Death Sutra - LightNovelsOnl.com
You're reading novel online at LightNovelsOnl.com. Please use the follow button to get notifications about your favorite novels and its latest chapters so you can come back anytime and won't miss anything.
Chapter 094 Mistake
Editors: Cypress Venus Trap, Rams
The a.s.sa.s.sination mission was scheduled to be executed during midnight. The disciples had long been preparing for it, cleaning up their clothes, wiping their sabre, and practicing the use of their knockout drugs. The killing lord Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ treated Servant Huan simply as a humble house-serf and ordered him to do all kinds of labour work such as cleaning the snow in the yard, was.h.i.+ng all the instruments and items in all of the rooms, while constantly mocking him about his return with nothing last night whenever she had the chance.
Gu Shenwei didn't speak out his doubts, his suggestion would only exert a completely different effect in front of Shangguan Yus.h.i.+. He was wiping a closet in one of the rooms when it was almost noon, and Lotus finally found a chance to come inside alone.
"Listen, tonight's a.s.sa.s.sination is a trap."
Due to the urgent time Gu Shenwei jumped to the point as soon as he met Lotus. Lotus didn't show a surprised look. Like what she did during the period of the slaughter, she was willing to be the a.s.sistant and adviser. She nodded, showing that she had gotten Servant Huan's meaning.
"Ten Dragons Gang not only has seven leaders and twelve guardsmen tonight, it will also have a large group of archers. The archers will hide in the empty wine jars outside the house and will crawl out as soon as you come inside the house. Those houses are all simple and crude with thatched roofs. I guess they will set fire to the houses first and then shoot from the outside."
"There's a hidden traitor in the castle?" Although Lotus was always expressionless, she now revealed a surprised look. Golden Roc Castle was the biggest killer's organization in the Western Regions or even in the whole world. Who would be willing to become a spy for a trivial gang?
"If all of you die there, the spy will be me." Gu Shenwei had thought through many things and only missed the last bit, someone will prove that I have talked with Old Dragon Head, and perhaps, at a place unknown to all there is a sum of money with my name on it, this trap is perfect."
"It's Mr. Guo? He still wants to kill you, even at the expense of twenty killer disciples and Yu Gongzi?"
"It's him, but you're not the expenses, I'm the one. Look at the ones who survived at Bi Nu gang, almost all of them were the second young lord, sixth young lord, and eighth young lord's servants. Mr. Guo is the first young lord's close confidant. He must believe that we deliberately got rid of the disciples on his side, so he wants to take revenge."
"You're right, it was said Wild Horse had an intention to pledge allegiance to the second young lord and Liuhua seems to have been drawn over to the sixth young lord's side."
Someone walked by the door, so Gu Shenwei waited until there was no sound outside before saying again: " Try to remind Yu Gongzi, but don't say it's my guess."
After Lotus left, Gu Shenwei let out a breath, hoping that Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ wasn't that stupid. Life was always unpredictable. He had long wished that he could get rid of the little devil and there was a great opportunity lying ahead, but instead he had to find a way to save her life.
The man who walked out of the Xu family must be a watcher from Golden Roc Castle and he would prove that Servant Huan had a private talk with Old Dragon Head. The fact that Old Dragon Head's son slept overnight with Xu Yanwei was just a show; even if Servant Huan didn't interfere, he would still find a chance to fight with Servant Huan before he had left and the purpose was offering a reasonable excuse for Old Dragon Head to come for Servant Huan.
They were all acting. The siblings of the Xu family, Old Dragon Head, Dragon Teeth, they were all acting.
Gu Shenwei had wiped the surface of the cabinet as smooth as a mirror but he still unconsciously continued cleaning as he kept thinking on the matter.
Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ summoned everyone as soon as it was dark. Gu Shenwei carried a rag, looking at her solemnly checking every disciple's attire. He also noticed Liuhua who was in the corner. With his nocturnal clothing, this marksman appeared to be thinner and smaller than everyone else. Also the short bow he held in his hand seemed to be a toy and didn't look lethal at all.
Liuhua had once attempted to a.s.sa.s.sinate Lotus but had failed. Gu Shenwei then looked at Lotus, and she looked back. Her eyes were clear and calm, indicating that she had successfully instilled the necessary information into the killing lord Shangguan Yus.h.i.+. This was her strength, she would make these thoughts seem to be thought of by Yu Gongzi herself.
