Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an visited a dog meat shop in the city, and this was his second time coming here. In reality, Chen Ping’an didn’t like eating dog meat at all. To be exact, he had never had dog meat in his life.

However, the shop also sold other food, and the outsider who didn’t eat dog meat sat by himself at a table, not drinking wine either and speaking with an accent when he used the official dialect of the Stone Brush Nation. The neighboring tables were all feasting on piping hot stewed dog meat, clinking wine cups again and again as they did so. This caused the young man in azure cotton robes to stick out like a sore thumb.

Thankfully, the shop that had existed for more than one hundred years and been passed down through several generations didn’t discriminate against its customers. An old man worked at the counter, his son worked as the chef, and his young grandson was said to be a little scholar renowned in the nearby streets. Thus, people often joked about this shop disappearing in the future, to which the humorous old man and the expressionless chef would simply reply that this was fate, and that they could do nothing about it.

However, a slight sense of pride would appear on the unsmiling chef’s face whenever he heard these teasing remarks. Their family was finally blessed with a smart child who had hopes of achieving success in the imperial examination in the future, so what in the world could be more fortunate than this?

The world was chaotic right now, but there would eventually come a day when chaos subsided and peace returned.

The dog meat shop in the alley was packed as always tonight, a reflection of their booming business. Even though the northern barbarians of the Great Li Empire had breached their city during the summer of last year, few people had died as a result, and the army of the Great Li Empire had quickly left and continued to march south. Only a few barbarians fluent in the official dialect of the Stone Brush Nation had stayed behind to oversee the officials of the prefectural city, though they seldom showed themselves in public.

The lack of violence and the relatively smooth takeover by the Great Li Empire was largely thanks to the cowardice of the prefectural overseer. He had fled with his treasures and valuables, and it was said that he had even left behind his official seal. After changing into azure Confucian robes, he had fled late one night long before the arrival of the Great Li Empire’s heavy cavalry, secretly leaving the city and fleeing far away under the protection of his private guards. He had directly fled south, and it was clear that he had no intention of returning to the imperial court to serve as an official.

In addition, an extremely tanned and mute young boy was working as a shop attendant in the dog meat restaurant, and the skinny young boy was responsible for welcoming the customers and serving them food and water. He didn’t seem clever at all.

It was said that he was a refugee who had fled here from the border, and the kindhearted owner had decided to take him in as a shop attendant. More than half a year had passed, yet the young boy was still as unlikeable as always, with most of the regular customers of the shop not liking to interact with him.

It was late at night, and many of the customers had already finished eating and left. However, the shop was still filled with the fragrance of dog meat.

Chen Ping’an sat near the entrance and asked for a pot of local wine. The old shopkeeper was drinking with a table of regular customers, clearly drunk, with his face flushed bright red as he talked about his precious grandson. Whenever he talked about his grandson, the old man who could only drink half a liter of wine would immediately gain the ability to drink two or three times more. As he drank, he reminded himself that he couldn’t charge his customers less simply because he was drunk.

The world was chaotic right now, and it had become much more difficult to buy dogs regardless of whether it was in the prefectural city or in the nearby villages. There were also fewer customers than before, and the customers who visited had much less silver in their pockets. As such, it was very important for them to keep on top of the finances. They needed to spend a huge sum of money for their grandson’s education, and they couldn’t cheap out lest their grandson be looked down on by his classmates.

Scholarly students all needed to have face.

The tanned and skinny young boy was still busy with work, cleaning up a table with his back to Chen Ping’an.

When Chen Ping’an finished his dishes and two bowls of rice, he asked for a few extra dishes of snacks to enjoy together with his wine. He didn’t drink much, but his chopsticks never stopped, so it wasn’t long before he almost finished the dishes of snacks as well.

Chen Ping’an suddenly called the name of the tanned and skinny young boy, grabbing his attention and asking, “I need to treat a guest in a moment, so apart from free-range chickens, are there any freshly caught carp in the water vat in the backyard?”

The tanned young boy nodded in silence and indifference.

