Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Brothers in the Stronghold

Luckily, Jiang Ran managed to hold back.

After all, the man just enjoyed reading ’local gazettes’. It wasn’t a crime punishable by death.

The Seventh Chieftain, Hua Wushang, chuckled lightly.

"Let me, let me! But let’s be clear, this book is mine afterward."

"What lofty ambitions you have."

Guan Miaomiao shot him a sideways glance. Hua Wushang just smiled faintly, his hand moving to his saber hilt, about to draw.

Suddenly, however, he sensed a flash of light erupt in the corner of his eye.

He whipped his head around, but it was too late.

The light swept across his neck in an instant. Hua Wushang’s saber, drawn only half an inch, stopped there.

A perfectly good head flew into the air, and Jiang Ran caught it in one hand.

A look of utter shock was still frozen on Hua Wushang’s face.

"Wushang!!!"

Guan Miaomiao’s eyes widened in fury. With a flick of her hand, two shadows—one black, one red—shot straight toward Jiang Ran.

She herself lunged forward, trying to snatch Hua Wushang’s head away.

Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow. He opened his hand, and two venomous snakes struggled and coiled between his fingers.

"I’ll give these to the old drunkard to steep in wine later."

As he spoke, he tapped his toes on the ground. A series of shifting afterimages appeared as he somersaulted over Guan Miaomiao’s charging attack.

After landing, he flicked his wrist and tossed the head in his hand to Guan Miaomiao.

"Catch!"

Guan Miaomiao’s heart trembled. With a panicked and cautious expression, she reached out to catch the head.

But unexpectedly, the instant her hands touched the head, another hand broke through the barrier of her arms and clamped down on her throat.

"You!!"

Only then did Guan Miaomiao realize she had fallen for Jiang Ran’s vicious trap.

Jiang Ran feigned a look of sudden understanding.

"So you were in love with him."

"I..."

Guan Miaomiao had only uttered a single word when a CRACK was heard. Her head lolled to one side, and she died on the spot.

"Since you love him, I’ll send you to see him."

Guan Miaomiao’s body fell to the ground. Her hair squirmed, and countless venomous snakes and insects crawled out from it.

"That’s the third one."

Jiang Ran ignored the snakes and insects, taking a quick mental tally.

’The first was Huang Hai, the second was Hua Wushang, and the third was Guan Miaomiao.’

Of the Feiyun Stronghold chieftains who came to the Heroic Assembly today, there were only six.

Zuo Kuangge was currently tied up with Li Tianxin, unable to spare any attention for anything else.

Huang Hai was down to his last breath but hadn’t expired yet.

Jiang Ran had killed two more in the blink of an eye, leaving only a dumbfounded Sun Dashan and Jade Mountain People.

Of the several dozen people still standing in the arena, most were wandering martial artists, with few bandits among them.

At this moment, all of them were completely stunned.

Everything had happened too fast, and Jiang Ran was far too cunning.

He had killed Hua Wushang with a sudden sneak attack. Hua Wushang didn’t even have time to realize what was happening, dying under the Nine Blades without using a single one of his signature techniques.

Afterward, he exploited Guan Miaomiao’s affection for Hua Wushang, using the man’s severed head as a lure to throw her into emotional turmoil.

Only then did he strike and kill her in one move.

His methods and scheming could only be described as ruthless.

"You rat! How dare you!!"

Zuo Kuangge watched this unfold, his rage becoming uncontrollable.

He couldn’t help but roar in fury. The internal energy around his body erupted, and the very ground seemed to tremble faintly.

Li Tianxin’s brow furrowed slightly. As his blade descended, he felt the protective aura become like a swamp, his edge sinking into it, unable to advance even an inch.

Zuo Kuangge then launched a kick. Li Tianxin didn’t dare block it head-on. With a flick of his saber, he shifted his position three times in quick succession to evade the kick’s trajectory.

