Unsheathed

Li Huai had a wonderful sleep-in, and he wasn’t willing to wake up even when the sun rose high into the sky. His bed was far too comfortable, and it was as if he were sleeping in a big ball of cotton. The little boy opened his sleepy eyes before sitting up and looking around. He was confused for a moment, and it took him quite a while to remember that this wasn’t his hard wooden bed at home, nor was it a temporary tent in the wilderness. His first thought was that it was so good to have money. His second thought was that no wonder Chen Ping’an was such a miser.

In fact, Li Huai wanted to sleep in some more. However, upon realizing that Chen Ping’an wasn’t next to him or within sight, he couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. He quickly put on his clothes and shoes before grabbing the painted puppet from his bamboo bookcase and dashing out of the room. He saw Lin Shouyi playing Go with an impoverished old man, and he noticed that even Li Baoping was obediently sitting on a stone chair and attentively observing the game. Meanwhile, Yu Lu and Xie Xie stood beside Lin Shouyi and helped him come up with strategies.

Chen Ping’an was sitting opposite Li Baoping, and when he saw Li Huai waving at him and running over, he stood up and offered his seat to the little boy. Li Huai was just about to sit down, yet he noticed Cui Chan standing behind Chen Ping’an and staring at him with a fake smile. The little boy thought for a moment before quietly placing his painted wooden doll on the stone chair instead. He didn’t sit down, and he only dared to stick his bottom up and lean over the side of the table.

The young Cui Chan turned around to look at Yu Lu and Xie Xie, with his eyes as dark and gloomy as creek water as his gaze swam over their faces.

Xie Xie perceptively detected Cui Chan’s gaze. However, she didn’t look up, and she simply felt a sense of puzzlement. In the past, she would get goosebumps whenever the imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire rested his dark gaze on her. Today was different though, and it was as if his gaze were merely one from a mortal human. She no longer felt a sense of stifling pressure. Was this because of the warm autumn sun?

Yu Lu calmly looked up and flashed a faint smile at his “young master”.

Cui Chan beckoned to them and ordered, “Yu Lu, Xie Xie, you two come over here.”

He then smiled at Chen Ping’an and asked, “Can we head over to the Boundary Pavilion to have a chat? We need to discuss some things openly and honestly.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in reply, and the four of them set off for the pavilion. Before leaving, Chen Ping’an patted the cowardly Li Huai’s head and said in amusement, “You can finally sit down without having to worry now.”

When they arrived at the pavilion, Cui Chan shot a glance at the wind chime hanging from the eaves before turning to Yu Lu and Xie Xie and saying, “You two introduce your real identities. There’s no need to hide anything. Rest assured, there are no schemes or calculations behind me doing this. Even if you two don’t trust me, you should at least trust Chen Ping’an, right?”

Yu Lu and Xie Xie exchanged a glance, and neither of them was in a hurry to go first.

After joining their group, the tall and simply dressed Yu Lu had acted as their coach driver the entire time. He was hard-working and uncomplaining, and he was the one who helped Chen Ping’an the most. In fact, the Yu Lu could perform especially well even when it came to needlework and sewing.

However, he was also a germaphobe, and he was passionate about washing clothes and scrubbing shoes. He would feel extremely uncomfortable whenever he saw anyone’s clothes or shoes become stained with mud or torn by the branches and thorns on the mountain paths. In fact, an anxious expression would also appear on his face if he inadvertently saw the messy layout inside Li Huai’s bookcase. Whenever they stopped to rest by a water source, Yu Lu would also make sure to clean the carriage until it became spotless.

Regarding this, even Chen Ping’an had to concede that he was inferior to Yu Lu. How could such a busy person exist in the world?

As for Xie Xie, the tanned and slender young girl with a stern expression, Li Baoping surprisingly felt a strong sense of resentment and hatred toward her, viewing her as a criminal. This was a rare display of Li Baoping’s childish side. Lin Shouyi had an average impression of her, and he didn’t regard her as very good or very bad. At most, the relationship between them was borne from the few games of Go they played with each other during some spare time. However, Li Huai was quite friendly with her, and the two of them would often play mock battle simulations using Li Huai’s painted wooden doll and clay figures.

“You guys feel free to chat away. I’ll come back later to wrap things up,” Cui Chan huffed.

The handsome young boy strode out of the pavilion and started to stroll around in the surroundings. After a while, he bent down and grabbed a handful of pebbles from the ground. Walking over to sit on the old well, he started to toss the pebbles inside and listen to them plopping to the bottom in boredom.

