Free Web NovelChapter 39: Chapter 39: That Night
In truth, Jiang Ran hadn’t planned on tipping his hand tonight.
He had followed Gu Mosheng and his men to Feiyun Stronghold, but not to make a move right away.
He just wanted to figure out who these people were and then plan his next steps.
He was always trying to come up with a foolproof plan, one that would guarantee not a single Life-extending Pill was missed.
Unfortunately, matters in the martial world rarely wait for you to be perfectly prepared before they happen...
Li Tianxin’s appearance had been sudden, and he knew many things that were not common knowledge.
And those things might be related to the Tang family.
For that reason, he had to save this man.
And if he was going to save him, he had to be clean about it.
Destroying the bodies to erase the evidence was only the first step.
This was to keep Li Feiyun in the dark. Otherwise, with the Qinghe Gang gone and now the Gang Leader of the Sunset Gang missing...
Jiang Ran was genuinely worried that if Li Feiyun saw this escalating crisis, he wouldn’t dare come to Cangzhou Prefecture on the fifteenth of the seventh month.
The second step involved Gu Mosheng and Li Tianxin themselves.
Carrying the two men, Jiang Ran used the Celestial Nine Steps, his strides as swift as a meteor, as if his burdens weighed nothing at all.
He leisurely slipped back into Cangzhou Prefecture and returned to the inn.
Only then did he set the two men down.
However, he tossed Gu Mosheng onto the floor, while Li Tianxin was placed gently on the bed.
Jiang Ran checked Li Tianxin’s pulse and frowned slightly.
Li Tianxin gave a bitter laugh.
"It’s useless... I... I was struck by the Blood Cauldron Scripture. The Qi Strength of this evil art... is incredibly tenacious.
"They... they use the blood of a virgin as a catalyst... and their own bodies as the cauldron.
"They cultivate a breath of Profound Yin Evil Qi. This qi is bone-chillingly cold, yet it conceals a fiery poison that can boil the blood and incinerate the bones.
"An ordinary person would surely die if they were contaminated by even a trace of it!
"I... I’m beyond saving..."
After checking his pulse, Jiang Ran now had a general understanding of the man’s condition.
There was indeed a sinister, cold, and perverse Inner Strength in his body, constantly eroding his meridians.
After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Ran helped him sit up. He raised one palm, gathered a breath of his generative True Qi, and slowly channeled it into Li Tianxin’s body.
Li Tianxin’s brows furrowed.
"I... I already told you... Don’t... waste your... effort.
"It’s just a... a waste of your strength..." freēwēbηovel.c૦m
He had just finished speaking when his expression suddenly changed.
He felt that Jiang Ran’s Inner Strength was far from ordinary.
The True Qi in his body, which had been clinging to him like maggots on a bone, was actually being pushed back by this new Inner Strength.
Stunned, he didn’t dare speak again.
He focused his mind and guarded his spirit, preventing his own internal energy from running wild and harming them both.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Li Tianxin’s body suddenly shook, and he violently spat out a mouthful of blood.
The blood was unnaturally vibrant, and after hitting the floor, it actually emitted wisps of cold air.
Seeing this, Jiang Ran finally withdrew his hand, returning his generative True Qi to his Dantian.
Just then, Gu Mosheng burst out laughing.
"You’re courting death, kid... The Blood Cauldron Scripture is not to be trifled with! He was supposed to die, but now you’ll die in his place... Excellent, excellent! A fine trade!"
Jiang Ran shot Gu Mosheng an odd look and let him rave.
But when Gu Mosheng saw his expression, he frowned.
"You... Do you feel cold right now?"
"No."
"...Do you feel as if your blood and bones are on fire? Your body like ice?"
"No to that, either."
"This is impossible..."
Gu Mosheng muttered to himself.
"How is this possible? How could the Blood Cauldron Scripture have no effect on you? You... Who in the world are you? What martial art do you practice?"
Jiang Ran chuckled.
