Unsheathed

Guan Yiran was especially polite, welcoming, and sincere.

When Chen Ping’an mentioned sending Gu Can’s mother from Cyan Gorge Island to Dragon Spring Prefecture, Guan Yiran didn’t agree to his request straight away. Instead, he handled these official affairs in an official manner, saying that this could be either a big deal or a small deal. He wasn’t in a position to dictate this himself, and he needed to report these matters to Great General Su Gaoshan first.

Chen Ping’an naturally had no issues with this.

This was the way in which matters should be responsibly handled according to the rules.

If one were to blur the line between official matters and personal matters based on their own relationships, it would appear as if they were taking shortcuts and enjoying smooth-sailing relationships with everyone. These relationships would temporarily be like sweet wine. In reality, however, many hidden dangers would be littered along their path, perhaps rearing their ugly heads one day and causing absolute misery.

Guan Yiran said that Great General Su Gaoshan would give his reply within ten days or, at most, fifteen days. Regardless of what the great general’s reply was, he would endeavor to notify Chen Ping’an as soon as possible.

After discussing these official matters…

The two of them enjoyed some drinks together, with Chen Ping’an footing the bill and treating Guan Yiran.

Just like last time at the city gates of the Stone Brush Nation, the young cultivator from the Great Li Empire smiled and joked that people could owe him all kinds of things and not pay up, but even the heavens couldn’t owe him wine and not give it to him.

Even though Guan Yiran was the direct grandson of the Great Li Empire’s Pillar Guan Clan, things were as Chen Ping’an had guessed before. The more ambitious the descendants of officials and noble clans were, the more they would view rules and regulations with importance. If Gu Can had come here instead of Chen Ping’an, it was very likely that Guan Yiran wouldn’t have even opened the door for him.

In addition, Huang He and the others had indeed rambled on about many things to Guan Yiran recently, harboring ill intentions but not using any intricate or effective tactics. Guan Yiran had seen through them straight away. One had to realize that the Guan Clan had been a pillar force in the imperial court of the Great Li Empire for two hundred years, so members of the Guan Clan had seen these kinds of tactics far too many times before.

In fact, Guan Yiran felt like Huang He and the others still weren’t smart enough. Even if they could take advantage of Gu Can to obtain some short-term benefits, they would at the very least lose any chance of building a good relationship with him, Guan Yiran. Perhaps Huang He was aware of the gains and losses resulting from this decision, but the short-term benefits placed in front of him were far too enticing. Or perhaps he wasn’t aware of these things because he was completely unable to fathom the profound nature of Guan Yiran’s background. After all, Guan Yiran had never revealed his true identity to outsiders before.

However, just like how Chen Ping’an hadn’t revealed Liu Laocheng’s warning to Li Fuqu, Guan Yiran naturally wouldn’t use Huang He, White Fish Island’s Tian Hujun, and the others as topics for idle chatter regardless of how well he got along with Chen Ping’an.

Ten days passed, and a messenger flying sword flew from Pond Water City to Cyan Gorge Island. Guan Yiran told Chen Ping’an that Great General Su Gaoshan had personally agreed to allow Gu Can’s mother to return to Dragon Spring Prefecture via an immortal ship. However, she wasn’t allowed to bring too many immortal coins, nor was she allowed to take too many treasures from the secret chamber in Cyan Gorge Island.

At the same time, Chen Ping’an needed to forfeit his Peace and Safety Tablet in exchange, returning it to the Great Li Empire. Not only that, but he also needed to visit the offices of the Ministry of Rites to cancel his official records detailing his ownership of the Peace and Safety Tablet, meaning that he would comprehensively lose his status as a top-level cultivator of the Great Li Empire. This was the same as losing a powerful shield. If Chen Ping’an wanted to obtain another Peace and Safety Tablet in the future, he could only do so by accumulating enough merit.

Chen Ping’an accepted this condition without a shred of hesitation.

Over at the Spring Courtyard Mansion, it was as if Gu Can’s mother had been struck by a bolt of lightning when she heard this news. It was as if she were facing a terrible nightmare.

