Unsheathed

There was no curfew in the small town, so Chen Ping’an was able to leave Clay Vase Alley at night before taking a slightly roundabout route to the Yang Family’s medicine shop.

After knocking on the door, it was opened by a bleary-eyed young boy, who was most likely Old Man Yang’s new disciple, one that had been brought up in Wei Bo’s latter.

“Has your master gone to bed?” Chen Ping’an asked in an apologetic manner.

“What do you think?” the young boy asked in a displeased manner.

Chen Ping’an didn’t know how to respond.

He had grown accustomed to the deceitful and indirect way that the people of Bamboo Scroll Lake liked to speak, and he was rather taken aback by the bullheaded young man.

“Why do you want to see my master? You sick?” the boy asked with slightly furrowed brows.

Chen Ping’an was rather amused to hear this, and he was silent for a moment before nodding as he replied, “I am indeed here for treatment.”

The young boy’s brows furrowed even deeper upon hearing this.

Under the moonlight, the young man’s cheeks were looking very gaunt and sallow, and it looked as if he wasn’t going to live for very long. The dialect that he spoke with indicated that he was a local resident, but the boy had never seen him before.

The young boy knew that his master didn’t like to make appearances, so he most likely wasn’t going to be willing to treat this sickly young man. In the wake of the recent debacle, the Yang Family’s medicine shop was struggling in terms of both reputation and business, having made enemies out of a bunch of the nearby locals.

As a result, almost everyone preferred to visit a medicine shop on Mooncake Alley instead, so the young boy and his senior sister barely had anything to do every day. Their master didn’t seem to care at all, remaining completely unbothered by the medicine shop’s struggling business.

Those in the young boy’s family had arranged a different job for him in the kiln supervision office, and his uncle had already sorted out a position for him, but he didn’t want to go as he didn’t want to have to interact with a bunch of officials and bow down to them every day.

Chen Ping’an could see that Old Man Yang had no intention of seeing him, so he decided to leave and visit again another time, but right as he was about to depart, a young woman emerged from inside. She was quite thin, and her complexion was slightly dark, but she had the makings of a fine beauty, and Chen Ping’an knew that she was also one of the disciples of Old Man Yang.

She was the senior sister of the young boy that Chen Ping’an had been speaking with this entire time, and she was once a kiln worker on Dragon Riding Alley. There were many customs and traditions surrounding kilns.

For example, women weren’t permitted to approach the dragon kilns, so Chen Ping’an didn’t know how she had managed to become a kiln worker, but he presumed that she had most likely been assigned some tough manual labor tasks as she wouldn’t have been allowed to man the kilns. These rules had been in place for generations, and they seemed to be even more effective than the rules of the ancestral halls governing the actions of cultivators.

The young woman’s voice was extremely coarse, like a blade being sharpened over a whetstone, and she said, “Master says that he can’t help you. He says that you’re free to visit him to chat in the future, but he won’t do any business with you.”

Chen Ping’an smiled as he nodded and replied, “Tell your master that I’ll visit another time.”

The young woman hesitated as she took a glance at the longsword that Chen Ping’an was carrying on his back, then asked, “Are you a pure martial artist?”

“Are you one as well?” Chen Ping’an asked.

The young woman offered no response.

“Where is Zheng Dafeng living at the moment?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“He likes to wander around in the prefectural city, and he doesn’t come to the shop often,” the young woman replied.

Chen Ping’an took a glance at her and the bleary-eyed young boy, then departed with his horse.

These two were most likely still unaware of exactly who their master was, how many sages of the Three Teachings had come to visit this shop in the past, and what it entailed to become Old Man Yang’s disciple.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but think back to a time when he had been just as oblivious.

As the young boy closed the door, he turned to his senior sister and complained, “I don’t like that guy. I feel a chill down my spine when I look at him.”

The young woman had had a very rough upbringing, replete with poverty and starvation, and her emaciation hadn’t been helped by all of the manual labor that she had performed as a kiln worker.

As a result, only now had she attained a figure comparable with that of the average mortal woman of her age. She was very quiet, and very rarely was she ever seen with a smile on her face. At the moment, she was watching in silence as Chen Ping’an faded away into the distance.

She was older than her junior brother and more mature in personality, so she had already begun to become aware that their master was no ordinary person. In no more than three years, she had already become a fourth tier pure martial artist, but in order to overcome her third tier bottleneck, she had resolved herself to die from the from the excruciating pain over taking the medicine in the vial, and only then was she able to break through her limits.