"Since when were you in a position to ask me questions?"
Gu Mosheng froze. Seeing Jiang Ran truly alive and well, his face fell in dismay.
Jiang Ran walked over to the table, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to Li Tianxin.
Li Tianxin reached out and took it.
"Thank you..."
He took a sip to soothe his throat, and then heard Jiang Ran ask:
"Who are you?"
"...That’s a question I cannot answer."
Li Tianxin took a deep breath and glanced at Jiang Ran.
"You saved my life tonight. I should tell you everything I know without reservation.
"And I can tell you anything else... but this one thing, I am not willing to reveal. Please forgive me."
"Fair enough."
Jiang Ran smiled.
"Then tell me how you knew Li Feiyun, Fan Yumou, and this Gu Mosheng were practicing the Blood Cauldron Scripture."
"...Actually, I came to Cangzhou Prefecture in pursuit of this very matter."
Li Tianxin paused for a moment, then said softly: freёwebnovel.com
"A hundred years ago, the great hero Chu Nanfeng led a group of martial arts experts and destroyed the Demon Sect.
"Afterward, the Demon Sect’s great treasure, the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records, was scattered throughout the martial world.
"It is widely known that the Eighteen Celestial Demon Records contains eighteen different evil arts of the Demon Sect.
"Each one possesses immense power... and their cultivation methods often inflict endless suffering.
"Just like... this Blood Cauldron Scripture, which requires the blood of a virgin as a catalyst.
"To cultivate these evil arts, there are always those who will stop at nothing, murdering innocents and slaughtering the masses.
"By a stroke of luck, I obtained a clue to the whereabouts of the Blood Cauldron Scripture, which is what brought me to Cangzhou Prefecture.
"And the first person I targeted was Fan Jiwu."
"So it really wasn’t his first time forcibly abducting a woman?"
Jiang Ran asked softly.
"You noticed?"
Li Tianxin gave Jiang Ran a surprised look.
"Just a guess."
Jiang Ran waved his hand. "Continue."
Li Tianxin sighed.
"Unfortunately, I still arrived too late...
"At the time, all I knew was that the Blood Cauldron Scripture was likely in Cangzhou Prefecture.
"But I didn’t know its specific location.
"It wasn’t until I heard people talking about their daughters disappearing that I started paying close attention.
"After some investigation, I traced it back to Fan Jiwu.
"He didn’t just abduct women openly; the number he secretly kidnapped is unknown.
"When I grew suspicious of him, I investigated the Qinghe Gang and discovered that every night, someone would sneak out the back gate to dump the desiccated corpses of women in the mass graves.
"However, they couldn’t dispose of the bodies as fast as they created them.
"As a result, the excess corpses had to be hidden away in a secret room."
As Li Tianxin spoke, Jiang Ran recalled a rumor that circulated on the day the Qinghe Gang was annihilated.
It was said that many desiccated corpses had been found in one of the Qinghe Gang’s secret rooms.
The two points did indeed match up.
Li Tianxin continued.
"On that day, when Fan Jiwu was abducting a young woman and was caught by the second young miss of the Tang family, I was actually nearby.
"However, I didn’t intervene. Instead, I planned to use it as a pretext to storm the Qinghe Gang, kill Fan Jiwu first, and see if he had the Blood Cauldron Scripture on him.
"Afterward, I would use that to lure Fan Yumou out for revenge and then find a way to kill him as well.
"But I never expected... that the one who stormed the Qinghe Gang that day would be you..."
As he said this, he glanced at Jiang Ran and couldn’t help but hmph.
Then he sighed again.
Jiang Ran’s expression turned a little strange. ’So that’s why he kept hmphing at me?’
After a moment of thought, he asked, "What happened after that?"
"After that... since I couldn’t go during the day, I had to go at night."
The words were spoken calmly, but to Jiang Ran’s ears, they were like a clap of thunder.
"That night... you were at the Qinghe Gang?"
