding, they ignored one another. Unfortunately, this was a misunderstanding Gu Shenwei could not explain.

Strangely, the brothers had always felt extreme shame at being "favored," yet at this moment they seemed remarkably calm. Even the younger Xie Nu did not sob as he usually did.

After a long while, Qi Nu took the initiative to walk over and said, "You killed Yao Nu."

Qi Nu had not learned the Central Plains language very well, but his tone was unmistakably certain. Gu Shenwei did not understand his purpose. He looked into Qi Nu's eyes but did not answer.

"There is another person you have to kill."

Qi Nu's tone remained certain, but Gu Shenwei understood that he was seeking help.

"Who?"

"That person."

Gu Shenwei knew who he meant. Among the youths, only he knew the name "Han Shiqi." Jinu had always called him "Third Brother," and Gu Shenwei could not even be certain that "Han Shiqi" was the killer's real name.

Gu Shenwei did not doubt the brothers' determination to kill Han Shiqi, but he remained wary and did not answer at once. After all, they were not true friends.

"We have to wash away our disgrace. You don't want to suffer this disgrace either. Will you join us?"

Because his speech was halting, Qi Nu's tone sounded rather stiff. Yet beneath his thick brows, his eyes revealed sincerity and resolve—qualities extremely rare among the servants of Golden Peng Fortress.

"I'll join."

Gu Shenwei said it without hesitation. There was no reason to refuse their help, nor any reason to play tricks before Qi Nu.

Xie Nu also walked over. The three of them clasped one another's arms, expressing their trust. They had observed one another for a long time and could now treat each other with complete honesty.

Qi Nu was tall and broad, nearly half a head taller than Gu Shenwei. He carried both a savage and an arrogant air, like a young beast king from the wilderness who had accidentally fallen into the prosperous human world—out of place everywhere, yet looking down on everything.

His younger brother Xie Nu was like a small beast that had not yet escaped childhood. He followed his brother everywhere, spoke little, and had never adapted to the status or life of a servant. He seemed even more like a son from a wealthy family than Gu Shenwei did.

With such personalities, the brothers naturally won no one's affection. Han Shiqi treated them as toys, Han Jinu regarded them as gifts and rivals, and Xue Niang thought they were disobedient. In short, they suffered more punishment than the other youths, with Qi Nu bearing the great majority of it.

Several months of slave life had left a clear mark on Qi Nu. The last trace of childishness had vanished from his face, his eyes remained guarded at all times, and his lips were always pressed tightly together. This appearance made him even harder to like.

Gu Shenwei was the sole exception. In the brothers, he saw the same anger, hatred, and terror that he carried within himself. The Snow Mountain Killer who had pursued them from afar also proved that the two brothers, like him, had suffered tragic experiences.

None of them mentioned their pasts. Speaking of the deepest pain was useless; it would not lessen or find release through confession. Instead, it would only make the helplessness and weakness of the survivors all the more apparent.

Now they had encountered the same predicament again, facing the same danger and the same enemy. They had decided to seek revenge and answer violence with killing. But it would not be easy. Han Shiqi was no Yao Nu, who knew nothing about martial arts. He was a killer of Golden Peng Fortress. Even if he was not a top-ranking figure, he was still stronger than the three of them combined.

"I have a plan."

Qi Nu said it after waiting a very long time for this day. To kill the villain who had humiliated him and his younger brother, he was willing to risk everything.