Chapter 275 - 150: Scar

Jiang Ran fell silent for a moment.

’He likes eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling... at least swindling and cheating aren’t on the list.’

Reaching up to rub the back of his neck, Jiang Ran, for reasons he couldn’t explain, suddenly glanced over at Li Tianxin.

He saw Li Tianxin’s eyes were wide with shock.

When Li Tianxin noticed Jiang Ran looking at him, he quickly composed himself and forced a grin.

"The esteemed successor of the Ghost King... Well, his hobbies are certainly... extensive."

"Heh."

The corner of Jiang Ran’s mouth twitched.

"..."

For a moment, the Ghost King didn’t know what to say.

But since he’d already said this much, he figured he might as well tell the whole story.

"Most of his day was spent gambling."

"And he was an expert at cheating."

"His technique was so superb that almost no one could see through it."

"After gambling, he would go to Pinxin Restaurant to eat, ordering the most exotic and difficult dishes."

"He would even make the master of the Yellow Springs Winery deliver wine to him... only the best."

"Finally, after eating and drinking his fill, he would go to rest at the Soul-Seizing Tower."

"But I heard the girls at the Soul-Seizing Tower were all very fond of him."

"He was so busy that it was a rare feat for him to find even an hour a day to cultivate."

"And yet... his martial arts progressed at a shocking, almost unbelievable pace."

"Things in this world are always so unfair."

Ruan Yuqing felt a pang of indignation just listening to it.

That man lived such a carefree life, yet his martial arts advanced by leaps and bounds. Meanwhile, people like them trained bitterly day and night, yet couldn’t achieve even a fraction of his success.

It was certainly unfair.

But when had the Jianghu, or the world, for that matter, ever been truly fair?

"My master once said the same thing. He told me that at first, he couldn’t accept it. He was clearly the senior brother, yet he was always a step behind his junior brother..."

The Ghost King murmured.

"But over time, he let it go."

"One can compete with other men, but one cannot compete with a being that can hardly be called human..."

"It reached a point where, when my martial uncle wanted to leave the Ghost King Palace and venture into the Jianghu..."

"My master felt no happiness at all."

"Because by then, he also believed that my martial uncle was the one most suited to become the master of the Ghost King Palace."

"What happened then?"

Jiang Ran asked, "Zhuge Mingyu mentioned before that one must pass through the Slaughter Tower to leave the Ghost King Palace. What’s that about?"

"I have already explained this."

The Ghost King’s brow furrowed slightly. He felt he had said too much tonight.

But since he’d come this far, he might as well make everything clear.

"Ordinary people who wish to leave the Ghost King Palace must pass through the Bewitching Ghost Wall."

"If an expert wishes to leave, I must personally act to erase their memories and impressions of the Ghost King Palace."

"But for an expert of my martial uncle’s caliber and status..."

"To leave this place, he had to pass through the Slaughter Tower—the most perilous place in the Ghost King Palace..."

"However, even though it’s called the most perilous place, it was only built a little over a hundred years ago."

"But despite its short history, everyone who has ever stepped inside has gone in alive and come out dead."

"So, when my master heard that his junior brother wanted to brave the Slaughter Tower to leave the Ghost King Palace, he sought him out... and they had a terrible fight."

"..."

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Ran said:

"I can probably guess the outcome of that part."

"He entered the Slaughter Tower and came out alive?"

"Yes."

The Ghost King nodded lightly.

"He came out alive. Unfortunately, his years of bitter cultivation in the Eternal Hundred Floating Diagrams were completely destroyed."

"He lost all his martial arts?"

Jiang Ran was stunned. The details so far had made him think that this martial uncle of the Ghost King sounded a lot like the Old Drunkard.

But if he had lost all his martial arts, then it didn’t add up.

After all, in all the stories passed from person to person, the Old Drunkard’s martial arts were said to be unmatched in the world!

Besides, if he was a successor of the Ghost King Palace, how could he have inherited the Nine Shocking God Sabers?

At this thought, Jiang Ran shook his head, feeling like he was being paranoid.

’Every little thing that comes up, I immediately connect it to the Old Drunkard.’

’He’s not the only person in the world who enjoys eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling.’

"That’s right."

The Ghost King nodded. "He lost all his martial arts. But my master said that even so, he still had a relaxed smile on his face."

"Afterward, the Ghost King of that time—my grand master—appeared."

"He helped stabilize his injuries, and then personally assigned the eight—Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Bliss, Birth, Age, Sickness, and Death—to accompany him when he left the Ghost King Palace."

"Their purpose was to protect him."

"But in all the years since, they have never returned to the Ghost King Palace."

"Your martial uncle... what was his name?"

Jiang Ran thought for a moment but couldn’t resist asking.

"I don’t know."

The Ghost King said coolly.

"The Ghost King Palace is full of lonely souls and wandering ghosts. What use do we have for names?"

"..."

’What a load of crap!’

Jiang Ran let out a soft breath. Even after hearing the story to its end, he still couldn’t be sure who this martial uncle was.

A thought flickered in his mind, and he suddenly asked another question.

"Speaking of which, since you’re the current Ghost King, what happened to the previous Lord Ghost King?"

"Is he still alive?"

"...He is not."

The Ghost King said flatly.

"Twenty years ago, my respected master left the Ghost King Palace for some unknown reason to fight someone. He returned covered in injuries."

"It was in the winter of that same year that he found me, brought me back to the Ghost King Palace to raise me, and taught me everything he knew."

"But the old man suffered from the torment of his internal injuries day and night."

"He held on like that for seventeen years, until he felt that I could support the Ghost King Palace on my own... only then did he finally let go and pass on."