Unsheathed

After leaving the Pi Fu Shop, Chen Ping’an paid a visit to the young employee who had helped him carve the forty-eight Luminous Jade Cliff pebbles. The latter was extremely grateful to him, even shedding tears at one point, but Chen Ping’an didn’t say much. He merely chatted with the young man briefly before making his way to the old locust tree, standing at the foot of the tree for a long while.

From there, he got on the talismanic boat gifted to him by Huan Yun and visited the Nightglow Grass Hall, then the old woman who was the mistress of Song Lanqiao. On both occasions, he presented tea leaves from the Rainbow Sparrow Residence as gifts to his hosts.

The old woman was particularly pleased. At the moment, Song Lanqiao’s status in the Spring Dew Garden was steadily rising, and it was all thanks to this young sword immortal. Furthermore, the young man had treated her with a great deal of respect on both of his visits.

The first time, she hadn’t reciprocated his gifts with any of her own, and the same applied on this visit as well, not because she was stingy, but because Chen Ping’an told her that good things came in threes, so he insisted that she only reciprocated him on his third visit, much to her amusement.

Upon his departure, she personally escorted him to the foot of the mountain, and after he was gone, she decided that she was going to take active measures to strengthen her relationship with the Nightglow Grass Hall.

On top of that, she was also going to instruct Song Lanqiao to look after the Pi Fu Shop’s business going forward, and there was no need for him to be discreet and secretive about it. He would have her full backing in this matter, and if anyone dared to spread gossip about it, then they would have to face the wrath of both mistress and disciple.

Chen Ping’an should’ve given a jar of tea leaves to Qi Jinglong back at the Great Emblem Sword Sect to fulfill his promise to Sun Qing, but he didn’t feel it was appropriate to do so at the time. Qi Jinglong had just been forced to drink a bunch of wine during Xu Xingjiu’s visit, and Chen Ping’an couldn’t bear to force tea upon him so soon after the wine debacle.

Hence, he decided to send the tea leaves to Qi Jinglong from the Spring Dew Garden. That way, he would have no choice but to accept it.

During his earlier visit to the Nightglow Grass Hall, Immortal Tang’s daughter, Tang Qingqing, had been absent, having gone to the Iron Warship Residence to meet with her lover.

According to Immortal Tang, the two of them were about to become wedded Dao partners, at which point a marriage alliance would be forged between the Nightglow Grass Hall and the Iron Warship Residence. Immortal Tang invited Chen Ping’an to attend the wedding, but the latter made up an excuse to turn down the invitation, and the former didn’t insist.

Chen Ping’an didn’t have any fondness for the Iron Warship Residence. As a matter of fact, there was really only bad blood between them, given that he had personally killed that Vajra Body Tier guest elder of the Iron Warship Residence back on the immortal ship.

However, not only had the Wei Clan of the Iron Warship Residence not held him responsible, they had treated him with nothing but respect. Of course, Chen Ping’an wasn’t so naïve as to think that this forced amicable facade truly meant that he was on good terms with the Iron Warship Residence. Given the way things were, it was best for both sides to leave each other alone.

In the past, Chen Ping’an had drunk wine with Liu Zhimao on several occasions, and they had even briefly become temporary allies. In the vast majority of cases, worldly affairs were never all that clear-cut, and it was often the case that there were no definitive enemies or allies. It was simply something that Chen Ping’an had to accept, whether he liked it or not.

During his conversation with He Xiaoliang back when they had reunited on the west coast of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, he had told her that if the mountain-moving ape of Sun Scorch Mountain had demanded that he kowtow in order to spare Liu Xianyang of his terrible fate, then he would’ve gladly complied, kowtowing as many times as was required to satisfy the mountain-moving ape.

That had not been a joke, and it once again showed that there was often much ambiguity in how people dealt with one another.

Even though there was a brief period during which he and Liu Zhimao had been allies, Downtrodden Mountain hadn’t offered its congratulations to the latter in the wake of his breakthrough to the Upper Five Tiers.

There were two situations in life in which one would bow their head to others. The first scenario would be if one had no choice but to comply due to circumstances, while the second would be in the pursuit of maximizing self-interest.

The former scenario could often be very degrading and depressing, while the latter was generally much more enjoyable.

