“Those disloyal bastards! To think they'd secretly pull off something this big.”
“Old Zhang is such a terrible friend. If they split the bounty of the Pursuit Warrant with us, it wouldn't even reduce their share by much!”
Two figures darted through the mountain forest. They were the last to hear about the group of dozens heading out to surround and eliminate the targets of the Pursuit Warrant, which was why they were rushing over so late.
“Just wait until I see Old Zhang. I'm going to strip him of every copper he has!” one of them grumbled.
“To think he'd dare keep it all for himself. That's just too un...”
His voice trailed off, his last syllable stretching out abruptly as his footsteps stumbled forward a few paces before coming to a dead stop.
This sudden halt almost caused the man behind to crash into him, but luckily, he managed to brake just in time.
“What are you doing?! I almost ran into you, you know!” he snapped, only to see that the man in front was completely silent, standing frozen with his head slightly tilted upward.
“Hey, what's wrong with you?” Confused, he stepped forward and patted his companion's shoulder.
Before his companion could answer, a putrid stench assaulted his nose, making him retch violently.
“What the hell smells so bad? Ugh.”
Drip.
A cold droplet suddenly hit his face like a drop of rain. He instinctively reached up to wipe it away, only to find a smear of crimson on his fingertips.
His body went stiff as he slowly raised his head. In the next instant, he collapsed onto the ground.
Hanging densely from the tightly packed branches overhead were countless corpses, all suspended upside down.
In an instant, the two were surrounded by dozens of pale faces. The final expressions of the deceased were frozen in place—some in despair, others in terror—as a chilling, eerie atmosphere rapidly spread through the forest.
“O-Old Zhang...” his lips trembled as he stared at one of the faces hanging right above them.
The face's features were contorted, the mouth hanging slightly open. The facial muscles seemed caught between a sob and a grin, making for an exceptionally gruesome sight.
“What... what on earth happened here?!”
...
In a secluded medical clinic deep in the mountains, a white-haired, bearded old physician was pressing his fingers against Old Chen's pulse with a deeply furrowed brow. After a brief moment, he let out a long sigh.
This sigh immediately made Jiang Moran's heart leap into his throat.
“Is he beyond saving?”
“Hmm?” The old physician looked up in confusion. “Who said he's beyond saving? This young man has a robust constitution. His heart meridian wasn't damaged, either. He'll wake up in a couple of days, and once he gets some rest, he'll be fine.”
A young man? Jiang Moran's mouth twitched. But compared to this old physician, who was well over a hundred years old, he really was just a young man.
“As long as he's fine... But why did you just sigh like that?”
“I had a great appetite this morning and ate too much. Is it a crime to sigh when you're stuffed?”
Jiang Moran was left speechless. Even as the Number One in the World, there was nothing he could do to this old physician.
An old man of this age had the right to reprimand anyone, even the Number One in the World.
If Jiang Moran got yelled at, he would still have to praise him: “Great, very energetic!”
“However...” The old physician's tone shifted once more.
Damn it! Jiang Moran's eyelids twitched. What was this old guy playing at now?
“Alas, the other young man's situation isn't looking too good. The thing he swallowed is very unusual. It acts as both a poison and a medicine.”
“He will wake up within the next two days, but the toxins in his body cannot be discharged. They will grow increasingly severe as time goes on, eventually resulting in his death when the poison flares up.”
Jiang Moran raised an eyebrow. “Even you can't cure it?”
It was no wonder he asked. The man before him was comparable to a living Hua Tuo, though he had retired from the jianghu. Jiang Moran was probably the only one who could have located this place.
“I am a physician, not an assassin. The issue with his body cannot be cured with medicine, but another stronger, more virulent poison can be used to force the current toxin out of him.”
“If you use a stronger poison, won't that just kill him?” Jiang Moran asked in confusion.
“A stronger poison is indeed lethal, but it's manageable. The poison currently inside him, however, is exceptionally troublesome and cannot be resolved.”
The old physician stroked his white goatee and spoke slowly, “I am well-versed in the way of healing, but I am not skilled in the art of poison. His life is currently hanging by a thread, sustained only by this toxin. To neutralize it, I'm afraid only the world's greatest poison master, Li Lu, can do it.”
Tsk, what a pain.
Outside the room, the rest of the group had already bandaged their wounds and were waiting for news from inside.
Creak—
The door opened. Qiu Zhiya was the first to rush forward, asking anxiously, “How is Xu Qing?!”
“He'll wake up within the next two days, but his condition is a bit complicated. We'll speak of the details once he's awake.”
Complicated? Qiu Zhiya's heart tightened. She quickly slipped past Jiang Moran and ran into the room.
Watching this scene, Ning Qingzhu couldn't help but feel a twinge of emotion in her heart. If there ever came a day when her own Young Master...
Wait. Her Young Master was the Ghost-Masked God of Slaughter.
“Young Master!” Ning Qingzhu walked up to Jiang Moran, looking incredibly excited.
“You are actually the Ghost-Masked God of Slaughter, Jiang Moran! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!” Ning Qingzhu said with puffed cheeks. And here she had been, aiming to defeat the Number One in the World.
Was she supposed to use the moves her Master taught her to defeat her Master?
Defeating the Number One in the World was out of the question, but becoming the woman of the Number One in the World... Hehehe.
“What are you giggling foolishly about?” Jiang Moran raised an eyebrow, noting that she looked like she was about to drool.
Fengqingzi was about to step forward, but to his surprise, Zhang Wuji beat him to it.
“Ahem! So Senior was Jiang Moran all along! My admiration for you is truly like a torrential river flowing without end, or the flooding of the Yellow River—absolutely unstoppable!”
Fengqingzi: ?
How had he never noticed before how good this guy was at kissing up? This type of person was the absolute worst.
“Alright, let me say a few words,” Jiang Moran said, clearing his throat. “I've already retired from the jianghu for several years now. The Ghost-Masked God of Slaughter is a thing of the past. Right now, I'm just an ordinary person.”
Heh.
Faced with this 'sincere' declaration, the others merely offered polite, hollow chuckles without making any comment. The sight of over thirty people hung up in the trees like skewered meat was still fresh in their minds.
“Senior, I...” Fengqingzi took a step forward, his face filled with deep guilt.
“Ah,” Jiang Moran interrupted him. “I heard from the others that you fought off three decent second-class experts all by yourself?”
Fengqingzi nodded blankly, seemingly not expecting him to bring this up.
“Not bad. Previously, you were pushed to the brink of death by three second-class assassins, yet now you can fight three at once. That's a lot of progress.”
Jiang Moran smiled, then continued, “You did the best you could, and that is enough.”
As for what comes next, it was time to settle the score.
“You, you, and you—the three of you are coming with me. As for the one in red, never mind. Let her stay here to accompany her little sweetheart.”
The three who had been singled out were completely bewildered, staring at him in confusion.
Jiang Moran stretched lazily. A Jianghu Pursuit Warrant? The Martial Alliance, was it?
“It's time to go wreck their place.”
Rate on N.U.
