Chapter 35

While the players headed to the inn to stable their horses and clean up the battlefield, Ruan Xuezong made a quick trip to Refreshing Garden. This was the most luxurious estate in Jinling City, and it also served as the residence of the city’s wealthiest man.

The mansion was exquisitely beautiful and subtly magnificent, filled with blooming flowers and lush green bamboo, winding corridors, and soaring pavilions. It could rival Heart Washing Manor, though in its own distinct way. Heart Washing Manor represented the towering accumulation of generations, while Refreshing Garden was the product of one rich merchant’s purse growing exponentially, with money flowing like an endless river.

‘So much wealth. No wonder they were targeted.’

Ruan Xuezong kept his expression neutral. Under the guidance of a maidservant, he met the prime minister’s son, who was still confined to his sickbed.

“Manor Lord Ruan, Hero Ruan, you’ve come!” Lord Wang’s face lit up with delight, his eyes gleaming brightly. He immediately seized the sleeve beneath Ruan Xuezong’s greatcloak. To the 007 System, it resembled a rabid fan from a future era spotting their idol. “Thank you so much for helping my foolish boy. The sight of you chasing the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits across half of Jinling City was utterly spectacular and heroic—we ordinary folk of Jinling witnessed it all! You’re truly a prodigy in your youth!”

Without exaggeration, the pursuit by that group of martial arts experts the day before had thrilled everyone. The exhilarating scenes of them soaring through the air had the entire city buzzing.

Teahouses and restaurants on the second and third floors had been packed to bursting that day. Commoners and merchants alike had crowded in to catch a glimpse of the spectacle, feeling the tension ripple through the air as the experts flew past, stirring something electric and novel.

Some of the more daring onlookers had gotten too close, nearly becoming hostages for the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits. They emerged unscathed, of course, only to boast endlessly in the teahouses afterward, drawing envious questions from crowds of listeners hungry for every detail.

Lord Wang’s enthusiasm left Ruan Xuezong a bit overwhelmed. He calmly shifted the topic. “I’m here today to ask Young Master Wang a few questions. How is your son faring?”

That day, the players had lain in ambush along the river, firing a fishing net that caught both Crane Old Man and Wang Sheng without distinguishing friend from foe. Both had tumbled into the water. Crane Old Man, as a martial arts expert, had no trouble with it, but Young Master Wang had choked and fainted on the spot.

Mention of his beloved son immediately diverted Lord Wang’s attention, just as Ruan Xuezong had hoped.

“The finest doctors in Jinling City have examined him. They say my boy is fine—just worn out from his recent ordeal, which caused him to collapse from exhaustion. He even woke up this morning. I’ve already given him a stern talking-to…” Lord Wang recalled what the servants had reported: how Wang Sheng had provoked trouble at the inn and even sent a female martial artist to seduce someone. Embarrassment colored his features for a moment.

Ruan Xuezong brushed it aside. “Since he’s awake, I’ll go speak with him.”

Young Master Wang lay weakly on his bed. When he saw Ruan Xuezong enter, disbelief flooded his face. He seemed eager to rise but lacked the strength.

Ruan Xuezong got straight to the point. “It’s good to see you safe, Young Master Wang. I’m here today to ask about a few matters.”

Wang Sheng’s face flushed with agitation. “A-ask away! I’ll tell you everything I know without holding back!”

Pleased with the young man’s attitude, Ruan Xuezong continued. “I heard from Lord Wang that you only recently became obsessed with martial arts. You took a particular shine to swordsmanship among the eighteen classical weapons, so he gifted you a priceless sword to practice with?”

Ruan Xuezong posed all these questions because he knew better. How could a sheltered young noble in his twenties, guarded by servants and never trained in combat, suddenly develop a passion for martial arts? Such pursuits demanded grueling effort—hours of horse stance drills, bone-tempering exercises, day after day. There had to be a compelling reason for such a sudden fixation.

And what captivated people most in the Rivers and Lakes? Peerless weapons, rare secret manuals, the finest liquors, and the most stunning women, of course.

