Unsheathed

Even though he didn’t need to visit any family or friends to wish them a happy new year, it didn’t make sense for Chen Ping’an to stay in the quiet and lonely Downtrodden Mountain the entire time. Thus, Chen Ping’an led the two little children out of Downtrodden Mountain and returned to the bustling small town. Right now, the small town was already no less busy than any of the prefectural cities in Yellow Court Nation.

However, the Iron Lock Well was now missing its iron chain, the old street was now missing its old locust tree, and the private school was now missing Mr. Qi… Regardless of how bustling the small town was, and no matter how strong the atmosphere of the New Year celebrations, Chen Ping’an still couldn’t help but feel slightly downcast.

After nearing the small alley, the little boy in azure grumbled, “Master, I’m not making a threat or anything, but if I come across a vicious person who’s powerful enough to kill me with a single punch when returning to Clay Vase Alley this time, I’m genuinely going to stay in the mountains and never return to your ancestral home again! Don’t blame me for being disloyal at that time!”

Just as they arrived at the entrance of Clay Vase Alley, Chen Ping’an saw a familiar figure that was as slender as a soft willow branch in the spring breeze. There was a bucket of water in her hands, and she had most likely just returned from the well located on Apricot Blossom Alley.

She appeared to be struggling, and after a while, she decided to directly drop the bucket to the ground. The young girl bent down and panted as the bucket of water heavily thudded to the ground and sent splashes of water into the surroundings. However, the young girl paid no heed to this.

She was none other than Song Jixin’s maidservant, Zhi Gui. Or more accurately, Wang Zhu.

In terms of whose maidservant she became, his or his neighbor, Song Jixin’s, Chen Ping’an didn’t blame the young girl for her choice. After all, a fine fowl would choose a fine tree to perch on, and a talented person would choose a worthy master to serve. Chen Ping’an had read this in a book, and it was only natural for a person to adhere to this principle.

It had been a windy and snowy night back then, and the young girl had been at death’s door when she had collapsed onto the thick snow on the ground. Summoning the last ounce of her power, she had feebly reached up and knocked on that gate.

It was Chen Ping’an’s choice whether he saved someone or not, but it was someone else’s choice whether they repaid this debt of gratitude or not.

However, their reunion was much sooner than expected, and Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but feel mixed emotions.

Zhi Gui also saw Chen Ping’an, and she used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead as she observed the young boy. He was still wearing straw sandals, and there was an extra hairpin in his hair now. He had also grown slightly taller, and he was no longer lonely and helpless as he walked along the streets. There were two little children following behind him now.

Zhi Gui didn’t say anything.

Chen Ping’an was just about to wave and greet her, yet he suddenly noticed the little boy in azure furiously tugging his arm and preventing him from walking forward. Not only him, but the little girl in pink also hid behind him and tightly held onto his sleeve. Their teeth were chattering, and they barely dared to even breathe.

It was as if they were mortals who were most terrified of ghosts, yet they somehow managed to genuinely come across a ghost during the day.

The little boy in azure was filled with regret. He regretted the fact that he was so loud-mouthed and had uttered those words. He had jinxed the situation!

“Master, I’m scared… This is even scarier than death…” the little girl in pink whimpered as she hid behind Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an sighed and said, “Then you guys go and wander around somewhere else in the small town first. For example, you can go and help out in my shops on Dragon Riding Alley. I’ll look for you guys later.”

The two little children were extremely relieved, and they turned around and fled as quickly as they could.

Chen Ping’an walked toward Clay Vase Alley by himself. This was a scene that had replayed itself many times over the years, and the young boy helped the young girl carry her bucket of water as they walked into the alley together.

“Are those two children your new scholarly attendant and maidservant?” Zhi Gui asked.

“Do I look like I’m cut out to be someone’s master? They’re just calling me master for fun,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile.

“Oh, okay,” Zhi Gui said.

