Editor: Nyxnox
Chapter 244 Liuhua
Liuhua carried the bow and arrow he usually used on his back, but what was strange was that he also had a sword hanging by his waist.
Looking at him, Gu Shenwei wondered how he had offended this marksman, and how the other side found him. "You've made a big contribution. Who will reward you, Shen Liang or Madam Meng?"
Liuhua snorted scornfully. He appeared a little agitated and tried to keep calm, completely different from the teenager who usually hid himself well. "I'm not like you, willing to be an obedient dog for Tenth Gongzi. I have no lords. I only work for myself."
"So you are a wild dog."
"Heh, I've always thought that you were better at talking than swordsmanship."
"Whatever, no more nonsense then. Why don't you just make a move? You don't look like a killer, being so wordy."
For a moment, Liuhua's eyes seemed to shoot out fire, penetrating the darkness and going straight towards the Servant Huan. "Simply killing you can't help me release all of my hate. I need you to know why you have died."
"I'm all ears." Gu Shenwei was very willing to delay for time. Lotus would come back at any time, and only she could save him.
"I've been protecting you." Liuhua gnashed his teeth as he said this as if he were chewing up all his hatred.
"So it was indeed you who came to my rescue at the Governor's office."
"Yes."
"You are also the one who tried to assassinate Ye Silang in the Rouge Forrest."
"So you still remember that."
Gu Shenwei, of course, would not forget his first duel with Ye Silang. He wasn't very confident at that time and a mysterious swordsman had suddenly popped up and injured Ye Silang, causing the duel to end, which somehow ended up helping Gu Shenwei. But he had never imagined that the one who had lent a hand would be Liuhua. The Mouth Sealing Liuhua's sabresmanship was average, so how was it that his swordsmanship was so advanced?
Like being hit by a heavy hammer, Gu Shenwei's mind reeled and he barely remained standing by leaning against the wall.
"You are starting to understand." Like a cat that was torturing its prey, Liuhua revealed a cruel smile, his voice full of madness and eagerness as if he couldn't wait to cut open the other side's chest to see how broken the heart had become.
"Lotus's Master was also killed by you." Gu Shenwei's voice became hoarse. It seemed that all of his strength had been exhausted by saying these few words.
It had happened when the disciples of the Great Desolate Sect came to steal the Daoless Scroll. There were many deaths in Southern Jade City at that time, and one of the earliest deaths was Wu Ling, Lotus's Master, who been killed in a brothel. The fatal blow was a sword wound that had pierced through the eye. As soon as he saw it, Gu Shenwei felt that it seemed like an attack from the Death Sutra swordsmanship, but later he took for granted that it was done by the Waning Moon Hall and Great Desolate Sect.
"That old dog, lecherous and shameless. He deserved an earlier death; I really regret killing him too late." Even after such a long time, Liuhua was still full of resentment, which made him appear less like a calm killer.
Gu Shenwei kept silent for a long time. He had to slowly accept the facts that Liuhua had thrown out. He suddenly understood why Yu Gongzi's death could trigger such a huge change in Shangguan Ru. "So you've always loved her."
In fact, there were signs long ago. When Servant Huan had separated with Wild Horse and was in a weak position, it was her who had drawn Liuhua to their side. He should have understood at that time, but Liuhua had once tried to assassinate her, and no one would have imagined that the two were secretly having an affair.
"Always, forever, never changing. And I wouldn't have protected you if she hadn't asked me to."
Gu Shenwei couldn't bear it any longer. The chill that usually followed the training came early, and he could only slowly sit down, his mind in a daze.
What hit him was not only jealousy but also great disappointment. The only person he trusted actually had her own secrets. Lotus must have had a close relationship with Liuhua. Otherwise, she would not have imparted the Death Sutra swordsmanship to Liuhua so easily. It was supposed to be a secret between him and her.
But he himself also hadn't confessed everything to Lotus. He had many hidden secrets, but it was just that Lotus had never appeared concerned.
"You must be thinking that Lotus loves me so much that she asked Liuhua to protect me, right?" Liuhua's tone was full of sarcasm. He wanted to slowly savor this moment, finally tasting revenge and victory. He took three steps forward and approached Servant Huan so that he could clearly see the other side's expression which was hidden in darkness.
Gu Shenwei didn't know what he should think. Occasionally Lotus would reveal a feeling that went beyond partnership, but it always disappeared in a blink of an eye. The fact she protected Servant Huan was more like a … conspiracy.
"I hope you won't be so self-sentimental," Liuhua continued as Servant Huan didn't open his mouth." Sabre and Sword were always the lowest forms of revenge; words were always a sharper tool to cut out the heart and dig out the bone. He really didn't want to skip this step. "She said that darkness was the friend of the weak. You hid behind Tenth Gongzi, she hid behind you, and I hid behind her. In order to not arouse the other's suspicion, we plotted an assassination. Heh, shooting her twice was the hardest decision I've ever made. Now, as long as you die, no one will ever find out our true purpose."
"The Daoless Divine Power." Gu Shenwei muttered. It was still the Daoless Scroll, and all the plots and tricks were designed for it.
"She has it, so you are worthless now." Liuhua drew his sword. There couldn't be a better way than to kill Servant Huan with the Death Sutra swordsmanship. It was a bizarre martial art first discovered by Servant Huan, and it was the most appropriate to kill him with it.
