Sword of Coming

Sword of Coming

This year, a Heavenly Worship Ceremony and a Liberation Rites of Land and Water had been held in Cloud Pagoda City and Pond Water City of Bamboo Scroll Lake. Both had been costly affairs as the services of many Buddhist and Daoist immortals had been employed.

Even then, significant savings had been made because the two overseers of the events were very important figures, namely General Guan Yiran of the Great Li Empire and River Severing True Lord Liu Zhimao, who had turned from a prisoner on Palace Willow Island to a guest elder of the True Realm Sect.

Otherwise, it would’ve cost at least twice as much to employ the services of these immortals, and many favors would’ve had to have been redeemed as well. Of course, the immortals involved stood to benefit as well, seeing as they could accumulate merit while simultaneously acquainting themselves with Liu Zong and Guan Yiran, so all of them performed their duties diligently and in earnest during the two ritualistic events.

Throughout this entire process, there had been three figures constantly hiding behind the scenes, but the administrative officials under Guan Yiran were very impressed with the trio’s calculation abilities.

The trio in question consisted of Gu Can, Zeng Ye, and Ma Duyi.

The two rituals went very smoothly, and everyone praised Guest Elder Liu and General Guan for their magnanimity.

That night, Guan Yiran enjoyed a celebratory feast with his administrative officials, while Gu Can made his way back to his residence. He had rented a small house in a peaceful alley in Pond Water City, and waiting for him at the entrance was Zeng Ye, who heaved a sigh of relief upon spotting him in the night.

Ma Duyi hadn’t gone to sleep, either. As a ghost, she was able to progress much faster in her cultivation at night. At this moment, she was seated at the table, going through an accounting book under the light of a lamp.

The Liberation Rites of Land and Water and the Heavenly Worship Ceremony had both been extremely costly affairs, but thankfully, an old man by the name of Zhu Lian had provided them with large sums of grain rain coins on two separate occasions.

The first time, Zhu Lian had personally come to see them. He wore a perpetual smile and was very benevolent and easygoing. The second time, he had sent a young man by the name of Dong Shuijing to come and deliver them the money in Cloud Pagoda City.

Ma Duyi was dressed in the talismanic fox pelt from the Xu Clan of Light Breeze City, giving her a stunning appearance.

Gu Can patted himself down to get rid of the stench of alcohol in his robes, then made his way inside and poured himself a cup of tea before sitting down across from Ma Duyi, while Zeng Ye sat on the stool between them.

Ma Duyi’s gaze remained on the accounts book in front of her as she remarked, ”The officials under General Du are much less corrupt than the officials from back when I was alive. There have barely been any embezzled funds.”

”You think that’s because they’re good and virtuous people?” Gu Can scoffed. ”They simply don’t dare to embezzle any funds under General Guan’s watch. It’s not worth the risk for them to put their political careers on the line just to get a bit of pocket change here. As long as they hold onto their official ranks, they’ll be able to embezzle more money in the future.

“If they don’t even have that much foresight, how could they have been assigned to serve General Guan? Of course, there are also some righteous individuals among them who don’t embezzle simply because it’s unscrupulous, but those people are few and far in between.”

Ma Duyi took a moment to stretch, while Gu Can offered her a cup of tea.

Zeng Ye had also received a cup of tea from Gu Can. The three of them had been living together for quite some time, and the arrangement no longer felt unnatural to them.

”Thank you for your hard work,” Gu Can said with a smile.

Ma Duyi finished her cup of tea in one go, then massaged her own wrists with an excited expression as she said, ”I’m finally going to have some free time to myself! I’m going to travel to all of the nations around Bamboo Scroll Lake, including the Stone Brush Nation and the Plum Glaze Nation!”

”I’ll give you that Peace and Safety Tablet,” Gu Can said. ”As you’re traveling through those nations, make sure to spend as much time as you can in the major cities where the Great Li Empire’s forces are situated. That way, you’ll be able to seek them out for help if you encounter any trouble. Outside of that, try to keep the tablet hidden. Otherwise, you’ll be targeted by disgruntled cultivators whose nations were conquered by the Great Li Empire.”

”Don’t you ever grow tired of being so pedantic all the time?” Ma Duyi scoffed. ”I don’t need you to teach me something so simple. Don’t forget that I was already fending for myself out in the world long before you and Mr. Chen!”

