By the time Jiang Nian came out of his enlightenment,
it was already 1:30 in the morning without him realizing it.
In that state of deep comprehension, he had watched Lin Yuantu train alongside Master Hongye, mastering the Seventy-Two Forms of the Bixie Sword Technique and fully grasping its true essence.
As a result, Jiang Nian’s understanding of the Bixie Sword Technique had reached an entirely new level.
At the same time, within his body,
the yin energy—which had been unstable because he hadn’t undergone self-castration and required the practice of “closed-mouth meditation” to keep it in check—
had now settled down, coinciding with the Bixie Sword Technique breaking through to “Thorough Comprehension.”
“Nice. This is a solid upgrade.”
“Finally, I don’t have to worry about losing proficiency points for saying the wrong thing.”
“If only that kid Zhang Linyu could find me another cameo as a eunuch.”
“Then I could push my comprehension straight to five and remove the restrictions altogether.”
“Comprehension determines how many proficiency points you get per practice session. With five points of comprehension, I’d gain five proficiency points for each session. I’d only need to practice three hundred times to max out the Bixie Sword Technique and lift the celibacy restriction. Wouldn’t that be amazing!”
Sensing the changes within himself, Jiang Nian was overjoyed and couldn’t help mentally mapping out his next steps, full of anticipation for the future.
But no matter how excited he was, he still had to face reality.
It was late, and the wind was howling.
Although, given Jiang Nian’s physique, the wind felt like nothing at all,
he still missed the warm, soft comfort of his bed.
So he walked over to the cliff’s edge, and as usual, leaped straight off—a quick fast-travel back to base.
Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain,
the Reign of Assassins crew had finished their day’s shoot and packed up early, leaving the area.
Only Xu Xinyuan remained, crouched there alone, counting on her fingers and muttering to herself.
“It’s been four days. Why still haven’t I seen anything?”
A full four days had passed since the last time she spotted a figure moving on the mountain.
Since she’d first seen it in the early morning hours,
she had come back every night for the past four days, waiting at the base of the mountain, searching for any trace of that person.
But unfortunately,
after four nights of stakeout, she hadn’t seen so much as a shadow—not even a bird feather.
This left her confused.
She started to wonder if she’d just been stressed out from acting and imagined the whole thing.
Maybe it wasn’t a person at all—just a reflection off the mountain, or a bird flying by.
“Whatever, I’m done thinking about it. This is the last night. If I don’t see anything tonight, I’m never coming back.”
Xu Xinyuan shook her head, pushing all those stray thoughts out of her mind, then sat down at the foot of the mountain and waited quietly.
She waited for what felt like an eternity.
Just as she was getting drowsy and about to give in to exhaustion—
Rustle, rustle—
A soft sound suddenly jolted her awake.
Xu Xinyuan snapped to attention and looked toward the source of the noise.
She saw something tumble down the mountain and land not far in front of her.
“What’s this?”
Her eyes narrowed. She pulled out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and aimed it at the spot.
It was a fist-sized rock that had rolled down the slope.
“Phew—”
“Scared me half to death.”
Xu Xinyuan let out a relieved breath.
In the dead of night, that little scare had her thinking it was something far worse—like human remains or something.
“But why would a rock fall from up there?”
“Is the mountain unstable? About to collapse?”
That thought crossed her mind.
Wasn’t that exactly how disaster movies went?
Before any catastrophe struck, they’d always give a close-up of a rock tumbling down to build tension and clue the audience in that something bad was coming.
And in real life, it wasn’t that different.
Mountain structures were usually stable; loose rocks didn’t just fall for no reason.
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became.
She was about to call the scenic area staff to report the incident,
but before she could make the call—
THUD!
A heavy thump sounded from above her head, as if something heavy had landed up there.
Startled, Xu Xinyuan froze, then instinctively looked up.
Her phone light swept across the cliff face, revealing a man standing on a protruding ledge about fifty meters up.
“???”
She blinked, utterly bewildered.
And on the cliff, Jiang Nian—who had been leaping all the way down—was equally confused to see someone shining a light at him.
Wait, what the hell?
