Chapter 161 - 112: Inn
Jiang Ran felt uneasy as he walked out of the Sword Holding Department office.
The visit had left him with an indescribable feeling about the place.
It wasn’t quite an aversion, not really.
But a sense of apprehension had taken root in his heart.
’Every Assassin who holds an Assassin’s Order has someone like Cyan Fox tailing them.
’They might not be right beside you at all times, but it’s still unnerving.
’Are they worried their blades won’t be easy to control?’
Jiang Ran shook his head. His goal was actually quite simple.
He captured fugitives from the wanted posters issued by the Court to make a living.
In the process, he wanted to earn some extra money so that one day, he could live to a ripe old age. After retiring, he could live a more comfortable life.
Why the Court had established the Sword Holding Department, and why they had gone to such lengths to make its office so secretive...
Jiang Ran didn’t want to get involved, and he knew he couldn’t even if he tried.
At the end of the day, he was just a commoner. The Court’s affairs were far removed from him, utterly unrelated to his life.
As long as they didn’t cross his lines, he would just let them be.
But having Cyan Fox trail him, even from a distance, would make Jiang Ran feel constrained.
He was even more worried that under such subtle influence, he might unintentionally be manipulated into doing something he didn’t want to do.
That would make the situation very troublesome.
That was why Jiang Ran’s refusal had been so decisive.
As he emerged from the narrow alley onto the bustling streets of Cangzhou Prefecture, he temporarily pushed these matters to the back of his mind.
Walking along the street, Jiang Ran decided to first return to the inn.
He was going to claim the reward he’d earned from Yin Yue.
The ten years of Inner Strength were nothing new; he was long accustomed to receiving it.
The Cold Moon Skill, however, was worth mentioning.
It was, by its nature, a superior martial art.
With a mere thought from Jiang Ran, a vast and profound mental art instantly flowed through his mind.
Just as it had been with the Great Brahman Vajra Skill, as soon as the Cold Moon True Qi emerged from his Dantian, every wisp of it was swept away by his Creation-Heart Sutra.
Having learned from his last experience, Jiang Ran first applied the Heart-Rectifying Finger to himself.
Only then did he assist his Creation-Heart Sutra in absorbing the Cold Moon True Qi.
This process took much less time than before. After three hours, Jiang Ran opened his eyes and slowly descended from mid-air onto his bed.
He opened his palm. A wisp of frigid air instantly materialized, then condensed into an ice nail that danced and bobbed above his palm.
’Cold Moon Nail...’
Jiang Ran flicked his wrist, and the ice nail shattered. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Now that he possessed the complete Cold Moon Skill, Jiang Ran had a thorough understanding of the Cold Moon Nail.
And because of that, he now understood that the Cold Moon Nail was not to be underestimated.
The nail was condensed from Cold Moon True Qi and was laced with a chilling poison. Upon impact, not only would the victim suffer excruciating pain at the wound site, but the poison would also invade their body.
Without an expert to help expel it, any escape would merely be a postponement of the inevitable.
Now, however, Jiang Ran wasn’t using Cold Moon True Qi. Instead, he used his Creation-Heart Sutra to fuse the chilling energy of the Cold Moon Skill. The resulting Cold Moon Nail contained an additional martial intent of ’seemingly boundless control,’ and its power was drastically increased.
’This could be considered a rather vicious martial art,’ Jiang Ran concluded.
But the Cold Moon Skill consisted of more than just the Cold Moon Nail.
It also included a grappling art called Cold Moon Play and a set of techniques for Condensing Water into Ice.
The latter, in particular, was extremely versatile.
However, it required the presence of water to be used.
Otherwise, one would have to do as Yin Yue did: use their own blood as a catalyst, which could also be condensed into ice.
Finally, there was an ultimate move in the Inner Energy art called Cold Moon Overhead. It involved erupting with one’s Inner Strength, leaping into the air, taking the form of a cold moon, and then crashing down like a hammer.
The manual described it as: "Frigid air boils like a cauldron; ice incinerates the eight wastes."
Whether this was an exaggeration was a matter of opinion.
Jiang Ran, however, felt that since both the Great Brahman Vajra Skill and the Cold Moon Skill were contained within his Creation-Heart Sutra, it might be possible to link them together using the sutra itself.
However, after a small test, he discovered it wasn’t nearly as easy as he had imagined.
After all, the two martial arts were as different as night and day, with nothing in common. Only by using his Creation-Heart Sutra as a thread to connect them was there even a possibility of fusion.
This would require careful experimentation and theorizing; he couldn’t afford to be rash.
Besides, Jiang Ran considered it carefully. If he were to merge the two arts, when he used the Great Brahman Vajra Skill, the Vajra figure that already wore a Daoist robe would now also have a cold moon hanging behind its back...
Wouldn’t the aesthetic be a little... strange?
After a moment’s thought, Jiang Ran decided not to dwell on it.
Instead, he went to find Liu Wenshan for a casual chat.
Later that evening, Ye Jingshuang returned with Mingyue. Both young women were exhausted.
Their efforts had been fruitful, however.
They had a list of prospective mansions, both large and small.
The most expensive one cost a staggering ten thousand taels of silver. Jiang Ran glanced at the name: Tang Mansion...
The place was indeed massive—a sprawling complex of courtyard after courtyard.
The Tang family had vanished overnight, and their vast mansion had been repossessed by the Government Office.
Jiang Ran guessed it was something done back when Guo Chong was in charge.
Now it was listed for sale with a clear price tag.
Jiang Ran thought for a moment. The mansion was far too big for just two people; it wasn’t worth considering, so he naturally skipped over it.
He figured that even Ye Jingshuang hadn’t really expected him to buy it.
She was probably just keeping him informed.
The other options were more reasonably priced residences.