Unsheathed

The little eel took on its human form as a young girl, then began scratching its own head, a habitual mannerism that it had picked up from Gu Can, who had, in turn, picked it up from Chen Ping’an.

“You look so stupid,” Gu Can chuckled, and it hurriedly lowered its hand with a bashful grin.

“Let’s go. He’s Chen Ping’an, there’s nothing that I can’t tell him!” Gu Can decided with an expansive wave.

He swept his gaze over his surroundings, and the island that had always appeared detestable to him in the past had suddenly become much more attractive in his eyes ever since Chen Ping’an’s arrival.

If there were to come a day where Chen Ping’an was no longer angry and was also willing to stay here, then this place would become the most beautiful paradise under the heavens!

Gu Can arrived at Chen Ping’an’s room, and before he even had a chance to knock on the door, Chen Ping’an called out from inside, “Come in.”

Gu Can entered the room to discover Chen Ping’an standing at the entrance of the study, and the desk inside was laden with paper, a brush, a carving knife, and a bunch of bamboo slips.

It seemed as if he intended to write something.

Prior to Gu Can’s return, Chen Ping’an had been conducting some self-reflection, trying to truly place himself in Gu Can’s shoes to look at Bamboo Scroll Lake through his eyes.

He tried to return to the very beginning, to the point of origin, starting from the most foundational principle.

This was the first step to the teaching of sequential order, understanding order.

Chen Ping’an knew that simply forcing his own principles upon others wasn’t going to work.

The two of them sat down at the table in the guest hall, surrounded by shelves that were laden with valuable antiques, all of which Gu Can had carefully selected and prepared for Chen Ping’an.

Initially, Gu Can’s idea was to fill the room with a bunch of fair young maidens so that he could gloat to Chen Ping’an and say: “I told you that someday, I’ll pick out a bunch of beautiful girls for you that are just as good-looking as that bitch, Zhi Gui! So? What do you think?”

Of course, Gu Can didn’t dare to do that now.

After taking a seat, Gu Can wasted no time as he cut straight to the chase.

“Chen Ping’an, I think I have a good idea of why you’re angry, but I didn’t speak about this when my mother was with us as I was worried that she would feel like everything is her fault. On top of that, regardless of how angry you feel about what I did, I still don’t think the things that I did were wrong.”

“It’s alright,” Chen Ping’an replied in a gentle voice. “This time, let’s not have one person say everything that they have to say before the other gets to speak. Instead, I’ll say what I want to say, but give you chances to respond in between.”

Gu Can nodded in response.

“Do you feel disappointed?” Chen Ping’an suddenly asked.

Gu Can shook his head in response.

“I don’t like listening to anyone preach to me. In the past, if anyone dared to try to preach to me, then I would either beat them, or kill them, mostly the latter. You’re going to find out about that sooner or later anyway, and you told me yourself that you want me to be truthful to you no matter what, so I’m sure you won’t get mad at me for such an admission.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response, then said, “My first question concerns that elder who deserved to die and your senior brother, as well as all of the cultivators, servants, and maidservants in their manors. The little catfish had already killed so many people, yet it still decided to kill them all before it left. I’m not going to state my opinion on what I think of this, all I want to ask you is if you really felt like it was important whether you killed those people or not.”

“It wasn’t very important, but it was better for them to be dead, so I let the little catfish do as it pleased,” Gu Can admitted in a candid manner. “This is the most correct way of doing things in Bamboo Scroll Lake. If you’re going to kill someone or seek vengeance, then you must make sure that your enemies are completely and utterly eradicated, leaving no loose ends untied. Ideally, you’d raze an entire island to the ground.

“Otherwise, there’d be no end to the trouble to come. There have been cases of survivors suddenly returning decades, even centuries down the line to exact vengeance on the one who had wronged them all those years ago, so it’s very normal to see entire bloodlines wiped out in the process of settling vendettas.

“I’ve already prepared myself to potentially be killed out of the blue someday by someone that I’ve wronged in the past. If that time does come, I won’t kneel or beg for mercy, nor will I ask who has come to kill me or why. I’ve already begun thinking of ways to ensure my mother’s survival if such an eventuality comes to pass.