After calming down and composing herself slightly, she saw that both Chen Ping’an and Gu Can were remaining silent as if in tacit understanding. As if accepting her fate, she asked Chen Ping’an about what would happen to Gu Can, saying that she wouldn’t leave Bamboo Scroll Lake unless Gu Can left with her. She would rather die than leave Cyan Gorge Island by herself.

Gu Can looked toward Chen Ping’an.

“You can leave together. I can head to the mountains located to the south of Bamboo Scroll Lake by myself,” Chen Ping’an said.

“Will it be safe for my mother to return to Clay Vase Alley?” Gu Can asked.

Chen Ping’an nodded and replied, “Regardless of whether it’s Su Gaoshan or Guan Yiran, you can trust them if they’ve given their word. If you’re still worried, then I also hope that you can accompany your mother back to Clay Vase Alley. As long as you’re sincere, there’s still time to do some of these things.”

Gu Can fell deep into thought.

“Can we still return here in the future?” Gu Can’s mother asked in a timid voice.

“There’s a chance that you can, but I don’t dare to make any promises right now,” Chen Ping’an replied.

Afterward, she asked many questions pertaining to the details of returning to her hometown. Chen Ping’an answered them one by one, and it was clear that he had considered everything that Gu Can’s mother could think of. In fact, he had even considered many things that she hadn’t thought of at all.

Gu Can’s mother felt like there were daggers cutting at her heart, but Chen Ping’an’s ability to answer her questions made her feel slightly more at ease.

She was able to take with her a portion of the Spring Courtyard Mansion’s wealth. For example, she could take a huge sum of immortal coins, five or six maidservants from the residence, and three large boxes of calligraphy works, paintings, and ancient curios. She could further pick ten spirit tools and one immortal treasure from the secret chamber of Cyan Gorge Island.

Afterward, Gu Can’s mother was like an ant moving homes, filled with spirit and vigor as she emulated the nest-building sparrows of Clay Vase Alley.

Chen Ping’an didn’t pay any attention to these matters, and it was Gu Can who accompanied his mother the entire time.

In the end, Gu Can made his way to the mountain entrance to look for Chen Ping’an, saying that he planned to accompany his mother for her trip back to Clay Vase Alley. Otherwise, he couldn’t help but feel worried.

Chen Ping’an smiled and agreed to Gu Can’s request.

The two of them sat on small bamboo chairs personally made by Chen Ping’an as they basked in the warm winter sun.

“Aren’t you afraid of me leaving and never returning?” Gu Can asked.

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “I’ve already faced the scenario that I was most afraid of, so it’s very difficult to make me feel disappointed again.”

Holding in his hand the charcoal basket that Chen Ping’an had handed to him just then, Gu Can said, “I’m sorry.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. I was also preparing for the worst back then, and like I told you before, I have a ten-year promise with a girl. If I truly have to spend so many years in Bamboo Scroll Lake, then I’ll leave for a period of time to visit Sword Qi Great Wall and the Sword Qi Great Wall, truthfully telling her about my current state of affairs. I’ll then return to Bamboo Scroll Lake. What do you think she’ll say? Go on, it doesn’t matter if you leave for ten years or one hundred years as long as you truly return.”

Chen Ping’an turned around and continued, “I’ll say the same to you, but you might as well not return if you leave for too long.”

Gu Can nodded and replied, “I won’t. Believe me this one time.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response.

It was the end of the year, yet it hadn’t snowed a single time at Bamboo Scroll Lake.

One day, White Fish Island’s Tian Hujun instructed someone to moor a louchuan at Cyan Gorge Island. Gu Can’s mother boarded the louchuan with her six favorite maidservants as well as many boxes of goods.

Chen Ping’an stood at the bow of the ship with Gu Can.

Tian Hujun greeted them before disappearing and not appearing again. Perhaps she was reading the atmosphere and responding appropriately, or perhaps she was feeling guilty and too embarrassed to show herself.

