Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Jiang Ran sneered, "It’s nothing more than some evil art that affects the mind. I’m all too familiar with this trick."

No matter how much time passed, Jiang Ran would never forget the scene at the Tang family’s residence that day.

That feeling—of having one’s view obscured by a single leaf, unable to see Mount Tai—was just as Ruan Yuqing had described. It was like you’d clearly heard of something before, yet some barrier prevented you from recalling it, no matter how hard you tried.

It was because of this realization that Jiang Ran had wanted to use his Rectifying Heart Scripture to help her dispel the illusion and see the truth.

But in the end, Luo Qingyi was the first to fall prey to the illusion.

’But... what about Li Tianxin?’

’Did he disappear right in front of Ruan Yuqing?’

’Was he caught in a hidden trap, or did someone else come by just now?’

Jiang Ran guessed it was most likely the former.

If it were the latter, there was no way Jiang Ran wouldn’t have noticed something.

He thought for a moment before saying to Ruan Yuqing,

"Since we’re here, we have to get to the bottom of this Ghost King Palace business.

"But before that, there’s something else we need to do."

"What is it?"

Ruan Yuqing asked.

Jiang Ran glanced at the golden patterns on the wall beside him and said softly,

"These patterns on the wall might be the key. They’re like that Heart Demon-Slaying Talisman, capable of plunging people into a lifelike illusion.

"My Rectifying Heart Scripture is the bane of such techniques.

"Even Shi Pingzhang’s Heart Demon-Slaying Talisman and his Mind-Scattering Funeral Dirge had no effect on me.

"Right now, I have two ways to break this spell...

"One is the Rectifying Heart Finger.

"But the Rectifying Heart Finger only works temporarily. I don’t know if you’ll fall back into the illusion, and I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to monitor your condition at all times.

"The other way is what I’m doing now... I use the Inner Strength from my Rectifying Heart Scripture to constantly protect your mind.

"The only thing is, it requires us to... keep holding hands like this."

"Holding hands..."

Only then did Ruan Yuqing remember that Jiang Ran was still holding her hand.

Her face immediately flushed red.

After a moment’s hesitation, she said,

"Is the Rectifying Heart Finger the technique you used to free me from the Heart Demon-Slaying Talisman?"

"That’s the one."

Jiang Ran nodded slightly.

Ruan Yuqing fell silent for a moment.

"Let’s just keep holding hands for now... I’m not worried this ’Mind-Bewildering Ghost Wall’ will make me disappear.

"What if it makes me see you as an enemy and I end up drawing my sword on you?

"That would be a huge problem.

"We’re in a dangerous place right now. The less trouble, the better."

Jiang Ran nodded. "That’s what I was thinking, too. I was just worried you’d think I was taking advantage of you."

"...Go ahead and take advantage, then. I’m almost used to it."

Ruan Yuqing sighed.

"First you tease me with your words, and now this physical contact.

"Let me tell you, you’re not to mention any of this to anyone else. Otherwise, where would I, the Gentle Water Sword, put my face?"

"Holding hands counts as intimate physical contact?"

Jiang Ran’s eyes widened.

"Then what does?"

Ruan Yuqing froze, then gritted her teeth. "Don’t you get any funny ideas."

"...You’re the one who always overthinks things. I’m a very practical person."

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed slightly. "This isn’t the place to talk. Li Tianxin and Luo Qingyi are missing. We have to find them and make sure they’re safe first. Especially Luo Qingyi..."

"Oh? I thought you were on better terms with Young Hero Li."

Ruan Yuqing was a little surprised.

Jiang Ran glanced at her.

"What gave you the idea that I’m on better terms with Li Tianxin?

"But my concern for Luo Qingyi isn’t simply because we’re close.

"It’s just because... Luo Qingyi is nowhere near as unfathomable as Li Tianxin.

"Lately, when I look at Li Tianxin, I always get the feeling I’ve seen him somewhere before."

"Hm?"

Ruan Yuqing was taken aback. "I heard you have a photographic memory. You recognized Tianxin’s sword at the Golden Goblet Tower after seeing it only once. If you’d met him before, you shouldn’t have forgotten, right?"

"That’s what’s so strange about it."

Jiang Ran shook his head slightly, but didn’t voice the rest of his thoughts.

He found Li Tianxin familiar, but not because of his looks.

It was because of some of his mannerisms.

At first, it was the way he walked, which seemed familiar.

But he couldn’t remember where he had seen it.

When he looked again later, however, he found that Li Tianxin had only walked that way that one time.

Beyond that, whenever he observed him closely, he could always find familiar traces in his everyday gestures.

But the impression was faint, and Jiang Ran couldn’t figure out when or where he might have seen something similar.

On top of that, Li Tianxin’s identity and origins were incredibly mysterious.

His reasons for sticking by his side seemed plausible, yet somehow far from sufficient.

This led Jiang Ran to form some speculations about Li Tianxin’s identity.

Unfortunately, he had too little information to go on.

Jiang Ran couldn’t even rule out the possibility that it was all in his head.

But overall, the man was just as he himself had said: he was definitely hiding his true depths.

So, even though Li Tianxin was missing, Jiang Ran wasn’t particularly worried.

’He’s afraid of ghosts, not people. No matter how bizarre this place is, it’s just someone putting on a supernatural facade. If he runs into the people behind this, it’s hard to say who the unlucky one will be.’

Thinking of this, he said softly,

"There’s no time to lose. Let’s go."

Ruan Yuqing nodded.

The two of them, fingers intertwined, started walking down the narrow alley, hoping to find any traces Luo Qingyi or Li Tianxin might have left behind.

But the surroundings seemed completely identical, without the slightest difference.

Moreover, no matter how much they walked, it felt like they were just going in circles.

Jumping up to a high vantage point, they discovered that the alley network wasn’t actually that large.

It wrapped around the inside of the palace walls, forming a long but very narrow ring.

But its construction was extremely peculiar. Ruan Yuqing recognized that it had been built as an Array, based on the principles of the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams.

If one didn’t know how to break the Array, she feared they could walk until dawn and still not find a way out.