Who’s out here in the middle of the night?!
And this person is…
“Xu Xinyuan?”
Squinting through the glare of the phone light, Jiang Nian recognized her face and let out a soft exclamation.
Normally, standing that high up, with all the ambient noise around, his voice probably wouldn’t have carried down to her.
But tonight was dark and still—dead quiet all around.
So naturally, his voice reached Xu Xinyuan’s ears.
Just then,
a gentle breeze rustled through,
leaves swaying and brushing together with a soft whisper.
A chill ran down Xu Xinyuan’s spine.
You see, Jiang Nian was a martial artist. His senses had sharpened as his strength grew, which was why he could make out her face from such a distance, against the light.
But Xu Xinyuan?
She was just an ordinary person.
So from her perspective,
all she saw was someone dropping down from the mountain—and not only did he land without a scratch, but he also called out her name.
For a moment, her mind raced to all those ghost stories and supernatural tales she’d read.
In those stories,
girls wandering alone in the woods would suddenly hear someone call their name—and then they’d run into a ghost.
“No way.”
“There aren’t actually ghosts in this world, are there?”
She swallowed hard, muttering to herself.
But strangely, she didn’t feel afraid—in fact, she was thrilled.
Because she’d always been an adventurous woman.
If ghosts really existed, and she actually got to see one, it would be worth dying for!
With that thought, she widened her eyes, straining to make out the figure’s face.
Meanwhile, Jiang Nian found it odd that Xu Xinyuan hadn’t responded.
So after a moment’s thought, he used the crevices and protrusions on the cliff face to leap down, landing right in front of her.
“!!!”
Watching the figure that had just been fifty meters up suddenly appear right before her eyes,
with such agile, ghostlike movements, Xu Xinyuan was more certain than ever—this had to be a ghost!
Trembling all over, she looked up with intense excitement.
And then—
“???”
“Jiang Nian? It’s you?!”
The moment she saw his face,
all that exhilaration at possibly meeting a ghost—the kind that had her crossing her legs in anticipation—instantly deflated. Disbelief flooded her face.
Jiang Nian looked at her strangely:
“Who else would it be?”
“The real question is, what are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”
“Looking for a wild game?”
Of course, those last three words were just Jiang Nian’s usual reckless teasing.
Who in their right mind would be squatting out here at this hour?
But Xu Xinyuan didn’t take offense.
Instead, after a shiver, she glanced at Jiang Nian, then back at the sheer cliff, and after a moment’s hesitation, asked: “Teacher Jiang… are you human or ghost?”
At that, Jiang Nian’s face darkened. “The hell? Of course I’m human! What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”
“Then what you just did—”
“I practice martial arts. That’s perfectly normal.”
“You sure about that?”
Xu Xinyuan was clearly skeptical.
Jiang Nian had just been standing on a cliff fifty meters off the ground!
If you converted that into floors, at three meters per floor, it was nearly twenty stories high.
And he just jumped down from there, taking only about five or six seconds longer than a free-fall.
How was that even humanly possible?!
Jiang Nian didn’t even flinch. “Of course it is. What else would it be? Besides, you’re the one who looks suspicious, showing up here in the dead of night.”
“But your problem is way bigger than mine!” Xu Xinyuan shot back.
Jiang Nian cleared his throat. “Same difference, same difference. Since we’re both in the same boat, let’s just call it even. I’ve got things to do, so I’ll be going.”
Seeing him about to bail without another word,
Xu Xinyuan wasn’t about to let him off that easily. “Wait!”
Jiang Nian kept walking.
At that, Xu Xinyuan’s eyes lit up with a clever idea. “Teacher Jiang, if you keep ignoring me, I’ll tell everyone about this when I get back!”
That stopped him in his tracks.
He turned around. “What did you say?”
“I said, if you ignore me, I’ll spill the beans!” Xu Xinyuan wore a sly smile, like she had him wrapped around her finger. “Teacher Jiang, you wouldn’t want your secret to get out, would you?”
Jiang Nian: “…”
“Miss, please watch your image.”
He gave her a look like that old “disappointed old man staring at his phone” meme.