The entire time, her master had displayed not even the slightest bit of care, merely sitting and smoking his pipe. He couldn’t even have been referred to as a passive observer as he hadn’t even been observing her, insteading staring off into the distance the entire time in an absentminded manner.

After surviving her ordeal, she had struggled to her feet and wept into her hands in elation, feeling as if she had just conquered an almighty hurdle and accomplished a monumental achievement.

Old Man Yang took a glance at his overjoyed disciple while knocking the ashes out of his pipe, and he finally spoke for the first time as he said, “Compared with another young man, your mental fortitude is mediocre at best. Is that something worth celebrating over? That young man is not much older than you, and he was also a kiln worker. In fact, his childhood was even worse than yours, and he had no one to rely on but himself from a very young age.

“You’re delusional if you think that right now you have what it takes to reach the Mountain Summit Tier! Here’s a piece of advice for you: next time he scatters his martial fortune bequeathment, you can go kneel on the ground with a bowl to catch what he has discarded. You can’t even compare with him, yet you dare to go and ask Zheng Dafeng who Cao Ci is? You certainly are cocky for someone so young!”

Her master barely ever spoke to her, and whenever he did, what he said was always extremely hurtful.

The same applied to her junior brother, Shi Lingshan, but the difference between them was that he dared to complain about their master behind his back, while she didn’t.

Chen Ping’an led his horse to the edge of the small town, where Li Huai’s home was situated, and after stopping there for a while, he emerged from the alley, then paid a visit to the nearest mountain that he owned, True Jewel Mountain, which he had bought with just a single gold essence copper coin. He made his way onto the mountain summit on horseback, and from there, he cast his gaze toward the small town.

It was very late at night, so there were only four places in the small town that were still illuminated by lights, namely Fortune Street, Peach Leaf Alley, the county office, and the kiln supervision office. Nestled in the mountains to the northwest was the new prefectural city, which was still brightly lit like a radiant jewel in the night. Clearly, it was far more lively and bustling there than in the small town.

True Jewel Mountain was the smallest mountain in the west, and Chen Ping’an had purchased it for one simple reason: it was cheap.

At the time, he had planned to build a thatched cottage on True Jewel Mountain so it would be more convenient for him to visit the small town. True Jewel Mountain wasn’t far away from Clay Vase Alley, and it wouldn’t take him long to get from one place to another, even on foot.

Straddled atop his horse, Chen Ping’an watched as the outline of the small town steadily receded into the night. As a child, he had often entered the mountains to collect medicinal ingredients with a large basket on his back.

The first summer had been particularly tough. With the disproportionately large basket weighing down on his diminutive frame, Chen Ping’an had stumbled through the mountains while the rope straps of the basket dug into his shoulders, causing him searing pain. At the time, it had felt to him as if he were carrying his ancestral residence on his shoulders. That was the first time in his life that he had considered giving up.

He was just a weak little boy, and he could simply postpone his collection of medicinal ingredients until the next day. He would just have to get up earlier in the morning the next day so that he wouldn’t have to work under the sun. The young men in the small town that were tending to their fields had adopted a similar strategy to avoid having to work through the hottest part of the day.

Chen Ping’an gently exhaled as he scaled back down True Jewel Mountain on horseback.

Wide and smooth paths had been created, connecting all of the mountain summits, so it was nowhere near as arduous as it had been to traverse through the mountains.

Even with these paths established, it was going to take quite some time to traverse from True Jewel Mountain to Downtrodden Mountain as the former was situated in the far east, while the latter was nestled among the mountains in the south.

On top of that, Chen Ping’an was traveling at a very slow and leisurely pace, seemingly wanting to see more of the scenery along the way, and he often stopped to rest or traveled on foot while leading his horse behind him.

Hence, by the time he entered the territory of Downtrodden Mountain, it was already a day and two nights later, and the journey would’ve taken even longer had it not been for the fact that Qu Huang was far faster than the average horse.

While riding atop Qu Huang, Chen Ping’an would occasionally squeeze its belly gently between his legs, and whenever he did this, Qu Huang would speed up as it galloped along the path, leaving a trail of hoof marks in its wake, which Chen Ping’an would turn to look at.

