A saber was a must for Gu Shenwei now.
He carried one everyday in Golden Roc Fort and became accustomed to having the extra weight on him all the time. Without it, he would feel as if he was completely naked and unprotected, especially when he was in a dangerous place like South City.
The next day, he left Xu Xiaoyi's place at noon and walked toward Southwall Tavern through the deep snow. Among all the places he knew in South City, that place had the most weapons.
The tall fat guy at the gate of Southwall looked at him coldly and refused his request directly, "Southwall is a tavern, not a weapon shop."
"I'll pay you to get one," Gu Shenwei insisted, unwilling to take no for an answer. He blocked the doorway, knowing that no one would come to the tavern at this time.
The tall fat guy exchanged a glance with the short fat guy, and then they went into the tavern. After a while, they came out, threw a weapon to the killer apprentice and said, "For the sake of your mentor, we give you this one for free."
Gu Shenwei was surprised to hear that the fat guys still remembered that he was Tie Hanfeng's apprentice. He picked up the weapon and said, "It's a sword. I said that I want a saber."
The fat guys got a little bit irritated and said, "Don't be so picky. Am I your slave or something? Get out of here."
With their arms crossed, the fat guys approached the stubborn teenager step by step to drive him away.
Gu Shenwei returned to Xu Xiaoyi's place and drew out the sword to have a look. He thought it must have been left behind by a con man who masqueraded as a nobleman. Both the shaft and the scabbard of the sword were ornately decorated, but the gems embedded in them were apparently fake. The sword was light and thin, with no cutting edge.
Holding it, he could not feel as secure as he did when he held a saber in hand.
"You don't like it?" Xu Xiaoyi came over and asked. He was obviously more interested in the fake gems.
"I'm just not used to using a sword."
"It won't be a problem. No one in the Ten-Dragon Gang can compete with you in kung fu. You can defeat them no matter what weapon you use."
What Xu Xiaoyi said reminded Gu Shenwei of the sword technique in the nameless sword manual, which was a move without defense and was suitable for surprise attacks. He had used it to fight his mentor. At that time, he had almost beaten Tie Hanfeng, but also had nearly gotten killed. That was because his mentor's kung fu was much better than his. As for the gang members who were definitely much weaker than him, Gu Shenwei believed that he could easily kill them all using these sword techniques.
With that thought in mind, he felt eager to try the sword techniques again during the mission, although such bold actions were clearly against Golden Roc Fort's principles. He had strongly advised Maid Lotus not to practice the sword techniques from the manual, but somehow he himself was still obsessed with it.
He lifted the sword, stabbed and pulled it back.
Xu Xiaoyi fell backward on the floor in surprise. "What're you doing? Are you going to kill me because I know too much?" The boy asked while touching his neck with his hand.
"No. I just wanted to try this sword out."
"Try that sword out? Try that sword out on a living person? Are you kidding me? You might have accidentally killed me just now," Xu Xiaoyi complained as his face turned red.
"No. I controlled it precisely," Gu Shenwei said, while putting the sword back into its scabbard. He felt that he began to get familiarized with this weapon.
Xu Xiaoyi could not believe what the killer apprentice said. He had clearly felt the point of the sword touch his neck just now. If the killer apprentice had stabbed several centimeters further, he would have been dead. In his view, everyone can make mistakes, but he did not want to argue with the killer apprentice in case that he would feel challenged and want to try again to prove himself.
Xu Xiaoyi gradually calmed himself down and thought back on the sword technique. He discovered that it was extremely fast and unpredictable, and believed that it was the best sword technique he had ever seen. "Hey, what's the name of the sword technique you used just now? Your sword skills seem even better than your saber skills."
As Xu Xiaoyi did not know kung fu, Gu Shenwei could not explain to him that such a nice sword technique might not be as practical as the saber techniques in real fights. He simply told him, "Stab-neck sword skill."
"Half-naked? You use this sword skill after taking your clothes off?"
"No, I said stab-neck. It's a skill of stabbing necks."
