Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

”Speaking of which, Young Hero Jiang, your journey here must not have been very peaceful, I imagine? I heard Chen Zixuan from the Blood Saber Hall also brought men to attend this assembly.

”Although I am loath to speak ill of others behind their backs, the man is devious and arrogant. If you should cross paths with him, Young Hero Jiang, you must be careful.”

”Just so you know, Third Hall Master, the man died last night on the Jianghu Dao.”

Jiang Ran smiled. ”I’m afraid there won’t be any future meetings.”

”What?”

Chi Lin was taken aback. ”Dead? How... how did he die?”

”I killed him.”

Jiang Ran said with a smile,

”We had a chance encounter last night. He tried to rob me, so I took his life.

”As for the Blood Saber Hall disciples with him, I didn’t leave a single one. They all met a violent end in the forest... It does weigh on my conscience a little, now that I think about it.”

”...”

’You don’t look like it weighs on your conscience in the slightest.’

Chi Lin couldn’t help but study Jiang Ran anew. After a moment of contemplation, he said,

”Chen Zixuan’s death is no great loss. If you try to plunder from others, you can’t complain when someone kills you for it.

”However, the Blood Saber Hall is no ordinary group.

”Now that you’ve killed their men, Young Hero Jiang, I’m afraid Xuanyuan One Slash won’t let the matter rest.”

At this, Chi Lin hesitated. Just as he was about to speak again, he heard one of his subordinates report.

The Death Building Assassins who had tried to flee had all been captured.

With that, the battle was over. The Actor, the Woodcutter, and the Courtesan were all dead.

The waiter had also been cut down in the chaos. The fat one, however, was tough. Though the strange protective arts he had cultivated for years had been broken, he wasn’t so easy to kill and was barely clinging to life.

But the man was useless to Jiang Ran.

There was no need to bring him along, so as soon as the man was brought before him, Jiang Ran ran him through with a single slash.

He had always been calm and decisive when he killed, never sparing those who needed to die.

Seeing this, Gu Xizhi’s brow furrowed once more.

’He and Jiang Ran were truly not on the same path.’

The next few captives who were brought up, who seemed somewhat important, were also all cut down by Jiang Ran with a single slash.

Chi Lin decided not to bother with the rest.

He simply had his men kill them all outside the tavern.

Finally, he couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Ran.

”Don’t you want to know who placed the contract on your life with the Death Building, Young Hero Jiang?”

”I don’t.”

Jiang Ran smiled. ”Because it doesn’t matter. After all, I’m an Assassin. Making enemies comes with the territory.

”Even the most vicious criminals have family and friends. To others, they might be Demons or scourges, but to their loved ones, they are important.

”So, there will always be someone who hates me.

”I understood that principle from the very first day I became an Assassin.

”The fact that it’s taken this long for someone to hire an Assassin to kill me is actually what I find surprising... They certainly took their time.”

”You’re truly unfettered, Young Hero Jiang.”

Chi Lin cupped his fists, clearly impressed.

Jiang Ran just smiled. In truth, having Assassins sent after him was all to be expected.

He had even looked forward to it.

After all, they were Assassins; they were bound to be on the bounty list. If one came, he’d profit. If two came, he’d profit twice over.

But unfortunately, after months in the Jianghu, no Assassins had shown up. Jiang Ran had almost forgotten about it.

But now, at long last... better late than never.

Then it was time to flip through the Sword Holding Department’s registry and see how many of them were on the bounty list.

He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t looked, but a quick scan revealed a pleasant surprise.

The Actor, the Cook, and the Woodcutter were all on the list.

The bounties weren’t particularly high, though—five hundred taels each.

The most important one was Greed Poison.

[Greed Poison: One of the Five Poisons of the Death Building. His martial arts are profound and unfathomable. Active in the Jianghu for many years, he has assassinated a handful of our Court’s officials, along with countless martial arts experts.]

[A special reward of five hundred taels of gold is offered. Dead or alive!]

[To claim the reward, the killer must present the Five Poison Order and the target’s head!]

”The Five Poison Order?”

Jiang Ran glanced at the Token Tang Huayi was fiddling with and held out his hand to her.

”Give it here.”

”What for?”

Tang Huayi was reluctant. ”This Token is made of good material. I was thinking of finding a place to have it forged into a few throwing daggers for protection.”

”What good are throwing daggers if you don’t know how to use them?”

Jiang Ran snatched the Token from her hand.

”...What has the world come to? Now even Assassins have the habits of bandits, snatching things from people.”

Ruan Yuqing chuckled at her words.

”Young Hero Jiang was the one who killed him.”

”But I’m the one who looted the body!”

Tang Huayi wanted to put her hands on her hips, but then she remembered she was wearing Li Tianxin’s face and stopped herself. Instead, she just looked up at the ceiling beams and let out a ”Hmph!” of disdain.

”It doesn’t belong to whoever finds it.”

Jiang Ran rolled his eyes at her and tucked the Token into his belt. Then he turned and cupped his fists toward Chi Lin.

”My apologies for the scene, Third Hall Master.”

Chi Lin shook his head. ”Not at all. Your close bond is something I envy. Ahem. It’s getting late, and I still have matters to attend to, so I won’t impose any longer. I’ll take my leave now.”

”Oh?”

Jiang Ran glanced at him and smiled.

”I thought I heard you say you were also headed to Sunset Plateau, Third Hall Master.

”I was hoping we might have a chance to travel together.”

”It seems we won’t have the chance this time.”

Chi Lin smiled. ”Before I get to Sunset Plateau, my Second Brother has entrusted another important matter to me, so I won’t be able to travel with you, Young Hero Jiang.”

”I see.”

Jiang Ran nodded. ”In that case, I won’t keep you. Take care, Third Hall Master.”