Unsheathed

However, the Etiquette Sage, responsible for setting the rules of the world, treated Fictionists in much the same way as he did the demon tribe, affording them the greatest degree of tolerance and acceptance.

This was why Old Man Yang wasn’t particularly fond of either of the parties involved in the conflict between the Second Sage and the Scholarly Sage on Middle Earth Divine Continent. At the very most, Old Man Yang was only willing to praise the knowledge and intellect of the Scholarly Sage.

As for the Second Sage — who, despite his title, was actually only ranked third in the Confucian temples — Old Man Yang found him to be rather despicable. In his eyes, the term “pretentious” was perfect for describing the Second Sage.

The novel that Old Man Yang was holding was still giving off a faint inky fragrance, and it had been purchased for him by a shop employee from the street in the Dragon Spring Prefecture lined with bookshops.

The novel detailed the major achievements of many heroic figures. Whenever they found themselves in dire straits, there would always be no lack of defiant words from them, all of which boiled down to blaming the gods for their blindness.

Whenever Old Man Yang came across these quotes, he seemed to be rather amused, and in the end, he closed the book as he chuckled to himself, “These young people really need to learn to blame themselves rather than the gods.”

He then stowed the book away and lit his pipe, then took out what appeared to be a miniature temple out of his sleeve. He threw the temple onto the ground, then tapped the ground beside his foot with his bamboo pipe as he called out, “Come out, Song Qing.”

A plume of smoke billowed out of the entrance of the miniature temple on the ground, and the smoke quickly took on the form of a wizened old man, who extended a deep bow toward Old Man Yang as he greeted in a respectful voice, “I pay my respects to the esteemed divine lord.”

Old Man Yang paid no heed to the greeting as he instructed, “I’ll allow you to leave this place, and as long as you remain within Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, you’ll be restored to your former cultivation base.

Your duty will be to protect Cao Jun of the Cao Clan on Clay Vase Alley. As long as Cao Jun can fully mend the sword pond in his heart, the members of your branch of the Song Clan will be sure to enjoy a resurgence that’ll guarantee them wealth and prosperity for at least the next century. After that, what becomes of them will be up to them.”

The old man was present in the form of a Yin soul, but there was still a longsword formed by smoke hanging from his waist. The sword was already completely devoid of sword Qi, but was brimming with sword intent, clearly indicating that he had been a formidable swordsman back when he was alive.

After hearing Old Man Yang’s promise, an elated look appeared on his face, and he extended another deep bow in gratitude. “Thank you for your kindness, esteemed divine lord.”

With a sweep of his sleeve, Old Man Yang released a series of talismans that adhered themselves everywhere on the old Yin soul. Those talismans would ensure the old Yin soul’s safety as he traveled the world, and with their addition, the soul was instantly and significantly stabilized.

As a result, his aura and sword intent were both drastically elevated, and if they hadn’t been concealed by that large cloud of smoke that Old Man Yang had just released out of his mouth, all of the Qi refiners in the entirety of Dragon Spring Prefecture would’ve been alerted.

“Go,” Old Man Yang said. “Cao Jun has already set off for the capital city of the Great Li Empire. You can directly inform him of this arrangement. If you dare to break the rules, not only will you be wiped out of existence, I will personally see to it that your entire branch of the Song Clan is eradicated entirely. Your lineage will be completely severed, and your branch of the Song Clan will be lost to history. Do you understand?

“I wouldn’t dare to step out of line, esteemed divine lord,” Song Qing assured in a solemn manner.

“Your words mean nothing, I’ll be watching your actions,” Old Man Yang said in a cold voice.

Song Qing nodded in response, then vanished in a flash.

Following Song Qing’s departure, Old Man Yang raised his head up to look at the sky, and he remained silent for a long while before finally heaving a resigned sigh. “People say that the gods are watching one’s every move, and karma will always come around. If that really were the case, then would we be in such a position right now?”

