Death Sutra Chapter 45

Editor:  Aiiee

Shangguan Ru wanted to perform an 'assassination', the site would be Golden Roc Castle, and the target…She still hadn’t decided yet.

This plan was not only childish, but also whimsical. Thus, except for Shangguan Yushi, who always supported Ninth Gongzi wholeheartedly, the others all wanted to back out.

In response, Shangguan Ru widened her eyes in an overbearing manner. “There’s no way back for a killer—move forward or die.”

Her words were a bit scary. Although everyone believed Ninth Gongzi would not really kill anybody, they would be punished if they wouldn’t listen to her. So they all pretended to be elated and inspired, and started discussing the first ‘assassination’ target.

Gu Shenwei was well-advised to keep silent. He didn’t want to provoke Shangguan Yushi. This jealous girl would not let him go easily, and the only thing he could do was to not offer her the excuse.

The first victim of the ‘assassination’ game was Servant Qing. Nobody knew who suggested him, but everyone agreed. To the three ‘killers’, Shangguan Yushi especially emphasized, “If you dare warn him, you’ll be a traitor. How do we punish the traitor?”

“Expel from the castle, hack the body with 100 sabres.” Shanggguan Fei rushed to answer. This was the family rule of Golden Roc Castle, so he was very familiar with it.

“Right, be merciless to the traitor.” Shangguan Ru stressed.

‘Hacking the body with 100 sabres’ was not terrible. It was more miserable to be expelled from the castle. Each of the three ‘killers’ immediately swore to heaven that they would not be an informant. This was Gu Shenwei’s strong point, he only needed to tweak the pledges he had made to Luo Ningcha.

What had happened early morning of the fourth day proved that no one was a snitch.

Servant Qing lived on the periphery of west castle, where most of the houses were home of the grown-up servants. He would walk out from home early in the morning, pass through a narrow alley, meet with two teenage footmen at the alley entrance and then head together for the school.

The six of them were divided into three teams each led by one of the twins and Shangguan Yushi. They followed Servant Qing for three days to take note of his routine.

Gu Shenwei was with Shangguan Yushi.

Although Yu Gongzi couldn't care less about training others, she was not slack on her own kung fu practice. Thus, she made astounding improvement in her lightness skill and competed with Servant Huan intentionally. Gu Shenwei could only match her footsteps in the winding alleys by giving it his all.

Servant Qing didn’t realize he was being followed at all. He was a servant born in Golden Roc Castle. And one of the advantages of growing up in a place full of killers was that he didn’t have to worry about being assassinated. Attacking sneakily within Golden Roc Castle? That was like teaching fish how to swim. It was impossible even without thinking.

Shangguan Ru planned the ‘assassination’ single-handedly. According to it, Shangguan Fei would lead the three ‘killers’ to lay wait in ambush at the alley entrance, just in case the two footmen Servant Qing always walked with changed their routine and destroyed their plan, while Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi were responsible for the 'kill'.

Although it was only a game, all the youths felt the tension and excitement. In fact, Shangguan Fei was so thrilled that he almost ruined the whole plan by letting out excited sounds.

The ‘assassination’ went very smoothly. The four waiting at the alley entrance didn’t see the scene inside, but they all heard the piercing scream. Those two footmen who came to meet Servant Qing every day also heard it. At first, their body trembled  until they almost collapsed to the ground, then they started running towards the alley. But after running only two or three steps, they exchanged a glance, changed their minds and turned running towards their homes, almost scratching and scrambling through. They didn’t show up for the rest of the day.

The two teenage girls who performed the ‘assassination’ successfully were like two little deers who had just learnt how to run, hopping out of the alley in a rush. With glowing cheeks and quivering lips, they seemed to be using all their might to suppress a crazy laughter from bursting forth.

The others followed, retreating at full speed and returning to their real identities.

Servant Qing was really scared. Although the sabre laid on his neck was wooden, his soul went to the Gate of Hell indeed. For three days, his complexion was green, and he developed a fear of people standing on his back, jumping up in fright every time someone spoke behind him.

Servant Qing became a standing joke in the castle. But three days later, when his complexion changed back to normal, he appeared to be very proud of himself. Wasn’t it an honour to be the first ‘assassination’ target of Unique King’s own daughter? Moreover, he had survived, which was a true ‘miracle’.

Servant Qing described the scene of the sneak attack vividly, as if he was not only calm when it happened, but also had eyes on his back. “Clean and agile, disturbing none of the surroundings, it was like an immortal showed up in our mortal world. When the sabre cut down, it stunned me although I had long felt something was wrong, seeing that sabre still stunned me. You can never imagine that sabresmanship could be mastered by a kid who is only a little more than 10 years old … “

However, he still gave severe punishment to the two footmen, who left him to die, sending them to do the hardest task, that was, tending to the dying in Ji Xin Yuan. It wasn't until their parents showed up and begged Servant Qing, using every possible way they could that he finally pardoned them.

Shangguan Ru was happy to have him. Shangguan Yushi was her close friend, cousin and adviser, but this unique servant was her rival. Since she was conceited and competitive, she was very glad to have a comparable competitor.

The three of them spent lots of time traveling almost half of Golden Roc Castle, looking for the best spot for assassination. Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi knew a lot of the killer’s techniques. Half practise, half showing off, they taught them all to the tagalong little servant.

Gu Shenwei took this chance to take a close look everywhere, leading him to the conclusion that his missing elder sister was definitely not in the castle.

They became more and more undaunted, and even tried to ‘assassinate’ the eighth young lord Shangguan Nu.

That time, Gu Shenwei approximately ascertained his enemy’s kung fu level. Shangguan Nu must have long been aware of the three’s little tricks, but he kept his countenance and didn’t bust them until they made a move.

This was a fiasco. None of the three ‘killers’ escaped, a first since the ‘assassination’ games started.

As the eighth young lord’s servant, Gu Shenwei must kneel and kowtow to apologize. In contrast, the two girls acted with shameless mischievousness, asking their target to say sorry.

Shangguan Nu seemed to really like his youngest sister, even showing a side that was completely different from his normal malice and ruthlessness. He not only apologized, but also revealed a rare smile while showing his iron hook to please them.

That cut off right hand was the biggest taboo to Shangguan Nu and would usually get one killed because of glancing at it inadvertently.   

Gu Shenwei felt a hint of dread for he wanted to maintain his hatred of Shangguan Nu. In his mind, this man with a broken-off hand was the biggest villain under heaven, so he didn't want to see the warm, nurturing side of the eighth young lord.

Shangguan Ru rested awhile and went back to school after the failure to ‘assassinate’ Shangguan Nu.

Several days later, when the ‘assassination’ restarted, Gu Shenwei was surprised to find out that he himself became the ‘target’. This time, however, they were not playing for fun anymore.

Chapter end