Xuanji

This was truly a moment of disappointment and humiliation, especially for the Shangguan Family's Twins. Among everyone present, only two were the Unrivaled King's children. With their father and elder brother nowhere to be seen, they seemed to have become the "face" of Golden Peng Fortress.

Shangguan Fei kept his head lowered, looking awkward and ill at ease. Shangguan Ru bit her lip, her face as red as a rare ruby, uncontrollable fury blazing in her large, dark eyes.

For a brief moment, Gu Shenwei even thought she was going to charge forward and curse out all the assassins, then personally challenge Marshal Yang, who had slain nine men in succession.

A continuous drumbeat suddenly rang out from within the fortress, sometimes fast and sometimes slow.

To outsiders, it sounded like a signal to attack. To the Golden Peng Assassins, however, it held another meaning.

The dozen or so assassins remaining at the front retreated step by step, not daring to let their guard down for an instant. Only after they were more than twenty paces from Marshal Yang did they turn and walk toward Golden Peng Fortress.

The assassins were withdrawing.

Marshal Yang merely watched without any intention of stopping them. His target had never been these foot soldiers of Golden Peng Fortress. The nine corpses lying before him were merely the calling card he had sent to the Unrivaled King.

Golden Peng Fortress had the Two Killer Precepts. Marshal Yang had principles of his own as well.

The assassins' steps remained steady, and they showed not the slightest trace of panic. But that did nothing to ease the disappointment of the young spectators. At first, the Twins stared in disbelief as their own assassins retreated. Then they turned back to look into the fortress, thinking that more formidable figures would emerge to replace these useless fellows—the Blade Master, the Young Master, the Green Face Assassin. Golden Peng Fortress had yet to show its full strength.

But no one else came out. There was only the unchanging drumbeat ordering everyone to retreat.

Qing Nu silently sighed and stepped half a pace forward. "Two Young Masters, let's go back. Leave this sort of thing to the Young Masters to handle."

The Twins were still young and had not earned the title of "Young Master."

Shangguan Ru ignored him, stubbornly continuing to gaze at Marshal Yang in the distance as if she meant to kill him with her eyes. Shangguan Fei turned halfway around, but when he saw that his younger sister was not moving, he turned back and refused to leave either.

Qing Nu wore a bitter smile and shook his head. The assassins were about to enter the fortress, and leaving a group of children here would not only be useless but dangerous. He looked toward Shangguan Yushi and sent her a pleading glance.

Normally, Shangguan Yushi was the boldest of them all. Nine times out of ten, the Twins' wild schemes came from her encouragement. At crucial moments, however, she was the more mature one. She gently placed both hands on her younger cousin's shoulders and leaned close to whisper in her ear.

Whatever she said, it worked. The anger on Shangguan Ru's face faded somewhat, and she turned toward the fortress.

The "Ninth Young Master" no longer insisted. The other youths all breathed sighs of relief and hurried back into the safety of Stone Fortress. What had originally been a spectacle for them to enjoy had now taken on a hint of danger.

Behind them, the assassins filed inside as well, and the heavy wooden gates slowly closed.

"Ahem, ahem." Qing Nu wanted to say something to comfort the two little masters, but no one spoke along the way. The atmosphere was frighteningly silent.

Shangguan Ru had no mind to listen to a servant's rambling. She suddenly broke into a run, rushing toward the inner residence. She wanted to ask her father in person—the Unrivaled King, feared throughout the Western Regions—why he had not sent the most powerful fighter to kill the challenger with a single stroke, instead allowing them to suffer such humiliation.

Shangguan Yushi, Shangguan Fei, and several personal pageboys followed closely behind. Qing Nu could only shake his head before ordering the attendants to disperse. They probably would not be needed for the rest of the day.

Gu Shenwei had to summon all his willpower to restrain the joy and excitement surging within him, but he could not control his feet. Before he knew it, he was running.

Old Zhang was nowhere to be seen. Other than when sleeping, he rarely returned to the stone hut. The strange old man would rather stay with the horses than communicate with the living.

Gu Shenwei paced back and forth alone in the room. He was so excited that he had no way to sit still. He had endured for far too long in front of outsiders, and now his emotions poured out.

One moment he was demonstrating his Gu Family Martial Arts, the next he wanted to practice Hehe Jin. He could not persist with either for long. Thoughts as numerous and chaotic as a surging tide flooded his mind, leaving him unable to think carefully.

From Marshal Yang, he had vaguely grasped many subtleties of the Gu Family Martial Arts, and he had also vaguely glimpsed the prospect of avenging his family's blood debt. He wanted to test the power of Dual Mastery of Blade and Spear at once, and he also wanted to devise a perfect escape plan so that he could join up with Marshal Yang.

Marshal Yang, a master of formidable martial arts, was right outside the fortress. What reason did he have to remain inside?

Yet he acted on none of these thoughts. He was inside Golden Peng Fortress and had to be twice as careful. The slightest negligence could cost him his life before he ever met Marshal Yang.

He had to work hard to conceal his true emotions. What he could not understand was why everyone around him was not the least bit alarmed. Marshal Yang, who had slain nine assassins, was keeping watch outside the fortress. Shouldn't the people inside feel as though disaster were close at hand?

Old Zhang seemed never to have heard about the challenger coming to their door. He remained wholly focused on tending the horses. During dinner, Gu Shenwei could not help bringing up the battle outside, but Old Zhang merely grunted noncommittally before lowering his head to eat. To him, the deaths of several assassins were less important than the few pieces of meat in his bowl.

