Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an gently exhaled as he slapped his own cheeks to try and reinvigorate himself, then stood up and returned to his little room.

Even from afar, he could see the glow of the lit lamp on the table through the window.

He reflexively sped up, only to then slow down again as he chuckled to himself.

Ever since he was four years old, he had never returned home to a lit lamp. After going back on his vow to his mother to work at the dragon kiln, he managed to earn some copper coins, but he still couldn’t just leave the lamp on whenever he went out and allow the lamp oil to go to waste in his absence.

He had forgotten to put out the lamp prior to his departure, so what good would it do now to hurry back? He wasn’t feeling sleepy at all, so this was going to be another night spent reading by the flame of the lamp. In that case, even if he were to put out the lamp, he would then have to reignite it, and there would simply be no point in that.

With that in mind, Chen Ping’an made his way back to his room at a casual stroll, then closed the door and sat down at his desk to continue reading through the files and materials that had been brought to him by Tian Hujun.

His mind wasn’t calm, so there was no point in practicing his fist techniques, and cultivating in this state would’ve been an even more futile, perhaps even dangerous endeavor.

Back in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, he had come to discover that no matter how much he practiced his fist techniques in times of agitation, there was simply no point. That was why he would often go to that little monastery near Champion Scholar Alley to chat with the old monk who didn’t like to espouse Buddhist teachings.

On top of that, the more damning issue was that he was unable to muster up and vigor. It was as if his energy, essence, and spirit were languishing at the bottom of an abyss, weighed down by a giant rock, making it impossible for him to lift his spirits.

Chen Ping’an closed the ill-maintained files, then picked up the small carving knife that had come as a bonus accessory back when he purchased those jade hairpins from that shop in the capital city of the Great Sui Nation, and he gently scratched a faint line onto the table with the carving knife.

After a brief pause, he slid out a piece of paper that he had cut down to the size of the cover of a book, then picked up his brush and drew a straight line down the sheet of paper. On opposing ends of the line, he wrote down the phrases “Gu Can’s misdeeds” and “Gu Can’s goodness.” These two phrases were written in rather large text, and between the words “misdeeds” and “goodness,” he wrote down the phrase “the customs and traditions of Bamboo Scroll Lake” in smaller text.

Right as he was about to write down the phrase “the laws of a nation,” he erased the previous phrase, then also erased the phrase “Gu Can’s goodness.” After that, he wrote down the phrases “realizing one’s faults” and “making amends” with a slight gap in between them roughly down the middle of the line, only to quickly erase those as well.

In the end, he scrunched up the piece of paper into a ball, but instead of throwing it into the wastebasket, he stowed it away into his pocket treasure instead.

He tucked his hands up their opposite sleeves, then put out his lamp and leaned back against his chair. He closed eyes in a state of false slumber, and the next time he opened them, it was already first light.

Chen Ping’an rose to his feet, and his tendons and bones loosened up with a string of cracks and pops on their own without the need for any stretching. He made his way out of his room, intending to walk a lap around Cyan Gorge Island. Cyan Gorge Island was the largest island on Bamboo Scroll Lake, so walking a lap around it was going to take roughly half a day.

At the moment, all of his living needs were being taken care of by a female Cyan Gorge Island cultivator, so Chen Ping’an paid a visit to the old cultivator serving as gatekeeper of the island, telling him to relay to the female cultivator that there would be no need for her to deliver food to him on this day.

The old man was an Abode Tier cultivator, and he hurriedly agreed.

Chen Ping’an smiled as he said, “She’s most likely still going to prepare food for me anyway. She wouldn’t dare to enter my room in my absence, so how about this? You can tell her to deliver the three meals for today to you. You’ve told me many things about Cyan Gorge Island, so it’s only right that I compensate you somehow.”

“I’m not going to lose my life over these three meals, am I, Mr. Chen?” the old man asked in an uneasy manner.

“No,” Chen Ping’an replied with a shake of his head.

The old man was still rather hesitant. He had seen far too many people on Cyan Gorge Island lose their lives under inexplicable circumstances, so he had no choice but to be excessively cautious.

“I understand that you’re doing this out of the kindness of your heart, but all of those meals are provided by the Spring Courtyard Mansion. If I’m seen eating them, there will surely be envious individuals who’ll report me to the Spring Courtyard Mansion once you leave the island, and that could easily be the end of me.”

