Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

In the blink of an eye, the group had left the gambling house.

The remaining ’Evil Ghosts’ looked at each other in dismay.

The gambling house’s owner had been won away. What were they supposed to do now?

Keep gambling? Who would run the games?

Stop gambling? What would they do then?

Jiang Ran clearly had no intention of letting them think it over, strolling brazenly out of the Soul Hook Gambling House.

He was just about to follow the directions Liu Xiao’e had given him to find Li Tianxin again when he saw someone lying on the ground outside the gambling house.

It wasn’t Prince Yu, who had been dragged out earlier.

Instead, it was Li Tianxin, his face sallow and dressed in black, clutching a saber tightly in his hand.

Jiang Ran glanced at him and sighed.

”It’s great to be young. You can fall asleep anywhere.”

”...”

Ruan Yuqing couldn’t help but shoot Jiang Ran a glare.

”Still making sarcastic remarks... What happened to Young Hero Li?”

Jiang Ran smiled faintly, walked over to Li Tianxin, and casually checked him. His expression changed at once.

”This is bad!”

”Ah?”

Ruan Yuqing and Luo Qingyi were both startled.

Jiang Ran sighed dramatically.

”His pulse is like rolling pearls... This is... he’s pregnant.”

Ruan Yuqing immediately scoffed, ”Nonsense! Young Hero Li is a man. How could he have a pregnancy pulse?”

Luo Qingyi, though confused, was utterly shocked.

She stared at Li Tianxin in disbelief.

”Could this ghostly place truly make a man pregnant?”

”Who knows?”

Jiang Ran glanced inside the Soul Hook Gambling House, then back at Li Tianxin, raising an eyebrow.

The Rotten Gambler was dumbfounded.

”The Ghost King Palace is indeed no ordinary place, but even if Lord Ghost King has a thousand Divine Techniques, there’s no way he could make a man pregnant!”

Jiang Ran chuckled when he heard this.

”I was just joking. Why did you all take me seriously?”

With that, he reached out, pulled Li Tianxin up, and pressed a hand to his back, pouring in a torrent of Inner Strength.

A moment later, Li Tianxin’s body trembled. He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and gradually opened his eyes.

The next instant, a look of terror appeared in his eyes.

”No, don’t come any closer!”

”Did you run into a female deviant?”

Jiang Ran’s voice came from behind him.

Li Tianxin froze. He took a hard look at his surroundings, then saw Ruan Yuqing and Luo Qingyi in front of him, and finally let out a long breath.

”Oh, it’s you...”

”Who else would it be?”

Jiang Ran said with a faint smile.

”So, tell us what happened.

”Were you assaulted by a female deviant?”

”...It wasn’t a deviant.”

Li Tianxin’s face was still pale with fright.

”It... it was a pot-bellied Hungry Ghost.

”He said... he said he wanted to eat my heart and liver, and he tried to cut open my chest with a knife.”

As he spoke, he started to get up.

But when he turned his head, he saw the Rotten Gambler and the six dice freaks standing to the side.

He froze. A glimmer of light flickered in his eyes before being instantly extinguished. With a CLANG, he drew his saber.

”Take this, Evil Ghost!!”

He lunged, aiming his saber straight for the Rotten Gambler’s face.

The six dice freaks instinctively moved to intervene, but the Rotten Gambler waved them off. He then reached behind his back and, to everyone’s surprise, pulled out a die the size of a human head.

The die was sharp and angular. The Rotten Gambler raised his hand and threw it.

It met the saber’s edge with a sharp DING.

Sparks flew in an instant!

Li Tianxin felt a jolt run through his body and was forced back. He was about to charge forward again when he heard Jiang Ran shout.

”Stop!”

Li Tianxin glanced at Jiang Ran. ”What?”

”He’s my new servant. If you kill him, are you going to take his place?”

”...Why are you colluding with an Evil Ghost?”

Li Tianxin was astonished.

”I know you’re not exactly a good person, but I didn’t think you’d sink this low.”

”You’re the one who sank low.”

Jiang Ran shot Li Tianxin a look. ”You just said that Hungry Ghost wanted to eat your heart and liver. So how did you escape?”

”My martial arts are superior, of course.”

Li Tianxin brandished his saber. ”I naturally fought my way out, plunging the world into darkness with my slaughter. I vanquished all the demons and fiends and then swaggered right out.”

”And then you passed out right here?”

Jiang Ran raised his eyebrows. ”Before you came here, did you see anyone strange?”

”No. Why do you ask?”

Li Tianxin looked confused.

Jiang Ran smiled.

”Nothing. Just asking.”

”Now that you’re done asking, can we go?”

Li Tianxin looked around.

”I don’t want to stay in this ghostly place for another second.”

”Then you can go on ahead. I plan to meet this Lord Ghost King.”

Jiang Ran said with a smile.

”After all, we’re guests here. It wouldn’t be right to leave without meeting the host.”

At this, he turned to the Rotten Gambler.

”I assume you know where this Lord Ghost King is?”

”I do.”

The Rotten Gambler nodded. ”But... Lord Ghost King has never been fond of Jianghu People or their affairs. He’s just living out the rest of his days peacefully here in Eternal Town. Does Master really want to see him?”

”If he’s just living out his days peacefully in Eternal Town, why did he set his sights on my Jiaowei zither?”

Jiang Ran glanced at the Rotten Gambler. ”Don’t tell me your desire for the Jiaowei has nothing to do with this Ghost King.”

”Well... it is somewhat related.”

The Rotten Gambler said.

”In a few days, it will be Lord Ghost King’s deathday.

”All of us wanted to find a birthday gift for His Lordship... Prince Yu suggested that since the Jiaowei zither had reappeared in the jianghu, it would be the perfect gift.

”That’s why we orchestrated tonight’s scheme.

”We agreed it would be a contest of skills, but... I never expected that not only would I fail to get the Jiaowei, I would end up losing myself as well.

”And on top of that, Prince Yu died so bizarrely.”

Now that he was away from the gambling table, the Rotten Gambler was gradually regaining his senses.

He suddenly looked at Liu Xiao’e.

”What exactly happened to Prince Yu? You are her Thousand-Silk Ghost Consort. Did you notice anything strange these past few days?”