Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an continued to make life difficult for himself by practicing walking meditation every day. Not only that, but he even asked the little boy in azure to spar with him so that he could improve his martial arts. Because of this, he would often be smashed into the snow by the little boy in azure with a single punch, causing him to completely vanish from sight.

However, Chen Ping’an’s martial arts level didn’t budge, and it remained at the pitiful second tier.

Perhaps feeling aggrieved at Chen Ping’an’s misfortune or angry at his lack of talent, the little boy in azure had punched him too hard a few times and sent his master flying into the distance like a kite with a broken string. Chen Ping’an would struggle for a long time before finally being able to stand up. Whenever this happened, the little girl in pink would turn around, unable to watch on.

Just like this, they experienced this year’s first snowfall during their journey back to Chen Ping’an’s hometown. They finally arrived in a city that was marked as Wind Grace Town on the map. Because Chen Ping’an had chosen a path that would lead them to the mountains on the western side of his hometown, they would no longer need to pass through the Embroidered Flower River, Red Candle Town, and Go Table Mountain again.

Chen Ping’an wanted to visit some more unfamiliar places.

To read a few books, to learn a thousand characters, to walk 10,000 li, and to practice one million punches — this was Chen Ping’an’s current aspiration. At the end of the day, this was something that could only be completed one step at a time. During his journey back to the small time, Chen Ping’an was kept very busy every day. Of course, he also had to suffer many hardships. Compared to his journey to Great Sui Nation with Li Baoping and the others, he could spend more time practicing his fist technique to temper his physique and channeling Qi to refine his soul now. Just like how dripping water could eventually wear away a rock, his hard work every day would also add up and eventually lead to improvements.

The little boy in azure felt like Chen Ping’an was wasting his time, but Chen Ping’an could clearly feel the benefits of his hard work slowly adding up. This kind of feeling was as if the young boy from Clay Vase Alley were earning a few more copper coins every day thanks to his hard work, allowing his savings to grow slowly but steadily. Perhaps outsiders found this mundane, but Chen Ping’an couldn’t feel any happier!

When they entered the market in Wind Grace Town, it was already the final few months of the year. This town was different from the other cities and towns in the Great Li Empire, in the sense that there was a stronger scent of books in this town. This was because there were far more book shops here. Of course, these bookshops didn’t offer any rare or valuable books, and the majority of their stock was simply cheap and widely available block-printed copies that were riddled with incorrect or missing characters. The little boy in azure and the little girl in pink both had extremely high standards, with the former having great wealth and being accustomed to seeing valuable items, and the latter having read Confucian classics from a very young age.

Thus, Chen Ping’an was the only one taking things seriously as he strolled around the bookshops. He was extremely interested in ‘Burning Snow Atop Jade Mountain’, a series with 12 books that took up a large area on the bookshelf. However, it was a shame that his bamboo basket was too small and unable to fit such a large series. Moreover, this series was also too dear for him to purchase. Because of this, Chen Ping’an could only settle for less and buy a book titled ‘Gently Flicking Iron Sword’ authored by Cheng Shuidong.

The old bookshop attendant sincerely praised Chen Ping’an for his good taste. He then explained that this was a book authored by Yellow Court Nation’s previous assistant minister, so purchasing it would only result in gains. This was because rumors had it that Cheng Shuidong was soon going to exit the mountains and become the assistant mountain master of the Great Li Empire’s new academy.

Night fell, and Chen Ping’an chose a cheap inn to stay in after enjoying a bountiful yield during the day. He paid for two neighboring rooms, with the little girl in pink getting a room to herself.

After entering the room with Chen Ping’an, the little boy in azure immediately wrinkled his nose in disgust. He forcefully waved his hand in front of his nose to get rid of the musty and slightly sour smell of the room. This was a smell that couldn’t be scrubbed away no matter what. However, as expected of a water snake who had reached a high cultivation base, the little boy in azure was able to shoo the smell out the window.

