Unsheathed

After a miserable session of fist training one time, Pei Qian was carried down to the first floor of the bamboo building by Chen Ruchu, where she received three entire days of rest in a rare sight. Most importantly, these three days didn’t include the day when she was bedridden and unable to move.

Pei Qian coincidentally heard about Wei Bo’s plan to imminently host a third Night Travel Banquet, and this caused the young girl, who had just finished transcribing texts, to feel giddy with delight.

Zhu Lian commented that this was called causing trouble after going three days without a beating.

Pei Qian was in a good mood, so she didn’t argue with the old cook.

In any case, her master had mentioned at the end of his letter to Downtrodden Mountain that he formally agreed to promote Zhou Mili to the position of Downtrodden Mountain’s right guardian. After reading the letter seventeen or eighteen times, Pei Qian had stood up straight and puffed her chest out for the first time when walking to the second floor of the bamboo building to practice fist techniques. Her footsteps had thudded on the staircase of the bamboo building, and she had even hollered for Old Man Cui to wake up, telling him to hurry up and open the door to feed her fists.

Chen Lingjun had been on the first floor at the time, and he had questioned whether Pei Qian had been smacked silly or had fallen to heretical ways.

Wei Bo and Zheng Dafeng were playing Go in Zhu Lian’s courtyard.

Chen Ruchu was quietly snacking on roasted seeds.

Chen Lingjun had placed a bet on Zheng Dafeng to win the game, placing a large pile of snowflake coins beside Brother Dafeng’s Go stone container. However, Zhu Lian sat there and commented continuously that Wei Bo was already an Unpolished Jade Tier deity, causing his Go skills to improve immensely and giving him a greater chance of victory. Upon seeing the direction of the game, he placed another lesser heat coin beside Wei Bo’s Go stone container.

Pei Qian arrived with Zhou Mili, who was carrying a hiking pole, and the two of them sprinted in circles around the group of people sitting around the stone table.

Pei Qian ran with a swagger, with her arms flailing around as she hollered at the top of her lungs, “Cling, clang, cling, ring, ring, clang, ring, ring, clang… Another banquet hosted in the town, stretching from the front all the way to the back… Gold from the Liu Clan, silver from the Li Clan, and copper coins from the Han Clan, come to my pockets to get some sleep…”

Wei Bo placed his elbow on the table and lightly pinched his glabella.

It was difficult to leave this pirate ship now that he had become a member.

In any case, his reputation as the formal god of the Northern Mountain was completely ruined.

“Money-loser, if you keep screaming and cause me to lose, are you going to provide compensation when Brother Lingjun loses his wager?” Zheng Dafeng fumed.

Pei Qian continued to sprint in circles as she replied, “Provide compensation? What compensation? Are you an idiot?”

She then continued to hum her folk song.

Zhou Mili ran behind Pei Qian and asked in puzzlement, “Where is this song from? Why have I never heard it before?”

Pei Qian stopped and crossed her arms, replying, “This is a song from my hometown. However, it’s a shame that it didn’t spread far because it was written too well.”

Zhou Mili had a nagging feeling that there was something illogical about Pei Qian’s explanation, so she held the hiking pole with both hands as she furrowed her brows and fell deep into thought.

After receiving Cui Dongshan’s letter, Zhu Lian still needed to wait for Lu Baixiang to return to Downtrodden Mountain and attend Wei Bo’s Night Travel Banquet together before he could set off with Bejeweled Hairpin Island’s Liu Chongrun to search for the water palace and dragon boat.

Different from Chen Ping’an’s communication in his letter, Cui Dongshan’s response letter had told Zhu Lian not to worry about the heavy cavalry and spies of the Great Li Empire. Cui Dongshan would deal with these matters himself. In any case, it was only right that the former princess should visit her conquered homeland.

However, Zhu Lian still described the many dangers of this trip to Liu Chongrun, saying that it would be wiser not to go. Otherwise, things might end disastrously. Zhu Lian’s warnings were quite alarming and frightening.

After Liu Chongrun carefully mulled over this matter and weighed up the pros and cons, she gritted her teeth and decided against searching for the water palace and dragon boat. Zhu Lian ignored Liu Chongrun for a few days before casually strolling to Ao Back Ridge, chuckling and saying that there was a change in plans. Downtrodden Mountain had decided to take on more risk, so the two parties could indeed attempt to search for the water palace and the dragon boat. However, they needed to adjust the split of profits, which couldn’t be kept at fifty-fifty. Instead, Downtrodden Mountain needed to earn an additional twenty percent. After a period of haggling, the two parties eventually settled on a split of sixty-fourty in Downtrodden Mountain’s favor.

