Chapter 272 - 149: Martial Uncle

"Just like that, you killed him?"

Li Tianxin, who was in the middle of fighting the ’Evil Ghosts,’ saw Zhuge Mingyu’s head hit the floor, and his eyes instantly went wide as saucers.

"Why not kill him?"

Jiang Ran gave him a strange look. "To keep him around for the holidays?"

"...Then what about all these people?"

As Li Tianxin spoke, he executed a backhand slash with his saber, sending an ’Evil Ghost’ flying.

"Do we kill them all?"

"That won’t be necessary."

"Not necessary? You killed Zhuge Mingyu, so how are these people supposed to return to normal? Shouldn’t we at least find the antidote?"

"Antidote?"

Jiang Ran chuckled.

"Who needs an antidote? They weren’t poisoned... they were afflicted with a Gu.

"Poison alone can’t make so many people completely obedient and seemingly rob them of all reason.

"Only a Gu Insect can do that.

"It’s written clearly in the Ten Thousand Poison Strategy. You don’t know that?"

"I..."

Li Tianxin seemed to pause for a moment, then shook his head. "How would I know?"

"Fine."

Jiang Ran nodded and reached into Zhuge Mingyu’s robes, patting him down. A moment later, he pulled out a small flute, only about two and a half inches long.

"A Gu flute. In that case, they must have been afflicted with the Di Clan’s ’Soul-Loss Gu’.

"How interesting... A bunch of people who play at being ghosts end up afflicted by something like this. It’s almost a perfect match," he mused.

With that, he wiped the Gu flute clean and brought it to his lips, playing a soft note.

An extremely faint sound emerged.

The horde of ’Evil Ghosts,’ who had been throwing themselves forward fearlessly just a moment ago, all froze. Gradually, their senses returned.

They looked around, momentarily dazed.

"Where is this?"

"It looks like the Royal Hall..."

"How did we get here?"

"Prince Yu summoned us, saying he had instructions. But after a cup of tea, how did we end up here?"

"Oh no, we can’t be here without a summons from the Lord Ghost King! What will we do if he punishes us?"

In an instant, the entire hall was filled with frantic whispers.

The Ghost King gazed around the hall, then glanced at Jiang Ran, who gave him a wave, looking quite pleased with himself.

"..."

The Ghost King took a deep breath and barked out in a low voice:

"Silence! How dare you behave so insolently before Your King?"

His words instantly flowed through the hall.

Everyone who heard him felt their hearts clench. Coming to their senses, they hurriedly dropped to one knee.

"Greetings, Lord Ghost King!"

There were so many people that after the inner circle knelt, the outer ranks finally reacted and also dropped to their knees, shouting the same.

Layer after layer, the shouts of "Greetings" echoed endlessly.

At a glance, it truly looked like ten thousand ghosts paying homage to their king.

"Quite an impressive sight,"

Jiang Ran remarked with a click of his tongue.

"You’re envious?"

Li Tianxin glanced at him.

Jiang Ran shook his head.

"It’s better to keep things simple. The more people you have under you, the more you have to be responsible for.

"The pressure would be immense... It’s much better to just roam the martial world with a few people. Whether you’re exploring mysteries or punishing villains, it’s a much more carefree and happy life."

"The Celestial Palace, Heterodox Manor, Heartless Ghost Mansion, and the Demon Sect... I doubt any of them think the way you do."

"That’s why they’re stupid."

Jiang Ran stood up and looked back toward Ruan Yuqing.

"They’re busy every single day, and for what?

"For money? Isn’t it enough just to have enough to spend?

"For power? The greater the power, the more you have to do. Do they spend their whole lives painstakingly scheming and plotting just so they can die from overwork?

"As for women... if you like someone, pursue them. If you can’t win them over, snatch them. If you can’t snatch them, steal them..."

"Hm?"

Li Tianxin felt that the first part of the speech was passable, but how had it suddenly gone so off the rails?

"Who are you planning to steal?"

He raised an eyebrow, narrowing his eyes at Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran chuckled. "I was just speaking off the cuff. I’m an upstanding gentleman, why would I do something like that? My main point is that with enough sincerity, anything is possible."

"A mouth full of nonsense... Whichever family’s daughter catches your eye is in for some truly bad luck."

As Li Tianxin said this, he frowned and gave Jiang Ran another look, as if completely baffled.

Jiang Ran, however, was focused on Ruan Yuqing’s battle.

Master Bi Chen was a figure who had made his name in the martial world many years ago, and his martial arts were exceedingly profound.

Fortunately, neither Ruan Yuqing nor the gambling addict were ordinary people. With the help of the six strange dice-men, they were fighting Master Bi Chen to a standstill.

But from the looks of it, the fight would likely go on for a while longer.

Just then, footsteps approached. Jiang Ran looked up to see the Ghost King standing nearby, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Not going to help?"

"Female Knight Ruan can handle it herself."

Jiang Ran said, "Besides, she seems to have a particular obsession with this Master Bi Chen."

This obsession wasn’t something Ruan Yuqing had said aloud; it was something Jiang Ran could see in the edge of her sword.

Ruan Yuqing’s swordplay now reminded him of Ye Jingshuang’s when she had killed Tong Wanli.

That same obsession was on full display in the flow of her blade, carrying the unmistakable intent to not stop until her opponent was dead.

The Ghost King nodded slightly and said in a low voice,

"Since you entered this place by mistake, I will not hold it against you for barging into my Royal Hall and fighting with me tonight.

"Once this matter is concluded, take your people and leave at once. Do not disturb the peace of my Ghost King Palace again."

"Peace?"

Jiang Ran smiled.

"I don’t know what the Ghost King Palace was like in the past.

"But whether the Ghost King Palace can be peaceful in the future is still up in the air.

"After all, if someone like Zhuge Mingyu could find your Ghost King Palace, it’s unlikely that others don’t know where it is too.