Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Chapter 55: Chapter 55: Poisoned

Huang Hai’s kick was swift and sudden.

His leg cast a flurry of afterimages, making it impossible to tell the real from the fake.

A slight smile touched Jiang Ran’s lips. He flipped his palm, his fingers hooking like talons.

His hand shot out, weaving perfectly between the real and illusory kicks, and latched onto Huang Hai’s ankle.

Blood splattered, and he was left holding a chunk of torn flesh.

Huang Hai’s leg was now a gory mess.

His eyes shot wide open. He couldn’t believe that in a single exchange, his leg had been crippled.

But before he could react, a tight grip seized his other leg. An immense force followed, yanking his entire body off the ground as Jiang Ran’s cold voice rang out:

"You want to step on my head?!"

As he spoke, he swung Huang Hai in a full circle through the air and slammed him violently into the ground!

THUMP!!

It was as if a hammer had slammed into the chests of everyone present.

Huang Hai’s body convulsed. The impact felt like it had driven the very last breath from his lungs.

His entire head was ringing.

But Jiang Ran wasn’t finished...

’In his previous life, he’d often seen it on TV—at martial arts tournaments or contests for a bride’s hand, some master would use a Lightweight Technique, flying through the air by stepping on people’s heads.’

’It always looked incredibly cool, but he’d never stopped to consider how the person being stepped on must feel.’

’Jiang Ran had been in this world for twenty years, and this was his first Heroic Assembly. He’d never expected to actually meet someone who wanted to use his head as a stepping stone.’

’Putting aside the fact that this man already had a bounty on his head, even if he didn’t... Jiang Ran wasn’t about to tolerate this disrespect.’

Jiang Ran’s Creation True Qi surged, locking Huang Hai’s meridians. Heavily injured, Huang Hai was paralyzed.

He was helpless as Jiang Ran swung him in another arc, smashing him from one side to the other.

Jiang Ran didn’t stop there. He slammed him down twice more.

Only then did he finally relent.

Huang Hai was utterly motionless, with blood trickling slowly from his seven orifices.

His unblinking eyes stared blankly, as if he were already dead.

In that instant, the entire assembly fell deathly silent.

Even the newly arrived group from Feiyun Stronghold seemed to forget what they were supposed to do.

The Red-haired Vajra, Zuo Kuangge, snapped out of his stupor and hastily shouted:

"Stop!"

The shout came too late. Jiang Ran glanced down at Huang Hai, lying on the ground like a dead dog, and then shot the Red-haired Vajra a look.

"Are you blind?"

’Otherwise, how could you not see I’ve already stopped?’

"You!!"

When had the Red-haired Vajra ever been ridiculed so openly?

A fire ignited in his heart, but just then, he heard cries of admiration from the crowd.

"Excellent! Well done, young hero!"

"Incredible skill! The Blood Vulture, Huang Hai, is a master in his own right, yet he couldn’t even withstand a single move."

"With a hero like him here, these villains have just walked right into a trap by coming here today!"

The leaders of Feiyun Stronghold had appeared so abruptly, and the Red-haired Vajra had nearly killed Fei Qingbo with a single blow.

The sudden turn of events had left everyone feeling unsettled, wondering where this group got their audacity.

But now, seeing Jiang Ran’s incredible display of power, their morale was instantly bolstered.

The Red-haired Vajra, Zuo Kuangge, swept a cold gaze over the crowd.

"What... you think just because some reckless brat showed up, you all have a chance to survive?"

"I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean by that, Second-in-Command."

Rong Lie slowly rose to his feet, his cold gaze fixed on the Red-haired Vajra.

"The heroes of the land have gathered here precisely to deal with your Feiyun Stronghold. You’ve willingly walked into a trap, yet you claim *we* have no chance of survival? Isn’t that utterly ridiculous?"

"A gathering of heroes?"

Hearing this, Zuo Kuangge reacted as if he’d just heard the funniest joke in the world.

He glanced up at the sky, but his eyes settled on Jiang Ran.

"What’s your name?"

"The name is Jiang Ran."

Jiang Ran didn’t even look up, simply flicking the blood from his hands.

’This set of Kun’s Thirteen Maniacal Claws was a truly formidable technique, but it had one drawback: it was always a bloody affair and looked terribly messy.’

"Good."

The Red-haired Vajra said coolly:

"You’ve harmed a man of my Feiyun Stronghold. You’ll pay for that with your life!"

"Zuo Kuangge! This is Cangzhou Prefecture, the estate of the Wan family! We will not allow you to run rampant here!"

Rong Lie took two steps forward, a murderous glint in his eyes.

"Cangzhou Prefecture? The Wan family estate? So what?"

Zuo Kuangge sneered.

"There is nowhere under the heavens where my Feiyun Stronghold dares not run wild!

"Where are the men of Feiyun Stronghold!?"

His sharp cry thundered in all directions.

His words stunned everyone present. Then, a single voice roared out from the crowd:

"We’re here, Second-in-Command!!"

That cry was just the beginning. One by one, other voices rose from within the crowd in response.

"Hahaha, I’ve been waiting for this! Time for a massacre!"

"There are a lot of pretty sword-maidens here today. We’ve already got our eyes on a few. We’ll send a couple over to the Seventh Boss later, as a little gift from us."

"Cangzhou Prefecture is the life! This prosperous city is way better than the mountains. Master Yu said once we take Cangzhou Prefecture, we get three days of free plunder! All the good stuff will be ours!"

They were mountain bandits through and through—unruly, undisciplined, and spewing vulgarities.

Hearing Zuo Kuangge’s summons, they didn’t respond in unison. Instead, they shouted out one after another, their boorish arrogance on full display.

"What’s going on?"

"They’re from Feiyun Stronghold?"

"They infiltrated our ranks!?"

"Shopkeeper Wan!?"

All eyes turned to Wanjiang. He had already risen to his feet, surrounded by the eight masked figures who served as his bodyguards.

Wanjiang’s face was ashen.

"This... how could this be?"

Rong Lie glanced back at him and took a deep breath. ’This merchant has clearly never witnessed a situation of this magnitude.’

He immediately called out in a loud, clear voice:

"Everyone, remain calm!

"The scoundrels of Feiyun Stronghold are certainly resourceful to have infiltrated our assembly.

"But now that they have revealed themselves, there is nothing to fear!

"By doing this... they have simply walked into a trap! They’ve sealed their own doom!"

"That’s right!"

"Hall Master Rong is right."

"There are more of us than them. What’s there to fear?"

Rong Lie’s speech managed to restore a sliver of confidence to the Jianghu people, whose courage had been shaken.

But Zuo Kuangge just shook his head slowly.

"A rabble. You’re nothing but a joke.

"You couldn’t possibly think our plan ends here, could you?"

"You... there’s more?"

Rong Lie’s expression shifted.

Zuo Kuangge, however, just furrowed his brow.

"By my calculations, it’s about time."

"Time?"

Hearing this, Rong Lie’s heart lurched. He whipped his head around to look at the crowd.

He saw a man’s face suddenly turn pale before he slowly crumpled to the ground.

"What’s going on... I... I’ve suddenly lost all my strength..."

It was as if the condition was contagious.

After the first one fell, others followed, one after another.

In the blink of an eye, only a few dozen scattered people were left standing in the entire venue.

Now, everyone was completely stunned.

Especially the bandits from Feiyun Stronghold:

"Second-in-Command... we... why are we poisoned, too?"