Death Sutra

Chapter 66: The Secret

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

Gu Shenwei was worried that Shangguan Nu would dispose of him, but he never expected that Bighead Kingpin's daughter would plot against him.

Oddly enough, Gu Shenwei had a sharper mind than usual although the qigong deviation was unbearably painful. When he was reciting the sword manual, many thoughts automatically gathered together to offer new insight into some details which he had neglected to consider earlier on.

"Miss wants to kill both of us."

On hearing Maid Lotus' words, Gu Shenwei immediately understood what she meant.

"She's afraid we've heard some information regarding her secret from Mama Xue."

"I've finally got rid of her." Miss' words still lingered in Gu Shenwei's ears. Looking back on Mama Xue's relationship with Miss and Mama Xue's style of dealing with things, he knew Miss must have some controversial secret that may have been divulged by Mama Xue.

Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus fell silent again. Mama Xue was always tight-lipped and she had never spilled the beans in this respect.

But Miss would not believe this. She would rather kill them to remove this possibility once and for all.

Gu Shenwei secretly regulated his Internal Breath, during which he could sense the might of the third level of Yin and Yang Strength. He felt that his Internal Strength had increased several fold, so it was very handy to use. If he was given a few days in a quiet place, he would be able to make all the forces merge together by using the sped-up technique so that it would greatly enhance his Internal Strength.

By then, even if he could not become an expert, he would have been stronger than ordinary people and he would be capable of assassinating several enemies from the Shangguan family.

He pressed his Xuanji acupoint again and felt that the burning sensation was still there. Even the third level of Yin Strength could not remove the energy from Mama Xue's finger.

While Gu Shenwei was trying to figure out how to gain more time, Maid Lotus took a seat on his opposite side seemingly said to herself, "I asked her, but she wouldn't tell me."

"She?"

"Maid Cui."

Gu Shenwei was startled, but he soon understood. Since Maid Cui did not have a tongue or eyes, she was the Miss' most trusted maid. She might have had a chance to eavesdrop on Miss' secret. However, it was hard for her to reveal anything. She could not speak or write, therefore, she could only communicate with gestures. No one would understand her except those closest to her.

Gu Shenwei suddenly recalled something and blurted out, "You betrayed Slave Qian!"

That evening, Gu Shenwei talked to Slave Qian, who was on the other side of the wall. It was Maid Cui that delivered the message for them. He had been wondering why Maid Cui would do Slave Qian such a favor. Now he realized the one behind her was actually Maid Lotus.

Maid Lotus snorted softly and scorned Slave Huan's overreaction. She said, "I asked him to remind you, but he freaked out and wanted to report everything, including the Peripheral Force implanted in us. I had no choice but to silence him with Mama Xue's help."

Gu Shenwei was surprised at Maid Lotus' maturity and sophistication, since she was merely 14 or 15 years old. Indeed, it was inappropriate to reveal that Mama Xue had controlled their Internal Breaths and Golden Roc Fort would not spend much time and energy treating them, because they were mere servants. On the contrary, killing them would be the simplest and most effective way to deal with them, so that they would not be controlled by Mama Xue's sectmates.

Gu Shenwei had once learned kung fu from Maid Lotus and they had stayed together from morning to night, but he did not know much about her. At some point, he even felt a connection to his enemy Shangguan Yushi, but he had to take a guess about what this girl was thinking.

"Fine. Have you found a way to crack the Peripheral Force?" Gu Shenwei asked as he pretended to not care about the answer.

"No," Maid Lotus answered emotionlessly.

They remained silent again. A moment ago, they became closer, as they shared the same fate, but now they became estranged again. Eventually, Gu Shenwei thought it was better to speak frankly.

"I have a suggestion."

"What?"

"Let's try to find the solution together. No matter who finds it first, he or she should share it with the other," said Gu Shenwei.

"Why?"

"Because when one person is going to die, he or she will make this widely known to the people of the castle, who would probably not like it."

Maid Lotus' indifferent expression was surprisingly similar to Mama Xue's. She looked at Slave Huan and pondered for a while before saying, "Okay. Fair enough."

"We won't snitch on or plot against each other in secret, right?" Having learned his lesson from Slave Qian's death, Gu Shenwei had to ask Maid Lotus to make a promise, even if it was just a verbal one.

"Of course. I'll count on you to find the solution first."

They were accomplices now. Although this could not completely remove their wariness, it definitely alleviated the tense atmosphere.

It was broad daylight. They heard the sound of the door being unlocked and a man saying, "Just for a moment. Don't stay too long."

The door was opened and Maid Cui came in. It seemed that she came to deliver food, as she was carrying a meal box.

The killer closed the door and stood guard outside.

With her incredibly sharp senses, Maid Cui accurately found the small table against the wall and put the meal box on it. She then approached Maid Lotus and made a series of strange gestures. She looked extremely anxious.

Maid Lotus held Maid Cui's hands and whispered. "I know." Subsequently, she turned to Slave Huan and said in an even quieter voice, "The Eighth Young Master has gone out. Miss will see us soon."

Miss was short-tempered, and she was determined to immediately eliminate the servants regardless of her husband's stance on the matter.

Maid Lotus whispered something in Maid Cui's ears, but the latter seemed terrified, as she kept shaking her head.

