Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Didn’t Check the Almanac
Watching Steward Liu leave, Jiang Ran glanced down at the meat in his bowl.
"Your Excellency is so decisive. Aren’t you afraid that what I just said might be untrue?"
"You’ve had your say. How I choose to judge the matter is my own prerogative."
The Prefect glanced at Jiang Ran.
"You’ve achieved your goal. You may leave."
"There is one more thing I’d like to know..."
Jiang Ran looked up at the Prefect before him.
"Speak."
"Can Your Excellency stomach this meat?"
"I can."
The Prefect replied without looking up.
"As long as it’s meat that has landed in my pot, there’s nothing I can’t stomach."
"Good."
Jiang Ran smiled.
"I’ll leave Gu Mosheng in your hands, Your Excellency. Finish up quickly and get some rest. I’ll take my leave now."
True to his word, he didn’t linger, turning to leave immediately.
The Prefect took a deep breath, looked at the meat in the pot, and grinned. He picked up the strainer skimmer from the side and scooped it all up in one go, a clean sweep.
"Delicious..."
...
...
The situation in Cangzhou Prefecture was precarious.
It had been this way for three years, ever since Lord Luo was killed in a failed attempt to suppress the local bandits.
Feiyun Stronghold was a thorn in Cangzhou Prefecture’s side.
In the years that followed, three successive prefects were either assassinated or investigated and removed from office.
During this time, Li Feiyun had been secretly expanding his power, and Feiyun Stronghold grew stronger by the day.
Both the Qinghe Gang and the Sunset Gang were his claws and fangs, reaching into Cangzhou Prefecture and acting as jackals for the tiger.
To be honest, Feiyun Stronghold was, at this point, the uncrowned king of Cangzhou Prefecture.
The only reason they had not yet taken Cangzhou Prefecture was their fear of one thing, and one thing only... the Court!
No matter how powerful a mountain stronghold was, they were, in the end, just a band of thieves. The Court wouldn’t go to the trouble of mobilizing a large army just to wipe out some mountain bandits.
But what if those thieves committed treason?
Then a great army would surely be sent to besiege and destroy them!
The moment he truly took Cangzhou Prefecture, Li Feiyun would no longer be a mere bandit king, but a rebel!
From then on, not only would the Court have a just cause to dispatch its troops, but the righteous heroes of the martial world could also rally under the banner of assisting in the rebel’s extermination.
Anyone who managed to take Li Feiyun’s head would see their fame skyrocket.
In other words, if Li Feiyun dared to make a move on Cangzhou Prefecture, he would be courting death and inviting endless trouble upon himself.
And Li Feiyun was well aware of this.
Otherwise, how could he have remained inactive for the past three years?
It was precisely because he understood the consequences that he had only dared to kill prefects, not make a move on Cangzhou Prefecture itself.
But now, things were different...
Gu Mosheng had made it very clear: Li Feiyun’s target was now Cangzhou Prefecture.
This meant he was no longer afraid.
According to Gu Mosheng, this all changed after he obtained the [Blood Cauldron Scripture].
But the martial world was full of masters. Merely obtaining one of the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records—what gave him such audacity?
If the man hadn’t fried his brain from his training, then there had to be some other shadow looming over Cangzhou Prefecture.
Jiang Ran believed the key might lie in the origin of this [Blood Cauldron Scripture].
Unfortunately, that was something Gu Mosheng didn’t know either.
But there was one point... from the very beginning, he had never really cared whether the prefect took action or not.
He hadn’t even taken this Heroic Assembly seriously, merely seeing it as a convenient opportunity.
It was because the Prefect understood this point that he had just resolved to eliminate the Sunset Gang first.
Once this move was made, Li Feiyun would surely notice.
On the fifteenth of the seventh month, if he didn’t come to Cangzhou Prefecture, the Heroic Assembly would proceed as scheduled.
At that time, a group of martial arts experts would attack the mountain, while the Prefect would strike from the shadows, launching a hard-and-fast assault on Feiyun Stronghold.
This was the plan everyone could see.
And with the Sunset Gang eliminated, there would be one less group of jackals serving the tiger, which would help keep Cangzhou Prefecture safe.