The a.s.sa.s.sination team moved out, only Gu Shenwei was left alone in the yard. He had to clean up the remaining weapons as well as all the sundries, wait for the 21 people to return victoriously and then go back to the castle together. After completing the work, Gu Shenwei walked back into the yard. It was a quiet winter night, a night, cold enough to freeze the most excited and boiling blood, and quiet enough to hear the heartbeat.
All of a sudden, an idea appeared in his mind, his heart thumped wildly as if it would force all of his blood out.
c.r.a.p!
Gu Shenwei threw the frozen cloth heavily onto the ground, returned to the room, grabbed a narrow sabre and ran frantically out of the yard, hoping to catch up with the a.s.sa.s.sination team.
The southern Jade City was full of meandering streets and alleys. Gu Shenwei, who was anxious, became more and more annoyed as he zigzagged forward. He moved forward quickly with his back close to the wall, trying to avoid those guests who came out for wine and prost.i.tutes. Looking from afar, there was no fire at the gathering place of the Ten Dragons Gang, so he still had time to correct his mistake.
Gu Shenwei didn't go straight towards the destination. This was a killer's instinct that he had trained at East Castle, no matter how critical the situation was, he would circle around to check the surrounding situations first.
The yard of the Ten Dragons Gang was located on the periphery of the city, which was far away from the city wall and close to the wild. Even the nearest house was about about 100 steps away, it was indeed an ideal place for the burning of houses and the killing of people.
Every fifteenth day of the lunar month was a day for all the leaders to meet and no drunkards were treated today. So pedestrians became less and less as Gu Shenwei moved closer to this place.
Gu Shenwei walked along a slightly bending alley, climbed several short walls along the way, but didn't find any signs of the a.s.sa.s.sination team.
It was a dead end at the end of the alley, Gu Shenwei must climb the wall before he could return to the road towards the gathering place of the Ten Dragons Gang. He got attacked when he was about to make a jump.
The intuition that had helped this lord many times, had suddenly became lazy this time. Gu Shenwei was totally unprepared, as he could only roll on the ground and escape the attack awkwardly.
The attacker showed mercy.
"What happened?" A man hidden in the dark asked.
"He's from the castle." The attacker in black said with a low voice under the short wall, his hand gripping a narrow sabre.
The attacker was clearly not a killer's disciple, but a formal killer. Gu Shenwei laid on the ground, and didn't dare to make a move. He found the last missing part of this conspiracy: how to silence people after the mission.
There were two a.s.sa.s.sination teams, one was made up of disciples. Behind the disciples hid a team of real killers, when the disciples got plotted and killed, the killers would conduct the back-up plan and kill all the insiders of the Ten Dragons Gang.
Killers of Golden Roc Castle never let their enemies stay alive, Mr. Guo didn’t even need a special arrangement. The killers didn't know they were the tool of a conspiracy, they were just conducting a normal task.
"Kill him." The voice in the dark said. The order they received was very clear and they didn’t care if the intruders was a killer's disciple or not.
"Wait, wait. I'm one of the a.s.sa.s.sination team." Gu Shenwei anxiously said.
If Mr. Guo had arranged a person amongst the killers, he would kill Servant Huan without hesitation. But no one moved, even the killer under the wall. He just gripped the narrow sabre and showed no intention to make a move.
"Why were you left behind?" Obviously the killer hidden in the dark was the leader, as he did all the talking.
"I … have a task, this is part of the plan, I can't reveal more about it. You must be the backup killers, why have you popped up so early? It's only your turn if we fail."
Gu Shenwei became more confident as he said more. In the end, he stood up and patted off the snow on his body.
No voice came from the dark for a long while, the killer appeared to be very impatient when he spoke again, "Go."
No one knew who this order was for, the killer under the wall climbed over the wall and disappeared. Gu Shenwei also jumped over the wall and turned to the road for the gathering place of the Ten Dragons Gang.
The yard circled by cob walls was not far ahead and the light in the yard was as small as a bean.
Gu Shenwei halted a bit to calm down. He had organized many a.s.sa.s.sinations with small teams and also carefully learned the format of large scale a.s.sa.s.sination done by Wild Horse. He estimated that Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ must have received lots of help from Wild Horse.
Thus, most of the disciples must be hidden in the wildness behind the gathering place. And they must be very close to the yard and could even be under the wall. There were at least one person on each side of the yard to detect the guardsmen in the yard and there would be another person to watch the road they came from.