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “Then tell the chef that he can start cooking. My friend will arrive when he finishes. Oh, that’s right, tell him to cook some bamboo shoot roasted pork as well.”

The tanned young boy nodded again, walking to the backyard and gesturing to the man who was sitting in the kitchen and resting. The man had only just sat down for a breather, so he smiled and cursed before standing up to kill a chicken and prepare a fish. He needed to work again, but which business didn’t like to make money?

There was a complicated expression on the tanned young boy’s face as he looked at the man walking over to the water vat, and in the end, he silently left the kitchen and walked to the chicken pen to catch the largest chicken.

The man laughed and scolded him, saying that he was saving this nutritious chicken for his son. Hearing this, the tanned young boy returned to the chicken pen to grab the smallest chicken. The man was still dissatisfied, saying that even if the customers didn’t notice a difference in the size of the dishes, those who ran businesses still needed to remain honest and fair.

He directly went to the chicken pen to grab a relatively large chicken, handing it to the tanned young boy to prepare. The young boy was quite adept at this task already. Meanwhile, the man went to catch a lively carp from the water vat.

The tanned young boy shot a glance at the dog cage in the corner before quickly retracting his gaze.

The first dish, braised river carp, was brought to Chen Ping’an’s table.

The tanned young boy saw that the customer’s friend was still yet to arrive.

Chen Ping’an said that he would wait for a little longer, and that his friend would arrive when the second dish was served.

However, the tanned young boy saw that the customer’s friend still hadn’t arrived even after he served the bamboo shoot boaster pork and the onion and ginger chicken.

The tanned young boy was just about to leave.

However, the sickly young man in azure cotton robes suddenly smiled and said, “The dishes have all arrived, so you can sit down now.”

There was a baffled look on the tanned young boy’s face.

There was only one other table of customers left in the dog meat shop, and the old shopkeeper was already slurring his words as he continued to encourage his customers to drink. Of course, he didn’t hold back on drinking either, and it was very likely that he had already forgotten about his initial thought of not giving these customers a discount.

“I gather that you’re already aware that I’ve seen through your disguise and guessed your identity,” Chen Ping’an said to the tanned young boy. “At the same time, you’ve also guessed that I’m a cultivator. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have taken a detour around me when bringing food and wine to the customers, whether intentionally or not. You wouldn’t have purposely avoided my gaze either.

“Since this is the case, let me treat you to a meal. In any case, this is only a minor matter. The food and wine were all brought over by you, so if anyone were to be scared, it should be me instead of you. What are you afraid of?”

The tanned young boy was extremely hesitant.

Chen Ping’an glanced at the table in the distance and said with a faint smile, “You don’t need to worry. The old shopkeeper is already drunk, and those customers are all ordinary people who won’t be able to hear our conversation.”

The tanned young boy sat down opposite Chen Ping’an, but he didn’t pick up the chopsticks to eat.

Chen Ping’an picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a piece of river carp, leaning forward and placing the meat in the tanned young boy’s bowl. He then grabbed some roast pork and chicken and also placed them in the tanned young boy’s bowl.

The tanned young boy frowned deeply as he stared at the strange outsider in front of him.

Chen Ping’an grabbed himself some vegetables after doing this, scooping some rice into his mouth and chewing very carefully. He then asked, “How many people are you planning to kill? The chef is definitely one target, and the old shopkeeper who’s skilled at catching dogs is most certainly a target as well. He’s bought many dogs from the markets before, and he’s also stolen many dogs from the villages. So, what about that little child who’s still in school? Are you going to kill him as well? And what about the regular customers who always eat dog meat here? How many of them have you remembered? Are you going to kill them as well?”

The tanned young boy clenched his hands into fists and placed them on his knees, with his eyes ice-cold and his voice low as he asked in a hoarse voice, “Are you going to stop me?”

“What will you do if I stop you? And what will you do if I don’t stop you?” Chen Ping’an retorted.

“I’ll dare to kill you if you dare to stop me!” the tanned young boy replied in a low voice.

