The only way to find out Barren Sect's motive for climbing the Stone Castle was from Mama Xue.
Gu Shenwei finally came up with a conclusion after thinking, several times, through Mama Xue's behavior. Since the beginning, Barren Sect's target was a secret kungfu manuscript. By following false information, Mama Xue had obtained a fake copy of the manuscript. Barren Sect's renewed efforts, which expended a hundred times more mental and physical energy than Mama Xue had, showed that they were extremely sure where the real manuscript was hidden.
Golden Roc Fort, which received the information beforehand, could thus deceive Barren Sect once more by replacing the real manuscript with another fake.
What Gu Shenwei did not expect was that the "secret manuscript" was actually a person. He had thought that it was hidden within an object in the Six Kills Temple, such as the Black Jade Palm which was previously stolen by Shangguan Ru. Instead, it was hidden on the body of the Sacred Master who guarded the temple.
A human heart was perhaps the safest place to hide the manuscript in. What Golden Roc Fort needed to do was to protect this person.
At present, Gu Shenwei's life depended on Shangguan Ru's ability to persuade her father. If the Supreme King urgently wanted to destroy Barren Sect, he would naturally act without hesitation, and would undoubtedly be apathetic to the life of a brown-belt assassin.
The lady in black fixed her eyes on the youth who was beginning to tremble slightly. "You seem quite clever. Did Kang Wenmei die at your hands?"
Gu Shenwei resisted his bodily itch and shook his head. "Why would I want to harm her? She's the only one who can purge the Peripheral Force from my body."
Nie Qing could sense that the lady was wavering, and thus interrupted, "Master, you mustn't believe this little one. He's trying to coax you into removing the force."
The lady in black turned her head and glared momentarily at her disciple. Nie Qing knew she had spoken too much and backed away embarrassedly.
"You aren't wrong." The lady turned towards the youth. "But Kang Wenmei is dead. I can purge the force which I'd implanted, and can also teach you a set of techniques for you to slowly purge Kang Wenmei's force on your own."
"On what conditions?" There was a quaver in Gu Shenwei's voice, not because he was excited, but because, right then, an itch traveled from his skin into his body.
"We're finding a person, or perhaps a book, a scroll, or a wooden plank. Whatever it is, it's the secret manuscript which the New Moon Hall has passed down over many generations, and was stolen by Golden Roc Hall. Did Kang Wenmei mention this?"
If Gu Shenwei wanted his act to be a little more believable, he would have tensed himself up a little longer. However, he did not want to waste any more time while his viscera were itching badly. Thus, he babbled a sequence of words and started rolling on the ground witlessly.
"Yunniwufenbielonghuwufangdengyouqingqingbuyounankefalengye."
These were the opening words of the strange passage in Death Scripture. Gu Shenwei had read it out by its literal pronunciation--its real meaning was "The soul rises to the Ninth Heaven, the spirit falls to the Ninth Abysse, the living suffer in grief, and the dead settle in peace."
He no longer cared if the words actually had any effect. Nie Qing was right, the feeling of itching to death was truly special. So much that he wished he could reach his arm down his throat and mash his intestines into bits.
The lady's face changed color almost entirely, and she began to speak in an almost-howling voice. "What else do you know?"
But the youth, who was rolling about and scratching himself on the ground, could no longer hear her shouting. The lady bent down and lifted him up before she started patting him repeatedly around his body.
The itch began to dissipate. Gu Shenwei sat on the floor with his hands still trembling. He was right once again, Barren Sect's search for the secret manuscript indeed had something to do with the Death Scripture, or perhaps, it was the Death Scripture itself. The latter's fall to the bottom of a cliff was, beyond a doubt, inextricably linked to Golden Roc Fort, and thus to New Moon Hall as well.
Although Nie Qing already felt displeased while the lady was saving his life, she did not dare to voice out then. But now, she felt emboldened. "Everyone knows those words. He's deceiving you, Master."
Gu Shenwei adjusted his internal breath while simultaneously reciting the strange passage in the Death Scripture in its original pronunciation. After more than a hundred words, he paused and pretended to think.
Even Nie Qing was speechless this time. The four females had become like wide-eyed disciples who were listening attentively to the teachings of a knowledgeable scholar sitting on the grass.
"What comes next?" The lady in black urged.
"Is this the secret manuscript you're searching for?"
"Yes." "Nope."
The two responses were voiced almost at the same time.
The lady in black, who had answered in the affirmative, took a look at her disciple and commented, "You have a lot more to say today than usual."
A terrified look appeared on Nie Qing, who immediately knelt down. "Your disciple knows her mistake. Please forgive me, Master."
Gu Shenwei's mind began to spin. There was bound to be a reason for their contradicting responses. He knew that the chances of being exposed would increase if he continued to recite.
"It doesn't matter either way. However, that's all I know. I'd gone around looking for information, but when I learned of Mama Xue's death, I didn't dare to inquire anymore and had to stop."
The lady in black was heavily skeptical. Though she was astounded by the youth's recitation of the passage, she was undecided about the extent to which she could trust him.
"My name's Kang Wenhui." The lady in black said as she took off the black cloth that masked her beautiful face, on which the only signs of her age were a few fine lines at the canthi. "I'm the Managing Master of Barren Sect. Kang Wenmei is my subordinate."
Gu Shenwei promptly got on one knee and bowed his head. "Disciple Yang Huan pays his respects to the Managing Master."
"Rise. Now tell me how you came by this scripture's passage."