“I’ve considered many options, but at the moment, I haven’t been able to think of any plan that would be sure to work without fail, so that’s something that I’m still pondering. In any case, the only people under the heavens who matter to me are my mother and you.

“Of course, now that I’ve learned that my father is still around as a yin entity, I’ll have to add him to that list as well, even though I don’t have any memories of him. As long as I can be sure that none of you will be negatively affected by my actions, even if I am to meet a horrific fate someday, I will have no regrets!”

After carefully listening to everything Gu Can had to say, Chen Ping’an didn’t offer his opinion on whether he thought Gu Can was right or wrong. Instead, he posed another question: “In that case, why is it that you intentionally let that assassin escape once you were able to ensure your self-preservation on Cyan Gorge Island?”

“That’s another way of intimidating my enemies,” Gu Can replied. “Only by striking fear deep into their hearts can I ensure that none of my potential enemies will ever be able to work up the courage to plot against me. Not only do I have to have the power of the little catfish on myself, I also have to present myself as someone who’s more cruel, brutal, and intelligent than them.

“Otherwise, they’ll always be itching to strike, thinking that there are potential vulnerabilities of mine that they can exploit. I’m not just spouting nonsense here, Chen Ping’an. You saw what I’ve been doing up to this point.

“I know you feel like what the little catfish did was overkill, but even to this day, there are still assassins from the Luminous Vermilion Empire who are willing to try their luck and come after me. This time, it was an eighth tier swordsman, next time, it’ll be a ninth tier one!”

Chen Ping’an considered what he had heard for a moment, then traced out a line onto the table with his finger as he said, “Now that I’ve heard your logic and reasoning, I’m beginning to understand the motivations behind your actions. These are the principles that you abide by, and they have helped you survive in Bamboo Scroll Lake.

“Even though I don’t agree with them, the fact of the matter is that my principles aren’t perfect, and I’m certainly not infallible. Hence, I won’t pass judgment on which of us is right or wrong. Instead, I’m going to pose you another question: if it could be ensured that you and your mother wouldn’t come to harm… Forget it, that wouldn’t work with your line of reasoning.”

A perplexed look appeared on Gu Can’s face. Chen Ping’an had just rejected his own ideas before he had a chance to fully articulate his own thoughts.

What kind of debating strategy was this? In a debate or an argument, wasn’t it the whole point to try and claim the moral high ground on all matters and make no concessions, just like how one had to be relentless and merciless in a battle?

With that in mind, Gu Can couldn’t help but be amused, but he suppressed his mirth with all his might. If he dared to laugh out loud here, he was worried that he would receive another slap from Chen Ping’an, and it wasn’t like he could retaliate.

Besides, copping a slap or two from Chen Ping’an didn’t infuriate him at all.

Even his mother had never beaten him, so Chen Ping’an was the only one under the heavens to have ever administered any physical punishment upon him, but not because he detested him. Instead, he would only resort to physical reprimanding when he was truly enraged or disappointed.

This was something that Gu Can had come to realize back on Clay Vase Alley.

Why was it that the one that Gu Can was closest with among the so-called Ten Heroes of Bamboo Scroll Lake was the idiot, Fan Yan?

It was because only a dimwitted fool like him would be capable of saying something like: “Whenever my mother beats me, I feel like it hurts her more than it hurts me.”

A faint smile had also appeared on the little catfish’s face.

Even after all this time, Chen Ping’an hadn’t changed.

Both it and Gu Can had already changed so much, yet Chen Ping’an was still the same Chen Ping’an as always.

As he was preparing to write something at his desk, Chen Ping’an had suddenly recalled something that he had told Pei Qian in the past, and it was related to the third month carp and the three springs birds.

The explanation that he had given her at the time was that someone who wasn’t wanting for food, clothing, or shelter could easily be kind, yet it didn’t make sense to preach to someone who was about to starve to death the importance of being kind and generous.

Some people felt sympathy for animals, yet not for someone who was about to starve to death, and according to the theory of sequential order that had been taught to Chen Ping’an by the Scholarly Sage, this was incorrect.

The same applied to Chen Ping’an’s principles in the setting of Bamboo Scroll Lake and Cyan Gorge Island.

