Wuxia: Starting Off With 60 Years of Inner Strength

He looked terrible when he came out.

"Ghost Chef is dead. He ate half of himself... and his stomach burst."

That was a lot to take in.

Jiang Ran blinked, unable to process it for a moment.

"Huh?"

’A man ate half of himself? Shouldn’t he have died from the agonizing pain, or from bleeding out? And he ended up dying because his stomach burst?’

Ruan Yuqing, however, asked:

"Why did he eat himself?"

"Well..."

The Degenerate Gambler shook his head. "I don’t know."

’What kind of questions are these?’

Jiang Ran, on the other hand, just smiled.

"We’ve got a lot of strange things going on. First, Prince Yu inexplicably performed ’the incredible living ghost’ act right in front of us."

"Right on its heels, we have Ghost Chef, performing his own ’eat yourself’ routine..."

"I’m actually looking forward to what happens next."

"What’s the next stop? The winery? Or the brothel? Feasting, drinking, whoring, gambling... I’m all too familiar with these four vices."

Li Tianxin’s lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed his words.

"Prince Yu was the one who ran the brothel."

The Degenerate Gambler added, "Further ahead is the Yellow Springs Winery, run by Quan the Seventh."

"Then let’s go."

At Jiang Ran’s word, the group continued onward.

But as they walked, Jiang Ran glanced over at Li Tianxin.

"When you escaped, did you really slaughter everyone in your path?"

"It was just something I said."

Li Tianxin shook his head. "But I don’t know how they actually died, either."

"Is that so?"

Jiang Ran pondered for a moment before saying:

"Don’t you think what happened today is somewhat similar to what you’ve told me before?"

"What things?"

Li Tianxin asked instinctively.

Jiang Ran watched him quietly, then suddenly broke into a smile.

"You once said that there is nothing in this world more treacherous than the Demon Sect."

"The Demon Sect’s methods are strange and eccentric, capable of bewitching people’s minds."

"With just a few words, they can make a peerless hero slaughter his own clan."

"So I wonder, could they, with just a few words, make an expert suddenly kill himself in front of everyone?"

"Or perhaps make someone’s appetite suddenly run wild, wanting to eat themself?"

"This..."

Li Tianxin was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

"Are you saying a fiend from the Demon Sect has infiltrated this place?"

Jiang Ran thought for a moment and said:

"Probably. After all, besides the Demon Sect’s methods, there don’t seem to be many others who can achieve this..."

"Besides, you also experienced the Bewitching Ghost Wall."

"That Enchanting Order, like a ghostly talisman, can actually make people hallucinate."

"That, too, smacks of the Demon Sect."

Li Tianxin pondered deeply, then nodded and said:

"Looking at it this way, we really can’t leave this place. We must investigate thoroughly before deciding what to do."

"That’s exactly right."

Jiang Ran smiled faintly, turned away, and started talking to Ruan Yuqing again.

The faint smile on Li Tianxin’s face instantly vanished the moment Jiang Ran looked away.

As he looked up, his eyes were filled with a hint of melancholy.

After walking a while longer, they saw a winery, just as expected.

The moment they reached the entrance, Jiang Ran swallowed hard.

As a true wine aficionado, he had no resistance to the Yellow Springs Winery.

He followed the aroma inside.

He looked around, and after a moment, picked up a wine jar and broke the clay seal.

"This... this must be at least thirty years old, right?"

"And it’s just been left out like this?"

He turned over a wine bowl and casually poured some out. The liquor was thick, stringing as it poured, and pooled like liquid amber. It was simply exquisite.

But after a long moment of hesitation, he sighed and decided not to drink it.

Instead, he looked around.

"Where is Quan the Seventh?"

The Degenerate Gambler had also entered the winery, but he paid no attention to the fine wines.

Seeing no one in the main hall, he went to check the inner rooms.

Jiang Ran, Ruan Yuqing, and the others casually looked around, while Liu Xiao’e sat to one side, resting with a heavy heart.

A moment later, the Degenerate Gambler emerged from the inner rooms.

"Quan the Seventh is not in the winery."

"What?"

Liu Xiao’e looked up at the Degenerate Gambler.

"He never takes a single step out of this winery."

"Besides, tonight was supposed to be when we’d each compete for the Jiaowei based on our own abilities."

"Knowing him, he should be here waiting to have a drink with Jiang Ran."

"So... where could he have gone?"

"Prince Yu and Ghost Chef, their deaths are bizarre."

"Quan the Seventh is missing..."

"We’re not far from Lord Ghost King’s palace now. Could he have discovered something and gone to report it to Lord Ghost King?"

The Degenerate Gambler speculated aloud.

Liu Xiao’e’s brow furrowed. "I... I have something to say, but I don’t know if I should..."

The Degenerate Gambler glanced at Jiang Ran, who smiled.

"Feel free to speak."

"Actually... regarding the Jiaowei and tonight’s contest, it wasn’t my prince who came up with the idea."

Liu Xiao’e slowly began to speak.

"A few days ago, I went to the prince’s chambers to attend to him in bed."

"But I saw another man in the room... He and the prince were incredibly intimate."

"That was the first time I’d seen him. His skills in bed were nothing compared to..."

"Hold on..."

Jiang Ran cleaned out his ear. "You can skip this part. You’re dirtying my ears."

The Degenerate Gambler also hurriedly scolded:

"Prince Yu had... eclectic tastes. Do not speak of such sordid affairs again."

"Anyway... everything the prince knew about the Jiaowei, he actually heard from that man."

"It was only then that the prince got the idea to discuss tonight’s matter with you all."

"Unfortunately, I don’t know that man’s identity. And for the latter half of that night, the prince had me leave... He wanted to be alone with that man..."

"After that, I never saw that man again."

"I suspect he’s not one of our Ghost King Palace people."

"Because this involved colluding with an outsider, I never dared to mention it."

"But tonight, the prince suddenly killed himself at the Soul Hook Gambling House... and Ghost Chef ate himself."

"Even Quan the Seventh has gone missing."

"I suspect this might be their doing."

After she finished, Jiang Ran’s first reaction was to glance at Li Tianxin.

Li Tianxin’s eyes were also filled with confusion.

"What are you looking at me for!?"

"Nothing, just looking."

Jiang Ran shook his head lightly, then suddenly smiled.

"I feel like... this is starting to get interesting."

He looked at Ruan Yuqing again and found her staring, dumbfounded.

She was utterly shocked.

Seeing Jiang Ran looking at her, she said in a low voice:

"I thought this kind of thing only happened in storybooks... I never thought someone would really have the passion of the cut sleeve."

’She really must have spent all her time at the Shuiyue Sword Sect reading all sorts of strange storybooks.’