Death Sutra

Chapter 614: Bickering

After being greatly influenced by the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, King Shengri was very wary of other masters being around the old Khan. The Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect, who had been favored by the Khan as soon as they arrived, were the highest profile characters he was on guard against.

“You’ve competed with the Dragon King in internal energy? And both of you were injured?”

“Yes,” Dao Nian humbly replied with his head lowered.

“Then I’ll give you a chance to go out there and beat the Dragon King.”

“Uhh, this Taoist still has an internal injury…”

“The Dragon King also has an internal injury but he still sliced and diced his opponents apart like melons and cabbages. Why can’t you do that?”

“Well… Our sect focuses on cultivating internal energy and building up our body, unlike the Dragon King, whose internal energy is injured but his saber techniques are not affected.”

What Dao Nian said sounded plausible but it was just a trick to fool outsiders. In fact, internal energy and external martial arts were codependent and mutually conditional. Gu Shenwei was able to exert the Death Sutra Sabersmanship because his endurance was much greater than that of an ordinary kung fu practitioner. The speed of his saber had actually slowed down a lot.

King Shengri couldn’t find the flaw in his reply but was very dissatisfied with his attitude of being unwilling to fight and offering up all kinds of excuses. Frowning, he said, “Let one of your junior brothers play then.”

Dao Nian blushed. In order to boast a little, he hadn’t mentioned his junior brothers when he had brought up the fight with the Dragon King, which was now an embarrassing loose end. None of them were the Dragon King’s match even when they were healthy, not to mention that they still had the frosty Qi inside their bodies.

While Dao Nian was at a loss for words, his junior brother Dao Xiu stepped forward and requested, “Your Highness, please let me fight for you!”

“You can do it?”

“Our Jade Pure Sect is good at using internal energy, not fist and sword techniques. But the Dragon King is so arrogant and wants to challenge all the experts in the Norland on his own. I can’t stand it anymore. I’d rather die if I can’t defend the dignity of the Norland. I just hope that Your Highness can remember the loyalty of our brothers.”

Dao Xiu’s words were touching and sad, but King Shengri felt that they were quite out of place. “Damn, why would I send you if you can’t beat the Dragon King? Who else has volunteered?”

Although Dao Xiu failed to please the king, he had managed to avoid the embarrassment of his senior brother’s lies being exposed. Dao Nian cast a grateful look at his junior brother. He didn’t expect Dao Xiu, who was usually the most reckless, to be more useful than the others at this critical moment.

The officer who had belittled the kung fu experts of the Central Plains said again, “My lord, let’s send our own warriors out to decide the victory or defeat in one go, and open the eyes of these third-rate disciples of the Central Plains.”

King Shengri pretended to consider the officer’s suggestion. In the very end, he would, of course, send out the most capable master to ensure victory, but he still enjoyed watching those that he didn’t like kill each other and didn’t want the show to end so fast. In fact, he had hoped the Dragon King would win the first few rounds. What annoyed him was that the kung fu experts of the Central Plains were so weak that they weren’t able to make the scenes any fiercer.

“Please give the Kongdong Sect a chance, Your Highness.”

The volunteer was an old man in his forties, with a dark complexion and a frowning brow, as if he were both a thoughtful wise man and a poor man who worked day and night.

“Are you sure that you can last a bit longer?” King Shengri’s expectations for the kung fu experts of the Central Plains had been greatly lowered.

“I’m not sure how many moves I need, but I’m confident in defeating the Dragon King.”

“Haha, so the Kongdong Sect is the most formidable among the nine major sects of the Central Plains?”

“Every sect has their own expertise, and I happen to know a bit of saber technique that may be able to restrain the Dragon King.”

King Shengri looked at the short saber hanging by the man’s waist and said, “Just go and have a try, but you have to promise me something.”

“I do not aim to lose to the Dragon King.”

“Boring, boring. It’s no different from the first two. Um, is there anyone else from the Kongdong Sect here?

