Chapter 10: Chapter 10: An Inside Job
The group made quite a grand entrance, but that had little to do with Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang.
The waiter quickly brought over a pot of tea, setting down two bowls and pouring for them.
"Enjoy, esteemed guests."
After speaking, he turned and went back to the kitchen. When he emerged again, he was already carrying a large tray.
It was filled to the brim with bowls of tea.
He walked up to the caravan and called out in a loud voice:
"Tea’s here!"
A group of guards immediately came forward, each taking a bowl and retreating to the shade of the trees to drink and chat.
Ye Jingshuang raised her tea bowl, but just as she was about to drink, she took a sniff and her brow furrowed slightly.
She quickly looked toward Jiang Ran.
She was stunned to see that he had already taken a sip.
"Don’t—"
Jiang Ran immediately gave her a meaningful look. His hand swept over the mouth of her bowl, leaving ripples on the surface of the tea.
A medicinal pill had instantly dissolved within it.
Ye Jingshuang’s heart skipped a beat.
She heard Jiang Ran whisper:
"It’s just Mind-Confusing Powder. This one pill is enough to counteract it."
Ye Jingshuang gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"A crooked inn?"
"They’re probably not after us."
"Have you taken the antidote, sir?"
Jiang Ran shook his head.
"I don’t need to... This stuff has a slightly sweet aftertaste. When I was a kid, I used to drink it like sweet tea."
Ye Jingshuang ducked her head, trying to hide her utter astonishment.
’Mind-Confusing Powder as sweet tea!’
’Is that something a human should be saying?’
Of course, Ye Jingshuang knew what Mind-Confusing Powder was.
It was mostly used by the dregs of the martial world. It could render a person unconscious, and upon waking, they would have a gap in their memory.
Coupled with its faint taste, which made it hard to detect, it was considered one of the more notable incapacitating drugs.
’What kind of person could drink this stuff like sweet tea?’
What she didn’t know was that in order to treat his "Nine Deaths Severed Meridians," the Old Drunkard had exhausted a thousand different methods. And though he had ultimately failed to cure the terminal condition...
...he had cultivated a special constitution within Jiang Ran.
It wouldn’t be right to say he was immune to all poisons, but most incapacitating drugs and toxins were useless against him.
Mere Mind-Confusing Powder, naturally, was nothing to him.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ran was surreptitiously observing the other group.
He saw Guard Geng, holding a bowl of cool tea, approach the sedan chair.
"My lady, please have some."
"I won’t be having any."
A gentle female voice came from inside the sedan chair.
"You all have some tea. Once you’re rested, we should get back on the road as soon as possible. The master is still waiting."
"Yes."
Guard Geng nodded and replied in acknowledgment.
He walked to the side, squatted down, and drank his tea.
Jiang Ran’s gaze lingered on Guard Geng for a moment before he turned back to his own tea.
Estimating that enough time had passed, he gave Ye Jingshuang a look, then with a THUD, he slumped onto the table. The tea bowl in his hand rolled off, hitting the ground with a CRACK.
The sound was like the shattering of a cup to signal an ambush.
Only, hundreds of axemen didn’t burst forth from the shadows.
Instead, the caravan’s guards collapsed to the ground one after another, leaving only Guard Geng standing there, staring blankly at the tea bowl in his hand.
At the same time, some of the other patrons in the teahouse all rose to their feet.
Together with the waiter, they approached Guard Geng and saluted him with cupped fists.
Just then, the sedan chair’s curtain stirred slightly, and the lady’s horrified voice rang out:
"Guard Geng... W-what’s happening?"
"There’s no need to worry, my lady."
Guard Geng walked slowly toward the sedan chair.
"The Second-in-Command has long admired you, my lady. He has ordered us to... invite you up the mountain for a visit."
As he spoke, he reached the sedan chair and extended a hand to pull back the curtain.
Suddenly, two piercing whooshes shot out from within the chair, the sound so sharp it threatened to rupture one’s eardrums.
Guard Geng would never in a million years have expected such a turn of events.
In his moment of stunned surprise, two blossoms of blood bloomed on his chest.
He was thrown backward, his face a mask of shock and fury.
"Cheng Jimo!? How can it be you? Where is the lady?"
This sudden twist, a betrayal from within, left both Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang completely stunned.
A moment ago, Ye Jingshuang had almost been unable to stop herself from intervening.
