Unsheathed

As they traveled north…

“Stop drinking wine, Senior, you’re starting to bleed again.”

“It’s okay. This is called the demeanor of a mighty being.”

“Why don’t you like me, Senior? Is it because I’m not attractive enough? Or is it because my character isn’t good enough?”

“This has got nothing to do with your attractiveness or your character. Each good girl deserves to be liked by a good boy. She should only like him, and he should only like her. This is how things should be. Of course, you’re not young anymore, so you can’t be regarded as a girl.”

“Senior!”

“Now, let me teach you something that Senior Wang Dun taught me. You need to be able to accept lavish praise, but you also need to be able to accept truthful criticisms.”

The sound of clip-clopping hooves continued to march north.

As he traveled, the old locust tree of his hometown disappeared.

As he traveled, the girl whom he loved was still far away.

As he traveled, the teacher whom he respected the most was no longer in the world, unable to stand amid the blossoming flowers and the spring breeze anymore.

As he traveled, the swordsman whom he admired the most already hadn’t appeared in front of him for a long time. Was he still wearing his bamboo hat? Had he found himself a good sword?

As he traveled, had his best friend witnessed the tallest mountains and come across the largest rivers?

As he traveled, the snotty little kid who had always been bullied in the past had transformed into the type of person that he detested the most.

As he traveled, he had already gone without wearing straw sandals for many years.

————

Lu Zhuo, one of Wang Dun’s disciples at Sweeping Villa, sent out a letter.

Afterward, the recipient of the letter used an immortal messenger flying sword to forward the letter to an immortal in the mountains with the surname Qi.

It was through a chance encounter in the cultivation world that Lu Zhuo had met and become close friends with this person, and in reality, this friend of his was a genuinely prodigious talent. On the other hand, Lu Zhuo’s martial arts talent was mediocre, and disregarding all of the cultivators in the mountains, he still possessed the least talent compared to Fu Loutai, Wang Jingshan, his junior brother, and his junior sister. As a result, Lu Zhuo’s assessment of his own standing in Sweeping Villa was that he could inherit the position of the elderly steward in the future. That way, he could at least manage some trivial affairs for Senior Brother Wang.

Lu Zhuo liked Sweeping Villa, and he liked the bustling environment and harmonious nature of the place.

His master and his fellow disciples all took great care of him, yet Lu Zhuo felt like he didn’t have the ability to reciprocate their help and goodwill. That being the case, he would do his best to look after the people whom he had the ability to look after. For example, the old, the young, the women, and the children in the villa.

Lu Zhuo liked to watch Wang Jingshan meticulously teach sword techniques to his junior brother.

His junior sister was always irritated at the fact that she was too tanned and not pretty enough, and it didn’t help that her saber skills were seemingly a long way off Senior Sister Fu’s, so far off that she might not be able to catch up in her lifetime. Lu Zhuo didn’t know how to reassure her either, but he was more than willing to lend her an ear, listening to her voice her many worries.

Master Wang Dun, who hadn’t traveled around the cultivation world for many years already, left the mountain villa again.

Lu Zhuo didn’t know what stories his master would bring back from the cultivation world this time.

Wang Dun left in secret, paying a visit to somewhere that wasn’t the cultivation world. He visited his opening disciple, Fu Loutai.

This was at a small prefectural city a fair distance away from the mountain villa, and it was here that he shared some drinks with his disciple’s ordinary husband.

Fu Loutai had learned how to cook, and she personally cooked three small dishes to accompany the wine. The dishes tasted passable, with the peanuts too salty and the lotus roots too bland. It would have been better if these two dishes were evened out. However, Wang Dun didn’t say anything upon seeing Fu Loutai’s expression and the young man’s smile. After all, the wine still tasted quite good. It was just a shame that he had brought this wine over himself. Indeed, there were still a few pots of plum wine stored away at the villa.

The young man wasn’t a good speaker, and he simply drank wine without uttering a single word of praise. Each time Wang Dun finished talking about a matter pertaining to the mountain villa, whether large or small, the young man would raise his wine cup for a toast. Wang Dun would accept these toasts and down the wine with the young man.

Fu Loutai quietly sat beside them.

There was only a single pot of wine, so they couldn’t drink for very long regardless of how slowly they drank.

In the end, Wang Dun said, “Drinking with you isn’t any worse than drinking with that sword immortal. If the opportunity arises in the future, I’ll definitely keep that sword immortal for longer when he visits the mountain villa, calling you and Loutai over to meet him as well.”

The young man became slightly flustered as he hurriedly put down his wine cup and chopsticks, replying, “There’s no need, there’s no need at all. I won’t be able to click with him, and just sitting at the same table as a sword immortal will render me unable to speak.”

Wang Dun smiled and said in reassurance, “The two of you will click. Believe me. After you chat with the sword immortal, who in the mountain villa will still dare to look down on you?”

The young man was flushed bright red, and he hesitated for a moment before saying, “Loutai is already making things very difficult for herself by being with someone like me, and her junior brothers and junior sisters are all unhappy about our marriage, and rightfully so. In any case, this is already very good. At the end of the day, Loutai’s junior brothers and junior sisters only feel this way because they care about Loutai. After understanding this, I actually don’t feel unhappy at all, and I instead feel quite happy. It’s a good thing that so many people care about the well-being of my wife.”

