Teaching a Lesson

From Shangguan Ru, Gu Shenwei learned that the Death Sutra was an incantation for the dead, passed down through the ages in the Golden Peng Fortress. As the years went by, most of it had been forgotten, leaving only those two lines.

Gu Shenwei mulled over the words "The living suffer; the dead are at peace," and felt pain twist through him like a knife. He was one of the "living" who "suffered," but were the "dead"—his closest kin—really "at peace"? If he could know the truth of what came after death, perhaps he wouldn't have to bear the burden of revenge.

Perhaps ignorance was the very root of "the living suffer."

The two men who had carried the corpse returned empty-handed. Passing their young master, they bowed in greeting. Their faces were pale, their steps soundless, and they soon vanished into the depths of the alley, as if they too had been touched by a ghostly aura.

Shangguan Fei refused to keep playing. The two girls were uneasy as well and didn't insist, so the adventure came to an end. The Moon Holding Sect's fledgling initiation ceremony had petered out before it could even begin.

Gu Shenwei, however, wanted to keep the "game" going. It would help him win Shangguan Ru's favor. But Shangguan Yushi seemed highly wary. As soon as they left East Fortress, she demanded to return to the inner residence. Shangguan Fei, still shaken, readily agreed. Shangguan Ru couldn't talk them out of it and had no choice but to comply.

Gu Shenwei and the other attendants weren't allowed into the inner residence. After the masters left, Qing Nu berated Huan Nu in front of everyone, then dismissed the rest.

When Gu Shenwei reported what had happened to Xue Niang that evening, she was quite interested in the little game of the "Moon Holding Sect" too. She told Huan Nu to keep encouraging Shangguan Ru to play the next day. "See? As long as you work at it, you can always get things done. You should ask the Ninth Young Master to teach you martial arts. She's the King Lord's daughter. If she really teaches you a few moves, you'll benefit greatly."

That surely wasn't Xue Niang's real motive. Gu Shenwei readily agreed, but grew even more curious about her. Did she want to secretly learn the Golden Peng Fortress's martial arts? But she was already highly skilled, especially with those iron fingers. She didn't want to become a killer, so what could the Golden Peng Fortress offer that would attract her?

"You hit Qian Nu. Good. He's not very happy about it, but that's all right. He could use a little discipline and a little push."

Gu Shenwei agreed aloud, but his heart sank. In trying to win Shangguan Ru's favor, he'd offended a lot of people that day.

After bidding Xue Niang farewell, Gu Shenwei returned to the stone hut and quietly went over the day's events.

That he could defeat Qian Nu with a single move had surprised him. The extent to which his "killing intent" had improved his martial arts had surprised him just as much.

Lying on the kang, Gu Shenwei tried to summon his "killing intent" again.

It was easy to talk about, but difficult to practice. Killing intent wasn't a servant who came when summoned and left when dismissed. Gu Shenwei first tried directing it at empty air, then at the wall, but felt nothing. How could he feel the urge to "kill" when facing something lifeless?

He would have to practice on a living person.

Old Zhang was fast asleep. He lay at the head of the kang, while Gu Shenwei lay at the other end, several feet away—the right distance for a bout.

Gu Shenwei imagined Old Zhang as Han Shiqi, and this time it worked. Killing intent slowly rose within him. He had no weapon, but felt he could kill the man with his bare fingers. The eyes, the throat, the groin—weren't there plenty of vulnerable vital points?

His killing intent grew stronger and stronger. Gu Shenwei could barely restrain the urge to strike at once. In that instant, he understood where his killing intent came from.

Killing intent was hatred stripped of fear.

To hate someone often meant fearing them, too. Only after overcoming that fear could hatred turn into killing intent and become strength.

Gu Shenwei had already put this into practice when he fought Qian Nu that day. Only now did he fully understand it.

Before him, a world of martial arts shone bright, appearing and vanishing just beyond his reach.

The light flashed like a white colt darting past and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only two furious, terrified eyes.

