Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Judging Heroes by Martial Arts

By this time, just about everyone who was coming had arrived.

The entire venue was packed to the gills.

As the cry "Shopkeeper Wan has arrived!" rang out, the crowd immediately parted.

Everyone’s eyes followed the path that opened up, and they saw a slightly portly, middle-aged man, dripping with jewels and finery, slowly approaching.

As he walked, he clasped his fists to those on either side, smiling and offering pleasantries like, "Thank you for your long journey," "I’ve heard so much about you," and "Your presence brings light to my humble home."

This was the man who had stirred up a storm in Cangzhou and created the grand spectacle of the day: Shopkeeper Wan.

Shopkeeper Wan’s smile was warm and inviting, and he had the perfect bearing of a wealthy patriarch. He looked at everyone with an amiable expression that seemed to say "amity breeds wealth."

Behind him followed eight people wearing white masks.

This group was composed of both men and women of various builds. Their auras were restrained and their steps were steady—they were clearly no ordinary individuals.

In the blink of an eye, the group had arrived on the high platform.

Shopkeeper Wan clasped his fists to the crowd and began to speak:

"Everyone, everyone!

"My name is Wanjiang, and I am but a humble merchant in this Cangzhou Prefecture.

"To be frank... we merchants usually keep our distance from the martial world. To be emulating the great heroes by sending out these hero’s invitations, asking you all to be guests of the Wan family... it truly fills my heart with apprehension.

"I was afraid that you heroes would look down upon the stench of money that clings to me and be unwilling to come and share a few cups of wine.

"Now, seeing this hall full of esteemed guests, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"I, Wanjiang, thank you all in advance!"

He knew no martial arts and couldn’t project his voice with Inner Strength, so he had to shout these words until he was hoarse.

Fortunately, the venue was relatively quiet, so everyone was able to hear him clearly.

When his voice fell, a smattering of cheers and jeers naturally arose from the crowd.

After the commotion died down for a moment, Shopkeeper Wan gestured for silence and continued:

"As you all know, outside Cangzhou Prefecture there is a mountain called Feiyun Mountain, and on that mountain is a fortress known as Feiyun Stronghold!

"Its leader, Li Feiyun, is a powerful martial artist who has claimed the mountain as his own kingdom.

"’No traveler passes, only corpses are found...’ His methods are cruel and utterly appalling, and the common people in the surrounding area have suffered terribly under his tyranny.

"The magistrate of Cangzhou Prefecture turns a blind eye to this, but as a citizen of the Golden Cicada Dynasty, I cannot sit by and watch such a vile brigand wreak havoc!

"As the saying goes... ’When poor, one improves themself; when prosperous, one improves the world!’

"I am untalented and would not dare call myself ’prosperous,’ but I do possess some meager wealth.

"I am willing to trade my entire fortune for peace and security for the people of this region!"

Hearing this, the crowd couldn’t help but look at each other in surprise.

Jiang Ran, however, just raised an eyebrow slightly. He then saw Shopkeeper Wan wave a hand.

"Unveil it!"

The next moment, several men pulled the red cloths off the large boards positioned around the venue.

The text written on them was immediately revealed to all.

The first thing they saw was the name of the Stronghold Leader, Li Feiyun, followed by massive characters announcing a reward: one thousand taels of gold!

Further down, the other six chieftains of Feiyun Stronghold were all listed.

Each one had a price on their head.

And below that, it was specified that during this battle, killing a single bandit would earn a reward of ten taels of silver.

The methods for providing proof and exchanging it for the reward were all written out in clear detail.

After the crowd had finished reading the bounty boards, Shopkeeper Wan continued speaking:

"I know full well that all of you who came here did so out of a burning passion for justice, not for these ’yellow and white things.’

"However, this is no small matter. Aside from this stench of money I carry, I truly have no other way to repay you. I can only ask for your forgiveness."

He said this part rather matter-of-factly.

Then he began to list the ten great crimes of Feiyun Stronghold.

His speech was passionate and stirred the blood.

