Unsheathed

If life were compared to a river, then these chance encounters were like passing currents that would quickly go their own ways after a brief moment of entanglement.

The blind old Daoist priest with the Dao title Xuan Guzi remained silent for a long time afterward. His disciple Jiu’er was slightly unaccustomed to this.

Even though the lame young boy was unwilling to hand the snake gall pebble over, he still decided to offer it to his ill-tempered master after a moment of hesitation and conflict.

The old Daoist priest accepted the smooth and exquisite pebble and carefully caressed it in his palm for a moment. After this, he surprisingly returned it to the young boy and said, “Here, keep it for yourself.”

The lame young boy was completely baffled as he accepted the pebble. He looked at Little Jiu’er, yet she subtly shook her head to signify that she didn’t understand their master’s thoughts either.

“Little lame lad, this is your fated opportunity, and it’s not something that your master can take away. If I truly attempted to, then that would only lead to bad consequences,” the old Daoist priest explained.

“Why do you think that young boy, Chen Ping’an, is going to send a letter to Dragon Spring County when he reaches the next relay station? If I were to hazard a guess, then I’d say that our stay in Dragon Spring County will be a miserable one if I’m the one to retrieve that pebble in the pastry shop or Burclover shop instead of you. Perhaps they won’t try to make things difficult for us, but it will definitely become challenging for us to settle down. It will be even harder for us to find a mountain to cultivate in.”

“Oh,” the lame young boy replied. He wasn’t a cunning person, so he naturally wasn’t good at understanding these matters.

The blind old Daoist priest rubbed the little girl’s head and said, “You two are truly blessed by good fortune.”

Little Jiu’er was more observant than her older brother, and she asked, “Master, do older sister and her companions have powerful backgrounds?”

The old Daoist priest nodded and replied, “The Dragon Spring County that the young boy mentioned was formed after Jewel Small World that hung in the sky above the Great Li Empire shattered and fell to the ground. The Confucian Sage Qi Jingchun overlooked this small world for 60 years. Those children with bookcases were all extremely smart, and they said that they were on a long journey to the academy in Great Sui Nation. That being the case, who can they be the disciples of?”

The little girl was slightly envious as she said, “Disciples of a Confucian Sage… How impressive.”

“If this weren’t the case, would Wind Snow Temple’s Wei Jin have rushed over to rescue them immediately after advancing to the next tier and exiting seclusion?” the blind old Daoist priest sneered. “In any case, those children were being guarded by a Yin god who could surprisingly threaten the mountain roots and river sources of that ferocious female ghost. None of those children are simple people.”

There was emotion in his voice as he remarked, “Their future potential is limitless, absolutely limitless…”

Little Jiu’er suddenly realized something in hindsight, and she asked in curiosity, “Since Master already knows that they have a powerful guard, then why did you still take the unnecessary step to warn them about the powerful ghost in Three Twigs Mountain? They didn’t need to worry about this to begin with!”

The old Daoist priest reached over to pinch her cheeks out of habit. He chuckled and said, “Foolish girl, this is called doing others a favor at no cost. We can act as good people without spending a single copper coin, so why not do it?”

“But if they see through Master’s thoughts, then won’t that be making the situation worse by doing something unnecessary?” the little girl asked timidly.

The old Daoist priest was rendered speechless. He shook his head and sighed. In the end, he patted Little Jiu’er’s head and said, “Master needs to treat you two better in the future. During these years, I’ve always dreamed about striking great fortune and finding myself a supremely talented disciple from the side of the streets. I’ve always grumbled about you two having a bad background. However, looking back now, it seems like I’m the one who’s been blind to your talents.”

The little girl felt slightly afraid. Her master appeared far too unfamiliar at this moment. Her face was slightly pale, and she asked, “Master, have you been possessed by a ghost? Jiu’er can hardly recognize you.”

The old Daoist priest roared with laughter. He suddenly lowered his voice and said, “Little Jiu’er, Master promised not to collect talisman spring water from you for the next one year before. Let’s discuss this again now. Can we change it from one year to half a year? What do you say?

“Just think about it. For the past while, it’s seemed like the demonic forces have always been one step ahead of us. Not only was I viciously beaten by the female ghost, but the banner also lost four of its eight characters. In addition to this, I also parted ways with the ‘Mountain Scouring Album’ that was passed down to me by the seniors in the temple. As my disciples, shouldn’t you two show some care for your master? Shouldn’t you offer me some things out of piety?”