When they walked past the Cao Clan’s ancestral residence, they saw that the courtyard gate was wide open. Cao Xi was squatting by the front gate and eating roasted sunflower seeds, while Cao Jun was squatting on top of the wall and also eating roasted sunflower seeds.

It was clear that they were here to enjoy a show.

“Esteemed young miss, is this boy your young lover?” Cao Xi asked with a chuckle. “It’s so early in the morning, yet the two of you are already getting all lovey-dovey with each other. You’re making me and Cao Jun, two old men, so envious!”

Just like always, there was a smile on the face of Cao Jun who liked to look at others with squinted eyes. There was a long sword and a short sword hanging by his waist, and he nodded and concurred, “Yes, we’re envious, very envious.”

“A crooked stick will have a crooked shadow! No wonder your ancestral home collapsed,” Zhi Gui humphed coldly.

Cao Xi was a mighty terrestrial sword immortal from Southern Whirl Continent, and he was also half the owner of Sea Suppressing Pagoda. Yet, he wasn’t angered at all, and his smile surprisingly grew even wider as he said, “Yes, esteemed young miss is correct. However, after so many years, I wonder why our Cao Clan doesn’t have a single incense entity? I was flourishing in Southern Whirl Continent, so theoretically speaking, things should have been going splendidly over here as well. So, how has Cao Clan declined to such a pitiful state?”

Zhi Gui didn’t slow down, and she turned her head to look at Cao Xi before smiling innocently and replying, “Calamities unleashed by the heavens can be avoided, but calamities created by oneself can’t be escaped. Do you think someone ate the incense entities of your clan or something? In any case, the small town prohibited all mystical abilities, so trying to rely on ancestral blessings to nurture an incense entity would have been even more difficult than ascending the heavens. Perhaps your Cao Clan never had an incense entity in the first place, right?”

Cao Xi laughed loudly and said, “Yes, that sounds very reasonable. Mind your step, esteemed young miss. The alley is old and worn out, so be careful of tripping and spraining your ankles.”

There was a dark expression on Zhi Gui’s face as she walked away with her back facing the old bastard.

Chen Ping’an remained silent the entire time.

Cao Jun chuckled and asked, “What’s going on, Old Man Cao? With your achievements in Southern Whirl Continent, you should have enough incense entities for them to be forming groups and fighting against each other on the door lintels, right?”

Cao Xi didn’t care much about this, and he replied, “It is indeed very difficult for incense entities to appear in Jewel Small World, and she wasn’t lying to us when she said this. However, with the achievements of Xie Shi and I, there should have still been at least one or two incense entities remaining.

“For example, it’s thanks to the existence of a pair of incense entities that Peach Leaf Alley’s Xie Clan has managed to maintain itself for several hundred years without dying out. Otherwise, they would have suffered a fate similar to the Cao Clan long ago, with their residence becoming rundown and all of their descendants dying off.”

Cao Jun clicked his tongue in wonder and said, “Were they eliminated by that young girl? Then why are you still so friendly with her? You’re not trying to bed her, are you?”

A fiery red fox jumped down from the roof and onto Cao Jun’s head. It giggled and said, “Bed her? Old Man Cao definitely isn’t brave enough to do so. That young girl has the attention of many powerful people now, so Old Man Cao wouldn’t dare to covet her even if he were one tier higher. At most, he’ll only dare to make some teasing remarks. These are nothing more than empty words with no real impact.”

Cao Xi turned around and chuckled, “Piss off. Your foxy smell is preventing me from enjoying the fresh air of my hometown.”

The fox standing above Cao Jun’s head raised a paw and pointed at its feet. At the same time, it forcefully stomped its foot and said, “Come on, if you’re so powerful, then unleash the bonded sword from your wrist and attack me here! Cao Xi, if you don’t do this, then you’re my grandson! Come one, attack me to your heart’s content. If I dodge, then I’m your granddaughter!”

