Gu Shenwei almost had to run a race against King Rizhu's horse .

Everything was ready . Gu Shenwei and King Rizhu were in a heated debate about the race . The crowd stood around them, shouting and adding to the tense atmosphere . People in Norland were always keen to watch entertaining and amusing things . The n.o.bles' faces turned red with excitement, for they were interested in a human-horse race . If someone dared to stand up and go against the crowd, he was likely to get punched in the face .

King Shengri was more excited than anyone else . He slightly recovered from his drunkenness, and then named himself as the judge without asking anyone else's permission . He yelled out, "Who is more qualified to be a judge than me? Just stand up . "

King Kuari stood aside and looked at the Dragon King and King Rizhu with a smile on his face . He wanted to know how the Dragon King would handle this . "King Rizhu can easily win this race as long as he proposes to increase the distance . Even a kung fu master with excellent Lightness Skills can only take the lead for a miles or two . Once the distance increases, he will become fatigued and eventually lose," he mused .

The crowd came up with ideas for betting on the race . They thought Flame Foal was not enough of a payment to the winner of the race . They suggested adding hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the bet . Some even proposed the two rivals should add their lives and limbs to the bet .

Gu Shenwei made no response, but stared at King Rizhu silently . "I believe that he will drop out of the race soon,'" he thought .

Within about half an hour, King Rizhu's expression had changed a lot . To begin with, his face turned black with anger, and then red with fury . As the bet increased, his face turned pale with anxiety . By the end, the crowd was in a frenzy . However, he managed to put on a pleasant expression, opened his arms to stop the noise and announced that he was quitting the race .

"It's my fault . I should not have accused the Dragon King of stealing my horse without any proof . I think it was a coincidence, or maybe the Dragon King was framed," explained King Rizhu to the crowd .

"That makes sense," Gu Shenwei responded .

Rude as King Rizhu was, he knew how to concede at critical moments . He knew it was time to retreat by the look the Dragon King gave him .

"This young man was a killer . Although he declared himself as the Dragon King and built an army, he still acts like a killer . Now that he has dared to steal my most precious horse over some small conflict, who knows what else he will do," pondered King Rizhu .

"Not to mention that if I lose the race, I will be in an embarra.s.sing situation, while the Dragon King will strengthen his reputation . If I win the race, I do not know what he will do to Flame Foal," King Rizhu thought further .

"I quit the race . No more games . The Dragon King is a distinguished guest of Norland . Dragon King, please forgive my rudeness . Attention, please . Anyone present who helps me find Flame Foal will get ten thousand taels of silvers and ten female slaves from me . Besides—" he continued as he gazed at Dragon King and added, "he will be my friend . "

The n.o.bles were disappointed when they heard this news . But they did not dare embarra.s.s King Rizhu, so they kept unhappily silent . However, King Shengri stood up and shouted, "You quit the race? Are you kidding me? I have already made my bet . No, you cannot quit the race . You must continue the game . "

King Rizhu was upset with King Shengri's words . When King Kuari noticed the anger on King Rizhu's face, he thought that he, as the host, should intervene to keep things from becoming any worse . He said, "King Shenri must have had too much to drink . We will have a match soon . The Tournament of the Royal Court will be held in ten days . We can enjoy exciting games every day then . "

"The Tournament of the Royal Court," King Shengri murmured . He then turned to look at the Dragon King and asked, "Dragon King, will you join it?"

Fang Wens.h.i.+ had not mentioned it before, so Gu Shenwei did not respond . However, King Kuari replied for him, "Of course the Dragon King will join it . It's a magnificent event . How could he miss it?"

King Shengri staggered away, intending to leave . After several steps, he turned around and told the Dragon King, "Dragon King, bring your giant roc next time . That roc is more interesting . People in the Golden Roc Fort are fools . They caught two rocs and killed them . How stupid of them!"

The crowd dispersed and started drinking and bragging . King Kuari whispered to the Dragon King, "King Rizhu is fond of horses, while King Shengri is obsessed with birds . Please do not blame them if they have offended you . "

"I think that the two Lords are blunt, but interesting men," said Gu Shenwei .

"Haha, the Dragon King is an open-minded man," replied King Kuari .

"As for the Tournament of the Royal Court —" began the Dragon King .

"Well, I made another mistake . I thought that everyone in the world had heard of it . The Tournament of the Royal Court is an annual festival in Norland . It used to be held in autumn, but this year will be different . Once we go to war with the Central Plain, we do not know when the war will end . Therefore, we will hold it in June, ahead of schedule . Its compet.i.tions will include kung fu compet.i.tions, war games, horse races, dog races, and so on . I am sure that the Dragon King will win the bravery contest this year with your brilliant martial arts skills . "

King Kuari made this "mistake" deliberately . In this way, he openly declared that the Dragon King was his ally before Gu Shenwei could oppose it .

"I'm not good at kung fu compet.i.tions . Besides, I'm an outsider . It's not proper for me to join this tournament," said Gu Shenwei .

King Kuari looked around, grabbed Gu Shenwei's arm, and pulled him into a quiet corner . King Kuari whispered to him, "Your Majesty, please do not blame me for making the decision for you . I have my reasons for letting you partic.i.p.ate in the bravery contest . "

"What?" asked Gu Shenwei, surprised .

"You're an honored guest of the Khan, so you were supposed to have been summoned by him . You must know that many people in the Royal Court are hostile towards you . That's why you have not met the Khan yet," explained King Kuari .

Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised, for he had foreseen many things, but not this . "I thought I could meet the Khan as expected . What is it? Who can stop the Khan from meeting me?" he mused .