Gu Shenwei roughly guessed Shangguan Yus.h.i.+'s action plan, so he made a right turn, avoided the small path, arched his back and moved forward. There were a row of suspicious footprints on the snow ground, which seemed to have been left by the killer disciples.
A few dozens of steps away from the gathering place stood several dead trees. Gu Shenwei circled to the back of the trees and watched carefully. It was the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the moonlight was exceptionally cool and bright. There was a black object on the dead tree, which seemed to be a big nest. Gu Shenwei knew it was the disciple responsible for monitoring.
This person was unimportant, so Gu Shenwei didn’t want to disturb him. He continued to approach the yard in a large arc, bent his body more, slowed down, and seemed to be a small beast searching for food in the snow ground if looked from afar.
He wasn't prepared to shout out to remind the disciples that there was a trap here unless necessary, because doing so would only serve to commit acts of sabotage.
There was a b.u.mp in the snow ground ahead. The b.u.mp itself didn't show any abnormality, but one could see the situation in the yard if stayed in that position. Gu Shenwei crouched and observed for a while, making sure it was a disciple, alone and there was no companions around.
Gu Shenwei approached closer, finding that disciple was still motionless. He probably was a bit nervous and paid all his attention to the yard ahead and neglected the protection behind his back. Gu Shenwei walked closer, grabbed a s...o...b..ll and threw it lightly forward. The snow-like b.u.mp suddenly moved a bit.
"It's me." Gu Shenwei whispered and raised his head a bit to let the other recognize him.
That disciple used to be a member of the Bi Nu gang and was still a zealot for now. He was very startled to see Servant Huan here.
Gu Shenwei arched his back, crawled forward and whispered several words into that disciple's ears. The disciple nodded, he believed his previous gang leader's judgement, but he reminded Servant Huan with a low voice, "Be careful, there's another person ahead, it is Mouth Sealing Liuhua."
Gu Shenwei didn't worry about Liuhua, what he worried about was how to explain it to Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ later.
He made a low level mistake, there was no archers hidden in the wine jars. Only the special weather conditions would make the killer disciples neglect the breathing in the jars, Mr. Guo would naturally think of this. A strategist of his level would not let such uncontrollable factor exist in the plan.
The a.s.sa.s.sination mission was scheduled to be executed during midnight. The disciples had long been preparing for it, cleaning up their clothes, wiping their sabre, and practicing the use of their knockout drugs. The killing lord Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ treated Servant Huan simply as a humble house-serf and ordered him to do all kinds of labour work such as cleaning the snow in the yard, was.h.i.+ng all the instruments and items in all of the rooms, while constantly mocking him about his return with nothing last night whenever she had the chance.
Gu Shenwei didn't speak out his doubts, his suggestion would only exert a completely different effect in front of Shangguan Yus.h.i.+. He was wiping a closet in one of the rooms when it was almost noon, and Lotus finally found a chance to come inside alone.
"Listen, tonight's a.s.sa.s.sination is a trap."
Due to the urgent time Gu Shenwei jumped to the point as soon as he met Lotus. Lotus didn't show a surprised look. Like what she did during the period of the slaughter, she was willing to be the a.s.sistant and adviser. She nodded, showing that she had gotten Servant Huan's meaning.
"Ten Dragons Gang not only has seven leaders and twelve guardsmen tonight, it will also have a large group of archers. The archers will hide in the empty wine jars outside the house and will crawl out as soon as you come inside the house. Those houses are all simple and crude with thatched roofs. I guess they will set fire to the houses first and then shoot from the outside."
"There's a hidden traitor in the castle?" Although Lotus was always expressionless, she now revealed a surprised look. Golden Roc Castle was the biggest killer's organization in the Western Regions or even in the whole world. Who would be willing to become a spy for a trivial gang?
"If all of you die there, the spy will be me." Gu Shenwei had thought through many things and only missed the last bit, someone will prove that I have talked with Old Dragon Head, and perhaps, at a place unknown to all there is a sum of money with my name on it, this trap is perfect."
"It's Mr. Guo? He still wants to kill you, even at the expense of twenty killer disciples and Yu Gongzi?"
