Volume One: Kingdom of the Long Night - Chapter Fifty-Nine: Jiang Mou Values His Promises Above All Else in This Life

The painted pleasure boat soon returned to tranquility.

Jiang Wang lay flat on the floor, breathing slightly.

The young woman returned behind the bamboo curtains, gently plucked the strings of her zither, and said, "Why is the young marquis in such a hurry?"

Still lying down, Jiang Wang muttered, "You certainly possess remarkable skills. If you are not a martial artist, you must be a cultivator, right?"

He raised his eyes slightly, uttering each word distinctly, "Or perhaps... a demon!"

The young woman cast a sideways glance at Jiang Wang, pursed her lips, and smiled. "Calling me a demon just because you couldn't get what you wanted—so the young marquis is this kind of person after all."

Jiang Wang flipped over onto his back, then turned to his side, propping his head up with one arm. Gazing at the young woman, he said, "Jiang is a man of upright and awe-inspiring righteousness; how could I possibly take pleasure in visiting pleasure boats to listen to music? It was precisely because I sensed demonic aura that I came here to subdue demons and vanquish devils. Do confess, my lady, so that Jiang may subjugate you."

The young woman smiled brightly. "Is the young marquis's subjugation... a proper one?"

With a solemn and righteous expression, Jiang Wang declared, "Naturally, it is the most proper kind!"

The young woman replied, "But you cannot beat me."

Jiang Wang immediately slumped, looking defeated as he said, "In this life, Jiang shall never submit beneath another."

Though the words seemed harmless enough, why did it all feel so strange?

The young woman paused for a moment before saying, "This humble servant has naturally heard of the young marquis's exploits. Your feat of repelling Marquis Wu before the city gates filled me with admiration. However, I am truly no demon, so the young marquis is afraid to have no opportunity to subjugate me."

Jiang Wang smiled. "When Marquis Wu attacked the city, the common folk were still strolling through the temple fair, completely unaware of what was happening outside the walls. Yet you pierced through the truth with a single remark. Even if you are not a demon, I fear you are certainly no ordinary person."

The young woman smiled in return. "Yet I am truly no demon."

Jiang Wang stood up, stretched lazily, and said, "There must be a demon in these pleasure boats. Even if it is not you, it will be someone else. I am a stubborn person by nature, and I will not rest until I achieve my goal. Once I tear down every single pleasure boat and still fail to find the demon, it can only be you."

He looked at the young woman with a smiling gaze.

The young woman's expression darkened slightly.

If she took this opportunity to escape, it would solidify her identity as a demon.

Yet if she did not run, Jiang Wang would remain firmly convinced in his heart that she was a demon.

She truly had not a single path of retreat left.

"Everything this humble servant has said is the absolute truth. Since the young marquis is pressing me so hard, I am naturally powerless to resist. But such an action by the young marquis is no different from treating human lives like grass. The city of Hun is filled with tales of your benevolent reputation; if you were to commit such a deed, how would the common people view you?"

Jiang Wang lowered his head in deep thought, then raised his eyes to look at her once more. "I am carrying out the noble act of subduing demons and vanquishing devils; the people will only praise me for my great benevolence. It seems there are no drawbacks whatsoever, wouldn't you say?"

The young woman was momentarily left speechless.

If Jiang Wang succeeded in pinning the label of a demon on her, things would indeed unfold that way.

Placing her jade-white fingers upon the zither strings, she took a deep breath and said, "Fine. I am a demon."

Jiang Wang gasped in shock, "You really are a demon?!"

The young woman: (⊙_⊙)

Jiang Wang sat cross-legged, poured himself a cup of tea unceremoniously, and asked, "What kind of demon are you? You are completely indistinguishable from ordinary people—your cultivation must be very high, right?"

After a brief moment of astonishment, the young woman sneered, "What the young marquis chooses to care about is truly unexpected."

"Since you insisted on exposing my identity, you should at this moment be pondering how to leave here alive. Although you repelled Marquis Wu, you did not rely solely on your own abilities."

"I can tell you quite frankly: my cultivation is only stronger than Marquis Wu's, not weaker."

