279 Raising the Flag (1/2)

Chapter 279: Raising the Flag

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

The first reaction the citizens of Jade City had upon hearing about Mister Zao Tong's death was indignation.

The old macheteman was already semi-retired and rarely involved in matters of jianghu. How could one not grieve over his death after knowing that he was brutally murdered in his twilight years?

There was no doubt in everybody's mind that the murderer was the Dragon King.

On the night of Mister Zhao's death, a black flag was put up on a wall of his house, and none of his neighbors understood its significance. The next day when a curious soul went over for a closer examination of the flag, he found out that the red blotches on it seemed to be made of blood. Sensing that something was amiss, he broke into the house, only to find Mister Zhao's corpse sprawled on the bed.

A large laceration stretched from Zhao Tong's chest to his abdomen, and his bed sheets were covered with blood.

His death stirred up feelings of chivalry amongst the machetemen, and about half of them now were willing to join in the search for the Dragon King. Previously, only a few of them were willing to do it, and it was for the pay too. The streets and alleys of South City were now filled with reckless youths carrying machetes, and they spent their time eyeballing pedestrians who walked past them intently, hoping to nail the Dragon King.

The Dragon King's raising of the Black Blood Flag was as good as a declaration of war with the entire Jade City. What was puzzling was that all was quiet for the next two days, and there were only a few minor incidents of the grieving machetemen causing injuries to some citizens by accident. It was as if the Dragon King had hidden himself deep under the depths of the sea, and there was no trace of him at all.

Gu Shenwei had accomplished his first objective of killing the traitor, and his actions caused everyone else to focus their attention on South City. Taking advantage of this fact, he hid himself in a valley away from the city—he needed 12 hours to commit himself fully to withstanding the piercing cold caused by his qigong deviation.

Just like this, with only Chu Nanping's protection, he survived his first qigong deviation since his return to Jade City with no hiccups.

On the third day after the murder of Mister Zhao, news of him leaking the movements of the Dragon King to the Stone Castle began spreading around, and the citizens began debating about it. It was also on this day that another Black Blood Flag was raised.

The Kun Society had more than a thousand machetemen, and it was the largest gang affiliated with the Golden Roc Fort in South City. It also had a monopoly over most of the armed escort business. At the time of Mister Zhao's death, its master, Shangguan Fei, was hiding in North City and a blademaster was supervising its operations in South City.

The blademaster was known as Zhang Yan, and he was one of the few widely known killers around the city. He had a nickname, 'Murderous Saber', but everyone called him 'Merciless Saber' when speaking with him.

Zhang Yan was murdered even more brutally than Mister Zhao. He was decapitated and his head was impaled on the pointed shaft carrying the Black Blood Flag. It looked as if it was looking down on the entire Kun Society base from high above. It was only after dawn when sentries and a few neighbors who woke up early that day realized that the Kun Society's flag was replaced. Investigations later revealed that Zhang Yan was murdered at least four to six hours earlier.

The offensive flag with Zhang Yan's head stuck onto it was immediately removed, but news of the horrifying scene had already spread amongst the citizens of Jade City. The image was so vivid that it soon became deeply rooted in their minds, and everytime they thought about it, the memory made them feel afraid and strangely excited at the same time.

It had been a long time since there was any faction in Jade City capable of going against the might of the Stone Castle, and the citizens had a feeling that the struggle between the Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon King would be much more intense than the earlier competition between the young masters.

They were soon proven to be correct. The Dragon King struck again, without waiting for the shock from the news of Blademaster Zhang's death to die down. This time, his target was in North City.

The Governor's mansion was protected by around 200 guards who came from Norland, and they did regular patrols around the compound. There were also an unknown number of assassins from the Golden Roc Fort providing an extra layer of security, and they were never seen in the open.

On the second day after Zhang Yan's death, a Black Blood Flag was spotted flying above the Governor's mansion. It had replaced Norland's White Horse Flag, and two heads were impaled on the tip of its shaft. The victims were not the guards from Norland—they were killers from the Golden Roc Fort.

The last time a criminal offense was committed in North City was when the Tenth Young Master kidnapped Meng Mingshi. As for the last murder that occurred in the city, the citizens could only recall one which happened more than 10 years ago.

The Dragon King had picked his targets well and chosen the perfect locations to strike, and his actions created a wave of panic on a scale that the citizens of Jade City have never felt before. North City and the Governor's mansion were among the least likely places one could find a victim of a murder, and killers of the Golden Roc Fort were the most unlikely person to be assassinated.

The first person to be driven close to insanity from the intense atmosphere was not the governor, Mo Chu, but the Ninth Young Master of the Stone Castle, Shangguan Fei. In his hysteria, he claimed that he himself was going to be the Dragon King's next target, and returned to the fort on the very same morning when the latest murder was discovered, against the advice of his subordinates. He would refuse to step out of the Stone Castle ever again.

Mo Chu felt that his authority had been repeatedly challenged by the Dragon King not even half a month into his term as the governor, and he swore that he would get his revenge. He publicly announced that he was going to summon 10,000 elite troops from Norland, to first destroy the Great Snowmountain's base camp and then to uncover the location of the Snowmountain Gang's chieftain. He planned to let his troops loose in Jade City and was even prepared to sacrifice the lives of innocent civilians to find the Dragon King.

However, his staff quickly brought him to his senses. They warned him that his plan could not be executed, as the Central Plain would send more troops to Western Region if Norland moved first, which would cause undesirable outcomes. They strongly advised the governor relying on the help of the Golden Roc Fort to capture the Dragon King in Jade City.

To everyone's surprise, the Dragon King struck again not even two days after Mo Chu was dissuaded from taking actions against the Great Snowmountain by his staff. At that time, Shangguan Fei was just beginning to feel a modicum of safety staying inside the Inner Residence, another Black Blood Flag was raised on the watchtower at the peak of the Stone Castle.

This act made the Golden Roc Fort lose a lot of face.

The Dragon King had not actually caused any substantial damage to the Golden Roc Fort by raising Black Blood Flags throughout the city, and the blademaster and killers who were murdered by him were expendable. Image wise, however, the Fort had taken a huge beating. It was like a clumsy giant picking a fight with a buzzing fly, swinging wildly but never able to hit its target. Not only could they not find the Dragon King, it was starting to look like they might even lose this game against the Dragon King.

Rumors began spreading throughout the city that the Dragon King was no longer alone, and that he had a team of more than a hundred killers with him, ready to challenge the assassins of the Supreme King. They said that the battle between both sides would take place in Jade City, and that once the real fight begins, at least half of the population in the city would be wiped out.

As the rumors grew more terrible in nature, they spread even wider. Some citizens who were timider even moved their entire family to villages at the outskirts of the city, and many merchants began packing for emergency evacuation.

Thus, Gu Shenwei achieved his second objective—to strike terror within Jade City so that he had a pretext for peace talks.

This achievement came at a huge price though. Although it seemed to outsiders as if the Dragon King was able to enter and leave Jade City as he wished, and that he could do anything he wanted, he himself knew that with every strike, his space to roam shrank by a huge margin. Killers from the Golden Roc Fort were beginning to corner him into a dead end.

His act of raising a Black Blood Flag in the Stone Castle was especially dangerous, even though it got the best results. Gu Shenwei did not intend to try it again.