Unsheathed

“What’s the point of beating them to death? Are you not worried about getting your hands dirty?” an old voice suddenly asked from behind Ruan Xiu.

The women were initially astonished and frightened by Ruan Xiu’s sudden display of anger, especially since this was the first time they had seen her like this. When they saw the old man walk over, however, they all breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this was an old man whom everyone in the small town was familiar with. After all these years, regardless of whether one was wealthy or poor, everyone would have needed to interact with this old man.

More specifically, they would have needed to interact with his Yang Family’s medicine shop. Indeed, even the god of the underworld needed to ask for the medicine shop’s permission if he wanted to bring someone six feet under. The only issue was that the medicine shop charged too much. This was something that everyone disliked.

Ruan Xiu remained silent as she turned around to glance at the old man.

Old Man Yang took large puffs from his smoking pipe as he looked at the barbed-tongued women. They couldn’t be regarded as scheming and wicked, though they definitely couldn’t be regarded as kind-hearted either. When Chen Ping’an had lost his parents and struggled to survive back then, he had indeed received quite some help from his neighbors and others in the alley. After all, Chen Ping’an’s parents had been generous and kind people, and the hearts of humans were also made from flesh[1].

For example, Chen Ping’an had always been invited for meals by Gu Can’s mother and several other elderly people who had already passed away. These meals weren’t necessarily great, but these neighbors had also given him some old clothes whenever winter arrived. These clothes were full of stitches and mends, but they had at least been able to keep him alive.

However, this was the interesting thing about the world that one could ruminate. There were some people who had sincerely offered Chen Ping’an as much help as they could. While doing so, these people hadn’t thought about getting anything in return either. When the young boy became successful, they simply felt a sense of slight happiness from the bottom of their hearts. These people were also willing to offer some remarks to their descendants, saying that good people would always be blessed with good karma. Would they look, the heavens had opened their eyes, and the good karma of that husband and wife had all been given to their son now.

Along with this, these people also felt a slight sense of anticipation and hope for the future. They dreamed about their family also obtaining such good fortune.

On the flipside, there were also some people who had barely offered any money and help to the young boy back then. In fact, it was very likely that they had also made many derogatory remarks. After Chen Ping’an’s miraculous turnaround, however, it was also these people who tried to perform daylight robbery and ask for as much as they could. They all painted themselves as Bodhisattvas who selflessly helped people in need. For example, the three women standing in front of Ruan Xiu.

They often went to the two shops on Dragon Riding Alley to grab free food and free goods, and they would even bring their entire families along to grab things for free. However, Ruan Xiu had always endured this, because she didn’t want these people to speak ill and spread rumors about Chen Ping’an. At the same time, she didn’t want the accounts of the two shops to look bad either, so she had no option but to use her own money to make up for these losses. This wasn’t an excessive amount, and it was only around 400 to 500 taels of silver for the year.

Taking into account the impoverished nature of Clay Vase Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley, however, where the bottom-rung members of society could barely even see a few scraps of loose silver a year, this was truly quite a huge sum.

Old Man Yang looked at the woman who hadn’t brought her children over and said, “Go and tell this to your husband who’s working in the county office, and remind him to pass it on to the superior above him as well. The heavens can see our every move. When it comes to such repulsive actions, it’s best that one understands when enough is enough. Otherwise, be careful that your children won’t be able to give you any descendants in the future. If they truly cause a calamity, no one can make it out unscathed.”

The woman had a slightly guilty conscience, but she still said, “Old Man Yang, what are you talking about? I don’t quite understand.”

“If you don’t understand, then piss off.”

The old man exhaled a ring of misty smoke before continuing, “Alright, let me say something that all of you can understand. When buying medicine from my shop in the future, all of you will have to pay double. If someone’s about to die, the doctors from the Yang Family’s medicine shop won’t go to your houses either. Instead, they’ll directly prepare coffins for you.”

The women were astounded.

Old Man Yang glanced at a child with a delicate appearance and strong bones who was timidly standing beside his mother. He shook his head and sighed, “What a shame. A measly 100 taels of silver has forcibly severed your path to immortality. When you fail to establish yourself in the large mountain in the west in the future, and when you encounter hardships and calamities after leaving your hometown in the future, think back to the words that I’ve said today.”