Cao Jun swayed his head but didn’t manage to shake the fiery red fox off. “So be it if the two of you want to fight with each other, but can you please not drag me into your conflict?” he complained in exasperation. “To be fair, Old Man Cao has just taken a 38th mistress. If you’re genuinely unable to tolerate this, then just skin her alive and use her skin as your new clothes. It’s not like you haven’t done these things before, and you’re familiar enough with the process. So why the heck do you insist on venting your frustration on me?”

“That old bastard likes women with big buttocks, and he hasn’t changed a single bit even after so many years. How repulsive!” the fiery red fox sneered.

Cao Xi returned to the front gate where he sat down and started to snack on roasted sunflower seeds again. “Even a thousand taels of gold can’t buy what I like. Oh, that’s right. Here, have some sunflower seeds for the new year, you foxy lady.”

There was a loud boom.

The fiery red fox exploded into smithereens above Cao Jun’s head. After a short while, she reappeared on the roof where she almost instantly exploded into pieces again. This process repeated itself again and again, all the way from the roof of the Cao Clan’s residence to the roof of the neighboring residence and beyond. Only after the fox left Clay Vase Alley did it stop exploding into bits. Its eyes were dim, and it gritted its teeth as it sat cross-legged above some eave. It started to meditate and practice a breathing technique.

Cao Xi had already run out of sunflower seeds, so he patted his hands clean before standing up and returning to the courtyard. He looked at Cao Jun and ordered, “Don’t muck around recklessly for the next little while. The Great Li Empire has already become a hotly contested territory, and things aren’t as simple as you might think.”

“Alright, I know,” Cao Jun replied lazily.

“I… know…?”

Cao Xi carefully ruminated these words before chuckling coldly and saying, “Do you have the right to utter these words?”

“Alright, I understand,” Cao Jun replied in a frivolous manner.

Cao Xi strode toward the house and spat, “Ninth tier trash!”

Cao Jun appeared completely unfazed.

————

Chen Ping’an arrived in front of his neighbor’s house and handed the bucket of water to the young girl. “Song Jixin didn’t come back with you?” he asked casually.

However, Zhi Gui sidestepped his question, and she asked, “What happened to my coop of hens and chicks?”

“I don’t know…” Chen Ping’an replied with a baffled expression.

The young girl carefully observed his expression before suddenly putting on a beaming smile. She didn’t dig any deeper, and she instead used two fingers to gesture in the air. “Song Mu is this much taller than you now.”

“Oh, okay.” Chen Ping’an turned around and returned to his own courtyard.

Immediately after opening his front gate and entering the courtyard, he discovered that the upside-down fortune decoration on the front door had gone missing. He flared up in rage, and he immediately walked to the wall between the two residences and interrogated, “Zhi Gui, where’s my ‘fortune’ decoration?!”

However, he quickly chuckled in anger. As it turned out, the fortune decoration was stuck on the front door of his neighbor’s house.

This person was truly an extremely audacious thief.

Zhi Gui placed the bucket of water beside the kitchen building before calmly walking over and replying with an innocent expression, “I don’t know.”

This was the exact same answer that Chen Ping’an had given her just then.

“Give it back!” Chen Ping’an demanded angrily.

Zhi Gui’s eyes widened, and she replied, “Well, I purposely left the wooden figure in the kitchen, and it’s clear that you went over and moved it. But I didn’t say anything about that, did I?”

Chen Ping’an was instantly rendered speechless. He was indeed in the wrong regarding this matter.

“Did you put up any couplets at Qi Jing… Mr. Qi’s private school?” Zhi Gui suddenly asked.

Chen Ping’an faltered for a moment before nodding and replying, “I did. I put up both couplets and fortune characters.”

He was unwilling to discuss this with her any further, and he directly went inside his house and grabbed the last remaining fortune character. He then grabbed a ladder and stuck the character upside down on the front door.

Standing by the courtyard wall, Zhi Gui told him, “It’s crooked.”

Chen Ping’an was unfazed, and he used his fingers to gently press the red paper into the glue on the front gate.