“You’ve had to sacrifice so much again for this matter,” Gu Can said softly.

Chen Ping’an held his charcoal basket and said, “I was beaten up many times when I helped your family fight for water late at night before. In fact, many rumors were made up about me after I went to work in the kilns but still returned to the small town to help your family work in fields in my spare time. These rumors were reprehensible and almost made me suffer a mental collapse. The pain I felt back then was no less than parting way with some external wealth. In fact, the pain I felt back then was even worse and more difficult to endure. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it felt like I would be wrong regardless of whether I helped your family or not.”

In reality, Gu Can couldn’t care less about the comments of these barb-tongued women. He gently nudged Chen Ping’an with his shoulder and revealed, “Let me tell you a secret, Chen Ping’an. Back then, I always felt like it wouldn’t be a bad thing if you truly became my father. If any other man dared to enter my home, however, I would have pissed in their rice bowl and scooped shit into their rice vat.”

Chen Ping’an’s expression instantly became dark, and he forcefully smacked Gu Can on the back of the head.

Gu Can grinned and said, “I’m just joking, don’t take it seriously.”

However, his expression became slightly downcast as he continued, “To tell you the truth, I genuinely have zero impression of my dad. I don’t know what to say to him even if I see him in the future.”

Chen Ping’an sighed and said, “Just take things slowly.”

Guan Yiran personally welcomed them when they arrived at Pond Water City, and he enjoyed a hearty conversation with Chen Ping’an after he disembarked the louchuan. This caused Tian Hujun, who was staying in a room on the top level of the ship, to feel slightly surprised.

Gu Can bid farewell to Chen Ping’an, saying, “Rest assured, I’ll return very soon. Perhaps you can even leave Bamboo Scroll Lake sooner than you anticipated and do what you need to do.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response and watched them walk to the White Jade Plaza of the Pond Water City’s Fan Clan. There was an immortal ship personally dispatched by Su Gaoshan waiting for them there, and there was a Golden Core Tier cultivator keeping guard along with two accompanying cultivators.

The entire northern region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent belonged to the Great Li Empire now, so the immortal ship actually wouldn’t face too much danger even if it weren’t guarded by a Golden Core Tier earth immortal.

The immortal ship slowly rose into the sky.

Chen Ping’an retracted his gaze, and Guan Yiran, who was standing beside him, smiled and said, “I only heard about your deeds back then, and I was simply aware that there was a strange bookkeeper on Cyan Gorge Island. However, I didn’t pay too much attention to these things. After discovering that the bookkeeper was actually you, I picked up some recent reports from Willow Catkin Island and also requested some intelligence reports from the Green Ripple Pavilion. After taking a deeper look into things, I must say that you’re using the least efficient method possible.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, “To polish bricks into mirrors and to treat thick snow as food — what if I truly succeed?”

“If this weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have dared to muster up some courage to write another letter to the great general to hurry him up,” Guan Yiran said. “I’m not asking you for a reward, nor am I trying to praise myself. Rather, I still feel a lingering sense of apprehension even now. You might not be aware of the great general’s temperament, so let me tell you this.

“The first lieutenant whom I served under can be regarded as a general who wields genuine power and influence now. Both he and my current superior like to snap and glower at us all the time, and they’re always able to nitpick problems with us like parents-in-law nitpicking their son-in-law. When they see the great general, however, it’s as if they’re mice coming across a cat. They’re all more obsequious than the other, and they don’t become embarrassed at all as they heap praise onto the great general.

“So, I have to ask you for one or two pots of wine to soothe my nerves.”

Chen Ping’an laughed heartily and enjoyed some drinks with Guan Yiran and his friends. All of the wine was provided by Guan Yiran, and the poor cultivators from the army simply asked the Fan Clan for some snacks to go along with the wine. Because of the rules and regulations of the army, no one dared to indulge themselves and feast on meat and seafood even though they were guarding mountains of gold and silver. It was only thanks to Guan Yiran’s relationship with Chen Ping’an that they were able to enjoy this rare treat and scrounge as much as they could from the charitable idiot.

