Death Sutra Chapter 132

Chapter 132 Three days

The two teenagers had failed to regain their murderous heart. They had not only lost two narrow sabres, but had also been forced to be Buddhists, which was the heaviest setback they had suffered ever since they became killer disciples.

Not knowing if they had been affected by Mantra, both Gu Shenwei and Lotus were very depressed as they traveled, not acting as calmly or callously as usual.

It was not until they had galloped for several miles that the two finally calmed down enough to discuss their biggest problem.

Forgetting the scripture was the only way forward for them. Their first attempt to this was for one to recite the scripture loudly while the other tried to interrupt now and then, hoping to disrupt the memory of the one reciting. This, however, only made them remember it even more deeply.  

The two were full of worries as they went along, resulting in them being easily plotted against by two women.

In front of them appeared two women riding side saddle on donkeys while slowly moving forward. From the back, their slender figures seemed to indicate that they didn’t know kung fu. But, when they suddenly leaped from their donkeys’ back and pounced on the horseman passing by, they did it cleanly and deftly like top-level experts would.  

Not only did the two teenagers feel uneasy, but they had also made a huge mistake. When faced with the attack, they subconsciously tried to draw out their sabres and fight back, forgetting that they only had the sabre sheath.

A momentary chance. When the two came to their senses, they had already been poked in the chest.  

What happened next was familiar, the hot Qi in their Xuanji acupoints rushed down to their Dantians and straight up to their heads at the same time. The two immediately passed out.

The seeds that Xue Niang had planted at Golden Roc Castle had grown up and were now about to be harvested by the Great Desolate Sect.

Gu Shenwei opened his eyes and found that he was lying on an open grassland. The first person he saw was Lotus, who was lying close beside him and seemingly still asleep. Gu Shenwei sat up and didn’t feel a single trace of hot Qi in his body, as if the hidden danger at his Xuanji acupoint had been removed.

This, of course, couldn’t be real.

Lotus also awoke now. Both of them turned back and saw two masked women dressed in black. They were dressed in almost the same manner as Golden Roc killers, the only difference being that there was no golden roc embroidered on their shoulder, but rather a white waning moon on their forehead.

The two teenagers were neither bound nor were their acupoints were stricken, which made them all the more alert. They stood up but didn’t dare to make a move rashly. Besides, they didn’t have a sabre or sword now, and their fist techniques were average.  

“You killed the three of Nie Qing’s family,” said the slightly shorter masked woman, her voice sounding young.  

“Yes. You’re Nie Qing’s younger sister.”

The short woman coldly sneered, “Right, you killed my elder brother’s family, but I have to thank you. Because if it weren’t for that, I’d have to waste more time finding you.”

The killer was ruthless; kinship was one of the ties that one must cut off. So this short woman’s words were not said in an ironic sense at all.

Gu Shenwei had been waiting for this day ever since he met the mysterious woman on the run, so he was fearless. He knew very clearly that the Great Desolate Sect would not easily squander the opportunity he and Lotus represented. Xue Niang might have thought of this when she instilled the Desolate Finger Energy into the two&rsqu

o;s body.   

“Since we’ve met, let’s cut to the point.”

This time the one who spoke was the taller woman, her voice a bit older. “You two are Kang Wenmei’s disciple, so you’re also our Great Desolate Sect’s disciples. You have to serve our sect.”

“We two didn’t formally take her as our Master, so unfortunately we’re not Xue Niang’s disciple.”

‘Kang Wenmei’ was Xue Niang’s real name, but Gu Shenwei was still more accustomed to using her fake name.

“It doesn’t matter. As long as you have the Desolate Finger Energy in your body, you’re a disciple of the sect.”

“I’d appreciate it very much If you could help me take it out,” Gu Shenwei couldn’t help but mock. Due to the finger energy in his acupoint, he only had one more year left to live.  

The tall woman probably felt that her words were not enough to express her intention, so she suddenly moved in front of Gu Shenwei and patted his chest.

The pat itself was not heavy at all, but through it flowed a large strand of hot Qi, which merged with the finger energy in Gu Shenwei’s Xuanji acupoint and moved quickly along his meridians. Gu Shenwei immediately staggered and fell backward.

The tall woman circled around Gu Shenwei like a ghost. Every now and then she would stick out her palm and instill strands of hot Qi into Gu Shenwei’s body by either scratching or patting. Like a puppet, Gu Shenwei swayed back and forth, stumbling like a drunkard without any strength to fight back.

Lotus tried to help him but was hit to the ground by the tall woman’s casual palm strike. The tall woman’s kung fu was even better than Xue Niang.

Without a sabre or sword, the two teenagers suddenly seemed mediocre at martial arts.

Within the time of an incense stick to burn, the tall woman finished patting and retreated back to her original position.

Gu Shenwei’s bones crackled and finally stopped after a long while. He couldn’t help but change his facial color, “What have you done?”

“You never knew what the Desolate Finger Energy is used for?”

Gu Shenwei didn’t speak. The Desolate Finger Energy only meant one thing to him — Qi deviation.

“You should feel honored. The Desolate Finger Energy is the unique method of teaching internal energy and seldom passed onto men.”   

“Hey, it seems that the disciples of Great Desolate Sect don’t have a long life.”

“If your Master kept passing Desolate Finger Energy into your body, you will not die too soon.”

Gu Shenwei suddenly understood what this tall woman had done to him, “You …”

“I’ve helped you remove Kang Wenmei’s finger energy.”

