Death Scripture

“A book holds a house of gold.” Qin Yeming had heard of this remark at least three times when he was staying with Pang Jing. After some careful thinking, he believed that this was what the Governor of the Western Regions was trying to convey to the Dragon King. This sentence, which had originally been meant as sarcasm, had now become a clue.

“A book? Does it mean a study?” Mo Lin was the first one to think of a possible location where the gold could be stored.

“It’s worth a visit.”

There were two studies in the mansion: one in front and the other in the rear. It was still late at night. Twelve sabersmen from the Norland were in the backyard, protecting Mo Chu. So, the courtyard appeared empty and there was a faint air of eeriness about it. Qin Yeming followed the Dragon King closely, feeling both ashamed of his cowardliness and relieved that the Dragon King was present.

The study in the front of the mansion was very clean. There were not many books in it, and most of them were documents that had been left behind by former Governors. Qin Yeming quickly lit the oil lamp on the table to light the room for the Dragon King.

Everything in the room was apparent to the eye. Nothing could stay hidden within this room. Gu Shenwei lowered his head and moved his eyes to the ground. Qin Yeming carried the oil lamp and stamped all around. After a full circle, all three people confirmed that there was no secret space hidden underground.

“Do you have something to say?” asked Gu Shenwei. Though the teenager was serving the Dragon King wholeheartedly, there was still confusion gleaming in his eyes.

Qin Yeming immediately knelt down. He was still uncertain about his identity, so he didn’t know what he should say and what he shouldn’t say. “I’m a servant of the Dragon King, and I should have served Dragon King with undivided loyalty, but uncertainty rose within me. I beg the Dragon King for his pardon.”

“If you want to be my servant, then you’ll have to stand up before talking.”

Qin Yeming hurriedly rose to his feet, his head still down.

“You also have to be honest, which is one of your duties.”

Qin Yeming briefly blushed. “Yes. I wonder… I wonder if Pang Jing would send his men here to assassinate the Governor. Once the Governor is dead, then he’ll be able to come back here rightfully.”

“This is a game, and Pang Jing was the one who made the rules. I think that he’ll abide by it.” Gu Shenwei walked towards the doorway, not worried about Mo Chu’s safety at all. After arriving at the courtyard, he looked at the roof of the east wing and added, “Even if he doesn’t want to abide by it, someone will force him to.”

A crisp sound came from the dark. It sounded like the snapping of a twig. It suddenly dawned on Qin Yeming that though the security inside this mansion seemed loose, there were actually many kung fu experts on the periphery, guarding it.

Then the three went to the inner study near the backyard, which was not far from Mo Chu’s bedroom. He hadn’t gone to bed yet, and he didn’t dare. After glimpsing the Dragon King through the crack in the door, he hurriedly ran out of his room and knelt down in a very natural manner. His face was full of fear as he said, “Dragon King, I’m honored to have this chance to serve you again, but I’m too old. My eyesight is poor and my mind is also not as clear as it used to be. I’m really worried that I might ruin the Dragon King’s overall plan…”

Mo Chu was uncertain about his status, so he was trying to ask the Dragon King what his intentions were in a roundabout way. Gu Shenwei said to him, “Do what a Governor is supposed to do for the next three months. After that, I’ll send you to the grasslands where you’ll settle down next to the new Khan.”

Greatly relieved, Mo Chu kowtowed and expressed his gratitude. He knew how to be a good Governor: not make a single remark that he shouldn’t make, and not ask a single question that he shouldn’t ask.

Qin Yeming noticed that the Governor had been kneeling while talking, and the Dragon King had accepted this in a natural manner without any intention of letting him rise at all. He started to realize that the Dragon King treated the people who he trusted and those he didn’t trust differently, and with that, he became more certain about what he should do.

Mo Lin was also observing this interaction, which was an old habit that he had developed when he had been serving the old Khan. In his mind, the Dragon King was still too young, and his methods were fairly immature, but better than most princes’. His ways of punishing and rewarding subordinates bore a faint similarity to that of the old Khan, but the differences between them were more striking. The Dragon King had a very suspicious and cautious mind. Though this teenager was merely an insignificant servant, he had still put a lot of effort and taken him seriously. The old Khan would have handled this issue in a much more sophisticated and easy way.