"You—you bastard, what the hell are you trying to do?"

Old Zhang had been fast asleep when he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as though needles were pricking him. He opened his eyes and saw the murderous young Huan Nu in the darkness.

Gu Shenwei snapped back to his senses. His killing intent was like a shy, timid beast. At the sound of a scolding, it darted back into the darkness and refused to show itself again.

"Nothing. I—I couldn't sleep."

"Couldn't sleep? Then go out and look at the moon. Why are you staring at me?"

"Sorry, Old Zhang. I didn't mean to."

Old Zhang seemed genuinely frightened. Muttering curses, he turned his back to Huan Nu and tried to sleep again, but couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. He cursed once more, climbed out of bed, got dressed, and went outside. He wasn't in the mood to look at the moon; he went to check on the precious horses in the stable.

"People are never as reliable as livestock," Old Zhang muttered.

As the day drew to a close, Gu Shenwei had offended another person. But Old Zhang's reaction had reminded him not to practice his killing intent indiscriminately from now on. It drew too much attention. Even Old Zhang, who knew no martial arts, had sensed something; the martial arts instructor at Carved Wood Courtyard had also changed his attitude abruptly that day.

For someone who only wanted to hide his identity and take revenge in secret, that was no good.

The next day, his plan to further win Shangguan Ru's favor fell through. The Twins didn't show up at all. Qing Nu wasn't surprised. He yawned and said, "The New Year's almost here. Madam must have kept the two young masters by her side. Looks like we won't have much to do for a while."

Shangguan Yushi did come, though. It was the first time Gu Shenwei had seen her come to class alone.

Without Shangguan Ru beside her, she seemed even colder and prouder than usual. A young student was standing in the doorway, laughing with a friend. She shoved him to the ground and strode through the door without even glancing at him.

The boy she'd knocked down turned livid and clenched his fists, about to curse. But when he recognized Young Master Yu's back, he swallowed his words. They might all be members of the Shangguan Family, but their standing was worlds apart.

Going up to call her "Auntie Yu" would only invite trouble. Gu Shenwei stood at a distance, not wanting to provoke the little demoness.

But trouble was always like that. The more you tried to avoid it, the harder it pursued you.

Since the Twins hadn't come to class, their attendants were usually free to go about their own business. When the classroom filled with the disorderly sound of students reciting, Qing Nu did let most of them leave, keeping only seven or eight boys who usually served as sparring partners.

Qing Nu went off to chat with the other attendants. The sparring boys stood in a corner when someone suddenly said in a low voice,

"You shouldn't have done that."

It took Gu Shenwei a while to realize the boy was talking to him. The speaker didn't mention his name or look his way.

"Done what?"

"You shouldn't have called the Ninth Young Master your master," another boy said.

Gu Shenwei was baffled. When he'd "become her apprentice" the day before, Shangguan Ru had been delighted. And how had the news spread so quickly?

"Mm," Gu Shenwei replied casually. He was used to the jealousy and rivalry among the servants. Because he'd won the favor of the two young masters without obeying Qing Nu, Qing Nu had always treated him with thinly veiled hostility. None of the attendants by the classroom door had ever looked kindly on him.

"Don't you understand?" a third boy asked.

Gu Shenwei was puzzled. These sparring boys didn't seem jealous; they genuinely seemed to be trying to warn him.

"Understand what?"

Nearby, Qing Nu was laughing merrily as he chatted. The boys all clamped their mouths shut, tense. Sparring partners held a low position among the attendants, and they feared Qing Nu the most.

Yet in a way, Huan Nu was their "savior." Ever since this servant, who could hold his own against the Ninth Young Master, had arrived, their lives had gotten much easier. A few had even miraculously gone months without being injured. They didn't want Huan Nu to get into trouble.

As Qing Nu's laughter faded, a boy nearest Gu Shenwei lowered his voice. "You shouldn't get too close to the Ninth Young Master. Young Master Yu will definitely be unhappy."

