The Biggest Ticking Time Bomb

After explaining to the Yu Family Three Sisters that a Human Grade Room was only this large, and that inns did not provide such basic amenities as having a dressing table delivered through the door, Jiang Beiran finally got all five junior sisters settled into their rooms. Of course, all five of them had been a hundred times unwilling.

Bang.

After closing the door to his own room, Jiang Beiran let out a slight sigh of relief. These five young ladies from wealthy families lacked even more common sense than he had when he had first transmigrated here. In their worldview, inns could actually provide silk quilts, Purple Forest Grass incense, petal baths, and all sorts of other services.

It made Jiang Beiran very curious about what sort of inns they had stayed at before. As far as he knew, even Heaven Grade Rooms in some county-town inns would not provide such luxuries.

So having money really means you can do whatever you want?

After resting briefly, Jiang Beiran took off the Invisibility Set, changed into a plain, inconspicuous outfit, and left the inn. It was rare for him to come down the mountain, so naturally he had to go out and trigger a few more choices.

"Hey! Martial Grandfather is here! What would you like today?"

"Get me two chunks of fatty meat. Chop them into paste—the finer, the better."

"Right away~ Just wait and see."

Passing by a butcher's stall, Jiang Beiran heard the exchange and watched the butcher chop two fine cuts of front-leg pork into minced meat. Then, with great care, he pulled out two sheets of bamboo-fiber paper, wrapped them separately, and strung them together with twine.

"Martial Grandfather, your meat is ready. Twenty copper coins in total."

The burly man whom the butcher called Martial Grandfather took the meat and casually said, "Same as usual. Put it on my tab; I'll settle it all at the end of the month."

The butcher's expression immediately fell. Nervous yet fawning, he said, "Martial Grandfather... last month, you already..."

"Hmm!?"

Before the butcher could finish, the burly man called Martial Grandfather shot him a fierce glare.

"What, you don't trust Wu Kui?"

The courage the butcher had painstakingly gathered vanished in an instant. He repeatedly forced a smile. "How would I dare? How would I dare? I was merely asking, merely asking. Please take care."

At the same time, three choices popped up before Jiang Beiran's eyes.

[Option One: Step forward and uphold justice for the butcher. Completion Reward: Heavenly Wolf Sword (Yellow Rank High Grade)]

[Option Two: Secretly make a move and teach Wu Kui a lesson. Completion Reward: Pilu Helmet (Yellow Rank Middle Grade)]

[Option Three: Stay where you are. Completion Reward: Random Basic Attribute Point +1]

Choosing three, Jiang Beiran watched Wu Kui say, "You know what's good for you," before swaggering away and disappearing around the corner.

"Ah... how am I supposed to go on like this?" The butcher sighed, his face filled with sorrow. In the end, he could not help picking up the rag from the chopping block, covering his eyes with it, and wiping hard again and again.

"Boss, two jin of pork."

The distressed butcher hurriedly put down the rag upon hearing that. He revealed a broad smile and said, "Certainly! Which cut would you like?"

"Neck meat. And some pig ears."

"You can tell a connoisseur at a glance, customer. Would you like me to slice it for you?"

"No need. Just wrap it up."

"One portion of neck meat~ one portion of pig ears~ Here, please take it. Pig ears are cheaper, so eighteen copper coins will do."

"The money's there."

"Alright, please wait while I count... Hey, customer, where are you going!? Hey! Come back! I haven't counted yet! Come back, you damned bastard!!!"

Yet the moment the butcher grabbed his cleaver and chased out from his stall, he discovered that the young customer had already vanished into the crowd. No matter how he searched, he could not find him.

"Damn it! Don't let me catch you! If I catch you, I'll skin you alive!"

The instant he finished roaring, the butcher saw a crowd of townsfolk gathering to watch. In his fury, he waved his cleaver and shouted, "What are you looking at!? Go walk your own roads!"

Seeing that the butcher had gone nearly mad, the townsfolk who had been shouted at did not dare retort and quickly scattered.

"Ah..."

Only after all the onlooking townsfolk had left did the butcher let out a long sigh, his body seeming to lose every bit of strength.

Returning to his stall with lifeless eyes, the butcher glanced at the small cloth bag that damned bastard had left in the corner.

"Dog bastard!"

Roaring, the butcher grabbed the cloth bag and was about to throw it to the ground when he realized it seemed to have some weight. Though he felt it was unlikely to be money, he still clung to a sliver of hope and pulled the bag open.

"This!?"

The butcher's eyes widened enormously, because inside were three pieces of broken silver.

"Three... three qian of silver!?"

