Death Sutra Chapter 968 - Little Baldy

Chapter 968: Little Baldy

Sabersman Gao Yang had beco a newly-erged celebrity in Jade City. He had killed a bounty hunter and caused a series of sensations that had ultimately led to the decline of the ng family. But surprisingly, he had survived, and he hadn’t even been punished, which counted as a miracle, like an aftershock after a great earthquake.

“Both the Dragon King and the Unique King felt that I was sobody, so they interceded with the Governor of the Western Regions as well as the Governor of this city, which is how I was granted a pardon.” Standing beside a table, Gao Yang was once again talking about his experience of escaping from punishnt. He was very glad that people were willing to listen to him, and that other sabersn regarded his words as dishes that went with wine.

“Yesterday, you said that nobody was watching you, and that you walked out of there yourself. And now you’re telling us that you got a pardon?”

“Tomorrow maybe mighty sabersman Gao will tell us that he fought his way out of northern Jade City.”

All the people burst into laughter.

Surprised that sobody actually rembered what he had said yesterday, Gao Yang also laughed. But soon, he detected an unfriendliness in those laughs and hurled his bowl to the ground, a ferocious look on his face. “Are you two kiddos courting death? Co here. Let slash your necks. Then you’ll know whether I was telling the truth or not.”

A sabersman shut up and shook his head with a smile, indicating that he disdaied stooping to his level. Under the influence of alcohol, another sabersman staggered to his feet. “Neither you nor Wu Xuan accepted the ban on killing. That was why you got away with it unpunished. I accepted it and I’m under the protection of the Departnt of Guards. You’re courting death if you try to kill .”

Gao Yang blushed scarlet, his muscles stiff. His eyes were like those of wolves, the sclera much bigger than the pupil. “You deserve this.” After saying this, he whipped out his long saber. He knew that what that man said was true, but he just couldn’t swallow this humiliation.

Scared, the sabersman who provoked Gao Yang partially sobered up, sat down slowly, and murmured, “I was just saying… ” The other drinkers were very used to this kind of scene. It took them only a fleeting thought to decide whether they would try to persuade the interested parties to let it go or try to add fuel to the flas of their rage. On this night, they were not in the mood for bloodshed. So, sobody imdiately stood up, gripped Gao Yang, and pressed him down to the chair, and said only one word to persuade him. “Drink.”

“Drink!” Gao Yang grabbed a bowl of wine the owner of which was unknown and gulped it down. “God damn it. Now that killing is banned, drinking is the only thing that we can do. If soday drinking is also banned, then there will be no reason for us to stay in Jade City.”

The hot liquid ward his body up and with that, a lot of sentintal thoughts flooded into Gao Yang’s mind, but he was unable to express them in words. So instead, he just sank the saber into the surface of the table, which startled other people. Then he yelled, “Guys, please get the word out for . Now that the killers in Golden Roc Castle no longer take orders, I’ll be their successor. Whoever wants to kill people is welco to contact . The price is fair, and I’ll do it quick and clean. Whoever introduces a custor to will get twenty percent of the paynt.”

“The previous rate was fifty percent… “

“The previous rate was the previous rate. The current rate is the current rate. Besides, I’m not the only one in this business. Can’t you see that I’ve got a helper here? He’ll take a share as well.”

The helper had been quietly sitting beside Gao Yang all along. He was wearing a short, sabersman-style jacket but also wearing a handkerchief usually seen on street vendors around his head, and there was no weapons fastened to his belt, which made him bear no resemblance to other drinkers. When drinking, he was very cautious, staring at the wine for quite a while before taking a sip of it, as if it contained lethal poison.

Upon hearing Gao Yang ntion his na, the helper shivered and hurriedly said, “I don’t kill people.”

“If you want to be my follower, then you’ll have to kill.” Full of pride and enthusiasm, Gao Yang grabbed his helper’s arm and dragged him to his feet from the seat. “How are we supposed to make money if we don’t kill? Who will give us wine if we don’t have money? And why would we stay here if we don’t have wine to drink?”

Though arbitrary killing had been banned, Gao Yang’s remarks still received a lot of approving responses. The helper felt that he should observe the customs of the place, so he also let out a couple of yells. Unexpectedly, their first custor appeared soon after.

