Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an returned to the inn, and he discovered that Pei Qian wasn’t the only one who had yet to sleep. Right now, she was mucking around and blowing the yellow paper talisman stuck to her forehead. Meanwhile, the four martial artists from the picture scrolls were also gathered in a room and waiting for the results of Chen Ping’an’s trip.

Chen Ping’an was slightly puzzled about this. Traveling from the central region of the Parasol Leaf Continent all the way to the Azure Phoenix Nation in the southeast region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, they had already experienced so many dangers and life-and-death battles. Thus, Wei Xian and the others shouldn’t have developed such a keen interest in the scholarly temple and the martial sage temple of a measly county city like this. Even if sinister wind and demonic rain howled through a small place like this, it was almost certain that they wouldn’t be able to cause any large ripples.

However, Chen Ping’an quickly understood the reason behind their behavior. It was extremely likely that his disciple, Cui Dongshan, would unleash his skills for the first time tonight, so it was only natural that Wei Xian, Sui Youbian, Zhu Lian, and Lu Baixiang were paying close attention.

After Chen Ping’an sat down, Zhu Lian walked over and offered him a cup of tea. Chen Ping’an was straightforward and honest as he explained, “Someone has indeed tampered with the scholarly temple and the martial sage temple. Cui Dongshan will deal with this issue, and it won’t delay our journey tomorrow.”

Sui Youbian had the most straightforward personality out of the four martial artists, and she asked directly, “Is Cui Dongshan genuinely your disciple?”

Chen Ping’an patted Pei Qian’s head and told her to go to sleep. However, Pei Qian replied that she couldn’t fall asleep and was afraid of ghosts. She also said that she liked to kick her blanket, so what would she do if the yellow paper talisman on her forehead came loose and fell somewhere? If that happened, then wouldn’t the ghosts and demons have an opportunity to target her? Wouldn’t that render her unable to protect Big Sister Sui?

Chen Ping’an had indeed explained the rules and taboos pertaining to talismans to Pei Qian before. For example, talismans were able to deter sinister beings when one traversed mountains and crossed rivers. At the same time, talismans would also instill a sense of respect and apprehension in the minds of some low-rank deities and ghosts. However, talismans were also like bright lamps that could easily attract the attention of some malicious ghosts that were unafraid of yang energy, causing them to increasingly detest a person and covet their treasures.

With this in mind, Chen Ping’an didn’t force Pei Qian to return next door to sleep. He looked at Sui Youbian and replied, “Even though Cui Dongshan was the one who shamelessly followed me around in the beginning, he is indeed a genuine disciple of mine now. After traveling together for a while, you guys should be roughly aware of his personality and temper as well. He’s a fairly haughty person, and he won’t be inclined to target you unless you offend or provoke him.

“There are many rules and regulations when traveling around the Majestic World, for example, all those things I said to Pei Qian before. The waters are more dangerous than the mountains, there’s no need to wait when entering temples to pray if there are too many people, and so on. Actually, it was Cui Dongshan who told me these things when I traveled around the world with him in the past.”

Truth be told, Chen Ping’an was holding back and not being overly direct. In the eyes of the young imperial preceptor, the four martial artists from the Lotus Flower Blessed Land were most likely too weak and measly for him to target them. They weren’t worth the extra effort and thought.

However, speaking this truth would be too hurtful, and Chen Ping’an couldn’t bring himself to be so blunt.

For example, on the day of their reunion, Cui Dongshan directly mentioned Du Mao’s immortal body and begged Chen Ping’an to generously bestow it upon him. In reality, however, Cui Dongshan probably didn’t care much about the immortal body at all.

Even though Cui Dongshan was willing to interact with Chen Ping’an, it was likely that his gaze was focused elsewhere, peering into the shadows and the curtains located extremely far away. He was peering at the deceased Mr. Qi; the imprisoned Scholarly Sage, who no longer had a physical body and was integrating with the Dao of the Majestic World; A’Liang, who had already ascended to the heavens beyond heavens and was sparring with the Daoist second disciple; and Daoist Branch Master Lu Chen, who was now overseeing the five cities and twelve pagodas in White Jade Capital.

The fact that the Great Li Empire had been able to build a replica of White Jade Capital’s Sword Pagoda was evidence of Naturalist cultivators and Mohist cultivators being present. There was also True Martial Mountain and Wind Snow Temple, both of which were Militarian ancestral forces in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Of the two, the former had an extremely close relationship with the Great Li Empire. In addition, there was also Old Dragon City, which was bustling with wealthy merchants. As for the hundred schools of thought that were independent of the three teachings, only the Legalists and Diplomatists were yet to show themselves out of the most powerful schools. In other words, the Great Li Empire was already favored by my forces outside the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

This was what gave the Great Li Empire’s Imperial Song Clan the confidence and strength to conquer half of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

Song Changjing and the heavy cavalry of the Great Li Empire were on an expedition of conquest on the surface, while the matter of how to defend and maintain their territory was a test of the Great Li Empire’s influence and power.