However, upon realizing that he was truly doing something so meaningless and boring, Cui Chan became slightly dazed and felt as if he were living a different life.

He glanced at the dark water in the well. He was genuinely a mortal now, so he was no longer able to see through the water and observe the scenes below. At this moment, Cui Chan felt an urge to lean over and fall into the well to commit suicide.

In the pavilion, Yu Lu decided to speak first. “I’m the prince of the former Lu Empire, Yu Lu. I hid myself in the mountain clearing team formed by survivors from the Lu Empire before, and I actually went by another pseudonym, Yu Shilu. Reading this backward, it means that I’m a ‘remnant evil’ from the Lu Clan[1]. Each time someone called me by this name, they could help remind me that everything was already in the past.”

Xie Xie immediately jumped up in rage, pointing at Yu Lu’s face and scolding in fury, “Everything is already in the past?! You sure are able to put things lightly and calmly, Prince. You’re truly even more ascetic and free from desire than us cultivators! However, hundreds of cultivators from my clan spilled blood and died for your Lu Clan! How are we meant to forget this?!”

Tears streamed down her face, and she continued in a quivering voice, “Just ask your own conscience, how many Qi refiners who have attained Dao and achieved immortality are willing to battle and die for an empire? There’s only us! Ever since there have been states and empires in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, we’re the only clan in history that has chosen to stand firm and have everyone risk their bridge of immortality, never retreating or surrendering! This was for no other reason than to prove and fight for the legitimacy of the Lu Empire!”

Yu Lu remained calm as he asked, “Then what do you want me to do? I am indeed the prince of the Lu Empire, but my father, His Majesty, always acted according to his own will. He shooed me off to study in an academy in the Great Li Empire, an enemy empire, simply because he was afraid of me gaining too much power after hearing some baseless rumors from out of nowhere. I’ve never wielded power and run an office, nor have I ever had any relationships with other officials and influential people. My attention has always focused on studying the classics written by the sages. Tell me, Xie Xie, what do you want me to do?”

Xie Xie was provoked and angered even further by Yu Lu’s cold and apathetic response, and her entire body shook with fury as she spat through gritted teeth, “My surname is Xie, but I’m not called Xie Xie. My name is Xie Lingyue, and I was the youngest Qi refiner to reach the fifth tier in the Lu Empire! I’m a descendant of the Wind God Xie Clan! I detest the foolishness and incompetence of your royal family, but I detest your pathetic decision to go with the flow even more! You’re so shameless that you’re actually happy to become the servant of your greatest enemy, the imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire?! If your ancestors knew about this…”

Yu Lu remained unfazed, and his voice was as calm as always as he interrupted the young girl’s accusations and said, “If you, Xie Lingyue, have the courage and grit of a descendant of the Wind God Xie Clan, then why don’t you go and die? If you feel like committing suicide isn’t brave and heroic enough, then why don’t you openly assassinate Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan? That way, you’ll be able to martyr yourself in a spectacular manner. How nice would that be?”

Yu Lu turned around to face Chen Ping’an who was watching on with indifference. He smiled and asked, “Chen Ping’an, can I borrow 100 taels of silver from you? That way, I’ll be able to construct a large tomb for Martyr Xie to express my deepest respect and admiration.”

Chen Ping’an glanced at the tall Yu Lu before glancing at the slender Xie Xie. “If you want to live, then why not make the most of your life?”

He pondered for a moment before continuing, “Let me tell you some of my thoughts. They might not make sense, so just ignore it if that’s the case. If some grievances can’t be settled straight away, then why not put them aside for the moment? It will be fine as long as we don’t forget them. In the future, there will eventually come a day when we can voice our thoughts and settle our grievances.”

Chen Ping’an looked at the two most distinguished survivors from the Lu Empire. One was a prince who had almost ascended the throne, and one was the most talented cultivator in the empire. Chen Ping’an understood that his persuasion and attempt to stop their fight might fall on deaf ears. This wasn’t strange. After all, why did they have to listen to a hillbilly from Clay Vase Alley?

Chen Ping’an looked at Yu Lu and Xie Xie revealing their true emotions. Xie Xie was no longer aloof and distant, and she could also be angered to the point where she would cry. Yu Lu was no longer polite and amiable, and he could also speak in a manner that was barbed and hurtful. Even though Chen Ping’an didn’t take pleasure in their misfortune, it was only at this moment that he finally felt a familiar sense of human emotion from these two people.