Jiang Ran sat at his table, listening quietly to Shopkeeper Wan, his gaze placid.

Among the crowd, the more discerning people had already understood.

Shopkeeper Wan’s so-called hero’s invitation had gathered quite a few people, but there weren’t actually many who were truly famous or reputable.

After all, his status was limited. If the Sect Leader of the Dao Yi Sect had issued the hero’s invitation, it’s likely that every renowned martial artist in the entire Golden Cicada Dynasty would have gathered.

Fortunately, Shopkeeper Wan didn’t need such highly reputable experts.

Feiyun Stronghold was formidable, but the ones with the highest martial skill were still the few leaders at the top.

The real trouble was the sheer number of bandits in Feiyun Stronghold.

Their martial arts weren’t great, but there were a great many of them.

For just one or two martial arts experts to try and take them all down would be a fool’s errand.

Therefore, what Shopkeeper Wan really wanted were ’soldiers’ who could each take on ten enemies.

Among the martial artists who roamed the lands, while there were undoubtedly some knights-errant whose minds were filled with chivalry...

...most people were still primarily concerned with filling their own stomachs.

Fighting a bloody battle on the mountain only to receive a lukewarm "thank you" at the end was far less gratifying than holding a heavy gold ingot.

Presumably, even if some felt that Shopkeeper Wan’s use of money to measure their chivalry was a great insult...

...very few would actually leave.

After Shopkeeper Wan finished his speech, the hero’s gathering proceeded to its scheduled event.

A contest of martial arts to determine a champion, who would then lead the assembled group.

Aside from that, a feast of fine wine and delicacies was served. In Shopkeeper Wan’s own words, it was... "a humble offering of simple wine and food, just to show my sincerity."

Following that, servants and maids from the Wan Mansion swarmed into the venue, carrying trays laden with fine food and wine, serving each table one by one.

Dao Wuming seemed to have been waiting for this exact moment. Seeing the table laden with delicacies, he snatched up his chopsticks and dug in.

Seeing how heartily he was eating, Li Tianxin wanted to have a bite too, but after a glance at Jiang Ran, she suddenly lost her appetite.

Jiang Ran, on the other hand, picked up his wine cup with a faint smile. He stared at the cup for a moment before smiling again and placing it back on the table.

"Brother Jiang, you’re not eating?"

Dao Wuming glanced at Jiang Ran.

"A banquet at the Wan Mansion isn’t something you get to eat every day. I heard the head chef in his kitchen is a former Imperial Chef from the palace."

"His skills... ordinary people would never get to taste something like this.

"This humble student came here precisely for this reason."

Jiang Ran shot him a look.

"You’re just going to eat like that? Aren’t you afraid someone poisoned it?"

"Who would have the opportunity to poison the food at an event like this?"

Dao Wuming chuckled.

"Shopkeeper Wan has the opportunity, of course, but he gathered all these people to deal with Feiyun Stronghold, not to ambush and kill us.

"Feiyun Stronghold might want to poison us, but they’d have no chance of sneaking into the Wan family’s kitchens.

"Therefore, this food is definitely not poisoned."

After saying this, he even drank a cup of wine, his face full of confidence.

Jiang Ran gave Dao Wuming a thoughtful look and nodded.

"Then please, Brother Dao, eat up."

At the same time, someone drank a cup of wine, smashed the cup, and leaped onto the stage, declaring he wanted to "cast a brick to attract jade"—to get the ball rolling.

Immediately, someone else went up on stage to challenge him.

At this point, the hero’s gathering was finally getting a little interesting.

Jiang Ran’s gaze slowly moved away from the dueling figures and shifted toward Shopkeeper Wan’s side of the stage.

He scanned across the eight masks one by one, his eyes finally landing on Shopkeeper Wan’s face.

His gaze sharpened slightly, his intent like a blade aimed at the point between the shopkeeper’s brows.

The wealthy patriarch suddenly turned his head, his eyes meeting Jiang Ran’s.

Their gazes met and broke away in an instant.

The corners of Jiang Ran’s mouth curled up slightly, but his eyes held a faint, chilling light.