Unsheathed

A bleak smile appeared on the black-robed man’s face as he revealed, “That illegitimate mountain god has already had his sights set on my estate for a very long time. I knew during the spring of this year that my remaining cultivation base will no longer be enough to keep those cowardly scoundrels at bay, so I had no choice but to go back on my word and send a secret letter back to the sect in the hope that the sect could send an immortal of the Middle Five Tiers to intimidate the mountain god.

“However, to this day, I still haven’t received any response, but that’s only to be expected, the sect has already been extremely kind not to hunt me down. Who would want to get involved in such a filthy mess? If I were still in the sect and heard such an abhorrent story, I would’ve found it difficult to suppress the urge to storm out of the sect and hunt down the perpetrator.”

Zhang Shan approached Xu Yuanxia, then said in a low voice, “My divine movement talismans aren’t going to be able to last much longer. If this is a trap, then I really will have to retreat with my friend.”

However, he then smiled as he continued, “But I don’t think he’s lying.”

Xu Yuanxia was faced with a difficult predicament, unsure of what to believe.

If a disciple of Divine Edict Sect were willing to come here, even if it were just an outer sect cultivator of the second or third tier, that would be enough to prove the innocence of the man and the tree spirit.

As the leading Daoist sect of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, the Divine Edict Sect had the privilege of being overseen by a Heavenly Lord. To put it in blunt terms, even an external disciple responsible for carrying out menial chores in the sect had more authority than the masters of some smaller Daoist sects.

Even though the battle had come to a temporary conclusion, none of the four people present dared to let down their guard, particularly the woman up in the boudoir.

Prior to this, she had always been protected extremely well by her husband, but during this battle, countless roots of hers had been severed by Xu Yuanxia, and the peach wood sword had also given her a massive fright.

She had always known that this day would inevitably come, but now that it had arrived, she was still at a complete loss for what to do. She felt like she was a perpetual burden on her husband, and she was racked with guilt.

Right at this moment, two formidable auras suddenly appeared elsewhere in the estate as a figure dressed in a Daoist robe descended out of the heavens. However, for some reason, instead of traveling straight to the boudoir, they chose to refrain from entering that section of the estate.

The male and female owners of the estate had already heard the sounds of battle ringing out from that direction, but they were too busy dealing with Xu Yuanxia to worry about what was happening elsewhere. Hence, the only one left to oppose those who had just infiltrated the estate was the old woman, who had already regained her consciousness at this point.

As for the illegitimate mountain god and Daoist White Deer, they had left just as quickly as they had come, and both of them had been yelling frantically about a Sword Immortal and bonded flying swords. It was as if they had encountered a true immortal and had fled for their lives in a panic.

“Go take a look, little Daoist priest,” Xu Yuanxia instructed in a quiet voice.

Zhang Shan faltered slightly upon hearing this. Despite the casual tone of Xu Yuanxia’s voice, Zhang Shan could tell from the look in his eyes that the man was telling him to leave this place for his own safety.

A sense of excitement mixed with melancholy welled up in Zhang Shan’s heart.

He was ecstatic that he had finally found someone with the same objectives as him, willing to lay down their lives to slay demons and protect the innocent. Even in the lair of the enemy, his heroic spirit and courage didn’t waver in the slightest, and this was the type of person that Zhang Shan had always yearned to become. However, at the same time, he was greatly saddened by how useless he was.

Zhang Shan didn’t say anything as he caught the peach wood sword that flew back to him from the boudoir, then turned and rushed away with what little time remained in the divine movement talismans on his legs.

Meanwhile, the black-robed man’s brows were tightly furrowed, and he didn’t know whether this was a positive or negative development.

Could it be that Divine Edict Sect really had sent disciples to this place?

His body was already in terrible condition, and this battle was sure to have gone a long way to pushing him to an early grave. The woman was concerned for him, and she could no longer bear to hide in the boudoir any longer, slowly stepping forward to reveal her enormous body for the first time.