This was not a matter of whether one should choose to be kind or not. Instead, it was a question of how Gu Can and his mother were supposed to survive here, and that was why Chen Ping’an had suddenly begun reflecting on himself.

When assessing right and wrong, it was important to take into account the sequential order and magnitudes of things.

He couldn’t afford to skip any single step to preach his own principles to Gu Can.

If he hadn’t even made up his own mind and thought through everything himself, then regardless of what he said, it would be wrong. Even if it were correct in principle, it would be completely hollow and without substance.

The recollection of this principle that he had preached to Pei Qian naturally led him to thinking about Pei Qian’s place of origin, the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, and the thought of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land inevitably led him to think of the Heart Manifestation Temple near Champion Scholar Alley, which he had visited in a state of great anxiety and unease.

There, he had met that benevolent old monk who didn’t like to preach Buddhist teachings, and he thought about what the old monk had said prior to his passing.

“You mustn’t turn to extremes in anything. When preaching to others, the worst thing you can do is think of yourself as absolutely right. One must see good even in the most heinous individuals and bad in even the most virtuous of saints.”

In the end, Chen Ping’an thought back to what the old Scholarly Sage had said to him in a drunken state: “How many books have you read that you dare to proclaim that you know what the world is like? How many people have you seen that you dare to say that you know how men and women behave? How much hardship have you witnessed that you dare to judge others as good or evil?”

Hence, prior to Gu Can’s arrival, Chen Ping’an had written down the phrases “Understanding Order” and “Reviewing Magnitude” onto two separate pieces of paper.

The two sheets of paper were placed next to each other, but he didn’t pull out a third sheet of paper to write down the phrase “Determining Good and Evil.”

Instead, he returned to the first sheet of paper, the one that bore the phrase “Understanding Order,” and began writing a list of names on it.

Gu Can, Aunt Gu, Liu Zhimao, the chief honorary elder of Cyan Gorge Island, Gu Can’s senior brother, the Golden Core Tier assassin… And finally, the list was concluded with the name “Chen Ping’an.”

After compiling this list, Chen Ping’an fell into deep thought as he looked at the entries that didn’t even have names, such as the chief honorary elder, Gu Can’s senior brother, and the assassin.

That was when Gu Can arrived, so Chen Ping’an had set down his brush and stood up to leave his desk.

With Chen Ping’an absorbed in his thoughts, Gu Can rested his chin on the desk in silence, leaving Chen Ping’an to ponder whatever it was that he was mulling over.

After some hesitation, the little catfish mustered up some courage, then also rested its chin on the desk beside Gu Can, and the two of them looked up at Chen Ping’an, patiently waiting for him to speak again.

The little catfish was very curious about Chen Ping’an, the man who should’ve become its master.

As for Gu Can, deep down in his heart, he had always harbored what others would’ve regarded as a ridiculous thought, which was that once he became powerful enough to fend for himself, then he would return the little catfish to Chen Ping’an.

One had to realize that even for someone like Lü Caisang, whom Gu Can had acknowledged as a friend of his, the most that Gu Can would be willing to do for him would be to avenge him if he were to be killed someday.

As he continued to rest his chin on the table, Gu Can asked, “Chen Ping’an, what was so special about that bowl of rice that my mother gave you all those years ago? Surely, if you had gone to knock on someone else’s door for food, they wouldn’t have ignored you and allowed you to starve to death.”

“That’s why I’m even more grateful to your mother,” Chen Ping’an replied with a nod.

“Why is that?” Gu Can asked.

“Have you forgotten? I told you in the past that there are only two things that my mother forbade me from doing in my life, one of which is to become a beggar, while the other is to serve as a worker in a dragon kiln,” Chen Ping’an explained.

Gu Can heaved a faint sigh, then said, “Looking back now, even if you hadn’t received that Mountain Shaking Guide from me, you would’ve still been able to master the Water Shaking Fist, or the City Shaking Fist, or whatever else it was that fate bestowed upon you.”

Chen Ping’an nodded as he replied, “Perhaps so, but that’s not the right way to think.”

