Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

Jiang Ran didn't know much about Arrays, but he didn't need to.

The Bewitching Ghost Wall's Array might have been powerful, but it offered no defense against an aerial approach...

The two of them couldn't be bothered with breaking the Array. They simply leaped into the air, and in a couple of bounds, they were already outside the ghost wall's effective range.

Presumably, whoever built this Bewitching Ghost Wall never imagined someone would use such a method to bypass the Array.

After all, anyone who stepped foot in this place was meant to be mesmerized by the patterns on the Bewitching Ghost Wall and fall into a half-real, half-illusory world.

Even if they managed to leap into the air, they wouldn't be able to escape the illusion.

They would only find their surroundings bizarre and surreal, unable to see the forest for the trees.

However, the Fortune and True Heart Sutra that Jiang Ran cultivated just so happened to be the bane of such Cultivation Techniques.

Thus, the Bewitching Ghost Wall, which most people found terrifying, was rather laughable in his eyes.

Having bypassed the Bewitching Ghost Wall, they followed the path deeper. Before they knew it, they had entered the depths of the Ghost King Palace.

They still hadn't seen a single soul along the way.

Just then, a faint, wavering cry reached their ears. The sound was familiar—it was the same one they had heard from the eight-bearer sedan chair earlier.

Jiang Ran and Ruan Yuqing exchanged a look and immediately followed the sound. Moments later, in front of a building, they saw a ghastly white, eight-bearer sedan chair.

Four lanterns still hung from its corners. Cries and pleas for mercy emanated from within.

But the original bearers and the musicians who had been beating gongs and drums had all vanished without a trace.

Jiang Ran paused in thought for a moment, then pulled Ruan Yuqing gently toward the sedan.

He used his scabbard to gently lift the sedan's curtain.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I don't want to be thrown into the cauldron of boiling oil!"

A frantic voice immediately cried out from inside the sedan.

With a flick of his hand, Jiang Ran tossed the curtain up, hooking it onto the roof of the sedan.

He peered inside and saw a woman in a white wedding dress, curled up and trembling.

Her face was a mess of tears and snot, which had smeared her ghastly white makeup into a complete disaster.

"Miss, please don't be alarmed."

Ruan Yuqing spoke up:

"We aren't here to harm you. We happened upon this sedan on the road and followed it to investigate."

The woman seemed to calm down slightly upon hearing Ruan Yuqing's voice. Her gaze darted between Jiang Ran and Ruan Yuqing's faces before she spoke through her tears:

"Save me! I'm begging you, please save me!"

"Don't worry, Miss. Now that we're here, of course we'll save you."

Jiang Ran smiled.

"First, why don't you come out of the sedan?"

"No... I don't want to!"

The woman shook her head frantically, her eyes filled with terror.

"There are ghosts outside! They're all Evil Ghosts! I heard them escorting a living person, saying they were going to throw him in the cauldron of boiling oil..."

"Escorting a living person?"

A thought struck Jiang Ran.

"When did you hear that?"

"Just... just a little while before you two arrived."

The woman said in a low voice, "I heard him. The man was cursing nonstop... He said his Young Master would definitely find him. And... and that once his Young Master arrived, he would completely obliterate this wretched place."

"That sounds like Luo Qingyi,"

Ruan Yuqing said, glancing at Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran nodded slightly and said softly,

"Miss, the Young Master he mentioned is probably me. Do you happen to know which way they went?"

The woman hesitated for a moment, then pointed in a certain direction and said,

"That way..."

"Alright."

Jiang Ran nodded. "If you're too scared to come out, you can wait here in the sedan. Things are relatively quiet for now. But in a little while, there's no telling what might happen.

"When that time comes, I'll be off to rescue my friend, and you'll have no one here to protect you..."

"Well..."

The woman hesitated for a good while.

"Then I'll... I'll come out... You... you won't leave me all alone, will you?"

"Of course not."

Jiang Ran chuckled. "As long as you're with us, we'll be sure to keep you safe."

Hearing Jiang Ran's promise, the woman gave a reluctant nod and carefully stepped out of the sedan.

But she must have been terribly frightened, because her limbs were so weak she could barely stand on her own.

Jiang Ran had no choice but to offer his scabbard for her to hold onto, allowing her to steady herself.

After observing the young woman for a moment, Jiang Ran suddenly let go of Ruan Yuqing's hand.

Ruan Yuqing was taken aback.

"What is it?"

"Haven't you had your fill of taking advantage of me? We're outside the range of the Bewitching Ghost Wall now, so we shouldn't be affected by that illusion anymore.

"I'm a pure, unmarried young man. What will it look like if you're always holding my hand like this? If someone sees us, how will I ever find a wife?"

"..."

Even with Ruan Yuqing's temperament, hearing this made her want to stomp on the back of his foot.

'This guy is really something else, complaining after he's the one who got the better end of the deal.'

Still, she had to agree with his assessment.

If the 'bride' in the sedan wasn't lying, then Luo Qingyi must have been clear-headed when he was being escorted through here.

And this young woman didn't seem to have been affected by any illusions either.

'This area is most likely safe, then.'

She immediately shook out the hand Jiang Ran had been holding for so long and shot it a look of utter disgust.

"I think this hand is a lost cause now."

"Want me to help you chop it off?"

Jiang Ran grinned.

"...Why don't you chop off your own hand?"

Ruan Yuqing fumed.

Jiang Ran just smiled. "I couldn't bear to part with it."

His words made Ruan Yuqing blush, and she shot him a glare.

"Why do you love spouting such nonsense?"

Jiang Ran: "???"

The young woman who had just come out of the sedan heard their exchange and was momentarily bewildered.

'This place is treacherous and strange... Is it really okay for them to be joking around like this?'