Chapter 278 151: Establishing Tianxin

The trip to the Ghost King Palace went rather well, all things considered.

It only took one night's work, all told, to leave with three heads.

As for the few traitors who died inside the Ghost King Palace?

They were left for the Eternal Ghost King to handle himself.

The Ghost Chef, Prince Yu, and Quan the Seventh... they were all members of the Ghost King Palace.

But the Ghost King Palace was so mysterious that, aside from its name, no one in the martial world knew who its members were or what they did.

They had never wreaked havoc on the martial world, so naturally, they had no bounties on their heads.

Jiang Ran even checked the Sword Holding Department's registry but found no mention of the Ghost Chef or the others, so he had no choice but to drop the matter.

The Eternal Ghost King didn't see them far. The group left Eternal Town, and before they had gone very far, they saw the Great Master sitting under a tree, scribbling in the dirt with a branch.

Upon seeing them, the Great Master quickly tossed the branch aside, clapped the dust from his hands, and said:

"Ah, you've all made it out!?

"I knew it. Not even a place like Eternal Town could hold you."

"..."

Jiang Ran shot the old man a look.

"Great Master, did you know what this place was the moment you saw Eternal Town?"

"Well... HAHAHA, I'd heard whispers, just whispers.

"It's just that the Eternal Ghost King is not an easy person to deal with. Young Hero Jiang, your martial arts are peerless, so of course you can come and go as you please.

"If an old man like me were to go in, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to get out.

"And if the Eternal Ghost King decided he wanted someone to write his biography in Eternal Town, I'd be in a real bind."

As he spoke, his gaze suddenly fell upon the heads in the hands of Jiang Ran and Ruan Yuqing.

He blinked in surprise.

"Huh? Zhuge Mingyu? Master Bi Chen... And who's this? Why does it have Young Hero Jiang's face?"

"The Limitless One."

Jiang Ran said casually.

"Ah, so it was him."

The Great Master's face lit with understanding. "No wonder the Disguise Skill was so masterfully executed. A technique this lifelike is a rare sight indeed."

Jiang Ran nodded, then suddenly grinned.

"Speaking of which, Great Master, you have a vast knowledge and extraordinary insight.

"Do you know if there is any martial art in this world that can make a woman into a man?"

Li Tianxin immediately shot Jiang Ran a sidelong glance.

The Great Master, on the other hand, was taken aback.

"Is Young Hero Jiang referring to techniques like Form-Shifting and Bone-Altering?

"Such techniques certainly exist, but most of them cannot be maintained for long periods.

"After all, they're not too different from techniques like the Bone Shrinking Skill. They all use Inner Strength to knead and reshape the bones, which causes irreversible damage over time.

"One would have to release the transformation at least once or twice a day.

"However, as far as I know, there are quite a few techniques of this nature.

"To use a recent example, when The Limitless One disguised himself as the great master Dongfang Qianshu, this was precisely the type of method he used.

"Of course, this doesn't mean a man truly becomes a woman. It's merely a change in appearance and physique. On the inside, a man is still a man, and a woman is still a woman...

"As for a complete transformation, there was a volume from the Demon Sect's old Eighteen Celestial Demon Records that could turn a man into a woman."

"I see."

Jiang Ran nodded.

"Thank you for clearing that up for me, Great Master... This is no place to linger. We should get moving."

"Right."

The Great Master nodded, stroked his beard, and fell in behind Jiang Ran's party, asking as they walked:

"Did all of you encounter anything inside Eternal Town?

"Those three heads... they don't belong to members of the Ghost King Palace, do they? Those individuals vanished from the martial world years ago... Lately, all sorts of ghouls and fiends have been emerging from the Heartless Ghost Mansion. Were they connected to that as well?

"How did they end up in the Ghost King Palace?"

The old man was a nonstop chatterbox, wanting to know and ask about everything.

Jiang Ran just smiled.

"If you had followed us into Eternal Town, Great Master, you'd have all your answers.

"As it is, it's best that what happened in the Ghost King Palace doesn't spread."

"Well..."

For a moment, the Great Master was speechless.

After the group had walked for a mile or so, a thick fog suddenly rolled in behind them.

Looking back, they saw the fog bank rolling forward like an ocean wave. It spread until it was right at their heels before coming to an abrupt halt.

Jiang Ran watched it for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face.

'If the Rotten Gambler were here, I could ask him if the Ghost King Palace was behind this fog.'

'But I left the Rotten Gambler back in the Ghost King Palace. Now there's no one to ask.'

'Still, it's a safe bet. This fog is too strange to be natural.'

'It wasn't here when we arrived. Most likely, Liu Xiao'e deliberately held it back to lure us into Eternal Town.'

'Now that her internal troubles are gone and the external threat—us—is leaving, the fog has returned to completely shroud the Ghost King Palace and hide any trace of it.'

Jiang Ran quickly looked away. Seeing dawn about to break in the east, he suggested they take a short rest.

They'd been through a lot that night—fighting, gambling—it was time to rest for a bit, get something to eat, and then get back on the road.

Upon hearing this, Luo Qingyi immediately and deftly set about making preparations.

Ruan Yuqing watched for a moment, but seeing nothing she could help with, she sat down to one side and began to meditate.

Jiang Ran, meanwhile, looked over at Li Tianxin.

"Tianxin, let's go take a piss together."

"???"

Li Tianxin's eyes went wide as he stared at Jiang Ran.

"What for?"

"To take a piss," Jiang Ran said. "Don't you ever have to go?"

"..."

Li Tianxin stared at Jiang Ran for a long moment before finally saying through gritted teeth:

"I'm not in the habit of... going with other people."

"Oh."

Jiang Ran said with a grin, "That's okay. There's a first time for everything. We'll go together. Good to have someone watch your back."