The guard waiting outside became impatient and started urging Maid Cui to leave. Gu Shenwei could not wait either, since Maid Lotus and he were in a life or death situation, he had no choice but to grasp every opportunity to save their lives.

"Maid Cui, listen to me. Slave Qian died because of you. Do you want Maid Lotus and I to die in the same way?" Gu Shenwei asked in a quiet voice.

His accusation was unfair, because Maid Cui had only delivered a message to Slave Qian, but she did not snitch on him.

On hearing that, Maid Cui suddenly became blue in the face. Then, she seemed to make a great determination and made a string of gestures. Hastily, she turned and escaped the room before Maid Lotus could ask for any more information.

The killer outside relocked the door and left.

Maid Lotus pondered with her head lowered, as if she was not sure about the information that Maid Cui had revealed to her. After a long while, she said in a low voice, "Miss has killed someone. That's all Maid Cui knows. Mama Xue didn't talk about this very often."

The issue of that Bighead Kingpin's daughter killing someone did not sound like a big deal for Miss. The two discussed for a while and came up with several possibilities, for example, that Miss had killed Bighead Kingpin's favored woman or subordinate. But they could not find any solid evidence, because they had stayed at the Iron Mountain camp for only a few days.

At that moment, the door was opened again and the killer said in a restrained tone, "If the Eighth Young Master asks about this, don't pin the blame on me."

Two maids stepped inside, and Little Sui said, "Don't worry. Miss will explain everything."

However, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus became worried.

"Miss wants to see you."

Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus exchanged worried glances and walked to the door. Suddenly, Little Sui stopped one of them and said, "You go first."

She was talking to Gu Shenwei. It seemed that Miss wanted crush on them one by one.

Little Sui led Slave Huan to the backyard while the other maidservant stayed behind.

Miss was already seated behind the screen. Maid Cui was not around and there were only two maidservants guarding the door.

The four women wanted to murder the servant, but they did not know that he was no longer the untrained teenager he was a year ago. Miss did not know kung fu and those maidservants only had average kung fu skills, so Gu Shenwei was confident that he could defeat or even kill them all. However, this kind of killing was meaningless since his enemy was surnamed Shangguan, not Luo.

"Slave Huan, do you know of your guilt?" Asked Little Sui.

Meanwhile, Miss only listened from behind the screen.

Gu Shenwei kneeled down and said, "Humble servant doesn't know of my guilt."

"You swore an oath with the surname of Luo, but you informed the Eighth Young Master behind Miss' back and put her in an unfavorable position. You deserve a myriad of deaths."

"Mama Xue was the real traitor. She was always around Miss and prevented humble servant from meeting with Miss. I had no choice but to report to the Eighth Young Master."

Not all of what Gu Shenwei said was a lie, for he had not "seen" Miss for almost half a year.

"Humph, it's just an excuse. Dig his heart out, and I want to see if it's black or not."

It was not the humble and timid Miss, but the arrogant and vicious Luo Ningcha that was speaking.

The three maidservants said yes in unison and each drew out various tools like rope and knives.

Gu Shenwei pressed his head against the ground and pleaded. "Humble servant admits his guilt and he's willing to accept any kind of punishment. After he dies, he'll tell Mama Xue that the secret is still a secret when he meets her there."

"What did you say?"

Miss harshly shouted from behind the screen and quickly stood up.

"Humble servant said 'a secret is still a secret'."

"How dare you mongrel. Cut off his tongue first and then his heart."

"Even if humble servant loses his tongue, there are others who still have theirs. But rest assured, Miss, even if humble servant dies, the others will still keep the secret."

Miss sat down again. "You've told it to others?"

"Over the past year, humble servant has made friends with several people in the castle. We talked about everything with each other. They're all willing to keep the secret for Miss."

It was quiet behind the screen for a long time. The three maidservants looked at each other, not knowing whether or not they should continue to cut his tongue and heart.

"All of you, go stand guard outside," Miss said.

All the maidservants were shocked, but they still obediently exited the room.

Only Miss and the servant were in the room. Gu Shenwei really wished all of his enemies were as stupid as her.

"I remember you. Mama Xue once thought highly of you. She said you're cunning, but… You infiltrated the castle for a revenge, didn't you?"

Miss had long forgotten Slave Huan, now she recalled him only because of his threat. She was lucky enough to remember Slave Huan's weakness.

"That's right. If Miss reveals a single word about it, humble servant will die without a burial place. Humble servant will keep that secret for Miss forever and won't let anyone else know it."

"Who have you told? Tell me and I'll spare your life."

"Humble servant is more than willing to tell Miss their names. The problem is that they're in awe of Miss. Once they hear Miss is looking for them, they may shoot off their mouth, so humble servant would better not say who they are."

Miss remained silent, as she was wondering how reliable the servant's words were. Nevertheless, she was more used to making a lightning decision than thinking over carefully. She had tried to be patient talking to Slave Huan, but she could not bear it anymore.

A teacup flew toward Gu Shenwei from behind the screen, fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. "Secret, secret, what secret do you know exactly? I'll tear you into pieces if you can't say it."

Gu Shenwei did not know what Miss' secret was about exactly, but he was sure about one thing. In this room, he was the only one who had the power to kill. The worst case scenario would be to kill Miss and trigger a fight between Golden Roc Fort and Bighead Kingpin of Iron Mountain.