After closing the door, Chen Ping’an laid the geomancy map of the southern regions of the Great Li Empire across the table. Such geomancy maps could only be owned by governments and officials, and being in possession of such a map as a commoner was a big crime. Chen Ping’an focused his attention on the 300 kilometers between Wind Grace Town and Dragon Spring County. Half of this 300 kilometers was covered by an official road that made it easy for merchants to travel about, while the other half was covered by a water path through the Rushing Tranquil River that was relatively difficult to traverse. Compared to Chen Ping’an’s journey to Great Sui Nation and back, however, this 300 kilometers could be viewed as nothing more than a few steps.

After eating dinner, Chen Ping’an started to practice standing meditation.

From time to time, he could hear the swearing of a woman as well as the begging of the inn owner.

Just how similar to the small town’s Clay Vase Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley was this?

Back then, however, Gu Can’s mother had still lived in the alley and the toxic Granny Ma still hadn’t passed away yet. The sound of students reciting classics would also travel far from the private school all the way to the Iron Lock Well every day as well.

When Chen Ping’an returned again, the old locust tree would be gone, the gatekeeper would be gone, and no new couplet would appear on the front gate of his neighbor’s house when New Year’s Eve arrived.

Chen Ping’an sighed as he completed his session of standing meditation. He walked to the window and retrieved the small silver sword billet from the small pocket that he had especially sewn onto the inside of his sleeve. He lightly caressed the sword billet in his hand.

“You’re seeking death!” the little boy in azure suddenly roared.

Chen Ping’an turned around upon hearing this, only to see the little boy in azure holding a wisp of faintly discernible gray smoke between two fingers. As he forcefully brought his fingers together, there was a soft crackle before the wisp of gray smoke started to slowly dissipate. There was a vague cry of anguish.

When the little boy in azure saw Chen Ping’an’s confused expression, he happily explained, “Master, I’ve already destroyed that impudent little spirit! It actually dared to wander into Master’s territory! It was simply seeking death!” It was as if the little boy were asking for praise.

He pointed at the dissipating smoke before continuing, “This type of spirit is called Pillow Spirit. They don’t have physical bodies, but the ‘wind’ that they carry with them is one of the many sinister winds of the world. These spirits love to target scheming and foul-mouthed shrews, and whenever these women launch into tirades, these spirits will secretly appear to collect the foul wind arising from the women’s words. This is wind that can cause rifts between families, especially between husbands and wives. The so-called ‘pillow wind’[1], as commoners put it, is commonly as a result of these spirits’ meddling.”

Chen Ping’an sighed and said with a smile, “Just shoo them away if you come across them in the future. There’s no need to kill them.”

“Oh, okay.”

The little boy in azure cocked his head and asked, “Master, don’t you have the heart of a Bodhisattva? Why aren’t you acting on behalf of heaven and carrying out justice when you come across these sinister spirits?”

Chen Ping’an didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. “What do you mean act on behalf of heaven? I’m nowhere near powerful enough…”

Chen Ping’an quickly stopped himself and didn’t say anything else.

The little boy in azure couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed for some reason.

This was because he couldn’t hear the profound principles and reasonings of his foolishly kind master.

In the past, he had always found his master’s explanations to be boring and annoying. After the events in the martial sage temple, however, Chen Ping’an hadn’t spoken to him about his principles and reasonings again. As it turned out, this was even more boring.

The little boy in azure rested his arms and head on the table for a while. He felt like he was very sick at this moment. With this in mind, he decided to climb onto the table and lay down with his arms and legs completely sprawled apart. He spiritlessly gazed at the roof. He saw a small cobweb with no owner, and after observing it for a long time, he started to toss and turn on the table.

After tidying up the mattress and bed sheets in her room, the little girl in pink ran over to tidy it for her master as well. When she came over, she didn’t forget to carry Cui Dongshan’s bookcase on her back. Even though they often camped in the wilderness during their trip back to the small town, she never forgot to look after and protect this bookcase. From this, it was clear just how deeply she had been traumatized by Cui Dongshan’s display of power in the Zhilan Cao Clan’s scripture library.