Jiang Wang smacked his lips and muttered, "This is troublesome."

Seeking to negotiate, he suggested, "How about we pretend nothing of this just happened? You continue playing the zither, I continue listening to the music, and when we're done, we part ways on good terms. How does that sound?"

The young woman retorted, "The young marquis is blessed with good looks, but your imagination is rather too wonderful. If you go back and summon reinforcements, wouldn't I be in deep trouble?"

Jiang Wang replied, "You misunderstand, my lady. How could Jiang ever be that kind of person? In this life, I value my promises above all else!"

If Shu Ni were present here, she would undoubtedly leap up and deliver a fierce slap across Jiang Wang's face.

Though she had never witnessed such a thing, the young woman said with resolute firmness, "I don't believe you."

With a straight face, Jiang Wang declared, "Now you're just taking the fun out of it."

At the same time, he conversed with the Night Wandering God in his mind, multitasking effortlessly: "What kind of demon is she, really?"

The Night Wandering God replied, "Any demon capable of passing entirely as a human must be a great demon. How am I supposed to know which one she is?"

Jiang Wang remarked, "You're truly useless."

The Night Wandering God snapped furiously, "There are so many monsters in this world; I don't recognize every single one of them. Ever since I was reduced to a wandering spirit, I've spent most of my time hiding. Let alone great demons, I haven't even recognized all the major figures within the Sui Kingdom!"

Jiang Wang pondered to himself, "In other words, this young lady has nothing to do with the mastermind behind the scenes that you sensed earlier."

The Night Wandering God noted, "The demonic auras are different."

Jiang Wang remained silent for a moment, though outwardly he continued to banter with the young woman. Seizing a brief gap, he thought inwardly, "She might have been in Hun City for a very long time, and she is extremely skilled at concealing her demonic aura, because you only sensed something was amiss when we were boarding the boat."

"Yet for a demon to disguise herself as a woman in a pleasure boat and remain hidden in Hun City for so long—her motives cannot be simple."

"Aside from the incident involving Aoyin, there have rarely been any cases of demons harming people in Hun City prior to this, which proves that at least since she arrived here, she has not harmed anyone."

"No matter how cautious she is, if people were constantly disappearing in Hun City, the garrison governor's office would certainly have noticed."

The Night Wandering God asked, "What are you getting at?"

Jiang Wang said, "If her cultivation truly is no less than Marquis Wu's, I might indeed be unable to defeat her. But as long as she has a purpose, and for the sake of that purpose, she has endured herself and refrained from harming anyone in Hun City, then I can naturally retreat unscathed."

The Night Wandering God argued, "But you exposed her identity as a demon; you are forcing her to kill you. Now that her cover is blown, do you think she will let you go?"

Jiang Wang answered as a matter of course, "I'm good-looking."

The Night Wandering God cried out in shock, "You actually intend to use your looks to seduce a demon?!"

Jiang Wang retorted, "How can you think of me that way? If she truly were the hidden mastermind behind the scenes, or some other vicious little monster, I would certainly have targeted strategies in mind. But now the situation has hit a snag, hasn't it?"

"Another great demon has popped up out of nowhere, and she happens to be a female demon at that. I have no other choice in the matter. My ultimate goal is simply to make my escape; I am harbouring absolutely no messy, improper thoughts!"

The Night Wandering God thought to itself: You would have been better off not explaining. Once you explained, I only feel that you are even more despicable.

Ignoring the Night Wandering God, Jiang Wang looked at the young woman before him. She was indeed strikingly beautiful. He smiled slightly and said, "I am actually a very lazy person, and getting involved in subduing demons and devils is entirely against my will. Let us mind our own business and not cross paths—there is no need to make things so tense. How about I make a vow?"

The young woman chuckled. "What difference is there between a man making a vow and a man outright lying?"

With righteous indignation, Jiang Wang said, "You are being biased, my lady. How can ordinary men be mentioned in the same breath as Jiang?"

"I am an exceptionally good person who never tells a lie. Besides, subduing you brings me no benefits whatsoever. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just chat merrily and harmoniously, and then each return to our own homes?"

