Chapter 342: Running Away

It was a night without peace. Every group was either busy trying to garner support for themselves or incite discourse between the other factions. As soon as Gu Shenwei left Shangguan Fei’s reception hall, he traveled to the courier station and disappeared for nearly four hours.

During that time, several groups of people had come seeking an audience with Dragon King one after another; however, they were all rejected by Lin Xiaoshan. “Dragon King is not here. I will report to him as soon as he comes back,” he told them.

Before Dragon King reappeared, there was a slight commotion at the courier station. Since it lasted for only a short while and did not affect many, only a few people had noticed it.

Shortly after nightfall, about an hour after Dragon King disappeared, the assistant from the Central Plain, Zhong Heng, walked out of the courier station alone and empty-handed. He nodded his head at the doorman, looking as if he was going out for a stroll.

However, being away from Stone Kingdom’s capital, the courier station offered nothing for recreation in the winter. The assistant’s behavior looked somewhat strange.

Soon, the news reached the Special Emissary from the Central Plain, Lin Tao, and he immediately realized that something was wrong. As a result, he sent people to search the assistant’s room. As he expected, Zhong Heng’s weapon and silver were left behind, but all the documents he had kept were gone.

Lin Tao realized that Lord Wei Song’s secret had been leaked. He dispatched eight kung fu masters to track down Zhong Heng, saying, “Cut off his head and bring it to me.”

Lin Tao sat in his room, his head bowed as he pondered over the details of the past few days. He became more and more suspicious of Dragon King.

From Lin Tao’s point of view, Dragon King was still a naive young man with merely good kung fu. He felt that Dragon King and his swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain were just a mob and would only be useful as a pawn; however, they did not deserve to become allies with the Central Plain.

Two hours later, one of the kung fu masters brought back some news – Zhong Heng was hiding in Nengjue Temple situated beside the royal palace. Instead of taking action immediately, the masters returned to seek instructions from the Special Envoy.

Lin Tao snorted. A small country like the Stone Kingdom could not possibly protect a fugitive who the Commanding Officer of the Western Region wanted to kill. “Be quiet and do not alarm the eminent monks of the Four Truths Temple,” he ordered.

The kung fu master left with his instructions. Lin Tao was still pre-occupied with the Dragon King. What was he thinking, disappearing at this point? Was the pale, young man hiding any conspiracy?

About an hour later, Lin Tao’s doubts were answered; Dragon King reappeared at the courier station. The first thing he did was visit the Special Emissary from the Central Plain.

“You’re really busy, Dragon King,” Lin Tao chuckled, feeling relieved. The young man was not with Zhong Heng, which meant there was no collusion between the two of them. “I sent people to invite you over several times but couldn’t get you to come.”

“I beg your pardon, Your Honor. There were still several bandits remaining in the desert and I heard that they were sneaking around and spying, so I went out to get rid of them.”

“What foolish bandits! How dare they challenge Dragon King!” Lin Tao rebuked sternly. He actually meant what he said – it was the idea of another confidant of Wei Song to hire bandits to intercept and kill Dragon King, and Lin Tao had disagreed from the very beginning. He believed that they should not kill Dragon King before milking the young man for all his worth; there was still value in him.

Dragon King’s ‘value’, however, would only last for one more day. After he voted and the Emperor’s son-in-law was selected, it would be time for him to disappear forever.

“Er, Dragon King, the reason why I invited you here is that I’ve heard a rumor that you are double-crossing both parties in this voting contest – that you’ve promised to vote for Shangguan Fei and the Prince of the Loulan Kingdom at the same time. Haha, I don’t believe it, but gossip is a terrible thing…”

“The rumor is true.”

Lin Xia was astonished. He knew that Dragon King was the last swing voter whose identity had not been revealed, but he did not expect that the youth would admit to it in such a straightforward manner. Thus, he frowned as he questioned Dragon King, “I am confused. Could you elaborate?”

“Firstly, please forgive my actions. I did not discuss anything with you before doing this because I have to keep the entire plan confidential.”

“As long as you have legitimate reasons to act in this manner, Dragon King,” Lin Tao said, looking amiable; however, he did not want to commit to anything yet.

“I did this to win Shangguan Fei’s trust as I know that Golden Roc Fort is plotting a conspiracy which has something to do with your life.”

Lin Tao raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Could it be that Shangguan Fei actually dares to kill me?”

To Lin Tao’s surprise, Dragon King nodded solemnly. “Shangguan Fei is cowardly and incompetent – one who treasures his life. The only task Supreme King had given to him was to marry the Princess at all costs. If he failed, he would lose his life.”

“What… what does this have to do with me?”

“Shangguan Fei has already deduced that my promise to vote for him was a lie. If that’s the case, he will have only six votes, just like the Prince of Loulan Kingdom, and it will result in another competition round after tomorrow; however, he doesn’t have the confidence or patience to wait for the next segment and try to win it, so he decided to throw caution to the wind and assassinate you. If you die, the Prince of the Loulan Kingdom would lose his support, and the tickets that belonged to him would naturally go to Shangguan Fei.”

“Is this true?” Lin Tao was skeptical. “By doing so, Shangguan Fei would actually be declaring war on the Central Plain. Would he be so stupid? The Supreme King would definitely ask him to pay the price for his actions.”

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“I didn’t believe it either, so I endeavored to win Shangguan Fei’s trust. Just now, I received news that 20 Golden Roc killers stealthily left the courier station this afternoon and didn’t come back after entering the capital. I asked Shangguan Fei about it before coming over here. He was complacent and said to me, ‘Wait and see, before dawn, everything will be reversed and the Central Plain will never stand in my way again.’ Therefore, I rushed here to protect you.”