The reclining chair on the second floor was split apart down the middle, and the woman descended into the courtyard, looking as if she were standing atop a massive tree stump.

Behind her was a large section of ancient tree root, and she reached out her trembling hands to stroke the man’s face as she made a string of unintelligible sounds, cursing herself for her inability to speak.

The man consoled her in a gentle voice, “Don’t be scared. Perhaps the sect really did send some people to help us.”

Xu Yuanxia heaved a faint sigh, and plunged the tip of his saber into the ground while resting his hand on its hilt. Even if these two really were sinister ghostly creatures, the love that they had for each other was certainly genuine.

After scaring the illegitimate mountain god and Daoist White Deer into retreat, Chen Ping’an picked up the armor pellet and stowed it away in his pocket treasure. After that, he silently made his way into the section of the courtyard where Xu Yuanxia was situated, ready to assist him with his flying swords.

His plan was to have Fifteenth strike down the black-robed man with a single well-timed attack, while First would be responsible for stalling the female ghost and keeping her occupied.

However, right as he was about to release his two flying swords out of his Sword Nurturing Gourd, he discovered that there a temporary truce had been reached, and both sides had laid down their weapons. After that, Chen Ping’an heard the black-robed man tell his story, and he couldn’t tell whether the black-robed man was telling the truth, so he decided to conceal his own aura and hide behind a pillar in silence.

After Xu Yuanxia instructed Zhang Shan to leave, Chen Ping’an hestiated momentarily before springing up into the air, using the pillar that he was hiding behind as a launching pad to propel himself through the air. He passed through the corridor in a flash, gently patting the horizontal beams under the eaves one after another to continue propelling himself forward through the air like an agile swimming fish.

It didn’t take long before arrived in the courtyard outside, and he gently landed on the ground in front of the room that he had previously been staying in, then sat down onto the doorstep. In the same instant that he sat down, Zhang Shan rushed onto the scene.

“Chen Ping’an!” Zhang Shan called out in an urgent voice. “We have to pack our things and leave this place right now! Mr. Xu is telling us to go to the nearest town. The situation is a bit complicated, so I’ll tell you about it on the way there…”

Chen Ping’an rose to his feet, then pointed in the direction of the estate’s front entrance as he said, “Someone’s come in?”

Sure enough, a group of people had made their way into the estate through the front gate, then folded up their oil-paper umbrellas and were heading directly toward the section of the courtyard that Chen Ping’an and Zhang Shan were situated in.

All of them were dressed in pristine and elegant Daoist robes with fish tail hats on their heads. The group consisted of five Daoist priests of different genders and ages, all of them were displaying remarkable dispositions.

The elderly male Daoist priest at the forefront of the group appeared to be their leader, and even in the darkness of the night, his eyes were bright and piercing, clearly indicating that he was a formidable immortal.

As for the other four people in the group, one of them was a young Daoist priest who appeared to be around 20 years of age. He was holding a copper bell in one hand, and there was a longsword in a black scabbard strapped to his back, with a long string of yellow tassels attached to the hilt.

There were also a young boy and young girl with a similar physical appearance. Both of them had haughty looks on their faces, and one of them had a long black rope coiled around the waist, while the other was carrying a beautiful azure and yellow bamboo whip.

The group was rounded out by a small child with a wide grin on his face. He was the shortest of the bunch, and his legs were also the stubbist, so he was having to run a little to keep up with the others. In his hand was an unremarkable-looking rectangular wooden block, but the phrase “All Ghosts Shall Bow” were inscribed upon it in ancient characters.

“Those are humans, not demons, Master,” the young man remarked.

The elderly Daoist priest nodded in response, then paid no further heed to Chen Ping’an and Zhang Shan as he walked right past them. The rest of the group also didn’t display much interest toward Chen Ping’an, but they were all rather intrigued by Zhang Shan’s Daoist hat and Daoist robe, seemingly taking an interest in his attire.

