If I Have No Sword, I Cannot Protect You

Those who came to cultivate at the Returning Heart Sect included not only commoner disciples picked up like Jiang Beiran, but also descendants of great aristocratic families.

Jiang Beiran's luck was exceptionally bad—he had hit the jackpot three times in a row. In a tiny team of only five people, there was an official's second generation, a rich second generation, and a Hero Second Generation, and all three of them had come to hate him.

What a sin!

After investigating the backgrounds of the three junior disciples, Jiang Beiran felt as though he were splitting apart. At the same time, he came to a realization!

This world was targeting him—very, very specifically!

But since it had already happened, he could only face it. Jiang Beiran believed he was no longer the Wu Xia A-Meng of old. After a year, he had accumulated quite a few Attribute Points and skill points. Even against a Yellow Rank Middle Grade mission, he felt he had the strength to fight!

The Hero Second Generation was named Wu Qingce. His father was Wu Fengmian, the renowned hero Flying Leaf Hand of the Zhandong region. His hidden weapons were wielded with such divine mastery that they were impossible to guard against.

He was the first to seek out Jiang Beiran after returning to the Returning Heart Sect, and his method was quite upright: he directly came to his door with a challenge letter. Whoever won would be allowed to pursue Junior Sister.

Although Jiang Beiran had explained countless times that he truly had no interest in Junior Sister, Wu Qingce was stubborn as a mule. A fight was unavoidable. Either Jiang Beiran accepted the challenge letter and met him beneath Supporting Heaven Peak in the little woods three days later, or Wu Qingce would strike right then and there.

What could Jiang Beiran say in the face of such a blockhead? Other than a flood of "@#￥%#" vulgarities bursting through his mind, he could only accept the challenge letter with a smiling face.

Yet Jiang Beiran did not simply sit around waiting during those three days. Rather than wait for the other two to come challenge him or make a move in secret, he thought it better to take the initiative and find a way to settle them first.

So he went to find the rich second generation disciple first.

The rich second generation disciple was named Lin Jiuge, son of Lin Jingxiang, the wealthiest man in Ningyong County. He had been clothed in silk and fed on delicacies since childhood, having seen all the splendor of the world. His coming to cultivate at the Returning Heart Sect had been entirely a whim, though he also wanted to earn his father some face, so that he would have more confidence when asking for spending money in the future.

When Jiang Beiran found Lin Jiuge, he had just finished practicing. This rich second generation was rather well-mannered. On the surface, he still politely saluted Jiang Beiran and said, "Greetings, Jiang Shixiong." His voice, however, sounded somewhat strange.

Jiang Beiran replied with something Lin Jiuge had not expected.

"Does Junior Brother Lin wish to discuss a business partnership with me?"

Jiang Beiran had learned earlier that Lin Jiuge's family mainly dealt in transportation, so during their conversation, he shared with him the era-spanning idea of a "newspaper."

After hearing it, Lin Jiuge immediately slapped the table in admiration. He said he would return home at once to discuss it with his father. If his father also approved, he would certainly give Jiang Beiran a generous reward. Of course, they could also cooperate through that whatever-it-was called investment in shares arrangement Jiang Beiran had mentioned.

Jiang Beiran's thinking was simple. Since Lin Jiuge's father could become the wealthiest man, he was naturally intelligent. If he was intelligent enough, he ought to seek a long-term partnership with someone like Jiang Beiran, who could come up with brilliant ideas. If he was not that intelligent, Jiang Beiran would simply consider it an investment toward completing this Yellow Rank Middle Grade mission.

Once the partnership had been settled, Lin Jiuge's attitude clearly became more respectful. He expressed his admiration for Jiang Beiran like the surging waters of the Yangtze, and every "Jiang Shixiong" no longer carried that previous sarcastic undertone.

Jiang Beiran then took the opportunity to ask about the last of the three, the official's second generation Wang Yuyan.

But Lin Jiuge told him that they had merely happened to come accept the Trial Mission together, then had been grouped together by Flower Crown, who was responsible for the arrangements. They had not known Wang Yuyan beforehand. He only knew that Wang Yuyan was the son of Wang Bingquan, the County Lieutenant of Chuan'an County. Still, he had heard of Wang Bingquan, who was deeply beloved by the local people because of his extremely high efficiency in solving cases.

When arriving somewhere unfamiliar, the most important thing was naturally to first understand who governed the place. Thus, Jiang Beiran had put considerable effort into studying the names of officials.

The County Lieutenant was in charge of public security and ranked only below the county magistrate. In modern terms, he was equivalent to a police chief, a fairly powerful official.

After thanking Lin Jiuge, Jiang Beiran was pondering what he should say when he went to find Wang Yuyan, only for the latter to come looking for him instead.

"Greetings, Jiang Shixiong."

In terms of appearance, Wang Yuyan was absolutely a modest and refined gentleman. Most people would likely feel favorably toward him simply upon seeing his polite smile.

"May I ask why Junior Brother Wang has come to see me?" Jiang Beiran asked with cupped hands.

"It is somewhat difficult to say, but I..." Wang Yuyan scratched his head. "I came to ask whether Jiang Shixiong truly does not like Junior Sister Lin at all?"

"Of course it is true. Did you not all see it that day?"

"Then... I, can I ask why Junior Sister Lin likes you, Senior Brother? Could you... teach me?"

Seeing Wang Yuyan's cheeks flush crimson, Jiang Beiran knew he must have gathered a great deal of courage to ask. He also understood that if he wanted to dispel this junior brother's hostility toward him, it seemed he could only resolve it by teaching him how to woo girls.

Worried that refusing him would create even more trouble, Jiang Beiran agreed and began drawing upon his abundant experience of watching others fall in love.

Back in middle school, he had loved browsing social media pages everywhere. It could be said that he had feasted his eyes on all manner of love words.

For example: [If I have no sword, I cannot protect you. If I hold a sword, I cannot embrace you.]

[No weapon is sharper than a tearing wound.]

[If you break her wings, I will destroy your entire heaven.] He had seen plenty of lines like these.

Such words could amaze an entire generation even in their internet age, let alone in ancient times, when even sending a letter was incomparably troublesome.

Wang Yuyan's eyes practically shone after hearing them. He was only a step away from kneeling and acknowledging Jiang Beiran as his master.

"I will teach you this much for now. If it does not work, I will think of other methods."

Wang Yuyan repeatedly thanked him, saying that if he managed to win Junior Sister Lin, he would certainly give Jiang Beiran a huge red envelope. With that, he left in high spirits.

Very quickly, the third day arrived. Having made thorough preparations, Jiang Beiran followed the address written on the challenge letter to the little woods, ready to use Wu Qingce as a touchstone for the strength he had gained after a year of adding points in every direction.

Yet a Hero Second Generation was still a Hero Second Generation. On the surface, Wu Qingce was a Newbie disciple of the Returning Heart Sect, but in truth he had long mastered an impressive hidden-weapon technique. His flying needles stabbed Jiang Beiran until he screamed even more miserably than Crape Myrtle.

But Jiang Beiran also displayed strength far beyond what Wu Qingce had expected. During the earlier Mountain Descent Trial, Wu Qingce had discovered that Jiang Beiran's Returning Heart Skill had only reached the second level, meaning he was merely at Qi Refining Second Order.

Yet in actual combat, Jiang Beiran's strength and ability to take a beating far exceeded what Qi Refining Second Order should possess, completely disrupting Wu Qingce's attack rhythm.

On top of that, Jiang Beiran used gu and swallowed pills. In the end, a flurry of wild punches felled an old master, knocking Wu Qingce to the ground.