Gu Can wasn’t bothered by her dismissive demeanor, and he smiled as he said, ”Alright, in that case, I’m going to rest now. It’s always a pain having to deal with these banquets.”

With that, Gu Can departed and made his way into the study connected to the main room. Situated on the desk inside was the Hall of the Underworld that Chen Ping’an had secured from Cyan Gorge Island, as well as the Colored Glaze Pagoda replica that Chen Ping’an had purchased from Guest Elder Yu Gui.

Compared with the Hall of the Underworld, the Colored Glaze Pagoda replica only had twelve rooms, and eleven of the yin entities inside had been cultivators of the Middle Five Tiers during their living days. In death, they had transformed into malicious ghosts with extremely deepseated fixations. After all these years, only around half of them remained.

Gu Can sat down onto the chair to stare at the Hall of the Underworld, completely immersing himself in it. Within the Hall of the Underworld, his soul was as tiny as a mustard seed, much like Cyan Gorge Island relative to the entirety of Bamboo Scroll Lake.

There were over two hundred yin entities inside who were willing to depart into the afterlife with the help of the Heavenly Worship Ceremony and the Liberation Rites of Land and Water. Most of these yin entities had already had their final wishes granted, and there were also some who no longer had any attachments to this life and had placed their hopes on reincarnation, hoping to be able to live differently in their next life.

However, there were still some yin entities who chose to remain in the Hall of the Underworld, cursing the one who had killed them, and many of them were even cursing Chen Ping’an simply for his connection to Gu Can.

However, even so, Gu Can stuck to the promise that he had made to Chen Ping’an. Not only did he not eradicate any of those resentful yin entities when he could’ve easily done so, he periodically entered the Hall of the Underworld and the Colored Glaze Pagoda replica to toss in some immortal coins to ensure that the yin entities inside could retain their sanity and weren’t reduced to mindless malicious ghosts.

After leaving the Hall of the Underworld, Gu Can cast his soul into the Colored Glaze Pagoda replica, making his way past the rooms inside one after the other. The interiors of the rooms were pitch-black, so only when their inhabitants were standing at the entrance could Gu Can see them.

At this moment, a female ghost dressed in white was standing at the entrance of her room with a wooden expression. Even though Gu Can’s soul was within reach, she didn’t lash out.

This was because all of the inhabitants of these rooms had made an agreement with Chen Ping’an, which stipulated that they could seek out Gu Can for revenge once he entered the Colored Glaze Pagoda, but they were responsible for the consequences of their actions, and they would only get one chance at vengeance.

At the time, none of the eleven yin entities had chosen to try their luck. At this point, two of them had already had their final wishes granted and passed on to the afterlife. One of them had requested Gu Can to look after their clan for at least one hundred years. During that time, Gu Can had to ensure that no major calamity befell them, and that they would enjoy great riches and nobility. Gu Can had agreed.

The other one had requested Gu Can to gift their direct disciple an immortal treasure that would ensure that the disciple in question would reach the Middle Five Tiers. Furthermore, he was not to interfere with that disciple’s cultivation or hunt them down after they reached the Middle Five Tiers. Gu Can had agreed to this request as well.

However, he told the yin entity that he wouldn’t be able to supply the immortal treasure, but he was willing to help that disciple in secret in their cultivation.

Three of the other yin entities had chosen to pledge their subordination to Gu Can and serve as ghostly generals under him. Essentially, they were going to become low-ranking guest elders for Gu Can’s future sect, and they would receive money and status in accordance with the contributions that they make.

One of those was none other than the old ghost that was the first to leave the Colored Glaze Pagoda replica to help Ma Duyi in her treasure-hunting journey. At the moment, he was serving as the treasurer for the trio and was no longer cultivating in the Colored Glaze Pagoda.

Gu Can’s soul withdrew from the Colored Glaze Pagoda, and he closed his eyes to rest in a half-asleep state.

Meanwhile, Ma Duyi and Zeng Ye were still seated at the table in the other room.

Ma Duyi was still envisioning her upcoming while assessing if she had enough funds to support her travels, while Zeng Ye seemed to want to say something, but was a little hesitant.

”You look like you have something on your mind,” Ma Duyi remarked.

”What are your future plans?” Zeng Ye asked.

”In what sense?”

