Chapter 408: Who to Give It To?

With all that, how could he possibly have had time to practice the qin?

Both Yan Wengge, the ‘Clumsy Qin,’ and the songstress Shang Yue’er owed their success to the fact that their own martial arts were in harmony with the principles of music.

That was the only reason they could achieve so much in their field.

Otherwise, how could anyone without years of painstaking practice possibly hope to compare to them?

For a moment, the crowd looked at Jiang Ran with a mixture of expressions, but overall, no one seemed to have much faith in him.

Jiang Ran simply smiled at this.

“Looks like I’m the only one left… In that case, hmm, President Yan.”

Yan Wushuang had just sat down and handed her qin to an attendant. Hearing Jiang Ran’s words, she turned to look at him.

“Young Hero Jiang, what can I do for you?”

“Might I borrow a qin?”

Jiang Ran asked.

“…”

Yan Wushuang was speechless. ‘Borrow a qin? You set the theme yourself and you didn’t even bring an instrument?’

But then she glanced at the Jiaowei, which was still embedded in the cliff wall.

‘She supposed she couldn’t entirely blame him for not bringing an instrument. He’d just brought one that was unplayable.’

Her eyes flickered, her mind clearly scheming.

Jiang Ran hadn’t known her for long, but he had a very clear understanding of why the Hundred Treasures Association was so wealthy.

He immediately blurted out:

“President Yan, you’re not going to charge me just to borrow a qin, are you?”

“HAHAHAHA!”

His words were met with a wave of roaring laughter from the crowd.

Everyone knew the Hundred Treasures Association was wealthy, and anyone who had ever done business with them knew exactly *why* they were so wealthy.

They all felt Jiang Ran’s question was perfectly justified.

The gazes they turned on Yan Wushuang were mostly teasing.

Even for Yan Wushuang, who was accustomed to the grandest of stages, being stared at like this by so many people made her a little flustered.

She gave a dry laugh.

“Young Hero Jiang, what are you saying? Given our friendship, wouldn’t it be terribly crass to talk about money?”

“…You’re not planning to use this as an excuse to fleece me for something else, are you?”

Jiang Ran sucked in a sharp breath and turned a pleading gaze toward Yan Wengge.

Yan Wengge instinctively clutched his qin, every fiber of his being, from his toes to the hair on his head, radiating refusal.

Jiang Ran sheepishly turned his gaze back to Yan Wushuang.

‘I really should have bought a qin on my way here,’ he thought. ‘But I already have the Jiaowei, and I wouldn’t have been able to carry another one. I figured I could just borrow one from someone when I arrived.’

‘Who would have thought this money-grubbing woman would try to squeeze a profit out of me just for borrowing a qin?’

‘This is ridiculous!’

“You’re joking, Young Hero Jiang, you’re joking…”

Yan Wushuang knew she couldn’t let this go on, or she would genuinely offend him.

With another dry laugh, she said to the person beside her:

“Quickly, take the qin to Young Hero Jiang.”

After saying that, she felt her words might be ambiguous and quickly added to Jiang Ran:

“I’m not actually *giving* it to you, just lending it.”

This drew another round of thunderous laughter.

Jiang Ran was at a loss for words. Earlier, Yan Wushuang had been acting perfectly normal.

Whether it was when Thunderbolt Hall arrived or when the Flower and Rain Alliance tried to stir up trouble, Yan Wushuang had been every bit the Vice President of the Hundred Treasures Association—she had the right poise, the right insight, and the right grace.

But the moment business or profit was involved, this mercenary side of hers was on full display.

‘No wonder that Ximen Feng enjoys stealing from your Hundred Treasures Association so much.’

At this point, Jiang Ran thought to himself, he felt like robbing the Hundred Treasures Association too… It was just too infuriating!

Fortunately, the disciple from the Hundred Treasures Association quickly delivered Yan Wushuang’s qin into Jiang Ran’s hands.

Jiang Ran carefully took it out and placed it on the table.

After a moment of contemplation, he began to speak:

“Today, I heard Hero Yan use the Jianghu as his theme to create the piece ‘Night Rain in the Jianghu.'”

“I was deeply moved, and I too have a piece on the theme of the Jianghu that I would like to humbly present before you all.”

“This piece is called… ‘Laughing Proudly in the Jianghu.’ I offer it for everyone’s enjoyment!”

His Inner Energy was profound, and his voice carried slowly to the ears of everyone present.

Upon hearing the five words, “Laughing Proudly in the Jianghu,” every one of them felt their heart tremble.

‘The Jianghu was vast and deep, its conflicts treacherous and unpredictable. Once you were in the Jianghu, your fate was not your own. Who could truly laugh proudly in it?’

Liu Zongming couldn’t help but raise his head to look at Jiang Ran.

But before his gaze could settle, Jiang Ran’s finger plucked a string, and the music began.

Jiang Ran’s knowledge of music theory actually came from Shi Pingzhang.

When he defeated Shi Pingzhang, he had obtained the man’s Chaotic Heart Funeral Song, and with it came a vast wealth of musical knowledge.

However, because Shi Pingzhang was devoted solely to the qin, he not only couldn’t play other instruments but wouldn’t even deign to look at them.

Therefore, Jiang Ran also only knew how to play the qin.

But on an occasion like this, it would be rather inappropriate for him to play a piece composed by Shi Pingzhang.

Most of the pieces that man composed were cynical and misanthropic, arrogant and crazed.

If anyone were to discover the connection between the music and Shi Pingzhang, there was no telling what they might think.

Thus, when Jiang Ran had set these two rules, he had already decided what he was going to play.

In his two lives, both past and present, whenever he thought of music, his mind never went to the tranquil elegance of classics like “High Mountains and Flowing Water.”

Instead, it went to the unbridled freedom of “Laughing Proudly in the Jianghu”—a wild song of sorrow, joy, and ecstasy!

And so, as his fingers trembled on the strings today, this piece from his previous life—a song that had once captivated countless Wuxia fans—flowed from his hands and into the ears of all present.

Perhaps it was because everyone’s expectations for Jiang Ran—whether for good or ill—were so high.

Because of this, as Jiang Ran began to play, every single person stared at him with rapt attention.

And so, the moment the music began, the crowd was instantly pulled into an artistic vision of a life lived freely and willfully in the Jianghu.