The White-Haired Old Man had an inauspicious debut. After plummeting from the sky, he was immediately swarmed by countless players who bound him up tight as a drum.
He had still wanted to continue his tirade of curses, but Ruan Xuezong force-fed him a dose of Soft Tendon Powder and sealed one of his acupoints. In an instant, the old bandit fell as silent and docile as a sheltered young maiden.
When the White-Haired Old Man failed to return after a long while, the other two members of the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits quickly realized that some tough customers had shown up outside. As veteran river pirates who had lain low undetected for more than twenty years, they naturally had their own tricks. Without hesitation, they seized the terrified Wang Sheng and fled.
Their toes barely touched the ground before they vanished from sight.
The city was simply too vast. Ruan Xuezong soon noticed that the players’ expressions had turned strained—they simply couldn’t keep up.
The battle at Clear Wind Fishing Ground had propelled most players past level fifteen and into the twenties, but they still paled in comparison to the likes of the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits, who were infamous veterans chronicled by the Jianghu Know-It-All. That was the unbridgeable gap in strength.
One by one, the players unleashed their lightness skills in pursuit, only to falter as their stamina flagged. They plummeted from midair. Those who splashed into the river fared better than the ones who crashed to the ground and ended up with crippling debuffs. More and more fell behind.
Ruan Xuezong knew this wouldn’t do. A vast map of Jinling City sprang into his mind. He sifted through vague recollections of the Six Gates chatter from twenty years prior, piecing together the likely escape route of these legendary thieves. People were creatures of habit and prone to wishful thinking; what had worked for them back then would probably serve again after all these years.
He surveyed the bustling, vibrant expanse of Jinling City.
While flying onward in deep thought, Ruan Xuezong used voice transmission to instruct the first-team players to pop inner force pills and keep up the guerrilla pursuit. He ordered the second team and everyone else to halt the chase, instead laying traps and ambushes by any means necessary.
High-level experts with profound inner force could transmit messages directly into others’ ears. The players had no idea how it worked, but when they heard Ruan Xuezong’s cool, clear voice whispering right beside them, they practically vibrated with excitement.
“AAAAAH! It’s a world announcement—Zongzong sent me a private message! I knew I was special!”
“It’s not just you; we all got one. Thanks!”
“Mission accomplished!”
The second team promptly abandoned the pursuit.
One player from the recording team had neither died nor been injured, but his stamina had run dry, leaving him unable to use lightness skills. His feed lagged behind, so he simply followed Ruan Xuezong’s orders and found a spot to rest.
The place he stopped happened to be Jinling City’s central landmark: Red Bridge.
He had his stream running live. Suddenly, the feed lost sight of the horde of martial experts and showed only the teeming streets. Nearby, steam rose from a sizzling stove as a vendor hawked sesame cakes with infectious enthusiasm. The recorder thought for a moment, then shelled out five coppers for one. He devoured it in huge bites, shouting, “What is this divine treat from paradise!”
The barrage exploded with question marks.
“Damn, now I’m starving.”
“Everyone else is grinding the BOSS, and you’re just chowing down? Don’t your conscience hurt?”
The recorder chewed through mouthfuls of the meaty pastry, his eyes misty. “What can I do, dear viewers? I couldn’t keep up—QAQ. Not only did I lose the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits, I couldn’t even stick with Zongzong. Don’t believe me? Look!”
He aimed his camera skyward, hoping the empty blue expanse would convey his marathon dropout woes.
Instead, the scene blew up.
Because Ruan Xuezong, clad all in white, happened to flit into frame.
Colorful banners fluttered across the sky as Ruan Xuezong bounded through the air, each step landing lightly on the drifting silks below—like a startled swan in graceful flight, an immortal descended to earth. Right ahead of him fled a wretched, rat-faced man dragging a bawling rich young master by the collar.
The pursuer and the pursued formed a vivid study in contrasts.
The recorder’s half-eaten sesame cake tumbled to the ground. His heart nearly gave out. He’d been ready to throw in the towel, and here fortune delivered the highlight reel right to him! This proved it: the iron shoes of searching were worn through to no avail, yet it took no effort to stumble upon what was meant to be. He was about to blow up again—hahaha!
He scrambled up the drum tower and mounted his camera, capturing frame after thrilling frame.
He even swapped his stream title. Gone was 【Salty Fish Streamer Chows Down Live: Let’s Break Down This Green-Grade Snack ‘Sesame Cake,’ Learn the Recipe and You Could Set Up Shop Selling ‘Em!】—replaced by 【(BOOM!) You Won’t Believe This Jinling City Showdown! The Whole City a Giant Chessboard, Heroes Making Their Moves—Who’ll Claim Victory?】
In just two minutes, over a million viewers flooded in.
Such was the pull of popularity. The closed beta for the ultra-realistic martial arts sim Jianghu had been live barely over a month, yet its sprawling map, immersive worldview, diverse life professions, epic DLC like Water and Fire, and enigmatic protagonist had rocketed it to the top of every gaming forum.
“Is this the Jinling main quest? Jianghu’s mainline updates move at lightspeed—I’m jealous. My other game’s been on the same story beat since their half-year anniversary; my character’s gathering dust.”
“Came to report clickbait. Wasn’t it a detective case yesterday?”
The influx of viewers had braced for false advertising, only to gasp when they saw the real deal. The streamer’s angle was perfection.
It captured all of Jinling City’s splendor.
Truth be told, players had already clipped snippets of its beauty when the Heart Washing Manor convoy first entered the gates: the faint glow of dawn on the walls, streets choked with traffic and teeming crowds. Those were mere glimpses of the iceberg.