Upon hearing that, Xu Xiaoyi immediately covered his neck with both hands, and his mouth twitched. "It seems to be a nice move. How come it has such a weird name?" He grumbled.
A customer came for Xu Yanwei in the afternoon. Gu Shenwei and Xu Xiaoyi had to leave the house. The siblings did not have enough money to rent a house in Pleasure Alley. They only had enough for a place at the edge of the city. There was nowhere for them to go, and Gu Shenwei refused to go to brothels. Given that, they just went to Southwall Tavern again.
At the entrance of the tavern, Gu Shenwei gave his sword to the fat guys and said, "I would like to get a saber when I leave."
The fat guys searched them carefully and then reluctantly allowed them to enter the tavern.
Gu Shenwei bade Xu Xiaoyi to keep a low-profile inside the tavern and deliberately chose a table in a corner to avoid attention.
As it was still early in the afternoon, there were not many guests inside the tavern. Gu Shenwei looked around, searching for familiar faces. Tie Hanfeng was not here, but there was another elderly man who caught his attention.
The man was drinking alone and there was only one kind of alcoholic drink on his table, which indicated that he was a real toper.
Gu Shenwei recognized that he was Zhang Ji, the teacher in the family school of Golden Roc Fort. Mister Zhang was a strict teacher and had whipped him in the neck back in his school days. Since new year was coming, Gu Shenwei reckoned that the school must have been on vacation.
Zhang Ji also had a job at the Archives Library. He was the only person interested in those archives and often read them by the light of a candle at night. It suddenly occurred to Gu Shenwei that Mister Zhang might be able to help him understand the document he had.
He took out all his money, around 30 or 40 taels of silver, and gave it to Xu Xiaoyi, who was hastily gobbling down the food on the table. "Go to the counter and pay the bill," he said.
"What, I've not finished yet," Xu Xiaoyi goggled at the killer apprentice and said with his mouth full.
"Pay the bill for the elderly man over there."
Xu Xiaoyi was surprised. He glanced at Zhang Ji and asked, "Is he your father?"
"Oh man, what a nosy little informant. I'll return to report to East Castle tomorrow. It seems that I need to also tell them of your performance," Gu Shenwei said affectedly.
Hearing that, Xu Xiaoyi jumped off his chair and hurriedly walked toward the counter with the silver in his hands. "Stop throwing the fort's weight around to bully us," he grumbled.
After a while, the boy came back and looked embarrassed. "That man owes a lot to the tavern. He's come here to drink for several days in a row and only ordered the best drinks. Your money isn't enough to pay for his bills."
"Well then, put it on my tab."
"Whose tab?"
"Tie Hanfeng."
Xu Xiaoyi reluctantly walked to the counter again and came back even faster than the last time. The manager of the tavern followed him to tell the killer apprentice, "We never kept a tab for Tie Hanfeng's spendings here."
"You can start keeping a tab for him as of today."
Gu Shenwei learned an important thing from his mentor, which was one should always act boldly and steadfastly to achieve his goal in South City. Since once he winced or appeared hesitant, he would be trampled on by others.
The manager looked the teenager up and down and asked, "Are you his apprentice?"
"Yes, I am."
"What if your mentor refuses to pay for your tab?"
"I'll pay with heads."
Gu Shenwei pressed one hand on the table and replied calmly like a seasoned killer. During his first visit to South City, a young man had told him that heads, namely his killing service, could also be used as currency in the city.
Seeing the teenager make an empty show of strength, the manager was displeased and looked quite grim. For a moment, Gu Shenwei thought he was going to flare-up. Nevertheless, after a while, the manager said, "142 taels of silver. Put it on Tie Hanfeng's account."
Xu Xiaoyi was so impressed. He sat in a chair on the killer apprentice's left side and looked at him with shining eyes. "Wow, that was really awesome. You're so... By the way, what's your name?"
They had known each other for a long time, but the teenager had never mentioned his name and Xu Xiaoyi had never asked about it until now.
