Chapter 450 - 208: Rendezvous (2)

"If Patriarch Hu keeps talking like this, you’ll be driving me away."

Jiang Ran said helplessly, "Perhaps I should just leave then."

"I’ll say no more, I’ll say no more."

Hu Wanshan said quickly, "Hero Jiang, please don’t go. You must stay here for a few days. Someone, go prepare a guest room at once."

Because today was the day of the Hu family’s ancestral worship ceremony.

Descendants of the Hu family had come from all over, so the guest rooms had been prepared long ago.

After the chaotic night, everyone was exhausted, weary, and still shaken. Even though Hu Wanshan wanted to pull Jiang Ran aside to talk, he was too tired to stay up any longer.

After bidding each other farewell, they each returned to their rooms to rest.

Jiang Ran had just closed his door and was about to get ready for bed when he heard Hua Yuerong’s voice from outside.

"Hero Jiang, are you asleep?"

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed slightly. He glanced at the door, then stood up and said,

"Not yet. Please wait a moment, Miss Hua."

He walked to the door, opened it, and glanced at Hua Yuerong standing outside.

The young woman’s face held a hint of timidity, yet she forced herself to maintain her composure. Upon seeing Jiang Ran, she bowed in greeting.

"Hero Jiang, I... may I come in?"

Jiang Ran glanced at the sky and said helplessly,

"Miss Hua, it is already late. If it’s nothing important, you shouldn’t come in.

"After all, for a man and a woman to be alone in a room together... if word of this got out, it wouldn’t sound good.

"It makes no difference to me, but you are an unmarried maiden. If rumors were to spread, I’m afraid your reputation would be damaged."

Hua Yuerong bit her lower lip gently.

"Yes... I know. It’s just that after what happened today...

"Being in this unfamiliar place, I can’t seem to find any peace of mind."

"Don’t worry."

Jiang Ran smiled. "Get a good night’s sleep. We will leave tomorrow. After we meet up with my companion, we’ll escort you home. You’ll surely find your peace of mind then. Besides, my martial arts are decent enough, and our rooms are only separated by a single wall.

"If there’s any disturbance, I will surely notice it. Please return to your room, Miss Hua."

"...Alright."

Hua Yuerong glanced at Jiang Ran. "Hero Jiang is truly a gentleman who abides by the rules of propriety. It’s quite admirable."

’Hasn’t she said that before?’

Jiang Ran pondered this for a moment. Seeing her turn and leave, he gently closed the door.

...

...

「The night passed peacefully.」 As dawn broke the next day, someone came running up to Jiang Ran’s door.

"Hero Jiang, Hero Jiang, are you awake?"

CREAK. The door opened. Jiang Ran was already dressed and ready. Seeing Hu Nan standing outside, he was a little surprised.

"What brings you here, Young Master Hu?"

"Hero Jiang, you’re up early! Right, I came to tell you, that man in black you captured last night... he’s dead."

"Dead?"

Jiang Ran’s brow twitched slightly. "Take me to see."

"Alright."

Hu Nan agreed and led Jiang Ran away.

The two of them, one after the other, arrived at a woodshed.

Wanshui Manor had no dungeon, so for a temporary holding cell, they could only use the woodshed.

They opened the door and went inside to find the man in black from last night, now a corpse splayed out on the floor, his face as withered as an old man’s.

Jiang Ran reached out a hand to check, examined the body carefully, and finally said with a strange expression,

"He... died of old age?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Hu Nan asked subconsciously.

"He died of old age."

Jiang Ran let out a soft breath. "It seems this evil art of the Demon Sect is quite interesting."

’I’ll have to ask Tang Huayi about this later.’

"Hero Jiang, how is this martial art interesting at all? It feels so sinister, so bizarre.

"A perfectly healthy person died looking like this.

"I’ve heard my master say before that the Demon Sect is strange and treacherous. While not all of them are evil, when a member of the Demon Sect does commit evil, they are the most terrifying of all.

"I thought he was just trying to scare me, but to think that a single martial art from the Demon Sect could do something like this...

"I can’t imagine what it would have been like if the Demon Sect hadn’t been destroyed by the legendary hero Chu Nanfeng and his coalition of experts."

Hu Nan sighed softly.

Jiang Ran glanced at him. "I haven’t had the chance to ask, Young Master Hu. From which sect did you learn your skills?"

"The Blazing Saber Sect!!"

Hu Nan puffed out his chest and announced his lineage with pride. "My esteemed master is the ’Mad Saber’ of the Blazing Saber Sect, Ren Feisheng!"

Jiang Ran immediately feigned a look of sudden realization.

"So you’re a disciple of Hero Ren. Forgive my disrespect."

"Not at all, not at all."

Hu Nan said, a bit embarrassed,

"My master may be renowned, but I’m just a nobody. I’ve brought shame upon him."

Hearing this, Jiang Ran smiled and offered a few words of comfort.

Then he followed him out of the woodshed.

Jiang Ran had also inspected the bodies of the men from the Setting Sun Sect last night.

Including the father and son who led them, they were all people who had never appeared in the martial world before.

Since no one in the entire Hu family recognized them, Jiang Ran left them for the Hu family to handle.

’So much for my idea of getting another wave of rewards from this,’ he thought, but he had to give up on the notion.

Afterward, Jiang Ran followed Hu Nan to the dining hall for a meal.

He saw Hu Wanshan and the others again.

Hua Yuerong was already there, eating and drinking.

When she saw Jiang Ran approach, she quickly stood up and bowed.

Jiang Ran waved his hand and said to Hu Wanshan,

"I still have matters to attend to. I will take my leave after I’ve finished my meal."

Hu Wanshan was quite regretful, but seeing that Jiang Ran was determined to leave, he couldn’t say much more.

He just promised Jiang Ran that he would select two fine horses to aid their journey.

Jiang Ran cupped his fist in thanks.

And the horses Hu Wanshan provided were indeed fine ones. After the meal, Jiang Ran and Hua Yuerong, each on their own horse, bid farewell to the Hu family and spurred their mounts onto the road.