Gu Shenwei suddenly understood. No wonder Shangguan Yushi had acted strangely ever since he'd called Shangguan Ru "Master" outside Moon Holding Courtyard the day before. She'd kept trying to shake him off. She was jealous of him!

It was one thing for servants to envy other servants, but for a master to envy a servant was hard to understand. Gu Shenwei couldn't help shaking his head with a smile.

"He doesn't know!" one of the boys exclaimed in surprise, then hurriedly covered his mouth.

"Know what?" Gu Shenwei asked, a little annoyed. If they wanted to help, why couldn't they just explain things properly?

"Young Master Yu... has killed someone."

After a long while, someone finally spoke in an extremely low voice. Then no one said anything more.

The Golden Peng Fortress was full of killers who'd slaughtered countless people, yet the boys were so afraid of a girl who'd killed someone. Gu Shenwei couldn't help thinking it unreasonable. He'd killed people too, and one of them by his own hand.

Still, he had indeed witnessed Shangguan Yushi's brutality. Once, right in front of everyone, after winning a fight, she had stamped on a sparring boy's arm and broken it. That boy was standing beside Gu Shenwei now, his face gone pale.

Shangguan Yushi didn't find anyone to spar with during the break. She waited until noon, when the students had dispersed and the teacher had leisurely departed. Only then did a page emerge and order the eight sparring boys waiting outside to enter together.

Strictly speaking, these boys didn't belong to Shangguan Yushi. They were servants assigned to the Twins. But Young Master Yu's word carried as much weight as the Ninth Young Master's, and no one dared disobey.

Qing Nu didn't go in. He stayed on guard at the entrance.

The classroom courtyard was empty. The page led them into a room in the east wing.

The desks had been pushed to the edges, clearing an open space in the middle. Shangguan Yushi sat on a chair, her page standing behind her, with several members of the Shangguan Family on either side.

This didn't look like a sparring match. Gu Shenwei's heart stirred. He understood that today's game was aimed at him.

Shangguan Yushi didn't like anyone winning too much of the Ninth Young Master's favor, especially when that person was only a servant.

"Brat, why aren't you calling me Auntie anymore?"

"This servant wouldn't dare." Gu Shenwei dropped to both knees.

For revenge, he had willingly become a servant, and he had to act like one as much as possible. When his master humiliated him, the first thing he thought of was how Yao Nu would have behaved.

The sharp-faced boy he'd caused to die was still influencing and guiding him from beyond the grave.

"Wouldn't dare? You were pretty bold yesterday. Is this your first day as a servant? You've only served your master for a few days, and you already dare to overstep the rules and act as you please? You think you're worthy of calling the Ninth Young Master your master?"

"He's the boy Eighth Young Madam brought back from the bandits' camp," said a page behind Shangguan Yushi, approaching her.

That only made Shangguan Yushi hate him more. Eighth Young Madam was at odds with Madam, and the Twins were Madam's own children. Naturally, the people around them wouldn't like Great Head God's daughter or anyone she brought with her.

"I was sent by the Eighth Young Master—"

Gu Shenwei tried to defend himself, but Shangguan Yushi sprang to her feet, brows drawn down, and kicked at him. "You brazen dog of a servant! You're as hateful as your slut of a master. You don't deserve to live in the Golden Peng Fortress!"

Gu Shenwei hesitated for only a moment before her kick struck his chest. He had cultivated his Hehe Jin to a certain level, but he still couldn't withstand the girl's kick. He flipped backward, then knelt upright again, his ribs aching in waves.

Shangguan Yushi still wasn't satisfied. She turned to the other seven sparring boys and ordered coldly, "Slap him in the face. Teach him the rules of being a servant."

Gu Shenwei's blood churned. No matter how much he imitated Yao Nu, he wasn't truly a servant. Humiliation was harder to bear than death, and the killing intent buried deep inside him stirred once more, eager to raise its head.