The butcher cried out softly in disbelief.

He suddenly raised his head and looked once more in the direction where that young man had vanished, his mouth hanging wide open.

Finally coming back to his senses, he went bang! bang! bang! and kowtowed three times, then viciously slapped himself across the mouth.

"Calling your benefactor a damned bastard and running your mouth wild, yet you did not even say thank you!"

After cursing himself, the butcher swore in his heart that if he ever saw his benefactor again, he would properly thank him. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not recall what that young man looked like.

Strange... I can remember every customer's face normally, so why have I forgotten my benefactor's face!? Ah! Wang Fugui, Wang Fugui! You really are stupid beyond saving! When it matters, you're not worth a fart!

After saying that, he gave himself another hard slap.

By then, Jiang Beiran, carrying two packets of meat, had already reached the end of the street. He wondered what expression the butcher would wear upon returning and finding three qian of silver in that cloth bag.

Ah, surviving in these troubled times is not easy for anyone. This is all I can help with.

Though the various miserable experiences he had suffered right after transmigrating had made Jiang Beiran resolve to become a refined egoist, after witnessing the people's misery countless times, he ultimately could not maintain his "heart of stone."

To that end, after carefully studying the various meanings behind the system's choices, he formulated a complete set of "rules for helping others."

Simply put, so long as his own safety could be guaranteed, he had determined under what circumstances he could lend a hand indirectly.

First, he could not help people he had frequent chances to encounter. For example, those senior brothers in the Returning Heart Sect—whether he knew them or not, Jiang Beiran would not bypass the system's choices to help them, because that could easily lead to subsequent incidents.

For instance, there was a high chance Liu Zijin had come looking for him this time because, when Jiang Beiran had been an Iron Seal, he had always been unable to harden his heart.

Most of the time, knowing that he had to keep a low profile, Jiang Beiran tried to make himself seem exceedingly "ordinary" in everything he did. Thus, when he had been an Iron Seal, he had considered deliberately withholding help several times, causing new disciples to fail their Trial Missions so that the one-hundred-percent success rate on his record would not stand out so much.

Yet whenever those helpless junior disciples looked at him and asked, "Senior Brother, what should I do?" Jiang Beiran could never harden his heart. In the end, he could only comfort himself with the excuse, Anyway, the system hasn't given me a choice warning that maintaining this success rate will put me in danger.

That was why his reputation as an Iron Seal had become too high. Although Jiang Beiran had told them not to spread word of him, exceptions like Liu Zijin were bound to appear.

Second, whenever the system choices included phrases such as [Leave This Place], [Pass By], or [Do Nothing], Jiang Beiran would not help either. If it was time to leave, he left—without the slightest hesitation.

Under those two absolute prerequisites, Jiang Beiran would occasionally help common people being oppressed, treating it as payment for a few attribute points or skill points.

Two hours later, having triggered nearly a dozen choices, Jiang Beiran felt thoroughly satisfied and decided not to keep "strolling" around the town streets.

It was not that he thought he had too many points. Rather, there had once been a day when he triggered more than thirty choices in succession. Just when he had felt he had made a killing, he went out the next day and discovered that the system choices had suddenly stopped appearing.

This left Jiang Beiran, who had grown accustomed to relying on choices to avoid disaster, feeling utterly unsafe. He stayed in his room for an entire day without going out. The choices did not return to normal until the third day, and that made Jiang Beiran understand that he could not trigger system choices excessively, or the latter would "go on strike."

Furthermore, during his walk that evening, he had not only gained a great deal of points but also acquired a preliminary understanding of the criminal forces in Sunset Glow Town.

Before transmigrating, Jiang Beiran had always admired the Great Heroes in Wuxia Novels who upheld justice, punished evil, and eradicated villainy. Yet after coming to this world, he suddenly discovered that these "Great Heroes" were sometimes no different from gangsters.

Were there true Great Heroes who served the country and people without seeking reward? Of course there were, but they were exceedingly, exceedingly rare.

Many Wandering Knights and Gallants casually formed all kinds of gangs, often becoming sworn brothers and forming one power bloc after another. In the eyes of these forces, there were no national laws, only Jianghu Rules. If anyone dared violate those rules, someone would play judge and deliver a Jianghu Settlement.

And when such a force expanded enough, it became an extraordinarily powerful entity.

Some developed into "Evil Cults" in the eyes of the authorities and righteous sects, while others formed Heroic Clans steeped in strong clan and family characteristics.

Within them, the Clan Leader was the boss, the Family Rules were the Gang Rules, and all the gang members shared glory and disgrace like one family.