“In that case, the meals can be delivered to you for safekeeping, and I’ll pick them up upon my return,” Chen Ping’an said.

“That would be best,” the old man replied with a smile.

Following Chen Ping’an’s departure, the old man began to complain to himself about how Chen Ping’an was a two-faced phony. If he really wanted to compensate him through those meals, then he could’ve easily personally spoken to the Spring Courtyard Mansion and informed them of the situation. That way, he would be able to have those meals without any fear of punishment.

He complained about how Chen Ping’an was just a pretentious fool who hid in his room all day to keep up a mysterious facade, and that someone like was bound to meet a swift demise in Bamboo Scroll Lake.

As soon as the old man began complaining, he found himself unable to stop, and the complaints came gushing out like floodwaters through a broken dam. He began to complain about how ever since Chen Ping’an took up residence at the entrance of the island, he had been deprived of many of the usual benefits that he once enjoyed.

He no longer dared to pick on cultivators of the Lower Five Tiers and extort money out of them, nor did he dare to act sleazy toward the beautiful female juniors that he came across, when in the past, he would harass them as he pleased with his obscene words before groping their supple bottoms.

He had thought that he would be able to suck up to Chen Ping’an a little, and once they became acquainted with each other, perhaps he would’ve been able to curry some favor with the Spring Courtyard Mansion. Perhaps that wouldn’t have granted him a meteoric rise, but surely it would’ve at least allowed him to climb up the pecking order a little. However, what he failed to anticipate was just how difficult it was to get through to Chen Ping’an.

No matter what he said or did to try and appease Chen Ping’an, the latter would simply play dumb and pretend not to understand his intentions. In the old man’s eyes, Chen Ping’an was a detestable scoundrel who only had eyes for prodigies like Lü Caisang and looked down on Abode Tier cultivators with no future prospects like himself.

Chen Ping’an was walking along in a slow and leisurely fashion while also taking a longer route to scale a mountain in the process. He walked all the way to the immortal manors belonging to the honorary elders of Cyan Gorge Island, then returned the same way he had come from, and by the time he returned to the main entrance of Cyan Gorge Island, it was already dusk.

Even from afar, Chen Ping’an could see the young female cultivator from the Spring Courtyard Mansion. Apparently, she was the personal maidservant serving Gu Can’s mother, and at this moment, she was standing at the entrance to Chen Ping’an’s room, holding an intricate hamper, while the old gatekeeper was standing beside her with his back slightly bowed, seemingly in apology.

Chen Ping’an quickly strode over to the young female cultivator and accepted the hamper from her with some words of gratitude. The young woman extended a curtsey toward him, then left without a word.

After returning to his room, Chen Ping’an opened the hamper and laid out all of the dishes and the two large bowls of rice inside.

After finishing the meal, he placed all of the bowls and chopsticks back into the hamper before replacing its lid.

The seemingly insurmountable hurdle in Chen Ping’an’s heart was placed there by Gu Can’s unwillingness to admit fault and the fact that he didn’t feel like he had done anything wrong.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t abandon Gu Can, nor could he bring himself to conform to the customs and traditions of Bamboo Scroll Lake to such a comprehensive extent that he could turn his back on his moral compass, on the foundational principles that related to right and wrong.

He wanted to take the first step, to try and make amends, and in order to do that, he had to first take a step back and admit that what he had done up to this point wasn’t good enough. Ultimately, he was still hoping that Gu Can would be able to realize the errors in his ways.

After making a mistake, there could only be two outcomes, the first of which was to go down the path of no return to the very end, while the second was to make amends. The former option was the far easier path to take, and perhaps one could even get away with the mistakes that they had made for their entire lifetime.

On their deathbed, they could say that they had lived a life with no regrets, and the initial mistake that they had committed would be nothing more than a distant memory by then. In contrast, the latter option was the far more arduous one to pursue, and it was often the case that despite one’s best efforts, certain mistakes were simply impossible to atone for.

It could take ten people to plant and nurture a tree, yet only a single person to uproot it.

Chen Ping’an wanted to verify whether this saying was correct or not, and during the time it would take for him to complete this verification process, all that he could do was to make Gu Can exercise some restraint so that he didn’t continue to kill as he pleased.