In reality, Zhu Lian wouldn’t genuinely take this additional ten percent of profits. When he and Lu Baixiang accompanied Liu Chongrun to search for the treasures, they would naturally find an excuse to say that their traveling mountain master had penned a return letter to Zhu Lian, stressing that they needed to act according to the initial plan and split the profits fifty-fifty with Liu Chongrun.

At that time, it would appear as if everything had returned to the starting point.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a case of Zhu Lian doing all this work for nothing.

The day finally arrived for Cloud Drape Mountain to formally host the third Night Travel Banquet.

Pei Qian and Zhou Mili didn’t attend the Night Travel Banquet, with the former busy transcribing texts in advance, lest she rack up too many debts due to practicing fist techniques in the bamboo building.

However, it was very strange that even Chen Lingjun didn’t run over to participate in the lively banquet.

Afterward, his water god brother from the Imperial River especially visited Downtrodden Mountain to ask Chen Lingjun why he hadn’t attended the banquet.

Following the conclusion of the Night Travel Banquet, Zhu Lian and Lu Baixiang left the mountains to attend to proper matters. Liu Chongrun was riddled with worry as she traveled with them, feeling like the future was uncertain and filled with both fortune and misfortune. After all, they were trying to dig for treasures right under the noses of the Great Li Empire’s heavy cavalry.

Lu Baixiang’s two disciples, the siblings Yuan Bao and Yuan Lai, remained at Downtrodden Mountain.

They got along relatively well with Cen Yuanji, whom Zhu Lian had brought to the mountains.

There had been laughter and fun outside the bamboo building for three days.

This was in stark contrast to the fist training that was taking place inside the bamboo building after the three days of fun.

Zhou Mili rested the hiking pole on her shoulder and stood guard on the small path leading to the bamboo building, not allowing any outsiders to visit the area.

This was at the instruction of Steward Zhu Lian, so Zhou Mili didn’t dare to leave her post for no reason. However, Chen Ruchu would always run over to snack on roasted seeds and desserts with Zhou Mili whenever she completed her tasks. She would then take her leave when it was time to begin another task.

Zhou Mili obediently squatted in the circle that Pei Qian had drawn for her earlier.

She had felt aggrieved in the beginning, feeling like the circle that Pei Qian had drawn for her was too small, making it appear like the territory of Downtrodden Mountain’s right guardian wasn’t very big.

However, Pei Qian had asked Zhou Mili about the door gods plastered on the doors in Dragon Riding Alley, questioning whether their small territories were as big as the circle around Zhou Mili. Even so, would these door gods grumble and complain? In the end, Pei Qian had put on a stern expression and asked Zhou Mili if she was becoming complacent and arrogant after becoming the right guardian, to which she had hurriedly shaken her head in earnest.

Zhou Mili squatted inside the circle and slowly shuffled her way around the non-existent perimeter.

Every time the young girl in black took one or two steps, the little lotus spirit would pop out from the ground far behind her and also run a few steps.

On the second floor of the bamboo building, Cui Cheng stomped down on Pei Qian’s forehead and aggressively twisted the heel of his foot, looking down and commenting, “Before the training session today, you actually dared to ask me when fist training would conclude?”

He launched a kick at Pei Qian’s temple before turning to the young girl who was curled up by the foot of the wall and saying, “You can think about this when you reach the dead end first.”

Pei Qian slowly relaxed her body after forcefully holding in another breath and enduring another strike. Her face was caked in blood, and she stood up shakily before opening her mouth wide and cocking her head, using two fingers to nudge a tooth and forcefully pull it out.

She carefully put the bloody tooth away, hiding it inside her sleeve. Her master had once said that every child would grow up, and during this time, the teeth that were pulled out needed to be placed at the head of the bed. Every time this was done, one could make a peaceful wish.

Pei Qian leaned forward and clenched her hands into fists, gently tightening them before loosening them again as she glared at Cui Cheng.

She tapped the floor with her foot and leaped into the air, forcefully stomping on the bamboo wall behind her before shooting forward like an arrow. She suddenly dropped down halfway, twisting her foot and sliding several steps to the side, changing the angle of her advance. She then used the Heavy Cavalry Formation Shattering Technique to assume a fist stance, but she actually used the Deity Drumming Technique to unleash a punch at Cui Cheng.

Perhaps Pei Qian wasn’t aware that the Deity Drumming Technique was the fist technique that her master used least when facing Cui Cheng.

This was because Chen Ping’an understood that it was the most ineffective technique against Cui Cheng.

However, Pei Qian was the exact opposite, and she used this technique the most against the old man.

She was blocked again and again, but she continued to throw a flurry of punches one after another.

Cui Cheng struck Pei Qian’s forehead with his fist, yet the young girl unexpectedly launched a vicious kick as she flew back.

It was clear that she had planned to launch this kick from the beginning, yearning to exchange blows with the old man.