Two middle-aged men walked out and saluted King Shengri, “Your Highness, I am…”

“Stop, stop. I can’t remember so many names of people from the Central Plains. The two of you will be his promise. If he wins, the people of the Kongdong Sect will be treated as top-notch warriors of the Norland and you will be rewarded with a high position and great wealth. If he loses, and the Dragon King kills one on the field, then I’ll kill two off the stage.”

The three disciples of the Kongdong Sect were astonished. They looked at each other for a few moments before the man with furrowing brow said, “As Your Highness wishes.” Then he walked out to the field.

“I’m Shen Yongjiu of the Kongdong Sect, and I’m here to ask the Dragon King for some advice regarding saber technique. Please enlighten me.”

The kung fu experts of the Central Plains in the Norland were all unwilling to reveal their real names but this Shen Yongjiu was obviously an exception. Gu Shenwei hadn’t heard of this name, but behind him, the hundreds of besieged let out a slight exclamation of surprise. It was clear that this plain saberman was quite famous in the Central Plains.

Seeing that Shangguan Fei was the second person to be let go by the Dragon King, Old Man Mu’s confidence was greatly boosted, and he became a bit more willing to act as a eulogist. The Kongdong Sect was close to the Norland, so he had some cursory knowledge of it, but didn’t recognize this Shen Yongjiu. He suddenly remembered something when he saw the short saber under Shen Yongjiu’s belt. “Hey, Shen, do you know Old Immortal Dog Butcher?

“Senior Dog Butcher is my Martial Uncle.”

“Huh, that’s easy then. Dragon King, it won’t take long to kill this Shen Yongjiu. Like Old Immortal Dog Butcher, this guy uses a boning saber which seems unique. But actually, he’s not good at saber techniques at all. Just watch out for his leg techniques. Keep an eye on his feet and you’ll win for sure.

Even the people of the Central Plains had never heard of ‘Old Immortal Dog Butcher.’ At first, they had thought that Old Man Mu was deliberately humiliating the other side. When Shen Yongjiu admitted that ‘Dog Butcher’ was his Martial Uncle, they finally believed that the Kongdong Sect really had a master whose name was this strange.

Shen Yongjiu drew his short saber, and it was indeed a boning saber, which was about one or two times wider and longer than a boning knife but less than two feet long. It was still much shorter than a normal saber. “Martial Uncle Dog Butcher was defeated by Your Excellency at the Great Border Pass. He has never forgotten it in the past decade and has devoted himself to improving his saber techniques. Sooner or later, Martial Uncle will challenge Old Man Mu again.”

The Great Border Pass was one of the passes at the border of the Central Plains. Few people knew that duel. Old Man Mu still remembered it but was shocked. “Old Immortal Dog Butcher is still alive?”

“Fortunately, Martial Uncle is still alive.”

“And he still calls himself ‘Old Immortal’?”

“Martial Uncle Dog Butcher has admitted his defeat and removed the words ‘Old Immortal.'”

Old Man Mu nodded with satisfaction. “He can just remove the word ‘Old’, and keep the word ‘Immortal.’ Immortal Dog Butcher, what a nice name.”

The listeners finally understood that they had had a fight because the two shared the same word ‘old’ in their names.

King Shengri, who was listening from the opposite side, became impatient. The officer under him immediately shouted, “Cut the crap and start fighting now.”

“Well, then let’s cut the crap.” Old Man Mu didn’t have as much internal energy left and his only pleasure was bickering on the spur of a moment. So he wouldn’t let the chance slip by easily. “I wish the old Khan a hundred years of life. Oops! He’s almost a hundred years old. I wish him a thousand years old. Wish the Khan a long long life! Follow me and chant along if you are loyal to the Khan, and please keep silent if you think it’s crap.”

He said it again in the language of the Norland, and some of the Norland Cavalry really repeated what he said. Once someone responded, the others also followed. The voice grew louder and louder, until even King Shengri moved his lips. The officer around him looked embarrassed but did not dare say it was crap.

“Wish the Khan a long long life!” Some of those encircled kung fu practitioners also echoed, hoping that the kindness they were showing could help change their situation a bit.

