Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Jiang Ran spoke, his expression a little strange.

"It’s late. Why do I hear a wedding procession?"

"A wedding procession?"

Ruan Yuqing and the others were all taken aback.

Jiang Ran was a powerful martial artist, his hearing far sharper than anyone else’s present.

If he said so, he couldn’t be wrong.

But who would get married this deep into the night?

"Could it be a ghost wedding?"

Ruan Yuqing murmured, looking toward the Grand Master as she spoke.

As a member of the Ink Pavilion, the Grand Master was worldly and well-informed; surely he could provide an answer.

But the Grand Master acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, his expression placid and detached.

"Hm?"

Jiang Ran noticed Ruan Yuqing’s glance and clapped the Grand Master on the shoulder.

"Why so quiet, Grand Master?"

The Grand Master gave a wry smile.

"Young Hero Jiang, please don’t put me in a difficult position."

"Setting aside the fact that I don’t know what’s happening, I couldn’t speak on it even if I did."

"Think of my earlier advice as a gift for the road, Young Hero Jiang."

"From this point forward, I am merely an observer..."

Jiang Ran studied the Grand Master for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

"Alright."

Hearing this, the Grand Master finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He then took up his brush and began writing furiously, recording what he witnessed.

Jiang Ran and his companions made no further preparations, simply remaining on high alert. A moment later, Ruan Yuqing and the others could also hear the sound of gongs and drums.

Following the sound with their eyes, they saw a procession gradually emerge from the distance.

What truly captured their attention, however, were flickers of eerie green light.

As the din grew closer, the procession came into full view.

At the head of the procession, people beat gongs and drums to clear the path. Some carried lanterns, while others held up wooden placards inscribed with phrases like "Phoenixes in Harmony" and "A Century of Bliss."

In the middle was an eight-bearer sedan chair.

But while a normal sedan chair would be red, this one was a ghastly white.

Even the silk streamers adorning it were white.

Lanterns hung from its four corners, but they held no ordinary flame—only an eerie, green glow.

It held no trace of celebration, only a strange, sinister aura.

Moreover, everyone—from the musicians at the front to the flamboyantly dressed woman beside the sedan chair—had a deathly pale face, their cheeks smeared with thick, heavy rouge.

Every one of them wore a smile on their face.

As if they were celebrating the joyous occasion to come.

But their smiles were unnervingly stiff.

It was as if an invisible pair of hands had yanked the corners of their mouths upward, fixing the expressions onto their faces and forcing them to smile.

Yet no matter how brightly they smiled, their eyes held no trace of mirth.

In fact... they held no life at all!

Witnessing this scene, Li Tianxin subconsciously took a step back.

"Are they people or ghosts?"

"Is this a ghost wedding?"

Jiang Ran gave him a surprised look.

"Making such a fuss... What happened to your usual cool and aloof act?"

"You, who fear neither heaven nor earth, are afraid of ghosts?"

"...So what if I’m afraid of ghosts?"

Li Tianxin retorted angrily, "Who in their right mind isn’t afraid of ghosts?"

"Keep your voices down..."

Ruan Yuqing whispered.

"Are you trying to get them to look over here?"

"If they snatch you up to be the groom, don’t say I didn’t warn you..."

Jiang Ran stared blankly. "You’re scared too?"

Ruan Yuqing’s expression was a mask of nonchalance.

"What’s there to be afraid of?"

"There are no such things as monsters or ghosts in the Jianghu. It’s always just someone playing tricks."

She had barely finished her sentence when the eerie procession abruptly halted, as if they had sensed something.

The gongs and drums fell silent in an instant. Even the smiles vanished from their faces, replaced by blank expressions.

They began to look around in unison, as if searching for something.

Ruan Yuqing immediately clamped her hands over her mouth, spun around, and hid directly behind Jiang Ran.

Her shoulder bumped against someone. She looked up and saw it was Li Tianxin.

Their reactions were identical.

Startled, they had both simultaneously tried to hide behind Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran was left speechless.

’She was so sure of herself just a moment ago. What’s she hiding from now?’

Luo Qingyi, on the other hand, clenched his fists, looking ready to strike. He truly believed that there were no such things as monsters or ghosts in this world; the wickedness of the human heart was far more sinister than any specter!

Just then, the group finished their search, apparently having found nothing.

They didn’t even seem to notice the campfire Jiang Ran’s group had lit.

The gongs and drums started up again. The smiles returned to their faces, and they resumed their march.

In moments, the group had moved far into the distance.

Jiang Ran watched them go for a moment, then darted over to the path they had just taken to investigate.

Luo Qingyi and the Grand Master quickly followed closely behind.

Li Tianxin and Ruan Yuqing were the last to follow, and only after some hesitation.

But the two of them behaved quite differently.

Although Ruan Yuqing’s face was a little pale, she still maintained her air of breezy nonchalance.

As for Li Tianxin, who usually liked to maintain his stoic facade...

...this time, he was genuinely terrified.

His entire face was a mask of sheer reluctance.

Amused, Jiang Ran deliberately lowered his voice.

"How come there aren’t any footprints on the ground?"

Luo Qingyi froze at his words, then stared at the messy footprints on the ground, lost in thought.

Li Tianxin, however, instinctively shrank back.

"Ghosts! It has to be ghosts!"

"We’ve definitely stumbled upon a ghost wedding."

"A ghost wedding... how interesting."

Jiang Ran said, "Aren’t you curious what the groom looks like? Or if the ghost bride is beautiful?"

Li Tianxin and Ruan Yuqing shook their heads in unison.

"Not at all!!"

"Then you all wait here. I’m very curious, so I’m going to take a look."

With that, Jiang Ran leaped into the air and set off in pursuit of the procession.

Luo Qingyi and the Grand Master quickly followed.

This left Ruan Yuqing and Li Tianxin staring at each other in dismay.

A cold wind whistled past, sounding like the wails of ghosts and wolves.

A shiver ran down both their spines. They exchanged a look and, without a second thought, bolted after Jiang Ran.