Unsheathed

The Flax Robe Sect’s intercontinental ship was constructed like a louchuan, largely identical to all of the small and medium-sized ships that Chen Ping’an had traveled on in the past. However, after it ascended into the heavens, it began to reveal that there was more to itself than met the eye.

A series of ethereal and illusory armorclad warriors appeared around the giant intercontinental ship, wading through the clouds as if they were dragging the ship along. As a result, the ship accelerated drastically, and its top speed was far superior to that of the Ceremony Mountain intercontinental ship that had also been traveling toward the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

Chen Ping’an had already removed Sword Immortal and his Sword Nurturing Gourd before putting them on the table, and whenever he wasn’t practicing his fist techniques, he would pull out bamboo slips and massage them as he looked out at the scenery from the observation deck.

At the moment, he was holding a yellow bamboo slip that read “There can only be clarity when there are no worries, so sever worries when they arise.” The words “clarity” and “sever” were particularly appealing to him.

Even though Cui Dongshan had given him a folded fan before his departure, he couldn’t bring himself to use it. Whenever he thought of using the fan, the image of Lu Tai fanning himself while laying on a wicker chair during their travels would surface in his mind, and he felt like he would be putting the fan to shame. He couldn’t imagine how awkward it would look for him to fan himself as Lu Tai had done.

Once the intercontinental ship left the Jewel Small World, it would temporarily dock at the ferry station at the Palace of Eternal Spring, north of the Great Li Empire’s capital. The Palace of Eternal Spring was a top-tier immortal abode of the Great Li Empire, occupied solely by female cultivators.

The empress had been cultivating there in seclusion ever since her fall from grace, and everyone in the Great Li Empire’s officialdom had thought that this would be a permanent fall for her, but to their surprise, she turned out to be the ultimate winner. One of her sons had been crowned as the new emperor, while her other son had been made the feudal lord of Old Dragon City and given the right to govern the temporary capital.

Following the passing of the late emperor, she had been “imprisoned,” but somehow, the best-possible outcome seemed to have fallen onto her lap without any effort on her part.

It was no wonder that people didn’t truly believe in the notion that one reaped what they sowed.

Unlike Gu Can and Pei Qian, Chen Ping’an didn’t like to write down his vendettas. If there were too many, then he wouldn’t be able to remember them clearly, and their significance would also be diminished.

During Chen Ping’an’s first long journey, the empress of the Great Li Empire had been so determined to kill him that she had sent a batch of the Great Li Empire’s top-tier assassins after him. If he hadn’t just so happened to have run into A’Liang, he would be long dead by now.

Of course, she had her reasons for doing this. Her son, Song Jixin, had suffered immensely at Chen Ping’an’s hands, having always been strangled to death by him on that rainy night on Clay Vase Alley.

Following his journeys through the Lotus Flower Blessed Land and Bamboo Scroll Lake, Chen Ping’an had a rough grasp on her mindset and motivations.

Clearly, the empress had already begun plotting back when she was at the height of her powers. Song He, whom she had kept in the capital by her side, had been responsible for winning over the officialdom for her, while Song Jixin had been sent to the Jewel Small World to secure as much fortune and as many fated opportunities for the Song Clan as possible.

If Song Jixin had perished in the Jewel Small World, she would’ve most likely shed some tears for him, but on the official records, Song Jixin had died shortly after birth, and his name, Song Mu, had already been removed from the Song Clan’s genealogy tree, so he would’ve only died a second time as far as she was concerned.

However, at the very least, half of the merits that Song Mu secured would be attributed to his mother, and her merits would naturally be attributed to her other son, Song He. This was something that even most high-ranking officials of the Great Li Empire were perhaps unaware of, but that didn’t matter as long as the late emperor, Cui Chan, and Song Changjing accepted this arrangement.

It was naturally a good thing that Song Jixin had managed to leave the Jewel Small World alive. Of course, that was only on the condition that he didn’t get too greedy and try to compete with Song He for the throne.

Hence, that chance encounter between Chen Ping’an and Song Jixin in the capital of the Great Sui Nation had been one that was completely uneventful and devoid of conflict.

