Chapter 343 172: Tragedy

"They want to kill my son, too!

"Zhi'Er, Zhi'Er...!"

The hunched old man clutched the child in his arms as he spoke.

It was as if only this could calm him. He let out a long sigh and suddenly looked at Jiang Ran.

"Hand over the Falling Star Pearl, and we'll go our separate ways.

"You can go wherever you want. Can I please just take my son and leave?

"If that's not enough, I can do things for you... I... I'm very good at killing.

"I've set up the Thousand Bells and Ten Thousand Cliffs Array outside. No matter how many of them come, they'll all die!

"Just promise me you'll give the Falling Star Pearl back to my son, and I'll kill as many people as you want!!"

His words were jumbled and incoherent, his story fragmented and rambling.

However, Jiang Ran and Ruan Yuqing exchanged a glance. They had understood the gist of it.

The Demon Sect possessed a treasured medicine that was said to grant eternal life.

Whether this was true or not was unknown, but the emperor of the Golden Cicada Dynasty believed it.

But finding this treasured medicine was obviously not easy.

The people from the Astronomical Bureau exhausted all their means, but to no avail...

To save his son, this hunched old man and his wife had pledged allegiance to the Court, using a secret geomantic technique passed down through their family to find the medicine for the late emperor.

The reason it was the late emperor was that the current emperor ascended the throne five years ago.

Based on the timeline, the one seeking the treasured medicine back then was indeed the late emperor, who was already on his deathbed.

And they did, in fact, make a discovery.

This very location was likely what they had found.

As per their agreement, what they most likely wanted was the Astronomical Bureau's Falling Star Pearl.

But unexpectedly, when the time came, the Bureau refused to hand over the Falling Star Pearl and even killed his wife.

In a fit of rage, he caused the incidents that happened seven or eight years ago.

But... there were still a few puzzling points in all this.

For example, if the late emperor was so desperate for the treasured medicine, how could the matter at Qiuci Posthouse have been dropped so easily?

What else happened back then that ultimately led to the current situation?

With the passage of time, these events were difficult to trace. Moreover, the old man before them had long since lost his mind, blurring the lines between reality and illusion, making it even harder to get a clear picture.

But one thing was certain for now: this place was indeed the handiwork of the Demon Sect.

As for the so-called treasured medicine...

Jiang Ran's gaze fell upon the corpse on the coffin lid to the side.

He sighed internally.

'Truly the greatest sorrow of all time!'

'So that wasn't a martial art at all... It's an utterly inhumane technique from the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records.

'A way to refine a living person into medicine!'

Ruan Yuqing also understood the key point, a look of pity on her face.

"The Demon Sect... they truly will stop at nothing."

"But if that's really the case..."

Jiang Ran's voice cut in. "Why didn't he use it to save his own son?"

Ruan Yuqing froze, momentarily at a loss for words.

And judging from the old man's arrangements, while this so-called 'treasured medicine' might not grant eternal life, it clearly possessed some other special properties.

Otherwise, why seal the Falling Star Pearl in the 'treasured medicine's' mouth?

The liquid they had seen on the pearl earlier was likely the key to keeping the child alive.

As these thoughts churned in his mind, Jiang Ran spoke softly.

"Your wife... did they really execute her by slow slicing?"

His voice wasn't loud, but the moment the words left his lips, it was as if a bomb had gone off in Ruan Yuqing's mind.

She snapped her head up to look at the old man.

She saw terror flash across his face as he abruptly raised his right hand. A series of faint, tinkling sounds immediately filled the air.

Jiang Ran didn't move an inch, allowing the threads to envelop him, but not a single one could penetrate his protective aura.

The hunched old man's brow furrowed. From that single exchange, he knew it was absolutely impossible to defeat Jiang Ran with his own skills.

He immediately hugged his son, turned, and fled.

"Since you're already here, you may as well stay. Where are you going, old man?"

BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

The sound of something slicing through the air echoed as the threads that had failed to shred Jiang Ran suddenly turned on their master.

But the old man rolled, came up to his feet, and glared at Jiang Ran.

Their eyes met. A flash of crimson flickered in the old man's eyes.

Ruan Yuqing saw those eyes too, and for an instant, she felt as if she had stepped into the Asura Path.

Her vision filled with a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, from which a giant hand slowly rose to envelop her within its five fingers.

At the same time, the old man's figure had already reached Jiang Ran and Ruan Yuqing.

His fingers shot out, aiming for the Falling Star Pearl in Jiang Ran's palm.

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to touch it, Jiang Ran flipped his hand and the Falling Star Pearl vanished.

He then thrust out a palm.

BANG!

The old man was sent flying backward. Jiang Ran pulled Ruan Yuqing along as he stepped forward to capture him.

The child, who had been cradled in the old man's arms, suddenly lunged out and bit at the web of Jiang Ran's thumb.

He was born with a strange affliction; his teeth were as sharp as saws. With a single grind, he could bite a hand clean off.

Jiang Ran's brow twitched. His sleeve flew up, and with a WHIR, the child was knocked away.

The child's body spun in mid-air, but he abruptly landed on the old man's shoulder.

"I didn't get it!!"

"Let's go!"

Since he was no match for Jiang Ran and couldn't get the Falling Star Pearl back, leaving as soon as possible was the only option.

The child might not have known it, but the old man did: the people outside would be catching up soon.

However, it was already too late to leave.

A succession of footsteps and figures appeared in the underground space.

The ones in the lead were Dao Wuming and, of course, Tang Huayi.

Tang Huayi looked up and saw Jiang Ran holding Ruan Yuqing, and she instantly flew into a rage.

"We were out there fighting for our lives, and you were actually in here having a secret rendezvous with Ruan Yuqing!!"

Everyone heard this and looked at her, thinking, 'You call coming to a hellhole like this a rendezvous?'