Unsheathed

At the top level of a tall building in Pond Water City where the view was wide and the door was open, there sat a young man in white with a birthmark on his glabella. He was accompanied by an old man in Confucian robes, and both of them were gazing at the spectacular scenery of Bamboo Scroll Lake in front of them.

They were none other than Cui Dongshan and Cui Chan.

The two of them had once been a single person, Imperial Preceptor Embroidered Tiger of the Great Li Empire and the first disciple of the Scholarly Sage.

Cui Dongshan’s expression was solemn as he controlled his flying sword with a golden tassel to create a small ring around them. This would serve as a warning to him that he shouldn’t step outside this area no matter what happened.

Cui Chan glanced at Cui Dongshan and said with a faint smile, “As expected of a master and disciple. Both of you like to imprison yourselves.”

Cui Dongshan gritted his teeth and spat, “I’ll definitely concede if I lose, so make sure you don’t rely on your power to play dirty and deny things if you lose!”

If it weren’t for the old bastard forcefully setting up this situation and giving him no wiggle room to break free, would he have been willing to sit down at the table and make this bet? Right now, he sincerely detested the title of big brother. At the same time, he was also extremely unwilling to partake in gambles that offered big risks with big rewards.

However, the old bastard didn’t give him a choice, so what could Cui Dongshan do?

On the other hand, Cui Dongshan felt like he would do the exact same thing as Cui Chan if their positions were switched.

After all, how could he not understand himself?

This was a very simple bet where Cui Dongshan and Cui Chan were going to determine who was primary and who was secondary. This was all, and their bet wouldn’t pertain to life or death.

It was also because of this that Cui Dongshan was unwilling to take things too far and go all out against Cui Chan. Of course, this was also what made Cui Dongshan hate himself the most. As a “single entity,” he was naturally well aware of where his bottom line lay.

If Cui Chan lost, then he would allow Cui Dongshan to essentially become a powerful ruler in the Great Sui Nation. Moreover, not only would Cui Chan place his bets on Chen Ping’an, but even the Great Li Empire’s Imperial Song Clan would place their bets on Chen Ping’an. Chen Ping’an would be worthy of their bets.

The previous time Cui Chan and Cui Dongshan had met, the former had smiled and said, “Even I think this game of Go is an insurmountable death trap for Chen Ping’an, so if he’s able to overcome it, then he’s naturally worthy of my admiration. If I’m unable to easily kill this kind of person, then… I can only adopt the opposite extreme and do everything in my ability to win over him. There’s nothing embarrassing about this.”

If Cui Dongshan lost, then he would have to leave the mountains and depart from Mountain Cliff Academy. He then had two options, one in which he would need to assist Cui Chan in formulating strategies to defeat and conquer the Luminous Vermilion Empire, after which he would need to help strategize the deployment of the Great Li Empire’s heavy cavalry following their detour around Lake View Academy. Otherwise, he could assist in suppressing the various forces to the south of the Great Li Empire and to the north of Lake View Academy, allowing the empire to rapidly digest the resources of the many nations that made up half of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, turning these resources into fuel and power that truly belonged to the Great Li Empire.

In addition, Cui Dongshan would need to obediently return to the philosophy of pragmatism and become the opening disciple of Cui Chan’s school of pragmatism.

Why was the immortal ship from the Azure Phoenix Nation dilly-dallying and traveling so slowly? Why were there no immortal ships that traveled directly to Bamboo Scroll Lake from Old Dragon City, the Azure Phoenix Nation, and the Yellow Court Nation? Why had Chen Ping’an refined his second bonded item at the Great Sui Nation’s Confucian academy? Why had people in the Dragon Spring Prefecture suddenly started to sell their mountains again?

Everything was for the sake of making the necessary preparations at Bamboo Scroll Lake. Even the east wind was at their disposal.[1]

However, everything pertaining to this process needed to be reasonable and follow the great trend of the continent. In other words, it wasn’t the case that Cui Chan had forcefully set up this situation. Rather, Cui Chan’s Go pieces had all been played in a reasonable manner under the watchful gaze of Cui Dongshan.

The Great Li Empire had secretly infiltrated Bamboo Scroll Lake a long time ago, and it was now time for them to silently haul in the net.

As a critical territory that bordered the Luminous Vermilion Empire, Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan viewed Bamboo Scroll Lake as a region that would definitely fall into the hands of the Great Li Empire one day.

River Severing True Lord Liu Zhimao wanted to unite Bamboo Scroll Lake, but who would he hand Bamboo Scroll Lake to after he succeeded? He would naturally sell it to an empire for an exorbitant price.