Back when Song Jixin and Chen Ping’an were neighbors, the former had directed many veiled and unveiled insults at the latter.

However, aside from the incident in which he had tricked Chen Ping’an into revoking the vow that swore to his mother, there was no real bad blood between them. Of course, they didn’t like one another, but they were two people walking different paths that didn’t converge, so neither one would get in the other’s way.

As for the occasional insult here and there, those were completely inconsequential in places like Clay Vase Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley. Anyone who took such insults to heart would only be punishing themselves. As it turned out, it was precisely because Song Jixin had taken the hurtful words of the women in the small town to heart that he was now plagued by a multitude of inner demons that even immortals can’t eradicate.

It was nighttime as the intercontinental ship drew close to the capital of the Great Li Empire. Chen Ping’an sat on the railing of the observation deck, looking up at the moon and the stars as he drank in silence.

As a child, Chen Ping’an had been terrified of getting sick. Ever since he began picking medicinal herbs in the mountains to his stint as a kiln apprentice, he had always been extremely alert to any ailments that may have befallen him.

As soon as symptoms arose, he would immediately go to the mountains and pick medicine to treat himself. Liu Xianyang had once mocked Chen Ping’an for this, saying that he was even more delicate than the spoiled young mistresses on Fortune Street.

This fear of getting sick partially stemmed from the traumatic experience of witnessing his mother waste away into an emaciated shell of herself from illness before finally passing away, and on top of that, Chen Ping’an was terrified that if he died, then there wouldn’t even be anyone in this world to think of his parents.

Back then, his mother always told him that her illness didn’t hurt her, that it only made her frequently drowsy, so he had nothing to worry about.

Initially, he believed her, and it was only later that he came to realize that that wasn’t the case at all. His mother had simply gritted her teeth and endured the agony so that he would worry less and do less for her.

Many sections of the old blankets that she had used during her final days had been torn by her white-knuckled grip as she struggled not to show her pain.

In wealthy families, where food, clothes, and shelter were of no concern, it was always said that a child that matured early would be destined for great things.

However, so what if a child could mature early in an impoverished family? It would only mean that they would have to begin suffering earlier.

Back then, no one cared what Chen Ping’an was thinking as he stood on a stool to cook for himself and his mother, wearing a wide smile despite being choked to tears by the cooking fumes.

No one cared if he were scared of the dark or the stories of ghosts when he went to the immortal tomb on his own to pray and make wishes. No one cared if the prayers that he directed toward the deities and Bodhisattvas were earnest or not.

Not one recalled how his mother had gritted her teeth as she laid in her bed, doing all her might to suppress her agonized screams, only for some faint sound to still escape from her lips despite her best efforts.

At the time, Chen Ping’an had been crouched on the ground outside the door, looking as pale as a sheet. He pressed his hands firmly over his ears, unable to bear the sound of his mother’s suffering, and he didn’t dare to cry for fear that his mother would realize that her ruse had been exposed.

Not all sorrow and joy could be shared, even between the closest of people.

Indeed, maturing early was not necessarily a good thing.

During the night that he and Pei Qian spent together in his ancestral residence prior to his departure, the latter suddenly awoke with a start, only to discover that her master was weeping in secret.

She didn’t say anything as she stared at her master in silence.

She felt as if she could see the shadow of a young boy crouched down in the corner, facing the medicinal jars.

That child was terrified of growing up, terrible of what tomorrow would bring. He wanted nothing more than to be able to go back in time to when his family was whole.

In the end, Chen Ping’an had noticed Pei Qian staring up at him, and he gently patted her on the head as he reassured, “I’m fine, just a little sad that my mother couldn’t see me as I am today.

“My mother was always really beautiful whenever she smiled, and even the women with the sharpest of tongues on Clay Vase Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley collectively agreed that my father was very fortunate to have married a fine woman like my mother.”

Pei Qian slept through the rest of the night on Chen Ping’an’s lap, and as daybreak arrived, Chen Ping’an left his hometown once again.

Following his departure, Downtrodden Mountain felt a little less lively.