The little girl felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. This was the master that she was familiar with. Thus, she didn’t hesitate at all before replying, “Then let’s change it to half a year!”

The lame young boy carefully put the pebble away. “The pebble is already mine,” he said in a gloomy voice.

The blind old Daoist priest was extremely peeved, and he shouted in anger, “Dogs can’t change their habit of eating shit[1]!”

The little girl covered her mouth and giggled.

The little lame lad also started to chuckle.

————

The Yin god revealed his true body when they reached a place with few people. However, his body was still blurry, with black smoke lingering around his figure. Yin energy exuded from him as he apologized in a hoarse voice, saying, “I wasn’t able to protect everyone, and I even allowed you to be led to the female ghost’s residence. I’m sorry.”

Chen Ping’an was genuinely at a loss regarding how to console him. After trying to find the right words for half a day, he finally said, “It’s okay as long as you try your best.”

There was a somber smile on the Yin god’s face as he said, “No matter what, it was my fault this time. This is especially the case since it was my act of prioritizing my cultivation that caused you children to end up in such a perilous situation. I truly can’t forgive myself. If anything untoward were to happen, I wouldn’t have complained even if I perished together with the female ghost after obliterating the root of the mountains and source of the rivers.”

Li Baoping smiled and said, “When I was little, Big Brother always liked to tell me all kinds of strange things. One time, he told me about the story of a city god. He said that the method of weighing up hidden virtue is slightly different. I remember this very clearly — for a good deed that is intended, there is to be no reward; for an evil deed that is unintended, there is to be no punishment[2]. One’s ability is limited, so since you tried your best in both thought and action, there’s no need for you to feel too guilty. Otherwise, how tiring would that be?”

The Yin god was rendered speechless. He couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable about being lectured by a little girl, even though she had displayed the aura of a noble person not long ago.

Li Baoping became lost in her own world again, and she was slightly annoyed as she hammered her palm with her fist. “Big Brother always liked to talk about these strange and peculiar things, and I simply treated them as interesting stories at the time. If I knew better, then I would have listened to them more carefully.”

Chen Ping’an wanted to say something, yet he eventually chose not to.

The Yin god looked at him and asked with a smile, “Can we have a private conversation?”

Chen Ping’an nodded, and he told Lin Shouyi and the others to continue forward first.

After waiting for Lin Shouyi and the others to walk 300 or so meters away, the Yin god finally said, “It was Old Man Yang from the medicine shop who asked me to protect Li Huai.”

Chen Ping’an scratched his head and said, “Oh, I initially thought you were accompanying us to protect Baoping or Lin Shouyi.”

“Li Huai’s father Li Er almost killed Song Changjing. He’s very powerful,” the Yin god replied with a smile. “There was one time when Li Er went to Old Man Yang and said that his wife had been bullied by others, so he needed to find the ancestors of those people to exact revenge. Because of this, he needed to leave Jewel Small World. Old Man Yang couldn’t dissuade him, so he could only reluctantly agree in the end.

“Afterward, I heard that a powerful immortal force in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent had its ancestral hall forcefully destroyed by Li Er’s fists. Moreover, he had fought his way up to the mountaintop all the way from the mountain foot.”

Chen Ping’an’s jaw dropped when he heard this.

Didn’t everyone call Li Er the most good-for-nothing man on the west side of the small town? In fact, even his son Li Huai thought this.

“Then why doesn’t Li Er tell Li Huai about this?” Chen Ping’an asked with a perplexed expression.

The Yin god’s mood seemed to improve significantly after starting to talk about Li Er, and he replied, “Li Er is someone who has a tendency to become extremely stubborn and fixated on things. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have married that woman.”

Chen Ping’an laughed happily and remarked, “Li Huai will definitely be overjoyed when he learns the truth.”

“You’re not planning to tell Li Huai about this?” the Yin god asked. “When we were at Pillow Relay Station, you directly revealed the truth behind Zhu Lu and her father’s departure to Li Baoping even though A’Liang encouraged you not to tell her so soon.”

Chen Ping’an slowly continued forward, and he replied, “That was something directly related to me, so since I felt like it was correct to talk about it, I could naturally make this decision myself. However, since Li Huai’s father is unwilling to tell his son about this, who am I, an outsider, to interfere? Would I tell Li Huai the truth just to make him a little bit happier? This isn’t right.”