Wang Sheng flushed as Ruan Xuezong hit the mark. “Around that time, I was parading on horseback through the streets when I met a righteous swordswoman who intervened in an injustice. She was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on—like the goddess of the Luo River, every smile and gesture captivating the heart…”

“After getting to know her, I learned more about her.” As he spoke, Young Master Wang shot a cautious glance at Ruan Xuezong, clearly aware of their connection. “I heard she’d been betrothed since childhood to a disfigured brute. So I lent a hand…”

He trailed off, too afraid to continue.

Ruan Xuezong could fill in the blanks himself.

Young Master Wang, barely into his twenties, had only ever encountered refined ladies groomed in etiquette and finery. Meeting a free-spirited yet graceful jianghu heroine was bound to turn his head—especially one like the Righteous Path Fairy, whose beauty was renowned across the martial world.

Smitten, he must have been heartbroken to hear that such a stunning woman from an illustrious family was to wed a hideous, ruined man. Driven by pity and a desire to play the hero, he’d stirred up trouble. After all, when a beauty like that sighed or furrowed her delicate brows, any number of young men would leap to soothe her woes.

In the end, he’d drawn the wolves to himself.

Ruan Xuezong thought to himself: Hah, just as I suspected.

Villains rarely relied on chance—only meticulously layered schemes leading to inevitable outcomes. In truth, though Wang Sheng saw himself as a lovesick, wealthy suitor, to the Righteous Path Fairy and the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits, he was merely a plump lamb ripe for slaughter. The fortune of Jinling City’s richest man was enough to tempt any martial artist.

Determined to enlighten the young man, Ruan Xuezong said coolly, “You should realize by now that provoking me was all part of a setup. But you’ve been caught in one too, ever since you met that swordswoman. You stepped into the trap without realizing it. The Plum-Breaking Four Bandits had no way of learning specifics about you otherwise—your whereabouts, which inn you’d stay at. Someone must have fed them the information. Your kidnapping was no accident.”

His words cut straight to the bone, stripping away the veil of deception.

Wang Sheng’s face drained of color in an instant. Memories flooded back of his time in the bandits’ lair, their unguarded conversations showing utter disregard for his presence. Those two days of terror, constant dread, the shock of capture and frantic escapes—it had all driven the details from his mind.

“I remember now,” he blurted. “They said they kidnapped me because the Righteous Path Fairy was getting married. They wanted to add a lavish gift to her dowry!” His voice rose too loud, exhausting him. Then uncertainty and fear clouded his eyes again. “But as for who she was marrying… I have no idea.”

The one thing he knew for certain was that it wasn’t Ruan Xuezong. The Righteous Path Fairy had no intention of marrying him; like Wang Sheng himself, Ruan Xuezong was just another dupe being used.

Otherwise, Qu Wangshu wouldn’t have hired Green Apricot to seduce him, only for the Plum-Breaking Four Bandits to silence her with a palm strike and frame Ruan Xuezong for the murder.

“What a terrifying woman… what a brutal truth…” Wang Sheng clutched his embroidered mandarin duck pillow, trembling in fright.

Now that he knew the reality, his initial fascination with the jianghu had ebbed away like a receding tide. The world of flashing blades and shadowed intrigue filled him with dread. Suddenly, a life as Jinling City’s playboy heir—collecting rents from his family’s hundred-plus shops, inspecting the businesses now and then—seemed dull and empty, but at least safe.

Better to stay a simple commoner, far from the jianghu’s dangers.

“This matter touches on the demonic sects of the jianghu. The less you know, the better.” Ruan Xuezong understood his fear all too well; in his previous life, he’d been just as thoroughly deceived. “That’s all for my visit today. I’ll come by another time.”

“Another time” meant never, but he’d already gotten the intelligence he needed.

“Wait, Hero Ruan!”

Ruan Xuezong turned to leave but was halted by Wang Sheng’s call.

“What else?” Ruan Xuezong slowly turned back. The dark, night-like eyes beneath his mask, tinged with faint puzzlement, brought a slight flush to Wang Sheng’s cheeks. He hesitated, stammering, “That night at the inn, during Green Apricot’s last meeting with me, she said your face beneath the mask isn’t disfigured at all…”

Wang Sheng left out her claims that it surpassed her own beauty tenfold or a hundredfold—those sounded too absurd to repeat.

What he meant was that if Ruan Xuezong wasn’t disfigured, the Righteous Path Fairy’s rejection made no sense.