While Old Man Mu was challenging the opponent with his mouth, his eyes had remained focused on the Dragon King, afraid that his wordiness would make his savior unhappy. When he realized that not only had the Dragon King not become angry but rather had taken two steps back to give him more space to speak, he finally understood that the Dragon King wanted to delay for time.

Gu Shenwei did need some time to allow his pulsating acupoints to subside, and he needed more time to change the Khan’s mind or to wait for a miracle.

The cries gradually subsided. Knowing what to do now, Old Man Mu pointed at Shen Yongjiu and said, “Why didn’t you wish for the old Khan to live long? Do not think that you can cheat by having your back face King Shengri. There’s something above you. You can’t hide it.”

Shen Yongjiu knew he was no match in bickering so he simply refused to answer, and instead took a stance and looked at the Dragon King.

“Tut tut.” Old Man Mu wouldn’t withdraw from the verbal fight so easily. He could keep on chattering for a while. This was the case when he had gone into seclusion alone to recover, not to mention the current situation where he had thousands of audiences. He continued loudly, saying, “This is really odd. The Dragon King came in good faith to seek refuge with the Khan, but the son of the Khan has sent a very suspicious spy to join the kung fu competition. Was it because he feared that the Norland had a new ally or that the old fool had been deceived?”

Because of the matter of King Dari, the words ‘old fool’ had become taboo in the Royal Court. King Shengri, who hated it especially, snorted, his face livid. But as a king, he couldn’t demean himself to speak back against Old Man Mu, so he merely shot a stern glance at the two disciples of the Kongdong Sect and the officers near him.

The life of the disciples of the Kongdong Sect depended on the contest, so Shen Yongjiu didn’t want to start the fight too early. But he was also afraid of upsetting the lord, so he had no choice but to go out on the field.

“No more bullsh*t, Old Man Mu. King Shengri is wise and responsible and is also the Khan’s most reliable right-hand man. Everyone can clearly see who is loyal and who harbors evil intentions. There’s no need to say…”

“Haha.” Old Man Mu immediately caught onto the exposed loophole. “All the kings of Norland are wise and responsible, and even the Khan himself finds it hard to make a choice. So you have appointed an heir for the Khan. Now, in front of everyone, will you tell us what you are colluding with King Shengri towards?

The heir of the Khan was an even more sensitive topic than ‘old fool.” The disciple of the Kongdong Sect didn’t mean to mention it but it had been implicated by Old Man Mu. The disciple was speechless and could only say, “I didn’t mean it.”

“Shut up,” ordered King Shengri, grinding his teeth. Obviously, he was the one who had the Dragon King surrounded with cavalry, the one in an absolute advantage, so why did it look like he was on the losing side?

The officer immediately shouted, “Let the tournament begin.”

Old Man Mu was still nagging, accusing the Kongdong Sect and King Shengri of being guilty, but no longer able to attract any attention.

Shen Yongjiu moved. Although his physical strength was no longer in peak condition, and the boning saber was also half step shorter than other sabers, he was more confident than he had been in his youth, and he was more steady than he had been in his prime.

Old Man Mu had said that Shen Yongjiu’s strong point was not his saber techniques but rather his foot techniques and sure enough, Shen Yongjiu moved so fast that his whole body was a flash of a grey shadow, which advanced and retreated around the Dragon King like a giant, agile insect.

Shen Yongjiu also claimed that Martial Uncle Dog Butcher had improved his sabersmanship and he was telling the truth. The short saber was like the tooth of a venomous snake, lethal in every move.

In an instant, the two of them had exchanged more than ten moves, each faster than the other. The audience all had their hearts in their mouth and didn’t even have time to shove it back down.

King Shengri slapped his thigh, “This is really something. The Kongdong Sect knows their stuff.”

Gu Shenwei rarely clashed so many times with an opponent. His desire to defeat the enemy suddenly surged and he struck faster and faster with every blow no matter how hard his internal Qi circulated.

The two clashed again and when they brushed past, Shen Yongjiu said in a very low voice, “Lord Wei sends his regards to the Dragon King.”

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