The old man started to leave, and he said, “Xiuxiu, if they still don’t piss off in a while, then you can genuinely beat them to death. Doing so will be completely within reason, and no one will be able to say anything. After killing them, there’s no need to collect their corpses either. You can simply toss them out of Clay Vase Alley. After dirtying your hands, you can also wash them clean in the Dragon Whisker River.”

Ruan Xiu initially had a fairly decent impression of Old Man Yang, though it couldn’t be regarded as especially good. She felt like he was enveloped in a layer of mystical smoke that concealed his true nature. Because of this, she had always felt a slight sense of apprehension toward him. However, her impression of him improved drastically at this moment, and she replied with a smile, “I’ll visit your shop with Chen Ping’an next time to wish you a happy new year.”

Old Man Yang nodded in reply. He didn’t refuse her offer. As he walked through the narrow alley, he passed many old residences that were rundown and empty like the Cao Clan’s ancestral residence had been. In the end, however, only a few of them would be repaired and get a new lease on life. Many families had few descendants, and some of them had already disappeared for good.

Upon thinking of Li Er’s shrewish wife, and turning around to glance at that reasonable and understanding young girl again, the old man couldn’t help but feel mixed emotions. Half were good emotions, and half were bad emotions.

Casting one’s gaze over the entire small town, perhaps that heartless and foolish woman was the only person who dared to throw so much bullcrap at the old man. Most importantly, the old man couldn’t defeat her in an argument.

One time, Old Man Yang had been truly unable to stand things after being trapped and scolded by that woman again. He had told Li Er to control his wife’s toxic tongue. After remaining silent for a long time, Li Er’s eventual reply had infuriated Old Man Yang even more. He had said, “Master, if you’re truly angry, then why don’t you beat me instead? However, remember not to hit my face. Otherwise, if my wife sees it, she’ll definitely charge over to scold you again.”

If it weren’t for Li Er’s daughter, Old Man Yang truly wanted to slap that woman into a pile of minced meat.

The three women didn’t dare to remain in Clay Vase Alley for a second longer. They had come in high spirits, and they were now leaving in low spirits. After leaving the alley, they even got into an argument with each other. They started to shift the blame, and they cursed and swore as they tried their best to push all of the blame onto the others.

The child who had been singled out by Old Man Yang remained quiet and solemn as their mother continued to argue with the others. Turning around to look back at the narrow alley, the child felt like their heart was empty for some indescribable reason. It was as if they had lost something very important. This feeling was as if a cook had lost their salt, and as if a woodcutter had lost their hatchet.

After the three women dejectedly ran away, Ruan Xiu discovered that the two door gods on Chen Ping’an’s courtyard gate were missing their true spirit for some reason.

This was extremely strange. Even if one purchased ordinary paper-based door god stickers from the market, they would still possess a bit of spiritual energy as long as the illustrated door gods were still alive and honored. It was just that this spiritual energy would be quickly washed away by the wind and rain, meaning that it couldn’t resist too many sinister winds or murderous auras. Because of this, people needed to purchase new door god stickers every New Year. This wasn’t simply for the sake of celebrating or creating a more joyful atmosphere.

However, the two figures illustrated on the door god stickers stuck on Chen Ping’an’s courtyard gate were the founders of two pillar clans in the Great Li Empire, the Yuan Clan and the Cao Clan. Both clans were flourishing, and both figures were being offered a large amount of incense. As such, it didn’t make sense for the true spirit of these door god stickers to disappear immediately after they were stuck on.

Ruan Xiu frowned and walked over. She raised a hand and lightly ran them across the coarse paper, causing golden light to immediately flow through the door god stickers again. This light was filled with a sense of righteousness. However, this was something that couldn’t be seen with mortal eyes.

After doing this, Ruan Xiu left in satisfaction. Regarding the situation of the door god stickers on Song Jixin’s courtyard gate, the young girl in green didn’t take so much as a single glance at them.

She strolled all the way to the alley where Liu Xianyang’s house was located. She whistled softly, and it wasn’t long before a dog happily bounded over and ran in circles around her. She smiled and tossed a fragrant and fiery red pill at the dog. The old dog immediately ate it, and its footsteps were nimble and quiet as it followed behind the young girl with a ponytail. It gently wagged its tail back and forth.

When one person attained Dao, even chickens and dogs could rise to the heavens with them.

It was often said that comparing oneself to others could anger one to death. If a Qi refiner saw this scene, however, they would realize that even comparing themself to a dog could anger them to death.

