Chapter 949: Blackmail

Gu Shenwei requested a specific assessment of Pang Jing from the Prime Minister. Zhong Heng took three steps forward, turned around, and retraced his three steps back before saying, “He’s a smart guy.”

“Smart how?”

“The first thing that he did after his inauguration was muddy the water in the pool instead of establishing a good relationship with the ‘big fish.’ In my opinion, this suggests that he is both very discontented with the current situation and very confident. The Governor of the Western Regions wanted to adjust the balance of power in Jade City, which I figure might be counted as a good thing for the Dragon King.”

Gu Shenwei agreed with the Prime Minister’s analysis, but he made no comments on his conclusion. When he walked into the military camp of the Central Plains, followed by a couple of his attendants, he still regarded Pang Jing as someone whose stance was still indeterminate.

The place for the meeting between Pang Jing and the Dragon King was outside the city, which was the result of a private consultation between the two sides. No matter what, it was impossible for the Dragon King to visit him in his Governor’s Mansion like Meng Mingshu had, so he could only meet him in the military camp by convention.

Upon seeing the Dragon King, Pang Jing showed that he was no punctilious man. He walked down to the host’s seat, hurried to the Dragon King’s welcome, and cupped his hands before his chest like a Jianghu kung fu practitioner. ” I’ve finally met the Dragon King in the flesh. I have traveled thousands of miles in snow to get to Jade City, and it was not in vain. It’s a pity that I didn’t have the time. Otherwise, I would’ve galloped to the camp of the Dragon Army and applied to be a soldier of yours, and we wouldn’t have had to wait until today to meet each other.”

When someone met Pang Jing for the first time, it was very likely that they would be bewildered by his hospitality. Gu Shenwei had learned this from the intelligence reports, so he had prepared himself for this. “General Pang is my honored guest from the Central Plains. I’ve heard of your name before you arrived here. Every paper sent to my desk during the past few days have born the words ‘General Pang’ on it, so you’re not a stranger to me at all.”

Pang Jing burst into laughter, led the Dragon King into the tent arm in arm, and walked him to the guest seat himself. But instead of returning to the host’s seat, he stood in front of the Dragon King with a face full of curiosity endemic to young men. If it weren’t for the lingering frostbite on his face, he would have looked even younger than the Dragon King.

A couple of generals also performed their duties, inviting the Dragon King’s attendants inside.

“It has been only two days that Dragon King has heard my name. When I heard about the Dragon King’s legendary deeds over a year ago, I’ve admired you ever since. So the moment I heard that there was a chance to come to the Western Regions, I volunteered. I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but there’s a question that I’ve been meaning to ask you for a long time. Do you really own a living giant roc? Rumor says that it’s over dozens of feet tall with a beak as long as a saber, that it’s able to blow people a dozen mile away with a single flap of its wings, that it feeds on fresh eyeballs, and that it eats at least a hundred people’s eyes during a meal…”

There was an expectant look in Pang Jing’s eyes. If the answer was negative, then he would probably would be very disappointed.

Gu Shenwei nodded. “I do have a giant roc, but it’s not over dozens of feet tall. It’s just a little taller than a normal human. And it doesn’t feed on living people. If it could blow people away with its wings, then it probably wouldn’t be able to get any living people to eat.”

“Ha-ha. That’s true. Where is it? Can I see it? A glimpse from far away would be enough for me.”

“It’s not here, and it’s probably not in the Western Regions at all. It comes to me, and I can never call it on command.”

As expected, Pang Jing was very disappointed. He let out a deep sigh. “I don’t have the luck then. If only I could stay with Dragon King, so that sooner or later I would get a chance to see the giant roc.”

Shangguan Fei, who was among the attendants brought here by the Dragon King, emboldened himself into standing up and venturing to interpose with a smile. “General Pang is interested in the giant roc? A lot of people here once saw it… ”

“You saw it yourself?” Pang Jing twisted his upper body around and asked, as if the Dragon King’s description hadn’t satisfied his curiosity.

“We all saw it,” Shangguan Fei said as he pointed to Chu Nanping and the other three bodyguards. “Every time the Dragon King is in danger, that giant roc showed up. It was as if it could communicate with the Dragon King from thousands of mile away via some sort of telepathy.”