Zeng Ye hesitated momentarily, then said, ”I heard that some of the Bejeweled Hairpin Island cultivators will be moving to Mr. Chen’s hometown. I want to leave Bamboo Scroll Lake as well.”

”Why?” Ma Duyi asked. ”Things are going great at the moment, are they not? This is no longer the dangerous and cutthroat Bamboo Scroll Lake of old. Just look at how many vagrant cultivators of the past have become official immortals of the True Realm Sect. Of course, most of them possess lofty cultivation bases and were formerly island masters, so you can’t compare with them, but honestly, if you ask Gu Can to help pull some strings for you, perhaps you can also become a cultivator of the True Realm Sect.

“Even if you don’t turn to the True Realm Sect, you can simply focus on your cultivation and be just fine. Why go anywhere else when you can stay here?”

”I’m really scared of Gu Can,” Zeng Ye admitted as he lowered his head in shame.

”You’re such a coward!” Ma Duyi scoffed in amusement.

Following Zeng Ye’s departure, Ma Duyi fell into deep thought.

Gu Can was becoming more and more like Chen Ping’an, but Ma Duyi knew that the resemblance was only superficial, so she was actually afraid of Gu Can as well.

Inside the general’s residence situated in the Fan Clan’s manor, Guan Yiran was still performing his official duties in his study under the light of a lamp. At the sound of door-knocking, Guan Yiran closed a secret report and invited his visitor to come in.

Yu Shanfang casually swaggered into the room, then flopped down onto the chair before burping loudly as he grinned, ”Man, I haven’t had such a satisfying drink in ages! That little bastard, Gu Can, is a really strong drinker despite his young age, and he’s even better at convincing others to drink with him!

“Two of my brothers and I were drinking with him three-on-one, and we were determined to get him so drunk that he would fall off his chair, but the three of us were the ones who got too drunk to keep up! There were close to twenty people there, and Gu Can and I were the only ones who were able to leave on our feet. In fact, Gu Can ended up having to carry quite a few people back to their living quarters on his back!”

”What do you think of Gu Can as a person?” Guan Yiran asked.

”Prior to coming here, I heard the same old rumors about him so many times that the insides of my ears were about to develop callouses, but I’ve been dealing with him for a year now, and he’s completely unlike what the rumors suggest at all!” Yu Shanfang replied.

Guan Yiran nodded in response and didn’t say anything further.

Yu Shanfang couldn’t be bothered to think about this matter in any greater depth. He was a rugged man who had spent his entire life on the battlefield, and he was far from cunning and calculating. In any case, he had Guan Yiran to do all the thinking for him, so he didn’t have to bother himself in that regard.

”By the way, I’m planning to deepen my relationship with that young man by the name of Dong Shuijing from the Dragon Spring Prefecture,” Guan Yiran said. ”I intend to have him establish ties with my clan so that we can expand some of our business dealings.”

”Why are you telling me that?” Yu Shanfang asked in a perplexed manner. ”I’m not an advisor, nor am I a lapdog that runs errands for others. You better not be thinking about assigning me to Dong Shuijing as a subordinate! I’m a legitimate military cultivator of the Great Li Empire!

“That suit of talismanic iron armor may be pretty beat-up, but I consider it to be my wife! If you dare to ask me to take off my armor and go serve someone else, you’ll essentially be taking my wife from me, so don’t blame me if I kick you to death!”

Guan Yiran’s expression remained unchanged as he said, ”In the mortal world, water channels that serve as transportation routes have always served as an important and lucrative source of revenue, while immortal ships are the equivalent of that in the immortal world. The officials overseeing the transportation water channels are all quite lofty in rank, regardless of which nation they serve.

“All of them are understated figures who don’t possess resounding reputations, but wield immense power. Right now, our Great Li Empire is about to establish a new office overseeing all of the immortal ship routes and ferry stations across the entire continent, and the overseeing official of the office will only be one rank lower than the minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

“Everyone in the imperial court has already begun competing for seats, and our Guan Clan has managed to secure three. I can claim the lowest-ranking one of those three seats. It’s something that I deserve, and no one will be able to say anything about it. I’m not asking you to retire as a military cultivator. I know what you’re like, and I know that asking you to retire would kill you.

“I just want to take this opportunity to send you to that new office. You’ll be in the light, while Dong Shuijing will be in the shadows. You two can help each other out, and you can continue to progress up the ranks, while he earns monetary profit from his collaboration with you. Rest assured, it’ll all be completely clean and scrupulous. Just treat it like you’re doing me a favor. What do you say?”

