Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

The two of them barreled straight through, with Jiang Ran periodically asking for Fang Li’s location. A moment later, they arrived before an iron door.

This iron door was forged using Mechanical Technique, and its opening mechanism was quite complex.

It was, after all, what the Black Water Stronghold used to imprison important criminals.

Jiang Ran had no time to make Zuo Mingqiu open the door. He told Ruan Yuqing to step aside, and then, with a flash of his blade, a SCREECH of sparks flew as he carved a large ’X’ directly onto the door.

The next moment, he launched a kick. With a loud BANG, the entire iron door shattered.

Jiang Ran looked at the blade in his hand, suddenly overjoyed.

"What a fine blade!"

Ruan Yuqing rolled her eyes at him.

"It’s a fine blade, to be sure, but if you keep using it like that, it’ll be scrap metal sooner or later."

"I’ll just get a new one when the time comes."

Jiang Ran was completely unconcerned.

After all, whether it was this priceless Goldshatter Blade or an ordinary saber bought with silver from a blacksmith, he was going to use them both the same way...

As long as they could kill, the difference wasn’t that great.

For a moment, Ruan Yuqing was at a loss for words.

She simply followed Jiang Ran into the Water Prison.

The Water Prison wasn’t empty.

It was just that the two men inside were completely stunned.

On a torture rack to one side, Fang Li was bound. A man stood before him, holding one of Fang Li’s ears, an extremely sharp dagger poised to strike.

Another man stood nearby with his arms crossed, apparently enjoying the show.

Now, however, both men were staring at the entrance.

Their eyes were filled with disbelief.

’Who are these two?’

’How did they just chop through a thick iron door like that?’

When they took a closer look, they saw Jiang Ran hauling Zuo Mingqiu, his head drenched in blood, and their expressions changed instantly:

"Chieftain!"

He then looked up.

"Who are you..."

Before he could finish, the man felt something sweep past him—a bone-chilling cold.

Then, he heard a soft *schlick* from behind him.

He instinctively tried to turn, but as he shifted his weight, his body didn’t follow. Instead, his torso split open, and he died on the spot.

Jiang Ran had just finished cutting the gate with the Goldshatter Blade and hadn’t sheathed it yet.

So, he had simply followed through with a natural slash.

Unwilling to let Jiang Ran take all the glory, Ruan Yuqing flicked her wrist. Her Soft Sword unfurled with a liquid ripple, lashing out at the other man from the Black Water Stronghold.

The man snapped out of his stupor and tried to retaliate.

But Ruan Yuqing’s Swordsmanship was all about fluid grace. The versatility of the Soft Sword far surpassed that of any ordinary blade.

Like a coiling Spiritual Snake, before the man even knew what was happening, he felt a tightness around his neck. The blade had wrapped itself completely around it.

The next moment, with a flick of her wrist, Ruan Yuqing’s blade tore the man’s head from his shoulders.

It was only then that Fang Li finally spoke.

"Jiang... Brother Jiang... Elder Ruan, how did you..."

Jiang Ran dragged Zuo Mingqiu over to Fang Li and examined him closely. Fang Li’s face was pale. Where his left ear should have been was a bloody, water-logged mess, the wound swollen and grotesque.

His right ear had a small, less serious cut from a blade.

He had other external injuries on his body as well.

He must have been beaten by these thugs during his capture, and he had clearly suffered more since being brought here.

Jiang Ran sighed and reached out to untie him from the rack. As he did, Fang Li spoke.

"Brother Jiang... I... I’m useless..."

"The Centennial Seven-Life Lotus... it... it was taken by the Black Water Gang..."

"I’ve failed the task you gave me..."

"It’s fine."

Jiang Ran smiled.

"If they stole it from us, we’ll just steal it back."

"Yeah."

Fang Li nodded weakly, struggling to stand.

But Jiang Ran simply hoisted him onto his back without another word.

He then casually picked up Zuo Mingqiu and said to Ruan Yuqing:

"Let’s go."

Ruan Yuqing frowned slightly, looking at the burdens Jiang Ran was carrying.

"Should I help you carry one of them?"

"They’re both men. You don’t mind?"

Jiang Ran asked.

Ruan Yuqing thought for a moment.

"In that case, you should probably just handle it."

"...Come on, people of the martial world don’t get hung up on formalities."

"You can be the one who isn’t hung up, then."

"You’d better just be talking about formalities..."

"What else could I be talking about?"

Ruan Yuqing glanced back at Jiang Ran. She seemed to realize something, and her face instantly flushed red.

"You... Young Hero Jiang, are you a shameless cad?"

"So you actually got it..."

Jiang Ran was a little surprised himself.

"I..."

For a moment, Ruan Yuqing didn’t know how to explain herself.

’After all, we’re only human. We’re not some celestial beings who are above worldly matters.’

’It’s only natural to have some curiosity...’

’And the Shuiyue Sword Sect isn’t a convent. If I happen to read a few novels that mention certain things, can’t a girl educate herself a little?’

Ruan Yuqing came up with a hundred excuses for herself in her head, but in the end, not a single word escaped her lips.

She just shot Jiang Ran a fierce glare.

Jiang Ran found this amusing and didn’t take it to heart.

The two of them immediately headed out of the Water Prison.

They had caused a huge commotion on their way in.

But the path out was completely quiet.

It wasn’t until they reached the exit of the Water Prison that they saw it: outside was a sea of people.

Several men who were clearly not ordinary figures stood at the forefront of the crowd.

One of them spoke in a cold voice:

"In all my twenty years, the Black Water Stronghold has never encountered such brazen intruders."

"Who in the world are you?"

"You barge into my Black Water Stronghold as if it’s deserted. Do you have any respect for us at all?"

As the man finished speaking, another one looked at Zuo Mingqiu being dragged by Jiang Ran and couldn’t help but stare in shock.

"Chieftain!?"

"What?"

An uproar went through the crowd at his words.

All eyes turned to the man in Jiang Ran’s grasp.

"It really does look like the Chieftain..."

"What happened to the Chieftain’s eyes?"

"Where’s his ear?"

"How did he end up so wretched!?"