Unsheathed

Gu Can set down his bowl and wiped his lips with the back of his hand, then picked up a dried fish and chewed it meticulously before swallowing.

Only after that did he reply, “First, I must reach the Upper Five Tiers. Then, I have to seek out a backer in the Great Li Empire. At the very least, it’ll have to be the leader of a pillar general’s clan. Through that backer, I’ll secure an audience with the emperor of the Great Li Empire and offer up my services to him, acting as a pawn for the Great Li Empire in Bamboo Scroll Lake to keep the True Realm Sect in check.”

“That’s it?” Liu Zhimao asked.

“That’s it for now. The rest can wait,” Gu Can replied with a smile.

“If you do that, won’t you be betraying both myself and Jiang Shangzhen? I am your master, while Jiang Shangzhen is going to give you all of those islands. Wouldn’t you be repaying kindness with ingratitude by doing this?” Liu Zhimao asked.

Gu Can cast his gaze outside with a composed expression as he replied, “The night is long, and there’s enough time to drink many bowls of wine and sample many dishes. If we view my plan in isolation today, it does seem like I’m repaying kindness with ingratitude, but at some point in the future, perhaps I’ll be doing both of you a huge favor.

“Besides, there’s no telling what could happen later down the line. Perhaps I’ll suddenly drop dead someday. Who knows?”

Liu Zhimao picked up his bowl and brought it to his lips, then tipped his head back and finished the rest of his wine in one go.

Gu Can was being extremely sincere and candid with him, and he was glad that he had paid Gu Can this visit.

Upon noticing that both Liu Zhimao’s bowl and flagon were empty, Gu Can picked up his own flagon of wine to refill Liu Zhimao’s bowl, and the latter didn’t stop him.

After sitting back down, Gu Can raised what was also his final bowl of wine as he said, “Objectively speaking, I must thank you for taking me out of Clay Vase Alley all those years ago, Master. You are the one who gave me the opportunity to do so many things and to live for as long as I have.”

Liu Zhimao raised his bowl before touching it to Gu Can’s, and both of them downed their bowls of wine together.

Liu Zhimao rose to his feet, and Gu Can followed suit.

The two of them made their way out of the main room, and they stood side by side as Liu Zhimao smiled and said, “A man must seek joy while he is still young, else he will look back as an old man full of regret.”

Gu Can shook his head as he countered, “A young man who seeks only hedonistic joy will also look back upon their life, full of regret.”

“You’ve read a few books, have you?” Liu Zhimao asked with a surprised smile.

Gu Can nodded as he replied, “I’ve been reading a bit of everything. Newspapers, poem anthologies, bits and pieces here and there. I’ve always regretted the fact that I didn’t go to school much, and I’ve spent my entire life on Clay Vase Alley and in Bamboo Scroll Lake, so I want to learn more about the outside world through reading books and newspapers.”

“That’s a fine fan you’ve got there,” Liu Zhimao remarked with a smile as he glanced down at the bamboo fan strapped to Gu Can’s waist.

Gu Can removed the fan from his waist, then offered it to Liu Zhimao as he said in a sincere manner, “You can have it if you wish, Master.”

He was prepared for the possibility that he would have to part with the fan from the moment he decided to display it in Liu Zhimao’s presence.

Liu Zhimao waved a hand in refusal as he said, “You can keep it. Who gave it to you?”

“A friend of a friend,” Gu Can replied.

It was a friend of a friend, but not his friend.

Gu Can had never regarded Liu Xianyang as a friend of his.

Growing up together, Liu Xianyang had only ever been Chen Ping’an’s friend. Even Gu Can had to admit that Liu Xianyang was one of the few good people from their hometown, but that still didn’t mean that he regarded Liu Xianyang as a friend.

Gu Can really disliked Liu Xianyang for his casual and uncaring demeanor, and for the fact that he often liked to make jokes at the expense of Gu Can’s mother. On many occasions, Gu Can would be driven to tears by his cruel jokes, and he would chase after Liu Xianyang in a furious fit with tears and snot streaming down his face.

Most of the time, their scuffles would end with a smiling apology from Liu Xianyang, following which the tearful Gu Can would return to Clay Vase Alley with Chen Ping’an.

