Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Vanished for twenty years?

In Benma County, just over half a month ago!?

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed.

The time and place were too much of a coincidence.

It made Jiang Ran think of the old drunkard immediately...

At this point, Jiang Ran wasn’t without his doubts about the old drunkard’s identity.

First, there was the Tang family, and now the Nine Shocking God Sabers...

These two points made him, however reluctantly, wonder if the old drunkard had something to do with all of this.

’Otherwise, why would the old drunkard seek out the Tang family and no one else?’

’Though I don’t dare call myself brilliant, the Tang family’s downfall was just too complete.’

’Was there something strange about the tea Tang Shiqing gave me that night?’

’If anyone else had tried to poison me, it likely would have been useless given my constitution.’

’But if the old drunkard himself had made a move...’

’I would’ve fallen for it for sure.’

Li Tianxin had sworn up and down that Tang Shiqing was a remnant of the Demon Sect.

’But after this Demon Sect remnant knocked me out, why did she leave me alive and unharmed?’

’If the old drunkard had orchestrated the whole thing, that would explain it.’

In the past, Jiang Ran hadn’t considered this possibility because he had always believed the old drunkard was his master and would never harm him.

Besides, the old drunkard was a degenerate who ate, drank, whored, gambled, cheated, and swindled. He didn’t have a serious bone in his body. How could he have possibly devised such a sophisticated plot?

But the moment the great master said that the saber art he practiced was the Nine Shocking God Sabers, Jiang Ran’s conviction had finally started to waver.

The old drunkard had suddenly become unfathomably profound.

Jiang Ran had lived with the old drunkard day and night for twenty years and had never seen any sign that he was hiding his true depth.

’What kind of person is he, really?’

’What is he thinking?’

’Besides, maybe the old drunkard truly wouldn’t harm me. But what if the incident with the Tang family wasn’t meant to harm me at all?’

’If the Creation Heart Sutra doesn’t grant immunity to Blood Cauldron True Qi, then my ability to ignore it... could I have gained it that night with the Tang family?’

These questions popped up one after another. Jiang Ran considered them, then pushed them down.

’All these questions can only be answered after I find the old drunkard.’

And now, in this ruined temple, he had encountered these three people.

From the sound of it, the person they were discussing seemed to be the old drunkard...

If Jiang Ran had been any more impulsive, he probably would have rushed out to question them already.

Fortunately, his trip to Cangzhou Prefecture, with all its losses and gains, had taught him a measure of composure.

He quietly suppressed his internal breath and listened to their conversation.

He heard the old woman let out a sinister, cackling laugh.

”The news from Heterodox Manor can’t be false.”

”If it really is him... heh.”

The old man took a deep breath.

”I finally have a chance to avenge my severed arm.”

Tie Cheng listened to them and offered a smile.

”Do you two have a way to counter his saber...?”

As soon as he said this, the entire ruined temple fell silent.

After a long moment, a cold sneer appeared on the old woman’s lips.

”Have you ever seen his saber?”

”...I have not.”

”Of course you haven’t.”

The old man spoke in a cold voice, ”If you had, you wouldn’t have lost an arm—you’d have lost your life!”

Tie Cheng fell silent for a moment, then spoke hesitantly.

”In that case, are we still going to look for him?”

”Hm?”

The old woman’s head snapped up, and she shot Tie Cheng a glance.

Tie Cheng was stunned for a second, then heard a sharp CRACK.

His face burned. He clapped a hand to his cheek, having no idea how the old woman had even moved.

Even Jiang Ran, hidden behind the statue of the Mountain God, felt his heart skip a beat.

’This old woman is so fast!’

In an instant, it was like a flash of lightning.

By the time he came to his senses, everything was calm again.

Only Tie Cheng was left spitting out a few teeth, his expression cowed. He didn’t dare speak again.

The old woman snorted coldly, then groaned theatrically as she sat down on the ground to rest.

The old man, however, chuckled and sat beside her, pulling her into his arms.

”Here, lean on me.”

”Oh, but we have company.”

The old woman said with a hint of coyness.

”Don’t think of him as a person. If that doesn’t work, we can just gouge his eyes out. What do you say?”

The old man’s face was wreathed in smiles, his voice soft and gentle.

Tie Cheng’s face, however, was as Black as iron. He hugged his great iron hammer and faced the temple entrance, not wanting to look at the two old freaks.

At that moment, a drawn-out cry drifted in from the distance.

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed, and he subconsciously looked up.

The sound was like the wail of a ghost or the howl of a wolf—ethereal and effortless, yet lingering and incessant.

Hearing this, the old man’s gaze darkened.

”Wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves in the dead of night. What little devils are gathering nearby? Let’s go take a look.”

As he spoke, he held out his hand.

The old woman took his hand and struggled to her feet.

”You’re in high spirits tonight. It’s one thing for these youngsters to be causing a ruckus, but you actually want to go watch the fun.”

”These past few days, I’m afraid I haven’t been able to find any peace.”

”The moment I close my eyes, I remember that saber strike from twenty years ago...”

As the old man spoke, his hand and the old woman’s, clasped together, both tightened.

It was as if they were seeing that saber strike again...

Cold sweat even beaded on their foreheads.

They both shook their heads at the same time.

”Let’s go. We need a distraction.”

With that, they flew out of the temple, heading in the direction of the howling sound.

Seeing this, Tie Cheng turned to run in the opposite direction.

But the old man’s voice drifted back slowly.

”Keep up.”

Tie Cheng instantly wilted like a frostbitten eggplant, listlessly trailing after the old pair.

Only after they had gone some distance did Jiang Ran emerge from behind the god’s statue.

After a moment’s thought, he used his Celestial Nine Steps to follow the three of them.

With the three in front and Jiang Ran behind, one could almost say the four of them were traveling together.

After running for two or three miles, the old woman and her companions suddenly stopped.

They leaped up onto the branches of a tree and watched quietly.

Jiang Ran circled around, hid behind a different tree, and peered out. He saw a large group of ghoulish characters gathered in a clearing.

In the center of the clearing, two people were fighting.

But it was completely different from the duels at the Heroic Assembly in Cangzhou Prefecture.

These two were fighting to the death. Their martial arts were sinister and vicious, their methods completely unrestrained. It was enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

Jiang Ran’s gaze swept over the crowd, and he froze.

’How could he be here?’

Beneath a large tree to the side of the crowd sat a young man in colorful clothes. He had dark circles under his eyes and was using the tree’s canopy to shelter from the rain, engrossed in a book spread open in his hands.

Though his clothes were different, Jiang Ran recognized him at a glance... It was Dao Wuming!