Death Scripture 271 The Gift of the Saber

A few years ago, a middle-aged macheteman had made a declaration to a young killer. The former gave himself 10 years to travel around Western Region and gather a team capable of defeating the Golden Roc Fort. He claimed that not everyone was afraid of the Supreme King and felt that there would be others willing to join his cause. The two of them would meet again this very day on the battlefield.

The middle-aged macheteman was none other than Tuo Nengya, and the killer called himself Yang Huan. Within three years, Tuo Nengya had built up a sizable team. He drilled them well, and the team was capable of maintaining a giant formation. Even so, he knew that he had too few men to be competing with the Supreme King, and thus he sent out trusted men to foreign lands with the purpose of gathering more funds and manpower, all the while keeping the presence of his team secret. It was thus that he got to hear about Yang Huan's remarkable achievement of uniting the people from the different peaks of the Great Snowmountain.

Tuo Nengya had observed the Great Snowmountain for over a month before he decided to get in touch with Yang Huan, the Dragon King. He wanted to be sure that Yang Huan really had things under control and that he would be supporting the correct person. After he was convinced that the peaks of the Great Snowmountain were truly united, he led his men to meet up with Yang Huan.

He had never forgotten about the killer.

He gave the order to his trusted men, who were scattered all over Western Region, to gather at Shu-lik. This took a lot of time, as his messengers were not familiar with the route to the Great Snowmountain, and were stopped by the Shu-lik army beyond their blockade. When the machetemen finally arrived at the Great Snowmountain, they realised that the main body of its swordsmen had already set off for the battlefield.

More and more machetemen came answering Tuo Nengya's call to arms, till at last there were more than 1,500 of them. Tuo Nengya had originally wanted to lead them to the Great Snowmountain, but changed his course midway there when he heard that the Dragon King and his swordsmen were already headed to the eastern border of Shu-lik. It took them a few days' journey to meet up with the Dragon King's forces as they had to take evasive measures to avoid being intercepted by the Shu-lik army.

The sudden appearance of such large, armed group created much panic in Shu-lik, and everyone in the country began preparing for a possible invasion. They stood down only when the machetemen were far from Shu-lik's borders.

As for Fang Wenshi, he was fleeing westwards after the appearance of the Golden Roc Fort's reinforcements at the battlefield, but changed his mind after having rode one and a half kilometers. He thought about how he had waited for almost 30 years to have a chance of establishing a name for himself as a military counselor, and he knew that he might not have another shot at it if he gave up on the Dragon King now. He did not want to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Jiang Ziya, who only found a suitable person to serve at a ripe old age. He was also afraid of having no income—to him, it was a feeling worse that dying.

To avoid that, he knew that he had to ensure that the Dragon King would survive the battle, even if it would cost him all the swordsmen of the Great Snowmountain. With this in mind, he rode back in a hurry to the Great Snowmountain's base camp. Once there, he summoned the 400 over remaining swordsmen who were guarding the camp to address them. He only managed to say, "The Dragon King is in danger." Without waiting for him to finish, the swordsmen swarmed out of their camp and rushed to the scene of the battle.

Just as the swordsmen were leaving their camp, Tuo Nengya and his machetemen arrived. The two parties nearly got into blows as they did not know each other, and it was Boss Tuo who managed to prevent any bloodshed before they even got to the battlefield. He explained to the swordsmen who he was and why he had brought his men here.

Fang Wenshi was delighted beyond words. He could not help lifting his head towards the sky, secretly feeling grateful and lucky that he did not desert the Dragon King. He did not mention to anyone that the Dragon King and the main body of the Great Snowmountain were losing badly and in grave danger of perishing on the battlefield. All he said was that they were engaged in combat with the enemy, and that the forces of the Golden Roc Fort were slowly retreating, therefore he had come back to gather more men, so that they would have a chance to contribute.

If he had more time to prepare and tidy himself up, they might have believed him. However, he was unkempt and ragged looking, not to mention sweating profusely. The swordsmen knew that the Dragon King was in dire need of their assistance, and once they heard that the machetemen were not their enemy, they hurried onwards to the battlefield without even bothering to greet their allies.

Tuo Nengya understood that he had to reach the Dragon King quickly as well. He ordered the 500 or so mounted machetemen to follow his lead and the rest who were on foot to proceed on a forced march to the scene of the battle.

The mounted machetemen soon overtook the swordsmen and arrived first at the battlefield. They could see both sides engaged in close combat and the forces of the Great Snowmountain were losing badly.

