Chapter 112 - 95: Successor (3)
After ten consecutive flicks, Tie Cheng finally couldn’t take it anymore and cried out:
"St... Stop! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything!"
At his words, Jiang Ran glanced at Li Tianxin.
He found Li Tianxin’s expression grave as he muttered to himself:
"So that’s how it is..."
"What?"
Jiang Ran was completely baffled.
Li Tianxin just shook his head.
"It’s nothing. If I’d known you had something this good, why did we have to go through all that trouble with that Ghost Thirteen earlier?"
"That’s a different matter. Using this on Ghost Thirteen would have been... inappropriate."
After saying this, Jiang Ran offered no further explanation and turned his gaze to Tie Cheng.
"Speak. My question from before."
"It was Dugu Yu who sent me!"
Tie Cheng said through gritted teeth:
"He said that in an unfamiliar place, whether you’re looking for a person or a thing, the best way is to find the local bigwigs."
"And... the Government Office."
"The Young Manor Lord and his men are handling the Government Office, while we were tasked with finding the local bigwigs."
"But a man of his stature doesn’t need to personally deal with these ants."
"So he left the matter to me."
Jiang Ran nodded. "Then what is he looking for?"
"A person."
Tie Cheng took a deep breath.
"Since you were there that night, you should know who they’re looking for."
"That old monster came to Benma County... and met with someone."
"The person we’re looking for now is that very person. He must know where the old monster went!"
"This old monster you speak of, who is he exactly?"
Jiang Ran asked the most important question.
Tie Cheng glanced at Jiang Ran, suddenly finding it a bit strange.
"Why are you asking about this?"
In response, Jiang Ran said nothing. He simply flexed a finger and blew a puff of warm air on it.
The sight made Tie Cheng’s scalp tingle, and he hurriedly said:
"I’ll talk, I’ll talk! Just stop!"
"This old monster is an enemy of Dugu Yu and Yin Yue."
"He’s suspected to be the generational successor of Wenren Tianzong, once the world’s number one saber wielder... He inherited the Nine Shocking God Sabers, which had been lost for a century!"
"However, not even the Ink Pavilion can confirm this, because from the time he appeared in the martial world to when he vanished, it was less than two years in total."
"The Nine Shocking God Sabers?"
Li Tianxin’s brow furrowed, and he subconsciously glanced at Jiang Ran.
Jiang Ran let out a soft breath. ’This single sentence is enough to confirm it. The old monster is the old drunkard.’
’The generational successor of Wenren Tianzong, once the world’s number one saber wielder.’
’That shameless old rogue who’s been slovenly for twenty years, a master of every vice imaginable?’
Although Jiang Ran had suspected as much back in that dilapidated temple, hearing the truth from Tie Cheng’s mouth still left him with an indescribable feeling.
He gently rubbed his fingers together, gathering his thoughts for a moment before speaking:
"Do you know what exactly happened between this old monster and Dugu Yu?"
"I don’t know..."
Tie Cheng shook his head.
"Hm?"
Jiang Ran’s voice was grim.
"I really don’t know!!"
Tie Cheng said hurriedly:
"The old monster actually wasn’t very famous back then. It was only twenty years ago when he suddenly went on a rampage that people realized such a figure even existed in the martial world."
"What kind of rampage?"
"He went on a killing spree... Over the course of nine months, he fought his way across the lands of five nations and killed nine of the greatest masters of the era."
"In that moment, his name shook the world."
"But after he did this, he vanished from everyone’s sight."
"It wasn’t until after that winter passed that he reappeared in the martial world... His first stop was the Heterodox Manor."
"He sought out the Lord of Heterodox Manor to demand a supreme treasure—the Autumn Moon Cicada Shell!"
"The Autumn Moon Cicada Shell?"
Li Tianxin glanced at Jiang Ran and said in a low voice:
"It’s a healing treasure. It’s said to be able to neutralize any poison in the world, heal injuries, and mend deficiencies. Even someone with a congenital defect can be fully cured by it."
"A congenital defect?"
Jiang Ran suddenly looked at Li Tianxin.
"What about the nine-deaths terminal meridian?"
"I don’t know."
Li Tianxin shook his head. "This nine-deaths terminal meridian you speak of... I’ve only ever read about it in ancient texts. I’ve never actually seen anyone with such a congenital condition."
"As for whether the Autumn Moon Cicada Shell can treat it... we’d have to find someone who suffers from the nine-deaths terminal meridian and test it to know for sure."
Jiang Ran fell silent for a moment, a bitter smile rising in his heart.
’Only read about the nine-deaths terminal meridian in ancient texts, huh?’
’Well, there’s one sitting right in front of you...’
’But... could the old drunkard have wanted the Autumn Moon Cicada Shell for me?’
’I’ve never seen the thing.’
’But Tie Cheng said the old drunkard didn’t go to the Heterodox Manor until after that winter.’
’By that point, he had already brought me home.’
He was just too young then. Even if he had some memories, his body was still developing, so like any other infant, he spent most of the day sleeping.
But he did remember... Back then, the old drunkard had indeed left for a period of time, leaving him in the care of a young couple.
At the time, he had just assumed the old drunkard was finding a wet nurse for him.
After all, he was just an unkempt old drunkard, drunk as a skunk every day. How could he possibly look after a tiny baby?
’Now, it seems things weren’t that simple.’
Besides that, there were the innumerable strange methods and bizarre things the old drunkard had used on him growing up.
’It was hard to say if the Autumn Moon Cicada Shell was among them...’
At this thought, Jiang Ran suddenly found himself missing that old bastard.
’I wonder where he is now, what he’s doing, and whether he’s doing okay?’
Tie Cheng, oblivious to Jiang Ran’s thoughts, saw that he had stopped talking to Li Tianxin and continued:
"Dugu Yu and Yin Yue became his enemies during this process."
"The two of them tracked him down and cornered him, intending to fight to the death. But they were defeated without even blocking a single one of his saber strikes."
"It was a good thing the old monster had no intention of killing them back then. Otherwise, the Sun and Moon Duo would have been dead for twenty years."