Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

”We’ll gather the bodies in a bit and burn them all. Only then can we truly rest easy.”

”Leave it to you to be so ruthless.”

Li Tianxin’s voice came from the side. His black robes were stained with blood, though it was hard to make out.

Cradling his saber, his gaze shifted from Ye Jingshuang to Jiang Ran, and he let out a soft snort.

”Miss, you’d be wise not to follow his example.”

”He’s not a good person.”

Ye Jingshuang, however, nodded.

”There are indeed some strange and sinister martial arts in the martial world. Brother Jiang is just being thorough. This is the only way to prevent any future trouble.”

”...”

For a moment, Li Tianxin was speechless. ’After all that, did I just waste my breath?’

He couldn’t help but glance at Ye Jingshuang.

”Miss, what kind of bewitching brew did he give you?”

”This man is an expert at poisoning, with endless tricks up his sleeve. You might already be under his spell and not even know it.”

Ye Jingshuang gave Li Tianxin a strange look.

”Sir, you seem to be acquainted with Brother Jiang. Why are you slandering him like this?”

”...”

Li Tianxin rolled his eyes dramatically.

”Fine, fine, fine. I was slandering him, alright?”

”Indeed you were.”

Ye Jingshuang nodded along eagerly.

Li Tianxin felt like he was going to cough up blood. ’Slander, my ass!’

’Everything I told her came from personal experience!’

’Day in and day out, he tries to poison me... though, looking back, it seems I’ve never actually fallen for it. The problem is, the psychological trauma from all his prior attempts is just too much!’

’Now I don’t even know if I’m poisoned or not.’

’And yet, in this woman’s eyes, Jiang Ran is somehow a good guy.’

’To quote Tong Wanli, this is the joke of the century!’

Jiang Ran waved a hand.

”Alright, that’s enough idle chatter. Let’s go. Things on the other side should be wrapping up.”

Ye Jingshuang immediately fell in behind Jiang Ran, and Li Tianxin trailed after them.

After the delay on their end, the mist closed in around them again.

Jiang Ran led Ye Jingshuang by the hand, completely ignoring whether Li Tianxin lived or died. Though Li Tianxin was so furious he could spit, he still clutched his saber and followed close behind, step for step, all while maintaining an air of proud aloofness.

As they walked back, Jiang Ran couldn’t help but recall what Tong Wanli had said earlier.

’Three years ago, people from the Celestial Palace found him.’

’The timeline certainly lines up.’

’The people from the Celestial Palace found Li Feiyun at around the same time, also about three years ago.’

’In other words, three years ago, the Celestial Palace found Li Feiyun, taught him the Blood Cauldron Scripture, and set him on the path to seizing Cangzhou Prefecture.’

’Meanwhile, to ensure their plan wasn’t disrupted, they also sought out Tong Wanli.’

’They didn’t want the Palm of Heaven Net to eliminate Li Feiyun before he had grown powerful enough.’

’Tong Wanli had ambitions, so the Celestial Palace crafted a plan for him that played to those ambitions.’

’But... how did the Celestial Palace know about the affair of the Heartless Ghost Mansion?’

’Did they handle it personally, or is there more to it than meets the eye?’

’If they did act personally, it surely wouldn’t have been for Tong Wanli’s benefit.’

’That hardly seems worth the effort...’

And amid all this, there was one thing Jiang Ran couldn’t understand.

’Since the Celestial Palace knew about the Jiaowei Zither, why didn’t they take it themselves? Why go through all the trouble of having Tong Wanli retrieve it?’

’That doesn’t seem to make sense.’

’If Tong Wanli was blocking Li Feiyun’s path, someone with Qi Tianyue’s power could have killed him directly. There would be no need for such a roundabout approach.’

’Unless... they have their own concerns?’

’What could they be worried about?’

For some reason, Jiang Ran’s thoughts suddenly turned to the Tang family.

’The Tang family has been hiding in Cangzhou Prefecture for ten years.’

’And the Celestial Palace possesses martial arts of the Demon Sect.’

’That night, Li Tianxin saw Tang Shiqing single-handedly annihilate the Qinghe Gang and take a copy of the Blood Cauldron Scripture.’

’And the reinforcements the Celestial Palace was supposed to send to support Feiyun Stronghold in taking Cangzhou Prefecture... it seems they were also killed by Tang Shiqing...’

’So these remnants of the Demon Sect and the Celestial Palace are enemies!?’

’Is that why Qi Tianyue didn’t kill Tong Wanli directly, but chose to scheme from the shadows instead?’

Jiang Ran had pieced together a possible trail of clues, but he had no way of knowing if his deductions were correct.

Tong Wanli hadn’t told Jiang Ran of Qi Tianyue’s whereabouts out of the goodness of his heart.

He simply wanted to divert the trouble onto Jiang Ran, pitting the Celestial Palace against him.

Jiang Ran was well aware of this.

Still, he was curious. Jinyang Prefecture and Cangzhou Prefecture... ’Why choose these two places?’

’The two places are worlds apart.’

’One in the east, the other in the west...’

”Jinyang Prefecture borders Qing Country, and Cangzhou Prefecture...”

Jiang Ran subconsciously stopped in his tracks, his gaze turning in the direction of Cangzhou Prefecture.

”Cangzhou Prefecture borders Li Country... If the Celestial Palace takes Cangzhou Prefecture, then Li Country and the Golden Cicada Dynasty...”

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed, feeling an idea beginning to form.

And just then, a whistling sound suddenly cut through the air.

Li Tianxin’s head snapped up, and he was about to draw his saber when Jiang Ran grabbed his wrist.

The next moment, their figures blurred, and the three of them had already moved aside.

A figure burst through the mist with a WHOOSH, slamming hard against a tree.

He let out a strangled gasp, spitting out a huge mouthful of fresh blood. He didn’t look like he had long to live.

Then he looked up and saw Jiang Ran and the others standing in a row, watching him.

His eyes widened instantly.

”You...”

He had barely gotten the word ”you” out when a blade flashed.

A head tumbled to the ground.

Jiang Ran picked up the head.

”This man... does either of you recognize him?”

Li Tianxin glanced at the head in Jiang Ran’s hand, his expression twisting in discomfort.

”It’s just a head. Who’s supposed to recognize it?”

”Should I put it back on, then?”

Jiang Ran took the head over to the corpse and placed it back on the neck.

”How about now?”

Li Tianxin glanced at Ye Jingshuang, then jutted his chin toward Jiang Ran.

”A good person, you say?”

Ye Jingshuang: ”...”