They quickly dismounted, as they were not accustomed to mounted warfare. Next, they formed a huge formation made up of seven mini formations and entered the fray, shouting 'Kill' in unison.

These 500 machetemen saved the lives of the Dragon King and the main body of the Great Snowmountain that day. If the machetemen had not come to their assistance, the Dragon King and his men would have been wiped out.

Even though there were not many swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain left, the appearance of the machetemen proved that they still had reinforcements available. As more ground troops could be spotted coming to their assistance, the Golden Roc Fort decided to retreat and regroup.

It took Gu Shenwei a while before he could identify who his reinforcements were. He quickly got on a horse and rode up and down the battlefield, shouting orders to his swordsmen not to chase after the retreating enemy.

The commander of the Golden Roc Fort was much better than Gu Shenwei thought, and he was worried that his men would be falling into another ambush by chasing after their opponents. Intelligence provided after the battle proved that his deduction was correct—Dugu Xian had at least a 1,000 archers regrouped and ready to rain death on their pursuers.

The battle was basically over when the machetemen and swordsmen who were on foot arrived. They saw the survivors from the main body walking towards them, carrying the bodies of the fallen comrades.

Neither side declared itself as the victor, as both sides suffered heavy losses.

The Great Snowmountain suffered about 700 casualties—about one third of their troops. Gu Shenwei knew that even though he had won the battle, he had lost the war with the Golden Roc Fort so far. Even though his men had inflicted greater losses on the enemy, they would be able to replenish their ranks quickly.

Once the Dragon King and his swordsmen arrived at their camp, the first thing they did was not to commemorate their fallen comrades, but to thank the machetemen who had come to assist them in battle.

The Dragon King gave the long-saber he was still holding on to as a gift to Tuo Nengya, presenting it to the macheteman with both hands, as a sign of respect. All the swordsmen began taking out their most precious items, aside from their swords, and stacked them into a pile. They allowed the machetemen to pick and keep those items they wanted, and even gave up the best tent for their newfound allies to rest in.

In the past, Gu Shenwei had dismissed Tuo Nengya's idea of forming a team of machetemen to fight the Golden Roc Fort as unrealistic. Little did he know that Tuo Nengya would have brought his men to save him and the entire Great Snowmountain from annihilation today. The little bit of admiration he always had for the macheteman became true respect—Tuo Nengya had stuck to his word and accomplished something seemingly impossible.

The long-saber was made of steel whiter than snow, and there was not a single nick or drop of coagulated blood on it, even after Gu Shenwei had used it to slay many enemies. Anyone could see that it was a weapon of rare quality.

Tuo Nengya went down on one knee and received the long-saber with both hands. At the same time, he pledged his loyalty to the young Dragon King. He believed in the killer's ability and wisdom, and he placed even more trust in their hatred of the common enemy. He had sensed the hate in the young killer when they met three years ago, but it was only recently that he knew they had the same target.

The Dragon King helped Tuo Nengya up and raised his voice as he addressed the entire camp. "These are the sixth brothers from the Great Snowmountain—Luoshen Peak, Danduo Peak, Greatsword Peak, Smallsword Peak, Canopy Peak, and now we have the Machetemen Peak as well."

The men from the Great Snowmountain cheered loudly as they welcomed the machetemen, treating them as their own tribesmen.

After that, came the burial of the dead. According to the customs of the Great Snowmountain, the corpses were sent deep into the Snowmountain and buried under the ice and snow to preserve the looks of the dead. However, they were now far from the Snowmountain now, and there was not much snow or ice around them. Therefore, they had to break from tradition and make do with what they had.

They made a clearing on a slope in the valley, where the Gu family's manor used to stand. Pieces of wood were stacked on the ground and the corpses were placed on top of the firewood. They continued stacking layers of firewood and corpses in the same manner until a tall tower-like structure was formed.

The warlocks, who had accompanied them, began praying to the heavens for its blessings and laid curses on their enemies. After they were done, the Dragon King set fire to the pyre and they watched as it burned to ashes.

"The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, and the spirit falls to the Ninth Abyss. The living grief, while the dead rest in peace," he chanted continuously as the ashes spiralled up into the skies.

More and more joined him in chanting, and these words soon became the Great Snowmountain's eulogy for their dead.

The Golden Roc Fort sent men to challenge the Great Snowmountain to another battle, but the Dragon King ordered his men to not react.

After the first battle, Gu Shenwei understood the difference between warfare and assassination. Dugu Xian, who remained hidden behind the scenes, had taught him a valuable lesson that he could not have learnt in the past few months, when fighting against the small forces that Shu-lik sent to suppress the Great Snowmountain.