Wang Dun grabbed the pot of plum wine and poured the last remaining drops into his wine cup, gesturing to Fu Loutai that there was no need to bring over a new pot of wine. He then said to the young man, “You being able to think this way means that Fu Loutai isn’t making things difficult for herself by being with you.”

Wang Dun opened a bag and retrieved a pot of wine, saying, “I don’t have any other gifts for you, but I did bring you a pot of fine wine. I only have three pots myself, and I’ve already drunk more than half of one pot. I left another pot in the villa, and I plan to drink it when I finally retire from the cultivation world someday. And this here is the final pot.”

Fu Loutai had a sharp eye, and she asked, “Is this immortal wine, Master?”

Wang Dun nodded and replied with a smile, “I had a fist technique sparring session with that sword immortal, and he gifted me the three pots of wine after seeing that my martial virtue was even higher than my martial arts skills. There was nothing I could do about this gift. He insisted on giving the three pots of wine to me, so I wouldn’t have been able to stop him even if I had wanted to.”

“Others might not be aware, but how can I not be aware? Master still has some immortal coins, so it’s not like Master can’t purchase some immortal wine himself,” Fu Loutai said with a chuckle.

Wang Dun shook his head and replied, “It’s not the same. Few people from the mountains possess the demeanor of those from the cultivation world.”

Fu Loutai was a straightforward person, and she directly exposed her master by saying, “This is just an excuse for Master to brag about drinking with a sword immortal, isn’t it? If my guess is correct, then Master will drink the remaining pot of wine with his old friends from the cultivation world after leaving our place. At the same time, Master will have an opportunity to talk about his sparring session with the sword immortal.”

The young man lightly tugged her sleeve, but Fu Loutai simply said, “It’s okay. Master won’t mind this.”

Wang Dun huffed and scolded with a smile, “A married daughter is like spilled water. Once she gets married, she’ll belong to someone else’s family. Alright, it’s time for me to leave now. There’s no need to see me off. You should also visit the villa more often when you’re free in the future. After all, it’s your home away from home.”

Even though Wang Dun said this, Fu Loutai and her husband still saw him off the the entrance of their residence, with the shadow of the old man especially long under the soft twilight glow.

The young man held Fu Loutai’s hand and said in an apologetic voice, “I lied to your master just then, and I actually do feel a bit troubled about being looked down on by the villa.”

Fu Loutai lightly squeezed his hand and replied, “It’s okay. I’m aware of this, and Master is actually aware of this as well.”

————

Du Yu didn’t dare to return to the Ghost Axe Palace straight away. Instead, he secretly traveled around the cultivation world by himself.

He came across many unjust matters in the cultivation world, and he also came across the occasional conflict between cultivators from the mountains. However, Du Yu still chose to watch on from the sideline. Right now, he genuinely felt like everyone whom he came across was a powerful elite concealing their true strength. He wouldn’t be able to recover from this anytime soon.

Du Yu felt slightly frustrated about this. When could he act as a chivalrous and righteous person?

Some time later, he came across a lopsided battle in the cultivation world, with a group of sinister and notorious martial artists pursuing a disciple from a righteous force.

Du Yu rapidly charged over and pummeled the notorious martial artists, after which he slung the young disciple over his shoulder and fled. After running dozens of kilometers into the distance, he tossed the young disciple to the ground before running away by himself.

Not only was the young disciple dazed and confused as he sat on the ground, but even the group of notorious martial artists in the distance was completely flabbergasted.

————

At Skeleton Shoal’s Flax Robe Sect…

Only a single shop remained in Mural City, with business slow and much worse than before. However, the fact that this shop was the only one remaining in the city meant that it could still scrape by. Moreover, there were some people who came to Mural City especially to visit this last remaining shop.

Pang Lanxi was finally able to find some free time today, so he left the mountains to help around in the shop.

Even though Pang Lanxi was increasingly busy with cultivation, reducing the number of times he was able to meet with her, the glimmer in the young shopkeeper’s eyes was brighter than ever before.

She had never felt such hope and longing for the future.

She felt much less anxious than before, even when she wasn’t together with Pang Lanxi.

————

The Golden Crow Palace’s Liu Zhiqing quietly sat by himself atop the peak of a mountain.

Only the palace leader and a very small number of cultivators from the Golden Crow Palace knew that this junior uncle was starting to cultivate in seclusion. Moreover, he was going to remain in seclusion for a very long time.

With this in mind, the Golden Crow Palace sealed its mountain and prohibited anyone from entering.

As for why Liu Zhiqing was sitting atop the mountain peak to cultivate in seclusion, no one knew the answer, not even the palace leader. No one dared to ask either.

————

At an immortal ferry station located at the upstream region of Skeleton Shoal’s Swaying River…

There was a vagrant cultivator couple who rarely ever stayed at an immortal inn for many days at a time. When the woman finally advanced to the Abode Tier and walked out of the room, tears immediately welled up in the man’s eyes.