The Yin god nodded in understanding. He recalled the time when Li Er had viewed this young boy from Clay Vase Alley in higher regard than those other supreme prodigies. In fact, Li Er had even been willing to break the rules as he attempted to give the golden carp and the Dragon King Basket to Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an suddenly stopped in his tracks, asking, “My eyesight is very good, and I was also worried that you were a bad person at the start. So I vividly remember that during our first encounter, Senior Yin god looked at me before looking at Li Huai. Why was that? Was it simply unintentional, or…? If you don’t want to answer this, then just pretend that I didn’t ask.”

If the Yin god were still a living person, then he would definitely be parched and feel like he was sitting on a bed of needles at this moment.

Back at that time, how could he have imagined that Chen Ping’an was such a perceptive person? His gaze had only rested on the young boy for a split second, and it could be said that he had concealed it very well.

However, the Yin god quickly accepted this when he thought about Chen Ping’an’s performance throughout this journey. It was most likely because of this that Chen Ping’an was able to win the trust of his companions.

Even though Lin Shouyi had already reached the Middle Five Tiers and become a genuine immortal, Li Baoping still wouldn’t listen to him, and neither would Li Huai. As for the Yin god, he would most likely be no exception either. In his eyes, Lin Shouyi was ultimately nothing more than an extremely intelligent and talented junior.

This was a very strange feeling.

It was as if Chen Ping’an possessed an aura that could cause others to feel “at ease with the situation” and “unquestioning of his position”.

If he labeled something as incorrect, then his companions would also feel that the matter was incorrect.

If he said that something could be done, then his companions would also feel that the task could be done.

However, this wasn’t the strangest part. What was even stranger than this was the fact that Chen Ping’an had never tried to deliberately flaunt any of his skills.

Quite the contrary, in fact. He would humbly learn characters and how to read from the little girl who called him junior uncle, and he had never treated Li Huai as an immature little child either. He was also willing to chat with Lin Shouyi and listen to his stories about the outside world.

The Yin god smiled and replied, “I won’t answer this question for the moment. However, you can rest assured that I won’t try to harm you.”

Chen Ping’an jogged forward, not forgetting to turn around and say with a smile, “I wouldn’t have asked this question if I didn’t trust you!”

The Yin god slowly concealed his figure, sighing as he did so. Accompanying these children on a long journey was truly taxing on the mind.

In reality, the ill-natured maidservant Zhu Lu would have been considered a fairly impressive prodigy if she were placed in some ordinary force in a mortal empire. However, it was a shame that she was far inferior to everyone else in this group of children. In fact, she was inferior in all facets.

During their journey south, they had first passed Dragon Whisker Creek and the Iron Talisman River before passing the Embroidered Flower River and the Rushing Tranquil River. They had passed more waterways than they had mountains. For the next one and a half days, however, it was as if they had used up all of their “waterway” luck. They could barely find a single stream in the mountains.

They did indeed come across some water, yet these were all puddles of stagnant water that were undrinkable. They passed many sickly willow seedlings that were neither tall nor luxuriant. Instead, many of them were crooked and lying on their sides. Insects buzzed around, and the environment was as uncomfortable as could be.

Li Huai was a little scared. This was because the blind old Daoist priest had made an inauspicious remark about them needing to pass through a ghost-ridden area called Three Twigs Mountain. Not only was there a malicious ghost here, but there were even Yin corpses acting as its subordinates.

Li Huai couldn’t help but feel depressed when he thought about this. His painted puppet and clay statues were far too small, so it was very likely that their fighting abilities would be insufficient even if they truly came to life. Moreover, the five clay statues that Wei Jin had given him wouldn’t come to life no matter how he warmed them up in his hands. That sword immortal in white wasn’t a liar, was he? He wasn’t willing to part with a genuine treasure, yet he didn’t want to affect his image as a sword immortal, so he had purposely told him a big lie?

Dusk fell, and Chen Ping’an stopped to craft a makeshift stove to cook dinner. Li Huai ran off to collect a large bundle of dry sticks. Afterward, he squatted down next to Chen Ping’an and complained, “Chen Ping’an, I feel like Wind Snow Temple’s Wei Jin isn’t as good as A’Liang.”

Chen Ping’an ignored him.

Li Huai ran back to his bookcase and retrieved the painted puppet and a clay statue. He then used the painted puppet to viciously bully the sword-wielding clay statue. After a while, he placed the clay statue on its knees and pretended that it was begging for forgiveness. At the same time, he shouted, “Oh, mighty female ghost, please spare me! I, Wei Jin, understand my sins…”

Chen Ping’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. In the end, he could only explain, “Wei Jin is a very good person.”

