Chapter 269 - 148: Beyond Calculation
Zhuge Mingyu looked at the head in Jiang Ran’s hand, then at the Ghost King, who was slowly getting to his feet.
He let out a soft breath.
"You two... When did you realize something was wrong?"
"Don’t say ’us.’"
Jiang Ran waved his hand. "I suspect that idiot didn’t figure anything out. He’s genuinely injured, just not as seriously as you think."
"You..."
The Ghost King shot Jiang Ran a vicious glare.
"One more insolent word out of you, and I’ll kill you first."
"Not only an idiot, but you love to brag, too."
Jiang Ran rolled his eyes.
"You were injured by that palm strike earlier. My injury is fake, but yours is real. It’s just not as serious as they imagined."
"..."
The Ghost King fell silent.
He really was injured.
Jiang Ran’s palm strike was not something one could take so easily.
He had struck out in a fit of rage, never expecting Jiang Ran’s Great Brahma Palm to be like a torrential flood, its force immense and unceasing. It had brutally suppressed his Eternal Hundred Floating Diagrams and sent him flying backward.
Only because of his profound Inner Energy did he escape with just an injury instead of death. Anyone else would have been killed by the sheer force of the impact.
The reason he’d sensed something was amiss, however, was that Jiang Ran hadn’t been injured in the slightest. Yet, he had suddenly feigned a grave injury, even spitting up blood before nonchalantly sitting down to meditate and heal. His behavior was too bizarre. Although the Ghost King had been enraged by what happened earlier, he hadn’t completely lost his senses, nor was he the idiot Jiang Ran made him out to be.
Seeing this, he had simply decided not to expose the ruse.
He reasoned that if Jiang Ran was this powerful, it made no sense for him to have run away after throwing shit on his bed. ’He knew I couldn’t beat him, so why the hell would he run? Wouldn’t it have been more satisfying to do it right to my face?’
Besides, since he was genuinely injured, he decided to take the opportunity to sit cross-legged and begin healing in earnest.
The subsequent exchange of words only served to confirm his suspicions.
And at that point, Liu Xiao’e, Zhuge Mingyu, and the others, thinking their plan had succeeded, showed their true colors, hoping to profit from the conflict.
The full story, at last, had come to light.
"As for when I figured it out...
"It was when this idiot attacked me, of course."
Jiang Ran glanced at Zhuge Mingyu.
"The Celestial Secret Scholar is considered well-read, but you don’t seem all that bright.
"This was the first time I’d ever met this idiot, yet he was crying for my head.
"Either he’s out of his mind, or someone who looks just like me appeared before him and provoked him.
"On top of that..."
He paused, glancing at Li Tianxin before continuing,
"There were the mysterious deaths of the Ghost Chef and Prince Yu.
"That pretty much confirmed the presence of a third party here today.
"What’s more, Liu Xiao’e tried to muddy the waters by ’admitting’ that Prince Yu was colluding with outsiders.
"By that point, if I still hadn’t figured it out, I’d be as foolish as you lot.
"Speaking of which, I suddenly realized why Liu Xiao’e brought up Prince Yu’s collusion with you..."
"...Why?"
Zhuge Mingyu watched Jiang Ran coldly.
Jiang Ran sighed.
"She wanted to make me hesitate.
"I’m guessing she knew your entire plan. So, the moment I stepped into this hall, the Ghost King was bound to attack me.
"And if I knew it was all a misunderstanding, I’d inevitably hold back, feeling constrained.
"But in a life-or-death situation, while one part of my mind is trying to explain the misunderstanding and get him to hold back, he’s going for the kill. That’s a surefire way to provoke genuine rage.
"And just as you planned, we’d end up locked in a battle to the bitter end, with both of us grievously wounded."
"...Hah."
Zhuge Mingyu let out a sigh.
"Young Hero Jiang, you truly live up to your name.
"You grasp the whole from a single detail, and your mind is incredibly sharp. No wonder your reputation has skyrocketed in the short time since your debut.
"After the Tea and Zither Convention, your fame is sure to reach its zenith.
"I, Mingyu, am truly impressed!"
"Don’t be so quick with the praise."
As he spoke, Jiang Ran glanced over at the degenerate gambler, Ruan Yuqing, and the dice weirdo, who were still locked in combat with Master Bi Chen.
Seeing that their fight was going rather well, a spectacular and heated affair, he felt no rush to intervene.
"I do have one question for you, Brother Zhuge."
"Please ask, Young Hero Jiang."
Zhuge Mingyu smiled, his bearing quite graceful.
"How did you know the location of my Ghost King Palace?"
The Ghost King was the first to ask the question.
Jiang Ran turned to glance at him. Their eyes met, and you could almost see the sparks fly between them.
However, Jiang Ran didn’t object to the question, instead turning his gaze back to Zhuge Mingyu.
Zhuge Mingyu made no attempt to hide the truth.
"The location of the Ghost King Palace is a well-kept secret. I happened to stumble upon it by chance in the archives of the Heartless Ghost Mansion."
The Ghost King’s brow furrowed.
"The Heartless Ghost Mansion..."
"Don’t worry, Lord Ghost King."
Zhuge Mingyu smiled.
"The Heartless Ghost Mansion has no interest in the Ghost King Palace.
"They are interested in the ones who left the Ghost King Palace all those years ago...
"Food and drink, lust and gambling; joy and rage, grief and elation; birth and aging, sickness and death.
"More than thirty years ago, eight of the Ghost King Palace’s ’Twelve Generals of the Floating Life Palace’ simply walked away.
"According to the records, they were led away by a great personage who was meant to be the next Ghost King. This person was unwilling to inherit the title and be bound to the Ghost King Palace for life.
"So, he fought his way through the Slaughter Tower and led those eight back to the mortal realm, back to the world of martial arts."
The Ghost King’s expression turned even darker after hearing this.
"These are the deepest secrets of my Ghost King Palace. How could the Heartless Ghost Mansion possibly know of them?"