Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

”But his wanton recklessness inevitably led to loss of life, which is why there’s a five-hundred-tael bounty.”

Upon hearing this, a prompt popped up before Jiang Ran, just as he expected.

[Quest Triggered: Apprehend Xu Hongyi!]

[Accept?]

Even though the person was dead, it hadn’t affected the quest trigger. Without hesitation, Jiang Ran accepted it.

’I wonder if there are any finer distinctions?’

’There should be a difference between a target I kill myself and one killed by someone else.’

Looking at the two quests on the system interface, Jiang Ran let out a soft breath. These two quests could be progressed simultaneously.

This confirmed another one of the system’s functions.

However, Liu Wenshan had already been rescued, yet the system hadn’t completed the quest.

’Does this mean I have to reunite Liu Wenshan with Mingyue for the quest to be considered complete?’

’Or... is it because Ye Jingshuang helped him out instead of me?’

At this thought, he drew his saber.

With a flash of his blade, he first lopped off Xu Hongyi’s hands and head.

With practiced ease, he used a piece of Xu Hongyi’s clothing to wrap the head and handed it to Ye Jingshuang.

”Hold this for me.”

”Okay.”

Ye Jingshuang accepted it without batting an eye.

Next, Jiang Ran took the two iron rings from Xu Hongyi’s wrists and unceremoniously tucked them into his own robes.

’His gut told him they were valuable.’

At the same time, something else puzzled Jiang Ran... he hadn’t found a Heartless Order.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Ran kept his thoughts to himself and went to inspect the other corpses.

He found that these poisoned individuals didn’t have any Heartless Orders on them either.

His brow furrowed for a moment.

”Young Master?”

Ye Jingshuang’s voice reached him.

Jiang Ran glanced back at her and smiled. ”It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

Meanwhile, Tong Wanli and the others watched, dumbfounded, as Jiang Ran expertly lopped off hands, decapitated the body, and looted the corpse.

A hint of fear was even visible on Tong Yan’s face.

...

...

The rest of the journey was silent, and the twenty-odd li back passed in what felt like an instant.

They returned to the inn, woke the attendant, and booked a few more rooms. Once Liu Wenshan was settled, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

It was already late, so Jiang Ran decided not to disturb Mingyue.

Though she was just a child, it was still improper for a man and a woman to be alone, and a visit in the middle of the night would look bad.

He had Ye Jingshuang peek in instead, just to make sure the girl was alright.

In one of the rooms, Tong Wanli’s son, Tong Yan, and Zhou Wang had already gone to rest. Tong Yan’s injuries were serious, and he needed to recuperate.

Now, only Jiang Ran, Tong Wanli, Ye Jingshuang, and the unconscious Liu Wenshan on the bed remained in the room.

Jiang Ran took Liu Wenshan’s pulse. His fingertips rested lightly on the man’s wrist, his expression thoughtful.

After a long moment, he finally let out a soft sigh.

”It’s not a major issue. I’ll write a prescription; you can have it filled tomorrow.

”However, it’s hard to say when he’ll wake up...”

”Why?”

Tong Wanli was taken aback. ”But you said it wasn’t a major issue?”

”When I said it wasn’t a major issue, I was referring to his physical condition. But this ordeal has taken a toll on both his body and mind. The physical wounds are easy to treat, but I’m worried he’s been scared half to death...”

Jiang Ran said with a smile:

”But that’s just one possibility. For all we know, he might wake up tomorrow.”

”I see.”

Seeming to only half-understand, Tong Wanli stood and offered his thanks.

Jiang Ran smiled.

”You’re too kind, Elder Tong. You must be exhausted after rushing about all night. You should go get some rest.”

Tong Wanli gave Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang a thoughtful glance and said with a smile:

”Alright, then I’ll go get some rest.

”Jingshuang... you should get some sleep too.”

”I’m fine.”

Ye Jingshuang glanced at Jiang Ran.

”I haven’t seen Young Master Jiang in several days. I’d like to talk with him a little longer.”

”Alright.”

Tong Wanli nodded. Without another word, he rose and took his leave.

After he had left the room, Ye Jingshuang approached the table and poured Jiang Ran a cup of tea.

”Young Master Jiang... have some tea.”

Jiang Ran blinked. ’Those words sounded familiar.’

He shook his head.

”Let’s put the tea aside for now. What exactly happened with you guys?

”You said you were going to Red Maple Mountain. How did you suddenly end up at Fierce Tiger Mountain?”

”It’s a long story...”

Ye Jingshuang’s brow furrowed.

”After we parted ways that day, I went to the Tong Mansion...”

She trusted Jiang Ran implicitly. It was when she was at her most desperate and helpless that she had met him.

He had given her a new lease on life. She had seen how he protected her throughout their journey, and she was eternally grateful.