Heart Washing Manor had stood strong in Jiangnan for a century. Though its fame had faded in recent years, the estate built by generations still carried an air of lingering prestige, poised for revival. Its heir, Ruan Xuezong, was young yet supremely skilled. His performance in the Jinling City battle—brimming with youthful vigor and meteoric rise—had been witnessed by crowds, earning him overnight fame that others could only envy. He’d heard whispers that Manor Lord Ruan might one day become a Grandmaster of a Generation. Wang Sheng didn’t fully grasp the term, but he knew it meant immense power. The only blemish on Ruan Xuezong’s record was his supposed disfigurement—and even that might be false. A match like that would suit Peacock Manor perfectly.

Ruan Xuezong assumed Green Apricot’s words had simply piqued the young man’s curiosity. “She wasn’t wrong. My disfigurement has healed.”

He removed the bronze mask. A flawless face emerged, radiant and striking, transforming the opulent room into something like a fairy’s realm.

Wang Sheng: “…”

He slumped back onto the bed, watching blankly as Ruan Xuezong replaced the mask and departed. His mind went utterly blank.

Never had he imagined Green Apricot was telling the truth—her praise hadn’t been the slightest bit exaggerated. One moment, the jianghu’s blood-soaked storms had deflated his youthful spirit; the next, he realized there were still things worth cherishing in this world. He bolted upright in bed.

From tomorrow, no more sword practice. Palms instead.

Meanwhile, the players returned to Hongmen Inn.

Unlike the gloom and desolation that had shrouded the place two or three days earlier, the inn now bustled with crowds. The Innkeeper’s Wife and the Inn Waiter beamed with joy. Sharp-eyed players noticed it wasn’t even the season for new clothes, yet both NPCs sported fresh outfits!

Spotting the group of players, the two NPCs hurried over with warm greetings.

The Innkeeper’s Wife curtsied gracefully. “Many thanks for your auspicious words a few days ago, and for Heart Washing Manor’s role in cracking that major case. Our inn’s reputation has soared locally—not just out-of-towners, but city folk too are flocking here. Business is booming!”

The players waved off the praise modestly. “It had nothing to do with us. You’re an official plot point chosen by the devs. Even without us, your business would’ve picked up eventually.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

The Innkeeper’s Wife: “?”

To this day, she still couldn’t make heads or tails of what these young heroes were saying.

…

Ruan Xuezong doubled back, intending to seek out Qu Wangshu. Instead, he encountered her right there amid the thronging crowds of the bustling market street.

“It’s the Righteous Path Fairy!”

“Qu Wangshu, eldest daughter of Peacock Manor!” The crowd stirred with excitement, parting for her lavish carriage procession. The woman inside lightly lifted a corner of the curtain, revealing half her exquisite face. Every man and woman on the street gasped in admiration.

Wangshu—the name evoked the moon-driving immortal from legend. Boldly claiming it, Qu Wangshu lived up to the hype as a peerless beauty. Her features bloomed like spring dawn, her figure graceful and lithe. Draped in gossamer robes, she exuded an ethereal aura, like a true Luo River immortal, untouched by mortal dust.

Everyone stared, entranced.

Behind Peacock Manor’s carriage trailed a boisterous entourage of dozens of suitors—all young martial scions, arrogant and swaggering.

They positioned themselves in front of Ruan Xuezong, as if to say something, when suddenly hundreds—nay, thousands—of players swooped in from the horizon. Horseless, they still leaped across rooftops and walls. Ignoring all else, they zeroed in on one target.

“Hubby! I finished my quest and got fat—er, back!”

“Zongzong hubby, look at me! I’ve got hot sesame cakes from East Street tucked in my arms. Want some?”

“Damn, my heart’s breaking. Come back to see hubby getting all cozy with someone.”

“Is this plot? Plot, right?”

The scene was grand and chaotic, utterly lively. Hundreds surged around Ruan Xuezong, packing the street to bursting. They shattered the Righteous Path Fairy’s carefully crafted ethereal debut, yanking every onlooker’s gaze away.

Qu Wangshu recoiled a step, her face a mask of shock: What was this? When did Heart Washing Manor command such a massive following?!