Mo Chu returned to his bedroom. Now, he could finally close his eyes and sleep.

There were relatively more books in the inner study, but this room was much smaller, so the chance that someone hid something here was even slimmer.

“Maybe the money’s already been transferred away.” Mo Lin made a guess. “I mean, Pang Jing has been here for nearly a month, which is more than enough to transport the gold to the Central Plains or to the military camp outside the city. It’s much safer there.”

Gu Shenwei shook his head. “Pang Jing doesn’t trust the army outside the city, and it’s impossible to transport the Meng family’s money out of Jade City without anybody noticing it.” His men had been staking out this mansion this whole time. Even a basket of meat and vegetables that had been sent out of or into this place would have been reported to the Dragon King.

Gu Shenwei slowly walked around the room, his fingers brushing past the bookshelf, the table, and the wall, respectively. “More importantly, the Unique King hasn’t gotten what he wants yet. Why would he let the bribe be transferred somewhere else?” He knocked on the wall and found that it was solid. “The gold must have been transported here before Pang Jing came. He moved in hastily, and then tried to conceal it with a series of dramatic deeds… ”

In these words, Mo Lin found a closer resemblance to the old Khan in the Dragon King, and he blurted out, “Things in this mortal world are like floating clouds. People’s minds are like the surface of a lake that’s as smooth as a mirror.” When he saw the confused look in the Dragon King and Qin Yeming’s eyes, Mo Lin smiled and explained. “The old Khan used to say this phrase a lot. An enemy’s plots are like the reflection of the clouds on the surface of the lake. They seem unpredictable and volatile, but the surface of the lake actually remains unchanged. To find the flaws, one merely has to observe the still surface of the lake instead of staring at the ever-changing floating clouds.”

Qin Yeming didn’t fully understand, but Gu Shenwei nodded repeatedly. But there were no such things as a perfect method in this world. The old Khan had seen through many conspiracies, but had failed to realize his madness. There were always signs of the former that could be detected, but the latter usually went against common sense. Gu Shenwei was never sure of what Lotus would do next. He couldn’t deduce her moves from either her interests or her private grudges.

He fished out a dagger from his front inside pocket and gently made three cuts in the wall, causing a triangular section of the wall to drop off. Qin Yeming walked over, raised the oil lamp and took a look. Shiny gold reflected in the lamplight, shedding a soft glow on their faces.

“It’s really a house of gold.” Qin Yeming didn’t know much about money, but his voice still became hoarse and started quivering, as if there were a gold ingot stuck in his throat. “How much gold is there in this room?”

“Not just in this room, but in the whole governor’s mansion,” Mo Lin replied. When he found that his voice was normal, he felt much better. If he were still young, then he definitely wouldn’t have been able to resist the temptation of so much gold. Though he still couldn’t regard money as dirt at his current age, his self-control was more than enough to restrain his greed. “Golden Roc Castle added an extra layer to the walls. This must have been a huge project.”

Golden Roc Castle had had plenty of time. Mo Chu had left for Heaven’s Pass to be the Commander-in-chief of the Norland’s armies more than a year ago. After that, he had been put under house arrest, and the Governor’s mansion had been lying idle since then. All the men guarding the mansion were from Golden Roc Castle, so they could leisurely thicken the walls with as few people knowing about it as possible.

“The Unique King… Why didn’t he transfer the gold to Golden Roc Castle?” Qin Yeming risked asking a question.

“Because he had no intention of keeping this money from the very beginning,” said Gu Shenwei. He and Meng Mingshu had actually done the Unique King a great favor by collectively faking that robbery, but the Dragon Army had also profited from it. The Meng family was the only side that suffered losses. “If Prince Luoluo wins, then the mansion would be his. If the people of the Central Plains come, then the Unique King will send the money to them as well.”

“Heh. So the Unique King has been colluding with Pang Jing for quite some time.” Mo Lin had never been a talkative person, but he was from the Norland, so he was more than willing to see the Dragon King rupture his relation with the Central Plains.