The two of them walked inside the room and closed the door, and the woman said, “We still have so many snowflake coins left over.”

She then wiped away the tears on her cheeks and continued, “When that sword immortal gave us the skeletons from Malicious Ghost Valley, I knew that he didn’t have any intention of returning to Helpless Pass to collect the immortal coins from us. But why?”

The man smiled and replied, “We owe him for this, and we can hold onto the snowflake coins for the moment. Whether or not we have the chance to meet our benefactor again and repay him in our lifetime is our matter. Whether or not we intend to repay him is also our matter.”

————

Lake Lord Yin Hou of Verdant Bamboo Lake secretly provided funds and effort to rebuild the fire god shrine of Imperial Accompanying City, also crafting a new painted statue of the fire god in the process.

The shrine was bustling with worshippers and filled with wafting incense smoke.

As for the city god temple, there was delay after delay as construction slowly ground to a halt. The imperial court was also yet to appoint a new city god for Imperial Accompanying City.

Inside the city…

Two impoverished young boys were cornered in a small alley by a group of young hooligans who were bearing down on them from both sides, with the hooligans smiling widely as they brandished their sticks and clubs.

One of the impoverished young boys was tall and brawny, and he immediately placed his hands on the opposite walls and quickly shuffled up to the top.

The other young boy was skinny and frail, and he was much slower than his friend as he attempted to scale the wall to escape from the hooligans. As a result, one of the hooligans violently yanked on his foot and sent him crashing to the ground, after which the hooligan rewarded him with a club to the head.

The skinny and frail young boy raised his arms to protect his head.

The club strike pushed him into the wall.

The tall and brawny young boy could have easily fled by himself, yet he nimbly jumped down from the tall wall, hopping between both walls in an agile manner before landing on the ground. After wildly swinging his fists and knocking down a few hooligans, it was inevitable that his two fists couldn’t keep up with the many sticks and clubs of his assailants, and it wasn’t long before a shower of vicious blows rained down on him. Even so, he still did his best to shield the skinny and frail young boy who was pressed against the alley wall.

In the end, the head of the tall and brawny young boy was pressed against the ground, and the skinny and frail young boy rolled around in pain at the foot of the wall as he was mercilessly beaten by the hooligans.

A young and strong hooligan stepped on the tall and brawny young boy’s head, extending a hand and gesturing for another hooligan to bring over the white bowl that they had already prepared earlier. The latter pinched his nose before quickly placing the white bowl on the ground and backing away.

“You dared to ruin our plans, so it’s time for the two of you to learn an unforgettable lesson.”

The hooligan tossed a string of copper coins beside the white bowl and continued, “See this? We’ve already prepared food and money for you, and the money will be yours after you finish the food in the bowl. If you eat fast enough, you might even be able to earn a small nugget of loose silver. If you refuse to eat, however, then I’ll break one leg on each of you.”

The tall and brawny young boy refused to eat the contents of the bowl no matter what.

The skinny and frail young boy wailed in pain. As it turned out, one of the hooligans had whacked him in the back with a stick.

In the end, the hooligans roared with laughter as they casually swaggered away. Of course, they didn’t forget to take the string of copper coins with them.

The tall and brawny young boy squatted at the foot of the wall and threw up.

The face of the skinny and frail young boy was black and blue as he hugged his legs and sobbed.

The tall and brawny young boy stood up with much difficulty, shuffling over to his friend’s side and saying, “It’s okay. There’ll eventually come a day when we can exact revenge.”

The skinny and frail young boy remained silent for a long time, becoming dazed and adrift after he finally stopped crying. In the end, he whispered in a quiet voice, “I want to become someone like that sword immortal.”

He then wiped away his tears, not daring to look at the tall and brawny young boy beside him as he asked, “Am I being very stupid?”

The tall and brawny young boy patted his head and replied, “You can do it. Why won’t you be able to succeed? Perhaps that sword immortal was suffering even more than us when he was our age! Don’t you always like to sneak over to the private school to eavesdrop on the elderly teacher’s lessons? What was my favorite saying again? Jog my memory, will you?”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” the skinny and frail young boy replied.

He then lowered his head and said, “But even if I become strong and capable, I don’t want to become like those hooligans who only know how to bully other people.”

“That’s not a problem. You can focus on doing good deeds after we both become as powerful as that sword immortal. I… won’t do bad things either, and I’ll focus on bullying bad people! Come on, let’s make a pinky promise!” the tall and brawny young boy chuckled in response.

The two young boys hooked their pinkies together to make a promise.

The tall and brawny young boy faced his friend and exhaled heavily, asking, “How is it? Smells fragrant?”

The skinny and frail young boy hurriedly pushed him away, and the two of them eventually repeated this process again and again. However, it wasn’t long before they both bared their teeth in pain. In the end, they both started to laugh loudly.

They both looked up together, and sitting in the small and narrow alley, it was as if the boundless heaven and earth only had a single ray of light and a single path to travel on.

However, this ray of light was ultimately above their heads and visible to their naked eyes.