Chen Ping’an held his chopsticks in one hand and smiled and gestured at the tanned young boy with his other hand, telling him to eat the food in his bowl first. “Let’s not worry about whether your measly cultivation base is enough to kill me along with everyone else first. Why don’t we eat and drink our fill before trying to fight to the death. Based on the current market price, the dishes on this table should cost at least seven or eight silver coins, right? And this is already because this dog meat shop is relatively fair in its pricing. If this were a restaurant on the busier streets of the prefectural city, they would probably dare to charge one tael of silver plus five silver coins for these dishes. Moreover, they would tell their customers to either pay up or piss off.”

The tanned young boy stared intently at Chen Ping’an’s eyes. After a moment, he lowered his head and started to eat, not holding back as he grabbed meat and vegetables from the three dishes. If he were truly going to be vanquished by the cultivator in front of him today, then he should at least eat to his heart’s content before dying!

Chen Ping’an stopped eating once the young boy started to eat, and he simply poured the rest of the wine into his cup and took small sips from time to time. At the same time, he also ate the few remaining peanuts on one of the plates.

After Chen Ping’an finished drinking his wine and eating the snack dishes, he placed his hands inside his opposite sleeves and sat there just like that.

The tanned young boy wiped his mouth and put down his chopsticks.

“I can understand your feelings and your desire to kill people upon seeing them kill dogs and eat dog meat. However, I can’t accept such an outcome,” Chen Ping’an said slowly.

The tanned young boy chuckled coldly.

“This is because you have your own principles and reasons, and you’re even willing to sacrifice your life for the sake of these principles and reasons,” Chen Ping’an continued. “However, I still hope that you can learn more about the world. For example, you’ve eaten river carp, free-range chicken, and pork in this meal, and you’ll only eat more delicacies when you embark on the path of cultivation in the future. As an immortal who’s partly from the mountains, you’ll attend all kinds of banquets as long as you don’t die. You might be the guest, or you might even be the host. In any case, you’ll always have enough fish and meat to eat as long as it isn’t dog meat, right?”

There was a dazed expression on the tanned young boy’s face.

“Even if I weren’t here to stop you today, the cultivators accompanying the army of the Great Li Empire and overseeing this entire city would definitely hunt you down and kill you once you carried through with your plan,” Chen Ping’an said slowly. “Even if you successfully flee from this prefectural city, how many dog eaters will you kill in the future? You might kill ten or a few dozen today, so perhaps you’ll kill one hundred or one thousand in the future? In any case, you won’t feel any regret even if you die, am I right?”

The tanned young boy lowered his head.

“Since I’ve come across you already, I won’t allow you to kill anyone today,” Chen Ping’an said. “Perhaps you feel like I’m being unreasonable and relying on my power to bully you, but this doesn’t matter. Speaking reason is a very complicated and disliked matter in this world. In reality, things are the same both ways. You find the dog eaters unreasonable, and you’ll kill the old shopkeeper, his son, as well as the customers of this shop. However, your victims and the children who survive but are unable to attend school anymore will also feel like you’re being very unreasonable. Incredibly unreasonable. You should understand these simple principles before deciding to kill other people.”

The tanned young boy looked up.

The young man in azure cotton robes truly didn’t want to waste his silver coins by the looks of it, and he immediately picked up his chopsticks and started to eat upon seeing the tanned young boy stop eating. After eating a piece of roast pork, Chen Ping’an grabbed another piece of braised river carp.

Only after eating this did he say, “The reason I’m doing all this and saying all these things to you is because I can detect hesitation and conflict in your mind. You also feel like that detestable old man and chef actually have their good sides as well. You have to realize that I’ve come across many, many people before, and there are some humans who are less human than spirits like you who are working hard and trying their best to assume human form. In fact, some of them are even inferior to spirits like you. Far, far inferior. As such, I’m willing to treat you to this meal and also…”

Chen Ping’an smiled and retrieved a piece of loose silver, placing it on the table. He then retrieved a lesser heat coin and also placed it on the table, giving it a flick and having it stop close to the tanned young boy’s bowl. “Let me tell you a possibility. You can treat this lesser heat coin as something that I’m lending you, and it’s up to you whether you repay me or not in the future. If you decide to repay me, it doesn’t matter whether that’s in ten years or one hundred years.