————

On the second floor of the restaurant in the town outside Sword Water Villa, Chen Ping’an and Song Yushao were seated across from one another at a window-side table, having a hotpot. The table between them was laden with things like spring bamboo shoots, beef aorta, lamb, goose intestines, duck blood…

Of course, there were also two flagons of fine wine and a cup of the restaurant’s signature red hot sauce. For those with a low spice tolerance, this sauce was enough to make their skin crawl.

Chen Ping’an’s spice tolerance wasn’t actually all that exceptional, but after some goading, Song Yushao eventually convinced him to grab a dish, telling him that this restaurant had seven or eight types of hot sauce, and that it would be a lifelong regret for Chen Ping’an if he didn’t try out all of them. Only then did Chen Ping’an muster up his courage to add a spoonful of hot sauce to his dish.

Due to the fact that Song Yushao never showed himself in his true identity in the villa and the nearby town, the portly restaurant owner wasn’t aware that the old man eating here was the sword saint of Water Combing Nation. All he knew was that the old man had the Song surname, and he was an expert when it came to all things food.

The hotpot and fine wine that he served certainly wouldn’t go to waste on such an avid foodie, so the shopkeeper was very happy to see Song Yushao visiting with a friend this time. He personally led them up to the second floor to this windowside table, and served them himself all of the dishes and wine.

It didn’t take long before Chen Ping’an was sweating profusely, and his face was deeply flushed, but the food was truly delicious, and he couldn’t stop eating. On top of that, he was paying for this meal, so it simply wouldn’t sit right with him if he didn’t eat as much as possible.

Song Yushao was looking on with amusement as Chen Ping’an continued to stuff food down his own throat, and whenever the spice became too much for him, he would foolishly try to alleviate the pain by having a sip of wine.

The temporary relief would immediately be followed by even more intense burning pain, and it was quickly turning into a vicious cycle. Even so, Chen Ping’an wasn’t willing to take even a short break, and he kept staring intently into the pot to see which items were cooked and ready to eat. Song Yushao was in a fantastic mood upon seeing this, and he was also eating a lot faster than he normally would’ve when eating alone.

Song Yushao suddenly raised his cup as he said, “According to the old rules, I shouldn’t have appeared in that waterside pavilion. A breakthrough for a martial artist is just like seclusion for a Qi refiner, and it’s considered to be taboo for bystanders to be present, so I’m going to have a cup of wine as punishment.”

As soon as his voice trailed off, he downed his cup of wine in one go.

Chen Ping’an hurriedly raised his cup as well, then forced down the food in his mouth before downing his wine as well. After that, he poured another cup of wine for himself to raise a toast as he said, “If you hadn’t been present, I wouldn’t have been able to get closer to the fourth tier at all, so I should be thanking you.”

Song Yushao reciprocated the toast by having another cup of wine himself.

Song Yushao cast his gaze toward the streets outside through the window. Occasionally, a passerby would meet his gaze, upon which they would hurriedly lower their heads, not daring to maintain eye contact.

A faint smile appeared on Song Yushao’s face as he withdrew his gaze and said, “I went to the waterside pavilion earlier today as there was something that I had to tell you in person. You have to leave the villa tonight no matter what. Do not stay for the alliance leader election ceremony tomorrow.”

Chen Ping’an continued to eat and drink, but he slowed down slightly as he asked, “Is someone targeting the villa?”

Song Yushao made no effort to hide the truth, replying in a candid fashion, “That’s right. A storm is coming, but it has nothing to do with you.”

Song Yushao then raised his cup as he continued, “It’s not that I’m looking down on you and your friends, it’s just that these are our Sword Water Villa’s internal affairs, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for you to get involved. In any case, it’s not right of me as the host to be evicting a guest, so I have to drink another cup of wine as punishment. You can do as you please.”

Chen Ping’an really did as he pleased, and he only took a small sip of wine in response.

Song Yushao was unbothered by this, and he picked up a piece of goose intestine with his chopsticks, then swished it around in the pot for a while before coating it in hot sauce and carefully savoring it.