Chen Ping’an had said so much to Gu Can, to the point that he felt like he had espoused an entire lifetime’s worth of principles. Thankfully, even though Gu Can was unwilling to admit fault, Chen Ping’an held such a special place in his heart that he was willing to restrain himself somewhat, and he didn’t dare to do as he pleased and stray further down the path of no return.

In Gu Can’s eyes, if he wanted to be able to invite Chen Ping’an to his home to have meals at the same table with him, his mother, and Tan Xue, then he had to make some type of sacrifice. This type of transactional interaction was one that was very pragmatic and commonly seen in Bamboo Scroll Lake.

From there, Chen Ping’an requested a Cyan Gorge Island honorary elder jade tablet, which he strapped to his waist, and the next day, he began wandering all over the island, chatting with the people that he came across.

On the day of the election of the ruler of the cultivation world on Palace Willow Island, Chen Ping’an borrowed a boat from Cyan Gorge Island and put on his Golden Sweet Wine robe and carried Sword Immortal on his back as he explored the many islands of Bamboo Scroll Lake on his own. He did so under his new identity as a Cyan Gorge Island honorary elder, posing as a Fictionist Qi refiner who proclaimed to have a penchant for writing travel journals.

Consulting the map given to him by Tian Hujun, he first explored the eleven subsidiary islands to Cyan Gorge Island, including Brow Immortal Island, which had been granted to Tian Hujun following her progression to the Golden Core Tier, and White Fish Island, which resembled the glistening body of a fish whenever the light of the moon shone down upon it.

Chen Ping’an explored the islands with no rest and no sleep, and by the time he completed his trip, it was already three days later. During this time, he had recorded many more names that weren’t in the files from the incense room.

The people on Palace Willow Island were still engaged in a fierce debate, and three camps had taken shape, one of which championed Liu Zhimao as the new ruler of the cultivation world. The second camp was vehemently opposed to the first camp, proclaiming that Liu Zhimao wasn’t worthy of such a prestigious position, and they were extremely firm in their stance.

They claimed that even if Liu Zhimao were to become the new ruler of the cultivation world, they wouldn’t accept his instatement, and they challenged Liu Zhimao to attack their islands one by one if he were displeased by their dissension. As for the final camp, that was filled with all of the neutral fence sitters, as well as the island masters that had already forged secret alliances that they didn’t want to reveal for now.

What was rather interesting was that all of the island masters opposed to Liu Zhimao seemed to have made an agreement in advance, and whenever they spoke out against Liu Zhimao, they would always begin with “The River Severing True Lord may be a beacon of morality and integrity in our Bamboo Scroll Lake, but…” before stating their criticisms.

In Bamboo Scroll Lake, it seemed like referring to someone as a beacon of morality and integrity was the most damning insult possible.

On this day, Chen Ping’an traveled to an island called Bejeweled Hairpin Island by boat. This island was quite far away from Cyan Gorge Island, and it was rather small, with a sparse population of disciples. For the election that was being held on Palace Willow Island, some of the masters of the smaller islands had chosen not to attend.

Even though this was a grand event that could decide the future of Bamboo Scroll Lake for the next century, a gathering of island masters was also quite a perilous event in a lawless place like Bamboo Scroll Lake, so those who weren’t confident in their powers chose to remain on their islands.

As Chen Ping’an docked his boat, there was already a voluptuous woman dressed in rather revealing clothing waiting for him.

It was a Dragon Gate Tier cultivator, and Chen Ping’an was able to guess her identity right away. The woman’s name was Liu Chongrun, and it was said that she was a member of the imperial clan of a fallen empire in the central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, the aunt of said empire’s final emperor.

According to the unofficial historic records kept at Pond Water City, the final emperor of the fallen empire had only been a child at the time, and she had carried him onto his throne during his inauguration. Unaware of the gravity of the situation, the little emperor had patted the huge throne, gesturing for his aunt to sit down with him, and she really did, sitting down onto the throne without any hesitation before cradling the little emperor in her arms.

The entire imperial court of officials had been stunned into silence at the time, and not a single one dared to raise any objections.

Tian Hujun had once praised this master of Bejeweled Hairpin Island as someone who possessed an aura to rival any man.

“You’re the accountant living at the entrance of Cyan Gorge Island, right?” Liu Chongrun asked with a smile.

Chen Ping’an faltered slightly upon hearing this. No one on Cyan Gorge Island had dared to refer to him as an accountant to his face.