He had done this quite often in the past few years, both to entertain himself and as a form of relaxation.

In the eyes of Zeng Ye, Ma Duyi, and Gu Can, Chen Ping’an had many strange idiosyncrasies.

For example, he would crouch down and use a stone to draw a go board onto the ground, using which he would study the same few positions over and over again, or play a game of connect five with himself.

As Chen Ping’an made his way deeper into Downtrodden Mountain, he knew that Wei Bo had to have detected his presence by now, but he didn’t make an appearance.

At the moment, in addition to the Dragon Spring Prefecture, Dragon Whisker River, and Iron Talisman River, even Embroidered Flower River and the manor of the female ghost in the red wedding dress all fell within the territory of the Northern Mountain. Wei Bo had become an extremely authoritative figure high up on Cloud Drape Mountain, particularly in the eyes of Qi refiners.

Wei Bo’s failure to make an early appearance was unexpected, but within reason.

In the beginning, Wei Bo and Chen Ping’an hadn’t shared a very strong bond. It was only thanks to A’Liang that they gradually became friends, and even then, they weren’t very close friends. Hence, Wei Bo could do as he pleased and take Chen Ping’an on tours of the Northern Mountain’s territory or even grant him a talisman from the Northern Mountain God Temple.

However, their relationship had since deepened, to the point that they could almost be considered allies, and that required them to maintain some distance between one another in order to avoid arousing suspicions of collusion. Even if it were only for show, this was something that they had to do in order to appease the Great Li Empire.

After all, Wei Bo was the first formal god of the Five Mountains instated by the Great Li Empire’s imperial court, so it was clearly inappropriate for him to collude with Chen Ping’an to help him secure mountains from the Great Li Empire at the lowest possible prices. Even if Wei Bo were willing to completely disregard the Great Li Empire’s feelings on the matter to help Chen Ping’an, Chen Ping’an wouldn’t dare to accept such a favor.

As opposed to getting rich overnight, Chen Ping’an much preferred to maintain a long and fruitful friendship with Wei Bo.

On top of that, Wei Bo had proven himself to be quite thoughtful and reliable.

Otherwise, Chen Ping’an wouldn’t have sent so many letters to Cloud Drape Mountain over the years.

Finally, Chen Ping’an arrived at the foot of Downtrodden Mountain just before first light.

An archway had been constructed at the entrance of the mountain, but there was no plaque hanging from it at the moment. There should’ve been a mountain god plaque hanging from the mountain god temple on the summit of Downtrodden Mountain, but unfortunately, the mountain god that had once been the kiln supervision official had fallen upon some hard times.

Even though he was the mountain god, it was as if he were an outsider living on Chen Ping’an’s property, and his relationship with Wei Bo was also quite a sour one. On top of that, there was a tenth tier martial artist living in the bamboo building, as well as that giant, black python that often roamed the mountain.

The inscriptions that Li Xisheng had made on the walls of the bamboo building with the Wind and Snow Awl had also caused the entire mountain to sink down slightly, and the mountain god temple was the most severely affected.

As a result of all of this, the mountain god temple on Downtrodden Mountain was the one that was faring the worst among the three mountain god temples of the Dragon Spring Prefecture, and its mountain god was not very well-liked by anyone.

Wei Bo slowly made his way down the mountain, while Shi Rou trailed along behind him from afar.

Chen Ping’an got down from his horse, then smiled as he asked, “Where are Pei Qian and the others?”

A look of schadenfreude appeared on Wei Bo’s face as he replied, “I intentionally withheld your whereabouts from them, so those three still think that you’re returning to the Dragon Spring Prefecture from the Red Candle Town route. Right now, I’m sure they’re still waiting for you there.

“As for Zhu Lian, he’s been wandering around the prefectural city these past few days. He told me that he stumbled upon a diamond in the rough that he’s confident that he can polish to at least the Vajra Body Tier, and he wants to offer him to you as your homecoming present.”

Chen Ping’an and Wei Bo walked alongside one another, while Shi Rou continued to follow along in the distance, having exchanged a nod with Chen Ping’an as a mutual greeting.

“Sorry for repeatedly delaying my mountain purchases,” Chen Ping’an said in an apologetic manner.

