Bighead Kingpin was sitting on the bed and his enormous body seemed to have occupied the entire tent. The room was so cramped that Gu Shenwei almost could not find a foothold.
The giant played with the token from Luo Ningcha for a while before asking, "Tell me, what does Bighead Kingpin's daughter want?"
"Miss has hard times in the Fort. The relationship between her and Lady Meng is bumpy. Miss is bullied and she hopes you..." Thinking that the giant preferred to be called Bighead Kingpin, which was also what he called himself, Gu Shenwei quickly corrected himself. "Hopes Bighead Kingpin can support her, frustrating the trade caravans of the Meng family to let them lose everything and demonstrate the power of the Luo family." Gu Shenwei kneeled down and spoke out the ideas he had instilled into Miss.
"Ha." Bighead Kingpin laughed. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Is Slave Huan your name?"
"Yes, Bighead Kingpin. I followed Miss to the Fort."
"Oh, I got it. You're one of the 10 pairs of teenage boys and girls. Very soon you're going to get the title of the killer. Actually, I heard a lot about you from the Tenth Young Master. It seems that you've done a lot along the way."
Gu Shenwei was still kneeling on the ground. Thinking of what Fang Wenshi had told him, he carefully said, "I just did what I should have done."
"Did what you should do. Well, you seem to have done many things that you should do as a killer apprentice. Tell me, what do you think of her idea?"
Bighead Kingpin showed his majestic manner and Gu Shenwei immediately felt the pressure as if there was a huge rock hovering over his head. "I'm just delivering the message from the Miss and dared not change a single word. As a vulgar slave, I dare not judge the master's intention."
"Bighead Kingpin's daughter is grumpy and disliked by her husband's family. Since you respect her as your master, you should serve her wholeheartedly and do your best for her. There is no need to be afraid. Just say it, Bighead Kingpin wants you to say it."
Gu Shenwei forced himself to calm down and thought hard. "In my opinion, it would be better for Iron Mountain to ally with the Meng family than start a lose-lose fight. Freeing the Fifth Young Master Meng from the roving bandit and escorting him to Jade City will make the Meng family owe Iron Mountain a lot. Iron Mountain has talents, the Meng family has money, and the Shangguan family has power. If you three can ally together, the benefit will flow to each of you. As for Miss, persuade her to set aside her competitive nature, and win the people in the Fort over so that she can help Bighead Kingpin in a way. If Bighead Kingpin becomes the great benefactor of the Meng family, Miss would naturally rise to a higher status."
Upon hearing this, Bighead Kingpin suddenly sat up from the backrest and stared at the kneeling boy in front of him. "You indeed know what to do, kid. Tell you what, the Fifth Young Master Meng was already rescued and I arranged 200 people to escort him home under the Iron Mountain Flag. Now he is on the way back. "
"I shouldn't be so talkative." Gu Shenwei began to admire the scholar even more. Bighead Kingpin was indeed a clever man. As soon as he learned of the kidnapping, he quickly took an action which was most favorable for him.
Bighead Kingpin clapped his hands. "I have a gift for you."
It was another jade ring. Gu Shenwei held it in his hands, not daring to say a single word. He did not quite understand what the "gift" meant, but he had a sense of foreboding.
Sure enough, Bighead Kingpin gave out an obscure laughter. "That maid also brought Bighead Kingpin a token from Miss and Bighead Kingpin was told to kill you at once when you finished your speech."
Gu Shenwei's heart started pounding. Miss was not as stupid as he thought and she quite understood how to burn the bridge after crossing it. She ordered Little Sui to bring her father another token and another message so as to kill him with the help of her father. Gu Shenwei almost blurted out the secret of Miss. Though he did not know the details, Bighead Kingpin would surely be able to figure it out.
On second thought, Gu Shenwei changed his mind. Turning Bighead Kingpin against his daughter did no good to him. Winning their trust was more important. "Have I done anything that offended Miss?"
"She just fears that you'd leak out the message."
"I dare not. If Bighead Kingpin and Miss still couldn't trust me, I'd like to cut my throat to prove my innocence."
"Get up."
Gu Shenwei kotowed before standing up. He had a saber by his waist. if Bighead Kingpin had an evil intent, he would desperately fight against him. But he did not feel any killing intent in the tent.
Bighead Kingpin stood up and his head nearly touched the top of the tent. Then he stretched out his fat arm and patted Gu Shenwei's shoulder. "Take it easy, you work for my son-in-law, so Bighead Kingpin thinks greatly of you and would not kill you for no reason."
Bighead Kingpin acted so intimately that Gu Shenwei could not think of a thing to say.
Bighead Kingpin was much better at winning others' support than the Young Masters of the Shangguan family. He talked to Gu Shenwei heart to heart as a father who deeply loved his daughter instead of as the Chief of Iron Mountain. This made Gu Shenwei feel that he was highly regarded.
Bighead Kingpin seemed to have a magical effect when treating people in a friendly manner. He made them feel that they were cared for and wanted to devote everything to him, just as what the disciples would feel when they were favored by a god.
As they were talking, a sub-chief came in and reported a message. "A spy reported that they've found a stronghold of Black Lizard in the desert. It is a three-day walk to the south of the mountain pass. Five people of Black Lizard are hiding where there are three dead trees."