However, this empire was quite far from Bamboo Scroll Lake, so they would naturally sell the lake off to someone else. And who would this someone else be? It would be the Parasol Leaf Continent’s Jade Tablet Sect. The Jade Tablet Sect planned to choose a location with exceptional feng shui to establish a lower sect, and they had already come up with three potential locations. The first option was to split the Dragon Spring Prefecture into two, with Ruan Qiong and the Jade Tablet Sect taking half each, the next option was to find a location close to the Cloud Forest Jiang Clan and the Azure Phoenix Nation, and the final option was Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Liu Zhimao had always been a fierce and wildly ambitious individual, and his swift actions, recruitment of allies, and show of benevolence and intimidation in the past few years had already painted him as a domineering ruler who was on the verge of conquering the entire Bamboo Scroll Lake. He would also receive assistance from cultivators of the Great Li Empire during the final and decisive battle, so it was entirely possible for him to achieve victory and thus decide the fate of Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Ruan Xiu should have been considered as Gu Can’s opponent, and they should have waited until the new ruler of the lake was chosen, after which there would be a continuous cycle of killing as each victim took advantage of the former’s weakened state.

However, none of this mattered.

Ruan Xiu was never on the Go board to begin with, so whether she entered the Go board or not wouldn’t affect the final outcome. She would at most allow them to put some icing on the cake.

According to the plan, Chen Ping’an should have returned to the Dragon Spring Prefecture to happily purchase one or two mountains, following which he would practice fist techniques in the bamboo building in Downtrodden Mountain and casually chat with the little boy in azure and the little girl in pink. Everything should have been joyous and harmonious.

After some time, however, Chen Ping’an would suddenly hear some nightmarish news from Bamboo Scroll Lake, with a chaotic battle being ignited between multiple parties. The young Gu Can would be in the thick of things, and his actions would also have a relatively big impact on the outcomes of the battle.

Only after a period of time would Chen Ping’an hurriedly board an immortal ship that was “coincidentally” sailing past Ox Horn Mountain, spending a huge amount of immortal coins and using his personal relationship with Wei Bo to embark on a risky journey over the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, eventually arriving at Bamboo Scroll Lake.

At that time, however, the situation would have already become far more complicated and difficult to resolve than right now.

Because many people would have already died.

Perhaps one of the victims would have been Ruan Xiu.

Cui Chan smiled and said, “That won’t matter because the conclusion is already foregone. Just pretend that I can’t bear to grab a stick and beat you to death with a single strike, lest you take far too long to choose a new path of the Great Dao and delay the progression of the great trend sweeping through the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.”

Cui Chan shifted his gaze, looking at a small path beside the lake as he smiled and continued slowly, “Chen Ping’an wants to remain upright and moral, and he’s willing to adhere to principles and speak reason no matter the place and matter. Perhaps he truly wants to become a Buddhist self-cultivator?[2] Then so be it!

“The principles that you believe in don’t discriminate between relatives, friends, and strangers. That being the case, what will you do when those whom you’re closest to and care about the most commit grave and unforgivable mistakes? Yet, those people seemingly have their own reasons as well. What will you do then, Chen Ping’an? Will the principles that you always adhere to still be useful at that time? I’m very curious, and I’m very eager to find out.

“Or will you trawl through those nonsensical journals of literati and search through the so-called renowned warning quotes to look for the principles and reasons that you desire?”

Cui Chan narrowed his eyes and remarked, “Cui Dongshan, you and I can eagerly await the answer.”

Cui Dongshan smiled coldly and said, “A noble person can be deceived through means within reason — you’re really pushing this idea to the limit.”

“To Chen Ping’an, the examination in the small town back then actually posed many external enticements and thus wasn’t pure enough,” Cui Chan mused to himself. “This was the cause of our brutal loss. At the end of the day, I underestimated the young boy from the impoverished alley. Since he was able to be chosen by Qi Jingchun, then I — we — should have been more careful back then. And now, the current examination simply tests his inherent nature.”

In reality, Cui Dongshan wasn’t kept in the dark about Cui Chan’s plans, and he wasn’t being targeted by the sinister plans of the old bastard. On the contrary, Cui Chan would directly explain each step of his plan to Cui Dongshan.

The more this was the case, the more helpless Cui Dongshan felt. It was as if he could only sit still and wait for death.

Thus, Cui Dongshan was finally unable to sit still when Chen Ping’an and the four martial artists from the picture scrolls arrived at the Azure Phoenix Nation. He couldn’t do nothing and simply accept his fate of being reduced to that old bastard’s vassal.

This was the reason why he had suddenly appeared in that small and serene village.