But if Li Feiyun did come... it would mean there was indeed a hidden hand at play, and that he had another source of support.
It would be better to take precautions early and prepare a backup plan.
Otherwise, even if they hadn’t tipped their hand, if some other incident occurred at a critical moment, a situation that was almost a sure victory could turn into a crushing defeat!
In this world of schemes, no one could guarantee a perfect plan. The best strategy was to make adjustments according to different situations as they arose.
Of course, it was also possible that Li Feiyun had simply fried his brain from his training.
Running to Cangzhou Prefecture to seek his own death... this was an outcome that both Jiang Ran and the current Prefect would be delighted to see.
As Jiang Ran walked back to the inn, he reviewed the entire situation in Cangzhou Prefecture in his mind.
He couldn’t help but feel that the hearts of men were truly unfathomable.
Things looked one way on the surface, but in reality, they were far from simple.
Beneath the surface, there might be hidden whirlpools... Only by peeling back all the superficial layers could one see the truth.
And in this whole affair, the only thing that could be called a true surprise was probably the Tang family.
Jiang Ran sighed at the thought.
’Those people... as unpredictable as ghosts and gods.’
’I’ve only just entered the martial world. How did I run into them already?’
But as he thought this, the idea itself felt strange... This was the martial world, not some hero-versus-dragon tale where opponents lined up level by level, waiting for you to defeat them and level up.
There would always be unexpected situations; this was the fundamental unpredictability of the martial world.
A passerby you brush past could be a supreme master; a beggar on the street might be a great thief who has killed countless people.
Where were the fixed rules? What logic dictated that a newcomer to the martial world would never encounter a top-tier master?
And just as he was thinking this, he realized he was running into an exceptional number of incidents tonight.
DING DING DING DING! A continuous, crisp sound echoed from a nearby street.
Jiang Ran leaped onto a rooftop and hurried in that direction.
A moment later, he saw three people fighting fiercely in the street below.
Two of them were ganging up on the third... The one being attacked wore plain white clothes, now stained with blood. He had a square face, thick brows, and large, dignified-looking eyes...
Cheng Jimo!
Jiang Ran froze.
’How is he getting beaten up again?’
As the thought crossed his mind, he saw a pair of bare hands repeatedly strike out against a flurry of feather-like needles.
This person’s movements were not fast; every palm strike was perfectly clear to see.
Yet, these slow-moving palms managed to block every single needle, either by catching them or swatting them aside.
Jiang Ran knew the needles contained hidden mechanisms, but strangely, this person’s palm energy made contact with the flying projectiles without triggering them at all.
’Such gentle palm energy...’
Jiang Ran saw the trick. It wasn’t just that the man’s palm energy was gentle; his Body Technique was also extremely bizarre.
It was as gentle as water, yet all-pervasive.
Combined with his palm energy, this person’s skills alone forced Cheng Jimo to focus with every fiber of his being.
Then, a voice came from the side:
"Take this!"
Cheng Jimo spun around just as a wooden staff came crashing down from above.
Instead of retreating, he advanced, taking seven quick steps forward to close the distance. His hands moved in a flurry of strikes and pokes, using a compact and refined close-quarters technique.
The staff-wielder seemed not to have expected Cheng Jimo to be so bold. Before his staff had even completed its swing, Cheng Jimo had already landed several pokes and strikes on him.
However, where the blows landed, the man didn’t move an inch. Instead, a hollow sound emanated from his chest and abdomen.
It was as if Cheng Jimo wasn’t hitting a person... but a hollow piece of wood.
On the contrary, it was Cheng Jimo who felt an unbearable pain in his hands. A rebounding force even made him vomit blood.
Just as he was about to collapse, the staff reached the top of his head.
His heart sank, knowing that death was certain.
Just as he closed his eyes to await his death, he heard a DING, and a single saber had parried the staff.
With a surge of Creation True Qi, the man with the wooden staff was instantly struck as if by lightning. He yanked his arm back and retreated, shaking his hand repeatedly, his face filled with horror.
"Creation True Qi? I must not have checked the almanac before leaving tonight. Did I just run into a ghost?"