Li Huai rolled his eyes, and his hands continued to chaotically move around as he used the painted puppet to ravage the clay statue.

Lin Shouyi was sitting on a nearby rock and flipping through the ‘Mountain Scouring Album’. He looked up at Chen Ping’an and said, “If my observations weren’t wrong, then it seemed like Wei Jin was somewhat looking down on you. Or more precisely, he was least optimistic about your abilities.”

Li Baoping, who was quietly tidying her small bookcase, was infuriated upon hearing this. “For real?!”

Lying on the floor with his bottom raised, Chen Ping’an slowly kindled a flame in the pile of firewood. Leaning back into a squat and preparing to cook dinner, he asked, “Does him looking down on me change the fact that he’s a good person?”

Li Huai was stunned. “Chen Ping’an, what are you thinking? How can someone who looks down on me be a very-good good person? They can only be a not-so-good good person!”

Chen Ping’an’s movements were methodical as he started to busy himself with cooking. “Wei Jin is such a powerful person, and he’s even referred to as a terrestrial sword immortal by others. Yet, his tone was still gentle and polite when he spoke to us, and he was even willing to explain the situation and the facts to us children. Do you think all immortals are like this? No, they’re not. Before leaving the small town, I came across an immortal who would kill others on a whim, and who would only listen to their own reasoning. In fact. I came across more than just one.”

Chen Ping’an briefly mentioned those deadly encounters, yet he wasn’t willing to expand on them any further. “If you don’t want to be looked down on by others, then you can only rely on yourself. If you’re the best at planting crops, the best at firing pottery, the strongest when chopping firewood, or courageous enough to lead the charge when competing for water with the other alleys, then you naturally won’t be looked down on by others.”

Chen Ping’an glanced at the others and continued, “This was the case in our hometown. However, things will be slightly different when we reach the academy in Great Sui Nation. If Li Baoping is good at studying, and if Lin Shouyi becomes an impressive cultivator at a young age, then you two naturally be held in high regard by the others. As for you, Li Huai… You’re still little, so you don’t need to worry about this yet.”

“Chen Ping’an, you might not be worried, but I am!” Li Huai exclaimed anxiously.

“Can you wake up earlier in the morning to practice walking meditation and fist techniques with me?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“Of course not!” Li Huai replied without any hesitation.

“Then I’ll teach you standing meditation?” Chen Ping’an offered.

There was a look of disgust on Li Huai’s face as he replied, “Why do I have to learn that? I’m still so little.”

“Oh, so you know that you’re still little now? Then why were you so worried just then?” Chen Ping’an asked in exasperation.

Li Huai was completely dumbstruck. After mulling over this for a long time, he was still unable to offer any response. In the end, when they were all sitting around to eat dinner, Li Huai used his chopsticks to grab a pickle and down a large mouthful of rice before asking, “Say, is there a cultivation shortcut that can allow one to achieve success overnight? For example, a method where I can cultivate today and become an immortal tomorrow?

“A’Liang said that there isn’t. If I knew earlier, I should have asked Wei Jin about this as well. What if A’Liang doesn’t have such a method but Wei Jin does? Then I would have struck gold! For the remainder of our journey, I could have traveled atop a flying sword, and whoosh! I would fly here and there, even faster than Chen Ping’an’s walking meditation. I would have been like a gust of wind! You guys would have only been able to trail behind me and eat my dust!”

“Who’s going to eat dust?” Li Baoping asked with a stern expression.

Li Huai gulped and looked at Lin Shouyi. He then silently turned his head to look at Chen Ping’an. In the end, Li Huai felt a little downcast. However, a brilliant idea suddenly sprang into his mind, and he hurriedly picked his painted puppet up from the ground. “She’s going to eat it! She’s my most powerful general right now! After all, she’s the biggest, the most beautiful, the most experienced, and also the most decorated. She’s accompanied me on my expedition for the longest time. Those five dirty little clay statues can only rank second, third, fourth, and fifth, and sixth.”

“Then what about the little creatures in ‘Severed Water Cliff’?” Lin Shouyi asked with a smile.

“Them? I don’t like them very much,” Li Huai replied with a shake of his head.

“It’s because you don’t like to read, isn’t it? That’s why you’re unwilling to see them. Because you need to open the book first,” Li Baoping said, revealing the true reason.

Li Huai pretended that he couldn’t hear her.