Thus, the procession of five Daoist priests passed through, and in the instant that the elderly Daoist priest stepped into the other section of the courtyard, he immediately roared in a furious voice, “Traitor Yang Huang, come out and repent for your crimes!”

A sense of elation mixed with concern instantly welled up in the black-robed man’s heart upon hearing this familiar voice.

He was elated as the elderly Daoist priest was undoubtedly an internal disciple of Divine Edict Sect, which meant that the letter that he had sent out had achieved its intended purpose, after all.

Even though he had already been stripped of his status as a Daoist priest by the sect, they still hadn’t completely abandoned him. Now that members of the sect had been sent down to investigate this matter, the illegitimate mountain god’s days were undoubtedly numbered.

However, at the same time, his elation was outweighed by his concern. The elderly Daoist priest was among the same generation of disciples as him. They were both prodigies who had joined Divine Edict Sect in the same year, and their respective masters were senior and junior brothers to one another, while their grandmasters were the same person.

However, the two of them shared a terrible relationship, and even back in Divine Edict Sect, they had constantly been at each other’s throats. Now, one was a high-and-mighty immortal, while the other was a pathetic half-human, half-ghost creature, and he would be powerless to resist if the elderly Daoist priest decided to take advantage of this opportunity to exact vengeance upon him.

The elderly Daoist priest was supported by Divine Edict Sect, while the black-robed man no longer had that privilege.

Yang Huang positioned himself in front of the woman, then gently pierced the tip of his longsword into the ground before extending a deep bow toward the elderly Daoist priest. “I’m willing to accept any punishment the sect decides to hand down upon me.”

The elderly Daoist priest stepped into the courtyard with a mocking look on his face as he sneered, “Looks like you’ve been doing quite well for yourself this past century, Yang Huang.”

Xu Yuanxia turned to take a glance at the five Daoist priests, but instead of approaching them, he turned back to Yang Huan as he cupped his fist in a salute while extending a slight now. “My sincerest apologies for attacking you without hearing the full story first. If you have any need for my services in the future, I’ll be sure to heed your call!”

Having traveled the world for over 20 years, Xu Yuanxia had a very keen eye, and he was immediately able to tell that Yang Huang and the elderly Daoist priest of the Divine Edict Sect were at odds with one another.

What was supposed to have been a positive development had suddenly taken an unfortunate turn.

The group of five Daoist priests were extremely arrogant in appearance, looking as if they wanted nothing more than to brandish signs proclaiming their identity as Divine Edict Sect disciples.

Zhang Shan couldn’t help but heave an internal sigh at the sight of them. As expected of Daoist priests of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, all of them were extremely well-dressed. In contrast, Zhang Shan’s shabby attire left him feeling quite embarrassed.

However, he was still concerned for the safety of Xu Yuanxia, so he dragged Chen Ping’an away to a nearby pillar, then crouched down beside the railing to observe the situation from afar.

At this point, the elderly Daoist priest had already stepped into the severely ravaged courtyard with his four juniors, and as he walked along with his hand clasped behind his back, he discreetly made a hand signal that was unique to their sect.

The other four Daoist priests immediately flew away in different directions to surround Yang Huang and Zhuo Jing, with the sword-bearing young man flying onto the wall of the courtyard, looking much more like he was here to act as Yang Huang’s tormentor than his savior.

Yang Huang latched onto the hideous female ghost’s hand as he said in a quiet voice, “May we continue to be husband and wife for all of our lifetimes to come.”

The female ghost was unable to utter any intelligible words, but everyone knew that she was repeating the same thing to Yang Huang.

Chen Ping’an was planning to observe the situation as nothing more than a detached bystander, but that was all it took for him to abruptly break down into tears, and even he was rather surprised by his own reaction.