Afterward, Cui Dongshan had cheated slightly on two occasions during Chen Ping’an’s journey to Mountain Cliff Academy.

The first time, he had “naturally” borrowed the opportunity presented by the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism in the Azure Phoenix Nation to talk about the philosophies of the Legalist Sect. When parting ways, Cui Dongshan had secretly handed a brocade pouch to Pei Qian, inside of which was a paper slip with a single sentence.

The second time was their reunion at Mountain Cliff Academy, where Cui Dongshan had encouraged Chen Ping’an to read a dozen or so proper scriptures pertaining to the Three Teachings and Hundred Schools of Thought. However, his true intention was to secretly recommend a few Buddhist scriptures to Chen Ping’an.

Trying to overcome this situation was already nothing more than a wild dream. Taking ten thousand steps back, perhaps Master Chen Ping’an could at least protect and save his Dao Heart. Cui Dongshan knew that he was putting up a futile struggle, and there were only two possibilities remaining in front of him.

The first was Legalism, with its philosophies pertaining to right and wrong, the absolute rule of law, and the lack of discrimination between relatives, friends, and strangers.

The second was Buddhism, with its philosophies pertaining to karma, universal suffering, cause and effect, and the carry-over consequences of karma even through reincarnation. The misfortunes suffered by innocent people today were a consequence of the negative karma born from sins committed in a past life. This was only reasonable.

In reality, Cui Dongshan had cheated one other time in an even more subtle fashion.

It was in the courtyard at Mountain Cliff Academy, and it had also been the most clever out of the three times.

Right now, Cui Chan was looking at the louchuan that was slowly drifting across the lake and docking at the ferry station of Cyan Gorge Island. He smiled faintly and said, “You broke the rules two times, and I can turn a blind eye to this. After all, you’ll inevitably complain and be unwilling to yield if I use the great trend to suppress you. In any case, what difference will it make even if I show leniency two times?”

Cui Dongshan smiled with squinted eyes and remarked, “How truly generous of you, old bastard. I like it! I like it very much! How about you show leniency one more time? The same mistake shouldn’t be made more than three times, so I still have one opportunity left, right? What do you say?”

Cui Chan gazed at the louchuan and replied, “Haven’t I already done that? I simply didn’t mention it because I was afraid of embarrassing you too much.”

A troubled expression spread across Cui Dongshan’s face.

“While you were in the courtyard in Eastern Splendor Mountain, you purposely tempted the two lively and mischievous children to wantonly draw on your immortal picture scrolls, after which you purposely used a painting of a skeleton cooling down in summer to frighten Pei Qian,” Cui Chan continued to muse. “You intentionally took things one step too far, inviting Chen Ping’an to beat and scold you as a result. You were definitely very pleased with Chen Ping’an’s reaction, am I right?

“Because after traveling around the world for so long, he didn’t rigidly adhere to the inflexible principles in the books. He understood that noble people should either yield or stand tall depending on the situation, with both being equally as important. He further understood the notion of adapting to local customs.

“You were smiling very widely, and you didn’t care about those picture scrolls at all. In your eyes, those picture scrolls weren’t even worth a single copper coin. Moreover, Chen Ping’an was willing to treat you as a close companion, and that’s why he appeared so unreasonable at the time. It was clearly Pei Qian and Li Huai who were in the wrong, so why wasn’t he willing to adhere to the fundamental principles of sequential order that he told you about? This is called adapting to local customs.

“All of the principles in the world need to appropriately conform to those human feelings that are so-called not wrong. Your intention was clear, and you wanted Chen Ping’an to have a long hard think after learning of Gu Can’s behavior and actions. How did Gu Can transform into a little devil who wantonly kills innocent people after arriving at Bamboo Scroll Lake? Perhaps there are certain factors that make his actions forgivable? Perhaps this is the nature of the current world, so Gu Can’s wrongs aren’t as severe as they appear?”

Cui Dongshan’s expression was solemn.

Cui Chan smiled and continued, “But were your actions truly effective? Do you truly believe that you made a very clever move? Your move might have been clever if Chen Ping’an were still the young boy from Clay Vase Alley, yet to the Chen Ping’an who already has many principles acting as ballast stones in his mind, your move is simply adding fuel to the fire. You’ll only cause him to think more and think deeper, eventually reaching a state where he’s at a complete loss as to what he should do. Cui Dongshan, things have already come to this, so are you still unable to recognize the truly interesting nature of my moves?”

Cui Chan appeared calm and relaxed, not turning around to glance at Cui Dongshan from the beginning to the end. He certainly wouldn’t become aggressive or forceful either.