Cui Cheng was almost always in the bamboo building, while Zheng Dafeng was busy wrapping up construction at the entrance of the mountain, looking very disheveled all the time. He was constantly helping out the construction workers that were busy at work, and the workers didn’t regard this as strange at all.

Even though Mountain Master Chen had enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence, they couldn’t bring himself to envy him after learning about his past. Instead, they could only admire him. For a former dragon kiln apprentice to have reached such lofty heights, luck surely had to have played a role, but it was also a testament to his ability to capitalize on opportunities when they came his way.

As for Zheng Dafeng, he was just a gatekeeper, so he wasn’t much better than those manual laborers. Hence, they were quick to accept him as one of their own, and they were often joking around at one another’s expense. What was very interesting about Zheng Dafeng was that unlike the ordinary rugged man, his jokes had a bit of depth to them, but not to the extent that they were pretentious and esoteric.

Hence, it was often the case that the construction workers would only truly get his jokes after pondering them for some time, at which point they would praise him for his depth of thought and expertise in word play.

As usual, Chen Ruchu continued to busy herself with cleaning all of the buildings on Downtrodden Mountain. Her daily cleaning was largely redundant as things were usually still spotless when she returned the next day, but she stuck closely to her daily cleaning regimen, prioritizing it above all else, even her own cultivation.

Hence, she was the only one on Downtrodden Mountain who possessed keys to all of the residences on the mountain.

Chen Lingjun was still as free-spirited as ever, constantly wandering around wherever he pleased. Having thrust himself under the limelight during the Night Travel Banquet, he had gained some new friends, all of whom treated him with a great deal of respect and hospitality. For example, the Golden Core Tier earth immortal on the Robe Sash Peak often liked to invite Chen Lingjun for visits.

During his visits, the two of them would drink and speak without restraint, boasting about their past feats to one another, and they got along very well with each other. Chen Ping’an had told Chen Lingjun that he could visit the Robe Sash Peak as much as he liked, so he had no qualms about accepting the old earth immortal’s invitations.

After giving Ruan Xiu those two bags of fried dough twists, Pei Qian recalled the task that Chen Ping’an had assigned to her, and she accompanied Chen Lingjun on a visit to the Robe Sash Peak to invite Zhou Qionglin to Downtrodden Mountain. Liu Runyun was never one to be left behind, and she also went to Downtrodden Mountain with her adolescent white fox in her arms.

However, whenever Pei Qian tried to stroke the fox, it would curl up into a ball and begin to tremble, leaving Pei Qian a little disgruntled. She didn’t know what the little fox was scared of. While it was true that she was thinking that its pelt would definitely sell for a lot, it wasn’t like she was actually going to skin it.

As Zhu Lian met with the two female guests, he reminded Pei Qian that it was time to go to school. Pei Qian brushed him off in a justified manner, declaring that she had to take Zhou Qionglin and Liu Runyun to visit Ruan Xiu in the Dragon Spring Sword Sect.

Zhu Lian relented, telling her that he would give her five days to play around as she pleased. That should’ve been more than enough to explore all of Chen Ping’an’s and Ruan Xiu’s mountains.

Pei Qian immediately began bartering with Zhu Lian, who tacked on two more days to make it a full week, and Pei Qian was ecstatic, feeling as if she had done very well for herself.

In reality, Chen Ping’an had already anticipated that Pei Qian would definitely be reluctant to go to school, and he told Zhu Lian that she was allowed to stall for half a month at the very most. After that, she would have to go to school, even if he had to tie her up and take her there by force.

Hence, what could’ve been a two-week break had been reduced to one, and Pei Qian was none the wiser.

During the first two days, Pei Qian explored the western mountains with glee, pleased with everything that she saw as she served as Zhou Qionglin and Liu Runyun’s guide.

She had become very familiar with these mountains from pursuing the dog spirit.

Over at the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, both Zhou Qionglin and Liu Runyun were extremely quiet and restrained, even though they were normally both very adventurous and boisterous. In particular, they became even more timid and restrained in the presence of Ruan Xiu. Pei Qian was so amused to see this that she was struggling to contain her laughter, only able to do so by putting on a stern expression.