His childhood memories were rather blurry, and there were many things that he couldn’t recall clearly, but there was one memory that remained clear in his mind to this very day.

His father had been a rather awkward man who wasn’t very good with his words, and in that memory, he had said perhaps the only romantic thing that he had ever said in his entire life: “Will we continue to be together in the next lifetime?”

Chen Ping’an’s mother had been mending some clothes at the time, and she smiled as she replied, “Why not?”

Chen Ping’an had been sitting on his mother’s lap at the time, and he was too young to truly grasp concepts like life and death, but for some reason, the expressions on the faces of his parents in that moment really stuck in his mind.

As time passed, his parents passed away, and Chen Ping’an felt like if one truly loved someone else, then a single lifetime together wasn’t enough.

That was what had prompted this emotional response.

Zhang Shan noticed Chen Ping’an’s reaction out of the corner of his eye, and he rubbed a hand over his own face with a rather perplexed expression. While it was true that the rain was quite heavy, surely it wasn’t to the point that Chen Ping’an’s entire face would be covered in rain. On top of that, the storm had already petered out into a light drizzle, one that someone could comfortably stand under even without the shelter provided by an umbrella.

With that in mind, Zhang Shan asked in a concerned voice, “Are you alright, Chen Ping’an?”

Chen Ping’an hurriedly rubbed a hand over his own face, then forced a smile as he nodded in response, “I’m fine. It’s just that my reactions are a bit slow, and with all of this strange stuff that’s happened tonight, the fear has only just caught up to me. Now that I’ve had a chance to process things, I suddenly felt so scared that I wanted to cry.”

Zhang Shan patted Chen Ping’an on the shoulder as he turned his head away, fighting the urge to laugh as he said, “Never mind, I didn’t see anything.”

The elderly Daoist priest inspected his surroundings for a moment, then cast his gaze toward Yang Huang as he sneered, “How the tables have turned. I must say, I’m very much moved by your love for each other. What do you think I should do with you, Yang Huang? Should I follow the rules of our sect, or should I not follow the rules of our sect and punish you based on what I feel like is appropriate given our personal relationship?”

Yang Huang gritted his teeth tightly in silence, and he was just about to fall to his knees to beg the elderly Daoist priest to spare them when Xu Yuanxia opened his mouth to interject, unable to bear watching this miscarriage of justice any longer.

However, before he had a chance to say anything, the elderly Daoist priest turned to him with a steely expression as he yelled, “All unrelated individuals should keep their mouths shut! This is an internal affair of our Divine Edict Sect, outsiders like you have no say in this matter!”

Xu Yuanxia was so furious that his eyes had turned bloodshot, and he was having to fight back the urge to lash out with his saber, but in the end, he could only heave a resigned sigh.

If someone like him dared to meddle in the affairs of such a powerful sect, he would simply be giving his life for nothing.

Despite his heroic nature, he knew that at times, backing down was the wisest option.

Right at this moment, Chen Ping’an turned and handed Zhang Shan the armor pellet as he said, “Take this, Zhang Shan. From this moment forth, we’re complete strangers.”

Zhang Shan pushed the armor pellet back, then leaned in closer to Chen Ping’an as he said, “Don’t do anything rash, Chen Ping’an. If you lash out first, then all of the blame will fall on you. I know how to deal with these high-and-mighty Daoist priests, and my strategy will definitely be more effective than fighting them. Just remember that when I’m beaten up by them, don’t intervene. Otherwise, all of my efforts will go to waste.”

“Are you sure this will work?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“We may as well give it a try,” Zhang Shan replied with a wide smile. “You can always step in if it doesn’t work.”

Despite what he was saying, Zhang Shan naturally wasn’t actually counting on Chen Ping’an. In his eyes, Chen Ping’an was only a third tier martial artist, so there was nothing that he could do in this situation. With that in mind, Zhang Shan was praying to the ancestors of the three teachings for his plan to work.