Silk Revealed

The truth behind the death of Han Shiqi, the Golden Peng Fortress Killer, soon came to light, but deciding how to deal with those involved became a headache for many people.

The Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, had been having terrible luck. He already had more than enough troubles, and on top of that, Han Shiqi had been a killer under his command, while the two murderers were dowry slaves brought by his new bride.

Half relying on various bits of gossip and half on his own analysis, Gu Shenwei was able to roughly piece together what had happened during those suffocating three days.

Qi Nu was captured, and the other six boys were immediately sent back to Kindling Courtyard and imprisoned again. They received no news from outside, were given food only once a day, and no one disposed of the two bodies. They had already begun to rot, their stench gradually spreading throughout the courtyard and seeping into the rooms where the boys lived.

For three whole days, they lived in terror. As their whip wounds scabbed over, they picked the hard scabs off one another and silently waited for the final judgment. It was the last stretch of mutual trust and support among these few "sworn brothers."

Gu Shenwei was especially anxious. He did not know what Qi Nu would confess.

That glimpse of Qi Nu in the underground torture chamber of Heart Washing Courtyard had already left him shaken to the core. Under the torture techniques that came in every imaginable form, most people older than Qi Nu and with stronger wills would have confessed everything.

It was not until noon on the fourth day that the western courtyard gate finally opened, and Kindling Courtyard welcomed a new steward.

The new steward's first act upon taking office was to open the eastern courtyard gate and deal with the two bodies.

The corpses had already bred maggots and were nauseating to look at, yet when the boys carried them away, they were all smiles. There was work to do again, which seemed to indicate that they had been forgiven.

Sure enough, after thoroughly cleaning the room where the bodies had been stored, the new steward announced that Kindling Courtyard was reopening. The boys were to continue their former duties, and everything would remain unchanged.

In truth, everything had changed.

The new steward refused to live in Kindling Courtyard. He arrived early and left late, and when he was gone, he kept the courtyard gate firmly locked. The boys' movements were even more restricted than before. Even their daily morning greetings to the Young Lady were canceled, the water-drawing station inside the fortress was more heavily guarded, and all the empty buckets not currently in use were moved away.

Among the first wounded to arrive after Kindling Courtyard reopened was Han Jinu, its former steward. He had endured far harsher torture than the boys, but had somehow kept his life. The other wounded were gradually thrown off Ghost Cry Cliff, yet he alone slowly recovered.

Han Jinu, however, became silent. He often went an entire day without speaking. He had lost his patron as well as his position, and his future was impossible to predict. One night, just after he had become able to stand and walk, he used his belt to hang himself. His body dangled from the frame of the western courtyard gate, swaying back and forth, and was not discovered until the next morning.

His death caused no stir. No one asked any questions. The boys threw his body into the ravine, and some even complained that the former steward had been inconsiderate. If he wanted to kill himself, why hadn't he simply jumped off the cliff?

Another day, the boys saw Qi Nu's corpse. His head had been separated from his body, and two men in black carried him straight to Ghost Cry Cliff.

Gu Shenwei, who had long since grown used to seeing corpses, still could not hold it in and began vomiting. The other boys turned away as well, their faces deathly pale, and hardly ate anything for the entire day.

Less than two days later, Xie Nu was also captured. The boy resisted too fiercely, so the killers simply killed him. His corpse was thrown into the wilderness, and his confession was no longer important by then.

In Heart Washing Courtyard, Qi Nu took all the blame and did not mention anyone except his younger brother.

He confessed that he had devised the assassination plan himself. He had nailed the sharp blade beneath the bed, then taken advantage of the victim being held by Xie Nu to roll over and crawl beneath the bed, killing his enemy while the man was indulging himself.

Every detail matched. Several of Han Shiqi's belongings were found on Qi Nu.

Not only that, but it was eventually discovered that Qi Nu and Xie Nu were orphans of Great Snow Mountain. Their parents had died in the struggles between several internal peaks, after which the brothers had been passed around and sold as slaves. Long Feidu, who had slain the Flying Eagle Gang at the crossroads, was in fact of the same clan as the brothers, though he belonged to a different peak.

Great Snow Mountain and Golden Peng Fortress had never gotten along. They were mortal enemies.

Gu Shenwei could not understand the people of Great Snow Mountain. With a powerful external enemy before them, they still fought among themselves as though determined to destroy one another.

The brothers' origins added a touch of conspiracy to Han Shiqi's death. The six boys in Kindling Courtyard were questioned again and ordered to explain their backgrounds.

This time they were not taken to Heart Washing Courtyard, but the boys had long since become frightened birds startled by the slightest movement. Once questioned, they clearly confessed everything they had experienced during the dozen or so years since birth.

Gu Shenwei naturally could not reveal the truth, and inventing a temporary story was too difficult. Thus, he borrowed Yao Nu's background. He became the household servant of a merchant from the Western Regions who had once encountered bandits while traveling with his master and been abducted and sold into slavery.

Yao Nu's dying words had been confused and incoherent, so Gu Shenwei had no choice but to polish them anew. The result was extremely successful. In the end, even he almost believed that this was what had happened to him.

The only problem was that his story could not withstand cross-examination. His appearance was far too different from that of sharp-faced Yao Nu.

However, no one went a thousand li away to confront that merchant. After secretly worrying for more than ten days, Gu Shenwei confirmed that he had passed the test without incident.

The turmoil gradually subsided. No one suspected that there was a third accomplice, and an unseen force was also trying to bring the case to a close as soon as possible and limit the extent of its impact.

The contradictory signs Gu Shenwei had observed in the torture chamber had not deceived him. The thin, tall Commander Shen was named Shen Liang. He was the head of Heart Washing Courtyard and also the maternal uncle of the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu. Representing his nephew's interests, he used his authority in an attempt to make a major matter seem minor.