Chen Ping’an had mulled over and understood these things after traveling through the river of time in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. Perhaps he was still a fair way off the truth, but the general direction of his thinking was most likely correct.

Moreover, the southward expedition of the Great Li Empire was like a complicated game of Go that involved many parties. As for the person who was planning everything and helping the Imperial Song Clan keep on top of all matters, that was none other than the young immortal in white who had re-entered the martial sage temple by himself.

Looking back on his long journeys, Chen Ping’an discovered that each step of his had landed squarely inside Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan’s Go board. During his travels in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, from his journey through the Great Sui Nation and the vassal Yellow Court Nation in the north, the Colorful Garment Nation, the Ancient Elm Nation, and the Water Combing Nation in the central region, and to Old Dragon City in the south, he had never stepped outside the Go board, not even once. It was just that Cui Chan and Cui Dongshan, two halves of a soul split into an old body and a young body, had paid no heed to Chen Ping’an afterward.

Lu Baixiang smiled and asked, “Is Mr. Cui a cultivator with a profound cultivation base? Is he someone who’s returned to a state of natural simplicity?”

Chen Ping’an didn’t know how to respond, so he could only say, “He was once a proper Confucian disciple from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Afterward, he left his hometown and traveled to the Middle Earth Divine Continent to seek knowledge. His cultivation base… was quite high before, but it took a significant hit afterward. I can’t tell what his current cultivation base is, and I didn’t ask him about it either.”

Zhu Lian smiled with squinted eyes and remarked, “Young Master, you said before that powerful cultivators in this world possess strong physiques that are no weaker than those of pure martial artists at the Three Mind Tempering Tiers.[1] So, I’m quite curious about just how powerful his fist techniques are. If he combines his strength with some immortal treasures, can he potentially break through Wei Xian’s Dew Armor?”

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, “Let me say this first. You guys are free to probe or challenge Cui Dongshan if you want. I definitely won’t stop you. However, you also have to take responsibility for the consequences.”

“I definitely don’t dare to fight for the title of opening disciple with him, so I’ll just call him senior brother in the future,” Pei Qian commented in a quiet voice.

Cui Dongshan pushed the door open and entered the room, huffing in anger, “Little girl, why are you calling people names behind their backs?! Just who are you calling senior brother? You’re a bloody senior brother! Can you speak properly or what?!”

Pei Qian immediately became pale with fright when she heard Cui Dongshan’s mysterious and angry remarks.

“How’s the situation in the martial sage temple?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Cui Dongshan poured himself a cup of tea and downed it in a single gulp before smiling and replying, “Everything is already settled. I met both the masterminds behind the issues in the scholarly temple and the martial sage temple, and both of them were relatively good-tempered and easy to talk to. If I weren’t in a hurry to return and report the situation to Master, then it’s entirely possible that the deities of the two temples would have invited the mountain lords over and retrieved those pots of wine buried deep underground to express their gratitude toward me. We might have happily drank wine and chatted until tomorrow morning.”

“Who was causing trouble?” Chen Ping’an asked in puzzlement.

Cui Dongshan smiled and replied, “It was a wealthy local who was afraid of death and wanted to live for an extra twenty or thirty years. He has a descendant who’s now a member of an immortal cultivation force in the Azure Phoenix Nation, and this descendant didn’t learn any good habits and learned a whole heap of bad habits instead. He only learned some of the most basic heretical techniques, yet he actually wanted to change someone’s fate with these measly skills, wreaking havoc on the fortune of an area and transforming this into the lifespan of someone else.

“The chaos caused in the area naturally led to a conflict between the scholarly temple and the martial sage temple. Moreover, cultivators who have learned some immortal techniques, especially those so-called young prodigies in the small forces, often have pretty bad tempers. After some slight conflict, the heretical descendant of the wealthy local even tried to steal the gold statues of the deities.

“From what I’ve heard, the illegal temples in the Fortune Mountain Nation and the southeastern region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent have largely been raided and shut down by the imperial courts of each nation. Even so, demand for the shards of gold statues still outstrips supply.

“Now that issues have appeared with the incense offerings in the scholarly temple and the martial sage temple, it’s quite obvious that the local cultivators are acting a little too wantonly. However, they haven’t taken things far enough for the virtuous scholars of the Confucian academies to hunt them down and punish them with death. If the young cultivator and his backers managed to plan things out properly, they could have directly resolved this issue in the imperial study of the Azure Phoenix Nation. News of this wouldn’t even reach Lake View Academy…”

Chen Ping’an’s mood became somber when he heard this, and he drank a small sip of medicinal wine from his Sword Nurturing Gourd.

Cui Dongshan appeared unfazed, and it was as if he didn’t notice his master’s stern expression at all. There was a wide smile on his face as he continued, “Deities in the mountains and rivers also have their own fates and fortunes depending on whether their deeds are good or bad. In any case, this current situation is only an acceleration of the inevitable. Once the Great Li Empire genuinely conquers the entire continent, it’s without a doubt that all of these forbidden and illegal temples will be targeted. In fact, the Great Li Empire will be even more vicious and swift.

