Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

”In this world, curiosity like yours is a good way to get killed... But, since you want to know, I don’t mind telling you.

”Have you ever heard of... the Celestial Palace?”

”It was them?”

Jiang Ran frowned.

”Precisely.”

Tong Wanli was direct, recounting every last detail of the affair.

The whole thing, as it turned out, had begun three years ago.

Tong Wanli had long known the Ye family possessed the Jiaowei Zither. However, trying to snatch it from them was a fool’s errand.

After all, while the Tong family was by no means weak, making an enemy of the Ye family was still a death sentence.

Most importantly, the Tong family was known for its upright reputation, and the Ye family was itself built on a legacy of chivalry. If the Tong family’s character had been any less, they never would have become such old family friends.

Even if Tong Wanli had wanted to acquire the Jiaowei Zither, he wouldn’t have made a move himself. It would have ruined the Tong family’s name.

The struggles in this world are ultimately for fame and fortune. For the Tong family, a good reputation among the righteous was paramount.

It was during this dilemma that Qi Tianyue of the Celestial Palace sought out Tong Wanli.

At first, Tong Wanli didn’t trust the man. But Qi Tianyue’s martial skill was profound; he treated the Tong family estate as if it were his own, coming and going as he pleased.

Worse, he knew the location of the Jiaowei Zither—and the secret of how Tong Wanli had murdered his own two brothers.

Tong Wanli was horrified. Only then did Qi Tianyue tell him not to be alarmed—he was here to help him fulfill his desire.

However, he also tasked him with something...

That task was to turn a blind eye to Feiyun Stronghold outside Cangzhou Prefecture. No matter what the stronghold’s members did, he was not to get involved.

As a result, Feiyun Stronghold became more and more outrageous over the years, but Tong Wanli simply avoided them whenever possible, refusing to get involved.

When he absolutely couldn’t shirk his duties, he would merely go through the motions, never putting forth any real effort.

It was because of this indulgence that Feiyun Stronghold was able to grow to its former size.

Later, Qi Tianyue told Tong Wanli the opportunity would present itself within the next few years.

A group of fiends would escape from the Heartless Ghost Mansion. Qi Tianyue’s people would monitor their movements, and when the time was right, this group could become Tong Wanli’s allies.

But Qi Tianyue only told Tong Wanli how to reach an agreement with these fiends who had escaped from the Heartless Ghost Mansion.

He never explained what had actually happened inside the Heartless Ghost Mansion.

In the intervening years, Tong Wanli was tasked with two things.

First, he was to uncover all of the Ye family’s secrets.

The second was to determine the whereabouts of the Jiaowei.

Succeeding in the second task was a bonus, but failure was acceptable. It would just make things slightly more troublesome.

As long as the Ye family was destroyed, everything else would be simple.

Over those three years, Tong Wanli paid frequent visits to the Ye family, and he eventually managed to learn all their secrets.

It wasn’t until recently that the matter concerning the Heartless Ghost Mansion, which Qi Tianyue had mentioned, finally began to take shape.

The two parties were finally brought together, with the Celestial Palace acting as the intermediary.

These fiends who had escaped the Heartless Ghost Mansion lived in constant fear, desperate to increase their own power to fight back against their former Master.

Tong Wanli wanted the Jiaowei Zither to unlock its secrets, control it, and obtain even greater fame and power.

Their goals aligned perfectly.

And so, that led to the night the entire Ye family was massacred, from which Ye Jingshuang fought her way out, only to run into Jiang Ran by chance.

Tong Wanli’s explanation was concise and direct, with no embellishment.

He laid out the critical points one by one, without a single wasted word.

And so, in just a few sentences, he finished his story. Finally, he looked at Jiang Ran.

”Do you want to know... where Qi Tianyue is?”

”You know?”

Jiang Ran was taken aback. ”I would ask you to enlighten me, then.”

”You really dare to ask?”

Tong Wanli burst out laughing.

”Fine, then I’ll... tell you...

”Qi Tianyue is... in Jinyang Prefecture right now. It seems he’s planning something else, something big.”

”Something big?”

Jiang Ran frowned. ”It seems you know a great deal. I wonder, what is this ’something big’ you’re referring to?”

”You... since you were able to see through... see through this whole plot.”

Tong Wanli’s voice had begun to grow faint.

The wound on his arm was still bleeding freely, and the gaping hole in his chest had received no treatment.

He was on the brink of death. He looked up at Jiang Ran, his gaze weak.

”With your intelligence... it shouldn’t, shouldn’t be hard to see... the key... to all this...”

As he spoke, his gaze lifted and swept over the surroundings.

With a sudden struggle, he collapsed to the ground and began crawling toward Tong Yan’s body.

He used every last ounce of his strength, inching himself across the ground. He moved slowly, but with grim determination.

”My son...

”Oh, my son...”

He murmured softly,

”Don’t be afraid. Your father is coming to join you...”

But he never reached Tong Yan. About a foot away, he stopped moving for good.

Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang watched in silence. Then, Ye Jingshuang spoke.

”Did he really love his son?”

Jiang Ran shook his head.

”I don’t know... The human heart is a complex thing.

”In the moment he tried to escape, maybe he didn’t love him that much.

”But now, as he’s dying, perhaps he truly did.”

Ye Jingshuang seemed lost in thought. Jiang Ran, meanwhile, walked over to Tong Wanli’s body and, with a single stroke, severed his head.

Ye Jingshuang was stunned. ”Brother Jiang... why?”

”Just in case.”

Jiang Ran said,

”If he’s going to die, he should stay dead.

”I’d hate for him to not be properly dead, only to pop up later and wreak more havoc. Cutting off his head puts my mind at ease.”