“Then you instilled your finger energy.” Gu Shenwei was very clear that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

“Of course, and my internal energy is even a bit more powerful than Kan Wenmei’s. Now you have Desolate Finger Energy in the Baihui acupoint on your head, Xuanji acupoint in your chest, and Yongquanacupoint under your feet. If you can continue to receive my help, it will be very beneficial to your internal energy. But you still have to thank Kan Wenmei because the Desolate Finger Energy can’t be forcefully filled into one’s body. I can’t ‘help’ you if she hadn’t started it.”

Gu Shenwei quietly distributed his internal Qi. Sure enough, for a moment of time, his internal energy at Dantian had grown a bit stronger. He hadn’t made progress in his internal energy for a long time due to the control of Xue Niang’s Desolate Finger Energy.  

“Xue Niang gave me three years, how long are you planning to give me?”

“Three days.” The tall woman held up three fingers.

Again, Gu Shenwei was speechless. He didn’t understand why he was always in the center of the vortex and frequently being used by others. Then he remembered what his Master Tie Hanfeng had said. Servant Huan had run too fast and blocked others’ way. But meanwhile, he was ‘favoured’ by someone. If he had worked obediently as a servant and hadn’t murdered Servant Yao, he probably would not have been chosen by Xue Niang to enter East Castle.

“You have three days to prove that you’re willing to serve our sect.”

“How can I prove it?” Gu Shenwei was not that confident because the task given by this tall woman would certainly not be easy to accomplish.  

“Go back to Golden Roc Castle and hang a rope down for me.”

“You’re really going to climb up the mountain?” Gu Shenwei blurt it out

The tall woman glanced at the short woman, “I’ve told you those nails would expose us.” Then she said to the teenager, “You don’t have to worry about anything else. All you need to do is hang down a rope from the cliff outside Adding Wood Yard (Ji Xin Yuan) on the third night watch periods two days later. Tie it tightly and you’ll see me again. If everything goes well, you’ll be an official disciple of the Great Desolate Sect.”  

Being a disciple of the Great Desolate Sect meant that he could continue ‘enjoy’ the Desolate Finger Energy and extend his life. This was how the Great Desolate Sect kept their disciples in line and prevented the appearance of any traitors.

The tall woman produced a string made of strange materials, which was neither silk nor linen. But it was very strong and about one hundred feet long, the end of which was connected with a black iron-like item. It was not big, but very heavy.  

What choice did Gu Shenwei have? He wasn’t a loyal killer of Golden Roc Castle. If the Great Desolate Sect could demonstrate enough strength in this war, he’d rather betray Golden Roc Castle openly.

Gu Shenwei took the rope.

The two masked women kept Lotus as a hostage. “Three days. If you die, she will also die,” The tall woman said.

“A killer doesn’t care about others’ deaths, you should know this. Let her follow me, and maybe she can help.”

Gu Shenwei tried to get Lotus back. Unfortunately, the tall woman shook her head and refused, her eyes revealing a trace of a smile, “No one knows what he really cares about or doesn’t care about until they face life and death. So too is the killer like this.”

Gu Shenwei rode back to Jade City alone. He had lost his narrow sabre, his partner, and only gained doubts in his mind. Although these two disciples of the Great Desolate Sect were masked, their manners appeared to be quite normal and were unlike those black-robed and red-robed women he had come across on his way to the Iron Mountain camp. They were struggling to reach the top of the mountain in an attempt that seemed to avoid killing someone.  

He couldn’t think of any explanations for these doubts, but he needed to focus on his present problems. How could he return to Golden Roc Castle and perform the task assigned by the tall woman?

Trouble always came in pairs. Shangguan Yushi had assigned Servant Huan an easy job, but all of a sudden he had become a popular person that everyone wanted to find.

This time the one who found him was Shangguan Hongye, the Unique King’s nephew but still someone with no status in the castle. For a few gold or silver vessels, he was even willing to work for a servant and did business in the black market.  

Shangguan Hongye, who was about the same age as Servant Huan, had abandoned his studies a long time ago and was waiting for a position in the castle. But before this, he was working for the eighth young mistress.

Gu Shenwei had occasionally mentioned that Shangguan Hongye and his mother were not satisfied with their life and were the easiest to bribe. Luo Ningcha had surprisingly taken it seriously.  

Seeing Shangguan Hongye’s good looks, Gu Shenwei knew that the eighth young mistress must have offered him a lot of benefits. He was the lord in name, but he grinned at the sight of Servant Huan, with an expression of someone trying to please, “Servant Huan, you’re not bad. You’re wearing a brown belt now, and you’re not far from wearing a red belt, are you?”

Shangguan Hongye wasn’t here to joke around. He had brought the Miss’s letter with him. The letter was written in an authoritative tone and in it, the Miss demanded Servant Huan to apologize to Meng Fifth Gongzi as soon as possible in order to ease their relationship.

Shangguan Hongye had met Servant Huan on his way to the city, and he had already told Tie Hanfeng about the eighth young mistress’s order. “Hey, that woman is really good. I didn’t expect you have such sharp eyes.” He kept praising Xu Yanwei.

Immediately afterward, Gu Shenwei went to Xu Yanwei’s small house. Tie Hanfeng pulled his disciple over as soon as he saw him and smilingly said, “The eighth young mistress has really changed her temper. She’s right. You have to apologize to the Meng family. There’s no point to having such an enemy. I’ve arranged a feast for Meng Fifth Gongzi right here and he agreed. Your Master still has some face with him after all.”

Gu Shenwei’s mind was in a muddle. One thing came after another, and he only had three days to do it all.

Before he completely lost his mind, Gu Shenwei ran out and rode up to Shangguan Hongye. He produced a large piece of gold and gave Shangguan Hongye a single task.

Chapter end