The short, stocky Mr. Guo came from White Robe Courtyard in East Fortress. Although he was not related to any of the Young Masters, it was commonly known that he was close to the Fifth Young Master. He was determined to expand the case and use it to strike at the Eighth Young Master's power.

The four words "Five and Eight are at odds" were known by nearly everyone in Golden Peng Fortress. It was said that the mothers of the two Young Masters had been mortal enemies while alive, and after their deaths had passed that hatred on to their respective sons.

On the surface, the Eighth Young Master, Shangguan Nu, had won this round. The key point was that Unrivaled King Shangguan Fa himself did not want the situation to spiral out of control. A killer had been assassinated by two boys barely in their teens, right inside Golden Peng Fortress. If word got out, it would be an enormous scandal.

Since the Lord of Golden Peng Fortress did not wish to pursue the matter, naturally no one else dared create further complications.

However, Shangguan Nu's standing in his father's eyes had fallen as low as it possibly could. The Eighth Son was not only incapable of managing a team of killers, he could not even manage the affairs of his own courtyard. This left Unrivaled King bitterly disappointed.

Golden Peng Fortress was not a solid block, but learning that did Gu Shenwei little good. He was now trapped in Kindling Courtyard, dealing with corpses every day. Beside him were only five companions who were silent with fear, and they barely spoke even to one another.

Ten boys had come with the Young Lady as part of her dowry, but in just over a month, four were already dead. Even in Golden Peng Fortress, where "people died every day," that was a terrifyingly high proportion. A heavy gloom consequently spread among the boys.

It was under these circumstances that Gu Shenwei discovered he had been isolated.

The other five boys often avoided him and whispered behind his back. They displayed a trace of fear toward Huan Nu.

This left Gu Shenwei completely baffled. He had never bullied anyone or betrayed anyone. He lived at the very bottom of Golden Peng Fortress just like them and performed the lowliest work. He did not understand how he had become an outsider.

Only many days later did he understand what made him different.

Although he had disguised his mannerisms, he was still unlike children from the mountains. He would not casually sit down on the ground. He habitually washed his hands again and again. He could read. When he walked, he always kept his back straight...

He also knew martial arts. He was no match for the killers in the fortress, but none of the boys was his equal.

He was not afraid of Ghost Cry Cliff and often went there alone, sometimes to practice martial arts and sometimes simply to sit in a daze. The others avoided the place as though fleeing a plague. Apart from throwing corpses away, they would never set foot there.

Only he had been beside the possessed Yao Nu when he died. Qi Nu and Xie Nu had once tried to drive the evil spirit out of him, only to become "possessed" themselves and carry out an assassination. Thinking it over carefully, even Xiao Nu, who had died first, seemed to have some connection with Huan Nu. They had often been together back then.

Those were the thoughts of the other five boys. Gu Shenwei had been somewhat angry at first, but soon let it go. It was better this way, since he could practice without interference.

The month or so since entering Golden Peng Fortress had been the hardest he had ever practiced in his life. Since the shortcut method had vanished without a trace, he could only place all his hopes in ordinary training.

A gentleman could wait ten years to avenge a grudge. He had already abandoned the idea of taking revenge as soon as possible.

As long as no one recognized the identity of the Young Master of the Gu Family, he could wait patiently until he completed his mastery of Yin Yang Harmony. If ten years were not enough, then twenty. His enemy, Shangguan Nu, was still young and would live to see that day.

On the tenth day after Kindling Courtyard reopened, the boys, who were clearly growing more and more afraid of Huan Nu, "gave" him an unexpected delight.

That day, the courtyard received no wounded. The new steward locked the eastern courtyard gate and left on his own. Gu Shenwei used the opportunity to go to Ghost Cry Cliff to practice martial arts, returning to the courtyard only at noon to eat.

The other boys avoided him, so he usually returned to his room to eat alone. This day was no exception, except that there was an extra item on his bedding.

A piece of White Silk, with writing on it.

Gu Shenwei nearly dropped the bowl in his hand onto the floor.

He darted over, set down the bowl, and picked up the White Silk. After reading only the first line, he knew that this was the shortcut method for Hehe Jin.

He read on greedily, forgetting his meal and not sparing a thought for where the White Silk had come from.

After finishing it, Gu Shenwei was bitterly disappointed.

It truly was an authentic shortcut method, but it was nowhere near as "quick" as he had imagined. Under normal circumstances, practicing Hehe Jin required both the Yin and Yang energies to reach the ninth layer before they could merge like dragon and tiger. According to the shortcut method, Yin and Yang could be harmonized at any level, but the power was worlds apart.

The words on the White Silk were very clear. Once both Yin and Yang reached the third layer, their harmony would begin to show its power. At the fifth layer, it would possess tremendous might. If one wished to become invincible through divine skill, one had to train beyond the seventh layer.

It was called a shortcut, but the "shortening" was limited.

His father, Gu Lun, had practiced bitterly for several decades, yet the two energies had only reached the fifth layer. Gu Shenwei had just reached the first layer. He had no idea how many years he would have to endure before achieving anything.

Even so, Gu Shenwei carefully hid the White Silk. After thinking it over, he retrieved it again and spent the entire afternoon memorizing the cultivation method on it until he knew it by heart. Then he tore the White Silk into strips and threw them off the cliff.

From that day onward, the Gu Family's ancestral art would no longer exist in written form. It would survive only in the mind of its sole descendant.

Now Gu Shenwei had time to consider who had returned the White Silk.

It had naturally been one of the other five boys. He had safeguarded Yao Nu's important belongings and had not confessed even while enduring torture in Heart Washing Courtyard.

Gu Shenwei had to find this person.

As for whether to thank him or eliminate him, that could only be left undecided for the moment.