Unsheathed

The three steeds left the provincial city three days after they arrived.

The young woman who had been wearing a veiled hat the entire time glanced back at the city walls of the provincial city, a complicated look in her eyes.

The Ma Clan’s imminent trouble was peacefully solved following the appearance of the young guest elder from Cyan Gorge Island as well as a trip to the governor’s manor.

A young child from the Ma Clan who had the aptitude to reach the fourth or fifth tier started to cultivate with an old immortal in the provincial city. He wasn’t an unofficial disciple, but rather a legitimate in-house disciple who needed to clearly record his name on the records of the imperial court.

This signified that as long as the child remained the disciple of a renowned cultivator, the Ma Clan would receive another endless stream of immortal coins. Of course, the child’s master wouldn’t use all of the immortal coins he received to pave a path for his disciple, but no matter what, it could be said that the child no longer needed to worry about other matters. The child would definitely receive some tangible benefits that belonged to themself.

Chen Ping’an didn’t say anything as he rode his horse.

Even Zeng Ye, someone who was relatively slow when it came to interpersonal matters, noticed the lack of familial care displayed by the clan leader and his wife toward their daughter, Ma Duyi, during his several days visiting the Ma Clan. They carefully asked about this and that, enquiring about Ma Duyi’s relationship with her master and force, asking about her cultivation base, and subtly probing whether the young guest elder from Cyan Gorge Island had a Dao partner yet…

Simply put, Ma Duyi’s parents only asked one or two surface-level questions about her sudden transition from a cultivator at Pine Wind Island to a cultivator at Cyan Gorge Island. However, just like the conversations and small talk that took place in banquets and official dinners, these questions were nothing more than necessary topics that held little actual importance. These questions were simply asked to refrain from appearing too uncaring and vulgar.

The relationship between Ma Duyi and her parents was now very distant. Perhaps Ma Duyi had left home for too many years, with her lack of cultivation talent greatly disappointing her old ancestor. She was only able to reach the fifth tier, and she could never manage to leave Bamboo Scroll Lake to return home and visit her clan, so due to the great distance between Ma Duyi and her parents, perhaps they felt like her newfound status was vastly different and too lofty now.

Or perhaps their clan was blessed with many descendants and children who were always running around and having fun beside them, so they naturally felt more attached to these children than their daughter who had traveled far away… There might be tens upon hundreds of reasons, but there was only a single reality.

No matter what an outsider said right now, their words would only be like a knife slicing through Ma Duyi’s heart. It would cause nothing but pain.

Thus, Chen Ping’an used his eyes to warn Zeng Ye during one of their breaks, telling the young boy to keep his mouth shut and not splurt out the words of consolation that he could barely keep in anymore.

Chen Ping’an didn’t put away the Fox Skin Beauty Talisman that Ma Duyi was residing in, allowing her to ride with them to the next destination and clear her mind.

Two days passed, and the expression in Zeng Ye’s eyes started to change. His appearance and voice remained unchanged, but a person’s eyes were a gateway to their soul. As such, a person’s eyes could greatly influence the way in which they were perceived by others.

Ma Duyi finally extracted herself from her state of despondency, most likely due to the fact that she found Zeng Ye’s current state quite interesting.

The yin soul of an errand worker from Cyan Gorge Island was starting to possess Zeng Ye’s body, and this process was slightly different from that of “inviting the possession of deities” and “opening the door to welcome spirits,” techniques that ordinary vagrant cultivators were skilled at.

As for the specifics of Zeng Ye’s technique, Ma Duyi naturally couldn’t discern anything.

They approached a village in the countryside.

They saw a hunchbacked old woman wearing simple and clean clothes, with the clothes not appearing tattered even though there were some patches.

She was returning from the stream after washing some clothes, limping slowly as she carried a large bamboo basket in her arms.

This was no easy task for an elderly villager such as her.

One would face many hardships in one’s life, and making few complaints despite a simple and hard life was already very difficult. To those living in poverty, the thought of living like a wealthy person seemed as difficult as ascending the heavens. However, wanting to live a comfortable and carefree life was even harder.

“Zeng Ye” jumped off his horse, stumbling as he sprinted over to the old woman. After arriving in front of her, he immediately fell to his knees and loudly kowtowed.

The old woman was at a complete loss, and she hurriedly put down her bamboo basket, not having any time to care about the clothes that she had just washed and whether they would collect any mud. She bent down with some difficulty and tried to help the unfamiliar young boy up, and she frantically asked in a local dialect that Chen Ping’an and Ma Duyi couldn’t understand, “What are you doing? What are you doing? There’s no need for this, oh, there’s no need for this…”

Later that night…

There was an additional Fox Skin Beauty in the old woman’s room, yet residing inside this body was actually the soul of a man. On the table was a pile of immortal coins that Chen Ping’an had left behind before leaving, with enough spiritual energy to last him twenty years.

This was enough time to look after the old woman and accompany her until her last moments.

After the three guests left, the old woman held hands with her “grandson” who had already left home for far too long, with both of them shedding tears as they sat opposite each other.

Three horses left along the small path of the village.

Zeng Ye’s soul was still a little unstable, and he needed to slowly meditate and breathe to remedy this problem.

The three horses left slowly.

Ma Duyi suddenly blurted, “That old woman was a good person, but she still shouldn’t have spoken to you like that after learning of the truth. It’s correct in principle to pay for a life with a life, but what has the misfortune suffered by her grandson got to do with you?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and said, “I feel like she should have said that. It was correct of her to do so.”

Ma Duyi suddenly humphed coldly and said with a look of annoyance, “Just look at that, even an old woman from some countryside village cherishes their child more than my cold-hearted parents!”

