Death Sutra Chapter 14

Chapter 14  Acquaintance

Who had written that reference letter for Han s.h.i.+qi? That person must have had some relation with the extermination of the Gu family.

However, Gu Shenwei had no clue at all. At that time, he was still a young lord who was unfamiliar with the ways of the world and didn’t care about stuff like that. He would not have remembered this guardsman if it wasn’t for the fact that he himself had been in the study when Gu Lun met Han s.h.i.+qi in person.  

Han s.h.i.+qi must know what the previous ‘young lord’ looked like, because one of his main tasks at the manor had been to recognize faces. 

The first head they had brought back was wrong, and it was also wrong the second time. n.o.body knew that better than Han s.h.i.+qi.

Gu Shenwei’s biggest concern had become reality.

He was in a critical situation right now and had no solutions at all. He couldn’t leave awkwardly as this would only arouse attention, but he couldn’t stay like this either because Han s.h.i.+qi would open his eyes sooner or later.

Gu Shenwei could only pray quietly and leave his fate to G.o.d’s will.

His face expressed a sliver of the mood in his heart. Servant Yao, who was good at reading another person’s mood, glanced curiously at him. He opened his mouth with the intention of saying something, but he stopped.

Han s.h.i.+qi, who was lying on a recliner on the other side, leaned over and lazily said while he beckoned Servant Ji to kneaded his waist,

“Less nonsense, I am already very lucky to keep this hand. Everytime I see the eighth young lord my heart will beat faster; how could I dare to speak more? I will mention your matter to the young lord later.”

Servant Ji was not satisfied, especially in front of those new servants. So, in a coquetry tone while poking Han s.h.i.+qi’s waist like a little woman, he said, 

“Third brother, I really don’t understand. It was not your fault that they killed the wrong kid before letting you double check, and they should praise you for finding the kid in the end. What are you afraid of ?”

Gu Shenwei also really wanted to know what happened with the second kid.

Han s.h.i.+qi chuckled mischievously and stretched his body. Without answering, he turned back and opened his eyes, looking towards the nine servants.

Gu Shenwei’s heart jumped to his throat. He almost turned around to run away. He would rather jump off the cliff than be caught by his enemy.

Han s.h.i.+qi closed his eyes again.

“I will be leaving for about a month. Go find some ‘joy’ for me.”

Servant Ji took the hint. He had to play tricks to maintain the favor of his backer.

“Servant Qi and Servant Xie stay. The rest of you, go back to your own room.” Then he whispered in Han s.h.i.+qi’s ear: “a pair of brothers……”

The brothers knew he was talking about them and couldn’t help but be confounded for a moment.

The elder brother Servant Qi had big eyes and thick eyebrows, but his younger brother Servant Xie was delicate, with bright eyes and graceful eyebrows. Servant Xie was timid and always hid half of his body behind his elder brother. In Gu Shenwei’s impressions, he didn’t speak much.

Servant Yao’s expression was terrible as if he had a big grievance. He immediately threw a tantrum after he went back to the bedroom.

“On which aspects they are better than me? They are nothing but brothers. They don’t know how to make visionable choices. I can guarantee that their a.s.ses were not even washed clean. Huh, Servant Ji thought I informed Xue Niang secretly. He should have thought of that everybody knows he had beaten Servant Xiao.” 

Gu Shenwei speculated what the two brothers would suffer.

Although he was only fourteen years-old, Gu Shenwei had already vaguely heard of something called catamite when he was in the Central Plains. He hadn’t understood the exact meaning of the word, but he knew that it was a very dirty and bad thing. 

He sympathized with the brothers, but could not do anything. They had encountered a disaster while he had just escaped from his misfortune. Han s.h.i.+qi would go out tomorrow and came back a month later. Perhaps by then, G.o.d’s will would have already helped him find his sister and escape together during this period. Then they could look for opportunities to avenge their family in the future.