“Right now, officials from the Ministry of Rites are already working together with officials from the Ministry of Astronomy in the regions to the north of Lake View Academy, which is located in the central region of the continent. They’re starting to locate and shut down all of the illegal temples in those regions. During the two years that you were away from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, more than four thousand illegal temples that didn’t abide by the etiquette of the Great Li Empire were shut down.

“Moreover, these were only the temples located in the sixty-two nations to the south of the Yellow Court Nation, to the north of the Colorful Garment Nation, and above that dragon channel. Not only that, but this was with the officials of the Great Li Empire accepting benefits and being lenient with the illegal temples. Otherwise, this number could have easily doubled to over eight thousand.

“Lake View Academy was naturally happy to see these illegal temples shut down, so they still sent the assistant mountain master and several dozen noble scholars and virtuous scholars to assist the Great Li Empire even though they were otherwise unwilling to interact with the imperial court. These scholars inspected the situation and drew the boundaries for the imperial court of the Great Li Empire, and the Great Li Empire also gave Lake View Academy a lot of face because of this.”

After rambling on and explaining all of these things, Cui Dongshan put down his tea cup and looked around the room. He then smiled with squinted eyes and asked, “What’s wrong? Sleeping early and waking early is good for the body. Are you people not aware of how to maintain good health? Perhaps you want to disturb Master and prevent him from resting early?”

Pei Qian was the first to run away. Each with different expressions, the four people from the picture scrolls also left one after another without saying a word.

After everyone else left, Cui Dongshan stood up and bowed in respect before also taking his leave.

Chen Ping’an needed to lock the door, so he walked to the entrance of his room with Cui Dongshan. With one person standing inside the room and one person standing outside, Chen Ping’an warned his disciple, “If you’re hiding something from me and secretly interfering with the debate between Buddhism and Daoism in the Azure Phoenix Nation, then it’s best that you tell me now. If it’s necessary, I’ll simply take a detour around the capital and wait for you at the immortal ferry station located in the easternmost region. That way, we can at least avoid conflict between you and me and prevent you, Cui Dongshan, from betraying your master again.”

There was an upset expression on Cui Dongshan’s face, as if he had just crapped his pants. “Master, you are such a magnanimous person, like the resplendent light that shines down after a bout of rain. When Master and I traveled to the Great Sui Nation back then, I felt like I was bathing in the refreshing spring wind the entire time. Why are you questioning my noble intentions as well?”

He appeared extremely pained as he lamented, “I know, it’s definitely the fault of your four subordinates. After interacting with them for too long, their crude and basic ways have inevitably rubbed off on Master to some slight degree. However, there’s no need to worry. Starting from tomorrow, I’ll…”

Chen Ping’an shut the door in his face and snapped, “Piss off.”

Though dressed in flowing white robes and appearing much like an otherworldly immortal, Cui Dongshan started to spin around as he made his way down the corridor. It could be said that he was rolling sideways.[2]

Cui Dongshan stopped for a brief moment when passing Pei Qian’s room next door, and he kindly warned the little girl as he spun around on the spot, “Pei Qian, since we’re studying under the same master, let me tell you some good news. You definitely won’t see the ghost hanging upside down with its tongue sticking out if you don’t open your window, and you also won’t see the female ghost who’s married to the ghost king of an unmarked burial ground, wearing a bright red wedding dress, and lying next to your bed if you don’t stick your head out of your blanket.

“If you don’t become thirsty and climb out of bed to drink water at night, you definitely won’t see the pale-faced ghost whose belly is stuffed full of water grass after drowning… Oh, that’s right, some long-haired young girls who have died unjust deaths also like to curl up beside the feet of little girls. However, you don’t need to be afraid of them. They look like nothing more than a large pile of hair no matter how you look at them.”

Pei Qian shivered in fear as she hid inside her blanket. At the same time, she furiously covered her ears to block out Cui Dongshan’s words.

While walking past the rooms of the four martial artists from the picture scrolls, the continually spinning Cui Dongshan only chuckled and spoke outside Lu Baixiang’s room, saying, “I heard Master mention that you’re incredibly skilled at Go, so I’ve decided to learn how to play Go from you starting from tomorrow.”

Lu Baixiang was studying a Go manual in his room right now, and he smiled and replied, “Mr. Cui, if you don’t mind, why don’t you play a game of Go with me before going to rest?”

Cui Dongshan had already disappeared down the corridor when he replied, “I’ll pass for tonight. One needs to pick the right time and be in the right mood when learning something like Go.”

Outside the small inn…

…There stood two golden deities who were invisible to mortals. One stood to the left and one stood to the right; one was a scholarly deity and the other a martial deity. They had stern expressions, and it seemed as if they were two door gods guarding the inn.

1. The Three Mind Tempering Tiers refer to the seventh tier to the ninth tier of martial arts. ☜

2. In Chinese, “piss off” literally means “roll away” (滚), hence Cui Dongshan’s behavior. ☜