Death Scripture - Chapter 946: Issuing An Order
Luo Qikang was not steady and poised in all aspects, but in terms of kung fu, he had never pursued quick results.
He knew that he was about to win and that the Dragon King would be seriously injured. Even if the Dragon King managed to survive, his internal energy would still be crippled for good. He preferred the latter result: would those troops still stay loyal to a Dragon King who could no longer use his saber to kill people?
The Dragon King’s defense broke down earlier than Luo Qikang had anticipated. Without hesitation, the latter launched the last attack. The battleground was a meridian network, so there couldn’t be any traps.
But as a disciple of a famous sect of the Central Plains, what he cultivated was orthodox internal energy. Thus, he always reserved thirty percent of his internal energy as a contingency plan.
‘Seventy percent of my internal energy will be more than enough,’ he thought.
The Dragon King was thrown away. All the spectators let out an exclamation of amazement in unison. Though they were all Central Plainsmen, they had heard a lot of rumors about the Dragon King in the Jade City, so they had thought that he was the more powerful one. ‘It’s a shame that he’s still no match for this member of the Luo family.”
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Tu Pianpian shook her head and let out a sigh. She had always wanted to see the Dragon King fall down. Today, her wish had been fulfilled, but the cost was her younger brother Dog Butcher losing a powerful protector for good. She then made up her mind to take Dog Butcher back to the Kongtong Mountain irrespective of his own will.
“Ah!” Old Man Mu let out a yell louder than that of anybody else. His reflexes were also the quickest. “Gotcha!”
The Dragon King landed after flying over twenty steps away, shaking and unsteady on his feet. His face was horrifyingly red, as if blood was going to ooze out of it. People had to look carefully to distinguish it from the blood flowing out of the corner of his lips. He didn’t fall but was still breathing quickly as the color of his face gradually returned to normal with the heaving of his chest.
Luo Qikang stood still. The hue of his slightly dark face went a little darker, as if he was somewhat disappointed.
Tu Pianpian gave two coughs, planning to end this kung fu competition with the conventional formalities. “The Dragon King has lost to-”
Old Man Mu jumped several feet into the air. “Wait a moment. Who said that the Dragon King ‘lost’? Clearly, the ‘Black Camel’ is the loser. Ha-ha. What’s his title again? ‘The Best Swordsman of the Luo Family?’ ‘The Swordsman of Divine Anticipation?’ It seems that you failed to anticipate your opponent’s move this time, didn’t you? What are you waiting for? Nod and admit defeat.”
Even Dog Butcher was surprised by Old Man Mu’s nonsense. Indignant, the Central Plainsmen standing on the opposite side started yelling. Raising her crutch high, Tu Pianpian signaled the spectators to quiet down and then coldly said, “It’s not your place to decide who the winner is. This is not a scrap between hooligans. Dragon King, Swordmaster Luo, please clearly tell us who the winner is?”
Believing that Luo Qikang had defeated the Dragon King, Tu Pianpian even addressed him differently. Previously, she had called him by his full name, but now, she used “Swordmaster Luo” as the form of address.
But the two participants didn’t answer her immediately, as if even they themselves didn’t know the result, which confused Tu Pianpian and the others. The result was so obvious, but Luo Qikang wasn’t claiming his victory. It was really weird.
After his face returned to normal, the Dragon King took a step forward. He was no longer shaking.
“I lost,” Luo Qikang said. His voice was calm, but those who heard him knew how hard it was for him to utter these two words.
In all of the Central Plainsmen’s memories, this was the first time that Luo Qikang had ever been defeated.
Everybody was silent. With an expectant look in his eyes, Old Man Mu was restlessly moving his lips, as if were secretly counting something. “Stop acting tough. It’s time.”
As if he were waiting for this remark, Luo Qikang spat out a mouthful of blood which landed seven steps before the Dragon King’s feet.
Now the result was indisputable.
Old Man Mu jumped up again. Starting with Luo Qikang, he then pointed at those people one by one. “Kneel. Now you know who’s the real king in Jade City.”
Tu Pianpian knelt down to the ground with the crutch in her hand and with that, all the disciples of the Kongtong Sect followed her lead.
