Jiang Moran looked at him somewhat speechlessly. Why was he introducing himself? It wasn't as if Jiang Moran wanted to get to know him.
“Let's go. It's time to eat.”
“Wait for me, Senior.”
Yan Xie froze. Seeing that the two of them were actually leaving to eat, he shifted his feet and blocked their path once more.
“You guys are being really impolite, you know,” Yan Xie said with a look of dejection, though his expression remained incredibly bizarre.
“None of your business.”
“But I want to get to know you!” Yan Xie said, suddenly looking aggrieved. At the same time, he swiftly pulled out the nunchucks at his waist and swung them toward Jiang Moran.
“Yan Xie!” Fengqingzi bellowed with a dark expression, drawing his sword to block Yan Xie's attack.
“So arrogant?” Jiang Moran raised an eyebrow slightly, then patted Fengqingzi's shoulder. “Little Feng, kill him for me.”
Hearing this, Fengqingzi sighed softly and held his long sword across his chest.
This was a trump card he rarely used. Since the senior had spoken up today, and although Yan Xie was a lunatic, his strength was not inferior to his own.
There was no helping it; this strike had to make the senior look at him in a whole new light!
Fengqingzi exhaled softly. The breath split in two as it approached his long sword. Everything around them seemed to stand still, with only the faint, ephemeral hum of a sword echoing.
Yan Xie's pupils shrank at the sight. He pulled his nunchucks back into his hands, bracing himself with full alertness.
He could tell that Fengqingzi was starting to get serious.
The wind died down, and the falling leaves froze in midair. Not a single sound could be heard, but in Yan Xie's eyes, a long sword was rapidly expanding.
This strike was silent and stealthy, cutting through the air and slicing through the chilly breeze.
Yan Xie's body reacted faster than his brain. He swung his nunchucks out violently, clashing against the blade with a deafening metallic clang.
At the same time, a massive force traveled along the blade to Fengqingzi's hand. The wound he had previously sustained at the Prince's Residence tore open once more, and blood seeped from the web of his thumb.
Fengqingzi let out a muffled groan. His entire arm felt completely numb, but this time, he did not let the long sword slip from his grasp.
“Hahaha! Let's see how you protect him this time!” Yan Xie laughed triumphantly. Seizing this opportunity, he bypassed Fengqingzi and charged forward.
He was going to crack this impolite fellow's head wide open!
Fengqingzi made no further move to stop him. He simply closed his eyes, resigning himself to the outcome.
—Thud!
After a dull thud, there came the sound of a heavy fall, followed by some painful groans.
Fengqingzi opened his eyes and turned around with a look of pity, only to see Yan Xie lying on the ground clutching his stomach. His face was pale, and he was drenched in sweat, looking to be in immense pain.
Yan Xie's mind was filled with utter disbelief. He had never expected that he would be kicked so hard by a single person that he couldn't even move!
He was clearly about to crack this man's head open just now, so why did this happen? When did the man even kick him? Yan Xie couldn't wrap his head around it. At that moment, he had only felt a surge of excruciating pain, and even his internal organs had been injured to varying degrees.
Jiang Moran retracted his leg. Although he hadn't put much force into the kick, it would be enough to keep the man bedridden for a month.
“And they call you a lunatic. You look like an idiot to me,” Jiang Moran sneered.
A woman nearby, who was walking with her child, witnessed the entire scene. The little boy stared wide-eyed at Jiang Moran's retreating figure.
“Mother, I want to travel the jianghu and become a great hero!”
Slap!
“Mother, what are we having for dinner tonight?”
The little boy asked obediently with a flushed face, as if he weren't the one who had just said he wanted to travel the jianghu.
“How do you know an idiot like him?”
“Senior... I don't have a good relationship with him.”
Damn it!!
Yan Xie stared at their receding figures, gnashing his teeth as he snarled, “Just you wait!”
“You don't have a good relationship with him?” Jiang Moran raised an eyebrow, then suddenly drew Fengqingzi's long sword.
“Why didn't you say so earlier? I'll go slice him up first then.”
With that, Jiang Moran made to turn back and slice Yan Xie up. However, the moment he turned around, he saw that the man was no longer curled up on the ground. Instead, he was kneeling obediently, not daring to move an inch.
Uh, this actually made him feel too embarrassed to make a move.
