Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

After the meal, everyone returned to their respective rooms to rest.

Qiuci Posthouse had been untended for years, so the rooms were naturally not very clean.

Jiang Ran tidied his up a bit, making it just about habitable.

Exhausted after a long day, he lay down on the daybed in his clothes. The rain outside was like a lullaby, and he soon drifted off to sleep.

However, his energy circulated within as his senses reached without.

Even in a deep sleep, the slightest disturbance would jolt him awake instantly.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, it was already the middle of the night.

Jiang Ran’s eyes shot open.

He looked toward the door.

He heard a CLICK-CLACK sound; someone was picking the latch on his door.

The person was deft, and the latch was open in no time.

A furtive figure slipped inside.

The figure turned and pulled the door shut.

Then, taking small, shuffling steps, the person approached Jiang Ran’s bedside.

Jiang Ran recognized the figure at once. It was Tang Huayi.

He decided to keep his eyes closed and feign sleep, wanting to see what this little rascal was up to.

And then he saw the skin on her face ripple. The flesh twitched and pulsed, and when it settled, it had reverted to Tang Huayi’s own delicate features.

She glanced cautiously at Jiang Ran.

”You’re my brother-in-law, after all. I’m just crashing here for one night. You won’t tell my sister, will you?”

As she spoke, her body seemed to deflate. Her height dropped, and the clothes that had fit perfectly now looked far too large for her.

The front of her robe was especially baggy and bunched up, making her frown in discomfort.

She reached out and poked Jiang Ran’s arm gently.

”I’m already here. Are you still not going to open your eyes? I don’t believe for a second you didn’t notice me.”

Jiang Ran opened his eyes and glanced at her.

”It’s pitch-black. What’s there to see? Besides, you’re my sister-in-law. Coming to your brother-in-law’s room in the middle of the night with ill intentions... How am I supposed to explain this to Lord Tang and your sister?”

”Or are you two planning on marrying me together?”

”I’d dare to marry you. Would you dare to take me?”

As a little demoness of the Demon Sect, how could Tang Huayi be defeated by a few simple words from Jiang Ran?

She turned the tables, not only sitting on the edge of his bed but also lying down and giving him a shove inward.

”Brother-in-law, I’m scared.”

”Make some room for me.”

”...”

Jiang Ran was speechless. ’What is wrong with you...’

”Your sister-in-law.”

”You know, hearing you put it that way, it’s actually kind of thrilling.”

”Men... Ugh.”

Tang Huayi huffed. ”If I wasn’t so terrified, I wouldn’t have come here.”

”Then go find Ruan Yuqing.”

”Go find her while I’m wearing Li Tianxin’s face? Are you out of your mind?”

”Then go find Luo Qingyi.”

”But I’m a girl! Aren’t you afraid he’d take advantage of me?”

”What is there to take advantage of?”

Jiang Ran mocked her mercilessly.

”What do you think!?”

Tang Huayi puffed out her chest proudly.

”...You haven’t even fully blossomed yet. Just give it a rest.”

”Who are you talking about!?”

Tang Huayi was furious. ”Have you ever seen anyone as beautiful as me?”

The question actually stumped Jiang Ran for a moment.

Before he was transported to this world, he certainly had.

’After all, his computer had been full of... ”study materials.” Though now they’ve probably become instruments of his social suicide.’

’Still, it means I was worldly and well-versed...’

But after coming to this world, he really hadn’t.

But one should never lose in spirit, even if one loses the battle. How could Jiang Ran admit defeat?

He immediately let out a cold laugh.

”You must not know me very well. I’m a man of the world. What haven’t I seen?”

”Was it Ye Jingshuang?”

”...Don’t be ridiculous. There’s nothing going on between us.”

”She gave you a token of her affection and you still say it’s ’nothing’? The lies men tell... You can try that on a ghost.”

Tang Huayi pursed her lips. ”If not Ye Jingshuang, then who else could it be?”

As she said this, she suddenly felt the urge to laugh.

”It can’t be that old courtesan, can it? The one who’s more than thirty years your senior, all gaudy and with a face like a plastered wall?”

”...Has that old drunkard lost his mind? He told you even *that* level of detail?”

Jiang Ran’s eyes widened.

”Of course. From your childhood to now, is there anything about you he hasn’t told us, plain as day?”

”He’s always been thorough, leaving no stone unturned.”

”So, while you may find us to be complete strangers, we... are the ones who know you best.”

Jiang Ran fell silent. It was precisely this one-sided familiarity that was so unsettling.

He sighed softly and added,

”That old courtesan... she was probably only twenty years my senior. Thirty is an exaggeration.”

”So you really think she’s better than me?”

Tang Huayi was stunned.

”As a sister-in-law, lying in bed with your brother-in-law, discussing this sort of thing...”

”Tang Huayi, do you have no shame at all?”

Jiang Ran was growing flustered.

”Hee hee...”

Tang Huayi suddenly burst out laughing.

”Brother-in-law, you seem to be afraid of me.”

”Are you getting nervous? I’m a demoness from the Demon Sect; why would I have any shame? Brother-in-law, if you wanted to... I wouldn’t say no.”

”...Say one more word of nonsense and I’ll throw you out. We’ll see who’s more scared then.”

As he spoke, he grabbed Tang Huayi by the scruff of her neck, ready to toss her from the bed.

Tang Huayi was shocked, not expecting this brute Jiang Ran to be so utterly unchivalrous.

A beauty like herself had climbed into his bed, and he still had the heart to throw her out.

She immediately clung to him for dear life.

”No, no, no! I was wrong! I was wrong, okay? Brother-in-law... please, just spare me this once... You wouldn’t have the heart to watch your beautiful, delicate sister-in-law get her head plucked off by that headless ghost, would you?”

”That would be so ugly...”

As she spoke, she suddenly felt the force of Jiang Ran’s grip vanish.

She thought her words had moved him.

She let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile,

”You’re the best, brother-in-law...”

”Quiet.”

But Jiang Ran’s expression was grave, his brow deeply furrowed as he stared at the window.

Seeing his strange expression, Tang Huayi’s heart skipped a beat.

”What is it? Is the headless ghost here?”

”Something’s here, all right... but it has a head.”

Jiang Ran rolled out of bed, one hand still holding a completely listless Tang Huayi, and moved to the window.

He gently pushed the window open a crack and saw a figure dashing frantically through the rainy night.

”Is that Feng Wu?”

...

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