And whether they were Evil Cults or Heroic Clans, they never lacked Experts. After all, not every cultivator possessed a sword's courage and a zither's heart, cultivating great abilities solely to give back to society and benefit mankind.

Most merely did it to satisfy their own desires.

So even if it was merely some thug in a small town who was a little stronger than average, after someone upheld justice and beat him up, they might discover that he was actually an outer member of some cult or gang.

Out of nowhere, he would pull out a firecracker and shout at you, "One arrow pierces the clouds; a thousand troops and ten thousand horses come to meet!"

What these gangs valued most was face. Even if the outer member you beat had no real connection to them whatsoever, they would still come out in full force. There was no other reason: you had failed to give their gang face.

Thus, whenever Jiang Beiran arrived somewhere new, he would investigate whose territory it was while triggering choices, preparing for a rainy day.

And the investigation process was simple. He only needed to visit a few taverns or small inns, and before long he would hear thugs shouting, "Our XX Gang has claimed this place today!" or "In this territory, who dares refuse to give our XX Society face?"

For example, when Jiang Beiran passed a tavern earlier, he heard a drunkard shout, "Brother, don't worry. In Sunset Glow Town, if you invoke the name of Ma Dajiao of the Yellow Gang, everyone has to give you some face."

Jiang Beiran had heard the name Yellow Gang quite a few times since coming down the mountain. It was a gang organization that had risen in recent years. Rumor had it that the gang possessed Experts at the Great Profound Master level, so it had developed at a remarkably rapid pace.

Having earned enough points and learned the intelligence he needed, Jiang Beiran walked back to the inn and entered his room.

Closing the door and lighting the oil lamp on the square table, Jiang Beiran sat down and took several stalks of Wula Grass from his Universe Ring.

Over the day, the Invisibility Set had performed extremely well, causing the five junior sisters to attract no attention whatsoever. Therefore, Jiang Beiran decided to continue improving the set and further strengthen its concealment properties.

He researched until deep into the night. Looking at the dozen or so straw hats of different shapes on the table, Jiang Beiran fell into deep thought, considering what other functions he could add.

"Ha~"

As he thought, Jiang Beiran yawned. Feeling a wave of drowsiness wash over him, he put all the straw hats into his Universe Ring and decided to deal with it tomorrow.

Chewing a Fragrant Pill he had made himself from Calm Heart Grass, Jiang Beiran finished cleaning his mouth and was just about to collapse onto the bed when three choices popped up.

[Option One: Go straight to sleep. Completion Reward: Changing Stars (Earth Grade Middle Rank)]

[Option Two: Go remind the junior sisters once more not to run around. Completion Reward: Golden Snake Crane Capture Fist (Mystic Middle Grade)]

[Option Three: Go secretly observe the inn entrance. Completion Reward: Random Basic Skill Point +1]

The Earth Grade Middle Rank reward instantly scared Jiang Beiran wide awake. Sleep? What sleep? Decisively choosing three, Jiang Beiran took out a specially made Nightwalker Outfit from his Universe Ring and put it on. He climbed out the window and arrived at the inn entrance.

Less than ten minutes later, Jiang Beiran saw a figure emerge from the inn. It was Fang Qiuyue, who should have been obediently staying in her room right now. Fortunately, she was still wearing the Invisibility Set.

Ah... this girl truly is the biggest ticking time bomb.

Jiang Beiran had thought his speech that afternoon might have awakened her somewhat, so he had wanted to let her slowly digest it herself. Yet now it seemed she had digested absolutely nothing...

After poking her head out and looking around a few times, Fang Qiuyue found that no one was paying attention to her. She then strutted out of the inn and headed toward the spot where the tofu pudding stall had been overturned when they first arrived.

At the same time, three more choices appeared before Jiang Beiran.

[Option One: Drag Fang Qiuyue back into the inn. Completion Reward: Azure Cloud Dance (Mysterious Grade High Rank)]

[Option Two: Make Fang Qiuyue aware of your presence and have her voluntarily return to her room. Completion Reward: Swallowtail Divine Spear (Profound Grade Low Rank)]

[Option Three: Secretly follow her. Completion Reward: Random Basic Skill Point +1]

Seeing these three choices, Jiang Beiran thought for a moment and understood what the system meant.

Is it planning to let this girl get a beating from society?

Shrugging, Jiang Beiran felt that was not a bad idea. Thus, he chose three, leaped onto a rooftop, and quietly followed Fang Qiuyue.

PS: A 4,000-character mega chapter—two chapters merged into one. Otherwise, there would have been an exquisitely agonizing cliffhanger. (I'm scared of your blades.)