70: Chapter 70 Breaking the Seal, A Night Tour of the Capital!

Jiang Mengli leaned against the edge of the bed, her chest rising and falling slightly.

The golden formation patterns on her wrists and neck had become extremely dim, and there were even faint cracks appearing in them.

A faint wisp of crimson True Qi was slowly circulating within her body.

Chen Ran walked to the table, picked up the coarse ceramic teapot, and poured himself a cup of cold water.

Jiang Mengli suddenly raised her head and looked at him.

"Why are you back early?"

"Things weren't right today, so I finished the handover early. It looks like you are about to break the Seal..."

Chen Ran sat on a chair, observing the scene with great interest.

Jiang Mengli shook her head gently and chuckled softly:

"I see, you must be afraid that I will run away early after breaking the Seal..."

Over the past few days, she hadn't been idle either; she had been constantly trying to find an opportunity to break the Seal.

However, the Blood Seed that had condensed was too astonishing. Jiang Mengli estimated that even if she returned to her peak state, she would barely be able to lift that restriction. In other words, the power of life and death was still effectively in his hands.

Jiang Mengli simply stopped thinking about these things and focused instead on the freedom that would come after breaking the Seal.

"Once I recover my strength, at the very least, I will make this brat know what it means to..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chen Ran suddenly extended his right hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and casually tapped a few times on her shoulder and chest.

His fingertips touched and immediately withdrew.

A force followed a specific path through her body.

Jiang Mengli let out a muffled groan.

Snap.

A barely audible cracking sound echoed in the room.

The last few core formation patterns that had plagued her for days shattered completely like glass, turning into specks of light that scattered on the floor before vanishing.

Her long-lost True Qi instantly flooded her limbs and bones, and her body began to greedily absorb the True Qi, with her Internal Energy flowing continuously within her.

Jiang Mengli froze in place.

The Dragon-Locking Formation personally set up by the Chief of the Demon Suppression Division had been broken by him so casually.

The Seal that would have taken at least a few more days to break had vanished in a single breath.

Jiang Mengli stood up and flexed her sore wrists. Crimson True Qi flickered faintly in her palm.

She looked at Chen Ran's back, her eyes filled not only with shock but, more importantly, with an indescribable complexity.

Since this man could so easily break the Seal, why had he remained indifferent when faced with her probing, provocations, and even deliberate flirting?

It wasn't that he was dull, but that he simply hadn't taken her tactics seriously at all.

"Who exactly are you?" Jiang Mengli finally couldn't help but ask, her voice tinged with a subtle, imperceptible sense of frustration.

"A jailer of the Celestial Prison." Chen Ran put down the water cup, his tone flat.

He gazed into the air in the distance as a panel appeared before his eyes.

He was actually pondering this in his heart as well.

Helping her break the Seal just now was partly because he saw the formation patterns were about to break, and partly because he wanted to test his ability to interfere with such Advanced Seals.

It turned out that helping a prisoner break a Seal didn't seem to provoke any backlash. The judgment mechanism of his Golden Finger was even broader than he had imagined.

"A jailer who can casually break a Dragon-Locking Formation?" Jiang Mengli took a step forward and gritted her teeth.

"With your abilities, you could go anywhere in the world. Why stay in this pitch-black Celestial Prison as a mere servant?"

Chen Ran turned around and leaned against the edge of the table to look at her.

"Is the outside as safe as the Celestial Prison?"

Jiang Mengli was stunned, then sneered:

"The Dragon vein of Great Wei is already exhausted, and its fate is nearing an end. This Dynasty is a sinking ship. If you stay on the ship, when the water rises, do you think you can save yourself?"

She stared into Chen Ran's eyes, her charm technique activating automatically:

"Join my Sacred Sect. This world will soon have a new master."

Chen Ran smiled.

"I have no interest in who becomes the Emperor."

He pulled over a bench and sat down.