As they walked along, a smile would always emerge through Gu Can’s tears, and he would quickly forget all of his worries and indignation.

He had only ever had one friend, and that would remain the case for the rest of his life.

However, Gu Can could never become the same type of person as Chen Ping’an.

Gu Can was Gu Can, and he couldn’t be anyone else, nor could anyone else be him.

However, he was willing to change. He was learning very quickly from his past mistakes, and that allowed him to make amends.

“Do you know what wealth entails, Gu Can?” Liu Zhimao suddenly asked.

“Please enlighten me, Master,” Gu Can requested with a smile.

“Wealth is not gold and silver or acres upon acres of fertile farmland, nor does even a whole host of immortal treasures constitute true wealth,” Liu Zhimao said.

He had only revealed to Gu Can what didn’t constitute wealth, but he didn’t reveal the answer to his question.

After taking a moment to mull over Liu Zhimao’s words, Gu Can nodded as he said, “I think I understand what you’re saying, Master. True wealth consists of things that allow someone to save themselves after making a major mistake, rather than falling to their demise as a result of that mistake.”

A forlorn look appeared on Liu Zhimao’s face as he sighed, “I wasn’t able to do that. Even though I was able to overcome this tribulation, I have completely disappointed Zhang Ye. Even if I manage to become an Unpolished Jade Tier, I will still be nothing more than a lapdog for the True Realm Sect.”

“Cyan Gorge Island still has me,” Gu Can said with a smile.

“No, you do not belong to Cyan Gorge Island. You belong to the entirety of Bamboo Scroll Lake!” Liu Zhimao countered with a shake of his head.

With that, Liu Zhimao vanished from the spot, returning to Palace Willow Island to go into seclusion.

Gu Can didn’t sleep that entire night, instead staying up to slowly pace back and forth in the courtyard.

Liu Zhimao had taken measures to ensure that no one could eavesdrop on his conversation with Gu Can, but he hadn’t done anything to conceal his own presence after leaving the room, so Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi had been made aware of his arrival and departure.

Ma Duyi opened the window, then briefly looked around before casting Gu Can an inquisitive gaze, silently asking him if there was trouble.

Gu Can smiled and gave her a reassuring wave, indicating to her that there was nothing for her to worry about.

As for Zeng Ye, he had remained in his room the entire time, feeling very uneasy, but also too scared to come out.

Cultivation was a very strange thing. Zeng Ye possessed great aptitude for cultivation, but Ma Duyi was more suited to cultivation. Zeng Ye had better fortune with fated opportunities, while Ma Duyi clearly had a better temperament.

Ultimately, Zeng Ye was the one who had the higher ceiling.

Fortunately, Ma Duyi didn’t care about any of that at all, having already died once.

At times, Gu Can couldn’t help but feel envious of Zeng Ye for his cluelessness and of Ma Duyi for her lack of concern about anything.

In the end, Zeng Ye only managed to fall asleep after tossing and turning in his bed for most of the night.

Gu Can heaved a forlorn sigh. In the Bamboo Scroll Lake of old, Zeng Ye wouldn’t have been able to survive at all, even if he possessed his current cultivation base.

Gu Can had noticed some things while attending the banquets held in the general’s general’s residence.

When it came to the rules established in Bamboo Scroll Lake, Guan Yiran was sure to have received a certain accounts book first because Guan Yiran was struck by a sense of familiarity.

This meant that Chen Ping’an had left his mark everywhere on the present Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Gu Can gently tapped his folding fan onto the palm of his hand as he murmured to himself, “I still have much to learn.”

The fan had been crafted from divine cloud bamboo, and it carried inscriptions on both sides, most likely ones that had been personally made by Liu Xianyang to show off to Gu Can what he had learned from the Pure Confucian Chen Clan.

Gu Can had always felt like Liu Xianyang had gone to school together with Chen Ping’an, then the latter would’ve easily left the former in the dust, but fate had put Liu Xianyang on the path of learning, while Chen Ping’an had been cast out into the world.

This was extremely unfair in Gu Can’s eyes, and that was why he had never been fond of the state of the world.

