Chapter 2: Peerless Young Master, Playing People to Death

"Some people were getting restless. They couldn't wait to see me dead!" Dylan Weedy knew from the Deputy General who had brought him to confinement that his grandfather had won a crushing victory. His grandfather had even led his troops all the way to the Hun Imperial City, settling both an old family feud and a national grudge by wiping out the Imperial House of the Hun Khagan. The heads of the entire royal family had filled more than a hundred brocade boxes, all prepared as an offering to the Emperor of Southern Radiance. Benedict Weedy had risked his life not only to avenge his son and two grandsons who had died on the battlefield, but also to earn credit for Dylan. The Princess had lost her virginity. Although the Emperor of Southern Radiance had tried his best to keep the matter under wraps, everyone in the upper circles of the Imperial Capital already knew. Dylan guessed that his grandfather intended to trade a hundred heads from the Hun Imperial family for a betrothal between him and the Princess. With such an achievement, the Emperor of Southern Radiance would probably agree. That explained why certain factions were so desperate to see him dead that they had sent a deathsworn to assassinate him. Dylan Weedy stood with one hand behind his back and glanced at the dagger-wielding girl before him. A mocking smile tugged at his lips. "You think you can kill Weedy? Know your place, you mangy cur!" Dylan suddenly stepped forward. The girl retreated two paces, unable to understand what allowed him to remain so calm. Dylan clenched both fists, dropped into a horse stance, took a few light hops, and focused on Energy Sinking into the Elixir Field. The girl immediately went on full alert, every nerve drawn tight. She never imagined that Dylan Weedy would suddenly turn and run. He threw back his head and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Help! They're killing the Young Master! Somebody get in here, quick!" "Huh?" The girl stood there, completely bewildered. "What the hell is he doing?" "There's an assassin! Help! Somebody come quickly!" Dylan's voice thundered through the room, leaving the deathsworn's eardrums ringing. Afraid that complications would arise if the matter dragged on, she waved her dagger and gave chase. She ran with an awkward, stumbling gait, as if she had eaten too many chili peppers and her hemorrhoids had suddenly flared up. Before long, the deathsworn cornered Dylan. He grabbed a lacquered Bamboo-and-Wood Composite Spear Shaft. In ancient times, the Bamboo-and-Wood Composite Spear Shaft had been considered a top-grade spear haft. Only great generals had been qualified to use one. Since this was a training room, the shaft had no spearhead. Dylan picked it up, closed his eyes, and began swinging it wildly while screaming in terror. "Don't come any closer! I'm from the Weedy family, a house of generals! I know martial arts too, and I'm damn good at it! With a horse between my thighs and a spear in my hand, I can overturn rivers and seas. I'm a terrifying sight!" The girl held her dagger and sneered coldly. "Who doesn't know that Young Master Weedy is useless at both books and blades? You don't know the first thing about martial arts!" "Let me remind you of something, Young Master. A Bamboo-and-Wood Composite Spear Shaft is only a spear haft. Without a spearhead, it can't kill anyone." Sure enough, after wildly swinging the shaft more than a dozen times, Dylan's face flushed red. He bent over and panted heavily. "Have you finished playing, good-for-nothing Young Master Weedy?" "If you have, then go die. You should feel honored. Once I complete my mission, I'll join you in death." The girl raised her dagger, which was smeared with blood and feces. "Die!" She drove the dagger viciously toward Dylan's throat. She never expected Dylan to suddenly lift his head. His eyes were bloodshot as he thrust the shaft forward with explosive force. "Squelch!" The shaft punched into the girl's chest. Its bloodstained end jutted out through her back. The girl opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with bits of organ. "How is this possible?" "Who said a shaft without a spearhead couldn't kill?" "I pretended to be weak so I could wait for the instant you left yourself completely open!" Dylan forced himself to his feet and pulled several Moxibustion Needles from his clothing. He had stolen them from the Imperial Physician earlier, intending to use them in the training room alongside the Sinew-Changing Classic for Marrow Cleansing. He had never expected to encounter an assassin. As a result, he had used Silver Needle Acupoint Stimulation to draw out the scant potential remaining in his body, unleashing more than ten times his usual strength at the crucial moment. The price was that his muscles had been torn. For the next three days, even the slightest movement would leave him in unbearable pain. The Deathsworn Maiden's corpse collapsed to the floor, her eyes still wide open. Dylan Weedy also sank down, completely drained. He sat on the ground and gulped down air in ragged breaths. At that moment, the door opened. A maid in her sixties, ugly beyond