Death Sutra Chapter 122

Editor: Nyxnox

Chapter 122 Rebuking the Daughter

The Tenth Gongzi of the Shangguan family had disappeared into the desert for twenty-three days. When she miraculously reappeared in front of the crowd, dusty and gaunt, she seemed like a completely different person, even more boyish than ever. Shangguan Yus.h.i.+, who stood by her side, raised two rotten heads as hundreds of people cheered in unison.

After following alongside the foot of the mountain, the six teenagers had finally reached the mountain pa.s.s at the border of Jade City, where both the Golden Roc Castle and the Iron Mountain Allied Forces were now stationed. Besides inside the city, even more people were stationed outside, completely encircling the east and south sides of the desert, ready to attack in great numbers. Several teams of killers were already deep in the enemy's territory and constantly sent back news of their encounters with the enemy.

The eighth young lord Shangguan Nu was discussing with his father-in-law in the North about rounding up the Great Desolate Sect. Upon hearing the news, he rushed back to the camp on the night, and was overjoyed at the sight of his younger sister. He asked her to take a day's rest, and then sent out a large number of killers to escort her home the next morning, promising that he would not return to see her until he had piled up a mountain's worth of heads from the Great Desolate Sect.

Big Head G.o.d personally attended garrison duty on the northeast side, and did not come to offer condolences in person. Instead, he sent several emissaries to apologize. He blamed himself for not being able to take care of Tenth Gongzi properly and sent countless gifts, which could not be carried away in a single journey. Even a month after Tenth Gongzi had safely returned home, there were still vehicles coming from the Iron Mountain to send the last remaining gifts.

As usual, the other teenagers also received plenty of gold and silver, and the gifts were generous enough to make all the guards of the past years jealous.

Big Head G.o.d sent a messenger to meet Servant Huan and gave him gifts second only to Shangguan Ru in front of the crowd, which included a jade ring and a dainty bronze mirror.

"Big Head G.o.d has proclaimed it." The messenger deliberately raised his voice so that everyone could hear him, "Servant Huan is the right hand of the eighth young lord, a loyal servant of the eighth young mistress. The eighth young mistress was young and bad-tempered, and with this mirror held at hand, Servant Huan could help restrain her in place of her father."

After this, the messenger privately gave Servant Huan a wooden box which contained the head of Little Sui and said, "Big Head G.o.d asks that you tell the eighth young mistress 'I have raised you for over a dozen years and given you anything you desired. It's enough. From now on, it's the daughter's duty to show filial obedience to his father and act with her father in mind. Be a good daughter-in-law of the Shangguan family, and don't cause trouble for your father anymore'."

The matter that Big Head G.o.d gave a sixteen year old teenage killer authority to restrain his married daughter quickly spread in the camp of Golden Roc Castle, which made Shangguan Nu very embarra.s.sed. He furiously summoned Servant Huan and asked him what was going on.

Gu Shenwei did not expect that the Big Head G.o.d would make such a move. He wanted to stir up the relations.h.i.+p between the Iron Mountain and the Meng Family, but not only did he fail, but his own relations.h.i.+p with his lord was also alienated by the Big Head G.o.d.

He had no choice but to take out the head of Little Sui and explain that the Miss had asked him to send a message to Big Head G.o.d, but at the same time, she had also asked Little Sui to send a word to kill him. But since Big Head G.o.d knew that Servant Huan was a person trusted by the eighth young lord, he didn't kill him, and instead he was very angry with his daughter, and so on and so forth.

Shangguan Nu couldn't help but frown when he heard that his wife wanted to kill Servant Huan, but the tangled ball of suspicion in his heart was unraveled.

As soon as they returned to Golden Roc Castle, Shangguan Ru was kept in the inner chamber and didn't come out for a long time. The four brown-belted killers became the focus of the small flag battalion. Even Liuhua, who was most adept at avoiding the crowd, was often followed by two or three curious admirers, which annoyed him so much that he really wished there was another slaughter so that he could "take care" of these lackeys.

