Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Enough Celestial Thunder Pearls were left over to fill an entire basket.

The others looked at the Celestial Thunder Pearls, then back at Jiang Ran, noticing he was staring blankly at them.

Dao Wuming asked,

”Brother Jiang, do you have something in mind?”

Jiang Ran smiled.

”Everyone, grab a few of these. Consider them souvenirs.”

”As for the rest... I was thinking, why not leave a little surprise for whoever comes after us?”

...

...

The rain continued until noon before finally stopping.

The posthouse had long since returned to a state of calm. As evening approached, a figure could be seen slowly approaching from the distance.

He walked slowly, very slowly, but his strides were long, very long.

When he first appeared, he was still at the far end of the road.

But in the span of just a few blinks, he had arrived in front of the posthouse.

He looked around, his brow furrowed.

”Qiuci Posthouse?”

He casually pushed open the main gate and let out a huge yawn.

”What happened to this place?”

The inside of Qiuci Posthouse was now pocked with craters, all of them blasted out by Celestial Thunder Pearls.

The man’s gaze swept over the craters one by one, and he scratched his head.

’Thunderbolt Hall again?’

’It seems they showed up in Death Town, too...’

’A couple of days ago, the Master sent word that the big contract to kill Jiang Ran might be the handiwork of Thunderbolt Hall.’

’Did they get impatient and make a move before I could?’

’Which means... I’m late again.’

He shuffled forward step by step, moving with great effort. After shuffling for a while, he suddenly spotted a large mound of dirt in the courtyard.

In front of the mound stood a wooden plank with an inscription: ”The resting place of the members of Thunderbolt Hall.”

He clicked his tongue. After a moment’s thought, he headed toward it.

When he got closer, he saw another line of small words on the plank: ”Trespassers beware. Touch and die!”

”Heh, trying to scare me?”

The man chuckled, his eyes full of disdain.

”I’ve always hated it when people try to scare me. You say ’trespassers beware,’ so I’ll be a trespasser.”

”You say ’touch and die,’ so I’ll touch it just to show you!”

”I’d like to see just how you plan to make me ’touch and die.’”

As he spoke, he casually tossed the wooden plank aside.

Then he waited quietly. After a long moment with no change, he sighed in disappointment.

’I thought that Jiang Ran fellow might be hiding nearby, ready to jump out and kill whoever touched this plank.’

’Got my hopes up for nothing...’

Just as he was about to turn and leave, he stopped and looked back at the dirt mound.

’Using my Death Building, playing games of killing with a borrowed knife, and even trying to trap and kill us.’

’Thunderbolt Hall had a good plan... a pity. Anyone who offends my Death Building never meets a good end.’

’Even if they’re dead, their corpses must be dragged out and torn to pieces!’

At this thought, he sighed, picked up a nearby shovel, and began to dig...

’The Master said they had to be torn to pieces, so torn to pieces they shall be.’

’Even if they’re torn into nine thousand, nine hundred, and ninety-nine pieces, it still won’t be enough.’

He muttered to himself as he worked intermittently, digging for a bit before resting, sometimes gazing at the stars, other times admiring the tenacious weeds on the ground.

At other times, he would just sit on the ground and stare into space.

After digging for half the night, he had only managed a shallow pit.

He even took a nap midway through. After waking up, he brought the shovel down again. He heard a SWISH, as if he had severed something. The thing was hollow, and there was the sound of an object being sprung loose.

He froze, not yet understanding what had happened.

Every pore on his body slammed shut, and every hair stood straight on end!

”Not good!”

He cried out in alarm. In that instant, he was no longer lazy, no longer slow. He only wished his parents had given him two more legs.

He spun around, about to bolt.

But just as he turned, before he could even start running, a massive explosion erupted behind him.

This was a full basket of Celestial Thunder Pearls.

Jiang Ran had set up a deception here; it was nothing more than a trap.

There were no members of Thunderbolt Hall in this grave at all.

He was just waiting for people from Thunderbolt Hall to arrive. Upon seeing such a scene, they would naturally want to exhume the bodies and rebury them elsewhere.

And then, they’d get to hear a big bang.

If he was lucky, he might even manage to bury Thunderbolt Hall’s first and second Hall Masters along with them.

Who could have expected that the first to arrive wouldn’t be Thunderbolt Hall, but the Death Building?

The Death Building has the Five Poisons: Greed, Anger, Ignorance, Sloth, and Doubt.

This ”Sloth” poison was truly slow, always arriving one step behind...

Not only was he slow, but he also insisted on tearing Thunderbolt Hall’s members to pieces. That’s why he started digging up the grave, never expecting to dig right into the Celestial Thunder Pearls.

Now, an earth-shattering roar was right behind him.

He felt an immense force sweep over him. He was like a leaf tossed in the wind, completely at the mercy of the tremendous power.

He was sent spinning through the air.

The clothes on his back were blasted away, leaving his back a stretch of scorched black.

When he landed, he spat out a mouthful of blood, looking for all the world like he was about eighty percent cooked.

He looked back to see that a massive crater had been blasted into the ground.

”...Thunderbolt Hall... you bastards...”

He used all his strength to spit out four words, then his head lolled to the side, and he passed out.

...

...

By the time the Celestial Thunder Pearls left at Qiuci Posthouse exploded, Jiang Ran and the others were already too far away to hear it.

For Jiang Ran, it was merely a speculative move.

It would be great if it yielded results, but if not, all he had lost was a pile of Celestial Thunder Pearls.