Wei Bo smiled as he replied, “The deal almost fell through around the end of the eleventh year of Yong Jia. The Great Li Empire’s imperial court declared that the immortal ferry station on Ox Horn Mountain wasn’t fit to be sold to cultivators and should instead be claimed by the Great Li Empire’s military, and that was already a clear sign that they wanted to revoke the deal.

“At the very most, they would’ve only sold you and me a fringe mountain or two as some form of token compensation, the type that wouldn’t have been of much use. It wasn’t really appropriate for me to try and insist on seeing the deal through, but all of a sudden, the Great Li Empire’s Ministry of Rites put that matter on hold.

“After the first month of the new year, the officials of the Ministry of Rites returned to the Dragon Spring Prefecture, having had their fill of the festivities, and they suddenly changed tact, telling me that they were willing to wait. I presumed that you were most likely successfully wrapping things up in Bamboo Scroll Lake around that time.”

“I was indeed wrapping things up, but it was far from successful,” Chen Ping’an replied with a wry smile.

Wei Bo took a glance at Chen Ping’an’s sickly appearance, then chuckled, “I can tell. If you were a mortal, I’d be worried that you could fall dead at any moment. I bet Pei Qian and the others wouldn’t even recognize you.”

Chen Ping’an scratched his head as he sighed, “Even after finalizing the mountain purchases, I still have a bunch of debt that I have to repay in Bamboo Scroll Lake.”

Wei Bo smiled as he said, “Ultimately, that’s just a matter of money. At the very least, that’s much better than constantly suffering through self-doubt and self-blame, is it not?”

“That’s true,” Chen Ping’an replied with a nod as a smile also appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, Wei Bo said, “I have no money to lend you. All I have is my empty status as the Northern Mountain God. Having said that, if you can use that status to swindle some immortal currency, then feel free to keep it as a reward for your efforts.”

“I can’t do something like that,” Chen Ping’an chuckled as he gently rubbed his hands together.

Wei Bo faltered slightly upon hearing this. It seemed that this was no longer the Chen Ping’an of old. It felt like the current Chen Ping’an really would be willing to take him up on that offer and scour for money under the banner of the Northern Mountain God!

With that in mind, Wei Bo hurriedly patted Chen Ping’an on the shoulder as he said, “You’re right, that would be far too embarrassing for you. What kind of friend would I be if I were to put you in such an embarrassing situation?”

Shi Rou was following the two of them from afar, and she had truly been given a massive fright upon first catching sight of Chen Ping’an at the entrance of Downtrodden Mountain.

His transformation over the past few years had been far too drastic.

Could it be that without Sui Youbian, Lu Baixiang, Wei Xian, and Zhu Lian by his side, he was forced to fend for himself in Bamboo Scroll Lake, and he had suffered extensive abuse at the hands of the cultivators of Bamboo Scroll Lake? Could it be that he was already very happy just to have been able to leave that place alive?

Even if that were the case, Shi Rou wouldn’t have looked down on Chen Ping’an for it. After all, she had heard about just how chaotic and lawless a place Bamboo Scroll Lake was from her conversations with Zhu Lian and Wei Bo over the years, so she knew that even if Zhu Lian had been by his side, it really wouldn’t have made much difference.

Liu Zhimao was already going to be far too much for them to handle, and that wasn’t even to mention the returning Liu Laocheng, the only Upper Five Tiers vagrant cultivator on the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

“Tell Pei Qian to come back,” Chen Ping’an said.

Wei Bo nodded in response with an amused smile, then called out, “Come back, Chen Ping’an has already returned to Downtrodden Mountain.”

A floating lotus leaf suddenly twirled around in the nearby stream, then vanished in a flash, following which Wei Bo’s voice rang out beside Pei Qian’s trio on that rooftop in Red Candle Town.

Pei Qian’s eyes widened in shock as she exclaimed, “Really?”

The little boy in azure was sunbathing on the rooftop, and he stroked his own chin as he said, “I think Wei Bo’s having us on.”

“Surely Mr. Wei wouldn’t lie about something like this,” the little girl in pink mused.

All of a sudden, Pei Qian sprang to her feet and clenched her fists before gently bumping them together as she exclaimed, “My master truly is amazing! He managed to sneak past us completely without our detection! How amazing is that!”

An amused smile appeared on the face of the little girl in pink, while the little boy in azure grumbled, “Amazing my arse! We waited here so many days for him for nothing! As soon as I see him, I’m going to ask for red packets from him, and I’m not taking no for an answer!”