description, entered while carrying an earthenware pot. Ever since Dylan had forced the household maids to serve him as Beauty Spittoons, Benedict Weedy had replaced every maid in the household with older women. "Young Master, the Imperial Physician said that you've just recovered from a serious illness and need nourishing food. Weedy specifically ordered the kitchen to stew you some Mountain Ginseng Flying Dragon Soup!" The moment the old woman saw Dylan drenched in sweat and the corpse of the Deathsworn Maiden on the floor, she shrieked in terror. The pot slipped from her hands and crashed to the ground. She turned and ran. "Murder! There's a corpse! Someone's dead!" The Deputy General soon rushed over with more than a dozen guards. Yet the moment they saw the scene, every one of them froze. Benedict Weedy had just returned from an audience with the Emperor of Southern Radiance. In high spirits, he also came over to see what had happened. What he saw was Dylan drenched in sweat, while a naked girl lay sprawled on the floor in a half-kneeling position. A spear shaft was lodged in her chest, and blood mixed with feces poured out behind her with a wet rush. "You Little Bastard! If you wanted to fool around with a woman, fine, but did you have to get this twisted? You played her to death?" Benedict Weedy flew into a rage and pointed at Dylan. Then he shouted at the Deputy General, "Family shame must not be aired in public! Deputy General Warth, take your men and leave!" "Yes, sir!" The Deputy General led the guards away. Benedict Weedy immediately shut the door and hurried over to Dylan. "Grandfather, she tried to kill me!" Dylan quickly explained. "I know!" Benedict Weedy's entire face darkened. His voice remained level, but ice edged every word. "My eyes aren't blind. She was holding a knife." After saying that, Benedict Weedy hauled Dylan to his feet and looked him up and down for a long moment. Only after confirming that Dylan had merely exhausted himself did he finally relax. "Damn it, that shaft went three inches into her body. You need at least five years of spear training to make a thrust like that. You expect me to believe you did it?" Dylan patted his chest proudly. "Grandfather, my surname is Weedy! The Weedy family is a house of generals, a graveyard for heroes!" "When my grandfather Benedict Weedy was young, he entered the Imperial Capital alone on horseback as a commoner and set out to fulfill his life's ambitions!" "After he enlisted, he slew enemy commanders, seized their banners, was first over the walls, and charged straight into enemy formations. He accomplished all four great military feats!" "His silver saddle gleamed against a white horse, and he flashed like a shooting star. The Late Emperor personally bestowed the words Courage Surpassing the Three Armies upon him!" "We descendants of the Weedy family must follow Grandfather's example, have our portraits painted in the Cloud-Scraping Pavilion, take our place at Sweet Springs, and claim our glory while we're young!" The speech left Benedict Weedy staring at him in stunned silence. "Damn it, where did you copy that from? It was flowery as hell, but it sounded pretty good. Almost convincing." "Grandfather, I came up with it myself!" "My ass! Don't give me that crap about it being original! Do you think I don't know how educated you are? Last year, you got expelled from White Horse Academy over An Ode to Snow." "One flake, then one more, then another. Two flakes, three, four, five. Six, seven, eight, nine…" "You became the laughingstock of the entire Imperial Capital!" Benedict Weedy smacked him twice across the face. "Your flattery made me very happy, but there's something I need to warn you about, you Little Bastard. I was willing to throw away what little dignity I had left. I went before the Emperor of Southern Radiance with a hundred heads from the Hun Imperial family to secure your betrothal." "With the City-Toppling Princess?" "Exactly. How the hell did you know?" Dylan Weedy almost said that he had simply reasoned it out, but he remembered the fool he was supposed to be and changed his answer. "There's only one woman in the whole Imperial Capital people are talking about. Heh, she's a real beauty!" "I'm Benedict Weedy. My silver saddle gleamed against a white horse, and I flashed like a shooting star. How did I end up with a good-for-nothing Little Bastard like you?" Benedict Weedy smacked Dylan twice more, then turned serious. "Where did you dig up this dame?" "Felix Flinter sent her. He said Silas Zerba found her for me." Benedict Weedy furrowed his brows and nodded. "Your confinement is canceled. Don't worry about this matter. Your grandfather will handle it." "Also, remember this. With the Princess marrying into the Weedy family, you'd better keep your head down for a while. If you pull any more of those filthy stunts aimed below the belt, I'll break your legs!" Inside Dylan Weedy's bedroom, his other lackey, Shaun Sinjen, the son of the butler of Weedy Manor, came running in. "Young Master, your glorious reputation has spread throughout the capital." Dylan Weedy blinked. "What reputation?" "You made that poor girl crap herself, then got her killed, too…"