Unsheathed

Even Zhang Ye, someone who had lived in Bamboo Scroll Lake for a long time, hadn’t imagined that today’s snow would be so heavy and last for so long.

Such was the ferocity of the snow that it appeared as if Bamboo Scroll Lake were about to rise by an entire foot.

Heavy snow was a good omen signifying bountiful harvests for the following year.

This wasn’t merely a saying in the mortal world, and it was also spoken by the tens of thousands of vagrant cultivators of Bamboo Scroll Lake. Rain, snow, and morning dew were regarded as water without root, and it was naturally the case that more of this water would be beneficial to the spiritual energy and water fortune of Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Every single island wished that this heavy snow was falling on them. After all, what fell on them wouldn’t be snowflakes, but rather piles upon piles of snowflake coins.

In reality, many earth immortals had already soared into the sky and cast all kinds of mystical abilities, using their powerful techniques to grab tangible benefits for their islands.

The winter solstice was here, and according to the customs of Chen Ping’an’s hometown, the Spring Courtyard Mansion wrapped some dumplings for this day.

Two days prior to the winter solstice, the small catfish was finally able to suppress its wounds and secretly return to shore. And today, it was instructed by Gu Can to head over to invite Chen Ping’an to the Spring Courtyard Mansion to enjoy some dumplings. While issuing this instruction, Gu Can was busy making preparations with his mom in the kitchen. This was a kitchen that was bigger than the ancestral residences of Chen Ping’an and Gu Can added together.

The small catfish was feeling very curious as it made its way over to Chen Ping’an’s place. Gu Can had said that Chen Ping’an might hand something over to it, so what might this item be?

It had heard about Chen Ping’an being holed up in his place for the past ten days, almost never setting a single foot outside his door. Chen Ping’an had occasionally opened his door, but only to take a few glances at the snow blanketing Bamboo Scroll Lake. This was completely different from how he had previously wandered around Bamboo Scroll Lake.

The small catfish was still slightly afraid of Chen Ping’an.

Back in Pond Water City, the small catfish had felt an innate sense of respect and fear toward Chen Ping’an due to the fundamental nature of its Great Dao. After Chen Ping’an’s battle with Liu Laocheng, and following Chen Ping’an giving it the name Tan Xue, it felt even more afraid of the young man now.

Tan Xue was sincerely happy that its owner was Gu Can instead of Chen Ping’an. It felt very thankful that Chen Ping’an had given itself to Gu Can back in the small town.

Following the recent events, it now felt tense and uneasy around Chen Ping’an.

Tan Xue walked up to Chen Ping’an’s residence and lightly knocked on the door.

Chen Ping’an’s hoarse voice traveled over from inside, saying, “Come in, the door’s not locked. Be careful not to damage the bluestone slabs underfoot.”

The small catfish opened the door, causing the chilly air summoned by the heavy snow to rush into the room.

As a being who was innately fond of snow and cold weather, Tan Xue didn’t notice anything amiss in the beginning. Upon seeing the extremely pale Chen Ping’an start to cough as he sat behind the study table, the small catfish immediately understood the situation and closed the door. It made its way around the bluestone slab that was as large as the carpet in Gu Can’s study and timidly stood beside the table, saying, “Mr. Chen, Gu Can told me to invite you to the Spring Courtyard Mansion to enjoy some dumplings.”

Chen Ping’an stopped writing and set his calligraphy brush down. There was a self-made bamboo container holding a copper charcoal basket in his lap, something that he used to stay warm. Using the hot charcoal to drive away the cold in his hands, Chen Ping’an replied in an apologetic voice, “I’ll have to pass. When you return, please pass on my apologies to Gu Can and Aunty.”

“If Mr. Chen is worried about the wind and snow outside, then Tan Xue can provide some minor assistance in this regard,” the small catfish said in a soft and gentle voice.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “No, it’s fine.”

Tan Xue still wanted to say something, yet she immediately decided against it when she saw the look in Chen Ping’an’s eyes.

“Do you know why I chose the name Tan Xue for you?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The small catfish shook its head.

“Ice and charcoal can’t coexist in the same cauldron. This is a simple principle that even children understand, right?” Chen Ping’an asked in a slow voice.

Tan Xue nodded in agreement.

“Since that’s the case, then charcoal and snow being able to coexist and become attached to each other in the same cauldron is extremely special and praiseworthy.[1] This is one of the reasons for your name,” Chen Ping’an explained.