As for the River Severing Sutra, Gu Can hadn’t even opened it the entire night.

In his eyes, there was simply no hurry.

————

Right as the first light arrived, Gu Can opened the door and sat down on the steps outside. The door gods and the couplets had all been purchased at the end of the previous year.

Gu Can had once declared that he would write some couplets someday to be plastered outside Chen Ping’an’s house.

Chen Ping’an had been very pleased to hear that at the time, vigorously rubbing Gu Can’s head as he offered to pay for the red couplet paper for both households that year.

That was a completely redundant statement. Ever since Chen Ping’an began working at the dragon kiln as an apprentice, he had paid for all of the couplets and door gods of Gu Can’s household every year. He was even more impoverished than Gu Can and his mother, yet he had spent far more money on them than they had on him.

At times, Gu Can really couldn’t help but wonder how someone like Chen Ping’an could exist in this world.

He sat at the bottom of the steps with his elbows resting on a higher step, patiently waiting for the household across from him to open their doors.

There was a snot-nosed little kid living in that household, and that was the reason why Gu Can had chosen to rent a house here.

The household across from him wasn’t particularly well-off, but both the boy’s parents were alive, and they were bringing in sufficient income to feed the family. The boy had only just begun going to school not long ago, and he had an older sister, who wasn’t particularly good-looking, nor did she have a pretty name. She was very timid and prone to blushing, and she would always hurriedly walk away with her head lowered whenever she saw Gu Can.

Of course, Gu Can wasn’t going to develop feelings for a mortal girl like her.

The boy swaggered out of his house with two signature lines of snot trailing out of his nostrils, seemingly preparing to head to school. Upon catching sight of Gu Can, he took a step back, standing on the doorstep as he yelled, “What are you looking at? Are you trying to catch a glimpse of my sister? I suggest you give up on her, you poor little beggar! You’re not worthy of my sister, and I don’t want you as my brother-in-law, either!”

Gu Can sat up straight as he gently tapped his knee with his folding fan.

The boy’s gaze was immediately drawn to the fan, and he rushed to Gu Can’s side, then sat down and extended a hand toward him as he demanded, “Let me see that!”

“Don’t you have to go to school?” Gu Can asked with a smile.

“The school’s not going to grow legs and run away,” the boy scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “I’ll just show up a little late and tell the teacher that I had diarrhoea.”

“In that case, you better smear some mud onto your backside on your way to school. Otherwise, your teacher won’t believe you,” Gu Can advised.

The boy thought about this for a moment, then erupted into a furious fit as he yelled, “Are you an idiot?! The teacher’s not going to beat me, but if I soil my pants, my mother will beat me to death!”

After glowering at Gu Can for a moment longer, the boy requested, “You’re always reciting poetry and stuff, aren’t you? Teach me something so I can show off to my two friends.”

“The old man wanted the tiger dead, but it was instead the tiger that claimed his head. The small child had never seen a tiger before, so he was unfazed by its mighty roar,” Gu Can casually recited.

“That’s way too long and doesn’t sound badass at all!” the boy complained. “I want something shorter and more imposing!”

“The young boy sharpens his blade at night, convinced that to rule is his birthright,” Gu Can said, making up something on the spot.

“That’s too menacing,” the boy complained. “I’m worried that people will beat me up if I say something like that. I’ll still remember it though. That way, I can say it to people who aren’t as fast as me.”

Gu Can burst into laughter as he smacked the boy on the head.

“You’re just as cunning and devious as I was at your age! Alright, forget that last one, I’ll teach you something more badass.”

“Hurry up! I don’t have all day!” the boy urged.

Gu Can put on a serious expression as he began, “The boy wakes daily with a puddle on his sheets…”

The boy smacked Gu Can’s shoulder in indignation as he yelled, “I don’t wet my bed! That’s what you do!”

All of a sudden, Gu Can recalled something that the boy just said, and he asked, “Did you just say that your teacher won’t beat you? Aren’t you always coming home crying, complaining about how your teacher is an old bastard who always likes to beat you?”

A triumphant grin appeared on the boy’s face as he declared, “Things are different now! We have a new teacher at our school. Our old teacher was a real piece of work! He never beat or scolded any of the good students, but he would constantly pick on us bad students like we owed him money or something!