At the time, Ruan Xiu had taken a glance at the two women, then turned to Pei Qian with a smile. Pei Qian rushed over to her side, and Ruan Xiu leaned down while Pei Qian got up onto the tips of her toes to whisper into her ear, telling Ruan Xiu that her master didn’t like these two women much and didn’t want to invite them to Downtrodden Mountain.

However, he had a decent impression of a young cultivator by the name of Song Yuan on the Robe Sash Peak, so he had instructed her, his first-ever disciple, to bring the two women here for a visit.

An amused smile appeared on Ruan Xiu’s face upon hearing this.

She stopped forging and personally acted as their guide, making Zhou Qionglin and Liu Runyun feel as if they had just been granted an immense honor. In particular, Zhou Qionglin felt like this blessing alone was enough to win her countless benefits once she returned to the Greengage Temple.

However, she was then reminded of the fact that this friendly woman beside her was the only daughter of the Great Li Empire’s foremost honorary sage, and she decided that she had to be more subtle in her approach when she returned to the Greengage Temple to avoid having such a blessing sour into something to her detriment.

Liu Runyun was even more simple-minded. With an earth immortal for a grandfather, she was aware of some of the secrets behind the Jewel Small World, so she sincerely admired Ruan Xiu, who was far loftier than her in status, yet still had a very amicable and friendly personality.

Ruan Xiu was blatantly shirking her duties, but Dong Gu couldn’t do anything about it. The only one who dared to scold Ruan Xiu was her father, and even then, it didn’t work.

For the first three days, Pei Qian felt as if she were in a blissful paradise. On the fourth day, she began to dread the conclusion of her seven days of freedom. On the fifth day, she was already looking very unenthusiastic, almost sickly, and on the sixth day, her bliss had turned into a full blown depression.

On the final day, she returned from the Robe Sash Peak, hanging her head as she dragged her hiking pole lethargically behind her. Zheng Dafeng made a rare friendly display of greeting her, yet she only gave a weary response before silently scaling the mountain.

The next morning, Pei Qian volunteered to go to school by herself, promising Zhu Lian that she wasn’t going to get lost.

Zhu Lian agreed.

As a show of her sincerity, Pei Qian rushed down the mountain, making it appear as if she were eager to go to school. However, after leaving Downtrodden Mountain, she began to swagger around casually, glancing in the stream to see if there were any fish, climbing onto a tree to see the distant scenery, and even after reaching the small town, she was in no hurry to go to Dragon Riding Alley.

Instead, she went to the Dragon Whisker River to skip stones, and when she grew weary of that, she sat down onto the stone cliff to munch on sunflower seeds. Only as night fell did she gleefully skip her way to Dragon Riding Alley, only to be stunned by sight of Zhu Lian sitting on a small stool at the entrance.

She immediately began feigning a limp, leaning heavily on her hiking pole with a pained expression as she groaned, “I ran too fast down the mountain and had a really hard fall. That’s why it took me so long to get here.”

Zhu Lian nodded as he replied, “That’s fine, it can’t be helped if you’re injured. I’ll write a letter to your master, telling him that you injured your leg and won’t be able to go to school for now.”

Pei Qian sat down on the doorstep in a dejected manner, and her vexation was only exacerbated by the frustrating sound of Shi Rou clacking away on her abacus behind the counter.

“I’ll go to school tomorrow. Even if it’s raining daggers, no one will stop me from going to school!” Pei Qian declared in a sullen voice.

Zhu Lian smiled as he asked, “Should I take you to school, or do you want Big Sister Shi Rou to go with you?”

Pei Qian thought about it for a moment, then put on a smile as she said, “I’ll go with Big Sister Shi Rou, seeing as you’re always really busy.”

However, Shi Rou had other plans as she said, “I’ll pass. You can go with Zhu Lian instead.”

Pei Qian rolled her eyes as she internally denounced Shi Rou for her betrayal. She decided there and then that she would never give Shi Rou any sunflower seeds again.

Shi Rou heaved a faint sigh.

It wasn’t that she was too lazy to make the short journey to the school. Instead, she was a little afraid.

