Unsheathed

As Xie Xie returned to the campsite, Lin Shouyi and the Azure Maiden’s game was wrapping up. Xie Xie took a glance at the state of the game, then quickly lost interest as she approached the campfire to warm her hands.

Chen Ping’an cut down a series of branches and used them to pitch three crude tents, then arrived beside Li Baoping, who quickly went to bed while yawning in a weary manner. Out of the two remaining tents, one of them was shared by Li Huai and Lin Shouyi, while Xie Xie also had a tent to herself. Yu Lu often slept on the coach driver’s spot on the horse-drawn carriage, and he would be able to spend the night with a blanket wrapped around him.

Of course, on the vast majority of nights, they would be able to find someplace to stay in, such as an inn or a temple in the forest.

Once on a stormy night, they stumbled upon a wealthy residence thanks to the faint glimmers of lantern fire in the night, and the owner of the residence was a former minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He was an old man who had constructed this residence to live in the mountains following his retirement, and he had been very hospitable.

He was very pleased to have seen Li Baoping and the other children who were on their journey to seek out an education, and even after he learned that they were from the Great Li Empire, which was technically an enemy of Great Sui Nation, he still treated everyone with warm hospitality.

When it came to his preparation of food and drinks, he strictly abided by the sagely teachings of using the best possible ingredients prepared as meticulously as possible, and it had truly been an eye-opening experience for Chen Ping’an and his group of little hillbillies.

The old man became particularly fond of Li Baoping and Yu Lu, and after learning that Li Baoping liked to read travel journals, not only did he gift her a few travel journals from his private collection, he also insisted on taking Chen Ping’an and his group to a nearby scenic location, which turned out to be an extremely renowned cliff in the area, standing on the bank of a river.

The surface of the cliff was as smooth as a mirror, and there were ancient engravings on the cliff that had been there for countless years. The script of the text engraved onto the cliff had never been seen anywhere else, and it was extremely difficult to read.

Countless scholars throughout history had visited the cliff just to be able to see these engravings, and rubbings of the engravings were widely distributed throughout Yellow Court Nation and Great Sui Nation, but still to this day, no one had been able to discern the true meaning of the text.

Everyone had their own opinion on what the text meant, but there was no consensus that could be settled on.

At the time, Cui Chan had only taken a glance at the cliff from afar before declaring that the engravings had been made by the Heavenly Lord of Lightning, and that it contained a warning from the Heavenly Emperor to a flood dragon.

The old man immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this, clearly not taking Cui Chan seriously. Countless scholars of the past had made extensive efforts to try and decipher the text engraved on the cliff, yet not a single one of them had dared to proclaim that they knew the meaning of the text, so it was no wonder that the old man wouldn’t take a casual remark from a 15-year-old boy seriously.

After leaving the former minister’s estate, Chen Ping’an noticed that whenever he prepared meals for everyone using the earthen stoves that he constructed in the wilderness, they would always look at him with rather peculiar expressions.

In particular, on one occasion, Li Baoping had suddenly declared completely out of the blue, “Junior Uncle, the food that you make is really delicious. I’m not lying to you! Your food is just as good as the food we had at Minister Ma’s house!”

Li Huai was also feeling a little sleepy, so he retired to the tent after notifying Lin Shouyi. However, Lin Shouyi still had no intention of sleeping, and he continued to play games of go with the Azure Maiden.

Following the conclusion of their games, Lin Shouyi told Chen Ping’an that he was going to accompany the Azure Maiden back to her mountaintop temple to grab the precious go manual concealed within the cavity wall of the temple.

In order to reassure Chen Ping’an and put any potential concerns he may have had to rest, Lin Shouyi explained that the Azure Maiden had intended to return to her temple on her own, but he had volunteered to accompany her.

Thus, Chen Ping’an couldn’t say anything other than caution Lin Shouyi to take care walking up the mountain at night.

With that, Lin Shouyi began to scale the mountain with the Azure Maiden, while Chen Ping’an looked on from afar. It seemed that there were some rules on the mountain that had to be followed, as evidenced by the fact that the Azure Maiden was gliding along with her feet hovering above the ground.

Furthermore, a ghostly green flame had appeared in front of her to illuminate their surroundings, and she and Lin Shouyi were chatting spiritedly with one another, so not only was this not a harrowing sight to behold, it was instead much like the candlelit nightly strolls described in Li Baoping’s travel journal.

————

Following Xie Xie’s departure, Cui Chan continued to stand by himself on the branch. Occasionally, harrowing owl calls would abruptly ring out in the night. These birds were referred to as “displaced birds” by the citizens of Yellow Court Nation, and they were considered to be a bad omen, often associated with harbingers of doom and bringers of bad news.

A plume of black smoke surged through the forest before coming to a rest beside Cui Chan.

Cui Chan snapped out of his jumbled thoughts as he asked, “Are you leaving?”