Thus, even though he felt like he was extremely bad at explaining principles, Chen Ping’an still racked his mind as hard as he could. After much struggle, he finally added, “Both of you are more knowledgeable than me, and I don’t know how you two consider problems either. However, I can tell you what I’m most afraid of. I’m afraid that if I become powerful enough to decide someone’s fate, especially when I feel like I’m in the right, it turns out that I’m actually wrong and being unreasonable.

“Of course, I might not have a choice if I have to act out of necessity, for example, when I’m facing a life-or-death situation. In that case, I’ll have to do what I have to do. However, we must not act on our impulses in normal situations, and we can’t allow ourselves to be controlled by our own subjective opinions either. A’Liang told us that we should always go a step further and ask ourselves ‘why’ no matter the situation. I strongly agree with his suggestion.

“That’s why I want to read books and learn more characters. In fact, I know that you two look down on me whenever I go and seek guidance from Li Baoping and Lin Shouyi or whenever I practice handwriting on the ground with Li Huai. I want to read books, and I want to gain knowledge and learn principles from these books. I want to come across more people, and I also want to travel to more places. I want to be just like A’Liang, and I want to be able to pat my chest and claim that I’ve visited more mountains and rivers than you’ve eaten grains of salt in your lifetime.

“Only then will I be able to… Oh, I’m only talking about a potential if! If that day truly comes, and if I’m able to wield the same power as Terrestrial Sword Immortal Wei Jin from Wind Snow Temple, then my sword strike will definitely be very quick, regardless of whether I’m trying to kill someone or save someone! Or if my sword skills are lacking but my fist techniques are decent, then my fist will…”

There was a bright glow on Chen Ping’an’s face at this moment, and it was as if he were thinking about himself when “that day” finally came.

Wielding his sword with ease and verve, and throwing his fists with vigor and spirit!

A man wearing a bamboo hat had once liked to tease Chen Ping’an all the time. “You’re a handsome young boy, so you should smile a bit every day, okay? It’s not good to think about too many things all the time, okay?”

Chen Ping’an had actually felt quite gloomy every time he heard this. He had wanted to loudly reply, “I want to change as well, but I’m not able to right now!”

Yu Lu remained sitting the entire time. Meanwhile, Xie Xie also returned to her seat with an angry expression. However, she no longer looked like she wanted to fight to the death with Yu Lu.

Looking at the calm and composed Chen Ping’an, Yu Lu smiled and asked in curiosity, “Chen Ping’an, it seems like you’re quite good at explaining these principles, so why do you never discuss these things with Li Baoping and the others?”

“I have close relationships with them, so I don’t need to explain these principles to them,” Chen Ping’an replied.

This naturally implied that he didn’t have a close relationship with Yu Lu and Xie Xie, and it was because of this that he needed to explain these principles and whatnot.

Yu Lu was instantly rendered speechless.

Xie Xie’s expression was still cold, yet the corners of her mouth tugged up into a slight smile. However, she quickly forced herself to suppress this smile.

She carefully stole a glance at the dazed Cui Chan who was sitting on the well before hesitating for a moment and explaining slowly, “I was initially a Qi refiner at the Sea Observation Tier of the Middle Five Tiers, and I was only half a step away from breaking through and advancing to the eighth tier, the Dragon Gate Tier. However, after I became a remnant survivor of the Lu Empire, a malicious empress from the Great Li Empire sent a famous swordsman to place several Dragon Restricting Nails into my acupoints using some secret technique.

“Because of this, I’ll suffer agonizing pain each time I try to channel my True Qi now. Moreover, even if I risk severe future consequences to channel my True Qi, I’ll only be able to wield power equivalent to the fourth tier or fifth tier.”

After revealing these big secrets that pertained to her fate, Xie Xie turned around to glare at Yu Lu who was pretending to be mute.

“What do you want?” Yu Lu asked.

“Stop trying to play stupid. Chen Ping’an is able to catch fish because of all his accumulated experience and his understanding of the fact that slow birds should make an early start…” Xie Xie sneered.

She paused for a brief moment after saying this, and she discovered that Chen Ping’an wasn’t angry at her jibe out of the corner of her eye. Instead, he was smiling like a fool. She breathed a sigh of relief and continued, “However, if you, Yu Lu, didn’t rely on your martial arts skills to catch those fish, then I’ll adopt your surname!”

Yu Lu smiled faintly and replied, “Oh, so this is what you’re talking about. I thought none of you would pay any heed to these measly things. After all, are martial artists worth talking about? When I was in the Eastern Palace[2], I was destined to have no interaction with cultivation toward immortality because of my identity as a prince. As a result, I could only look for those secret martial arts scriptures in the palace to study. I already said before that my father, His Majesty, was afraid of the rumors spread by those folk songs. He wasn’t afraid of me, someone who was studying martial arts because he had nothing better to do.”