Servant Yao was angry that he had missed the opportunity to flatter Han s.h.i.+qi. As the ‘lucky’ Servant Qi and Servant Xie were not present, he could only vent his anger at others. 

“Servant Huan, it will probably be your turn next time. Look at how n.o.ble you are, you will certainly be favored by Master Han, Ah, I forgot to remind you, those men prefer to be ruthless to a small tender sheep like you. When it happens, you may not be able to walk in a few days, ha ha, they … … “

Gu Shenwei really wanted to punch that triangle face. He suppressed his anger, reminding himself not to make trouble. Han s.h.i.+qi was just next door, so he’d better not catch his attention.

However, he couldn’t bear it anymore, finally losing his control and rushed at Servant Yao.

Servant Yao was already prepared. The whole time, he had stood behind the other teenagers. The five teenagers hadn’t learnt too much of the language of Central Plains, so they hadn’t fully understood his words. They didn’t know why Servant Huan had suddenly become so angry, so they held him together.

Although Gu Shenwei, was far from being able to fight the killers and robbers with only his meagre bit of family-inherited kung fu skills, it was still possible for him to beat several kids of his age. Gazing at the proud triangle-faced Servant Yao, Gu Shenwei’s reason suddenly went returned so he retreated to the side while suppressing his fury.

It was already midnight when the brothers Servant Qi and Servant Xie came back.

The elder brother Servant Qi sealed his lips and lowered his head, avoiding everybody while he walked in. His younger brother Servant Xie followed behind him, sobbing along the way. 

The two of them lay on the brick bed. The others all pretended that they hadn’t heard anything, but there was one who hadn’t finished venting his anger.

“Hey, your a.s.ses must be very comfortable right? Do not think you are superior to me after finding a killer as a backer. I’m the Miss’s confidant now, and in the future I will be ……”

Before Servant Yao could finish his words, Servant Qi had run past several teenagers and punched him in the face. The two of them fought together. At first, the nearby teenagers tried to stop them, but then they all joined the fight.  

In the end, all nine teenagers in the room fought each other regardless if it was voluntary or forced. The room was shrouded in darkness, so n.o.body knew who they were fighting with, therefore although Gu Shenwei knew kung fu, it was useless and he still received many hits.

Everyone was in a fighting mood and hadn’t realized that someone had come in with a lantern.

Servant Ji said with a sneer,

“Third brother, they are fighting for your favour.”

Han s.h.i.+qi was resting in Servant Ji’s room and saw the group of teenagers fighting with a disorder that would catch the night watchman’s attention. He felt annoyingly amused, then shouted ‘stop’ while he dashed up, grabbing and throwing them to separate everyone.

Gu Shenwei’s restored reason had totally disappeared. The anger which he had suppressed for many days had burst out, so with each punch he used his full strength. Suddenly, Gu Shenwei felt his arm held by someone. Without a second thought, he used this opportunity to turn around and duck his head under the arm while he using his left fist to punch the other’s face.

Han s.h.i.+qi was surprised. He did not expect that a small master was hiding among the group of kids. He didn’t block the move; instead, he grabbed with more force and pushed outward. The undaunted juvenile was immediately thrown into a corner.

More red marks appeared where Gu Shenwei’s new name was branded. His bones were like broken, indicating the huge gap in power between him and the Golden Roc killer.

The two of them stared at each other.

One of them was once a spy who had sneaked into Gu family manor and was now a loyal killer of the eighth young lord Shangguan Nu. Another was once the young lord of the Gu family, but now sold as a servant whose arm was stamped with a disgraceful brand. 

Gu Shenwei was not nervous when it happened. Instead, he was very calm; he knew he had no way to escape. He would rather die fighting honorably than beg to live and lose the Gu family’s face. 

The nine teenagers scattered everywhere in the room. They knew they had caused trouble, so no one spoke a word. Servant Yao turned his head to the side, as if what had happened had nothing to do with him.

Han s.h.i.+qi swung his hand and smiled with surprise.

