The Sharp Blade

Qi Nu's plan was this:

"That man"—Han Shiqi—was highly skilled and very alert. The two brothers had already experienced it while resisting him the first time he "favored" them. Even if all eight young servants attacked together, they still would not be his match, so they could only resort to assassination.

This was Golden Peng Fortress. The idea of assassination had naturally appeared in Qi Nu's mind. The key was how to carry it out. Their target was an experienced killer.

First, they could not go empty-handed. They needed a sharp weapon. Xie Nu solved that problem. He had gone to the kitchen for food several times and taken the opportunity to steal an unused little meat-cutting knife. Its blade was about four inches long. Though tiny, it was extremely sharp.

Second, someone had to draw that man's attention away. Since Han Jinu had chosen the brothers again, the two of them would have to sacrifice themselves once more.

"I want to see him die with my own eyes." Xie Nu spoke through clenched teeth. He rarely said anything ordinarily, but at that moment he was like an enraged little lion, his teeth grinding loudly.

Last, and most importantly, someone had to strike. That was the most important reason the brothers had sought out Huan Nu.

"Your martial arts are the best. You can kill him without making a sound."

Qi Nu's praise made Gu Shenwei blush slightly.

When he had still been the young master of the Gu Family, he had never considered himself an expert, but he had believed he could defeat ordinary martial artists. The events of the past few days had ruthlessly exposed the truth: the estate guards who had once lost to him had only been pretending, and he was not even a match for an ordinary bandit.

Still, Gu Shenwei was willing to take on the task. Han Shiqi was not merely a villain who coveted him—he was also the "traitor" of the Gu Family and the enemy who had wiped out his family. More than a month after his family had been destroyed and he had become a lowly servant inside Golden Peng Fortress, he desperately needed to drive the sharp blade into his enemy's body with his own hands, if only to slightly soothe the restless beast of vengeance in his heart.

What would they do after killing him?

None of the three brought it up. Looking back afterward, Gu Shenwei found that astonishing. At the time, they had been so eager to kill that they had nearly been willing to pay any price, with no energy left to consider the consequences.

Gu Shenwei had only watched someone die before his eyes the previous day. He felt that his heart had hardened considerably, so he agreed without hesitation and took the little knife from Xie Nu. It was even more compact than a dagger.

The last time Han Shiqi had "favored" the brothers, it had been in Han Jinu's room. This time, it would probably be there again. In Kindling Courtyard, it was the most comfortable room, and Jinu would sensibly sleep in another one.

Gu Shenwei needed to sneak into the room beforehand. That might be easy or difficult, depending on when Han Jinu finished calling names and when he left the bedroom. If Gu Shenwei could not find an opportunity, they would have to abandon the assassination for the time being, while the brothers would once again suffer humiliation for nothing.

Gu Shenwei often cleaned Jinu's room and knew it well. There was a bed inside instead of a heated brick platform, which was fortunate. He could hide beneath it and patiently wait for the moment Han Shiqi lost himself in pleasure, then thrust upward from under the bed.

The knife was too short, so the three of them removed the wooden handle, exposing a blade tang slightly more than three inches long. They then tied the two pieces of wood back onto the end of the tang, gripping only about an inch of it. This made the blade nearly six inches long, enough to pierce through Han Jinu's thin bedboard and stab the flesh above.

The timing of the assassination was crucial. The three agreed that Qi Nu and Xie Nu would lure the man to the right position. The signal would be a call of "Brother." Once he heard those two words, Huan Nu beneath the bed would immediately thrust the knife upward.

There was one more problem: the person beneath the bed could not be discovered beforehand, so he had to remain utterly still. Even slightly heavy breathing might arouse Han Shiqi's vigilance. After all, he was a killer, and his hearing and senses ought to be exceptionally sharp.

Only a few days earlier, Gu Shenwei would not have been confident of doing this silently. But he had just mastered the first level of Yin Jin and could initially control his inner breath, which naturally meant he could control his breathing to a certain extent.

They rehearsed. Gu Shenwei lay on the heated brick platform and breathed as evenly and continuously as possible. The brothers approached gradually from the doorway, listening with rapt attention before giving their judgment.

The first few attempts did not go well. Gu Shenwei could control his breathing for only a short while. He adjusted slowly, and the duration grew longer and longer. In the end, he could finally persist for a quarter of an hour.

While the three were rehearsing, a young man entered. He glanced at Huan Nu lying stiffly on the heated brick platform, his expression changing dramatically, then turned and ran, almost falling over.

The scene was comical, but it also reminded the three of an important problem: how to avoid the notice of the other five youths.

San, Xin, Lei, Qian, and Zhao Nu were all timid people who feared trouble. They had been deeply influenced by Yao Nu. Not long after entering the fortress, they had already resigned themselves completely to the fate of servants, and they would be more than willing to sell out their companions in exchange for wealth and rank.

The three discussed it for a while. Xie Nu came up with an idea, but did not explain it immediately. He only said to leave it to him, then departed alone. He returned much later, saying that he had solved the problem, and brought lunch with him.

Xie Nu made a round of the courtyard, whispering privately with each youth. In the end, the five youths went together to find Han Jinu, claiming that they would rather live in the worst room than share one with Huan Nu.

