Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

”You’ve come to mock me time and again, and now you’ve stolen my subordinate. Do you think I’ll let this matter rest?”

”How ridiculous.”

Jiang Ran opened his eyes and glanced at him.

”You and I are meeting for the first time today. What’s this about ’time and again’? Have you been a ghost for so long that you can’t tell reality from illusion?”

”You dare deny it, even now!?”

The Ghost King roared in fury, ”Barely half an hour ago, you stepped into my palace hall, threw feces on my royal bed, and I caught you in the act! I have never suffered such a monstrous humiliation in my entire life.”

”How could I possibly mistake that face of yours?”

At his words, everyone present was stunned speechless.

Someone threw feces on the Ghost King’s bed?

And Jiang Ran did it?

Ruan Yuqing, Li Tianxin, and even the Rotten Gambler couldn’t help but look at Jiang Ran.

Li Tianxin in particular had a glint in his eyes, looking so excited he seemed about to cheer aloud.

”...??”

Jiang Ran’s jaw dropped. ”What in the world are you talking about? Am I insane? Besides, half an hour ago... I’d only just set foot in Eternal Town. I hadn’t found your palace hall yet... *cough, cough*... I hadn’t found where your palace hall was... How could I possibly... go to your bed and... throw... throw feces?”

”Besides... I, I... *cough, cough, cough*...”

As he spoke and coughed, fresh blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

”I don’t even know where the latrines are in your... Ghost King Palace... so where would I have gotten feces?”

”I couldn’t have just climbed onto your bed and taken a dump right there, could I?”

Ruan Yuqing and the others exchanged glances, strange and vivid images inexplicably flashing through their minds.

They hastily shook their heads, trying to banish the images.

The Ghost King’s eyes went wide. He tried to get to his feet in a rage, but his injuries were too severe. The moment he stood, he collapsed back onto his seat.

”You... you actually... you took a dump... on my bed? You... you’ve gone too far! If I don’t kill you, I’m not fit to be human!”

”That’s absurd! I didn’t do it...”

Jiang Ran was furious. ”This is—*cough, cough, cough*... This is a baseless accusation, a complete and utter frame-up!”

”I don’t even know you. Why would I frame you?”

As they both reached this point in their argument, they seemed to think of something at the same time and fell silent.

And just then, a voice, laced with a hint of pleasant surprise, spoke up:

”It... it actually worked...”

’I already told him that Prince Yu was colluding with outsiders. Is he only realizing the crucial part now?’

’It seems this Jiang Ran isn’t all he’s cracked up to be.’

The one who spoke was Liu Xiao’e.

Her eyes were filled with delight.

But when she looked up at Li Tianxin, she couldn’t help but falter, stumbling back a good distance. She pointed a finger at Li Tianxin.

”There’s something not right about him! He... there’s something wrong with him!”

”The Thousand-Silk Ghost Consort?”

The Rotten Gambler couldn’t help but look at Liu Xiao’e. ”What are you talking about?”

At the same time, another voice was heard:

”No matter. Whatever problems there are tonight, they will all end here.”

”Anyone who’s a problem... we’ll just kill them.”

”As for Jiang Ran, it doesn’t matter if he’s not all he’s cracked up to be. At least his martial arts are strong enough, and he’s already done what we needed him to do. That’s enough.”

”Lord Ghost King is too young, after all. In his fury, even with all the strange details, he wouldn’t have the patience to consider so many things.”

”Ultimately, it drew the two of them into a mutually destructive conflict.”

As the voice faded, four figures were seen entering the palace hall in single file.

Seeing these four people, everyone fell silent.

To be precise, it was when they saw the second person.

His brows were like distant mountains, his eyes like stars; he was exceptionally handsome.

A wine gourd hung from one side of his waist, a saber from the other.

One hand rested on the hilt of his saber, the corner of his mouth curved into a smirk, as if he didn’t give a damn about anything in the world...

He looked exactly like Jiang Ran!

”So it was you... who took a dump on this idiot Ghost King’s bed?”

Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow. ”And you dared to frame me for it?”

”Quan the Seventh... I have treated you well!”

The Ghost King looked coldly at a white-haired old man among the four.

But the old man just chuckled lightly.

”The previous Lord Ghost King saved my life and gave me a place here, so of course he treated me well.”

”Even now, after Your Majesty succeeded the throne, we have been treated just as well as before, without the slightest neglect...”

”In our hearts, we are actually grateful.”

”But... I’m old. I’ve spent my whole life pretending to be a ghost. I don’t want to spend my last few years living this life that’s neither human nor ghost.”

”So, I plotted with the Ghost Chef and Prince Yu, and we decided to just rebel.”

”The Ghost Chef... Prince Yu...”

The Rotten Gambler’s face turned ugly. ”So this was your plan all along! Then what about what you said... about getting the Jiaowei to celebrate Lord Ghost King’s birthday?”

”That was a lie, of course.”

Quan the Seventh laughed.

”When has Lord Ghost King ever cared about such worldly possessions?”

”Besides, you have to understand what kind of person this Jiang Ran is.”

”Since he made his name in the martial world, how many masters have fallen at his hands?”

”The Ghost King Palace may have a heavy, ghostly atmosphere, but in the end, we’re all just people. Are there really any ghosts here?”

”Even the Thousand-Silk Ghost Consort’s [Silk-String Puppetry] is just using her threads to control a bunch of walking corpses.”

”It’s good enough for scaring people, but in a real fight, they’re easily defeated.”

”For us to try and snatch something from him... that would be a fool’s dream.”

”So, stealing the Jiaowei was a lie. Luring him here to deal with Lord Ghost King... that was the real goal.”

”If it weren’t for him, how could we possibly have injured Lord Ghost King, who possesses the [Eternal Hundred Floating Diagrams]?”

”Now that both of them are grievously wounded, we can not only take over the Ghost King Palace, but we can also get the Jiaowei Zither.”

”Is this not... killing two birds with one stone?”

”What a fine calculation. Three out of four betrayed him. No wonder the Ghost King Palace is so empty.”

Jiang Ran smiled. ”Such a brilliant plan... surely you didn’t come up with it yourself? Why don’t you introduce us to these friends of yours?”

Besides the one who was disguised to look exactly like Jiang Ran,

the remaining two were a pale-faced scholar and a man dressed as a Daoist.

Just then, the scholar laughed.

”Young Hero Jiang, we have long heard of your fame.”

”Zhang Dongxuan, Liao Chengfeng, Baojing... all these old friends and companions of mine fell at your hands.”

Jiang Ran was taken aback for a moment, then let out a soft chuckle.

”So you’re from... the Heartless Ghost Mansion?”

But at this moment, Li Tianxin glanced at Jiang Ran.

’He was coughing so badly just a moment ago. But since this group showed up, he hasn’t coughed even once...’