The Yin god from the town nodded in response. “Those amulets bestowed upon me by Old Man Yang are indeed able to ward off the damage inflicted upon me by the astral winds and the city passes, but the amulets are only just enough to support me over the course of a return journey to and from the border of the Great Li Empire.

“Now that I’ve accompanied everyone to Yellow Court Nation, this is already further than where I was supposed to go, and I may begin to struggle upon reaching Embroidered Flower River and Wanping County.”

The Yin god’s features resembled rippling water or a flickering flame, constantly transitioning in an indistinct manner as he mused, “I don’t know what kind of deal you made with Old Man Yang, but I hope that you can settle things with Chen Ping’an and the others in an amicable fashion.”

Cui Chan was quite polite to the Yin god, and replied, “I’ll try my best.”

The Yin god suddenly smiled and asked, “Do you believe in karma, esteemed imperial preceptor?”

Cui Chan shook his head in response. “I’ve never believed in karma. If you want to advise me to do good deeds to accumulate good karma, then I have some advice for you as well: people of different aspirations and principles will ultimately walk different paths.

“As opposed to worrying about whether I’ll protect Chen Ping’an or not, you should be worrying about whether your wife and son are being used as a pair of pawns by the River Severing True Lord of Lake Shujian.”

The Yin god heaved a resigned sigh. “There are limits even to what humans can do, let alone a Yin creature detested by heaven and earth like me.”

“There are no dead-ends in the pursuit of the Great Dao, it’s just that some paths are more arduous than others,” Cui Chan said. “Those who gather Yin energy will become spirits, while those who gather Yang energy will become gods, and it has nothing to do with whether you’re human or not.

“It’s not like you don’t have the chance to ascend to godhood someday. Think about those mountain spirits, their path of cultivation is truly arduous.”

“That is indeed true,” the Yin god chuckled, then fell silent for a long while, displaying no intention to set off on his journey back to the Great Li Empire.

“Do you still have something else to tell me?” Cui Chan asked. “I know that aside from repaying a debt, you also regard Chen Ping’an in a very favorable light yourself. However, I’m sure that you’re unaware that I had already earmarked Chen Ping’an for great things from the very beginning, earlier than anyone else.

“I can’t tell you the exact details as they concern some secrets pertaining to my pursuit of the Great Dao, but what I can tell you is that even back when I was in the capital, I had set my sights on Chen Ping’an no later than Old Man Yang did, and I also invested no less attention into Chen Ping’an than Old Man Yang.”

“That has nothing to do with what I want to say,” the Yin god replied with a smile and a shake of his head.

Cui Chan’s brows furrowed slightly as he snapped, “If you have something to say, then hurry up! I’m not in a good mood right now.”

The Yin god was unfazed by the turn in Cui Chan’s demeanor, and he said, “I admire you very much for your doctrine of placing more weight into practical ability and contributions to the empire and to the people.

“Many Confucians denounce your doctrine, and you have more detractors than supporters, but I firmly believe that in the centuries and millennia to come, your doctrine will eventually be adopted and widely supported by the masses.”

Cui Chan was rather taken aback to hear this, and he raised an eyebrow as he turned to the Yin god with a surprised expression. “I didn’t know that you supported my doctrine.”

In response, the Yin god made a surprising gesture, extending a deep and respectful bow, the type that was extended by students of Confucianism toward senior sagely figures, and he said, “This bow of mine is not being extended to the imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire. Instead, it is a gesture of admiration that I’m extending to you for daring to propose a new doctrine despite the widespread condemnation.”

Only after the Yin god had traveled hundreds of kilometers away did Cui Chan slowly return to his senses, and a mixture of sorrow and gratification appeared on his face.

He took a step forward, causing the branch beneath his feet to bow even further, and he abruptly shook out his sleeves before clasping his hands behind his back.

The defeated look in his eyes had completely faded, and he was brimming with purpose and intent once again.

————

As Lin Shouyi returned to the campsite, there was a furious look on his face, and he sat down beside the campfire with an ancient book held tightly in his hand.

“What’s wrong?” Chen Ping’an

Lin Shouyi spat through gritted teeth, “Those absolute scoundrels! If those scholars from Yellow Court Nation were to do nothing more than gather for drinks in the temple, then I would have nothing to say, but how could they do something so despicable and unsightly?

“They’re a disgrace to all of the scholars in the entire world! If I were the Azure Maiden, I would’ve already evicted those bastards out of the temple by force!”

“Regardless of what they did, the Azure Maiden herself hasn’t done anything to them, isn’t that right?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Lin Shouyi nodded in response.

“In that case, you’ll have to learn to adapt and accept,” Chen Ping’an said.

Lin Shouyi raised his head to look at Chen Ping’an with a rather perplexed expression, and as soon as he caught sight of Chen Ping’an’s face, he was immediately instilled with an inexplicable sense of calmness and tranquility. He heaved a faint sigh, then replied in a quiet voice, “I understand.”