"It's him, but you're not the expenses, I'm the one. Look at the ones who survived at Bi Nu gang, almost all of them were the second young lord, sixth young lord, and eighth young lord's servants. Mr. Guo is the first young lord's close confidant. He must believe that we deliberately got rid of the disciples on his side, so he wants to take revenge."
"You're right, it was said Wild Horse had an intention to pledge allegiance to the second young lord and Liuhua seems to have been drawn over to the sixth young lord's side."
Someone walked by the door, so Gu Shenwei waited until there was no sound outside before saying again: " Try to remind Yu Gongzi, but don't say it's my guess."
After Lotus left, Gu Shenwei let out a breath, hoping that Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ wasn't that stupid. Life was always unpredictable. He had long wished that he could get rid of the little devil and there was a great opportunity lying ahead, but instead he had to find a way to save her life.
The man who walked out of the Xu family must be a watcher from Golden Roc Castle and he would prove that Servant Huan had a private talk with Old Dragon Head. The fact that Old Dragon Head's son slept overnight with Xu Yanwei was just a show; even if Servant Huan didn't interfere, he would still find a chance to fight with Servant Huan before he had left and the purpose was offering a reasonable excuse for Old Dragon Head to come for Servant Huan.
They were all acting. The siblings of the Xu family, Old Dragon Head, Dragon Teeth, they were all acting.
Gu Shenwei had wiped the surface of the cabinet as smooth as a mirror but he still unconsciously continued cleaning as he kept thinking on the matter.
Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ summoned everyone as soon as it was dark. Gu Shenwei carried a rag, looking at her solemnly checking every disciple's attire. He also noticed Liuhua who was in the corner. With his nocturnal clothing, this marksman appeared to be thinner and smaller than everyone else. Also the short bow he held in his hand seemed to be a toy and didn't look lethal at all.
Liuhua had once attempted to a.s.sa.s.sinate Lotus but had failed. Gu Shenwei then looked at Lotus, and she looked back. Her eyes were clear and calm, indicating that she had successfully instilled the necessary information into the killing lord Shangguan Yus.h.i.+. This was her strength, she would make these thoughts seem to be thought of by Yu Gongzi herself.
The a.s.sa.s.sination team moved out, only Gu Shenwei was left alone in the yard. He had to clean up the remaining weapons as well as all the sundries, wait for the 21 people to return victoriously and then go back to the castle together. After completing the work, Gu Shenwei walked back into the yard. It was a quiet winter night, a night, cold enough to freeze the most excited and boiling blood, and quiet enough to hear the heartbeat.
All of a sudden, an idea appeared in his mind, his heart thumped wildly as if it would force all of his blood out.
c.r.a.p!
Gu Shenwei threw the frozen cloth heavily onto the ground, returned to the room, grabbed a narrow sabre and ran frantically out of the yard, hoping to catch up with the a.s.sa.s.sination team.
The southern Jade City was full of meandering streets and alleys. Gu Shenwei, who was anxious, became more and more annoyed as he zigzagged forward. He moved forward quickly with his back close to the wall, trying to avoid those guests who came out for wine and prost.i.tutes. Looking from afar, there was no fire at the gathering place of the Ten Dragons Gang, so he still had time to correct his mistake.
Gu Shenwei didn't go straight towards the destination. This was a killer's instinct that he had trained at East Castle, no matter how critical the situation was, he would circle around to check the surrounding situations first.
The yard of the Ten Dragons Gang was located on the periphery of the city, which was far away from the city wall and close to the wild. Even the nearest house was about about 100 steps away, it was indeed an ideal place for the burning of houses and the killing of people.
Every fifteenth day of the lunar month was a day for all the leaders to meet and no drunkards were treated today. So pedestrians became less and less as Gu Shenwei moved closer to this place.
Gu Shenwei walked along a slightly bending alley, climbed several short walls along the way, but didn't find any signs of the a.s.sa.s.sination team.
It was a dead end at the end of the alley, Gu Shenwei must climb the wall before he could return to the road towards the gathering place of the Ten Dragons Gang. He got attacked when he was about to make a jump.
The intuition that had helped this lord many times, had suddenly became lazy this time. Gu Shenwei was totally unprepared, as he could only roll on the ground and escape the attack awkwardly.
The attacker showed mercy.
"What happened?" A man hidden in the dark asked.
"He's from the castle." The attacker in black said with a low voice under the short wall, his hand gripping a narrow sabre.