The smile disappeared from Yu Lu’s face, and his voice was filled with sincere self-deprecation as he continued, “Others might not be familiar with the situation surrounding martial artists and the mortal world, but are you not familiar with it, Xie Lingyue? It’s nothing more than a small pond beside the foot of the towering mountain that represents cultivators. Regardless of how large the fish inside this pond are, can they be larger than those in the mountains? Without considering any other place and simply focusing on our former Lu Empire, how many ninth tier cultivators were there? There weren’t many, but there weren’t few either. However, what about ninth tier martial artists? There wasn’t a single one.

“Thus, my decision to practice martial arts was simply an act of fooling around. Maybe you guys feel like I’m exaggerating and making myself sound pitiful. However, I still have to say this. In the dull and boring Eastern Palace, even a teacher accidentally passing gas would be something rare and interesting and worth talking about for a while.”

“Oh? By the sounds of it, your martial arts level isn’t low, huh?” Xie Xie said with a cold chuckle.

Yu Lu sighed and shook his head with a sincere expression. “My martial arts level isn’t high. I’m only at the sixth tier.”

There was a hint of astonishment in Xie Xie’s eyes. Her expression also froze slightly.

Martial artists were extremely particular about taking things one step at a time when it came to progressing through the tiers. They would often accumulate their power for a long time before suddenly soaring to great heights, and it was often the case that martial arts grandmasters would be late bloomers. The Great Li Empire’s Song Changjing was a martial arts freak, and casting one’s gaze over the history of the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to describe him as a one-in-100-year prodigy.

Because of these factors, people would be especially envious of the talent and fated opportunities of those prodigious martial artists who were at a high tier at a young age. However, they would quickly accept this and feel like it was only natural because the description of prodigy was already more than enough to explain everything.

Yu Lu belonged to the latter category.

He was only 14 or 15 years old, yet he was already a sixth tier martial artist!

He was a genuine freak!

One had to remember that Prince Yu Lu of the former Lu Empire was a pampered royal in the Eastern Palace who had most likely never experienced a life-and-death battle before.

He had become a sixth tier martial artist through reading martial arts scriptures?

Yu Lu silently swallowed the words that were already on the tip of his tongue after seeing Xie Xie’s stunned expression.

I’m almost about to advance to the seventh tier. It will only take me three to five years at most.

Xie Xie couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable upon thinking of the fact that she was standing so close to a sixth tier martial artist. For some reason, she felt like Yu Lu would suddenly turn on her and violently smash her head to bits.

Sixth tier Qi refiners could indeed be far weaker than their cultivation base suggested. However, it was best that one didn’t have such kinds of thoughts about pure martial artists.

Chen Ping’an stood up and looked at the heavily tanned young girl first. “Lin Shouyi is also a Qi refiner. Xie Xie, even though your cultivation is restricted now, your experience and understanding still remain. In the future, I’ll have to trouble you with talking to Lin Shouyi about cultivation. Mhm, he can be quite cold and aloof, so you’ll have to bear with him for a bit. Oh, that’s right, Lin Shouyi is also someone who can be persuaded by reason but can’t be cowed by force. He’s quite easily embarrassed, and he can’t refuse if others persuade him gently and with reason. Xie Xie, you need to temper his understanding of cultivation a bit more, and you can do this by seizing the opportunity to talk about cultivation when you play Go with him. I feel like this would be quite good.”

After saying this, Chen Ping’an turned to Yu Lu and said, “Yu Lu, since you’re a powerful sixth tier martial artist, I won’t need to worry about tiring you out when I get you to wash clothes, scrub shoes, and carry out other miscellaneous tasks in the future anymore. Feel free to ask for work, and I’ll definitely have more than enough clothes for you to wash!”

In the end, Chen Ping’an shouted at the distant Cui Chan, “I’ve finished talking with the two of them; you can come back now. Mhm, in the words of scholars, our conversation could be described as… hearty and enjoyable!”

Chen Ping’an wore a beaming smile as he left the pavilion. There was a spring in his step, and it was clear that he was genuinely very happy.

Inside the pavilion, Yu Lu and Xie Xie exchanged a glance. They had a nagging feeling that something was off, yet they couldn’t quite put their finger on what it was.

1. Backwards is Lu(卢) Shi(氏) Yu(余), which literally means ‘remain from the Lu Clan’. ☜

2. The Eastern Palace is the palace of the prince. ☜