“Indeed, I am,” Chen Ping’an replied.

“May I ask the purpose of your visit? Could it be that your Cyan Gorge Island doesn’t like the look of our Bejeweled Hairpin Island, and you’re here to do something while all of the nearby island masters are on Palace Willow Island?” Liu Chongrun asked in a direct and straightforward manner.

Chen Ping’an shook his head as he replied, “I’m only here to visit Bejeweled Hairpin Island so I can ask you about some of the customs and traditions of Bamboo Scroll Lake. If you’re opposed to my visit, then I’ll leave.”

Liu Chongrun’s eyes narrowed slightly as she asked, “What if I tell you that you’re not welcome on our island? Our island’s residents are all female, and none of them are particularly powerful. If one of them catches your eye, and you decide to abduct her to Cyan Gorge Island to be used as an open collar lady, then what am I to do?”

Chen Ping’an’s expression remained unchanged as he cupped his fist in a parting salute, and he really did depart on his boat, leaving Liu Chongrun rooted to the spot with a perplexed look on her face.

She had actually already prepared an exceptionally beautiful, young, female disciple to offer up to Chen Ping’an as a sacrifice of sorts to appease him, but it seemed that the crisis had been averted.

After that, he was denied entry from the next island, Flying Jade Island, as well. The island master was absent, and the person managing the island in their absence didn’t dare to allow a Cyan Gorge Island honorary elder to step ashore.

Cyan Gorge Island cultivators were notorious for their brutality and bloodlust, so he was afraid that Chen Ping’an would wipe out the entire island in the island master’s absence. If he had been alone on the island, then he wouldn’t have dared to deny Chen Ping’an entry, but his entire clan was residing on the island, so he had no choice but to steel himself for their safety.

However, it was clear that denying Chen Ping’an had taken a great deal of courage, and he apologized profusely the entire way as he accompanied Chen Ping’an back to his boat, stopping just short of falling to his knees to kowtow in apology.

The master of the third island, Floral Screen Island, was also absent, having traveled to Palace Willow Island for the election. The island master was one of Liu Zhimao’s most vocal allies, and one of his sons had remained on the island to hold down the fort.

Upon learning that the youngest honorary elder of Cyan Gorge Island and a personal guest of Gu Can’s had come to visit, he hurriedly jumped up, leaving behind a bed full of concubines and maidservants as he got dressed in a panic, then rushed to the dock to personally greet the visitor with a fawning smile.

However, upon seeing the young honorary elder in person, he was left feeling a little disappointed. From the looks of him, this honorary elder seemed more like a schoolteacher from some rural village rather than a powerful cultivator that was adept in battle.

At the moment, all of the people on the islands near Cyan Gorge Island were secretly discussing this matter, but Cyan Gorge Island was being very secretive, so no useful information was leaked. All that everyone had heard was that this man had slapped Gu Can in public in Pond Water City, and not only had Gu Can not retaliated, he had accepted the beating with humility and invited the man to the Spring Courtyard Mansion.

The young master of Floral Screen Island and all of his friends had been placing bets on how long this man would be able to live, and the young master had bet on less than a month. Everyone was aware of just how unpredictable and bloodthirsty Gu Can was, and in their minds, surely he wouldn’t allow someone who had inflicted such severe public humiliation upon him to live.

Not all of the Qi refiners that had been devoured by that catfish of his had been his enemies. In fact, there was no shortage of “friends” of his and esteemed guests of Cyan Gorge Island that had met their demise at his hands.

Chen Ping’an was treated to some fine wine on Floral Screen Island. He drank very sparingly, but the young master island drank copious amounts, as if his logic was that drinking more would be a sign of hospitality to appease Chen Ping’an, and he had revealed a great deal of information to Chen Ping’an in his drunken state.

Upon returning to his boat, Chen Ping’an thought back over what he had heard from the young master of Floral Screen Island. After filtering out all of the drunken embellishments in his stories, he pulled out his paper and brush and wrote down a few more names and events.

His trip continued in this fashion, and he witnessed many different things on the islands that he visited. Of course, there were also many islands like Bejeweled Hairpin Island that denied him entry.

In the process, the islands on the map of Bamboo Scroll Lake that Chen Ping’an was carrying were being circled one after another.

Each day, he would leave Cyan Gorge Island on his boat before first light and only return to his room late into the night.