Gu Shenwei knew he had been recognized. With the thought of fighting to die, he stared back bitterly. 

“Servant Ji, you have hidden a treasure.”

“Stop speaking nonsense, make your move.”

Gu Shenwei slowly stood up. The first level yang strength of ‘balanced power’ inside his body was like a raging river. Faced the well-known Golden Roc killer, his body was held up by the will of death. He neither trembled nor retreated. 

The teenagers all felt surprised that the well-behaved Servant Huan suddenly become unafraid of death. It was especially unexpected for Servant Ji. These teenager servants were all under his care, if they behaved like this in front of the lord, wouldn’t it be his fault?  

“You smelly b.a.s.t.a.r.d, are you looking for death? How dare you speak with the master like this! What have I taught you before?”

He drew the red stick hanging by his waist, preparing to carry out the ‘family law’.

Unexpectedly, Han s.h.i.+qi held Servant Ji back. The smile on his face didn’t diminish at all.
 
“No, let him keep his wildness. Don’t let others touch him, wait until I came back.”

Han s.h.i.+qi and Servant Ji left along with the lantern, leaving the nine teenagers in darkness. Everyone breathed heavily before climbing onto the brick bed one after another. In this fight, n.o.body won and n.o.body gained any benefits from it. 

Gu Shenwei also climbed onto the brick bed. His skeleton collapsed, too soft to support his body.

What did Han s.h.i.+qi mean? Didn’t he recognize him?

How could it be possible? One of Han s.h.i.+qi’s main purposes for sneaking into the manor was to recognize people. Or maybe that was not Han s.h.i.+qi, just somebody who looked similar to him?

Indeed, Servant Ji always called him “third brother, third brother”, but he had never mentioned his real name.

“Another one whose a.s.s is going to bloom……” Servant Yao muttered, before falling asleep. He felt aggrieved and didn’t understand why such a good thing didn’t happen to him.

Gu Shenwei finally figured out the reason why he wasn’t recognised when he washed his face the next morning. His face was green and red, badly swollen and couldn’t be recognized.

He had been so occupied with worries that he didn’t even feel the pain. Now with the shock of cold water, he felt an unbearable itching.

The others were also seriously injured; some of them even limped while walking.

When they were bowing to the Miss as usual, Xue Niang saw the awkward teenagers, snorted and didn’t say anything.

After they came back to Ji Xin Yuan, Servant Ji used the red stick in his hands to teach the teenagers that he was the master of this courtyard and that only he was qualified to beat others.

Only the troublemaker Servant Yao was able to avoid Servant Ji’s abuse. He would stay at Xue Niang’s place and practice alone after they had bowed to the Miss. To become a killer in Golden Roc Castle, it was not enough to only have the lord’s favor; one should also have a little martial arts foundation.

However, Servant Yao suffered a lot under Xue Niang’s training. When the other teenagers’ swollen bodies had already recovered, his old injuries were replaced with new injuries and his face was always decorated with colours. Every day before going to sleep, he would still imagine about what he would do after becoming a killer, but he was not confident anymore.

Gu Shenwei believed that, in several months, Servant Yao would die under Xue Niang’s hands.

The eleventh day after he had entered Golden Roc Castle, Gu Shenwei was worried since he still had not heard any information regarding his elder sister, and was also nervous about what he could do after Han s.h.i.+qi’s return. Servant Yao who made very little at practising kung fu found him. 

The two of them hadn’t spoken a word in the past few days, so Gu Shenwei was surprised to meet him. He was cleaning the floor in Servant Ji’s room when Servant Yao walked in, earlier than usual. 

“You know kung fu?”

Gu Shenwei didn’t answer and continued cleaning the floor.

“Teach me.”

“Dream on.” Gu Shenwei thought secretly in his heart, still not answering.

“Teach me ‘balanced power’ and I will return the silk to you.”

Gu Shenwei immediately stood up.