Volume 11 Chapter 106 The Oriole Behind the Mantis (Part 4)
Beussent believed Gewu would a.s.sa.s.sinate every royal family member of Nanjiang if he decreed their deaths. If he coveted the Shaman Monarch throne, Gewu would be his best helper. Few could be so attached, yet detached, from Shaman Faith the way Gewu was. Because he knew Gewu would do anything to be spared, Beussent made an offer.
Beussent was the same as always, indicating the one who created the silence between them was the one who refused to answer.
In a deep voice, Gewu finally responded, “If you search hard enough, you will find a secret room that is stocked with contraptions deep inside the fox-mark grotto in Qingqiu’s North. You will find more valuables than you can imagine if you break the contraptions.”
Beussent didn’t reply.
“Three of the twelve tribes in the south of Chiyi have been selling weapons to me for years. I have enough to equip ten thousand soldiers. Take them.”
Beussent didn’t reply.
“Do you know why Sky Palace decided to help me? Do you know why they are planning something huge in Nanjiang? Merely gleaning a thing or two is enough for you to exchange the knowledge for anything you want. Do you want to know?”
Beussent still showed no interest.
Speaking from behind his teeth, Gewu fumed, “… I can bring you more wealth than you can use in a lifetime, authority to rule Nanjiang and even martial arts more profound than you can imagine… Think carefully. What is that you want?”
Beussent repeated what he said before.
“You nutcase! What do you keep asking about that for?! Huh?!” Livid, Gewu leapt at Beussent, but he only caught thin air again. “I’m offering you what everyone dreams off, yet you keep asking the same dumb question. Heisina Beussent, have you forgotten what I told you? You’re Shaman Monarch’s inheritor. You are born to rule. What are you doing now? Are you crazy? Are you?!… Why do want to know the real story behind Nieyao?!”
The answer Beussent was dying to know was the answer Gewu couldn’t care less for; Beussent’s unshakable stance and eyes that reflected his menacing appearance, which also reflected his twisted character, drove Gewu up a wall. Still, Gewu tried to sneer as though he had an ace. “Do you know… who lured… your s.h.i.+fu to Nieyao back then.”
“… It wasn’t you. You don’t have what it takes.”
Gewu had to stab his teeth into his own lips to fight the vexation that Beussent’s confident tone induced. It annoyed him to no end that Beussent didn’t give in to temptations, yield to pain or quit due to difficulty. Gewu hated those characters most. By extension, he hated Martial Paragon for the same reason. Beussent went through the same torment Gewu did from the moment he was born, and they both lost people important to them. As a matter of fact, Beussent never enjoyed the glory and riches he enjoyed. In contrast to him, though, Beussent was his polar opposite. It frustrated Gewu for he couldn’t understand why Beussent didn’t turn out as another Gewu.
Only Gewu would know if he was looking at the youth he had been watching from the shadows or envious of the aura he couldn’t obtain or he was just looking at his own reflection in Beussent’s eyes. One thing was for sure: that was the gaze of one in the abyss gazing up. There was hope. There was beauty. However, from the perspective of someone looking up from the abyss, hope and beauty was repulsive because they couldn’t have it.
“… I can tell you, but you must spare me. Else, I’d rather commit suicide.”
In spite of not buying Gewu’s vow to commit suicide, Beussent bobbed his head.
“Thirty years ago, it was Six Evils that demolished Nieyao overnight. I don’t know which of the fabled six beasts was behind it, but… I do know it wasn’t the dragon’s sons. To demolish an entire city and to kill every citizen of Morcher at their peak is impossible for the dragon’s sons I know of.”
“In that case… was it the dragon?”
“I’m not sure. By the time I arrived, the monster was gone. In less than six months after Morcher’s completion, it was reduced to the ruined state it was previously in. Actually, it was in worse shape. Sky Palace’s envoy admitted they never tamed the dragon, not that anyone can. I believe them. If they had the power to wipe out a city overnight, they wouldn’t still be stuck as an unorthodox sect.”
“… Nothing changes the fact that Nieyao has been destroyed, and His Majesty lost his life here.”
“Correct. Your King died to the beast that night just as Beussent’s King did five hundred years ago.”
Beussent wrinkled his nose. “… Nieyao’s destruction five hundred years ago is also attributed to Six Evils?”
“Surprised? It’s not the question you should ask, is it? You should be astute enough to know the claims in Nanjiang about Heisina’s curse calling down a divine disaster that destroyed Nieyao is utter nonsense used to frame Heisina… Heisina’s ancestor, Weilong Buku, never betrayed Beussent’s King. Never. To the contrary, he persistently researched the cause of Nieyao’s decimation. Regardless of what criticism he was bombarded with, he perpetually returned to the place he was exiled from to research. Unfortunately, he was unable to clear Heisina’s name. Our ancestor continued to bear insults even in death for his King. You know as well as I do why Weilong Tribe became Heisina Tribe.
“For the sake of the royal families’ so-called peace, we’ve had to starve, freeze and suffer the moment we’re born. We don’t know when we’ll have to die for some bizarre justification they conjure. I’ve never forgotten the ‘favour’ they do us… What are you smiling about?”
“I’m happy for him.”
“Who?”
Beussent laughed loudly and heartily, much to Gewu’s bewilderment. After a long laugh that had him short of breath, he commented, “Five hundred years. So it really wasn’t him.”
Gewu finally realised “him” referred to their ancestor from five hundred years ago.
“I’ll spare you.” Just as puzzling as his decision was, Beussent decision to spare Gewu now was equally confusing. “Henceforward, Heisinas can raise their heads,” he said and left without looking back.
Gewu still couldn’t understand Beussent. All of that was just for a story - a truth. Gewu sat up once Beussent was gone. Although his broken bones had healed and had a 70% chance of defeating a Beussent without his Enlightenment, he chose to head in the opposite direction Beussent went.
Gewu had already lost too much time. If the Divine Realm adepts had recovered, it would be extremely hard for him to absorb Wazi’s blood. Although he was speeding in the opposite direction Beussent headed on four limbs, all he could see was Abels. “… Just you wait. Just you wait… I’ll prove you’re wrong. I’ll prove I’m right. You’ll beg me to spare you. Just you wait!”