Chapter 368: Catering to His Tastes

Chapter 368: Chapter 181: Catering to His Tastes

Tang Huayi’s cheeks were slightly flushed, tipsy from the alcohol.

She rested her head on Jiang Ran’s arm and closed her eyes.

Jiang Ran glanced at her and shook his head gently.

“Are you just pretending to be drunk to take advantage of me, or can you really not hold your liquor?”

“What advantage is there for me to take…”

“Don’t move. You can secretly enjoy this for a little while. Just a little while. Big Sis here shouldn’t get mad.”

A smile touched Tang Huayi’s lips, and her breathing gradually evened out.

Jiang Ran was speechless. He turned back around, slid open the carriage window, and watched the scenery fly by, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

The carriage wasn’t trying to be discreet, nor had it left Evergreen Mansion.

After winding about for a few moments, it arrived before a courtyard.

Jiang Ran looked out the window and saw a plaque hanging above the main gate. On it were the words: Cyan Mountain Villa.

“Young Hero Jiang, we’ve arrived.”

The voice of the man from earlier came from outside the carriage.

Jiang Ran gently pinched Tang Huayi’s cheek.

Tang Huayi yawned and opened her eyes.

“We’re here?”

“Yes. Let’s get out.”

Jiang Ran and Tang Huayi stepped out of the carriage one after the other. The young men from the Hundred Treasures Association were standing off to one side.

The leader was all smiles. Jiang Ran clasped his fist in a light salute.

“My apologies for the scene.”

“Not at all. Please, follow me. My master has been waiting for you.”

The man gestured for them to proceed.

Jiang Ran nodded and, with Tang Huayi in tow, followed the man into Cyan Mountain Villa.

The Hundred Treasures Association was wealthy and powerful, so the layout of Cyan Mountain Villa was naturally extraordinary.

Rare flowers and exotic plants could be seen at every turn. Precious treasures were casually placed as if they were common decorations, left to gather dust.

The layout of the inner courtyards was even more refined—a beautiful, intricate arrangement where every step revealed a new, breathtaking vista.

As they walked, taking in the scenery, Jiang Ran felt his spirits lift.

Before long, as they ventured deeper, the sound of a zither reached them.

The music was graceful and pleasant, a gentle narrative, as if someone were whispering in your ear, softly speaking of sorrow.

A slight smile touched Jiang Ran’s lips. He followed the young man around a corner and saw a small lake within the courtyard.

Before the lake stood a gazebo.

Inside the gazebo, a woman sat with her head bowed over a table, strumming the zither as wisps of cyan smoke curled upwards.

The woman was dressed in white, her robes spread out within the gazebo. Her long hair danced lightly in the lakeside breeze.

Her face, though elegant and simple, possessed a refined, stunning beauty, yet it was devoid of any trace of a smile.

Her eyebrows were her most striking feature: long and thin, like willow leaves but not as curved, hinting at a sharp austerity. Beneath them was a pair of phoenix eyes, the corners long and narrow, their indifference reflecting a cold detachment.

This appearance didn’t match the touch of ‘sorrow’ in her music at all.

Jiang Ran had previously heard the Great Teacher mention her.

The whereabouts of Yan Wushuang, the Vice-President of the Hundred Treasures Association, were a mystery. Now, it seemed she had arrived at Evergreen Mansion at some unknown time and had been waiting.

At this moment, the zither music transitioned from graceful to shrill. The strings quivered rapidly, as if in a moment of extreme crisis.

Just as Jiang Ran was about to step forward with the young man, he saw the young man’s expression change drastically.

He leaped forward in a sudden stride, his figure like a meteor streaking across the night sky, a dot of Starlight vanishing into the distance.

It looked as if he was about to attack the woman in the gazebo.

But at that very moment, a loud BOOM erupted from the lake. A column of water shot skyward, and a man in Black flung his hands, sending two sharp glints whistling directly toward the woman in the gazebo.

DING! DING! Two sounds rang out.

The man who moved like a meteor had already flicked his sword twice, knocking the two throwing knives away.

Then, with a tap of his foot, the young man spun his longsword and thrust straight for the man’s throat.

The man in black crossed his hands, seemingly attempting a ‘Child Worships Guanyin’ stance to block the sword strike.

But the sword was even faster than he had anticipated.

The moment his hands clamped down on the blade, the sword had already pierced his throat.

The young man breathed a small sigh of relief. But as he was about to withdraw his sword, he saw a flash of crazed joy in the black-clad man’s eyes.

His heart skipped a beat. ‘This is bad!’

He whipped his head around.

“Protect the Vice-President!!”

These four words seemed rather baffling.

The assassin had appeared and was already dead, so why was there still a need to protect the Vice-President?

That single moment of hesitation was one step too late.

A figure had appeared silently behind the woman.

A sharp glint flashed from its hand, poised to sever her head.

But even now, the woman was still playing the zither.

It was as if she paid no mind to anything happening around her.

Jiang Ran watched quietly with his arms crossed, showing no intention of intervening.

‘If this woman is truly Yan Wushuang, and if she were to actually die from such a sneak attack, then there’s probably no need to meet with her anyway.’

Seeing Jiang Ran’s cold indifference, how he completely ignored the sudden appearance of this great beauty, Tang Huayi’s face lit up with a delighted smile.

Perhaps her smile was too conspicuous, for the woman in the gazebo couldn’t help but glance at her.

The next moment, the woman suddenly hooked a zither string and released it. TWANG. The blade, which had already reached the side of her neck, paused ever so slightly.

The blade could not descend.

Without turning her head, the woman simply hooked another string. Another TWANG rang out.

The person behind her suddenly cried out in pain, nearly losing their grip on the short blade.