"I shall report everything truthfully to Managing Master. Under orders from Mama Xue, I became close with Golden Roc Fort's Tenth Young Master and successfully obtained her trust. It was she who taught me this passage. But after Mama Xue died, I entered the East Castle and no longer had much contact with Tenth Young Master, and therefore didn't learn the rest."
"Is everything you said true?"
"Not a single false word. I gave up halfway back then because Mama Xue didn't explain the true state of affairs to me. If I return and ask Tenth Young Master once more, I'm sure I'll be able to obtain the entire scripture."
His heart thumped hard. The entire plan would be considered successful if he was able to trick Kang Wenhui into releasing him.
"That's not what you should fret about." Kang Wenhui somehow managed to calm down. "I've removed the force from two acupoints, Yongquan and Xuanji, leaving only the Baihui acupoint untouched. Do you know how long you'll be able to put up with it?"
"That's entirely up to Managing Master." Gu Shenwei replied unfrankly. This was, in actual fact, the question he was most concerned about but did not dare to inquire.
"Well, your current condition is quite special." Kang Wenhui revealed a little smile, as though she was a child hiding a secret. "I'd initially suppressed Kang Wenmei's force, but have now released it once more such that it'll return to its original form within the Xuanji acupoint very soon. There'll thus be two Peripheral Forces in your body, one in the Xuanji and the other in the Baihui. Each of them can cause qigong deviation at any time. If only one triggers, you may be able to live up to two years yet. But if they happen to trigger at the same time, you'll soon be on your way to see Kang Wenmei."
"I beg Managing Master to show mercy."
But Kang Wenhui had already sobered up from her initial shock, and increasingly perceived the holes in the youth's account. Involuntarily, she let out a grim and continuous laughter. "You still want to return to Golden Roc Fort to ask about the scripture? Better that you remain with me and tell me the complete truth."
Gu Shenwei's heart sank. His plan had come unstuck at the final step. He felt that it must have been an incorrect line in the passage he memorized which aroused the latter's suspicions. He had consulted Monk Lianhua and Mister Zhang Ji many times to figure out the Death Scripture's exact relationship with Golden Roc Fort and Barren Sect but was not able to obtain much information.
"I... don't understand Managing Master's meaning."
"Think about it slowly," Kang Wenhui replied composedly. "You're a male, and so have to put in more effort than a female if you wish to join Barren Sect. First of all, you must be completely truthful. It's best if you stop playing tricks of holding back a few sentences here and there."
Gu Shenwei could feel the cold sweat pouring down his back. Even if he had a saber in hand now, he was uncertain about matching up against four disciples of Barren Sect, let alone when he was empty-handed. The entire plan would be a complete failure if he were unable to make Kang Wenhui let him go. He even thought about revealing the deepest secret, that "Yang Huan" was, in fact, a son of the Gu Family, which had a sworn enmity against Golden Roc Fort and was willing to join hands with Barren Sect and New Moon Hall.
But this idea flashed by and was quickly discarded. On what basis could he, a powerless and average-skilled youth, join hands with them? And why would they believe him?
There was only one way left to go about things. Gu Shenwei suddenly came up with an idea, albeit he had absolutely no clue how far it could bring him.
"There's something else which I felt wasn't important and hence didn't say earlier. It might be useful, now that I think of it."
Kang Wenhui stared coldly at the youth and waited for him to continue.
"Tenth Young Master said that those texts were not passed down through generations in the fort, but were what she learned from the Four Truths Temple, and furthermore..."
"Furthermore what?"
"The scripture has another way of reading."
Gu Shenwei began to recite, once more, the passage he had memorized, this time using the pronunciation which Master Tiger Monk had taught him.
Kang Wenhui listened ever more attentively. "You're a little more reliable this time. The Four Truths Temple? Isn't that where you went with that girl two days ago?"
"How's Maid Lotus now?"
"Don't worry, she's very well."
Maid Lotus was indeed the least of his concerns. If Shangguan Ru acted according to plan, Golden Roc Fort would have done what they had to do in the city by now, and Maid Lotus would have been rescued as long as she had not died earlier. It was on him to find a way to get away with these four demonesses and certainly not return to the city with them.
"Yes, I've been to the Four Truths Temple. Together with Tenth Young Master and others, I was ambushed by Barren Sect, and I..."
"Don't be mistaken. It was New Moon Hall, and not Barren Sect, which ambushed you."
There was an obvious dissatisfaction in Kang Wenhui's voice. This caused Gu Shenwei some surprise. From what he had heard, New Moon Hall founded Barren Sect in order to get around the armistice – the two of them were actually the same entity.
"Alright, we were ambushed by New Moon Hall and... something strange was implanted in our bodies." He did not know what attitude he should take towards the secret arts of New Moon Hall.
Kang Wenhui curled her lips. "It's best to stay away from New Moon Hall's things. But you're alright. Your body contains the Peripheral Force, which is a mark of this sect. They wouldn't dare to touch you."
Gu Shenwei heaved a sigh of relief. The fact that Shangguan Ru and others were "possessed" while he and Maid Lotus were fine already indicated that the mysterious woman did not lay hands on either of them, but it was always good to receive confirmation.
"In order to dispel the evil, we made our way to the Four Truths Temple to study the scripture. But because of my low status, I was only given the correct pronunciation for these hundred or so words, while only Tenth Young Master was taught the entire scripture. However, if I ask..."
"Forget about Tenth Young Master." Kang Wenhui interrupted. "We shall go to Four Truths Temple to visit this eminent monk."
Gu Shenwei's new plan was able to get past the first step. He started to wonder how he could keep the lie going when they reached the temple, and whether Monk Lianye was able to defeat four female killers of Barren Sect.
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