Chen Ping’an turned around and asked with a smile, “Are you angered to death? If so, then why don’t we return to the provincial city to take the immortal coins back? I can then help you scold your parents. Same rules as before. You draft up what to say, and I’ll say them when we get there.”

Casually riding on her horse, Ma Duyi turned to Chen Ping’an and huffed at his suggestion in disgust, replying, “In your dreams! As expected of a bookkeeper who’s lost his conscience and always thinks about making money.”

Chen Ping’an roared with hearty laughter.

Ma Duyi suddenly smiled and said, “Do you know why my parents chose this name for me? It’s because the midwife said with absolute certainty that I was going to be a chubby boy before I was born. However, my father waiting outside the door immediately became stupefied when he heard that I was a girl. He stomped his foot in anger and left, but he eventually returned in an angry and irritated state.

“My mother often told me about the first time my father saw me. My skin was smooth and jade-like, and I was extremely cute and not ugly like most other babies, so my father immediately laughed in delight when he saw me. Oh, that’s right, do you know why I’m called Ma Duyi? I’m asking you a question, Mr. Chen!”

Chen Ping’an smiled and shook his head.

Ma Duyi bobbed her head around like those teachers whom she found incredibly annoying during her youth, revealing, “Lofty in talent and diligent in study, proficient in movement and unparalleled on the path of the Great Dao, how wonderful!”[1]

“Shouldn’t it be ‘unparalleled in the world?’” Chen Ping’an asked.

Ma Duyi clutched her stomach and laughed loudly, replying, “Oh my, Teacher Chen, you’ve caught onto my bluff now?!”

“Okay, okay, okay, you’re the only smart person here,” Chen Ping’an said in exasperation.

Ma Duyi turned around and asked in a gentle voice, “Mr. Chen, why are you helping us like this?”

Chen Ping’an let go of the reins and wrapped his hands behind his head, murmuring, “Yeh, why am I doing this?”

Ma Duyi dazedly looked at Chen Ping’an’s slightly sunken cheeks. This had nothing to do with romantic feelings, and she was simply feeling a little heartbroken for him, so much so that the sadness lingering in her mind was quashed by this feeling.

The young man wearing the azure cotton robe clapped his hands and exclaimed, “I’ve got it!”

Ma Duyi looked on in curiosity.

The bookkeeper with a saber and sword by his waist was smiling widely in a rare display, and he exclaimed, “How wonderful! It’s because it feels wonderful!”

Ma Duyi also smiled upon hearing this, but she stubbornly said, “What kind of bullshit answer is this?”

Chen Ping’an placed his hands inside his opposite sleeves and warned, “If you continue to grumble and complain, be careful that I summon you back into the talisman.”

Ma Duyi wasn’t afraid at all, completely ignoring Chen Ping’an’s threat as she asked, “Where’s our next destination?”

Chen Ping’an smiled and squinted his eyes as he gazed into the distance, quietly murmuring, “It’s definitely going to be in the living world.”

“How wonderful!” Ma Duyi suddenly exclaimed in a loud voice.

“Indeed,” Chen Ping’an smiled and concurred.

The clip-clopping hooves gradually traveled further and further away from the sound of chickens and dogs in the countryside village.

The final and heaviest snowfall of the year arrived without warning.

Late one snowy and windy night…

They were already far, far away from the countryside village.

Ma Duyi was a yin entity, so she wasn’t afraid of the heavy snow at all. She was extremely relaxed and carefree as she recited famous poems, remarking that the heavy snow was like soaring gulls, where turning around they could see the gutters, attacking the faces of those who ventured out of their village…[2]

Chen Ping’an looked around several times as he rode on horseback, attempting to find a place where they could shelter from the wind and snow. He couldn’t help but grumble in a chattering voice, “How is this wind and snow attacking the face? More like wind and snow trying to freeze people to death…”

Ma Duyi grinned and asked, “How do you feel now, Teacher Chen? Is everything still wonderful?”

Chen Ping’an ignored her, shifting from a sitting position to a standing position on horseback and trying his best to peer into the distance. He finally discovered some vague specks of light at someplace in the distance after a while.

Chen Ping’an furrowed his brows slightly.

The three of them were returning the same way they had come, and Chen Ping’an had quietly memorized all of the places they had passed. This place shouldn’t have had any light.

Just as Chen Ping’an planned to brave the biting cold to continue forward and take a detour around the light source…

He discovered that the specks of light were seemingly moving at a slow speed. If nothing surprising happened, these specks of light would eventually cross paths with the three of them further down the road.

Chen Ping’an unexpectedly felt at ease upon realizing this. To lock onto them from such a great distance and to move in advance in anticipation of their encounter, these people most likely weren’t bandits or thieves. Thus, he didn’t need to worry as much if they were truly vagrant cultivators or spirits and ghosts.

Heaven and earth were vast, and there were times when staying alive wasn’t easy at all. However, seeking death would always be very easy.

Ma Duyi was slightly worried when she finally noticed the lights in the distance. “Mr. Chen, should we take a detour around them?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“There’s no need,” Chen Ping’an replied calmly.

Ma Duyi faltered upon hearing this.

Ma Duyi had most likely grown accustomed to Chen Ping’an’s agreeable nature after they left Bamboo Scroll Lake, so it was only at this moment that she recalled that Mr. Chen would be more stubborn and disagreeable than anyone else if he felt the need to be stubborn and disagreeable!

1. The character Du (笃) in Ma Duyi’s name corresponds to “diligent in study” (笃学), and the character Yi (宜) in her name corresponds to “wonderful” (宜哉). ☜

2. This is a line from Lu You’s poem, Heavy Snow in the New Year (开岁连日大雪). Lu You was a Chinese historian and poet of the Southern Song Dynasty. ☜