“This is not good. With the Dragon King’s current strength, who could put him in danger? Won’t the giant roc never show up again?”

Shangguan Fei hurriedly corrected himself. “Not necessarily. The giant roc likes playing too. And it comes to the Dragon King quite often when it has nothing else to do. Right, Little Chu?”

Pang Jing turned to Chu Nanping, sizing up this swordsman who was as pretty as a girl. “You see the giant roc very often?”

“I used to,” answered Chu Nanping.

“Tell me. What color is it? What does it like? What does its hoot sound like-”

Chu Nanping blandly interrupted Pang Jing. “The Dragon King is sitting there. I think that he has something more important than the giant roc to say.”

Seeming to have suddenly realized this, Pang Jing bowed to the Dragon King. “Please pardon me, Dragon King. I was being impertinent.”

“Everybody has their curiosities. The giant roc is divine creature. A lot of people are interested in it.”

“That’s true. That’s true. Life is short. I mean, how many divine things can we meet in our life? Most people probably won’t even hear of any before they die.” Pang Jing still had no intention of going back to the host’s seat, as if he was determined to not get down to business. “Rumor says that the Dragon King has a saber and a sword of divine craftsmanship, and that they shine spontaneously during the night, buzz when enemies approach, and sharpen themselves upon meeting blood. May I ask if I can have the honor of seeing them?”

After hesitating for a brief moment, Gu Shenwei unfastened the Five Peaks Saber and passed it to Pang Jing with both hands. “This saber was forged by a renowned craftsman in the Western Regions. It’s merely sharper than normal sabers. There’s nothing special about it.”

But Pang Jing received the Five Peaks Saber with great care, as if it was a rare treasure. Holding the sheath with his left hand, he slowly pulled out the saber with his right hand, moved his eyes close to the blade to carefully appreciate it, and then wielded it. His movement was not bad. Rumors say that he once practiced kung fu. It seemed that that was true.

“It’s a good saber.” After quite a while, Pang Jing sheathed the saber and complimented it. Then he returned the weapon to the Dragon King. “A good saber requires the right owner. This saber is still as sharp as ever. There’s not a single sign of it being burnished. Clearly, the Dragon King’s been using it in the right way.”

“I’m flattered,” Gu Shenwei responded in a perfunctory manner. This new Governor of the Western Regions admired the Dragon King more than the soldiers did. The better his acting was, the more vigilant the Dragon King became.

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“It’s said that Dragon King always carries your saber and sword. Where’s the sword?”

“I gave it to someone who’s better at using a sword than I am.”

Pang Jing followed the Dragon King’s gaze, eventually landing on Chu Nanping. After a brief hesitation, he said with a smile, “Rumor says that the Dragon King has many kung fu experts at his command, that the one who has served the Dragon King the longest has an extraordinarily handsome appearance as well as superb swordsmanship. Are you Chu Nanping?”

Chu Nanping slightly furrowed his forehead. “I am.” And with that, he lowered his eyes, showing him neither the Dragon Head Sword nor any intention of chatting.

Shangguan Fei gave two coughs, trying to draw Pang Jing’s attention to him, but there was no response.

Pang Jing was thrust the cold shoulder, but he didn’t mind. Finally, he returned to the host seat and said with a solemn face, “In fact, I came to Jade City to do one single thing – organize the kung fu competition to select the Lord of Jade City. I believe that Prince Xiao has already told Dragon King all of the relevant information in detail.”

“Prince Xiao left in haste, so he didn’t have time to explain everything in detail.”

Pang Jing winked at the generals who then all stood up and took their leave. Shangguan Fei, Chu Nanping, and the others also left with them. When there were only two people left, Pang Jing’s face became more serious. “The Dragon King might have some suspicions. Please rest assured. His Highness and I are best friends. I know everything about his plan and I intend to follow his every instruction. I know that there are some private grudges between the Dragon King and the Luo family, but national affairs should be put above personal interests. By no means will Luo Qikang be an obstacle in the Dragon King’s way.”

“General Pang’s words greatly reassure me.”

“Let me put this straight. Luo Qikang will defeat the Unique King and then lose to the Dragon King. The Dragon King knows about the martial arts world of the Western Regions better than I do. Do you think that this plan is viable?”

