Chapter 183 - 119: Broken String (Part 2)
Everything around him seemed to shatter.
Then, a voice spoke up.
"Excuse me, are you Chief Cheng of the Celestial Yang Escort Agency?"
Cheng Tianyang looked up, dazed and lost, to see a young man and woman standing before him.
The man was handsome, with brows like distant mountains and eyes like stars. ’How can a grown man be so handsome you could almost call him pretty?’
His clothes, however, weren’t particularly refined.
A wine gourd hung from one side of his waist, and a saber from the other.
The young woman beside him was dressed in plain white, wore no makeup, and her features were exquisitely delicate.
’Where did this perfect couple come from?’
After a moment’s surprise, he nodded.
"I am Cheng Tianyang. And you two... are?"
Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang exchanged a look before Ye Jingshuang cupped her fist slightly.
"Liuyun Sword Sect... Ye Jingshuang."
"Oh, so you’re an expert from the Liuyun Sword—"
Cheng Tianyang paused mid-sentence, stunned. He snapped his head up.
"Who did you say you were?"
"Ye Jingshuang."
"One of the two Ye Sisters, the Eldest Miss Ye... Ye Jingshuang?"
Cheng Tianyang’s eyes went wide.
"You’re not dead?"
Ye Jingshuang sighed.
"It’s a long story. You’ve come a long way, Senior. This is no place to talk. Please, follow me."
Cheng Tianyang nodded, but as he was about to move, he felt his legs ache and go numb.
Recalling the terrifying scene from moments ago, he couldn’t help but ask:
"When you two arrived, did you see anyone?"
Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.
Jiang Ran, however, glanced thoughtfully at Cheng Tianyang’s face.
"Chief Cheng, did you just encounter an opponent?"
"Well..."
For a moment, Cheng Tianyang didn’t know how to explain.
The scene from before had been too bizarre; Jiang Ran and Ye Jingshuang might not even believe him if he told them.
Besides, just thinking about that person’s methods sent a chill down his spine.
Jiang Ran waited for a moment, but when Cheng Tianyang didn’t continue, he didn’t press the matter.
He was about to move on when he suddenly looked toward a corner of the woods.
A figure was slowly walking out from the trees.
Also dressed in white, each step this person took was like a sword inching forward.
They moved step by step, not quickly, but with the decisiveness of a sword strike.
In a flash of steely intent, they lunged straight for the three of them.
Ye Jingshuang was at first overjoyed to see this person, but she never expected them to attack with a sword without a second thought.
Caught by surprise, she was pulled behind Jiang Ran.
VWOOM!
A golden Vajra avatar wearing a Taoist robe erupted from the ground.
The point of the sword landed squarely on the avatar.
Cheng Tianyang looked up and gaped.
’The Great Brahman Vajra Skill?
’No, wait... Did this Monk join a Taoist Sect?
’Why is it wearing a Taoist robe?’
He then looked back at the attacker, his brow furrowing slightly.
’This is the Swordsmanship of the Danyang Sword Sect...
’Aren’t the Liuyun Sword Sect and the Danyang Sword Sect supposed to be on good terms? Is this what they call ’good terms’?’
Jiang Ran shot Cheng Tianyang a sideways glance. ’Not only is his name unlucky, but for an old man, he sure is chatty.’
Meanwhile, Ye Jingshuang shouted repeatedly,
"Shi Miao! What’s wrong with you?"
The newcomer was indeed Shi Miao.
But at this moment, she seemed to have turned a deaf ear to the world, her eyes filled with killing intent.
It was different from her usual coldness; she seemed intent on cutting down everyone in her sight.
Sword Qi swirled around her, all of it focused into an all-or-nothing strike, concentrating its power on a single point to shatter Jiang Ran’s protective avatar.
As her blade pressed deeper, fine cracks began to spread across the avatar’s surface.
It wasn’t that Jiang Ran’s avatar was weak.
Rather, Shi Miao’s sword strike was an unstoppable, life-or-death gamble, capable of breaking through anything.
While not as clean and decisive as the second saber of Jiang Ran’s Nine Shocking God Sabers, which could cut a person down as if they were paper,
it was still far beyond ordinary.
Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed. He knew he couldn’t rely solely on the protective avatar.
With a shake of his arms, the avatar dissipated like smoke. In a flash, Jiang Ran closed the distance and reached out with his palm, appearing right in front of Shi Miao.
His fingertips were like the bright moon, luminous and traceless.
He was using "Cold Moon’s Play," a technique from the Cold Moon Skill.
This was a subtle grappling art. The emphasis wasn’t on "Cold Moon," but on "Play."
In the martial world, besides the level of one’s own skill, the method of application is even more important.
The "Play" in "Cold Moon’s Play" referred to this principle of application.
One had to "deceive others through play," which meant both tricking the opponent and incorporating a sense of jest and sport into the movements.
Now, as he struck, he reached for Shi Miao’s wrist.
Shi Miao swept her longsword horizontally, aiming for Jiang Ran’s throat.
But unexpectedly, as the sword fell, its blade swept right through Jiang Ran, leaving him completely unharmed. Instead, Shi Miao felt her own wrist being seized.
Yin Yue had used this very technique before; it came from the "Cold Moon’s Play" Chapter.
Having inherited over fifty years of her Cold Moon Skill cultivation, Jiang Ran now executed it with practiced ease.
Shi Miao’s expression didn’t change as she channeled her strength to break free. But the moment Jiang Ran’s grip landed, he switched to Barbaric Dragon Strength.
His brute strength was astounding. How could Shi Miao, with her slender limbs, possibly compete?
She couldn’t budge him in the slightest.
Just as she was about to form a sword-finger with her left hand to unleash Sword Qi,
Jiang Ran was one step ahead. He tapped a single finger right between her eyebrows.
Heart-Rectifying Finger!
As his finger landed, a tremor ran through Shi Miao’s entire body.
The killing intent in her eyes vanished instantly. Her eyes rolled back, and she began to collapse.
Jiang Ran caught her and passed her to Ye Jingshuang.
He then scanned his surroundings, searching the area.
But the area was empty. There was nothing out of the ordinary.