“I’m serious. Why would I lie to you? Chen Ping’an, why are you so stubborn and unable to distinguish good from bad? Having a crooked fortune character is a bad omen,” the young girl said in a worried voice.

Chen Ping’an climbed down the ladder and looked up. He confirmed that the fortune character wasn’t crooked.

However, Zhi Gui was unwilling to relent, and she continued, “It’s genuinely crooked. If you don’t believe me, then ask Cao Xi and the other cultivators to come over and take a look. You’ll realize that I’m not lying to you. Your body and vision are mortal, so your observation ability will be inferior to ours no matter how good your eyes are.”

Chen Ping’an walked inside and loudly slammed the door shut.

After around 15 minutes, the young boy sneakily opened the front door and quietly stepped outside. He opened his eyes wide and intently stared at the fortune character.

It wasn’t crooked.

As if detecting his presence, Zhi Gui opened her door a crack and stuck her head out. There was a stern expression on her face as she announced, “It’s genuinely crooked.”

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but feel slightly vexed. He carried a stool out and sat beside the front door to bask in the sun. After a while, he started to practice pottery molding.

Zhi Gui stood beside the courtyard wall and watched the young boy who was no longer a potter for a moment. After becoming bored, she returned inside to go to bed.

She lay down in bed and gulped. Only a single incense entity had been born from the door lintel in the Cao Clan’s ancestral residence. This was an incense entity of extremely high quality, and its body had been a dazzling golden color. It would’ve even been completely gold if not for some minor imperfections. However, it was a shame that the incense entity had barely been enough to fill the gaps between her teeth.

————

Next door, Chen Ping’an’s mind was as calm as water as he adeptly practiced pottery molding.

When he rested, he started to mull about his future. Treasured Scripture Mountain, Rainbow Cloud Mountain, and Immortal Herb Mountain were all close to the mountain that Ruan Qiong owned. This was because their agreement dictated that he would freely rent these mountains out to Ruan Qiong.

With these mountains neighboring each other, the situation became one where Ruan Qiong was in control of the largest region in the west. In return, Ruan Qiong would look after these mountains for Chen Ping’an, lest he face anything untoward and not have the life to enjoy these benefits. Regarding this, Chen Ping’an was extremely grateful to Ruan Qiong.

In terms of True Jewel Mountain, nothing needed to be said about this place. It was a very small mountain, and it could be regarded as one with little to no potential. To say nothing of creating a blessed land here, it was barely large enough to build a thatched cottage on. In fact, Chen Ping’an was most likely the only person who had been willing to waste a gold essence copper coin on this mountain.

However, it was indeed necessary for him to diligently manage Downtrodden Mountain.

Chen Ping’an was well aware of the extraordinary nature of the bamboo building. In addition to this, Downtrodden Mountain also had a mountain god temple that helped to guard the fortune of the mountain. This place was indeed a valuable piece of land with good geomantic omen. Moreover, there was also a black python with the ambition of becoming a flood dragon essentially acting as the guardian of this place.

Right now, another two little children who were related to flood dragons were following him around. It was because of this that Chen Ping’an had thought about trading snake gall pebbles for silver with the little boy in azure. Perhaps he wouldn’t be able to transform Downtrodden Mountain into a place filled with treasures, but he could at least hope to make it a place that could sustain him in the future.

Chen Ping’an loved money, and this was because he had grown to understand the difficulty of earning money ever since a very young age. However, this didn’t mean that he would become a penny-pincher once he became rich.

The young boy was determined to practice the sword in the future. However, before confirming how to practice it properly, it wouldn’t help him at all regardless of how impatient and anxious he was.

Of course, he would definitely continue to earnestly practice the Mountain Shaking Fist as well. After all, he had already promised that would throw one million punches. Right now, he was still a fair way off reaching this target.

In terms of drawing talismans, this could be viewed as a different type of martial arts cultivation. Practicing fist techniques was a way to temper one’s physique, while drawing talismans was a way to temper one’s acupoints. The two didn’t clash, and they were instead complementary with each other.