From this aerial vantage, everyone could drink in a true panoramic view.
A river cleaved Jinling neatly down the middle, dividing the eastern and western districts. Its 108 wards formed a perfect chessboard grid, linked solely by bridges. From afar, colorful banners draped across ornate, carved rafters amid painted beams—breathing vivid life into the world’s most peerless ancient metropolis.
And now this battle unfolded amid such splendor.
Ruan Xuezong soared overhead, pursued by a swarm of jianghu folk. On the ground, civilians screamed as the drum tower’s bells tolled wildly.
The blockbuster spectacle sent the stream’s hype into the stratosphere.
The streamer pulled up his quest log and took up the narrator’s mantle.
“The inn incident’s been going for days now. For viewers new to the story: it’s a key branch quest in Jinling City. I figure it triggers the moment players enter with Ruan Xuezong. Recommended level: twenty.
“Step one: the midnight murder. Help Ruan clear his name. Success unlocks step two—’raiding the thieves’ den’ and ‘hostage rescue.’ No clue on the fail state; my guess is Ruan gets thrown in jail, players bust him out of the Six Gates Dungeon, and it still progresses. Pure speculation, though. Hey, planner—you watching? Drop a 1 if I’m on track.”
No sooner had he spoken than the screen filled with 1s—a chorus of playful echoes from the chat.
System 007: 【……】After hastily rewriting the script overnight, it tapped out a single 1.
“‘Raid the den’ recommends level twenty-five-plus. First BOSS: White-Haired Old Man, one of the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits, level forty. Tanky HP bar, but not that tough. Zongzong showed us the counter—Peach Grove Phantom. Stick to that strat, and you’re golden.
“Step three: the Jinling City showdown. Beat the White-Haired Old Man, and the remaining two bandits realize the jig’s up. They snatch the hostage and bolt using their god-tier lightness skills and the same escape route from back in the day. That’s where we’re at now: a massive citywide pursuit.”
Chat: “Bandits’ lightness skills are nuts, but Zongzong hasn’t lost the trail. Too strong.”
“Flowing Moon Remnant Fragrance as purple rarity? Felt off to me.”
“Off? Better than gold tier—when am I gonna fly?”
“BOSS IQ on point, dipping into the crowds.”
“Pity streamer can’t fly. Wanna loan you my neighbor game’s triple saint angel wings.”
The rat-faced bandit from the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits was none other than the Crane Old Man. Dragging Wang Sheng along, he aimed to melt into the crowds and sow panic and chaos. His plan: snatch a young woman, hurl her at Ruan Xuezong to distract him, then widen the gap.
But how could Ruan Xuezong let him succeed? Every palm shadow struck without mercy, denying the man any opening.
Push Heart Palm was domineering and fierce. The moment the Crane Old Man entertained the thought of using civilians as shields, that palm came crashing down unerringly—scaring him into several near-death escapes.
Lugging a hostage already strained him, especially at his age. His strength couldn’t match the young pursuer’s. He nearly got caught multiple times. Even without capture, Ruan Xuezong closed in like a shooting star—the gap visibly shrinking. Gritting his teeth in fury, the Crane Old Man had no choice.
He was getting too old for this.
Hope of rescue ignited in the eyes of Jinling’s richest heir, Wang Sheng. “Hero, save me!” The Crane Old Man spotted it at once and sealed his mute acupoint.
The old bandit took several deep breaths before committing to the old escape route. It meant screwing over the sole woman in their Plum-Breaking Four Bandits crew, but survival came first. He was at the end of his rope.
He melted into the sky full of banners, his signature movement technique masking his trail. Sure enough, that prodigy with the top-tier lightness skills lost him. The Crane Old Man hurtled toward a bridge, where a paper umbrella vendor chatted up a young customer. Spring showers pattered down amid a riot of umbrella patterns, carrying a faint, elegant fragrance. “Honored guest, you look like an out-of-towner. How about this one? Ink-wash mists over Jiangnan rains…”
“Not bad. I am from Jiangnan, indeed.” The young man under the umbrella stood tall and straight upon the bridge. From behind, his white robes evoked an immortal, outshining even the delicate ink landscapes painted on the umbrella itself.
Just two commoners. Kill them and be done.
A smirk tugged at the Crane Old Man’s lips. No one knew it, but the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits’ famed escape twenty years ago had hinged on the swift currents beneath Red Bridge.
One withered black claw reached out. Murder hung in the air. Wang Sheng’s eyes bulged in horror. As Jinling’s top rich kid, he’d witnessed far too many deaths in his captivity with the bandits. He couldn’t bear for these two innocents to join the ghosts crossing to the underworld.
Just as the hapless bystanders faced death…
A massive net rocketed from the water below, snaring both the Crane Old Man and Wang Sheng tight. At that exact moment, the young buyer raised his umbrella and slowly turned. It was Ruan Xuezong, slimmer without his cloak, a cold smirk flashing beneath his mask. He thrust out an utterly ordinary palm that pierced the net, shattering the Crane Old Man’s inner force into scattered wisps.
The Crane Old Man reeled in disbelief. “An ambush… here of all places!” He spat a mouthful of blood and plunged into the river.
Countless Jinling citizens bore witness. A hero was made in that clash, vouched by Six Gates constables, famed jianghu wanderers, and throngs of martial powerhouses.
Stream viewers saw it too, erupting in festive shrieks. “AAAAAAAH!!! Another BOSS bites the dust!!”