The young woman replied, "What the young marquis says does make a certain amount of sense."

Jiang Wang immediately followed up, "Of course it makes a tremendous amount of sense."

Without speaking further, the young woman resumed playing her zither.

Jiang Wang knew very well that she was weighing her options. Since she was hiding in Hun City with a specific purpose, her identity being exposed now was purely an accident; she certainly did not wish to throw caution to the wind and destroy everything. Her only hesitation was whether he could be trusted.

Therefore, Jiang Wang put on the air of a righteous gentleman to bolster his credibility.

However, a commotion broke out from outside the pleasure boat.

Although Jiang Wang felt time had passed quickly, the scholars on the bridge were still burning with indignation.

Had there been any boats available, they would have long since swarmed into the pleasure boat en masse.

......

Jiang Wang returned to the shore by boat, and the elderly man greeted him with a faint smile.

He smiled back in response.

Then, casting his gaze toward the scholars on the opposite bridge who still wore faces full of resentment, he grinned and cupped his fists in a salute.

Instantly, the uproar among the scholars grew even louder.

In truth, Jiang Wang had no intention of showing off. Although the scholars' meddling was not the fundamental reason, it was precisely because they provided him with an excuse that he was able to emerge unscathed from the pleasure boat.

As for what he had actually done inside the boat, there was no need to explain it to outsiders. Even with the rules in place, who else could get away with it if not the young marquis?

"While we were inside the pleasure boat, the demonic aura was very faint. But the moment you came out, it grew noticeably stronger. Although it was only a very slight shift, I suspect that the demonic aura we initially sensed did not originate from that young woman."

As Jiang Wang walked toward the tavern, hearing the Night Wandering God's words, his expression remained completely unchanged, but inwardly he was startled. "There is more than one demon here?"

The Night Wandering God warned, "You had better be careful."

Jiang Wang came to a halt and looked directly across the diagonal street toward the teahouse, where the man surnamed Xiao was sitting inside.

The Night Wandering God asked in astonishment, "He's here too?"

Jiang Wang replied, "He has been here all along."

Realization dawned on the Night Wandering God. "No wonder you dared to board the pleasure boat knowing there might be a great demon inside. But how could you guarantee that if trouble broke out, he would definitely help you?"

Jiang Wang smiled. "I didn't need any guarantees."

The Night Wandering God was thoroughly perplexed, but then a thought struck it, and a look of deep contempt appeared within its divine realm. "You're planning to shift the disaster onto him if anything goes wrong, aren't you? As long as the demon targets him, he'll have no choice but to help whether he wants to or not."

Frowning, Jiang Wang retorted, "Can't your mind be a little more upright?"

The Night Wandering God spat mentally in disgust. He possessed such a fine-looking skin, yet he was utterly black-hearted at the core. Following a creature like this made it feel that its future was shrouded in endless gloom.

Jiang Wang turned back and retraced his steps.

The Night Wandering God quickly realized what he was about to do.

Keep his promise?

Hah!

Though it felt immense contempt, he was breaking his promise entirely too fast!

The young woman, who was gazing at Jiang Wang's retreating figure from inside the pleasure boat, also furrowed her brow tightly.

Why was he coming back again?

Jiang Wang stood at the riverbank. While some scholars were still in the middle of a lengthy discourse, he directly drew his blade from its scabbard.

Sensing trouble, the green-robed cultivator leaped gracefully through the air from the tavern window.

The surroundings fell silent in an instant.

It was not merely because Jiang Wang was holding a blade.

The sight of the green-robed cultivator gliding through the empty air was even more terrifying.

The scholars on the bridge either lowered their gazes to the ground, looked up at the sky, or exchanged glances with one another; but without exception, every single one of them was sweating profusely from tension.

The young woman stepped out from the pleasure boat, a trace of anger flashing across her face.

Men truly could not be trusted.

Especially good-looking men!

With a raised brow, Jiang Wang smiled and said, "Do not be alarmed, my lady; I am not aiming at you."

With those words, he struck downward with his blade, and the river surface instantly surged into violent turmoil!