That night, he summoned his military counselor for a private meeting. He apologized sincerely to Fang Wenshi, and said that he should have listened to his counselor's advice. The Dragon King knew now that contending for power in Western Region was different from taking revenge. The former required him to focus on building up his strength and consider killing as a means to that end. Whereas the latter spurred him on to crush his enemy even at the risk of perishing together with the enemy.

Fang Wenshi did not show any pride at having won over this master, even if he felt pleased with himself. "There are always a victor and a loser in warfare," he said. Even though 700 of the swordsmen had perished in the first battle, their leader was still alive and they had new allies in the machetemen. Fang Wenshi felt that things were still looking good for them. "Also, the battle was not for nothing. We didn't lose, and displayed our strength for all to see. The Golden Roc Fort, however, made a grave mistake."

"Their cavalry which came as reinforcements definitely were not put together at the last minute. They were well trained, and in his haste, the Supreme King exposed his ambition and strength to everyone to see. This would in turn give us an opening for suggesting a peace deal," the counselor continued.

As he began giving serious consideration to making peace with the Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei realised how hard it was to go against his original conviction. He had struggled and survived till now, fuelled by his need to exact vengeance. To ask him to give that thought up, even temporarily, made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Fine." He felt a heavy burden was lifted from his soul as he said it. He could not remember whether it was his Master Shifu Tie Hanfeng who had told him before that even if hatred was a source of energy, one should control it and not be controlled by it instead. He trusted in his ability to consider the big picture and keep his own hatred of the Shangguan family in check. "Let's begin the peace process now," he continued.

He summoned Tuo Nengya to get his opinion on the issue. The macheteman was experienced in the ways of the jianghu, and immediately understood the Dragon King's motives once he heard what he had to say. He made no comments but raised two concerns. "It won't be easy trying to make peace with the Supreme King, and I'm afraid Shu-lik would be displeased as well."

Upon hearing this, Fang Wenshi immediately had a much more favorable opinion of Tuo Nengya. He felt that the macheteman and himself were of similar thought. "That's right!" he exclaimed, unable to control his own excitement at having found a soul mate. His reaction scared Tuo Nengya a little. "This is the crucial part of our plan to gain a foothold in Western Region," Fang Wenshi continued.

Gu Shenwei decided to listen instead of speaking up, sensing that his counselor was eager to express himself.

"The Supreme King would definitely not want to make peace with us. The Golden Roc Fort has the upper hand now, and even a few thousand of our swordsmen are nothing in his eyes. Besides, it would diminish his authority and give us time to regroup by entering into a peace deal with us. On the surface, this negotiation is between the Golden Roc Fort and us, but in fact, we'll involve the Central Plain as our negotiation partner."

Tuo Nengya wrinkled his eyebrows, puzzled at how the Central Plain was in the picture at all.

"The Central Plain has been consolidating troops to the east of Jade City all these years, but it's a very slow process, and they're not able to conquer the entire Western Region in one go as yet. Therefore, it would want to maintain the status quo, and would especially not wish for Shangguan Fa to become a legitimate king and claim Jade City for himself. Having to contend with the Great Snowmountain to its west, Shangguan Fa's conspiracy with Norland and coronation would definitely be delayed and affected. Using this fact, I'm confident of convincing the Central Plain to step in and force the Supreme King to make peace with us. Furthermore, I've heard that there's a rising force in Jade City gathering under the name of 'to Stop all Killing' and is anti-war. Its leader is the Four Truths Temple, and from our current situation, I feel it's also an important boost to our aim of achieving peace."

"What about Shu-lik? Wouldn't our actions anger them and lead their army to attack us?" Tuo Nengya asked.

"Never," said Fang Wenshi triumphantly. He emphasized each of his words as he continued, "The King of Shu-lik is a sheep in wolf's clothing. He'll support the winning side. If we lose badly, he'll definitely take advantage of our weakness and inflict greater losses on us, to earn the forgiveness of the Golden Roc Fort. If we win the support of the Central Plain, he won't dare to react. The strong get stronger, and if Shu-lik wants us to do their dirty work, we'll aim to profit at their expense."

This was Fang Wenshi's strategy and he split the duties with the Dragon King after concluding the meeting. He would pay a visit to the highest ranking official from the Central Plain residing in Western Region, while his lord would sneak into Jade City and link up with the anti-war factions. It would be the first time in three years Gu Shenwei re-entered Jade City, ever since his rebellion.

The only problem left was to convince the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain.

Chapter end