Chen Ping’an wanted to say something, but didn’t seem to know where to start.

Song Yushao smiled as he said, “Right now, we have to focus on eating, and we’re not going to talk about anything. Fine people, fine food, and fine scenery are the three things in life that can’t be squandered.”

Chen Ping’an lowered his head and continued to eat.

Everything had to eventually come to an end, however, and even the best hotpot meal was bound to end. After all of the food was finished, Chen Ping’an set down his chopsticks. The wine flagons had also run dry, with Chen Ping’an drinking far more wine than he normally would’ve. Not only was his face bright red, his neck and his ears were alo brightly flushed as he said in a drunken voice, “Those two from Unruly Saber Villa don’t seem to have any intentions of coming after me.”

Song Yushao smiled. “There’s no telling what people are thinking. There have been many stories of vendettas being settled years down the line. Thankfully, you’re not from Water Combing Nation, and you’ll be leaving soon, perhaps never to return. Otherwise, you’ll have a lot to deal with.”

Song Yushao suddenly recalled something as he was speaking, and he continued, “You seemed to be quite angry at the waterside pavilion at the time, and I found that to be rather strange. If I were just a normal bystander who didn’t know anything about you, I would’ve considered you to be quite impudent.

“As the master of Unruly Saber Villa, Wang Yiran has been a vastly renowned martial arts master for many years, yet he treated you with a great deal of respect. Not only did he not try to intimidate you, he was even willing to apologize to you on behalf of his daughter, so why was it that you still looked so indignant?”

Chen Ping’an burped, then removed the Sword Nurturing Gourd from his waist, but instead of drinking from it, he contemplated the question momentarily before replying, “I don’t have anything against Wang Yiran, I just feel like there was something wrong about that entire situation.”

“What do you mean by that?” Song Yushao asked.

Chen Ping’an took another sip of wine, then explained, “I once heard an old man speak about the order of things. I’m not well educated, and I don’t know many characters, so I only had a very surface-level understanding of what he told me at the time, but I like to think these things over whenever I have some free time, and it’s occurred to me that there’s an order when it comes to what’s right and wrong.

“Of course, there are also varying degrees to which something can be right or wrong, and one can’t justify something that they previously did wrong just because they did something right after that, even if they only made a very minor mistake before making significant amends. I think it’s important to dissect that minor mistake from earlier and truly understand it. Only then will the amends that are made later have a point.

“It’s just like when you’re walking, one step has to be taken at a time. Now, of course, these are just things that I’ve come up with myself, and they may not actually be correct. During this journey down south, I’ve read many books, and none of them have mentioned anything like this, so I’ve never been sure if I’m right or not.

“However, if we were to apply this concept to what happened at the waterside pavilion, then it wasn’t correct or necessary for Wang Yiran to apologize to me. Instead, all that was needed was for his daughter to apologize to me, and that would’ve been the end of the matter.

“Just because Wang Yiran is a renowned martial artist doesn’t mean that I have any obligation to accept an apology from him, and even if I was willing to accept the apology, does that absolve his daughter of all wrongdoing? I don’t think that’s right. Even if he did the right thing, it does nothing to change the fact that his daughter was at fault.

“If this isn’t properly addressed, then she’ll continue to make the same mistakes tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and perhaps even ten years down the line.”

Chen Ping’an scratched his own head, then continued in a slightly sheepish manner, “This is all just straight from my mind, Senior Song. Just treat it as some nonsensical ramblings.”

Song Yushao was initially stunned by what he heard, but then, a look of enlightenment appeared on his face, and he felt as if his entire world view had suddenly been turned upside down.

He thought back over his own life, particularly the painful tragedy surrounding his son, Song Gaofeng. Prior to this, he didn’t want to recall those events, and didn’t wish to think too deeply about who was at fault or who was to blame, but only after hearing what Chen Ping’an had to say just now did he truly come to realize where the knot in his heart stemmed from, as well as why he had always been so racked with guilt and remorse, to the point that he had been unable to even directly face the knot in his heart.