As usual, Servant Huan's contribution was downplayed, and all the credit was attributed to the Tenth Gongzi Shangguan Ru. Only a few members of the former Bi Nu gang learned about the real situation from Lotus and became more loyal to their former leader.

A few days later, rumors about Servant Huan fainting in front of the killers had spread everywhere inside East Castle. Even Tie Hanfeng had asked his disciple what the h.e.l.l was going on, and had once again considered taking his disciple to see a doctor, "Let's tentatively treat the dead horse as if it were still alive. First go to the Four n.o.ble Truths Temple. If that doesn't work, go to the country of Fragrance. There's always a way."

If it were a month ago, Gu Shenwei would have thought that the culprit of the rumor was Liuhua, but now Wild Horse was his number one suspect.

Wild Horse had joined Shangguan Yus.h.i.+'s side, and this only made Gu Shenwei more alert.

However, none of this could compare to his biggest headache, which was how to deal with that cruel Miss.

In the room with a wooden wall and lattice, Servant Huan held the bronze mirror given by Big Head G.o.d, and tried to convey a father's 'rebuke'. He had only said a word before the Miss flew into a great rage. She smashed all the items she could grab near her, punched her close maidservant and ordered the maidservants outside to immediately carry out the punishment of gouging out the eyes and cutting the tongue of Servant Huan.   

The maidservants took away the bronze mirror, but no one dared to touch Servant Huan. He was no longer that common servant who escorted Miss to the castle as a dowry; he had now gained the mutual trust of both the eighth young lord and Big Head G.o.d and couldn't be punished easily.

It took Luo Ningcha three days to cool off her anger and recognize the situation. She was already alone in Golden Roc Castle, and it would only make things worse if she offended the protector designated by her father. So she summoned Servant Huan again, but this time only she and the maidservant Tsui Nü were present.

It was a meeting that had as much honesty as it had hypocrisy.

Luo Ningcha was the daughter of Big Head G.o.d and was born with the ability to buy over people. It was just that she had never used it before and therefore seemed to be very unfamiliar with it. She surprisingly apologized to Servant Huan for the first time, but immediately defended herself with, "It's your own fault. You taught me how to plot, and I tried to kill you just the way you told me to."

"Miss learns really fast." Gu Shenwei praised insincerely.

"But I've figured it out, one can't survive alone in this castle. I need a helper, and none of these maidservants are capable of doing it. Besides, they are women, and can't make any big moves. Thus, you have a lot of value to me."

Gu Shenwei thanked the Miss for her consideration, but he was a bit absent-minded. Since Big Head G.o.d didn't value his daughter, he was also not enthusiastic about helping her. How much help could squabbling in a tangled fight of the inner chamber provide for his own revenge?

"This bronze mirror was left by my mother and my father has always kept it as a treasure." Miss changed the subject. The sadness in her voice sounded real.

Then, she asked Servant Huan to continue the 'rebuke' that she had not finished listening to last time.

After listening to the last sentence, Luo Ningcha choked silently. Her hope of improving her status in the castle had been all placed on her father and she didn't expect to receive such an answer from him.

"Does that mean that I'm causing trouble even if I'm being bullied? What can I do with him in mind? How can I be filial to him?" Luo Ningcha's nature was hard to change, and she showed her reckless anger again, "It was you who taught me those ideas and asked me to beg my father. See what happened? It only brought me more humiliation."

Gu Shenwei couldn't help but sigh in his heart. How could a resourceful and powerful person like Big Head G.o.d have such a foolish daughter? Gu Shenwei was very impressed by the lord of the Iron Mountain after the trip to the extent that he even admired Big Head G.o.d a bit. But he also understood that the seemingly stupid Miss could also do lots of damage with an occasional flash of inspiration and must not be underestimated.

"Miss." Gu Shenwei didn't intend to say these words, but decided to do so to win the trust of this woman after a second thought. Luo Ningcha was Shangguan Nu's wife and might have some value at any time." I think you misunderstood the meaning of Big Head G.o.d."

