Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Heartless
Jiang Ran’s master was, naturally, the old drunkard who had found him in the snow twenty years ago and taken him home.
In Jiang Ran’s opinion, this master of his was truly a piece of work.
Despite his extraordinary skills in both medicine and swordsmanship, he was hopelessly devoted to a life of vice—swindling, cheating, whoring, and gambling.
He was especially fond of swindling... A con was never far from his lips.
Growing up, Jiang Ran had fallen for his tricks and been taken advantage of more times than he could count.
And because of this, Jiang Ran had often had to clean up his messes.
This time, the old drunkard’s call for help had come from Cangzhou Prefecture, telling Jiang Ran to get him out of the Tang family’s clutches there.
Jiang Ran’s first reaction was that his master had been caught running another scam and was being held captive.
But no matter what, even if the old drunkard was a scoundrel through and through, he was still the man who had raised him. He couldn’t just abandon him.
Therefore, even though his own life was hanging by a thread at the time, he had immediately packed his things and set out to rescue him.
Ye Jingshuang, not knowing the full story, couldn’t help but gasp when she heard this.
Jiang Ran’s Inner Energy was profound, making him an unfathomably powerful master.
Zhang Dongxuan, with his Black Death Infinite Hand, was known as ’Iron Palm Invincible’.
Yet Jiang Ran had killed him with a single palm strike.
’So just how skilled must his master be?’
’How could a man like that end up trapped in Cangzhou Prefecture?’
’When did Cangzhou Prefecture get so capable?’
As these wild thoughts ran through her mind, she heard Jiang Ran say with a smile:
"Since our destinations are the same, would you be willing to travel with me, Miss Ye? We can look out for each other."
Jiang Ran hadn’t said this on a whim, nor was it out of some chivalrous spirit.
Although he didn’t know the full story of what had happened to the Ye family, he could tell from the conversation between Zhang Dongxuan and Ye Jingshuang tonight that they were no ordinary family.
Zhang Dongxuan alone could never have annihilated the Ye family.
This meant that with Zhang Dongxuan’s failure and death tonight, there would likely be other pursuers close behind.
The journey to Cangzhou Prefecture would be anything but peaceful.
For an ordinary person, this was a situation to be avoided at all costs.
After all, to live a peaceful life in the martial world, one often had to live by a four-word principle: ’Mind your own business.’
But Jiang Ran was different.
If he minded his own business, he’d probably die soon.
And this ’Assassin System’ of his was practically designed to reward him for meddling.
Therefore, Jiang Ran felt that when it came to Ye Jingshuang’s troubles, the more, the merrier.
’This could very well be the medicine that saves my life!’
’At the same time, I can use this opportunity to properly probe the limits of this system of mine.’
Ye Jingshuang didn’t know what Jiang Ran was thinking. She only felt that he was bursting with heroic spirit. She was already trapped in a whirlpool of trouble, and his words were tantamount to telling her he would protect her all the way to Cangzhou Prefecture.
She took a deep breath.
"If Young Master Jiang doesn’t mind the constant trouble I’m in, then I couldn’t ask for more."
"Then it’s settled. With Zhang Dongxuan dead, things should be safe for now. You should treat your injuries first."
"Alright."
Ye Jingshuang said no more. She had fought through a series of battles tonight just to escape the encirclement.
Besides her internal injuries, she had many external wounds as well.
Even though she had used acupressure to stop the bleeding, leaving the wounds unattended would still lead to serious problems.
Ye Jingshuang casually tore off a strip of her dress, about to bandage her wounds.
Her bold and unrestrained manner was truly befitting of a martial heroine.
Seeing this, Jiang Ran quickly said:
"Wait."
"Hm?"
Ye Jingshuang glanced at Jiang Ran.
She saw Jiang Ran reach into his bundle and take out several small bottles and jars, as well as fine cloth for bandages and other items.
It looked like a very complete kit.
Ye Jingshuang was a little surprised.
"You carry these things with you normally?"
"When you wander the martial world, it pays to be prepared."
As Jiang Ran spoke, he took out a small, palm-sized wooden box. When he opened it, a fragrant medicinal scent immediately wafted out.
"This is a hemostatic and muscle-regenerating balm. It works quite well. Your clothes are soaked with blood and rain; using them to bandage your wounds could easily lead to infection."
"Infection?"
Ye Jingshuang looked confused.
"It’s... uh, never mind. It’s not important. Don’t worry about it."
Jiang Ran waved his hand and handed her his wine gourd. "There should be a proper distance between men and women. You should do it yourself, Miss."
"Alright."
Ye Jingshuang nodded, immediately turned around, loosened her clothes, and began to treat her wounds.
In her eyes, Jiang Ran was a chivalrous and righteous gentleman who would never take advantage of her situation.
Jiang Ran paid her no mind. He turned around, checked Zhang Dongxuan’s body, and after a quick search, found ten taels of silver.
He shamelessly pocketed the silver.
After fumbling around for another moment, he found that besides a few bottles of healing pills, the only other thing on the man was a palm-sized Token.
The Token was jet-black and heavy, and its material seemed rather unique.
The craftsmanship was exquisite, with a ring of embossed carvings around the edge depicting various skulls and demonic heads.
On the front was a large, engraved character for ’Order,’ and on the back was the single word ’Heartless.’
"Heartless Order..."
Jiang Ran murmured the words aloud, but he didn’t understand their meaning.
But Ye Jingshuang, who had her back to Jiang Ran while treating her wounds, shuddered violently upon hearing those two words. Forgetting she was still applying medicine, she immediately turned around.
"The Heartless Order?"
Jiang Ran looked up to see Ye Jingshuang with her robes half-undone, her fragrant shoulders exposed. He quickly covered his eyes and said faintly:
"Miss Ye, you don’t have to get even by letting me have a look..."
’To be honest, as a Transmigrator, seeing a little scene like this is no big deal.’
’In his past life, Jiang Ran’s computer hard drive had plenty of practical tutorials. This little glimpse of skin was hardly what you’d call a major event.’
’But you can’t look at it that way.’
’This era, after all, is different from my past life.’
’People of the martial world are one thing, but ordinary folk still stress the importance of propriety between the sexes.’
’It might not be so extreme that a touch of clothing means a loss of virtue, but it’s still not something to be taken lightly.’
’I don’t care myself, but I have to consider others.’
"Ah!"
Ye Jingshuang came to her senses and quickly covered herself, unable to resist retorting:
"I didn’t!"
After she said it, she felt her face flush. Even for a woman of the martial world, her actions had been a little too careless.
But thinking of what Jiang Ran had just said, she couldn’t help but ask:
"Young Master, what you just mentioned... was it the Heartless Order?"
"I found a Token on Zhang Dongxuan’s body."
Jiang Ran said, "Please take a look, Miss."
With a flick of his wrist, he sent the Token flying over to Ye Jingshuang.
Ye Jingshuang reached out and caught it, but her expression changed.
She felt the force of Jiang Ran’s throw was considerable; her wrist was faintly numb.
But when she saw the object in her palm, her face darkened.
"It really is the Heartless Order... Could tonight’s events be related to the Heartless Ghost Mansion?"
"The Heartless Ghost Mansion? What’s that?"
"You... don’t know, Young Master?"
Ye Jingshuang’s eyes widened in disbelief again.
The Heartless Ghost Mansion had a considerable reputation in the martial world. While not quite a household name, anyone with a bit of experience in the martial world would have heard of it.
’Jiang Ran is a powerful and unfathomable martial artist, yet he’s never heard of it?’
...
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