Chapter 416: Unraveling the Qin

“Not the Jiaowei qin? Then… what is it?”

A flicker of confusion passed through the ‘Young Manor Lord’s’ eyes.

But Jiang Ran had no intention of answering him.

Meanwhile, after Xuanyuan One Slash set off the firework, ferocious battle cries erupted all around Three Immortals Mountain.

Jiang Ran hadn’t been lying.

The Blood Saber Hall had already sealed off Three Immortals Mountain completely.

Though the main encirclement was focused around Sunset Plateau.

But today, whether it was the Flower and Rain Alliance or Heterodox Manor, Jiang Ran and his men had intentionally let them in.

Now that the firework signal had been given, the Blood Saber Hall disciples, who had been lying in wait, instantly formed a net and began tightening the encirclement from the outside in.

Xuanyuan One Slash let out a wild laugh.

“My Master foresaw this all along! None of you will leave here alive today!”

“Has the Blood Saber Hall come out in full force?”

“Jiang Ran planned this all along?”

“Kill faster! Once those madmen from the Blood Saber Hall get here, there won’t be any left for us!”

“Don’t panic! The Blood Saber Hall disciples win with numbers, but their martial skills are inferior to ours. If they can team up, so can we. We must kill more of them before their reinforcements arrive.”

Though the men of Heterodox Manor were all extraordinarily skilled, the crowd on Sunset Plateau was simply too large. They could kill one or two, but they couldn’t possibly slaughter everyone in a short amount of time.

Now, under the pressure of the Blood Saber Hall surrounding Three Immortals Mountain, every single one of them fought with all their might.

Every extra enemy they killed today would add another touch of glory to their name in the martial world.

The martial world…

It filled the young with dreams, but it was also a grand arena for fame and fortune.

The pursuit of fame and fortune remained its timeless, unchanging core.

It was just that some people, for fame, fortune, and their own ends, would stop at nothing.

They cultivated evil arts and killed indiscriminately, thus becoming followers of the wicked path.

While others performed righteous deeds, saved people from peril, and practiced honorable martial arts, thus becoming followers of the righteous path.

The current slaughter on Sunset Plateau was a microcosm of the entire martial world.

Whether for fame and fortune or out of a sense of chivalry, what they had to do remained unchanged.

They had to slaughter everyone from Heterodox Manor!

The ‘Young Manor Lord’s’ heart pounded with terror and unease. He could no longer remain seated in his soft sedan chair.

‘One wrong move and the game is lost.’ He had thought his scheme was the perfect strategy.

But he had never expected Jiang Ran to see through it all with such clarity. Not only had Jiang Ran exposed their plot, but now… what truly made him panic was that he had no idea what Jiang Ran was truly planning.

‘So, I have to do something.’

But just as he rose, Jiang Ran’s saber was already upon him.

The technique was from the Nine Shocking God Sabers, but it wasn’t the Mark of Life and Death that Jiang Ran had used previously.

Instead, it was the most fundamental technique of the Nine Shocking God Sabers.

The blade flashed, already in front of the ‘Young Manor Lord’.

But this ‘Young Manor Lord’ was, after all, not the real Young Manor Lord.

He rubbed his hands together, his fingertips sharp as claws. Though the martial art he used was identical to the one the Young Manor Lord had used that night, he no longer had the ability to instantly penetrate the defense of Jiang Ran’s saber.

A crimson light flashed. The ‘Young Manor Lord’ felt an excruciating pain in his wrist. Looking down, he saw that the bones and sinews had been severed; his hand hung limply, attached only by skin and flesh.

His eyes flew wide. He gritted his teeth, letting out only a muffled grunt.

He gathered Inner Strength in his remaining hand, preparing to attack again, but when he looked up into Jiang Ran’s eyes, his heart went cold.

Jiang Ran’s eyes were filled with disappointment.

With a soft sigh, Jiang Ran raised his saber, and a golden brilliance filled the air, shining brightly.

A flash of saber light cut through the air—fierce, swift, and indescribably fast.

By the time the ‘Young Manor Lord’ came to his senses, he heard Jiang Ran call out.

“I’m going to help Hero Man! One Slash, you lead our people and put an end to things here as quickly as possible!”

Upon hearing this, a look of utter astonishment flashed in the ‘Young Manor Lord’s’ eyes. His heart jolted as he vaguely seemed to grasp something.

But before the thought could fully form, he felt himself being swallowed by an endless blackness.

At that same moment, Jiang Ran casually plucked his head from his shoulders.

…

…

「Three Immortals Mountain, inside a cave.」

Man Shengming sat cross-legged, an ancient qin resting on his knees.

He reached out and gently stroked the strings.

“Jiaowei… Jiaowei… I finally have you.”

When he spoke now, his stutter was gone, his voice deep and serene.

He was a completely different person from before.

He reached up and gently wiped his face, peeling away an exquisitely made human-skin mask.

The face revealed beneath was, shockingly, that of the Young Manor Lord.

“Everyone in the world knows that a secret is hidden within the Jiaowei.

“Uncover that secret, and you can control the Jiaowei at will.

“But no one knows how to unlock the Jiaowei, how to find that secret.

“However, my Heterodox Manor has stood in the martial world for centuries, and thirty years ago, we found the method to unlock the Jiaowei…

“Palace, Merchant, Horn, Sign, Feather. Feather, Merchant, Horn, Palace, Sign.

“Who would have thought that the way to unlock the Jiaowei qin was hidden within its five strings?”

His finger lightly plucked a string. The instrument’s voice trembled. It was the first note: ‘Palace’.

When the note sounded, even with the Young Manor Lord’s temperament, he couldn’t help but feel a jolt of fear. Sensing that the note did not recoil against him, he relaxed slightly, yet he dared not be careless.

For the unlocking method had to be completed in one go, without interruption.