Chen Ping’an looked up and glanced at the slightly taller Three Twigs Mountain in the distance. “What does everyone want to buy after we pass Three Twigs Mountain and arrive at the next town?” he asked.

“Junior uncle, I want to buy some miscellaneous books,” Li Baoping answered in excitement. “Mr. Qi said that apart from Confucianism, the Hundred Schools of Thought also have their own classics that are worth a read. Mr. Qi said that rocks from other mountains can also be carved into jade[3].”

“Chen Ping’an, if it’s possible, I want to buy a Go set. The cheapest one will do.”

“What about you, Li Huai?”

“If I don’t buy anything, can you give me the money instead? I want to save some money. Mother taught me that having some money in the pockets will keep one calm in the face of all kinds of situations!”

“What do you think?” Chen Ping’an replied.

Li Huai chuckled and said, “I was just trying my luck. After all, what if you suddenly discovered your conscience?”

Chen Ping’an chuckled coldly in reply.

Li Huai’s expression instantly froze, and he hurriedly changed the topic and said, “Didn’t that old Daoist priest tell us not to enter Three Twigs Mountain during the night?”

Lin Shouyi shook his head and explained, “Senior Yin god, Chen Ping’an, and I have already discussed this before. If that malicious ghost comes out to attack us when we’re traveling through Three Twigs Mountain at night, then we’ll simply face it head-on and suppress it. Senior Yin god will stay hidden first, and he’ll let me try to defeat the malicious ghost using my talismans and lightning technique. This is in order to give me some training. If the malicious ghost stays in hiding, however, then we’ll just let it be. We’ll continue on our way.”

Night fell, and the four children slowly ascended the mountain. Three Twigs Mountain wasn’t tall, yet its slope was gentle and very long. Chen Ping’an purposely took a detour as well, since there were large expanses of unmarked graves in the mountain. Of course, there existed even more marked graves that were frequented and cleaned by their descendants. There were tombstones decorating these graves, and these tombstones were also engraved with words. Shreds of paper money that weren’t fully burned lay scattered across these graves.

They traversed Three Twigs Mountain in under two hours. Apart from the night breeze being slightly cold, they didn’t encounter any other strange matter.

Lin Shouyi felt slightly disappointed. However, he wouldn’t try to forcefully seek a fight either.

Afterward, their journey to Yefu Pass on the border of the Great Li Empire became even more smooth sailing.

When passing through the market of a small town, Li Baoping bought five or six miscellaneous books, some of them being travel journals, some of them being Buddhist or Daoist classics, and some of them being the notes of literati.

Lin Shouyi bought a Go set, and after teaching Chen Ping’an the rules, they would frequently play with each other whenever they had free time. This was because Li Baoping was too impatient and always wanted to place seven or eight pieces in a single turn. Not only that, but she also complained that Lin Shouyi was too slow. As for Li Huai, he was simply too lazy to use his brain. Surprisingly, however, it was the Yin god who played Go with Lin Shouyi the most.

The memory of spending almost 10 taels of silver to buy a crappy book in Red Candle Town was most likely still fresh in Li Huai’s memory. Thus, he chose to not buy anything this time.

Even though Chen Ping’an wanted to practice swordsmanship, he didn’t genuinely begin to do so apart from occasionally retrieving the locust wood sword from his basket.

In his view, the most important thing right now was to hone his fist technique! Only after he felt like he had the spare attention would he start to practice the sword. Regarding the Qi channeling technique that A’Liang had taught him, Chen Ping’an had only managed to reach the halfway mark. He was unable to make it past the sixth stop no matter what.

Even though he couldn’t practice the sword for the moment, A’Liang had told him that the Eighteen Stops was a technique created through much hardship by countless swordsmen. Diligently practicing the Eighteen Stops was equivalent to laying a solid foundation for his sword practice in the future. Whenever he thought about this, Chen Ping’an would feel reinvigorated and filled with enthusiasm.

Whenever he had free time, whether he was on a large branch atop a mountain or on the edge of a cliff beside the water…

The young boy would form hand seals and perform standing meditation by himself, silently cultivating as he gazed at the mountains and waters. Where there were mountains, he would gaze at mountains; where there was water, he would listen to water.

1. This saying refers to the notion that a person can’t change their bad habits. ☜

2. This is a sentence from the chapter ‘Examination for the Post of City God’ in Liaozhai, a collection of tales written by Pu Songling during the Qing Dynasty. ☜

3. This means borrowing knowledge from others to improve oneself. ☜