Kindling Courtyard had not recently taken in anyone dying, so there were plenty of empty rooms. The five fawned over him in every possible way, and Han Jinu was delighted to do them a favor. At the same time, he once again had someone pass on his order: Huan Nu was absolutely forbidden to take a single step outside.

"I told them you showed signs of being possessed. My brother and I learned magic from childhood, and we're driving the evil spirits out of you." Xie Nu explained with a grin. After this conspiracy, he had grown much closer to Huan Nu and had also become more talkative.

"Heh. There are quite a few evil spirits that need driving out of me."

"Did you really kill Yao Nu with magic?" Xie Nu asked curiously. Clearly, the question had been bottled up inside him for a long time.

"Don't ask nonsense. It has nothing to do with you." Qi Nu pulled his brother behind him, stopping him from prying into private matters.

"I'm not as good at magic as you are." Gu Shenwei smiled. He did not want to mention Yao Nu.

Xie Nu failed to catch the evasive meaning. He thought Huan Nu was denying it, and a puzzled, slightly disappointed look appeared on his face.

Qi Nu's gaze held a little more scrutiny, but they each had their own secrets, and he would not ask too many questions.

In the afternoon, Qi Nu and Xie Nu went to Han Jinu again to learn "techniques." Gu Shenwei continued practicing breath control alone, gripping the modified little knife in both hands and pressing it against the imagined underside of a bed before thrusting upward swiftly and forcefully.

In the scene he imagined afterward, a great deal of blood sprayed out, and he would have to roll quickly to the side to avoid it.

He is an enemy, Gu Shenwei told himself. Han Shiqi is the first foundation stone in the great undertaking of vengeance. Killing him will already make it worthwhile. Every enemy I kill afterward will be a profit.

When would revenge be considered over? Gu Shenwei quietly asked himself that question.

The vengeance for his family's destruction naturally had to be repaid with the destruction of another family.

He did not find the thought absurd in the slightest. Although he was now merely a servant lying on a heated brick platform and practicing with a small knife, his ambition still soared straight into the heavens.

Planning an assassination was difficult. The hardest part, however, was waiting.

The voices of the other youths occasionally drifted in from outside the room. They represented another world—real, simple, and forgetful.

Gu Shenwei even felt a trace of envy and jealousy, but he immediately reminded himself that even without the burden of revenge, his world should not be the same as that of the servants outside. What he had lost was more—and more precious—than everything possessed by all the servants of Golden Peng Fortress combined.

For the simplest upward thrust, Gu Shenwei did not know how many hundreds of times he had practiced it. As the sun sank westward, he felt fully prepared, stopped practicing, climbed down from the heated brick platform, and walked back and forth to loosen his muscles.

One thrust would end a life. If he missed or struck inaccurately, the price would be three lives. Yet he felt not the slightest fear or doubt, as if what he was about to do were perfectly ordinary, as if he had already done it countless times.

He remembered how his father, Gu Lun, had always shaken his head when speaking of him, worried that once he grew up, he would be neither accomplished in letters nor martial arts. He knew nothing of farming, could not conduct business, and would end up good for nothing.

Perhaps I was born to be a killer, Gu Shenwei thought. The corners of his mouth lifted, revealing a smile he himself did not notice.

During the evening roll call, Han Jinu did not mention Huan Nu at all, much less come to inspect his room. It was a good sign that the plan was succeeding.

Xie Nu brought dinner and news that everything had gone smoothly so far. No one had suspected that an assassination plot was underway. Later, he and his brother would find a way to draw Han Jinu and the other youths' attention away, while Huan Nu had to slip silently into Jinu's room as quickly as possible.

Han Jinu often ate with the youths in the same room, though naturally not at the same table. He greatly enjoyed being surrounded and flattered by everyone. To him, sycophancy was the most delicious dish of all.

Gu Shenwei was not hungry in the slightest, but he still forced down some food. He did not want his stomach to suddenly growl while he was hiding beneath the bed.

After eating, he stood behind the door and listened. Laughter and cheerful voices came from a room to the east. When the laughter reached its height, he crouched low and slipped out, sprinted across the courtyard, and entered Han Jinu's bedroom. He knew the place well and did not need to look around before diving straight beneath the bed.

The bedboard was nearly three feet above his head. Gu Shenwei lay on the cold, hard floor with both arms stretched out, the knife aimed at a point three feet from the head of the bed and a foot and a half from its side. Fortunately, that spot lay exactly between two bedboards, saving him a great deal of trouble.

He and the brothers had agreed on this position beforehand. If the plan succeeded, Han Shiqi's back would be hanging directly above it.

One blade. He needed only one thrust, and he would have only one chance.

They had all witnessed how formidable the Golden Peng Fortress Killer was. Even seriously wounded, Han Shiqi had killed three youths with ease. What was more, Jinu and alert night watchmen were outside. Any abnormal cry could bring disaster.

The sky grew darker and darker, and beneath the bed was already pitch-black. Gu Shenwei kept one finger pressed against the spot where he would strike, preventing himself from missing the position later.

At last, footsteps entered the room from outside. There was a cough, several steps, the lighting of a lamp, and the sound of shoes being flung aside. The newcomer leaped onto the bed and landed heavily on the boards, shaking loose a layer of dust. Completely unprepared, Gu Shenwei sneezed.