Chapter 166 - 113: Seeing Luo Qingyi Again
"Is that so?"
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
The voice wasn’t loud, but it nearly scared the young man out of his wits.
He shuddered involuntarily. A moment later, he felt a grip tighten on the back of his neck as a powerful force dragged and hoisted him into the air.
He looked down just in time to see a hand give Zhang Zhihua a gentle push on the back.
Zhang Zhihua was sent flying straight toward Li Tianxin.
Resigned, Li Tianxin had no choice but to reach out and catch Zhang Zhihua in an embrace.
But when he tried to let go, Zhang Zhihua refused, clinging to him for dear life and unwilling to be pried off.
The look of someone who had lost all will to live once again appeared on Li Tianxin’s face.
Held aloft with the pressure points along his spine sealed, the young man’s neck was too rigid to turn. All he could do was call out:
"Who might you be, brave hero? I am Mo Tingzhi of Qianliu Manor. I ask that you show me some respect."
"Mo Tingzhi?"
Jiang Ran shook his head.
"Never heard of you. But I did hear you say a moment ago, ’Even if Jiang Ran himself were here, he couldn’t save you.’ Well, I am here now. So tell me, can she be saved, or not?"
The color drained from Mo Tingzhi’s face.
"You... You’re Jiang Ran?"
Jiang Ran smiled, swung Mo Tingzhi in a full circle, and hurled him to the ground.
There was a deafening THUD.
Splintered wood flew everywhere.
How immense was the power of Jiang Ran’s Barbaric Dragon Strength?
From that one slam, Mo Tingzhi felt as if at least half the bones in his body had shattered. His internal organs were ruptured, and blood poured from his mouth the moment he opened it.
He turned his head and saw Jiang Ran standing there, watching him quietly.
He gritted his teeth in fury.
"You... It really is you..."
"You’ve ruined our plans... time and time again..."
"The Manor Lord and the Young Master... they won’t let you get away with this!"
"I hear your Young Master is at Red Maple Manor at this very moment?"
Jiang Ran chuckled softly.
"To be honest with you, I’m on my way to Red Maple Manor as well."
"I’ll be sure to meet your Young Master personally and see just how he plans to ’not let me get away with this.’"
Mo Tingzhi froze. Before he could say another word, Jiang Ran was in front of him, flicking his fingers in a rapid sequence.
An invisible force descended, immobilizing him completely. A moment later, a gentle, breeze-like energy coursed through him, significantly easing his internal injuries.
"I have some questions for you, so I can’t let you die just yet."
Jiang Ran glanced at Mo Tingzhi’s subordinates around the room and gave a light wave of his hand.
"Kill them all."
’Truth be told, if they hadn’t mentioned Red Maple Manor, I might not have resorted to such ruthless measures.’
’But Red Maple Manor is connected to Ye Jingshuang and the Jiaowei zither.’
’This group tried to forcibly kidnap Zhang Zhihua to marry their Young Master.’
’The first point forced me to be cautious.’
’The second showed that their methods are vile, completely at odds with the Ye family. We are not on the same side.’
’In a situation like this, letting them live to go back and report the news would just be asking for trouble, wouldn’t it?’
’Therefore, even if it meant being a bit more vicious, I didn’t hesitate in the slightest.’
Li Tianxin nodded instinctively. With Zhang Zhihua still clinging to him, he shot forward. With a swift flash of his blade, blood sprayed through the air.
Luo Qingyi, surprisingly, also showed no hesitation.
He followed up with a series of punches, delivering the finishing blow to anyone who was still breathing.
He even chased down those who tried to flee, beating them to death. The objective was to leave no survivors.
Jiang Ran dragged Mo Tingzhi upstairs, where Ye Jingshuang was waiting to meet him on the second-floor landing.
She glanced at Mo Tingzhi before her gaze fell upon Jiang Ran. She smiled.
"Brother Jiang, your Lightweight Technique... it seems to have become even more profound."
A moment ago, Jiang Ran had been standing right beside her. In a flash, she had only caught a glimpse of an illusory shadow. By the time she focused her eyes again, he was already behind Mo Tingzhi.
’Silent and without a trace... That’s clearly not the Celestial Nine Steps I taught him.’
’It must be some other, bizarre Lightweight Technique.’
Jiang Ran smiled.
"Just a little something I picked up. Please don’t laugh, Shuang’Er."
Ye Jingshuang shook her head. She glanced at Mo Tingzhi in his grasp but didn’t say more, simply turning to head upstairs with Jiang Ran.
Once inside the room, he tossed Mo Tingzhi onto the floor.
After a short wait, footsteps approached.
Li Tianxin, Zhang Zhihua, and Luo Qingyi entered together.
Zhang Zhihua was no longer draped over Li Tianxin, which left a trace of post-near-death-experience relief on his face.
Luo Qingyi kept glancing at the pair, a look of surprise on his face.
’I’m not very familiar with Li Tianxin. The first time I saw him, he’d come to Feiyun Stronghold, been captured, and then beaten for a full day...’
’After that was the Cangzhou Heroic Assembly, where we teamed up to fight Zuo Kuangge.’
’It was only then that I realized his martial arts were far more powerful than he’d let on that first day.’
’Who would’ve thought that the next time we met, he’d have a little shadow following him around.’
’This... Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover.’
As for Zhang Zhihua, her face was bright red. Standing behind Li Tianxin, she looked like a timid new bride meeting her in-laws for the first time.
After sweeping his gaze over them, Jiang Ran’s eyes finally settled on Li Tianxin.
"Is everything taken care of?"
"Yes."
Li Tianxin nodded. "I had the Shopkeeper’s people handle the bodies, and I’ve already smoothed things over with the other guests downstairs."
"But keeping it completely under wraps... I don’t think that’s possible."
"It doesn’t matter."
Jiang Ran said, "Even if some rumors get out, they won’t reach the Young Master’s ears too quickly. Once the rain stops, we can get to Red Maple Manor in no time. They won’t have a chance to prepare..."
He paused and glanced at Luo Qingyi.
"What are you doing here?"
Luo Qingyi hesitated for a moment before replying.
"After Li Feiyun died, I had nowhere to go."
"I wandered around Cangzhou Prefecture for some time. Then, a couple of days ago, I heard that a certain item was about to be delivered to Red Maple Manor."
"People are already gathering at the manor because of it... so I figured I’d go and see what all the fuss is about."
"Delivered?"
Jiang Ran was taken aback. ’If it’s being delivered, it can’t be the Jiaowei zither.’ "What is it?"
"The Goldshatter Saber!"