"I'm just an ordinary person; as long as I can eat, keep warm, and live safely to old age, that's enough. You'd better find someone else for this head-dropping business of rebellion."

Jiang Mengli looked at him without saying anything more.

The Dao between them was fundamentally different. One was focused on the trends of the world, while the other just wanted to guard his own small plot of land.

Chen Ran glanced at the sky outside the window.

"Let's go."

Jiang Mengli frowned:

"Where to?"

"I'm taking you out for some fresh air."

Chen Ran rummaged through the cabinet and found a set of clean everyday clothes.

"The martial law in the capital has relaxed a bit these past two days. As long as you don't cause trouble, no one will check. You can't just keep wearing these clothes and staying in my room."

Half an hour later, the two walked out of the street where Chen Ran lived.

The sky had just turned dark, and the long street was still bustling with activity.

The banners of restaurants swayed in the night breeze, the hawking of vendors rose and fell, and occasionally a carriage would roll over the bluestone road, leaving behind a rumbling sound.

The air was filled with the scents of rouge, roasted meat, and distiller's grains.

The long-lost aura of mortal life rushed toward them.

Chen Ran walked slowly through the crowd with his hands tucked into his sleeves.

This was the place where living people should be.

Jiang Mengli wore a veil, covering most of her face, and followed quietly behind Chen Ran.

Watching the bustling crowd around her, her pace slowed, and she seemed somewhat out of place.

The two stopped in front of a clothing store. Chen Ran led the way inside.

The shop was filled with various fabrics and ready-made clothes, and the shopkeeper came up with a smile.

"Pick out two outfits for her." Chen Ran pointed at Jiang Mengli.

"I want styles for ordinary families, don't make it too flashy."

The shopkeeper looked her up and down and immediately took out a few sets of water-red and moon-white dresses.

"Sir, you've come to the right person. This is exactly what we specialize in..."

An incense stick of time later, Jiang Mengli walked out of the fitting room.

She had changed into a moon-white long dress, covered by a light cyan jacket.

Her dark hair was simply tied up with a jade hairpin.

Having taken off the prisoner's uniform, the sharp edge of life and death she previously possessed was diminished, replaced by a gentle, maiden-like temperament.

Jiang Mengli stood before the bronze mirror, looking at the familiar yet strange figure in the reflection, somewhat lost in thought.

Chen Ran stood to the side and glanced at her a few times.

"Not bad." He nodded.

"You look like a decent woman now."

The shopkeeper on the side smiled and said:

"Sir, isn't that so? Your wife looks good in anything."

Even though Jiang Mengli wore a veil and her face could not be seen clearly, one could tell she was definitely a beauty just by her figure and temperament.

Chen Ran smiled and waved his hand, then asked the shopkeeper to take a few more pieces of clothing.

"Sir, your wife is the most beautiful one I've seen in all the time I've been running this business."

Seeing Chen Ran wanting to buy more, the head shopkeeper's smile grew even wider.

Hearing the word "wife," Jiang Mengli's body stiffened.

She stood frozen in place, finally turning her head slowly to cast a cold glance at Chen Ran.

Although her identity had changed, that air of nobility that seeped from her bones was not something an ordinary family could possess, so it was no wonder the shopkeeper had mistaken her identity.

Chen Ran, however, acted as if nothing had happened, taking out a piece of silver and tossing it onto the counter.

"Check out."

The two walked out of the clothing store one after the other.

Just as they stepped over the threshold, a group of people walked toward them.

Leading them was a young woman wearing a simple, elegant long dress, with a touch of scholarly air between her brows, and several burly guards followed beside her.

The surrounding commoners retreated one after another; they were unwilling to get close to people who clearly looked like they were from a wealthy family.

The two groups passed each other.

Chen Ran's expression remained normal, and he did not stop his pace.

The woman walked two steps, then suddenly stopped.

She quickly walked a couple of steps and blocked Chen Ran's path.