Chen Ping’an simply needed to take some time away from walking meditation and use it to draw talismans instead. However, drawing talismans required talisman paper, and talisman paper required valuable gold and silver. Upon thinking of this, Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but feel slightly weak and frightened.

At the end of the day, he was still earning too little

Apart from these things, the biggest disappointment that Chen Ping’an was facing right now was his temporary inability to control and use the pocket treasure that the sword spirit had given him. Even though he felt safe placing most of his belongings in the blacksmith shop, this was ultimately an inconvenient thing to do. Cui Dongshan and the little boy in azure’s minimization treasure and pocket treasure had allowed Chen Ping’an to witness the precious and practical nature of these treasures. It was no wonder these treasures were so rare. Even when it came to powerful cultivators, not every single person had such a treasure.

Chen Ping’an looked toward the south. How was Master Ruan progressing with the sword?

Ruan Qiong had promised Ning Yao that he would forge a divine weapon for her.

When Master Ruan finished forging the sword, Ning Yao would gain a convenient new weapon. Meanwhile, he still had his locust wood sword.

Chen Ping’an felt like it would be a good idea to name these swords “Subduing Demons” and “Eliminating Fiends”.

Then there was also that sword billet that the Scholarly Sage called “Little Capital”. However, Chen Ping’an felt like it would be more appropriate to change its name to “First” or “Morning”. After all, it was on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year that the sword billet had transformed into a flying sword for the first time.

Immediately after this thought appeared in Chen Ping’an’s mind, the sword billet that had already remained silent in his sea of Qi for a long time instantly started to fly around and wreak havoc again.

Chen Ping’an’s face immediately became beet red as he started to suffer agonizing pain.

He took a deep breath, and he didn’t have enough time to return inside his house. In the end, he could only practice standing meditation to resist the sword billet’s rapid and violent act of revenge.

He was suffering indescribable misery.

————

Cui Chan, the Great Li Empire’s imperial preceptor, had been staying in the relay station closest to the small town for the past while. He didn’t make a huge deal about this, nor did he purposely conceal his presence.

Today, Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan walked out of the relay station and told the swordsman, Xu Ruo, not to follow him. He walked away by himself.

Each step that he took covered two kilometers in distance, and in the end, he arrived on a small street where he stood still and blocked a ragged-looking old man.

The barefoot and disheveled old man dazedly looked at the imperial preceptor who was dressed in Confucian robes. His eyes were murky, and he relied on his last sliver of consciousness to ask a very strange question, “You’re not my grandson. Where’s my grandson?”

There was a complicated look in Cui Chan’s eyes. He wanted to say something, yet he eventually chose to remain silent.

The old man was covered in scraps of dirt and grass, and he continued to ask, “Where’s my grandson? I don’t want to see you, I want to see my grandson.”

Cui Chan clasped his hands behind his back. His fingers were interlocked, and they were trembling slightly.

The delirious old man suddenly flared up in rage and roared, “Where’s my grandson?! Where did you hide my grandson?! Hurry up and return Chan’er to me!”

After saying this, the old man’s aura instantly nosedived and hit rock bottom. “I’m going to change my grandson’s name for him. I’m going to change his name to a better character…” he murmured.

There was a sorrowful expression on Cui Chan’s face, and he said in a self-deprecating voice, “It’s as if this is a different life. No, not simply as if. This is very clearly the case.”

The disheveled old man reached over and pushed Cui Chan aside. He continued to walk forward, mumbling, “Move out of my way. Don’t delay my search for Chan’er. I’m going to find his teacher and ask him whether my new name for Chan’er is good or not.”

Cui Chan stood still and didn’t block the old man.

Looking into the distance, he saw a middle-aged monk with an iron-willed appearance slowly walking over.

The ascetic monk was measuring heaven and earth with his feet. He was a Buddhist practitioner.