"Yang Huan." Gu Shenwei told the boy his fake name. Now that he was sent by the fort to carry out a task, he did not have to use his slave name anymore.
"Can I call you Brother Huan? Is it alright? You're probably only one or two years older than me. Tut, tut..."
Xu Xiaoyi kept shaking his head. It was very difficult for him to believe that the fierce killer apprentice was that young.
Gu Shenwei did not pay much attention to the boy. He still fixed his eyes on Zhang Ji. Soon, Mister Zhang invited the teenager to join him.
"I've taught many students in the fort, but only you, a slave boy, know how to show respect for a teacher."
Beyond Gu Shenwei's expectations, Zhang Ji still remembered the slave boy who had once disturbed his class. They both worked in the Archives Library in recent days, but they had never spoken to each other.
"It's just a small courtesy. Please kindly accept it, Mister Zhang."
"Someone is willing to pay for my tab. I've no reason to refuse such kindness. Take a seat. If you've anything to say, say it. Don't beat about the bush. However, I need to remind you first that I won't pay you back the money. As for the thing you're going to ask, I can't promise that I'll help you."
"It's alright. I may need your advice for some other things in the future," Gu Shenwei said smilingly.
Gu Shenwei recited all the contents of the document except the names to Zhang Ji in a low voice, and then he asked, "Mister Zhang, did you notice anything unusual in this document?"
Zhang Ji picked up his cup and shook it gently and slowly. "I can't help you with that. I'm too old and never want to get involved in the things of the fort too much."
"Thank you then, Mister Zhang."
Gu Shenwei did not ask any other questions. He had already gotten the answer from Zhang Ji's attitude. Besides, given the complicated relationships between the people in the fort, Gu Shenwei was not sure whether Zhang Ji was reliable.
He returned to his seat, closed his ears to Xu Xiaoyi's nagging and immersed in thought. Evidently, Mister Zhang had spotted something unusual in the document, which confirmed his suspicion that this mission might be a plot against him.
Gradually, the tavern got more and more noisy and crowded. Some guests sat near him and began to chat. They all talked in a roundabout way like Tie Hanfeng and Zhong Heng.
Hearing their conversations, Gu Shenwei suddenly realized that Mister Guo might have also put such word games in the document. To know what he really meant, he needed to crack the riddles and read between the lines.
Gu Shenwei asked Xu Xiaoyi to get him a brush and a piece of paper. He wrote the document down and read it carefully from beginning to end. Now he understood why this document made him feel so uneasy.
In this carefully worded document, the masterminds expressed implications that this plan might not succeed and that this failure might be a good thing for the overproud apprentices.
Gu Shenwei tore the paper into pieces and walked toward the gate of the tavern. When he walked past Zhang Ji's table, he said, "Thank you, Mister Zhang."
"If you want to thank me, stay far away from me."
Not wanting to be spotted by some spies hiding in the crowd, Zhang Ji replied coldly. He did not even lift up his eyes to look at Slave Huan.
Gu Shenwei did not stop near Mister Zhang's table either. He kept walking toward the gate when many guests swarmed into the tavern. Xu Xiaoyi swallowed the food in his mouth, took a swig of a drink and hurriedly caught up with him.
At the gate, the tall fat guy gave the killer apprentice a new weapon before he asked. It was a sword again and was even shorter and lighter than the previous one. It looked like a children's toy.
The fat guy smiled mockingly at the teenager, but Gu Shenwei just received it peacefully and smiled back at him while saying, "You could've done better."
It was getting dark and the snow was still quite deep. They crunched all the way to the courtyard of the Ten-Dragon Gang. This time, Gu Shenwei did not need to pay the enrollment fee, but he was asked to pay for the drinks. Since Gu Shenwei had no money now, Xu Xiaoyi took out 10 taels of silver to pay and repeatedly reminded the killer apprentice that he just borrowed this money to him.
Gu Shenwei held the short sword, with his eyes fixed on a rowdy man in the crowd. He was planning to provoke the man into a fight.
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