Two little yellow birds sitting on a deck

One Mu Ran whose bones are gonna break

Swim away Han Xuhan, save your neck

Goodbye Mu Ran, don't call him back

Xuhan always knew he was a talented poet, but damn...He felt like he had just created his magnum opus. The emotions it invoked were so fierce!

He was back on his seat, ramrod straight, holding his cards while maintaining a lookout on Mu Ran and the old man through the corner of his sight. The two were locked in a staring contest where Mu Ran was slowly losing his momentum with each passing second.

Even from his seat that was far away from them, Han Xuhan could feel how domineering the old man's aura was. He was undoubtedly a powerhouse whose cultivation had reached the soul reformation realm at least. Xuhan had sensed such aura before only on the elders of his sect. He knew fully well that even Mu Ran would be unable to turn this situation around without a miracle.

How did things come to this?

This Di Qian had clearly appeared to be a weak scammer who had recently suffered from qi deviation. Why did he suddenly reach the peak of his power now?

Was he doing something akin to those tropes of 'drawing on lifeforce to fuel one's power'?

Han Xuhan had no fucking idea.

Mu Ran, to his credit, held his ground despite the vastly superior aura pressing on him like a heavy boulder. Even the mortals around them had sensed that something was wrong despite never having sensed a single drop of qi in their lives. The old man had undergone a complete transformation from his previously sloppy, shady appearance.

Slowly, the old man stood up. The ropes that bound him suddenly seemed like spider silk wrapped an elephant, not appearing to be bothering him in the slightest.

"Punk, not so full of yourself anymore, huh?"

In a tone laced with rage, the old man growled at Mu Ran.

"If you aren't a scammer, care to explain how your beast pet was caught stealing the necklace?"

Obstinate as ever, Mu Ran lashed back, even though it was apparent to the onlookers that his voice shook a bit.

"And why would I need to give an explanation to you? Who do you think you are, huh? Your puny cultivation level isn't even enough to pluck my hair."

"As a righteous cultivator, it's my obligation to protect innocent mortals from evil scums like you. I don't need a special identity to punish evil!"

"Punish evil? Exactly how do you plan on doing that, punk?"

The old man laughed angrily, a purple vein throbbing on his temple as his teeth emitted a grinding sound. Mu Ran visibly swallowed.

Seeing that the situation was going downhill with each second, Xuhan decided to help Mu Ran by jumping out of the boat and swimming his way to the river bank, after which he'd run until he had reached the sect, where he could report the incident to the elders and send reinforcements. Granted, the whole process might... take a while, but something was better than nothing! Surely, his boss would appreciate it if Xuhan didn't become a part of the collateral damage in their battle and made sure that the old man couldn't use Xuhan as a weak hostage to threaten Mu Ran.

Where else can a protagonist find such a smart underling?

Slithering his way to the side of the deck unnoticeably, Han Xuhan rolled the sleeves of his robe up and prepared to jump. But right at that moment-

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"Haha, nice try, old man! You thought you could trick me with that? Take my attack! Astral heatwave!"

Mu Ran's shout came unexpectedly. By the time Xuhan looked back at them, the space where the old man had been standing was empty. Instead, a crumpled body was lying a few feet away and Mu Ran was pointing at it with his arms stretched ahead in an aggressive manner.

"I knew it! Even if the old man was so powerful, he never revealed a hint of his strength despite being insulted and tied up. If I hadn't noticed the inconsistency in his aura, even I would've fallen for his bluff! Indeed, this guy is a scammer to the core!"

Han Xuhan stared with his mouth wide open. Why hadn't he noticed any such inconsistency? He might not be a decent cultivator, but he definitely wasn't dull enough to not notice flawed or faked aura. It hurt his pride!

"Xuhan, you noticed it too, right? It was so easy to see through! " Mu Ran hollered loudly.

Gritting his teeth, Han Xuhan stomped his way toward the unconscious old man.

"Of course, boss. Look, I had even rolled my sleeves up to come and help you give this old bastard a beating!"

Unnoticed by Xuhan, a cunning gleam ran through Mu Ran's eyes.

"Right, tie those ropes tighter. Someone fetch me some water. I might have overdone it a bit..."

After being splashed with cold water and a surge of Mu Ran's qi, the old man opened his eyes, dazed and exhausted.

"This is the thing you used to amplify your aura, right? Hehe, using your qi to stimulate the qi inside the crystal? Nice trick."

Mu Ran reached into one of the old man's numerous pouches and pulled out a glittering black marble that seemed to be pulsing with some sort of sealed qi. Han Xuhan could clearly feel the scary aura of a powerhouse leaking out from the marble.

So that's how he had been tricked!

Glaring at the old man intensely, Han Xuhan tightened the rope on him and tied him to the leg of a chair on which a fatty was sitting. One look at the fatty's magnificent body made the old man lose all hope of escaping as a despairing expression appeared on his face.

"If I return this little trinket to you, you'll definitely scam more people. As a righteous cultivator, I cannot let that happen. So I'll take this," Mu Ran explained without a trace of shame and threw it toward Xuhan.

Xuhan put it inside one of the twelve secret pockets he had sewn on his robe. It was definitely a very useful treasure. One glance at the old man's furious face explained that much. Perhaps he had been using that to scam mortals and cultivators alike for a long time.

"Fellow journeymen, our destination is on the next stop, so we'll have to hand the responsibility of taking this old man to the law enforcers to the rest of you."

Shaking off further responsibilities, Mu Ran returned to his seat with a heroic gait. Xuhan picked up the cards again and started dealing them out.

A few games later, the ferryboat docked at a stop close to their destination. They got off the boat while a few enthusiastic passengers practically carried off the old man to the nearest law enforcers on the dock.

Even while he was being carried away, the old man's eyes stayed on Mu Ran's figure. If Xuhan had been close enough to observe him, he would have realized that the furious look on his face had cooled off, replaced by a cold, observant expression.

"It's impossible for a normal cultivator in his realm to detect my faked aura. In this lower world, there is no such soul cultivation system that can find flaws in my technique. Furthermore, that technique he used to manipulate qi seems a bit familiar. Where did I see it before...definitely not in the neutral territory...It-it can't be a technique from one of the Solar Aristocrats, right?

"If only, if only little Hei could consume that azure crystal and go through the next growth phase, it'd be a simple task to cross the poison ocean and bypass the beast tide.

"Ai~being insulted at this age only because of my injury. That brat from the Crimson snow sect is definitely not a normal cultivator. His soul is very odd. This matter needs further investigation..."

With a flicker of his fingers, the old man sent a small stream of qi flying toward Mu Ran and Xuhan, and another toward the fish he called Little Hei. Despite being out of water, it didn't seem uncomfortable at all, much to the wonder of the little boy carrying it on a pole. For a spirited beast, it was quite tame, not even as aggressive as a regular fish.

"If it really is what I think it is...then this anomaly must not grow!"

Old man Di Qian rubbed his aching knees and a determined expression flashed across his face.

A commotion rose behind them on the ferryboat they had just left. A certain rich woman had just stumbled while walking on the deck and her custom-made, gold-plated, azure crystal had slipped out of her grasp, falling into the river, again.

Unlucky indeed.