They didn’t hold back at all, and a sturdy accompanying cultivator called Yu Shanfang complained incessantly, saying that the stinky Guan Yiran was a pretty boy who had simply been born into a good life. Yu Shanfang had enjoyed an equal standing with Guan Yiran back at the prefectural city of the Stone Brush Nation, but he had now become a subordinate of Guan Yiran. He said that he wasn’t willing to accept this. Guan Yiran bobbed his head and smiled, telling Yu Shanfang to hit him if he was dissatisfied.

In the end, Yu Shanfang hesitated for a long time before throwing a feeble punch that gently touched Guan Yiran’s shoulder. He then roared with laughter and turned his fist into an open palm, lightly stroking Guan Yiran. He said that Great General Guan was a petty person, not being very good at killing enemies but showing exceptional talent at holding grudges. As such, how could he dare to hit Guan Yiran?

Chen Ping’an smiled and drank wine as he watched the comrades-in-arms laughing and joking with each other.

Guan Yiran spoke about an interesting encounter at the Stone Brush Nation.

In fact, this could be regarded as an embarrassing story about him and his companions.

Over at the prefectural city, there was surprisingly a pedantic old scholar who had just moved in from the capital. It was said that his clan was very big and powerful in the past, yet the two most recent generations had performed badly and were far inferior to their elders and ancestors. In fact, even the local officials in the prefectural city of the Stone Brush Nation hadn’t paid much attention to his arrival. In any case, the pedantic old scholar had been unwilling to put up the door gods of the Great Li Empire no matter what.

Yu Shanfang had angrily marched over with some soldiers because of this, yet he had seen something that he was still unable to forget even after all this time.

In fact, Yu Shanfang was still sighing with emotion as he talked about this matter, taking a large swig of wine as he did so.

On that day…

A nearly blind old man was sitting upright by himself in the main hall of his residence, wearing an old azure robe that had been washed so many times that it was almost greyish-white instead.

He was unable to see the armored soldiers of the Great Li Empire clearly with his poor vision, but the clanking of their armor and the thud of their footsteps were both sounds from the battlefield that could even instill fear in the hearts of the prefectural overseers of the Stone Brush Nation.

To the surprise of Yu Shanfang and his dozen or so elite soldiers, however, the old scholar spoke fluently using the official dialect of the Great Li Empire before they could even open the door, chuckling coldly, “Is this how Cui Chan has taught you to expand the empire and conquer the world?! Is this how Qi Jingchun taught you to act according to the principles?! The heavy cavalry of the Great Li Empire is truly very impressive! So this is the result of the Great Li Empire listening to the teachings of Mountain Cliff Academy for one hundred years!”

The old man in Confucian robes suddenly smacked the table, widening his eyes as much as he could as he glowered at the military officer and soldiers of the Great Li Empire and exclaimed, “I’m interested to see just how many years this arrogant and shitty Great Li Empire can run rampant for!”

The old man stood up and pointed at the armored elite soldiers of the Great Li Empire, angrily scolding and berating them.

Yu Shanfang felt extremely frustrated and stifled, yet neither he nor the other soldiers drew their blade from the beginning to the end. In fact, they didn’t even rebut or threaten the old scholar.

They left the old scholar’s residence just like that, and they even prohibited other people from disturbing this residence.

After learning of this, Guan Yiran personally wrote a letter to Su Gaoshan, asking him if they could make an exception to the rules and allow this residence to not display the door gods of the Great Li Empire’s Yuan Clan and Cao Clan.

In reality, Guan Yiran didn’t have high hopes for this. After all, no one dared to challenge the iron rules of the Great Li Empire.

However, Su Gaoshan brutally scolded Guan Yiran in his reply letter, saying that the Stone Brush Nation was already a vassal state of the Great Li Empire. That being the case, should they not respect scholars like this? If they didn’t respect these scholars, then would they perhaps run off to respect cowards like Han Jingling or trash like those from the Huang Clan?