Chen Ping’an put his “silver ingot” away before walking to the table. The little boy in azure hurriedly scrambled up and returned to his seat. Chen Ping’an retrieved the book ‘Gently Flicking Iron Sword’ from his bamboo basket, and the book still carried with it the rich fragrance of ink. Like an attentive underling, the little boy hurriedly brought an oil lamp over and helped light the wick. Chen Ping’an and the two children sat around the table.

The little boy in azure didn’t dare to disturb the reading Chen Ping’an, so he turned to the little girl in pink and asked with a smile, “We’re about to eat a snake gall pebble and advance to the Middle Five Tiers. Are you excited?”

With Chen Ping’an sitting beside them, the little girl in pink felt much more confident than normal. “Don’t get any ideas about my snake gall pebble,” she replied.

The little boy in azure chuckled and said, “Master privately told me that snake gall pebbles are also separated into different sizes and grades. Silly girl, you haven’t helped with anything during our trip, and you’ve been as useless as can be. As such, Master has only given you one of the smallest and lowest quality snake gall pebbles. Meanwhile, I’ve helped Master with training so many times, so I’ve received two of the biggest and highest quality snake gall pebbles. In fact, one of my snake gall pebbles is equivalent to 10 of your snake gall pebbles.”

The little girl in pink immediately turned around to look at Chen Ping’an.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense,” Chen Ping’an said with a faint smile as he flipped to the next page.

The little girl in pink shot a glare at the little boy in azure who was trying to trick her.

The little boy in azure slammed his hands down on the table and exclaimed, “Are you trying to rebel?!”

The little girl in pink shuffled closer to Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an was already accustomed to this, and he didn’t purposely speak up for the little fire python. Instead, he continued to quietly read.

Borrowing the dim yellow glow of the old lamp, Chen Ping’an flipped through the book page after page. As he read, he also retrieved some leftover bamboo slips from Go Table Mountain as well as the small carving knife that the shopkeeper from the hairpin shop had gifted him. Whenever he came across a good sentence that caused his eyes to light up, he would engrave it onto the bamboo slips one stroke at a time.

The little boy in azure rested his cheek against the table and rolled his eyes back and forth. He was acting strangely as usual.

The little girl in pink didn’t dare to look at him, so she shuffled closer to Chen Ping’an to watch her master engrave the characters onto the bamboo slips.

Chen Ping’an suddenly furrowed his brows. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “The book says that one needs to pave roads and build bridges after becoming wealthy, and that one can’t construct large mansions and big tombs.”

The little boy in azure sneered upon hearing this. However, he didn’t say anything, and he remained in his spiritless posture.

Meanwhile, the little girl in pink nodded and replied quietly, “Master, some scholars do indeed adhere to these rules. They hope that people can do good and help others after becoming wealthy.”

Chen Ping’an felt a little resigned when he heard this. He had initially wanted to spend some money to construct a big and majestic tomb for his parents before the new year after he returned home. That way, their tomb would finally get a proper tombstone as well.

The little boy in azure finally couldn’t help but say, “Master, you’re not a scholar yet, so why do you need to follow these rules? In any case, if you’re truly worried about this, then you can also choose to pave roads and build bridges at the same time. When the time comes, I can personally help you as well. That way, we’re not only spending money, but we’re also providing labor. The heavens definitely won’t be able to complain about anything.”

Chen Ping’an came to a sudden realization, and the knot that had just formed in his heart quickly untangled again. He turned to the little boy in azure and gave him a big thumbs up.

“Nice! That’s a very good explanation!” he said happily.

Seeing her master become happy, the little girl in pink also became very happy.

The little boy in azure faltered upon seeing all this. He hurriedly lowered his head, and tears almost flowed from his eyes.

————

They continued their journey to the small town, walking along official roads and also sailing down water paths. After a few days, Chen Ping’an and the two children who were on friendly terms with each other finally saw the slightly lonely silhouette of a tall mountain in the distance.

Chen Ping’an stopped and reached out with his left and right hands to lightly smack the little boy in azure and the little girl in pink on the back of their heads. He then pointed at the tall mountain that was called Downtrodden Mountain and smiled extremely happily, without any reservations. “We’re home! My home!”

1. This refers to a man’s wife or lover encouraging them to do something bad and affecting their decision-making. ☜