“Tired of living, are we?”
The commotion at the entrance caught Jiang Moran’s attention. Walking out of the distillery, he saw a youth carrying a sword on his back facing off against a vendor selling candied haws.
“All you need to do is tell me where there’s an inn to stay at,” the youth said, already growing impatient.
The vendor shook his head. “I already told you, there are simply no inns here.”
The residents living in the city began to gather around, looking at the youth with faces full of disgust. Their blunt stares deeply stung his pride.
“Damn it, how dare you look at me like that!” the youth roared, fiercely unsheathing the longsword from his back.
The onlookers' expressions changed rapidly, but the sword was already thrusting toward the vendor. Never expecting the other party to actually strike, the vendor could only hurriedly raise his hands, attempting to block the sword with nothing but his bare arms.
Jiang Moran leaned against the doorway. He did not look at the sword thrusting toward the vendor; instead, his eyes turned toward a spot not far off to the left of the crowd.
For a spear, moving even faster, was already whistling through the air from that direction.
As if to prove his prediction, a long spear sliced through the wind and struck the youth's longsword with pinpoint accuracy, the immense force shattering the blade instantly!
The youth's pupils contracted. Instinctively, he held the broken sword horizontally in front of his chest.
Yet, a shadow moved even faster than him. Reaching the youth in the blink of an eye, the newcomer sank his breath and threw a punch!
—Boom!
The punch sent the accumulated snow on the ground flying in all directions. The newcomer's hair was tied into a long braid hanging down his back, a wolf-fur shawl draped over his shoulders, and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.
His punch sent the youth flying several meters away, only coming to a halt after dragging a long track through the snow.
A hint of approval flashed deep in Jiang Moran’s eyes. Strong breath, stable force—this was a true martial artist.
This scene unfolded so quickly that the surrounding onlookers had no time to react. Even the vendor still had his hands raised before his face, trembling uncontrollably.
“Y-Young City Lord! Thank goodness, the Young City Lord is here!” someone was the first to react, shouting in excitement.
Seeing his figure, the rest of the crowd instantly grew ecstatic.
“The Young City Lord is here! Beat these bastards to death!”
“Hahaha! They dare act so arrogant after entering our city?!”
“These outsiders really have a death wish. Striking over a single disagreement—do they really think this is still their Central Plains?!”
“Are these jianghu folks all brainless idiots?”
Hearing that last sentence, Jiang Moran’s face instantly darkened. Broad-sweeping insults were uncalled for. How did he end up getting targeted just by standing there and watching the show?
The Young City Lord lightly raised his hand to quiet the rowdy crowd before speaking, “No need to worry, everyone.
“Starting today, patrols in Yinhan City will be stepped up. Daytime patrols will be increased to the same intensity as the nighttime patrols.”
The moment the words fell, the crowd broke into loud cheers!
“Guest, your wine is ready.”
Jiang Moran withdrew his gaze and walked back inside the distillery. This time, a middle-aged man was standing behind the counter, placing a pot of plum blossom wine on it.
“I prefer to drink from this. Please fill it for me,” Jiang Moran said, taking out a somewhat worn wine gourd.
The middle-aged man took the gourd and skillfully filled it with wine.
Lowering his eyes slightly, Jiang Moran finally noticed the little girl timidly hiding behind the man. He gave her a gentle smile. Staring at his handsome face, her cheeks blushed slightly as she shrank back behind the man.
“Ahem!” The middle-aged man coughed loudly, shifting his body to completely block Jiang Moran’s view of the girl.
“Your wine is filled. Take care.”
Jiang Moran saw the undisguised wariness in his eyes and found it somewhat amusing. It seemed the residents of this city were extremely hostile toward visiting jianghu martial artists.
Not that it bothered him.
Exiting the distillery, he took a sip of the plum blossom wine first. Unlike the Peach Blossom Wine and Osmanthus Wine he had drank before, the main characteristic of plum blossom wine was its crisp coldness. Drinking a mouthful of it in this biting, freezing North was absolutely perfect.
However, Jiang Moran soon encountered a downside of this place.
“Boss, there's something wrong with this fish, isn't there?” Jiang Moran poked the fish on his plate with his chopsticks, but they couldn't even pierce it.
The owner walked over, took a glance, and smiled. “Guest, this must be your first time eating this. This is frozen fish, so of course it's hard.”
Jiang Moran was at a loss. What did the man mean by serving him a fish older than his own grandmother?
The worst part was that he couldn't even complain; the locals were actually eating this stuff.
Jiang Moran pried off a piece of fish meat, popped it into his mouth, and chewed. The taste was somewhat fishy, but he could barely stomach it.
“Brother, not very tasty, is it?” a man at the neighboring table laughed. He was dressed like a wandering swordsman traveling the world, clearly having followed the treasure map here as well.
“This fish is awful. It's hard, fishy, and dry. It's practically paying to suffer!”
Jiang Moran glanced at him, able to tell that this guy was genuinely angry.
Perhaps reading his thoughts, the man explained, “For someone like me who sleeps in the wilderness every few days, spending thirty copper coins on a meal like this is practically killing me!
“Just a moment ago, another fellow was complaining to me too. He forced himself to finish the fish, and for the next three days, his mouth tasted fishy. Only later did he realize a piece of fish meat was stuck between his teeth!”
Holy crap. Jiang Moran couldn't hold it in; the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
Still, this fish was indeed inedible. Sighing, just as Jiang Moran was planning to leave, the man suddenly called out to him.
“Brother, want to get some good food?”
Jiang Moran looked at him in confusion. The man smiled. “I've been around here for some time now, so I know where to get a decent meal.”
Anyone else would certainly doubt this person's motives, but not Jiang Moran. To him, anyone who couldn't beat him in a fight was a good person.
As for those who could beat him... they didn't exist.
“Wait a moment.” Jiang Moran wrapped up the fish on his table. Although he found it awful, the locals seemed to like it.
After following the man out the door, Jiang Moran casually placed the fish into a beggar's bowl by the roadside.
The beggar blanked for a moment, then instantly jumped up, kicking the bowl a good three meters away.
Jiang Moran was dumbfounded. Hold on, buddy... even the locals don't eat this?
He had thought it was a regional preference, but as it turned out, they were just serving nothing but rotten fish and garbage to outsiders!
In truth, the people of Yinhan City were quite misunderstood, because this beggar wasn't a local either...
Rate on N.U.