“In addition, there’s also a more selfish reason. Every time I see you, I’m reminded of the fact that me giving you to Gu Can was an act of delivering help in a time of great need — I was delivering charcoal during a heavy snowstorm. If…”

Chen Ping’an stopped speaking, raising a hand from beside the charcoal basket and grabbing an engraving knife from the table.

This action caused the eyelashes of the severely wounded Tan Xue to involuntarily shudder. This was the case even though it was a powerful Nascent Tier cultivator.

On the table were a bamboo scabbard and bamboo saber that Chen Ping’an had only just finished making last night. He had initially wanted to ask Zeng Ye, someone who enjoyed the snowy scenery, to make a trip to Purple Bamboo Island and help him buy or ask for one length of bamboo. Upon further thought, however, Chen Ping’an had felt that green bamboo was seemingly more pleasing to the eye. After all, wearing a purple scabbard and purple saber by his waist would appear far too flashy.

Since this was the case, Chen Ping’an had changed his mind and asked Zeng Ye to chop down any random stick of bamboo on Cyan Gorge Island and bring it back to him. Afterward, he had spent the night making the bamboo scabbard and bamboo saber. A lot of scrap bamboo was left, and Chen Ping’an had cut these into a pile of small bamboo slips, several of which were now resting on the table, blank and awaiting inscription. However, these bamboo slips were slightly different from those that were already inscribed with characters. Newly crafted using bamboo from Cyan Gorge Island, these bamboo slips were no longer uniform in size, with some being longer, some being shorter, some being thicker, and some being thinner.

Chen Ping’an held up the engraving knife that he had obtained as a freebie from the shop in the capital of the Great Sui Nation, after which he retrieved the longest bamboo slip and lightly cut it apart from one end. There were now two bamboo slips of different lengths, and Chen Ping’an cut the longer one into many more sections. The gaps between the separated bamboo pieces were like numerous bamboo knots.

The curling smoke in the small alley, the blazing sun above the fields, the space between the two ancestral residences in Clay Vase Alley, the extravagant Spring Courtyard Mansion, and the lawless Bamboo Scroll Lake…

Tan Xue watched on, and it was at a complete loss regarding what Chen Ping’an was doing or what he was thinking about. However, this didn’t stop it from feeling nervous and frightened.

The small catfish was a descendant of True Dragons, and it was able to remain calm and fearless even when it faced Liu Laocheng. Now, however, it was standing beside Chen Ping’an’s study table like a little child who had done wrong and was waiting for punishment from its teacher.

Chen Ping’an didn’t look up, and he simply stared at the hacked-up bamboo slip and said, “There’s an old saying from my hometown: Lotus roots don’t cross under bridges, and bamboo forests don’t stretch across ditches. Have you heard this saying before?”

Tan Xue hesitated for a moment before replying in a soft voice, “I was yet to gain sentience in the Jewel Small World, and I only started to truly understand and remember things after I arrived at Cyan Gorge Island. Afterward, I heard Gu Can’s mother mention this in passing in the Spring Courtyard Mansion.”

Chen Ping’an finally looked up, saying with a smile, “Your temperament is very similar to Gu Can’s. However, did you learn how to speak with hidden meaning from Aunty?”

Tan Xue remained silent, with its eyelashes quivering in a pitiful manner.

“I’ve already felt guilty on two separate occasions regarding my choices pertaining to Gu Can,” Chen Ping’an continued. “As for Aunty, my debts of gratitude have already been returned. So now, the only individual who remains is you, small catfish.”

Tan Xue looked up, using its vertical golden eyes to stare intensely at the so-called bookkeeper who was sitting behind the study table.

There was surging killing intent inside the room, so strong that even the wind and snow outside started to howl in anger.

It was indeed very frail right now, but was Chen Ping’an’s condition any better?! No, he was even more frail and sickly!

When it came to matters pertaining to the Great Dao or life and death, Tan Xue wouldn’t show a shred of carelessness. Apart from these two matters, she could wholeheartedly serve Chen Ping’an and obey his every request, viewing him as half an owner and showing him utmost respect.

In this regard, was she not the same as Gu Can? The two of them possessed a strong natural affinity, both in temperament and in terms of their Great Dao.

Chen Ping’an coughed and flicked his wrist, placing a golden rope on the table and chuckling in ridicule, “What’s this? Are you trying to frighten me? Then why don’t you look at the fate of your kin?”

Tan Xue immediately saw through the origin of the golden rope, causing its eyes to widen in fury and terror.

The other vagrant cultivators in Bamboo Scroll Lake definitely wouldn’t react with the same sense of fury and terror as the small catfish. To say nothing of Liu Zhimao, a powerful Nascent Tier cultivator, even Golden Core Tier earth immortals like Yu Gui wouldn’t react like this.