Su Gaoshan gave a clear response, allowing the old scholar to not put up the door gods of the Great Li Empire. If the imperial preceptor questioned this, Su Gaoshan would take full responsibility for the decision. In fact, he would maintain his position even if this matter were elevated to a higher level.

Su Gaoshan also said that if Guan Yiran were a man, then he should go to his great-grandfather and put in some good words for him if the imperial preceptor truly ended up holding a grudge against him. He should also ask his great-grandfather to speak to the imperial preceptor, and perhaps the imperial preceptor would calm down and become less angry.

Chen Ping’an silently listened to all of this.

In the end, Guan Yiran leaned back into his chair and looked at Chen Ping’an, saying, “I feel like we can have more of these kinds of scholars. What do you say, Chen Ping’an?”

Chen Ping’an nodded and replied, “The more the better.”

Guan Yiran smiled and raised his wine bowl, saying, “Only you and I can be regarded as semi-scholars here, and crude martial artists like Yu Shanfang don’t understand shit. Come, come, come, let’s have a toast, just the two of us.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and raised his wine bowl, toasting Guan Yiran without any notion of who had a higher or lower status. “A toast to the two of us.”

Yu Shanfang spat and shuffled closer to his other companions, saying loudly, “Us heroes from the border regions should also have a toast together. Let’s ignore these jealous scholars.”

They also clinked wine bowls, with crisp ringing sounds reverberating around the table.

In the end, everyone became slightly drunk. After taking Chen Ping’an to the entrance of the residence by himself, Guan Yiran’s eyes cleared up a little as he stood in the cold night breeze of winter.

“You shouldn’t become involved in the matters affecting the general direction of Bamboo Scroll Lake, at least not in the short term,” Guan Yiran warned. “Even I don’t have the right to obtain and read some of the documents pertaining to you, and to tell you the truth, I even went as far as to especially send a messenger flying sword to my clan in the capital to inquire about this matter. The reply was very ambiguous and filled with mysteries, and I was well aware of what this implied. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but…”

Chen Ping’an was already nodding, and he said in amusement, “By the looks of it, you’re only saying this because you haven’t had enough to drink. Otherwise, you would have only said the first sentence, and you wouldn’t have needed to tell me the rest.”

Guan Yiran patted Chen Ping’an’s shoulder and remarked, “Good one, you said this yourself, so you owe me some more wine now.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, “When the dust settles and when you get promoted, I’ll invite you for a drink to celebrate your promotion.”

Guan Yiran smiled and replied with a nod.

Everything was communicated wordlessly.

Guan Yiran would naturally be glad if Chen Ping’an visited him often in the future, but this would go against many taboos of the imperial court, and it would result in many negative side effects for both of them.

However, Guan Yiran could only keep these words to himself. Since he viewed Chen Ping’an as a friend, he needed to accept these risks and make these sacrifices. Otherwise, was he truly just being greedy and only eyeing Chen Ping’an’s immortal wine? As the future clan leader of a pillar clan in the Great Li Empire, was he lacking any wine? What he was lacking was a friend whom he acknowledged and approved of.

However, Guan Yiran was even happier since Chen Ping’an could understand the matters through his first sentence and mention the dust settling.

It was necessary for true friends to enjoy wine together, but life didn’t always go according to plan, and there would always be displeasing things that happened. If one could find a good friend who they were willing to go through thick and thin for, then that would naturally be the best. Even with no wine bowl in their hand, it would feel as if they were drinking fine wine.

The young man in azure cotton robes slowly walked along the quiet and deserted streets.

Looking at the skinny figure of Chen Ping’an, Guan Yiran was reminded of that skinny and sunken face.

Guan Yiran felt a little sad for Chen Ping’an for no apparent reason, yet he also felt like his friend was actually quite free and unfettered.

Perhaps genuine swordsmen would all be like this. They would drink to their heart’s content during banquets, but they would still walk along the streets alone once the banquets drew to a close.