“I’ve been wanting to grow up faster so that I can have the strength to beat him up in retaliation! This new teacher is much better! He never beats us, and he doesn’t even care what we do!”

“So I’m assuming you prefer your current teacher?” Gu Can asked with a smile.

The boy was bewildered by this question.

“What’s wrong with you today? Did you fall on your head when you got out of bed? Why are you asking me all these stupid questions? Would you not prefer this new teacher if you were me? Nowadays, no matter how much noise we make, as long as we don’t disturb the good students, the new teacher doesn’t care about us at all, and he certainly never beats or scolds us! It’s the best!”

Gu Can leaned back once again as he smiled and asked, “Is he really a good teacher if he only pays attention to the good students? What use does the world have for a teacher like that?”

“It looks like you really did fall on your head when you got out of bed today,” the boy sighed. “Honestly, before this, I was thinking that you’d be a decent husband for my sister, but I’ve changed my mind now. I’m already a terrible student, so I won’t make anything out of myself. If my future brother-in-law is also going to be useless, then we’ll all be screwed!”

“How do you know you won’t be able to make anything out of yourself?” Gu Can asked with an amused smile. “I think you’re a pretty clever boy.”

The boy hung his head in chagrin as he replied, “Both the old teacher and this one say that I’m a naughty boy, and that I’ll never make anything out of myself. Whenever the old teacher scolds me, he would strike me on the palm of my hand with his ruler. I swear the old bastard hit me harder than he hit anyone else!”

Gu Can patted the boy on the head as he said, “If you run into your current teacher once you’re grown up, you can choose to ignore him if you want. In any case, he’s just taking money to do the bare minimum, but if you ever run into your old teacher, you have to respectfully refer to him as teacher.”

“Why should I? He’s terrible to me!” the boy snapped in a furious manner.

“He deserves your respect because unlike your current teacher, he still had hope for you,” Gu Can said.

The boy didn’t really understand, and after a long silence, he asked, “Have you also been beaten by a teacher with a terrible temper before?”

“I have, but in my case, it was someone with a very mild temper,” Gu Can replied with a nod.

“So you’re just as pitiful as I am,” the boy sighed. “Actually, I’m going a bit better than you. The old teacher is gone, and the new teacher doesn’t beat me anymore! Ha!”

With that, the boy rose to his feet and smeared a hand across his face, then wiped the palm of his hand onto Gu Can’s shoulder before rushing away like the wind.

Gu Can turned to discover that his shoulder was covered in the little brat’s snot.

With a shake of his shoulder, the snot clinging to his robe was cast away, following which he rose to his feet and returned to the house.

After closing the door, he carefully strapped the folding fan back to his waist.

There were many people who deserved to die, and that list was only going to continue to grow, but before he could address them, he had to ensure his own survival first. He had to accumulate power through so-called acts of kindness and use different tactics to manipulate the hearts of others. Once he did that, he would then be able to use the rules to kill those that he wanted to kill.

It was a very roundabout way of doing things, and it wasn’t very satisfying, but by doing this, he would ultimately get to kill the people that he wanted dead, and Chen Ping’an wouldn’t be able to pick out any flaws in his actions.

Gu Can leaned back against the door as a hint of sorrow welled up in his heart.

The little snot-nosed brat from Clay Vase Alley was truly dead, both in Chen Ping’an’s heart and his own heart.

However, what saddened Gu Can the most was another possibility, which was that he hadn’t changed at all, whereas Chen Ping’an had changed far too much, no longer the same boy in straw shoes from Clay Vase Alley.

In any case, regardless of who it was that had changed, the Gu Can that Chen Ping’an most wanted to see was forever gone.

The door of an adjacent room began to swing open, and Gu Can instantly raised his folding fan before unfurling it to conceal his face.

He then closed the folding fan again before greeting with a bright smile, “Good morning, Zeng Ye.”

Zeng Ye scratched his head as he nodded in response with a smile on his face, but despite his smiling demeanor, his forehead and the palms of his hands were slippery with sweat.

Gu Can entered the main room to read.