Now that they were reunited, she had no reason to hide anything from him.

And so, she explained everything that had happened.

In essence, after she arrived at the Tong Mansion, she explained the situation to Tong Wanli.

Tong Wanli was enraged. First, he sent word out about the Ye family’s plight.

Then, while having his people gather information, he led Ye Jingshuang, Tong Yan, and Zhou Wang toward Red Maple Mountain.

Hoping to find clues there...

But unexpectedly, before they even reached their destination, Tong Wanli received a secret message.

It revealed that the reason the Heartless Ghost Mansion had targeted the Ye family was because of the Jiaowei Zither!

And the only person who currently knew the whereabouts of the Jiaowei Zither was Liu Wenshan.

This, in turn, was connected to an old story from years past.

A story involving Ye Jingshuang’s paternal aunt and Liu Wenshan.

One was a daughter of the main line of the Red Maple Ye family; the other, a scholar so frail he couldn’t even truss a chicken.

One lived in the Jianghu, while the other was a village schoolteacher.

Their paths should have never crossed.

Yet, by a twist of fate, they met and fell in love. In the end, Ye Jingshuang’s aunt defied her family’s objections and married Liu Wenshan.

This caused quite a stir at the time and led to some family scandals.

The Red Maple Ye family very nearly disowned her over it.

When the marriage was finally set, no one from the Ye family was willing to offer their blessing. Only Ye Konggu, thinking of his younger sister, found his heart softening in the end.

He gave her the Jiaowei Zither as a dowry, honoring their sibling bond.

Later, Ye Jingshuang’s aunt died young, leaving behind a daughter as she passed from the world.

Liu Wenshan was utterly heartbroken. The Jiaowei Zither was a painful reminder of his late wife, so he personally journeyed to Red Maple Mountain to return it to Ye Konggu.

During that trip, the two of them disappeared for a time. When they reappeared, the Jiaowei Zither was nowhere to be seen.

Ye Konggu was extremely secretive about what happened, and Liu Wenshan refused to speak a word of it.

As this matter was kept between their two families, word of it never spread, so very few people knew the story.

However, after the incident with the Ye family, Liu Wenshan was also abducted because of his connection to the Jiaowei Zither.

The people Tong Wanli sent to investigate were possessed of great Divine Techniques.

They managed to uncover the whole truth behind these events, leaving no stone unturned.

Ye Jingshuang had known for a long time that she had this uncle-in-law, but Ye Konggu had strictly forbidden any contact with the Liu family.

They were to act as if he didn’t exist.

But now that Liu Wenshan was in trouble—and because of the Jiaowei Zither, no less—she couldn’t possibly turn a blind eye.

That’s why she, along with Tong Wanli and the others, set out to rescue him.

She had never expected, however, that she would run into Jiang Ran.

After hearing her entire account, Jiang Ran’s first question was:

”What exactly is the Jiaowei Zither?”

”Young Master Jiang... have you heard of the Mechanical Technique?”

Jiang Ran nodded.

”Of course.”

’Not only had he heard of it, he’d even fought a master of the Mechanical Technique: the Thousand-Handed Yama, Sun Dashan.’

’Though, in his opinion, the man’s skills had been rather unimpressive.’

’Thanks to a system reward, Jiang Ran had even obtained his Exquisite Hands of Ingenuity.’

’But there was no need to explain any of that.’

Ye Jingshuang nodded at his reply.

”When it comes to the Mechanical Technique, one person must be mentioned...

”That person was called Wind and Fire Mountain!”

Jiang Ran immediately settled in for the explanation, looking at Ye Jingshuang with wide eyes, waiting for her to fill in the gaps in his knowledge.

Ye Jingshuang couldn’t help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation. She took a sip of her tea and then said:

”This man lived a very long time ago. Even the Ink Pavilion has only a few scant records of him... Oh, right, do you know of the Ink Pavilion?”

”I do.”

Jiang Ran nodded.

Ye Jingshuang couldn’t help but smile.

”One truly has to see you in a new light after even a short time apart, Young Master Jiang.”

Jiang Ran grinned at her words, feeling a sense of vindicated pride.

’Then again, he thought the feeling was a bit strange. What was there to be so proud of?’

He rolled his eyes at Ye Jingshuang.

Ye Jingshuang playfully stuck out her tongue, but then, feeling she was being a bit too frivolous, cleared her throat.

”Wind and Fire Mountain was a grandmaster of the Mechanical Technique. In fact, many consider him the founding patriarch of the art.

”Throughout his life, he created countless ingenious mechanisms, works of such miraculous craftsmanship that they defy description.

”However, the twelve most famous of his creations are the ones that people still talk about today.

”Those fond of such things call them the [Twelve Celestial Artificers].

”The Jiaowei Zither is one of them...”