King An was still in horror. Realizing that he wasn’t kneel with the others, he hurriedly prostrated to the ground. Though he did it later than others, his posture was even humbler than theirs.
More Central Plainsmen knelt down. Eventually there were only a dozen people standing, watching Luo Qikang.
Luo Qikang was at a loss for what to do. At that time, he had really believed that the Dragon King would show signs of defeat before him, but that forward step that the opponent took completely disillusioned him. He was actually defeated, and he didn’t even know how. His Qi had already broken into the opponent’s Dantian, but instead of destroying it, his Qi had activated a more powerful opposing internal energy in the Dragon King’s body.
At the moment when the Dragon King was thrown away, he had simultaneously thrown a palm strike and hurled this surge of powerful Qi at Luo Qikang, snatching victory from defeat.
Luo Qikang racked his brains but still couldn’t understand what had happened. Watching the blood several steps away on the ground, he slowly knelt down and said, “King An’s subject is honored to kneel before the Dragon King.”
Even in this circumstance, he still refused to kneel before the Dragon King under the identity of a Central Plainsman and a member of the Luo Village.
All the Central Plainsmen knelt down. Delighted, Old Man Mu crossed his hands behind him and threw his chest out with his head up, as if he was the one who had won this victory. Dog Butcher was a little embarrassed. As a fellow Central Plainsman as well as the Dragon King’s subordinate, he felt that neither kneeling nor standing seemed like right thing to do. Eventually, he decided to do the same thing that Old Man Mu was doing, but he stood sideways.
Gu Shenwei calmly accepted these people’s respect. After taking his saber from Old Man Mu, he said, “I hereby establish this rule. In the territory of Jade City, from the desert in the south to the Heavenly Mountain in the north, with Heaven’s Pass as the west boundary and Thousand Horsemen Pass as the east, all those under my command must kill no more.”
Upon hearing this, those Central Plainsmen had no particular feelings, since they all knew this order was directed at Luo Qikang.
Luo Qikang didn’t raise any objections. It was Old Man Mu who spoke up. “Ah? No more killing? In that case, would Jade City still be Ja– Ur, whatever you say, Dragon King. But what if somebody tries to kill me? Am I allowed to fight back?”
“You’re allowed to defend yourself, but you’re not allowed to kill. I’ll help you get your revenge.”
Old Man Mu had a lot of other questions, but he didn’t dare to ask them.
Tu Pianpian was in absolute favor with the Dragon King’s ban on killing, saying aloud, “No more killing within the territory of Jade City. We’ll abide by the Dragon King’s orders.”
Other Central Plainsmen also promised that they would obey this rule. Luo Qikang was one of those few people who didn’t echo the others’ promise.
Gu Shenwei and his two personal bodyguards mounted their horses and rode towards the military camp. All the others had already stood up, but King An didn’t pick himself up until the Dragon King’s figure was out of his sight, repeatedly saying, “This ban on killing is good. This ban on killing is good… ”
On their way back, Dog Butcher appeared depressed. When they were close to the military camp, he asked, “Did the Dragon King imposed this ban on killing because of me? Actually there’s no need for you to go through all this trouble. As long as the Kongtong Sect still exists, Luo Qikang won’t dare to do anything to me in public no matter how daring he is.”
Gu Shenwei reined his horse to a stop. “Trying to protect you was one reason, but there were other, more important ones. You’ll understand someday.”
Dog Butcher still felt that the Dragon King was too good to him, and that he might not be able to repay the favors for the rest of his life. He sighed and was just about to speak when Old Man Mu beat him to it. “Old Dog, you’re so ungrateful. The Dragon King saved your life but you just keep sighing.”
“No, no. I just feel that the Dragon King’s imposing a ban on killing is synonymous with tying up his own hands and feet. I mean, are we actually going to let the troops of the Dragon Army wait for the members of Golden Roc Castle and Waning Moon Hall to kill them? Thi–This is… The Dragon King made too big of a compromise for me.”
Old Man Mu burst into laughter. “Old Dog, stop flattering yourself. Of course the Dragon King wants to protect you even though you are a terrible subordinate, but isn’t killing Luo Qikang an even simpler solution? There was a more profound reason on why he imposed a ban on killing.”
“What kind of profound reason?” Dog Butcher couldn’t understand.