Ruan Xiu had initially felt slightly disappointed after failing to see the person who she had come to visit. Now, however, she was starting to feel happy again.

Wouldn’t you take a look? He had asked her to look after these animals for him, so she had looked after them extremely well regardless of whether it was that coop of chickens or this old dog.

The young girl in green happily walked along the stone alleyway, with her ponytail gently swinging from side to side. The heavens were high and the earth was vast, but it was the scenery here that was the best.

————

Wei Bo vanished again after taking Chen Ping’an back to Downtrodden Mountain. However, he didn’t return to Cloud Drape Mountain, and he instead went directly to the peak of Downtrodden Mountain. What appeared in his vision was a majestic mountain god temple. In front of the temple, there was a magnificent square that was paved with a type of peculiar stone that looked like white jade but was as strong as iron essence. Inside the temple, the golden statue of the mountain god had already been carved and erected. However, it was yet to open to the public and officially receive offerings.

Wei Bo’s large sleeves gently billowed like water as he leisurely walked forward. After being notified of this mountain god’s arrival, a worn-out external official from the Great Li Empire’s Ministry of Works hurriedly rushed over to greet him. After seeing this exhausted formal official who had frostbite on all 10 fingers, Wei Bo amiably discussed the construction progress with him as they slowly wandered around.

As they talked, Wei Bo couldn’t help but sigh with emotion in his mind. Being able to transform themself from a small vassal state of the Lu Empire into a dominant empire that ruled over the entire northern regions of the continent, the Imperial Song Clan of the Great Li Empire definitely wasn’t relying on just illusory and intangible fortune.

The external official didn’t enter the mountain god temple. Instead, he stopped outside the door threshold while Wei Bo entered by himself. Afterward, the official left in a hurry so that he could personally keep an eye on the construction matters. Regardless of whether these were big matters or small matters, he had to personally watch over them all.

In the imperial court of the Great Li Empire, the saying “nothing but pure wind in the sleeves[2], as carefree and unfettered as immortals” was used to describe noble and transcendent officials in the Ministry of Rites.

The saying “chowing down on large pieces of meat, decisively slaying enemies, and charging forward on armored horses to shatter formations and expand territory” was used to describe martial artists from the Ministry of War.

And finally, the saying “eating dirt, eating dust, and drinking wind from the northwest” was used to describe officials from the Ministry of Works.

However, as a powerful and influential external official who had come from a wealthy clan, this person was still working in such a meticulous and conscientious manner. It was truly difficult to imagine such a scene in the other empires.

Wei Bo lightly flicked his sleeve and shut the large doors. Inside the mountain god temple, there was the fragrance of high-quality materials and timber that refreshed one’s mind.

The statue of Downtrodden Mountain’s mountain god was honored in the main hall, and this was an extremely strange statue that had a head forged from pure gold.

The godly body of a man in Confucian robes drifted out from the statue of the mountain god. Above his neck, his face glimmered with a faint golden color, although it was nowhere near as jarring and eye-catching as that of the statue.

This man was none other than Song Yuzhang, the mountain god of Downtrodden Mountain.

He was the previous kiln supervision official of Dragon Spring County, and he had lived in the small town for 20-odd years. In the past, people had mistakenly thought that Clay Vase Alley’s Song Jixin was his illegitimate son. When it came to the covered bridge with the plaque “Rising Winds Crashing Water”, this was something that Song Yuzhang had personally supervised the construction of. Afterward, Song Yuzhang had left the small town and returned to the capital before being sent back to the small town again. During this process, his neck had been snapped by that person sent over by the imperial concubine[3], and his head had been hidden in a box. To kill and silence someone, and to kill someone who had outlived their usefulness — this was a most typical example.

Song Yuzhang knew far too much of the Imperial Song Clan’s dirty secrets and internal matters, so he had in fact always known that he would eventually be killed. Indeed, this righteous official had already prepared himself for death during his trip back to the capital. He had displayed utmost loyalty, and he had been unflinching in the face of certain death.

It was because of this that Wang Yifu, the general from the Lu Empire sent over by the imperial concubine of the Great Li Empire, had offered that sincere conclusion.

“It seems that not all scholars are so insufferable.”

1. Referring to the fact that people should be soft-hearted and display compassion. ☜

2. This means that one isn’t corrupt, hence there isn’t anything hidden in their sleeves. ☜

3. Referring to Song Jixin’s mother. She isn’t actually the empress, which she was incorrectly referred to as before. ☜