Lin Tao’s expression suddenly changed as he asked, “Shangguan Fei sent killers to the capital?”

“Yes, although I don’t understand why he did that, I guessed that it must be part of the plan to murder you, Your Honor.”

Lin Tao still couldn’t believe it. For many years, the various forces in the Western Region had maintained a delicate balance, and if any of them dared to break the balance, it should have been a big nation like the Central Plain or Norland. “This may just be a coincidence; Shangguan Fei didn’t directly say that he would kill me. You may have overthought it, Dragon King,” he said.

“I hope so, but we can’t be too careful.”

“Yes, you are right,” Lin Tao chuckled twice. “So, you will definitely vote for the Prince of Loulan Kingdom tomorrow, right?”

“Of course, Shangguan Fei is incompetent. Whatever they contest for, I believe the Prince of Loulan Kingdom will be the winner.”

Lin Tao showed an expression of relief. They chatted for a moment, and Lin Tao declined Dragon King’s request to personally act as his guard. After sending Dragon King off, he immediately sent people to the city to find out more about the situation.

Gu Shenwei went back to his room to rest for a while. Before he slept, he said to Lin Xiaoshan, “The Special Emissary from the Central Plain will send someone to meet me later; wake me up as soon as he arrives.”

Gu Shenwei was sure that there was no way his prediction would fail.

The truth was that the Special Emissary from the Central Plains was even more anxious than he had imagined. Instead of sending someone to summon Dragon King, Lin Tao came over personally at around two o’clock. He wore a cape to prevent anyone from recognizing him.

“Dragon King, you are right,” Lin Tao said emotionally as soon as he entered the room, trembling with fear. “Zhong Heng betrayed the Central Plain and colluded with Golden Roc Fort. He lured several of my guard troops into Nengjue Temple in the capital and killed all of them. Shangguan Fei really moved against us. No, Shangguan Fei certainly would not dare do this alone. The Special Envoy of Norland must be the manipulating him behind the scenes…”

Gu Shenwei sat on the bed and held the handle of his saber without interrupting Lin Tao, knowing that the special envoy’s fear would lead him to figure out all the causes and consequences of the actions of each party involved in the incident; there was no need to persuade him.

“Shangguang Fei is going to strike soon and the killer could very possibly be hiding outside this house and war could be triggered at any time. You have to protect me, Dragon King. From now on, this isn’t about the feud between Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort anymore, but about the war between the Central Plain and Norland.”

It was time for Gu Shenwei to pretend to be confused. “How did the Special Envoy of Norland get involved? I thought it was just Shangguan Fei’s idea.”

“Alas, you think too simply.” Lin Tao was anxious and had cast away his superficial respect for Dragon King, and his tone was as if he were talking to an ordinary little boy; however, he immediately realized that his life laid in the hands of Dragon King and he immediately changed his tone. “There’s something that you don’t know about, Dragon King – the Khan of Norland is bedridden and could pass away at any time. It’s very possible that he wishes to start a war before he dies and seize control of the entire Western Region once and for all.”

Gu Shenwei pretended to be enlightened. “Now I understand. You can rest assured that as long as I am here, I will ensure your safety, your Honor,” he said.

However, Lin Tao could not be at ease. Currently, Dragon King was still unaware of the secret order of Mr. Wei, but the special envoy would need to watch out for him the most if it were ever leaked to the young man. “It would be great to be protected by you, Dragon King, but there are too many killers from Golden Roc Fort, and there would be many casualties on your side in the event of a fight. I do have a plan, however, to resolve the crisis without the use of force.”

“I’d like to know about your plan.”

“I am the target of Norland and Shangguan Fei. If I am not here, naturally they will not take any action. As long as I return to the residence of the Commanding Officer, they would not dare to act rashly with an army at my command.”

Gu Shenwei did not expect that things would go so smoothly – Lin Tao’s train of thought was almost identical to his own plan. “I understand what you mean. Let me escort you to the residence of Commanding Officer right now, Your Honor,” he said.

“No, no, we would be letting Shangguan Fei off too easily. I have an idea, and I would like to seek your opinion about it, Dragon King.”

“Pray tell, Your Honor. We from the Great Snowmountain would gladly serve the Central Plain.”

“My idea is for you to stay in Stone Kingdom and do your best to help the Prince of Loulan Kingdom to become the Emperor’s son-in-law, Dragon King. You can also take some extreme measures if necessary. Also, you needn’t worry about the armistice agreement; the Central Plain will bear responsibility for your actions.”

Gu Shenwei sneered in his heart. Even before leaving, Lin Tao was setting him up – the special envoy was hoping that the Great Snowmountain and Golden Roc Fort would fight each other so that he would have two weakened adversaries to deal with in the future.

“The Great Snowmountain has nothing to fear as long as we have the Central Plain’s support. I will never let Shangguan Fei be the Emperor’s son-in-law.” Gu Shenwei said, a slight hint of murderous intent showing in his eyes, causing Lin Tao to be both afraid and relieved.

Gu Shenwei escorted Lin Tao as they left the courier station secretly, the two remaining kung fu masters of the Special Envoy’s guard troops following behind.

Along the way, Lin Tao had been encouraging Dragon King to do his best, as he even overtly implied that he should kill Shangguan Fei and the Special Envoy of Norland. As they went their separate ways after walking for 10 li, Lin Tao believed that Dragon King was completely under his control.

As the sun began to rise, Gu Shenwei returned to the courier station. He had removed the biggest obstacle facing him, and he could carry out the last part of his plan now: obtain the throne of Stone Kingdom and control the entire Xiaoyao Lake.