Tears were beginning to well up in his eyes, and his hands were trembling as he picked up a piece of food from the bottom of the pot with his chopsticks. As he placed the bit of food into his mouth and began slowly chewing, a smile slowly surfaced on his face.

All of the old rules that he had abided by his entire life, the very same rules that were seen as gospel by the older generation… Only now did he realize that those rules weren’t entirely without their flaws!

What had Song Gaofeng done wrong all those years ago? If anyone was at fault in that incident, then it was the state of this world!

It wasn’t that former alliance leader who had been at fault, and the mistake couldn’t be atoned for just because he severed his own arm. It had never been about him in the first place!

It was his daughter who had wronged Song Gaofeng, and she was the one who owed him and his wife an apology!

Tears were beginning to stream down Song Yushao’s face, but they went completely unnoticed as he slowly set down his chopsticks, then rose to his feet as he said to Chen Ping’an with a wide smile, “I, Song Yushao, treat you to this meal on behalf of my son, my daughter-in-law, and the entire Sword Water Villa!”

The entire second floor of the restaurant erupted into a frenzy.

Song Yushao?! Sword Water Villa?! These were two things that had stood at the pinnacle of Water Combing Nation for the past century!

Song Yushao paid no heed to the commotion ringing out around him as he cupped his fist toward Chen Ping’an in a salute and continued, “There are some things that I must speak to my grandson about, so I’ll be going ahead and returning to the villa. I may not be able to see you off when you leave, but as long as I continue to live, you will always be welcome at my Sword Water Villa!”

Chen Ping’an rose to his feet with a befuddled expression, only to see Song Yushao spring out of the window before flying away into the distance.

Song Yushao flew back to the gates of the villa, then strode over the doorstep, ignoring all of the respectful greetings extended toward him as he made his way straight to a small courtyard that had already been vacant for many years. There, he found his grandson, Song Fengshan, who was standing in the courtyard, resting with his eyes closed.

Song Fengshan opened his eyes, but remained silent, just as he had been as a boy standing beside the deathbed of his father and mother.

That rusty sword had already been strapped to Song Yushao’s waist for many years, and it was like a permanent fixture, an extension of his body, but on this day, Song Yushao removed it from his waist, holding it one hand as he offered it to Song Fengshan.

There was a cold look on Song Fengshan’s face as he asked, “Why are you giving me this?”

“This is your father’s sword, so it’s only right that you inherit it as his son,” Song Song Yushao replied in a solemn voice.

Song Fengshan continued to refuse to accept the sword as he sneered, “Oh? What is going on today? First, you come and visit me ahead of time to congratulate me on my imminent inauguration as alliance leader, and now, you give me this crappy iron sword. Are you finally going to shed yourself of the titles of Sword Water Villa Master and Water Combing Nation Sword Saint and pass them down onto me?”

Song Fengshan’s hands were clasped behind his back, and despite the sharp and cold look in his eyes, there was a smile on his face as he said, “My sincerest apologies, but I have some terrible news for you, Grandfather. The emperor has personally sent out several confidential imperial edicts, and an imperial army of close to ten thousand elite troops has already assembled outside the city.

“I presume they’ll arrive at our Sword Water Villa as early as tomorrow to slay the treasonous new alliance leader. I’m not asking for you to intervene and save me, Grandfather. I’m serious, I’m saying this from the bottom of my heart. All I want for you is to stand by and watch, and all that I ask is that you don’t strike me down here and now.”

Song Yushao looked into his grandson’s eyes, and he suddenly burst into hearty laughter as he strode forward, then slammed a palm heavily down onto Song Fengshan’s shoulder.

He made no attempt to disguise the joy and approval on his face as he declared, “As expected of the son of Song Gaofeng and Liu Qian! I know that the one leading the army is none other than that woman’s husband, General Chu Hao.”