Zuo Kuangge didn’t press his advantage. Instead, he leaped back to his Cold Iron Double-bladed Spear, snatched it up, and launched himself toward Jiang Ran, ready to kill.

He was long past incensed, his entire being radiating a heavy and ferocious aura.

He was like a fierce tiger descending a mountain, looking for someone to devour.

But a blade’s gleam suddenly rose from an oblique angle. Zuo Kuangge glanced down sharply. It was that persistent Li Tianxin again, like a lingering ghost.

He nodded repeatedly.

"I’ll take your life!!!"

His temperament was brutish and cruel. Now, with the Cold Iron Double-bladed Spear in hand, he believed no one present could possibly be his match.

Once he killed this Li Tianxin, he would avenge his sworn brothers.

At that same moment, a shout reached his ears.

"Second Chieftain, I’m here to help you!"

He turned his head and immediately recognized the man as one of his stronghold brothers, so he laughed heartily.

"Good! After this, you’ll be the Eighth Chieftain of the stronghold."

"Thank you for the promotion, Second Chieftain."

The newcomer laughed and charged toward Li Tianxin right behind Zuo Kuangge.

He clenched one hand into a fist, and in that instant, it felt as if all the surrounding air was being drawn into his palm.

Zuo Kuangge was a true expert. Sensing the change in the surrounding aura, he instantly knew this stronghold brother possessed great martial skill. He was just about to praise him for hiding his talents so well...

...when he felt an incredibly heavy gust of force shoot straight for the Dazhui acupoint on the back of his neck.

By the time he realized something was wrong, it was a step too late. His skin and flesh suddenly caved in and contracted as he shot forward.

With that contraction and lunge, he had dodged the vast majority of the fist’s power.

Even so, the remaining force still made his head ring. He staggered forward several steps, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

He looked up again just as a blade flashed before his eyes. He hastily dodged in the direction of the attack, but blood still sprayed into the air.

When he steadied himself, a vicious gash, deep enough to show bone, was visible running from his left waist all the way to his right shoulder.

Zuo Kuangge didn’t even glance at his own wound. He fixed his gaze on his ’stronghold brother’ and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Who in the hell are you?"

"I’m a bandit of Feiyun Stronghold, of course, Second Chieftain."

Qingyi looked at Zuo Kuangge and smiled faintly.

"Second Chieftain, your Great Barbarian Skill is truly incredible.

"Years ago... my late father was ’fortunate’ enough to experience this skill, causing his blood and qi to boil and rupture his heart meridians.

"Even the coroner could only say that he... died of a heart ailment.

"All of this was a ’gift’ from you, Second Chieftain. This subordinate has not dared to forget it for a single moment."

"Nonsense! I’ve always killed my enemies openly and honorably. When did I ever..."

He spoke up to this point, then suddenly stopped. He slowly raised his head, his eyes faintly tinged with red.

"You’re the son of Luo Yuanjie, the former magistrate of Cangzhou Prefecture?"

As soon as these words were spoken, an uproar erupted in the arena.

The venue wasn’t empty; it wasn’t just these few people putting on a one-man show.

The attending wandering martial artists and the bandits of Feiyun Stronghold were all sitting on the ground, watching the drama unfold.

Hearing Zuo Kuangge’s words, they couldn’t help but start murmuring among themselves again.

"Lord Luo? Who’s Lord Luo?"

"The first magistrate who gathered the Government Soldiers to attack Feiyun Stronghold."

"It was always said that Lord Luo was in the prime of his life. How could he have died from a heart ailment? He was clearly murdered by this villain."

"Thank goodness, thank goodness, he has a son who survived. For him to disguise himself as a bandit... what a heavy burden he has borne in silence."

Rong Lie couldn’t help but look at Qingyi.

"Lord Luo’s son?

"You’re actually Lord Luo’s son?"

Ever since the Feiyun Stronghold group arrived, the Great Master had been writing furiously in his book.

He seemed not to have noticed any of the changes happening in the arena.

Hearing this, however, even he couldn’t resist glancing at Qingyi.