”I’ll pass,” Yu Shanfang replied in a glum manner, ”I have no interest in becoming an official, so you can give the opportunity to someone else.”

”Are you that eager to die on the battlefield?” Guan Yiran asked.

”No, but there are no more hard battles from here anyway, so my life won’t be under any threat,” Yu Shanfang countered.

Guan Yiran hesitated momentarily, then said in rather vague terms, ”The battlefield from here is going to be just as perilous. The only difference is that the battles will no longer be fought on horseback. There’s one thing that I can tell you. It’s something that I figured out on my own, and it’s not a secret.

“All military cultivators outside the native territory of the Great Li Empire, including myself, run the risk of dying at any time, anywhere, and for no reason, especially those who are stationed in the subsidiary nations that were conquered by force.

“In particular, those closest to the former capitals of those nations or eradicated immortal sects will be even more at risk than others. It may not be happening yet, but I can assure you that there will be many assassinations to come.”

”Well, that’s even more reason for me to stay,” Yu Shanfang said. ”Given your shoddy martial arts, if I’m not around to protect you, you could get assassinated even while taking a shit in the lavatory!”

Guan Yiran could only pick up a bronze paperweight and hurt it at Yu Shanfang in frustration.

Yu Shangfang caught the paperweight with a wide grin as he said, ”Thank you for the gift, General.”

He then rose to his feet before rushing toward the door.

Guan Yiran remained seated as he scoffed, ”Really? You’re going to steal something that’s only worth two taels of silver?”

Yu Shanfang immediately stopped in his tracks, then tossed the paperweight back onto Guan Yiran’s desk with a disdainful expression as he grumbled, ”How could you? You’re a descendant of the mighty Guan Clan, yet you’re keeping this type of cheap trash on your desk?! I feel ashamed on behalf of your ancestors!”

Guan Yiran hurriedly reached out with both hands to catch the paperweight, then carefully set it back down onto the desk with a pleased smile as he said, ”Truth be told, this is a paperweight that was personally used by the emperor of the Luminous Vermilion Empire. It’s actually worth a lot of money, and it was a reward from General Su.”

Yu Shanfang threw the door open, then raised his middle finger to Guan Yiran before storming out of the room.

Guan Yiran shook his head with an amused smile, but his smile quickly faded as his gaze returned to the secret report on his desk.

It had come from the Green Ripple Pavilion, and it was an extremely wordy report, which was very rare for reports of this nature, given that Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan placed great emphasis on making all official documents as concise as possible.

The reason why Guan Yiran was able to read this secret report wasn’t because he was from the Guan Clan. Instead, it was because he just so happened to have been the general stationed at Bamboo Scroll Lake, and the report required a personal response from him.

The report had been written by a low-ranking administrative official from the Azure Phoenix Nation, but its contents had enormous implications, so much so that Guan Yiran was forced to take the utmost care when reading through it.

The contents concerned the specific strategy for the future of Bamboo Scroll Lake, and of course, both Guan Yiran and Gu Can were mentioned within.

————

An old man quietly descended into the courtyard of the residence in the small alley.

Gu Can placed the Hall of the Underworld and the Colored Glaze Pagoda replica into a bamboo case under the desk, then picked up a fan crafted from divine cloud bamboo from the desk.

He strapped the fan to his waist before leaving the study with a smile and opening the door of the main room that led outside.

The old man in the courtyard was technically his master, Liu Zhimao of Cyan Gorge Island.

After opening the door, Gu Can extended a deep bow as he greeted, ”Disciple Gu Can pays his respects to his master.”

”No need for formalities,” Liu Zhimao said with a smile and a nod.

The two of them sat down in the main room, with Liu Zhimao occupying the main seat, while Gu Can sat down beside him.

Liu Zhimao briefly examined the room before remarking, ”The place is a little small, but it’s nice and quiet.”

”Would you like to have a drink, Master?” Gu Can asked. ”I don’t have any immortal wine here, but I do have quite a bit of rice wine given to me by a friend. Having said that, perhaps mortal wine of this lowly caliber won’t be to your liking.”

”I’ll pass,” Liu Zhimao replied with a smile.

Gu Can didn’t say anything further as he sat in a respectful posture with a faint smile on his face.

 Sword of Coming