"Oh, how did I misunderstand? Tell me."

"What I said before was not wrong. A woman's status comes from her father and husband, but the source of a man's power is more complicated. Big Head G.o.d asking Miss to act with him in mind doesn't mean that Big Head G.o.d abandoned Miss. He's just not satisfied with the current situation. He wants more power, so he can protect Miss better."

"You mean I have to help my father gain more power before he can help me?" Miss said after being silent for a while.

"Exactly."

"He's my father. How can he bargain with her daughter?" Luo Ningcha's anger flared up again.

"In this bustling and boisterous world, people gather and separate for the sake of profit. Big Head G.o.d is a powerful lord of the Western Regions. No one knows how many people would admire Miss for being able to bargain with such a big shot. I met a scholar on my trip who knew everything including the astronomy and geography. Even such a person was willing to do anything if he could only say a few words to Big Head G.o.d. But he only saw Big Head G.o.d once from afar and wasn't qualified to talk with the lord of the Iron Mountain. He left with frustration and probably will never have a chance to become powerful."  

"Never have the chance to become powerful." Luo Ningcha repeatedly muttered this sentence and suddenly became horrified,"What can I do to help my father?"

"It's not difficult. Big Head G.o.d saved the fifth gongzi of the Meng family the other day and wants to make a connection with the Meng family, or even to form an alliance. Miss might as well take the initiative and send someone to the city to show some condolences. When Miss enters the inner chamber, Miss can also mention this to the Madam. On one hand, Miss can use this to detect some information. On the other hand, Miss can destroy the Madam's arrogance. Wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone?"

"You've suggested another stupid idea." The Miss seemed to be a bit dissatisfied, "You think you're so clever, leaving yourself clean. How about you go to the Meng family to show some condolences?"

"Miss, Meng Fifth Gongzi hates my guts. It will only backfire if I go there."

"Heh, you're also not perfect."

This meeting was finally over. Gu Shenwei thought that he would be able to get rid of Miss and avoid any trouble with her for awhile. He didn't expect that a few days later, Miss summoned him for the third time in a good mood.

"Your idea was good. The Madam had pretended the whole time that she did not know that Big Head G.o.d had saved Meng Fifth Gongzi's life. She put on an act and thanked me after I mentioned it. It was really funny. I didn't know if the Madam was not getting along well with her mother's family. Now I understand that the Meng family's gold and silver mountain is only part of the reason for her to be favoured by King Lord. There must be other reasons. I will definitely find out. You should also think about finding them at the outside."

"Yes, Miss. I'll remember." Gu Shenwei naturally would not do such a thing. Based on his experience at Golden Roc Castle, intruding in the King Lord's private affairs was the biggest taboo and a slight carelessness would bring about his death. "Miss has plenty of gold and silver, why doesn't Miss send them out to buy over some people? Miss can start with those people who have high statuses but live an unhappy life. For example … King Lord has a nephew called Shangguan Hongye. His father died young and his widowed mother lives in the West Castle and can be easily bought over."

Shangguan Hongye was a cla.s.smate of Shangguan Ru, who used to take money from Servant Huan who worked for him. Gu Shenwei 'transferred' him to Miss in the hope of coping with her. In fact, he was not in the mood to interfere in Miss's matters.

The more Gu Shenwei thought about the mysterious woman he had seen on the run, the more that he felt something wasn't right. He was pretty sure that it was not a dream. That woman had really smiled at him and poked his chest.

He privately asked Lotus after they returned to the castle. Lotus also didn't remember any strange women, but she also felt something was wrong. They slept too soundly that night and weren't like killers at all. After the slaughter, she hadn't slept so soundly even in her most exhausted hours.

Gu Shenwei didn't understand the matter, so he gave it up for a while. It was not until Shangguan Ru and other teenagers 'got wicked' that he suddenly understand what that woman had done.