This woman had clearly watched too many dramas—what was this, A Wife’s Trouble?
Xu Xinyuan’s eyes went wide. “Wow, that’s a low blow!”
Jiang Nian shrugged indifferently. “You’re the one who started it. Blame me?”
“I don’t care! You insulted me, so now you have to take responsibility! Just tell me—how did you do it?”
Her voice turned syrupy sweet, so cloying it could give anyone a toothache.
Jiang Nian shuddered involuntarily, then an idea struck him. His eyes twinkled with mischief as he looked at her with a knowing smile. “You really want to know?”
Xu Xinyuan sensed something was off, but her curiosity ultimately won over her caution. “Yes, just tell me!”
“Alright!”
Jiang Nian declared. “You asked for it.”
Without giving her a moment to react, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pushed off the ground with sudden force.
In an instant, the sound of air rushing past filled the air.
Startled, she squeezed her eyes shut.
The fierce wind whipped her hair wildly and stung her face.
She had no idea what was happening, so she cautiously cracked open her eyes—and was shocked to find herself airborne!
No, to be precise, she wasn’t flying on her own—Jiang Nian was carrying her through the air!
“Wh-What is this?!”
The sheer absurdity of the situation short-circuited her brain. She didn’t know what to do or how to react.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Nian smiled lightly:
“Didn’t you say you wanted to know how I do it?”
“Well, I’m giving you a firsthand experience!”
Xu Xinyuan was lucky she caught him at the right time.
If she’d come before the New Year, Jiang Nian wouldn’t have been able to carry her through the mountains like this.
But now, after mastering the hidden force,
moving through the mountains with a passenger was no challenge at all—it was practically effortless.
Under her wide-eyed, disbelieving gaze,
in just over ten minutes,
Jiang Nian had carried her all the way to the summit of the towering mountain.
Looking at the enormous moon in the distance and the bottomless abyss below,
Xu Xinyuan’s face was still pale with shock.
“We… we’re already up here?”
“Of course.” Jiang Nian smiled, fully expecting her to be terrified out of her wits.
But instead, Xu Xinyuan grabbed his arm with an excited look. “Holy crap, that was amazing! Can we do it again?”
“Huh?”
Now it was Jiang Nian’s turn to be dumbfounded.
He stared at her, practically bouncing with excitement, and twitched his mouth.
Again?
Damn, you’ve got guts.
He decided to test her. “You really want to?”
“Yes, yes! That was so thrilling—once isn’t enough!” Her voice bubbled with enthusiasm.
Jiang Nian realized this woman was an adrenaline junkie through and through.
Not that he minded.
After all, if she’d been a timid little thing, it wouldn’t have been half as fun.
What he wanted was exactly this—sheer boldness.
“Want to try something even more intense?”
He asked with a grin.
Xu Xinyuan’s eyes lit up. “There’s something even more intense?”
Then realization dawned. “Teacher Jiang, you don’t mean—”
“Yep. Now—off you go!”
Without giving her any time to brace herself, Jiang Nian gave her a swift kick, sending her flying into the air and over the cliff.
As the unprecedented sensation of weightlessness engulfed her,
even someone with nerves of steel like Xu Xinyuan couldn’t help but scream.
And Jiang Nian, having delivered that kick, followed right after, racing downward.
Channeling his inner strength, he reached a protruding ledge near the cliff face in the blink of an eye—before Xu Xinyuan had even fallen past him.
Listening to her screams from above, Jiang Nian reached out his arms.
THUD!
Xu Xinyuan landed safely in his embrace, caught with perfect stability.
Seeing that in just a few seconds, she’d been scared into crying, her makeup smeared with tears,
Jiang Nian grinned. “Well? Thrilling enough for you?”
Regaining her composure, she realized he was just messing with her, and stubbornly shot back: “Th-Thrilling? Not at all! It’s just… just bungee jumping, that’s all.”
Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow.
Oh, really? That mouth of hers was so tough—even if she burned to a crisp, it’d probably survive intact.
Fine!
He’d show her exactly what happened to people who wouldn’t back down.
He repeated the move—and in an instant, piercing screams echoed through the valley once more.