Afterward, Gu Shenwei went as usual to report the day's events to Xue Niang. She did know the details of the challenge and even knew something about Marshal Yang. "That old fellow hasn't come out of retirement in a very long time."

With that one sentence, Xue Niang's discussion of the challenger ended. As usual, she was more concerned with the Twins' behavior. She was very dissatisfied that Gu Shenwei had made no further progress in winning their favor.

"You have to work harder. Didn't you learn more ways to flatter people from Yao Nu? Use every one of them! The Young Lady has placed great hopes in you."

Xue Niang brought up the Young Lady again. Gu Shenwei knew perfectly well that this was borrowing another's authority to make threats. He had not seen the Young Lady for several months, and he doubted whether Luo Ningcha even remembered that there was someone named Huan Nu.

"I've already been working very hard," Gu Shenwei protested softly. Marshal Yang's arrival had made his temper somewhat harder to control.

Xue Niang glanced at him in surprise, then suddenly understood. "I almost forgot. This Marshal Yang seems to be Yang Zheng's elder brother. How strange. Why didn't you go to seek refuge with him, or did you..."

Gu Shenwei's heart lurched. He had forgotten that when he had told Xue Niang and the Young Lady about his origins, he had pretended to be Yang Zheng's son. How was he supposed to explain that he had never heard of Marshal Yang before his family was wiped out?

"I... I never heard Father mention Uncle."

Gu Shenwei decided it was best to be as truthful as possible. Xue Niang had never really believed his story in the first place, and piling on more lies would only make her more suspicious.

"Was the relationship between the brothers poor? If they never kept in touch, why would Marshal Yang avenge his younger brother?"

"Marshal Yang... Uncle probably isn't avenging my father. He's avenging the Gu Family. I saw it—every technique he used came from the Gu Family Martial Arts. He learned it even more deeply than my father did."

Xue Niang stared at Huan Nu, trying to find traces of a lie on his face. Soon, however, she changed her mind. The boy's true identity was unimportant. So long as she could control him and make use of him, even if he were the Unrivaled King's illegitimate son, it would not matter.

"How is your Internal Force training progressing?"

Xue Niang abruptly changed the subject. Gu Shenwei felt somewhat relieved, but also surprised. Xue Niang had always taught him fist and foot techniques, yet she had not asked about his progress in Hehe Jin for a long time.

"It... it's all right."

"Nothing wrong?"

"No. Uh, what is it?"

"I don't want you to suffer Qi Deviation like Yao Nu."

"Oh, I'm fine. It shouldn't happen."

"Is that so? Press on your Xuanji acupoint. Don't you feel anything unusual?"

Xue Niang's request was strange, and her tone casual, but Gu Shenwei still pressed his right thumb against his Xuanji acupoint.

A searing current of heat shot from his Xuanji acupoint straight toward his dantian, as if he had accidentally swallowed a huge mouthful of peppers so fiendishly hot that the heat ran from his throat all the way to his guts.

The sensation came too suddenly. Gu Shenwei felt as though he had returned to several months earlier, when Xue Niang had used iron-rod-like fingers to jab every major acupoint on his body in order to help him improve his Internal Force.

He let out an involuntary cry and nearly fell. After barely steadying himself, his face had already changed. "What... what did you do to me?"

Xue Niang's waxen face remained expressionless. "I knew it. It should be time by now."

"Time for what?" Gu Shenwei's voice trembled slightly. He had thought he had already deceived Xue Niang, only to discover that he had fallen into her trap without realizing it.

"You think you're the only one who can make someone suffer Qi Deviation?"

Xue Niang's words were like a basin of cold water thrown over Gu Shenwei. He secretly circulated his energy. Nothing was wrong; everything remained normal. But the heat that had appeared from nowhere had been real, and Xue Niang's words certainly were not an empty threat.

"Xue Niang, I... Little Nu has always been utterly loyal, never harboring a second thought. I have always kept Xue Niang's commands in mind, and the two Young Masters already trust Little Nu very much."

Gu Shenwei dropped to his knees with a thump and spoke without thinking. That was how Yao Nu would have reacted, and Huan Nu had to do the same. That sharp-faced youth had died from knowing next to nothing about Internal Force, but in every other regard, he could serve as Gu Shenwei's teacher.

"That is far from enough. You have to become so close to the two Young Masters that they tell you everything."

"But... but..."

There were some things Gu Shenwei did not know how to explain. He was a low-ranking attendant, not even qualified to enter the inner residence. No matter how highly the Twins thought of his martial arts, they could never treat him as a friend.

"There is always a way, so long as you make the effort."

Xue Niang spoke coldly, then waved for Huan Nu to leave. When he had reached the doorway, she added casually, "You don't need to worry about Qi Deviation for now. It won't act up for several months."

"Yes. Thank you, Xue Niang, for your mercy."

The excitement brought by Marshal Yang had almost completely vanished. Still, things were not as bad as they seemed. Marshal Yang's Hehe Jin appeared to be even stronger than his father Gu Lun's. So long as he could meet him safely, Marshal Yang ought to have a way to guide his Internal Force back onto the proper path.

Marshal Yang...

Why was there not the slightest tense atmosphere within the fortress, aside from the dozens of youths watching the battle?

Gu Shenwei had just learned something unfortunate and truly did not want to let bad luck continue hounding him, so he forcibly suppressed that thread of ominous foreboding.

Yet he barely slept that night. He either tried circulating his inner breath, searching for signs of Qi Deviation, or thought about Marshal Yang outside the fortress. Several times, he even heard screams from outside and thought Marshal Yang had attacked his way in. He pricked up his ears to listen, but everything soon sank back into silence.