An old man sitting near the doorway, who seed to have been listening for a while, walked up to them and said, “You’re willing to kill for money?”

“Sure.” Gao Yang smugly looked around.

“How much do you charge?”

“That depends on who you want to kill, but a hundred taels of silver is my bottom line. There’s no ceiling.”

The old man nodded, as if feeling that this killer was pretty professional. “Follow .” After saying that, he turned around and walked towards the outside of the tavern.

Gao Yang tightened his belt, put away his saber, fished out so money, and tossed it to the tavern-keeper. “Nobody leave. Wait for to co back. Tavern-keeper, prepare so wine. Tonight I’ll treat everybody!”

All the people in the tavern cheered. Gao Yang had just moved one foot past the threshold when the drinkers behind him started pointing and laughing at him. The timid helper was dragged along by his companion. Vaguely, soone’s voice sounded out. “Ha-ha, Old Gao is toast… “

Gao Yang didn’t hear anything. In his eyes, the old man walking in front of him was like a pile of silver ingots. Even if sobody held a saber up to his throat, he would still stride forward and catch up with the old man. His poor helper had no choice but to follow him with a stagger.

Gao Yang suspected that he had drunk too much because he couldn’t catch up with the old man no matter how hard he tried. The distance between them was not far. Sotis it was seven or eight steps, and sotis it was fifteen or sixteen steps. The old man was always within his sight. “Hey, old man, slow down a little bit.”

But the helper was worrying about another thing. “It’s getting darker and darker.”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I got this.” Gao Yang released the grip on his helper and strode forward to catch up with the old man in front of him. At this mont, he was thinking about neither the darkness nor killing. The only thing on his mind was catching up with that old man.

Clearly, the helper also had so kung fu skills. He didn’t lag behind, but he was feeling more and more uneasy. “Do the others in the city also hire killers this way? Actually, we can also talk in the tavern.”

Gao Yang beca a little impatient. “Little Baldy, do you still want to return to your secular life? To make a living in Jade City, you must be bold. When there is money and won all around you, you must scramble for them. I can tell that this old man is rich by the sight of him… Eek, where’s the old man?”

They had reached the periphery of southern Jade City. It was totally dark in this narrow alley and there was only a faint lamplight in the distance. The old man was nowhere to be seen.

“I feel… ” The helper’s voice was quivering. “I feel like sothing is wrong. Just bring to the Dragon King or the Unique King. We’ll get money without killing anyone.”

“Bah. Wine bought with money earned by killing people is the most delicious. Follow .” There was a trace of stateliness in Gao Yang’s ferocious look, which seed rather tempting for newcors. After only a brief mont of hesitation, the helper obediently followed.

The door of the courtyard in which there was a lighted oil lamp was unlocked. Gao Yang pushed the door open and conveniently unsheathed his saber. He had the vigilance that he should have. “Old man, I don’t have ti to play hide-and-seek with you. Show yourself or else I’ll burn your house down.”

The oil lamp went out. Gao Yang lashed out with a couple of saber strikes, but didn’t hit anything. Angry, he yelled, “How dare you fool ? I’ll tear down your doghouse! Little Baldy, move.”

Nobody answered.

“Little Baldy?” Gao Yang called out again, stood on the spot, and pricked his ears. However, all that he heard was his own breathing.

Little Baldy had been fully conscious this whole ti. It was just that his acupoint had been struck, and he could neither move nor speak. He only knew that sobody was carrying him on their shoulder and rushing forward, and he lost his sense of direction after a short while.

Then sobody ca to that person’s aid. Little Baldy was blindfolded. This ti, he couldn’t see anything.

After a quiet journey of so length, it suddenly beca noisy, as if they had returned to the center of southern Jade City. The saccharine calls made his heart flutter.

The noises subsided. Little Baldy was tossed onto the ground and with that, the strip of cloth was removed, and his acupoint restored. He regained his mobility but didn’t dare to move. Lying on the ground, he watched the old man who took him here, flurried.