“I know it will be very torturous, but you can suppress the pain in your mind and refrain from killing these people first. If you manage this, you’ll then be able to spend this money to save more of your kind in the future. There are a myriad of ways to go about this. For example, you can become an esteemed immortal in the eyes of a county magistrate first, and you can help the county magistrate resolve some minor but mysterious matters. After all, you won’t come across ‘unreasonable’ cultivators like me in small county cities, so you’ll be able to deal with all of the troublemaking ghosts and spirits. Taking this opportunity, you can persuade the county magistrate to prohibit the trade of dog meat in his jurisdiction…

“You can also become an extremely wealthy businessman in a region, and you can offer a very high price to buy all of the dogs in a prefecture or a province, forcing all of the dog meat shops to shut down… Of course, you can also cultivate earnestly and found your own force, establishing your own rules in a region measuring hundreds or even thousands of kilometers in radius. One of these rules can pertain to treating dogs with kindness…”

“Why are you doing this?” the tanned young boy asked.

Chen Ping’an thought for a moment before smiling and replying, “Even though I’m very disappointed in the world and very disappointed in myself, I suddenly understood something recently. I still need to speak reason regardless of how heavy the price of speaking reason is.”

“Is Mister a Confucian disciple?” the tanned young boy asked.

Chen Ping’an hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and replying, “I can’t be regarded as a Confucian disciple just yet. However, I am indeed a swordsman.”

The tanned young boy was slightly astonished.

“You can borrow more money from me if this isn’t enough. However, we’ll need to keep a clear record of your debts in the future.”

Chen Ping’an stood up slowly and continued, “Give this some careful thought. I don’t hope to see you return the lesser heat coin straight away. Even if you use some smarts and travel to a further prefectural city, I won’t interfere as long as you’re out of my sight and hearing. However, I’ll feel very happy to have treated you to this meal if you decide to embark on a new path. I won’t have wasted my money.”

Chen Ping’an left the dog meat shop and walked down the small alley by himself.

The tanned young boy suddenly ran out and chased up to Chen Ping’an, asking, “Mister, you said that I could borrow more money from you in the future, but you haven’t even told me your name or your hometown. How will I find you if I run out of money in the future?”

“Ah, is that so?”

Chen Ping’an stood still and scratched his head, replying, “I was simply being polite with you. After all, it doesn’t cost anything to extend such offers.”

There was a dazzling smile on the tanned young boy’s face.

After assuming human form, this was the first time that he had come across such a fated opportunity and smiled so happily.

Chen Ping’an patted the tanned young boy’s head and said, “My name is Chen Ping’an, and I’m traveling around the Stone Brush Nation right now. However, I’ll return to Bamboo Scroll Lake’s Cyan Gorge Island in the future. Remember to cultivate earnestly, okay?”

Chen Ping’an continued to walk forward.

“Mr. Chen, the old shopkeeper and his family are actually all good people, so I’ll definitely offer them a very, very high price, so high that they can’t reject my offer to buy the shop!” the tanned young boy shouted. “Afterward, the youngest child in their family can study earnestly in his own private school and scripture library, and they can also hire the best teacher around! After that, I’ll also return to the mountains to cultivate in earnest!”

With his back facing the tanned young boy, the young man in azure cotton robes who was carrying no sword yet claimed to be a swordsman simply raised an arm and gave a thumbs up.

In the end, the tanned young boy asked loudly, “Where is your sword, Mr. Chen?”

Chen Ping’an simply strode forward and replied, “In my heart.”

The young swordsman paused briefly before laughing heartily and adding one final remark before he left.

It was late at night, and only three words reverberated softly around the small alley.

“It’s extremely quick!”