After all, she came from a prestigious and righteous line, and the Ye family was renowned for its chivalry. How could she stand by and do nothing while watching these conspirators attempt to abduct a noblewoman?
’But who would have thought the situation would turn so quickly!?’
"The lady is probably almost at Cangzhou Prefecture by now."
This time, the voice from the sedan chair was no longer that of a gentle woman, but a deep, resonant man’s voice.
The curtain parted, and a man dressed in plain white stepped out.
He looked to be in his thirties, with a broad, square face, thick eyebrows, and large, dignified eyes.
He stopped in front of the sedan chair, clasped his hands behind his back, and glanced at Guard Geng with a sigh.
"Geng Zhaoxing, you’ve always been a clever man. Why must you insist on seeking your own death?"
"This is impossible... I personally saw the lady into the sedan chair. When did you...?"
Geng Zhaoxing simply couldn’t believe it.
The waiter let out a cold snort.
"Brother Geng, stop wasting your breath on him. He’s all alone. Let’s kill him first."
Hearing this, Cheng Jimo shot him a sidelong glance.
"Noisy."
The word had barely left his lips when, without any perceptible movement, a series of whooshes filled the air as iron shuttles scattered in all directions.
The waiter was the first to be hit. He was just about to raise a defense when his body froze.
A hole the size of a Copper Coin had appeared on his forehead.
The others suffered the same fate. The man’s skill with hidden weapons was exquisite; the iron shuttles seemed to fly about randomly, but in truth there was exactly one for each person, and each one took a life.
Geng Zhaoxing’s face went pale, and he turned to flee.
But in the next instant, a hand landed on his shoulder.
The hand gripped him tight as Cheng Jimo’s voice came from right beside his ear:
"Where do you think you’re running? The master is still waiting at home, you know."
Geng Zhaoxing’s face was ashen. Cheng Jimo tapped his foot on the ground, about to leap away with his captive.
But at that exact moment, he suddenly looked up.
"Who’s there?"
High in the trees, a figure had been hiding quietly. Exposed by Cheng Jimo’s call, the person leaped into the air, clenched their right fist, and descended with a punch fully charged with power!
Cheng Jimo’s brow furrowed. With a flick of his wrist—WHIR—an iron shuttle shot straight toward the attacker’s fist.
However, the force behind the punch was extraordinary. The pressure from the fist’s momentum actually caused the iron shuttle to stop dead in mid-air.
But just then, the unexpected happened.
The shuttle, its path suddenly blocked, emitted a sharp CLICK. The next moment, streams of silver light shot out from within it.
The silver needles were as fast as lightning, vanishing into the attacker’s chest and abdomen in an instant. The person’s power immediately dissipated, and their body tumbled from the sky.
Cheng Jimo breathed a sigh of relief, a smile returning to his lips.
But just as the person was about to hit the ground, their body suddenly twisted, and they threw a thunderous punch.
"What?"
Cheng Jimo was astounded. ’After being hit by my hidden weapon, he’s completely fine!?’
Caught off guard, he could only throw a hasty punch in response.
BANG!
The two of them were sent flying back.
Cheng Jimo was quite skilled; even at a time like this, he didn’t forget about Geng Zhaoxing, dragging him along by the shoulder as he retreated.
After retreating about twenty feet, he finally regained his footing. Just as he was about to speak, a voice drifted over from the distance:
"Eh? Looks like there’s a fight going on here!
"Amitabha. Hold on there, everyone. This humble monk has a question for you all. Once I’m done, it won’t be too late to send you on your way."
...
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P.S. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of comments saying the Chapters are too short, that there’s not enough to read, and that they’re not as substantial as the Chapters in my last book...
Sigh, there’s nothing I can do about it for now.
This is the "new book period," so for the time being, this is how I have to release them. It was actually the same way with my last book during its new book period.
Only after it went premium did I switch to big 5,000-word Chapters.
If you want this book to have updates like my last one, you’ll also have to wait until after it goes premium.
Right now, all I (your pure author) can do is guarantee two Chapters updated on time, and then save up a backlog of Chapters for a mass release when the book goes premium~
During the new book period, the data is very important. It determines how far this book can go in the future.
So, if you guys think the Chapters are too short and want to let them "build up" before reading, that’s fine... But please, after an update, just do me a favor and flip through the new Chapter to the very end. This will give me a "follow-up read" data point.
Please don’t let this book fall by the wayside before it even gets to go premium. Your pure author kowtows in thanks!