Song Fengshan’s brow was tightly furrowed in befuddlement, while Song Yushao continued, “Seeing as that foul wench wants to escalate this matter even further, this is the perfect opportunity for me to finally confront the imperial court and give them a piece of my mind!”

Tears began to well up in Song Yushao’s eyes, and he raised his other hand to gently unfurrow Song Fengshan’s brows as he murmured, “After all these years, it’s time that your grandfather finally did something for you.”

Song Fengshan took a step back, then lowered head and covered his face with his arm.

Song Yushao continued, “Fengshan, from this day forth, I won’t keep trying to drill those so-called old rules into you anymore. However, I want you to listen to what I have to say one final time. The old world is not without its faults, but there are many elements of it that are correct and good, and I hope that you won’t renounce those elements when you step into the new world.”

As his voice trailed off, Song Yushao set the rusty iron sword down onto the stone table in the courtyard, then made his way toward the entrance of the courtyard. On the way there, he cast his gaze toward the main room of the courtyard, and he wanted to say something, but refrained from doing so in the end.

“Where are you going, Grandfather?” Song Fengshan asked in a raspy and emotional voice.

Song Yushao continued onward without turning his head as he replied with a smile, “I have to go fetch my own sword. It’s been buried under the pool at the foot of the waterfall all these years!”

Song Fengshan continued to remain still on the spot as Song Yushao faded into the distance.

The door of a room in the courtyard slowly swung open, and a young woman emerged from within as she asked, “You’re not going to stop him?”

Song Fengshan wiped the tears from his eyes, then gently laid a hand onto the sword on the table as he replied with a confident smile, “We hatched a plan long ago, and everything is progressing in accordance with that plan. Don’t you want to see the spectacular sight of a single man stopping an entire army cold in its tracks? At the very least, that’s something that I want to see. I’ve already been envisioning it in my mind for many years.”

“Why did he suddenly change his mind?” the young woman mused with a perplexed expression, following which a concerned look appeared on her face as she said, “I don’t think he’s going to be pleased with what our villa does from here onward.”

Song Fengshan harrumphed coldly in response. “If worse comes to worst, I’ll just let Grandfather stab me a few more times with his sword as punishment. If that still doesn’t satisfy him, then I’ll bring out Father’s sword. Let’s see if he’ll still be able to bear the thought of killing me then!”

“Well, well, well, you haven’t called him Grandfather in over twenty years, yet it’s coming out of your mouth as smooth as butter all of a sudden,” the young woman jibed.

Song Fengshan turned to give her a cold glare, while the young woman merely smiled in response.

She was actually a spy of the Great Li Empire, and once the mighty army of the Great Li Empire exerted its dominance over the central region of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, she would be able to finally reveal her true identity and display that Peace and Safety Tablet awarded to her by the Great Li Empire’s imperial court with pride and dignity.

Song Fengshan was well aware of all of this.

The next day, Water Combing Nation’s alliance leader election ceremony was held at Sword Water Villa.

At the same time, a mighty army was storming toward Sword Water Villa, and the countless thundering hooves of the army’s horses were raising a vast cloud of dust that obscured the entire sky.

The army was led by a general clad in a suit of bright armor, straddled atop a tall and majestic horse. There was an eager smile on his face as he cast his gaze into the distance, and he was practically brimming with excitement. Once he razed Sword Water Villa to the ground, he would undoubtedly become the leading military official of Water Combing Nation.

All of a sudden, his eyes narrowed slightly.

As it turned out, Water Combing Nation’s sword saint had appeared up ahead, having retrieved his sword from beneath the waterfall, and he was standing in the way of the formidable army on his own.

Actually, he wasn’t quite on his own. There was also a young boy with a wine gourd strapped to his waist trailing along far behind him.

The young boy didn’t appear to be nervous at all in the face of the enormous army up ahead.

He simply removed the Sword Nurturing Gourd from his waist, threw his head back, and took a large swig of wine.