The attacker was clearly not a killer's disciple, but a formal killer. Gu Shenwei laid on the ground, and didn't dare to make a move. He found the last missing part of this conspiracy: how to silence people after the mission.
There were two a.s.sa.s.sination teams, one was made up of disciples. Behind the disciples hid a team of real killers, when the disciples got plotted and killed, the killers would conduct the back-up plan and kill all the insiders of the Ten Dragons Gang.
Killers of Golden Roc Castle never let their enemies stay alive, Mr. Guo didn’t even need a special arrangement. The killers didn't know they were the tool of a conspiracy, they were just conducting a normal task.
"Kill him." The voice in the dark said. The order they received was very clear and they didn’t care if the intruders was a killer's disciple or not.
"Wait, wait. I'm one of the a.s.sa.s.sination team." Gu Shenwei anxiously said.
If Mr. Guo had arranged a person amongst the killers, he would kill Servant Huan without hesitation. But no one moved, even the killer under the wall. He just gripped the narrow sabre and showed no intention to make a move.
"Why were you left behind?" Obviously the killer hidden in the dark was the leader, as he did all the talking.
"I … have a task, this is part of the plan, I can't reveal more about it. You must be the backup killers, why have you popped up so early? It's only your turn if we fail."
Gu Shenwei became more confident as he said more. In the end, he stood up and patted off the snow on his body.
No voice came from the dark for a long while, the killer appeared to be very impatient when he spoke again, "Go."
No one knew who this order was for, the killer under the wall climbed over the wall and disappeared. Gu Shenwei also jumped over the wall and turned to the road for the gathering place of the Ten Dragons Gang.
The yard circled by cob walls was not far ahead and the light in the yard was as small as a bean.
Gu Shenwei halted a bit to calm down. He had organized many a.s.sa.s.sinations with small teams and also carefully learned the format of large scale a.s.sa.s.sination done by Wild Horse. He estimated that Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ must have received lots of help from Wild Horse.
Thus, most of the disciples must be hidden in the wildness behind the gathering place. And they must be very close to the yard and could even be under the wall. There were at least one person on each side of the yard to detect the guardsmen in the yard and there would be another person to watch the road they came from.
Gu Shenwei roughly guessed Shangguan Yus.h.i.+'s action plan, so he made a right turn, avoided the small path, arched his back and moved forward. There were a row of suspicious footprints on the snow ground, which seemed to have been left by the killer disciples.
A few dozens of steps away from the gathering place stood several dead trees. Gu Shenwei circled to the back of the trees and watched carefully. It was the fifteenth day of the lunar month, the moonlight was exceptionally cool and bright. There was a black object on the dead tree, which seemed to be a big nest. Gu Shenwei knew it was the disciple responsible for monitoring.
This person was unimportant, so Gu Shenwei didn’t want to disturb him. He continued to approach the yard in a large arc, bent his body more, slowed down, and seemed to be a small beast searching for food in the snow ground if looked from afar.
He wasn't prepared to shout out to remind the disciples that there was a trap here unless necessary, because doing so would only serve to commit acts of sabotage.
There was a b.u.mp in the snow ground ahead. The b.u.mp itself didn't show any abnormality, but one could see the situation in the yard if stayed in that position. Gu Shenwei crouched and observed for a while, making sure it was a disciple, alone and there was no companions around.
Gu Shenwei approached closer, finding that disciple was still motionless. He probably was a bit nervous and paid all his attention to the yard ahead and neglected the protection behind his back. Gu Shenwei walked closer, grabbed a s...o...b..ll and threw it lightly forward. The snow-like b.u.mp suddenly moved a bit.
"It's me." Gu Shenwei whispered and raised his head a bit to let the other recognize him.
That disciple used to be a member of the Bi Nu gang and was still a zealot for now. He was very startled to see Servant Huan here.
Gu Shenwei arched his back, crawled forward and whispered several words into that disciple's ears. The disciple nodded, he believed his previous gang leader's judgement, but he reminded Servant Huan with a low voice, "Be careful, there's another person ahead, it is Mouth Sealing Liuhua."
Gu Shenwei didn't worry about Liuhua, what he worried about was how to explain it to Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ later.
He made a low level mistake, there was no archers hidden in the wine jars. Only the special weather conditions would make the killer disciples neglect the breathing in the jars, Mr. Guo would naturally think of this. A strategist of his level would not let such uncontrollable factor exist in the plan.