In fact, Old Man Mu also had just started thinking about this issue, but once he started, he kept thinking of more reasons. “Because the new commander-in-chief appointed by the Central Plains is coming. The Dragon King set this rule down first, so the new commander-in-chief will be too embarrassed to abolish it, which means that his 20,000 troops and over a hundred kung fu experts will be of no use. And then Golden Roc Castle, Waning Moon Hall, even those paupers in sabersmen villages will have to abide by the ban on killing. The Dragon King made the first move, so he will surely find favor with a lot of residents of Jade City. Am I right, Dragon King?”
“More or less.” Gu Shenwei spurred his horse on and started progressing again.
Dog Butcher was still a little confused. “The new commander-in-chief will also impose a ban on killing? Are you sure?”
“Don’t ask me. I am just speculating.” This was all Old Man Mu could think of. No matter what, he knew that the Dragon King would never let the opponent get the upper hand in this aspect.
Dog Butcher looked at the Dragon King with an expectant look, but the latter didn’t respond. Knowing that this might involve some confidential information, he asked no further questions. Greatly relieved in the knowledge that he was not the only reason why the ban on killing had been imposed, he spurred his horse and rode forward as he asked Old Man Mu, “How exactly did the Dragon King win? Do you know?”
Old Man Mu only knew the process in general terms, but he said in a very confident tone, “Isn’t it obvious? The Dragon King lured the enemy in. First he let that ‘Black Camel’ hit his Dantian, and then he mobilized his Ying and Yang Qi to entangle the opposing Qi, threw out a palm strike with his left hand, blindsiding the ‘Black Camel,’ and then won.”
Old Man Mu hadn’t taken part in the battle, but the process that he described was basically what had happened. Dog Butcher admired both him and the Dragon King very much. “The Dragon King’s Dantian took a hit, but he remained unscathed. This kung fu is really rare. I’ve never heard of anything like this in the Central Plains.”
“It’s a big world. Nothing is too strange. There are many kung fu skills that you never heard of before, such as my Five Hole Punch…”
Old Man Mu started chattering away about how good his kung fu used to be. Dog Butcher merely grinned but didn’t take his words seriously. He still felt that the Dragon King’s internal energy was amazing. The Dantian was the place where people stored their Qi, the most vital part of an internal energy practitioner. One shouldn’t even let the Qi of the most trusted person to enter it, not to mention that of an enemy. But surprisingly, the Dragon King had deliberately let the opponent’s Qi hit his Dantian. Though his face had turned red and his body shaking, he had returned to normal after just a short while, which was incredible.
Dog Butcher fixed his eyes on the Dragon King, but when they reached the main tent in the camp, he still hadn’t found any signs of injury on the Dragon King. So, he involuntarily admired the Dragon King even more, thinking, ‘With this kung fu, isn’t he invincible?’
Gu Shenwei seldom talked, but it was not because he was trying to keep something secret, and it certainly was not because he held an apathetic attitude towards Dog Butcher. In fact, he was not as powerful as Dog Butcher imagined. His Dantian had indeed been wounded, and the wound was somewhat serious. Among all those people present, Luo Qikang was the only one who had guessed the truth. The reason why he had stood there refusing to answer Tu Pianpian’s question was because he was waiting for the Dragon King to fall down.
The forward step that the Dragon King had taken had made Luo Qikang uncertain about his judgement, so he had admitted defeat in front of everyone. He never would have anticipated that the Dragon King could conceal his injury so well.
After returning to his tent, Gu Shenwei asked Dog Butcher to go and rest, and then he said to Old Man Mu, “Go to Jade City and invite Lotus and Shangguan Ru here.”
Old Man Mu had always believed that he could guess the Dragon King’s thoughts accurately, but he was greatly surprised by this order. “Invite them both?”
“Mm.”
Old Man Mu accepted the order and left the camp, thinking that it would be a hundred times more difficult for the Dragon King to conquer these two women than to cultivate the Death Sutra. ‘Did the Dragon King by any chance suffer any brain damage when his Dantian was hit?’
Gu Shenwei also didn’t expect that he would have to meet these two people at the same time, but he didn’t have any other choice, since both his internal injury and the ban on killing were closely related to Lotus and Shangguan Ru.
