“Otherwise, if we have to make a move—or if my master has to—your fate won’t be any better than your second and third brothers’.”
“To the victor go the spoils… But you’ve been talking for a while now. Where is this master of yours?”
Gu Renlong scanned the area but saw no sign of Jiang Ran.
Just as confusion set in, a whistling sound suddenly pierced the air.
This was followed by a swift WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! as something sliced through the air.
Startled, they thought the men from Thunderbolt Hall had started throwing Celestial Thunder Pearls. Then came several BOOMS, and a thick white fog erupted, obscuring the sky and sun, making it impossible to see their surroundings.
Screams of agony followed.
But the sound was strange. It didn’t come from nearby, but sounded as if people were falling from the cliff face.
‘Could someone have launched a surprise attack from the cliff wall, pushing them off?’
Enveloped in the thick smoke and unable to see, everyone present dared not make a rash move.
Xuanyuan One Slash instinctively tried to grab Gu Renlong first.
But his hand grasped nothing but air.
His heart skipped a beat. ‘Did he actually manage to escape?’
This smoke was clearly not the same kind Heterodox Manor had used against Jiang Ran that night; it lacked the same dense, clinging quality that refused to disperse.
Sunset Plateau was naturally windy, and a strong gust quickly blew the smoke away in moments, leaving no trace.
Looking again, they saw that a group of men in black had appeared at the base of the cliff, grimacing and groaning in pain.
Looking up, they saw Jiang Ran, who had vanished just moments ago, now sitting on the edge of the cliff wall.
He held a wine gourd in his hand and was taking a long drink.
Directly below his dangling legs was the Jiaowei zither.
However, at this very moment, a person was standing on the Jiaowei zither.
The man was dressed in black and stood tall. Poised atop the Jiaowei, he was so perfectly still—like an ancient pine rooted to the instrument—that not a single string quivered.
The man was now looking up at Jiang Ran’s legs, his eyes filled with consternation.
Jiang Ran craned his neck to look down at him and said with a smile:
“Why don’t you come up?”
“…If you’ve got the guts, you come down.”
The man’s voice was low and seemed intentionally disguised, as if he didn’t want to reveal his true vocal tone.
Jiang Ran chuckled.
“Are you planning to get stuck in a stalemate with me? I tell you to come up, you tell me to come down… Are we going to shout at each other for an hour?”
“It’s not like I’ll get tired…”
“But aren’t you afraid that if the Jiaowei under your feet makes a sound, you’ll be killed by its music?”
“And that’s why you don’t dare come down.”
“I’m waiting for you to come up.”
“But I don’t want to come up.”
Jiang Ran sighed.
“You don’t actually think I can’t do anything to you if you don’t come up, do you?”
“And what can you do?”
The man in black spoke nonchalantly, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Then he saw Jiang Ran pull something round and black from his robes… a Celestial Thunder Pearl.
The man in black’s expression changed.
“You wouldn’t dare! If that Celestial Thunder Pearl explodes here, there’s no guarantee the Jiaowei won’t be damaged!”
“But what if I told you I don’t care if the Jiaowei gets damaged? What if all I care about is venting my frustration?”
Jiang Ran grinned. “To be honest, ever since I got the Jiaowei, this thing has brought me nothing but trouble. I can only look at it, not use it, and I have a horde of people chasing me, cornering me, and trying every trick in the book to kill me.
“They come at me openly, they come at me from the shadows, and some have just plain lost their minds… like Thunderbolt Hall. They’re just completely insane.”
“…You’re not wrong about that. Which is why I also came for the Jiaowei today, masked and in black.
“To be honest, I’m actually doing this for you.”
The man in black said, “Look, you’re tired of all the trouble. I, conveniently masked and in black, will take it off your hands. You’ll be free, no one will be able to recognize me, and we can both go our separate ways unscathed. Isn’t that a great solution?”
Jiang Ran shook his head.
“No, no. If you stole the Jiaowei, wouldn’t this whole Tea and Zither Appreciation Gathering become a joke?
“I was already planning to use this event to solve the problem of the Jiaowei once and for all. Who asked you to stick your nose in it?
“I’m warning you… back off now. Otherwise, watch out, because I really will blow you up.”
The man in black fell silent, then finally shook his head.
“I still don’t want to come up. I want to take a gamble. I’m betting you can’t bear to part with the Jiaowei.”
Jiang Ran’s eyes narrowed slightly. As he slowly raised his hand, the man in black stared at him, only to suddenly hear Jiang Ran shout:
“What are you waiting for? Attack!”
The man in black’s heart tightened. He subconsciously thought someone had gotten behind him.
‘But then he thought, ‘We’re on a damn cliff ledge halfway up a mountain. Anyone who wanted to attack would have to leap up here. How could I not hear a commotion that big? It’s not like I’m deaf.’
But in the next instant, he heard all sorts of whistling sounds rushing toward him.
The sound was overwhelming, as if ten thousand arrows had been loosed at once!
He glanced back instinctively, and his scalp prickled with dread.
Flying toward him were countless hidden weapons!
Sunset Plateau was packed with people today. The sudden appearance of the man in black and the thick smoke had left everyone unsure of how to react.
It wasn’t until Jiang Ran took out the Celestial Thunder Pearl that they finally understood.
Charging in to fight the man in black directly was obviously not an option.
One careless move could touch the Jiaowei, and the consequences could be fatal.
But they could use hidden weapons to knock him off.
Immediately, the large crowd pulled out their hidden weapons. The moment Jiang Ran’s shout fell, they decisively unleashed them all.
A few with malicious intentions even took the opportunity to aim not just at the man in black, but at Jiang Ran as well.