“How are my moves interesting? They’re interesting because of the balance that was maintained. The complicated nature of principles arises from the fact one can adapt to local customs, thereby rendering principles optional and dispensable. One can either adhere to principles or ignore them altogether. Between laws and principles, the laws of a land and the principles of a person, the two can be mixed and blurred.

“Bamboo Scroll Lake is a lawless area, with the laws of the mortal world being completely useless. The principles expounded by the sages are even more ineffective. In fact, even the rules established between the islands don’t work. This is a place where big fish eat small fish and small fish eat small shrimp. Humans devour fellow humans, not treating each other as humans as they do so. Everyone relies on their fists to speak, and almost everyone is guilty of violence and slaughter. Swept along by the environment of Bamboo Scroll Lake, no one can stand removed from this phenomenon and become an exception.

“These are all legitimate excuses that Chen Ping’an can use to take a step back and search for peace of mind. I purposely left all of this wiggle room for Chen Ping’an, presenting him with countless possibilities and choices. The Great Dao and the fork roads all lie in front of him, and there’s no one standing in his way. In this way, I can teach him to experience the world for himself — as it turns out, there are seemingly no principles that are genuinely innate and justified. Through his relationship with Gu Can, I want Chen Ping’an to be left with no option but to disapprove of his current mindset. I want him to accept the shameful but widespread mortal view of there being no notion of right and wrong, with standpoints being the only thing that matters.”

Cui Chan smiled faintly and said, “When a good person who adheres to principles comes across a person who believes more in strength and only discusses principles in a perfunctory manner, the former will be left bloodied and bruised due to the restrictions that they’ve placed on themself. They would have essentially imprisoned themself. Let me see Chen Ping’an, let me see how you can still discuss hope and disappointment in the future.”

Cui Dongshan smiled in a pitiful manner and remarked, “How ingenious, how unspeakably ingenious.”

Cui Chan continued to explain the situation, with each sentence he spoke being like an additional blade driven into Cui Dongshan’s heart.

“Gu Can’s mother invited Chen Ping’an inside and offered him food back then, so Chen Ping’an feels like she saved his life.

“Chen Ping’an views Gu Can as family, and the relationship between them is no inferior to the relationship between Chen Ping’an and Liu Xianyang. Indeed, Chen Ping’an views Gu Can as a blood brother.

“In fact, even that small catfish was personally given to Gu Can by Chen Ping’an.

“Cui Dongshan, you sneakily encouraged Chen Ping’an to read Buddhist scriptures, attempting to use Buddhist philosophies to save him. However, can he truly be saved? Doesn’t Chen Ping’an believe the words on that plaque? Refrain from looking outward. The karma of those innocent people who were killed can be explained, but once a person practices Chan, attempting to create a peaceful Buddhist realm beyond the principles of Confucianism, a new problem arises.[3] Regarding the earliest karma that’s related to Chen Ping’an, can he still remember it? And can he still see it?

“If Chen Ping’an pretends that he can’t see it, then nothing else will matter too much, since he would have essentially lost his pure heart already, the matter that Qi Jingchun cherished the most. Victory and defeat between us will also be decided.

“If Chen Ping’an genuinely can’t see it, however, then that doesn’t matter either. I’ll find someone to remind him.”

In the end, Cui Chan concluded by saying in a calm voice, “No one can save him this time, and Chen Ping’an will find it even more difficult to save himself.”

He didn’t appear overly delighted.

Cui Dongshan remained silent as he sat there and listened.

Cui Chan finally turned around to look at Cui Dongshan, smiling and asking, “Young men should be filled with energy and spirit, so why do you appear even duller and more lifeless than me?”

Cui Dongshan closed his eyes, with tears streaming down his face as he murmured softly, “Here’s wishing that Master’s mind enjoys eternal spring, eternal spring…”

The louchuan had already docked, and the “middle-aged man” with the surname Chen was still standing under the yellowing willow tree in the distance. He ultimately didn’t drink, and he was filled with hesitation after he retied the wine gourd to his waist.

He was seventeen years old this year.

Cui Chan stood up, extending a hand and saying with a slight smile, “Please enter the trap!”

1. There is a saying in Chinese, “Everything is ready, all we need is an east wind,” meaning that only one small but crucial item is missing. This refers to a battle in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms where Zhou Yu planned to attack Cao Cao using fire, yet after making all of the necessary preparations, Zhou Yu discovered that he couldn’t win unless there was wind blowing from the east. ☜

2. Self-cultivator (自了汉) refers to people who only cultivate themselves and don’t care about external matters. ☜

3. Chan (禅) refers to the school of meditation of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China. It is more commonly known as Zen, the Japanese pronunciation of Chan. ☜