What confused Gu Shenwei was that the sub-chief reported the findings at large in his presence, but Bighead Kingpin did not stop that.
After the sub-chief left, Bighead Kingpin patted Gu Shenwei on the shoulder and Gu Shenwei had to use his Internal Strength to keep himself from falling down. "As you just heard, there are many Black Lizards in the desert. If we don't wipe them off in time, troubles will come one after another."
"It can't be more right, Bighead Kingpin. I'm wondering where they came from."
"Ha, God knows. Possibly those crazy women slept with you killers of Golden Roc Fort, but you killers abandoned them. Haha, don't worry. Bighead Kingpin and the Supreme King are sworn friends. Iron Mountain will handle this, but..."
Bighead Kingpin turned the boy over and seemed worried.
"But you couldn't tell this to anyone, especially to the Tenth Young Master. She is just a kid and suffered a lot along the way. Once she hears the news of Black Lizard, she would certainly risk her life to take revenge. We should keep her safe, shouldn't we?"
"Yes, we should keep the news from her," Gu Shenwei answered in a low voice. He was not sure whether he did see Bighead Kingpin wink at him as if they had reached an agreement.
Bighead Kingpin took the jade ring back from Gu Shenwei. "Let Bighead Kingpin keep this. By the time you want to leave, you can take it back. When you get back to the Fort, please remember to teach Miss a lesson for Bighead Kingpin."
After Gu Shenwei left the tent, it took him a long while to get rid of Bighead Kingpin's influence on him and to think clearly.
The previous conversation was all a performance for buying over people and allegiance pledging or something similar. Unlike Bighead Kingpin's, Golden Roc Fort's methods for gathering followers and pledging allegiances were more rigid and ritualized, therefore it was lacking in emotion but they were substantially the same.
The important point was about the Bighead Kingpin's last act in that performance. The manner of speaking and his expressions all suggested that he meant something else. Gu Shenwei went back to his residence and thought, again and again. Then he found himself stuck in a dangerous dilemma.
Bighead Kingpin did not mean what he said. Actually, he wanted Slave Huan to tell Shangguan Ru where Black Lizard was and to encourage her to go deeply into the desert for revenge.
If Slave Huan did not get the point and took no action, he would be killed.
Bighead Kingpin's taking back the jade ring was telling that he might satisfy his daughter's demand to kill Slave Huan. After that, what he needed was just an excuse to deflect Shangguan Nu's anger.
The more Gu Shenwei thought about the situation, the more he felt that maybe Iron Mountain and the black-robed women had collaborated so that Bighead Kingpin could possess a vast area of land.
There was no truth or trust, Gu Shenwei warned himself again. He managed to analyze the whole thing from Bighead Kingpin's perspective, and finally, he realized that even if he did what Bighead Kingpin wanted, he would still be killed, but this time with the excuse of leading his master into danger.
The matter was more complicated. Gu Shenwei felt as if he was walking on thin ice, and he could not think of a way to break free. He laid himself down and fell asleep. In his dream, he saw Bighead Kingpin and black-robed women drinking and chatting happily.
He woke up at midnight and found that only Wildhorse and himself were in the tent. Liuhua was not there, his whereabouts unknown.
This could be a potential danger. Gu Shenwei walked out the tent on tip-toe. Before he had gotten far, he spotted Liuhua hiding in the dark, holding a short bow and spying on Maid Lotus' tent in the distance.
Gu Shenwei fixedly stared at him. After a while, out of a killer's intuition, Liuhua turned around and saw Slave Huan as well. With the killing intent in eyes, Liuhua, however, did not attack but put the short bow away, and he took a detour to his tent.
Liuhua the Silencer was very narrow-minded. Gu Shenwei guessed that Maid Lotus might have offended him unintentionally, therefore he kept trying to take revenge on her.
Gu Shenwei did not tell Maid Lotus his speculation. He pondered over how to safely remove the potential danger. But before that, he must figure out a way to deal with Bighead Kingpin.
Next morning, Gu Shenwei called the brown-belt assassins together to discuss about going back. Theoretically, he was still the chief of the guards, but Wildhorse and Liuhua were more and more unwilling to obey him. They did not forget that Gu Shenwei had fainted at a crucial moment.
Gu Shenwei said a lot of miscellaneous things. When he finally mentioned that he heard someone talk about the black-robed women's whereabouts, he asked the brown-belt assassins to guard Shangguan Ru in turn and prevent her from hearing about it. "The Tenth Young Master loves adventure. Our mission is to escort her safely back to Golden Roc Fort, so don't make trouble."
The other three nodded and said they got it.
As early as last winter, in the assassination of the Ten-Dragon Gang, Gu Shenwei had discovered Shangguan Yushi's intention of roping in killer apprentices. As Wildhorse and Liuhua definitely were the apprentices Master Yu cared about the most, Gu Shenwei expected that one of them would tell Shangguan Yushi the news. That girl did not know about Bighead Kingpin's conspiracy and would take action according to her personality.
Gu Shenwei could imagine that Master Yu would excitedly encourage the Tenth Young Master to go on an adventure.
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