The old man was in his fifties, gray-haired, and with a sepulchral face. However, he was very agile and his movent didn’t seem like that of an old man at all. “What’s your na?”

“Shi-Shi Qingjue. Who are you?”

“I’ll give you a chance to take a guess.”

“You’re a subordinate of the Dragon King or the Unique King.”

“Humph. Of course I am. Guess again.”

“You’re… You’re the Dragon King’s subordinate.” This was more Shi Qingjue’s hope rather than his speculation.

The old man stared at him for a while. “Just take as the Dragon King’s subordinate. I heard that you have sothing to sell. Take it out and na your price. I can make a deal with you.”

Shi Qingjue’s heart lurched. He knew that he had made the wrong guess. “I don’t have it on . And first, we need to bargain. Then you’ll give the front money. And then I’ll bring that thing here and collect the rest of the paynt.”

“Verbose!” the old man reprimanded and drew a dagger. “Then I’ll na a price - trade your petty life for that thing.”

Shi Qingjue had prepared himself for threat, but he still felt a cold shiver of fear. He stretched out his right arm and said in a quivering voice, “Then just kill . There’s no way that I’m going to just give that thing to you.”

The old man sneered. “Little monk, it’s not that easy to resu a secular life, and it’s even more difficult for you to die.” The old man gently removed Shi Qingjue’s handkerchief, revealing his bald head. Then, he pressed the dagger against his scalp and moved it back and forth. “You have an hour to think about my offer. I’ll draw sothing on the top of your head while you’re thinking.”

Shi Qingjue’s eyeballs moved right and left with the dagger, his body remaining still. He had so kung fu, but it was useless under these circumstances. “Wait.”

“Um. This is what an obedient donkey should do. It’ll save both of us so ti.” The old man straightened himself but didn’t put the dagger away.

Shi Qingjue adjusted his clothes, sat down cross-legged on the ground, put his palms together, and started reciting scriptures in a low voice. He had only one thing that could be traded for money, so he wouldn’t hand it over for no good reason.

The old man widened his eyes with anger and raised his dagger again. ‘Jade City has never been short of braggarts. This monk is probably one of them. There’s no need to waste an hour. I just have to cut off his monk’s ears. I’d like to see whether he will tell the truth or not after that.”

Suddenly the old man sensed danger behind him, and with that, he went stiff.

“Behave yourself.” A voice ca from behind him. “It’s pretty late. You should go to sleep now.”

The old man obediently slumped to the ground and really fell asleep.

Shi Qingjue stopped reciting scriptures and looked at the dwarfish old man who had suddenly shown up in surprise. “I know you. You’re the Dragon King’s subordinate.”

“Alas. Am I really so obscure? Nobody knows who I am without ntioning the Dragon King.”

“Old Man Mu. You’re Old Man Mu,” Shi Qingjue yelled. This was really a catchy na.

Old Man Mu smiled. “Now we’re talking. Shi Qingjue - your real na is Shi Jueqing, right?”

Shi Qingjue blushed and nodded.

“Heh-heh. The Monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple never cease to surprise . Now that you’ve recognized , tell the truth.”

“How much will the Dragon King pay ?”

A wickedly aningful smile appeared on Old Man Mu’s face. “Enough for you to sleep with all the prostitutes from the south end of Retention Alley to the north end, as long as you can endure it.”

His thoughts were instantly seen through. Shi Qingjue blushed scarlet, but he was indeed willing to make this deal. “I have a roll with the nas of all the living monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple in it. All of their nas before they beca monks as well as their parentage are also in it.”

“What uses does it have?” Old Man Mu frowned and said. “I thought that you would have a kung fu manual or sothing.”

“If it’s useless, then why would the Dragon King send his n everywhere to inquire about those eminent monk’s background?”

Xu Xiaoyi had been collecting information about the monks of the Four Noble Truths Temple under Gu Shenwei’s order for a long ti, but what he had gotten was very limited. Old Man Mu had heard about this, so he strode over the old man lying on the ground and stroked Shi Qingjue’s head. “Co on. Let get you a woman first. We can talk about the details after that.”

Shi Qingjue’s face was as red as roast shrimp, but he was extrely excited. This was the way he wanted to talk about business.