“Prince Xiao chose this swordsman, so I think that he must be really good.” Gu Shenwei didn’t answer his question directly.

“Ha-ha. Actually, I believe that this plan of Prince Xiao’s is unnecessary. I’m sure that the Dragon King’s kung fu is better than anyone else’s in the Western Regions. There’s no need to ask a Central Plains swordsman for help at all, right?”

“We can never take too many precautions.”

After talking about this for only a short while, Pang Jing urgently ended this topic and steered the conversation to another issue. “In the Dragon King’s eyes, this must seem like a joke. The Central Plains have sent an envoy here, but he was killed during an internecine struggle. The deputy envoy colluded with the enemy and did a lot of shameful things instead of making contributions. Alas.”

“I’m also confused. It is said that the deputy envoy colluded with an enemy. May I ask who this enemy was?”

“The Norland, of course. It’s a big world, but the Central Plains has only one enemy.”

“Then this Lord Sun’s discernment was too poor. The Norland has already disintegrated and is currently at its weakest. It was surprising that he chose to collude with this country.”

“It is all about money.” Pang Jing slightly lowered his voice, as if he were talking about a highly confidential issue. “The Meng family in northern Jade City was robbed. The Dragon King has heard about it, right?”

“Um. I did.”

“The Norlanders did this. They promised Sun Chengqi half of the spoils and he failed to resist the temptation.”

Nobody knew about the inauthenticity of this accusation better than Gu Shenwei, but he still pretended that he suddenly understood. “I see. So Sun Chengqi was blinded by money.”

“Tell me about it. This has to stay between you and me – I can understand him. That was a huge amount of money. Who could possibly have stayed indifferent to it? Even I, someone who would rather die than collude with the Norland, wish to find that money without doing anything. Ha-ha. It is said that they didn’t have enough time to transfer the Meng family’s money, and that it’s still somewhere in the Jade City. I wonder if the Dragon King is interested in finding it with me. We can split it fifty-fifty.”

Pang Jing didn’t seem like a relative of a Central Plains dignitary at all, and neither did he look like a noble Governor. He was listless when talking about serious issues, but once someone mentioned the giant roc, sabers and swords, or treasures, he immediately became like somebody else.

“Not all rumors are true. General Pang is sure that the money is still in the Jade City?”

Pang Jing gave a mysterious smile, as if he knew some inside information, “The Central Plains has a large population, so our intelligence network is not too bad. Besides, I also know who helped the Norlanders rob the Meng family.”

“You do?”

“When the Meng family was robbed, the Norland army closest to the site was several days’ journey away. In addition, climbing over walls and roofs is not really their forte. Thus, they needed a helper. There was a time when the rumors said that this helper was the Dragon King.”

Gu Shenwei snorted but neither contradicted nor admitted to it.

“But according to the intelligence I received, the culprit is actually Golden Roc Castle. The Unique King had always wanted to eliminate the Meng family, so he took this opportunity and snatched the Meng family’s assets to give it to Prince Luoluo as a gift. But unexpectedly, the Dragon King and Prince Xiao defeated their numerically superior enemy, forced Luoluo into fleeing to the northmost area, and so this gift wasn’t sent out. It’s still in Jade City.”

“It’s possible. So I do have to conduct an intensive investigation into it, and General Pang only wants half of it?”

“I’m not a greedy man. The Meng family is the richest family in the Western Regions. I’ll be more than satisfied to receive half of their wealth.” Pang Jing’s smile didn’t seem to fit his rugged squared face at all.

Gu Shenwei went back to camp and said to Zhong Heng, “This General Pang’s eyes are bigger than his stomach. He’s blackmailing me.”

Zhong Heng was startled. After hearing the Dragon King’s account of the meeting, he came to the same conclusion. Pang Jing clearly knew that the Dragon King had the money. He had merely beat around the bush because he wanted a share of the pie.

In the military camp of the Central Plains’ army, Pang Jing was also assessing the Dragon King with Luo Qikang. “Well, it’s now safe to say that the Dragon King’s not a friend. The news is false, but the money is real. The Meng family’s money is definitely in his hands.”