"Why doesn't she do it herself?" Gu Shenwei coldly asked. After the shock, what was left was something that he had learned long ago, that there was no one in this world worth trusting. His initial impression of Lotus was right, and it was also probably the same reason why he had so many words to say that were never said in front of her.
"She has a strange idea, she wants you to …"
Liuhua's body weirdly straightened up as if he had been tickled, but he didn't laugh. Instead, he slowly turned around and knelt down.
Lotus was standing behind him with a sword in her hand, her expression as indifferent as usual. "You shouldn't be here."
Liuhua was unable to speak now, and he didn't even have the strength to change the look on his face. Only his eyes revealed a trace of puzzlement and sadness. He was dying, but all the memories flashing through his mind were related to the teenage girl that had killed him. When he was coldly treated and bullied in the Carving Wood Yard, it was her who had shown friendship and suggested for him to learn archery. From then on, he had voluntarily tied his fate with her and quietly hid behind her.
It was an arduous road, full of painful marshes and jealous thistles and thorns. The disciples with poor kung fu skills were food for the killer Masters and the strong, and no one could escape from it. He could endure the torture inflicted on him, but couldn't bear to see or even hear about her being humiliated. It was hatred that had made him spend twice as much as effort in raising his shooting skills until the start of the slaughter amongst the disciples.
Everyone said that 'Mouth Sealing Liuhua' killed to avenge himself, but no one understood that he only killed for her.
Then Servant Huan showed up. Liuhua believed that the plan she had made was a brilliant one, but he couldn't accept the two getting closer and closer. From the way she silently gazed at Servant Huan, he had seen something familiar, which was exactly the subtle feelings he only had when he looked at her.
Jealousy was even stronger than hatred. Every time he followed the unwitting Servant Huan, and performed the role of a protector against his will, he had to exert great self-control to suppress his impulse to shoot out.
Now that everything was over, he finally wasn't able to restrain himself and stood in front of her. Perhaps this was really his mistake, Liuhua's eyes turned dim in an instant. He had experienced the revenge of words, but could no longer taste the pleasure of blood.
Lotus grabbed the corpse and threw it out over the arrow mound, outside of which was the abyss. Liuhua was a Golden Roc killer and had the same destination as most Golden Roc killers.
Gu Shenwei looked at her the entire time as she did all that. Liuhua had barely started talking, so there were still too many things that puzzled Gu Shenwei.
"Liuhua really loved you."
"We don't take male disciples."
"So you've joined the Great Desolate Sect." He gradually understood the cause and effect.
"Xue Niang liked me very much." Lotus casually replied as if nothing had changed between the two.
"But the Great Desolate Sect has perished."
"The Great Desolate Sect is only a branch of the Waning Moon Hall."
Gu Shenwei smiled bitterly. "Unexpected, unexpected, so you are also a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall. How did they accept you so easily?"
"Xue Niang instilled a strand of Desolate Finger Energy into my yinbai acupoint. Hall Leader knew it at once when she touched me."
'Yinbai' was not only a pun but was also located at the tip of the foot, which was a very unimportant acupoint. The fact that Xue Niang had hidden her Desolate Finger Energy in this place naturally showed her trust in Lotus.
"The Hall Leader is that woman?"
"Mm."
There was once a tall woman who had instilled the wicked internal Qi into Shangguan Ru and several others, but only Servant Huan and Lotus had been spared because they had already had the Desolate Finger Energy in their body. Gu Shenwei felt that he was really silly, and hadn't seen through such an easy fact earlier. "You've been waiting for Tenth Gongzi to become ill, waiting for her to steal the Daoless Scroll, and waiting for her to ask for your help.
"No, she would ask you for help."
"Then I will ask you for help."
"Mm."
Gu Shenwei smiled bitterly again. He had taken advantage of Shangguan Ru, and Lotus had similarly made use of him. So, this is what it feels like to be betrayed. He began to understand Shangguan Ru's change more. "But you showed an intention to kill Tenth Gongzi several times."
"I had to act like that. Liuhua was nearby everytime, and he would come to the rescue when necessary. Fortunately, I didn't have a chance to use him, and then I learned you didn't want to kill her at all."
Gu Shenwei no longer spoke because it was useless to say anything anymore. Before, he had not planned to let Lotus know some crucial facts, and now the chance he would tell her was even smaller. He wanted Shangguan Ru to die, not by killing her, but by hiding the 'truth' and letting her die of Qi deviation. He hadn't expected that the chapter seven given to him by Shangguan Ru was correct and the version that Lotus had passed to him was fake, and the one who was dying from Qi deviation was actually he himself.
Lotus brought over two steamed buns and put them on the ground. Then she wiped Servant Huan's forehead and pressed on his lower abdomen. "You should eat something, or you will feel more painful later."
Though he knew it was useless, Gu Shenwei still couldn't help but ask, "you've got the Daoless Scroll, so why don't you run back to Waning Moon Hall to get your credit?"
"There's still a lot of work to be done."
Lotus's calmness, once a quality Gu Shenwei highly appreciated, had now become the source of his hatred. "To see me die from Qi deviation?"
"Mm."
"In that case, why did you give me the Daoless Divine Power to remove the Desolate Finger Energy?"
"The Desolate Finger Energy was given to you by others. I will make you suffer through Qi deviation from my own methods."
"Why?"
"Because of Servant Yao."