“Senior, I have deeply realized the error of my ways,” Yan Xie said earnestly, his hands hidden behind his back trembling uncontrollably.
“Tsk.” Jiang Moran clicked his tongue, finding it boring. He casually slid the sword back into Fengqingzi's scabbard.
Seeing them continue to walk away, Yan Xie finally breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped his forehead, only to find it drenched in cold sweat. He could tell that the other party had genuinely wanted to kill him just now.
But he absolutely could not swallow this grievance. Right, he would go find his master. A sinister smile curled on Yan Xie's lips at the thought.
Jiang Moran and Fengqingzi found a decent-looking tavern. The moment they sat down, they told the waiter to bring out all the signature dishes. Both of them were already starving.
There was no helping it; the meat they had brought from the village wasn't nearly enough to last the journey, and they had no dry rations to stave off the hunger. But Fengqingzi was helpless—he couldn't beat Jiang Moran...
If he hadn't sneakily packed away some dry rations at the end, Jiang Moran would have probably been hungry enough to hunt tigers on the mountains during the last two days before reaching Jinling City.
The food was served in no time, and the two of them dug in immediately. Compared to these freshly cooked dishes, dry rations were absolutely pathetic.
While they were feasting, voices drifted over from the neighboring table.
“Have you heard? Someone claimed that five-hundred-tael bounty!”
“Really? It's been less than seven days, hasn't it?”
“Absolutely true. Zhao Wen's corpse is currently hanging right on the front gate of the Magistrate's Residence,” the man said, clicking his tongue. It was clear just how deep the magistrate's resentment ran.
A five-hundred-tael bounty? Jiang Moran furrowed his brows slightly. While it wasn't an astronomical sum, it wasn't a small amount either. For such a high bounty to be placed on someone, they must have committed a significant crime. This successfully piqued his curiosity.
“Hey, brother,” Jiang Moran leaned his chair back, turning around to ask with a smile.
The two men who were chatting at the table behind him froze, looking at him with strange expressions.
“I just overheard you talking about someone named Zhao Wen and a five-hundred-tael bounty. What's that about?” Jiang Moran asked inquisitively, casually tossing some silver onto their table.
The moment the two men saw the silver, their eyes lit up. They quickly replied, “Brother, you might not know this.”
“This Zhao Wen was a notorious flower thief. Not only did he ruin the chastity of several young ladies from the prominent families in Jinling City, but he even went as far as to violate the magistrate's own daughter.”
Holy crap, what an insatiable appetite, Jiang Moran thought in astonishment. This Zhao Wen was certainly quite picky.
“Just yesterday, Zhao Wen's corpse was put on public display outside the Magistrate's Residence. His body was completely severed in half, with his upper half hanging on one side and his lower half hanging on the other.”
“Who knows who claimed that five-hundred-tael bounty. It only took them three days. That's truly impressive!”
Jiang Moran nodded, offered a few vague pleasantries, and turned back to his table.
“It's all your fault, Little Feng. If you had stopped me back then, we would have reached Jinling City ages ago,” Jiang Moran grumbled in annoyance.
And just like that, five hundred taels were gone.
Fengqingzi almost choked on his food. Honestly, he had no idea if anyone in the world could actually stop Jiang Moran.
Perhaps his aunt could.
At the thought of that woman, Fengqingzi couldn't help but shiver. She was simply too terrifying—a woman devoid of any emotion.
“Waiter, the bill!”
Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Jiang Moran stubbornly insisted on visiting a brothel, claiming he wanted to experience the local “warmth.”
Fengqingzi had no choice but to tag along helplessly.
As they passed a small alley along the way, a voice suddenly drifted out.
“Would you two care to buy some medicine?”
Jiang Moran turned to look and saw a strangely dressed man standing there, wearing a straw hat that obscured his face.
Seeing Jiang Moran look over, the man opened his palm to reveal a pill.
The pill was pitch-black all over, with a withered spider lily pattern embossed on its surface, looking exceptionally striking.
“Not buying,” Jiang Moran said, losing interest after a single glance.
Watching the two of them walk away, the man didn't try to stop them. He simply stood quietly at the entrance of the alley, waiting for the next destined customer.
Not long after the two of them left, Xu Qing also arrived at the alley.
He was also called out to as he passed by. Turning to look into the alley in confusion, he saw the man wearing the straw hat standing there.
“Are you buying medicine?”
Rate on N.U.