Chen Ping’an put down the engraving knife in his hand and picked up the demon-binding chain crafted from the whisker of the Nascent Tier flood dragon from the Flood Dragon Trench. He then stood up and made his way around the study table, slowly walking toward Tan Xue as he said, “Of course, it wasn’t me who personally killed this elderly Nascent Tier flood dragon, and even the demon-binding chain was crafted by someone else at Stalactite Mountain at the request of my friend. It was a great sword immortal who killed the elderly flood dragon, and it was another great sword immortal who requested someone craft the whisker into the demon-binding chain.

“The elderly flood dragon ruled over a small world and was on the verge of advancing to the Unpolished Jade Tier, yet it ultimately suffered the fate of death. Gu Can might not need to know this, but are you truly unaware as well? Are you unaware that Bamboo Scroll Lake is too small for you? Not only that, but it will only become smaller and smaller.”

Chen Ping’an stood in front of Tan Xue and continued, “You help Gu Can kill this person and kill that person, relishing the joy of slaughter and killing to your heart’s content. What are you seeking? Of course, there exists a strong affinity and resonance between your Great Dao and Gu Can’s Great Dao, so you naturally won’t bring harm to Gu Can.

“However, apart from following your whims and misbehaving all the time, don’t you also have the foolish dream of helping Gu Can solidify his status and then helping Liu Zhimao and Cyan Gorge Island conquer the entire Bamboo Scroll Lake? At that time, you’ll be better positioned to engulf half of Bamboo Scroll Lake’s water fortune, using this as the capital for your huge gamble of trying to advance to the Unpolished Jade Tier.”

Holding the demon-binding chain in one hand and viciously jabbing Tan Xue’s forehead with the index finger of his other hand, Chen Ping’an exclaimed, “The size of your bowl should limit how much rice you scoop. Do you not even understand such a simple principle?! Are you not afraid of stuffing yourself to death?!”

Fury spread across Tan Xue’s face, with its entire body shaking as it yearned to lash out with its claw and rip the heart out from the sickly Chen Ping’an’s chest.

However, it didn’t dare to act on its impulse.

One of the most important reasons was the pseudo-celestial tool hanging on the wall right now.

It naturally wasn’t due to friendship or goodwill.

In fact, the small catfish could vaguely detect a strange aura from Chen Ping’an at this moment, the aura of innate dominance.

In the beginning, Tan Xue had mistakenly attributed this feeling to the fated opportunity of the Great Dao from all those years ago.

Afterward, it had suddenly come to its senses one day and realized that this wasn’t the case — at least not entirely.

Because of Tan Xue’s young age and lack of experience, she was far inferior to her kin when it came to these matters. Wu Yi, the founder of the Yellow Court Nation’s Purple Sun Residence, was only a Golden Core Tier earth immortal, yet she had managed to see through Chen Ping’an straight away, determining that he was surrounded by karma borne from killing flood dragons.

Wu Yi was also unable to understand or fathom why this karma was so concentrated, and the only person who might be able to piece together the approximate truth was her father, the ten-thousand-year-old flood dragon who was now acting as the deputy mountain master of Cloud Drape Mountain’s Forest Deer Academy. However, it was a shame that he most definitely wouldn’t reveal his speculations to his daughter.

Chen Ping’an jabbed Tan Xue’s forehead again and again, exclaiming, “You don’t even know how to become a smart villain, so how are you so confident that you’ll be able to live a long life?! Why don’t you travel to the Sword Qi Great Wall to take a look? Just how many earth immortal sword immortals die in the battles that take place once every one hundred years?!

“Have you witnessed the sword skills of Wind Snow Temple’s Wei Jin? Have you seen A’Liang being smashed back into the Majestic World by the Daoist second disciple’s punch? And have you seen A’Liang send the Daoist second disciple flying back into the Heavenly World in response? Have you seen Sword Immortal Zuo You annihilate the Flood Dragon Trench with a single sword strike?! Have you seen Du Mao, an Ascension Tier cultivator and the most powerful immortal of the Parasol Leaf Continent, meeting his end?!”

Chen Ping’an retracted his finger, coughing non-stop as he said in a hoarse voice, “No, you almost died after seeing just Liu Laocheng, an Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator.”

Tan Xue gritted its teeth as its embarrassment transformed into fury.

It didn’t try to conceal the growing killing intent in its golden eyes.

1. The name Tan Xue (炭雪) literally means charcoal (炭) and snow (雪). ☜