If the world bestowed upon one a blessing, then even if the world were to pass down a curse that far outweighed that blessing someday, one shouldn’t completely denounce the world as a cruel and malicious place. Instead, one still had to remember that comparatively minor blessing that had been bestowed upon them.

This was the principle of the phenomenon of sequence disorder that Cui Dongshan had mentioned. All rights and wrongs existed independently of one another. A good metaphor for this was a pond of lotus flowers.

Deep down in the soil at the bottom of the pond, the lotus flower roots were all interconnected in a complex and inseparable fashion, but if one couldn’t even see the lotus pads and flowers on the surface clearly, then how could they possibly hope to glean the truth beneath the surface.

“How come you never change, Chen Ping’an?” Gu Can asked with a smile.

Chen Ping’an considered the question momentarily, then replied, “Perhaps it’s because I’ve been more fortunate than you and encountered good people at some very important moments.”

Gu Can shook his head vigorously in response.

“I don’t think that’s the case. I met you, and I was still really young when I did. Back then, I still had two trails of snot hanging out of my nostrils all the time.”

The corners of Chen Ping’an’s lips twitched slightly, as if he were about to smile.

Shortly thereafter, Gu Can departed with the little catfish.

After the door was closed, the sound of their footsteps gradually grew quieter and more distant, and the strong front that Chen Ping’an had been putting on instantly collapsed, leaving him looking defeated and deflated. He wiped a hand over his own face, but there were no tears.

He gently exhaled as he returned to his study and sat down at the desk, only to then stand up again, following which he removed Sword Immortal and the Sword Nurturing Gourd before setting them both down beside the desk.

On the sheet of paper that bore the phrase “Reviewing Magnitude,” he wrote down four more lines.

The traditions of a land.

The laws of a nation.

The etiquette of a continent.

The morals of the world.

After writing down these four lines, Chen Ping’an was looking rather weary, and he picked up his Sword Nurturing Gourd and took a sip of wine to help lift his spirits.

After that, he wrote the words “Bamboo Scroll Lake” next to the line “The traditions of a land.”

————

Gu Can returned to his room to three open collar ladies, one of whom was the daughter of an official from the fallen Stone Brush Nation and had been sent to Gu Can by Fan Yan of Pond Water City. Another one had been abducted by Gu Can after the entirety of her sect on White Fish Island was eradicated by Cyan Gorge Island, and the third one was an external disciple from Shu Cry Island, and she had asked to become an open collar lady.

Gu Can sat down at the table with his chin resting on one hand, and he instructed the three open collar ladies to stand in a row in front of him as he said, “I’m going to ask all of you a question. As long as you answer truthfully, you’ll be rewarded, but if you dare to try and deceive me, then you’ll be serving as appetizers for my little catfish.

“As for whether you’ll irk me by answering truthfully, that would’ve been difficult to say in the past, but I can tell you that for today, I’ll be happy as long as you tell me the truth.”

The three open collar ladies were all scared witless, trying to figure out exactly what it was that their unpredictable young master wanted from them.

“Do you think becoming an open collar lady is a good thing or a bad thing, and how good or bad a thing do you think it was?” Gu Can asked.

The open collar lady who was once an external disciple on Shu Cry Island was the first to give her response, immediately replying, “It was the best thing to have ever happened to me, Young Master.

“Not only am I the only survivor from the entirety of Shu Cry Island, I am now able to live a stable and comfortable life. You don’t insult or abuse us, and in all honesty, I’ve heard of many young female cultivators from Bamboo Scroll Lake who would love to become your maidservant.”

The young woman from the Stone Brush Nation hesitated momentarily, then replied, “I don’t feel like this was a good or bad thing for me. Some would say I suffered a fall from grace, seeing as I was once the daughter of a high-ranking official, but at the very least, this is much better than becoming a prostitute in a brothel or being reduced to a plaything for those vulgar ruffians.”

The final open collar lady was a direct disciple of the master of White Fish Island, and there was a cold look on her face as she replied, “I want nothing more than to kill you with my own two hands!”

Gu Can wasn’t enraged at all to hear this, and he scoffed, “White Fish Island was always going to fall, no matter what. It tried to collude with the other eight islands to attack our Cyan Gorge Island. Do you know what the cause of the island’s demise was? Sheer stupidity! Out of the nine islands, your White Fish Island was the nearest one to our Cyan Gorge Island, yet you were all still so reckless and blatant with everything that you did.