However, it was a shame that Cui Cheng grabbed her foot and swung her through the air, brutally slamming her into the floor. Pei Qian curled up again, and her breathing instantly started to cycle between quick and slow, appearing as natural as could be.

“You’re a small piece of trash that’s inferior to even Chen Ping’an, so if I were that large piece of trash, I would feel too much disdain to even feed you an extra spoonful of rice. That would be a complete waste of Downtrodden Mountain’s resources!” Cui Cheng said with a sneer. “Someone like you wants to touch a corner of my clothes? Do you think I’m Cen Yuanji, someone who might as well be sleeping when they practice fist techniques? Come again? I’ll adopt your surname if you manage to so much as scrape my clothes.”

Pei Qian slammed her elbow into the ground and leaped up, standing still before saying in a muffled and choppy voice, “You don’t need to adopt my surname… You can adopt my master’s surname… And that’s only if my master agrees…”

Cui Cheng arrived before Pei Qian in a single step, holding one hand behind his back as he used his other hand to grab Pei Qian’s face. He then advanced another step and slammed Pei Qian into the wall.

The young girl’s arms and legs became limp.

Cui Cheng released his grip, causing Pei Qian to collapse to the ground. Her back slid down the wall, leaving a large streak of blood above her head.

Cui Cheng chuckled coldly and said, “Only a cowardly piece of trash like Chen Ping’an will raise a cowardly piece of trash like you. The two of you should hide in Clay Vase Alley forever, collecting chicken shit and dog shit every single day! Chen Ping’an must be blind to take someone like you as his bullshit opening disciple. You’re destined to be a pitiful insect who hides behind him forever, so are you worthy of being a disciple, much less an opening disciple?”

Pei Qian’s fingers twitched a little, and she eventually raised her head with much difficulty and moved her lips slightly.

The old man stomped on her forehead before leaning forward and turning his ear toward her, exclaiming, “What are you saying, you little piece of trash? I’m begging you to speak a little louder! Are you agreeing with my assessment? You also think that you and Chen Ping’an should stay at Clay Vase Alley forever to play with chicken shit and dog shit?! What’s this? You’re going to scoop up the shit with your hiking pole, and Chen Ping’an is going to collect the shit with a dustpan? This is for the best, and you won’t need to practice fist techniques for much longer. When Chen Ping’an returns to Downtrodden Mountain, you two pieces of trash can piss off to Clay Vase Alley.”

Sitting on the ground, Pei Qian slowly raised a hand and threw a slow punch at Cui Cheng’s foot.

The old man retracted his foot, and after the young girl’s punch missed, he used his other foot to forcefully stomp on her head.

A short moment later, Pei Qian used her other hand to launch a punch.

Only at this moment did Cui Cheng retreat several steps, clicking his tongue in wonder and remarking, “With this ability, it looks like you can go to Fortune Street or Peach Leaf Alley with your trash master, Chen Ping’an. You can earn some money by shining the shoes of those wealthy masters. After Chen Ping’an cleans their boots, you, as his disciple, can smile and bow in respect, inviting those wealthy masters to use your service again.”

Pei Qian pushed her back and her hands against the wall, slowly pushing herself up one inch at a time. She exerted all her effort to open her eyes and her mouth, but she was ultimately unable to make a single sound.

Cui Cheng smiled in response, understanding what insult the young girl was throwing at him.

Pei Qian lowered her head and leaned forward as she panted softly. Her vision was blurry, and she was already unable to see anything clearly.

Cui Cheng turned around and walked toward the entrance, glancing back and chuckling, “I’m going to open the door now. You can write a letter to Chen Ping’an, telling him that you’re finally able to carry some burdens for him. You’ve come up with a brilliant method for the two of you to make money. Chen Ping’an is a country bumpkin, after all, so can it be helped that he’s ended up with a good-for-nothing disciple like you and has to work such lowly jobs to earn a measly amount of money? I say this is inevitable!”

At this moment, Cui Cheng stopped and narrowed his eyes.

Pei Qian, who had technically lost consciousness already, subconsciously opened her eyes and staggered forward, with her next movement becoming even greater in magnitude. After several steps, Pei Qian’s figure was already nowhere to be seen.

She stepped sideways before suddenly coming to a stop and leaping up, soaring forward, and unleashing a punch at Cui Cheng’s head.

This was just like how a young boy in straw sandals had soared like an eagle across a stream in the small town many years ago.

Cui Cheng hesitated for a moment before eventually turning his shoulder and dodging Pei Qian’s punch. However, he didn’t respond with a punch of his own this time, and he simply looked back at the young girl who was squatting down near the entrance, unconscious.

She was most likely blocking the path and preventing him from opening the door?

Cui Cheng arrived beside the young girl and sat down cross-legged, gently placing his hand on her bloody head before nodding and saying with a smile, “Very good.”