Mo Lin’s guess was right. Perhaps waiting for Pang Jing’s arrival was exactly the reason why the Unique King had been making concessions all along.

“Conceal the cut in the wall,” Gu Shenwei ordered.

Qin Yeming asked in amazement, “Leave the gold here? Pang Jing is surely trying to figure out a way to take this mansion back. And Golden Roc Castle also won’t give up these gold ingots for no good reason, right?”

“There’s no hurry,” said Gu Shenwei, giving no further explanation.

Qin Yeming observantly shut up, picked up the wallpaper from the ground, carefully put it back to its original position, and then pushed the bookshelf over it to cover it. Nobody would notice it without paying close attention to that wall.

Mo Lin said, “Your secret is safe with me.” Though it was just a simple promise, Mo Lin believed that it was enough. If the person he was talking to was the old Khan, then he wouldn’t have even bothered making this promise.

Gu Shenwei respected Mo Lin’s promise, so he left the mansion with Qin Yeming without saying another word.

The two people returned to the Department of Guards in southern Jade City at daybreak. On their way back, after pondering over it for a long time, Qin Yeming believed there was only one way to gain the Dragon King’s trust. So, he quickly made a bed for the Dragon King, took a few steps back, bowed deeply and said, “Please allow me to cut off my tongue, Dragon King, so that I won’t be able to divulge the secret.”

Faintly amused, Gu Shenwei looked at the teenager and said, “There are many ways to divulge a secret. Talking is only one of them.”

Qin Yeming was briefly stunned and then seriously said, “I understand. I won’t let myself concern the Dragon King.” After saying this, he meant to take his leave.

“Committing suicide won’t help either. I sent you to Pang Jing, so you’re no longer a nobody. Your death itself would be an important message.”

Qin Yeming was transfixed with amazement. He had never expected that things would be so complicated. All the plans that he had thought of were now useless. “Dragon King, I… I… ”

“Actually, you don’t have any secrets to divulge. Both Pang Jing and I know exactly what is going on. If someone tries to bribe you, then I suggest that you take as much money as you can get and then tell them the truth.”

Qin Yeming’s eyes were wide with shock.

“I’m expecting Prime Minister Zhong Heng to come by. Wake me when he arrives.”

“Yes,” Qin Yeming answered before walking out of the room and gently closing the door, trying hard to figure out what the Dragon King meant. At last, he drew the conclusion that he should never try to speculate on the Dragon King’s true thoughts. All he needed to do was follow his orders.

This was the wisest decision that Qin Yeming had ever made in his life.

As expected, Zhong Heng came very early, having even more questions than Qin Yeming had, but the Dragon King didn’t grant him permission to get involved in the Meng family’s issue. Thus, he tried not to ask any questions about it.

“Preparations for the kung fu competition are almost done. Only the venue and date remain undecided. It has to be a place that all sides deem safe.”

“I have a suggestion. You can propose it at today’s meeting. Golden Roc Castle will probably agree.”

“I’m all ears, Dragon King.”

“The Governor’s mansion.”

“That’s in northern Jade City, which is Golden Roc Castle’s territory… Is this the reason why the Dragon King brought Mo Chu back?”

“It is. Apart from this, I’ll also station more people in northern Jade City. This is a collateral condition and Golden Roc Castle must accept it. Otherwise, we’ll pick another venue for the kung fu competition.”

Zhong Heng smiled. He didn’t know the truth, but he knew that the negotiation was going to be very easy since the Dragon King obviously had something on Golden Roc Castle. “This sounds pretty good. If everything goes smoothly, then the Governor’s mansion will soon become the mansion of the Lord of Jade City. What about the date? Does the Dragon King have any suggestions?”

“The sooner the better.”

“Yes.” Zhong Heng planned to take his leave, but before leaving, he still decided to make one more remark. “Soon, creditors will come here. The Dragon King has to make preparations. Besides… this is a critical period. If the Dragon King shows mercy to traitors again, then even more base persons might be emboldened.”

“I just want to solve problems,” replied Gu Shenwei. This was what Zhong Heng had taught him many years ago. “Rest assured. Traitors will get their just deserts.”

Both Xiao Fengchai and Lü Qiying were waiting for the Dragon King.