“How did that senior brother of yours become an honorary elder of our Cyan Gorge Island? Do you really not know? Why do you resent an outsider like me? Just because my little catfish and I killed a few people from your island? You can resent me, but at the very least, you should also at least be a little grateful to me for saving you, should you not?

“Otherwise, right now, you would already have been reduced to a sex toy for your senior brother. It’s not like you haven’t heard of the fetishes of his that have begun to come to the fore.”

“I should be grateful to you? I want to gouge out your eyeballs and feed them to a dog!” the open collar lady spat through gritted teeth.

Gu Can was rather amused to hear this, and he said, “I never really liked the look of you in the past, but all of a sudden, I find you rather interesting. For that, I’m going to reward you. All three of you will be rewarded, but you’re the only one who’ll receive twice the reward.”

With that, he gave a dismissive wave as he said, “You can go and collect your rewards now.”

Following the departure of the three open collar ladies, Gu Can asked, “Little eel, do you think what I did was wrong?”

The little eel sat down beside him and replied, “No, I don’t think either you or Chen Ping’an is wrong. It’s just that Chen Ping’an is… more correct? But that doesn’t mean that you’re wrong.”

“You’ve never been all that smart before; how have you suddenly gotten so smart today?” Gu Can asked as he turned to the little eel with a bright smile.

All of a sudden, a rather deflated look appeared on the little eel’s face as it said, “I’m sorry, Master.”

Gu Can burst into laughter as he asked, “Sorry for what? For being afraid of Chen Ping’an? Do I look like I’m not afraid of Chen Ping’an? I was crying like a baby in his presence, and even I wasn’t embarrassed, so what do you have to apologize for?”

The little eel immediately perked up again upon hearing this.

Gu Can crossed his arms as he declared, “I’m not even scared of Mother. In this entire world, Chen Ping’an is the only one I’m afraid of, so I think both of us are already very brave?”

He then suddenly hung his head as he asked, “Little eel, why do you think Chen Ping’an didn’t just turn a blind eye to everything that I’ve been doing? Why did he go out of his way to preach to me so many principles that he knows I definitely wouldn’t follow?”

The little eel shook its head in response.

Gu Can sat back with a smug expression as he said, “That’s why I call you stupid. I know the reason why.”

An absentminded look appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, “He’s being an idiot again. He wants to give me the thing that’s most precious to him, but this time, it’s not a piece of clothing or a fun toy, so I don’t want to accept it.”

The little catfish leaned forward and extended a finger to gently smooth out Gu Can’s tightly furrowed brows.

————

The next morning, right as the sun was rising on the horizon.

After a sleepless night, Chen Ping’an emerged from his room, then closed the door to go out for a stroll.

Gu Can quickly rushed over to him in his dark green official garb, while the little eel had revealed its true form and was slowly swimming through the lake near Cyan Gorge Island.

“I said so much yesterday because I wanted you to admit that you were wrong, but I discovered that was going to be very difficult. However, that’s perfectly fine. I hope you can remember what I’m going to be telling you today.

”I’m not trying to persuade you, I’m only trying to present to you some possibilities that you may not have considered in the past. Even if you don’t want to hear it, I want you to commit what I say to memory in case it’ll come in useful for you someday. Can you do that?” Chen Ping’an asked.

Gu Can nodded in response.

“Of course. I remember everything you said to me yesterday as well.”

Chen Ping’an was holding a tree branch in one hand, using which he was gently prodding the ground as he walked along and said, “Not everyone under the heavens can be Chen Ping’an, just like not everyone can be Gu Can.

“It’s exactly because there are so many different types of good people in this world, some of which we’ve seen, but even more of which that we haven’t seen, that you and I are still alive today and were able to sit together and espouse our principles to one another yesterday.

“I’m not saying this to prove that you’re definitely wrong. Instead, I want you to learn more and understand more about this world. The world isn’t limited to just Bamboo Scroll Lake. Someday, you’re going to leave this place, just like you left our hometown.”