She genuinely didn’t want to go to school. Even though she had previously forced herself to enter the Great Sui Nation’s Mountain Cliff Academy, she was extremely repulsed by these holy places of education, and this stemmed both from her fear of such places as a ghostly entity, as well as a sense of inferiority.

However, this just so happened to have been what Chen Ping’an liked the most about Shi Rou.

Shi Rou had inevitably become a little conceited after attaining an immortal body. Hence, in the beginning, she had felt like Li Baoping, Li Huai, and the other children in the academy were too naive and didn’t know their place.

She had looked down on the children for this, and of course, she had suffered extensively at Cui Dongshan’s hands for her disdain. However, setting that aside, the awe and veneration that she harbored toward places of education was a very precious trait in Chen Ping’an’s eyes.

Similarly, Cen Yuanji also possessed certain valuable traits that she wasn’t even aware of herself. After reaching Downtrodden Mountain, it had quickly become apparent to her that Zhu Lian was nothing more than a servant to Chen Ping’an, essentially the equivalent of an administrator working in a manor.

However, Cen Yuanji’s opinion of him and gratitude toward him wasn’t soured in the slightest by this. Instead, she was always standing up for him, indignant on his behalf at what she felt like was an extremely unfair situation that had been forced upon him.

These positive traits that could easily be overlooked were the things that Chen Ping’an wanted Pei Qian to be able to see in others.

He wasn’t going to force Pei Qian to do this, but he had to let her know.

Chen Ping’an almost never left behind even a single grain of rice during his meals, but none of Pei Qian, Zheng Dafeng, or Zhu Lian shared this habit. If they had scooped themselves too much rice or cooked too much food to eat, then it would just be kept as leftovers. Chen Ping’an never criticized this, and deep down, he didn’t even feel like they had to change.

This was a trivial matter, but also not so trivial.

This was also a virtue of Chen Ping’an’s that he had never felt to be a virtue.

These traits were perhaps the reason why Gu Can and Liu Xianyang felt very comfortable around Chen Ping’an, even though they clearly knew that he was a very stubborn and dogmatic person.

People like Zhu Lian and Zheng Dafeng were able to clearly see these qualities, but they never spoke about such matters.

It was just like when making some important decisions, even though he was clearly doing others a kindness, he always insisted on asking the intended beneficiary first, whether that be Sui Youbian, Shi Rou, Pei Qian, or anyone else.

This type of tranquility and even-temperedness was something taught in books, and it wasn’t even something that Chen Ping’an had intentionally picked up from others. Instead, it had simply arisen naturally within him from his upbringing and all of the adversity that he had endured.

In the end, it was still down to Zhu Lian to accompany Pei Qian to school.

Early in the morning, Pei Qian crossed her arms with a wooden expression, staring blankly at her precious belongings laid out on her desk.

Aside from the bamboo bookcase that she was already carrying on her back, she wasn’t allowed to bring any of the items on the table, including her hiking pole, her yellow paper talisman, and her bamboo sword and saber! All of a sudden, the idea of going to school seemed even more detestable!

Pei Qian heaved a forlorn sigh, then rose to her feet and opened the door. In this moment, she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders.

However, she had secretly stashed away a pocketful of sunflower seeds. Of course, she didn’t dare to eat them during her lessons. If the school were to report her misbehavior to Downtrodden Mountain, then there was no way that her master would take her side, especially considering she would clearly be at fault in such a scenario.

However, surely there would be some time for leisure, and she would find a secluded place to eat her sunflower seeds by herself.

On the way to school, Pei Qian walked through the streets and alleys in a glum silence. All of a sudden, she spotted a white goose, and before she even had a chance to do anything, the goose had already fled in alarm.

This improved her mood a little. Even though she was about to leave the cultivation world, there were still some formidable beings who were aware of just how fearsome she was.

Zhu Lian accompanied Pei Qian to the entrance of the school, then said, “Arguing is fine, but try to avoid fights.”

“I’m not even going to argue, I’m just going to pretend to be deaf and mute!” Pei Qian scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

Zhu Lian waved her farewell.