King Kuari noticed the confusion on the Dragon King's face and continued with a bitter smile, "It's unbelievable, isn't it? Everyone thinks that the Khan is regarded as a G.o.d in Norland . But even the G.o.d can't do anything he wants . A court needs more than two pillars to support it . As the Khan, he has to balance the powers in Norland or his realm will be in danger . What the Khan cares about is not the speaker's words but his ident.i.ty and status . "

King Kuari started to speak in obscure and complex words again . Although Gu Shenwei did not understand his words, he realized that this young lord considered himself as the Khan of Norland . That was why he saw things from a different perspective .

"What could they gain if they managed to stop the Khan from meeting me?" asked Gu Shenwei .

"More than you can imagine . They can benefit greatly from the Golden Roc Fort, alone," answered King Kuari .

"The one who is summoned to the Khan will be the one who dominates," Gu Shenwei thought . He suddenly realized that he had simplified the matter . He asked, "Do you mean that the winner of the bravery contest will be summoned to the Royal Court by the Khan?"

"It's our tradition . No one can oppose it . Besides, if anyone questions your qualifications for the Tournament, then the Golden Roc Fort's qualifications will also be questioned," King Kuari said, winking his eyes at the Dragon King . He then continued, "According to the information I've gathered, the Golden Roc Fort will send its men to join the bravery contest . They will be your first compet.i.tion . I believe that you can easily win the contest . "

King Kuari patted Gu Shenwei's shoulder, then walked off to greet other guests .

Fang Wens.h.i.+ was easily persuaded by King Kuari, and even Gu Shenwei almost lost his wariness towards him . However, his doubt was once again raised by King Kuari, so Gu Shenwei continued to be suspicious . He did not like the way King Kuari talked . "King Kuari seemingly treated me with sincerity, but he said nothing important . He did not mention who was hostile to me or who would support me," Gu Shenwei mused .

King Kuari had begun to make decisions for the Dragon King, which caused Gu Shenwei great concern and distress .

Nothing could stop a banquet in Norland unless a disaster or accident took place . Everyone talked and drank with each other, regardless of their rank or status .

The Dragon King, who did not drink, did not blend in with them . Although he received attention for a second, he was soon forgotten . Compared with the three most important Lords, the rest of the n.o.bles and lords paid less attention to the Dragon King . They stuck to an unspoken agreement: treat the Dragon King nicely, while keeping a safe distance from him .

Gu Shenwei did not leave, because he had not solved his conflict with King Rizhu . Although King Rizhu apologized to him, he knew that their conflict needed to be fixed .

As a result, King Rizhu got drunk before midnight, which was rare to see . He kept vomiting everywhere, so the other guests kept away from him .

King Rizhu was taken away by his attendants .

Gu Shenwei stayed for a little while longer, then bid farewell to King Kuari and left the banquet .

When he returned to his tent, Gu Shenwei saw King Rizhu somberly drinking alone .

"You're brave," King Rizhu said, as he continued to drink without raising his head .

"I'm flattered," said Gu Shenwei .

"No, I mean it . You have guts . Even the Khan never tried to steal Flame Foal from me, but you did . On top of that, you even embarra.s.sed me in public," said King Rizhu .

"I said that I did not steal Flame Foal," replied Gu Shenwei .

"Yeah, you did not steal it yourself . You have so many good kung fu masters at your command . Where is Old Man Mu? I haven't met that b.a.s.t.a.r.d yet," King Rizhu said .

Gu Shenwei did not answer him .

King Rizhu sighed and said, "I considered killing you, but then I would be scolded by the Khan . "

"I believe that you are able to kill me," answered Gu Shenwei .

The Dragon King's words sounded weak and cold, but they were tough, like him . King Rizhu looked up at the Dragon King with a fierce look, as if he wanted to kill the Dragon King . Then he calmed down and changed the subject . He said as he gnashed his teeth, "Gu Lun killed my son, putting me into an awkward situation, just as you did . I hate his guts . "

King Rizhu finally got straight to the point . Although he still looked angry, Gu Shenwei thought it was a good start to better communication .

"He was killed, and so was his family," Gu Shenwei stated flatly .

"Yes, you're right . Gu Lun and his entire family are dead . But I'm still unhappy because it wasn't me who killed them . You have enemies, too . Are you willing to see your foes killed by others?" asked King Rizhu .

Before entering the Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei had dreamed of killing his foes himself at every waking moment . However, at the time, he had no strength to kill them . After being strictly trained as a killer, he learned to control his hatred and change his thoughts . He believed that he did not have to kill his enemies himself, and a killer might lose his mind if he became obsessed with the idea for too long .

Gu Shenwei could not explain this clearly to a lord of Norland, so he nodded without saying a word .

"My plan was to lead my army to take the Western Region, seize Gu Lun and behead him in public . To carry out my plan, I encouraged the Khan to invade the Western Region early . However, the Golden Roc Fort took actions before I did . Those sons of b.i.t.c.hes killed my enemy, and they even tried to get a reward for it from me . The Golden Roc Fort sent a messenger to bring Gu Lun's head to me . What was I supposed to do? I reprimanded that messenger harshly, but I kept the head and used it as my chamber pot," King Rizhu continued .

Fury suddenly overwhelmed Gu Shenwei .  He could not help but to put his hand on his saber hilt . It had been a long time since he'd had such a strong impulse to kill someone .

King Rizhu continued coldly as he noticed the Dragon King's move, "Your real family name is not Yang, but Gu . As the old saying goes, 'When enemies meet, they glare at each other furiously . ' These words are true . What do you want, to avenge your family or to dominate the Western Region?"

To Gu Shenwei's surprise, King Rizhu asked a similar question to what Fang Wens.h.i.+ had proposed .