Not only was Bamboo Scroll Lake home to countless vagrant cultivators from all over the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, it also had a rampant culture of immorality, and there were all types of sinister abilities and techniques being practiced here.

There were also islands like Floral Screen Island, where the cultivators indulged themselves to the extreme, constantly lavishing themselves with materialistic amenities and beautiful women.

There was another island called Yecheng Island, where the island master had opened numerous arenas. It was considered a cardinal offense to throw rocks at the beasts in the arena, a crime that came with extremely severe punishments.

Every single day, there were cultivators from other islands capturing their enemies or disciples of their sects that had committed one transgression or another, then transported them to Yecheng Island before throwing them into the most renowned arenas on the island. Those cultivators would then get to watch as their victims were torn to shreds, while Yecheng Island provided them with hospitality in the form of fine wine and beautiful women.

There was also the master of Attire Island, who said to have once been a respected Confucian scholar of certain nation in the southwestern region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, but for some reason, had since then developed a hobby of collecting the hats of Confucians from various places to use as chamber pots.

One day, Chen Ping’an was leaving an island called Cloud Rain Island, which was home to two immortal sects, both of which engaged in the intimate art of dual cultivation.

All of the women of one of the sects that Chen Ping’an came across, regardless of their ages, would stare at him like hungry wolves, and it seemed that the only thing that was keeping them from trying to have their way with him was the Cyan Gorge Island honorary elder jade tablet hanging from his waist.

As Chen Ping’an returned to his boat from the island, his Golden Sweet Wine robe rippled slightly, and the thick fragrance of makeup clinging to it was instantly scattered.

On the way to the next island, Chen Ping’an finally encountered a group of three assassins that had been lying in ambush.

Two of them had the acupoints that were home to their bonded items torn to shreds by First and Fifteenth, inflicting upon them severe injuries that sent them tumbling into the water.

The final assassin was a Militarian cultivator, and he took advantage of the distraction provided by his companions to storm at Chen Ping’an from behind. Right as he thought that he would be able to land a killing blow, Chen Ping’an abruptly turned around and sent him plunging into the lake with a single punch.

Using the bamboo pole designed for the purpose of steering his boat, he dragged the three people onto the boat before asking them some questions. While he seemed to have been distracted by his own thoughts, one of the assassins tried to attack him again, and this time, Chen Ping’an wasn’t so merciful, killing the assassin with a single punch.

After that, he transported the two survivors and the corpse of their companion to the shore of Cloud Pagoda City, and one of them carried the body ashore, while the other stumbled along beside them as Chen Ping’an slowly departed on his boat.

Around an hour later, a small army of dozens of Qi refiners stormed out of Cloud Pagoda City, led by a seventh tier swordsman, and they surrounded Chen Ping’an and his boat.

Chen Ping’an asked the seventh tier swordsman if he knew who he was, and whether he had emerged from the city to avenge his deceased friend, or if he had already a vendetta against Cyan Gorge Island to begin with.

In response, the swordsman revealed that he was not very familiar with the three assassins. At the very most, they could’ve only been considered friends of his friend. However, he declared that in Bamboo Scroll Lake, all Cyan Gorge Island cultivators were to be killed on sight.

After some hesitation, Chen Ping’an decided not to draw Sword Immortal.

Instead, he pulled out his Day and Night Wandering Deity True Body Talisman.

The pair of wandering deities made short work of the seventh tier swordsman and the handful of Cloud Pagoda City cultivators at the forefront of the group, killing them on the spot. After that, First claimed the life of one of the initial three assassins, who had returned with the larger group to try and exact vengeance against Chen Ping’an.

The rest of the Cloud Pagoda City cultivators fled in a blind panic, and Chen Ping’an didn’t bother to go after any of them. As opposed to returning to Cyan Gorge Island, he sliced off a pair of heads and hung them from his waist, then returned to Cloud Pagoda City by boat, and after docking his boat, he entered the city before making his way to an opulent manor.

Once there, he declared that he was searching for an acquaintance that he had come across near Cloud Rain Island.

No one dared to stop him as he entered the manor with Fifteenth hovering by his side, and in one of the manor’s courtyards, Chen Ping’an found the assassin that had carried the body of the slain assassin ashore.

All of a sudden, he turned in a certain direction and called out, “Tan Xue.”