Chen Ping’an traveled to the Luminous Jade Cliff on his talismanic boat. It had once been a place where he and Liu Zhiqing had drunk tea together, but just like the Pi Fu Shop, it was now his territory.

However, upon his arrival, he caught sight of a familiar figure standing in the pergola on the Luminous Jade Cliff. It was the owner of the Spring Dew Garden, Tan Ling.

Chen Ping’an stowed away his talismanic boat, then quickly made his way to the pergola.

Tan Ling walked down the steps of the pergola with a smile as she said, “I heard that Sword Immortal was gracing our Spring Dew Garden with his presence, and I didn’t really have anything better to do, so I decided to pay you a visit. Please pardon me for coming uninvited.”

“Not at all, Mistress Tan. You are always welcome here,” Chen Ping’an said with a smile, and the two of them made their way into the pergola before sitting down across from each other.

Tan Ling smiled as she offered Chen Ping’an the most recent anthology of the Spring Dew Garden from the end of the previous winter, and she said, “This is the most recent edition of ‘Spring Dew in Winter.’ After it was published and released, we learned that the story about your tea session with Sword Immortal Liu on the Luminous Jade Cliff was the most popular one of all.”

Chen Ping’an took the anthology from Tan Ling before flipping through it to track down the story in question. It was a very elegantly written story, and he decided that he would show it to Pei Qian once he got the chance.

Chen Ping’an tucked the book up his sleeve, then cast his gaze toward the Luminous Jade Cliff and the deep stream at the foot of the cliff as he sighed. “It’s truly quite regrettable that I’ve missed two Spring Farewell Banquets in a row. After I depart this time, I don’t know when I’ll be able to return to the Spring Dew Garden.”

Tan Ling was actually rather perplexed about why Chen Ping’an seemed to have taken such a liking to her Spring Dew Garden.

During their first meeting, Tan Ling’s demeanor toward Chen Ping’an had been polite but slightly distant and aloof. For her and the Spring Dew Garden, there was no need for any additional business. All she had to do was maintain the status quo and take a safe and steady approach.

However, not long after Chen Ping’an left the Spring Dew Garden, there came news of a certain sword immortal releasing their flying swords to the heavens together with Liu Jinglong of the Great Emblem Sword Sect in the nearby Sacred Lotus Nation.

One of them, in particular, was a streak of golden sword light that had pierced through the night sky, reminiscent of the streak of golden light that had sliced through the lightning cloud of the Golden Crow Palace, and Tan Ling had immediately realized the possible connection between the two.

A swordsman who was merely an acquaintance of Liu Zhiqing’s was someone that Tan Ling would meet and chat briefly with, but nothing beyond that. However, a swordsman who was not only a good friend of Liu Zhiqing’s but was also able to journey with Liu Jinglong and release their flying swords alongside him was an entirely different concept, and Tan Ling would be a fool not to afford them a bit more respect and hospitality.

In fact, Tan Ling had even considered going to the Pi Fu Shop to see Chen Ping’an, but she was worried that such a drastic change in attitude from their previous meeting to this one would make her come across as excessively eager to please, thereby making Chen Ping’an look down on both her and the Spring Dew Garden.

Inside the pergola, the two of them conversed with each other in a polite and cordial fashion.

Tan Ling felt like she had accomplished her objective for this trip, and after a brief chat, she stood up to depart. Chen Ping’an escorted her out of the pergola, then watched as she rose up into the sky and faded away into the distance.

Following Tan Ling’s departure, Chen Ping’an wrote three secret letters, then paid a visit to the Spring Dew Garden’s sword chamber and sent the letters to the Great Emblem Sword Sect, Cloudtop City, and the Golden Crow Palace.

Of course, he had enclosed a batch of tea leaves with the letter sent to Qi Jinglong.

In the letter, he requested Qi Jinglong to purchase some replica swords and treasures from Hatred Sword Mountain and the Three Official Attendant Temple, respectively. He gave Qi Jinglong an allowance of a hundred grain rain coins and requested the latter to go and make the purchases after facing his three challengers in battle.

At the very minimum, he wanted a Sword Immortal replica sword from Hatred Sword Mountain and a suit of treasured armor from the Three Official Attendant Temple. If a hundred grain rain coins weren’t enough, then Qi Jinglong would just have to make up the difference out of his own pocket for now.

Conversely, if there was still some money leftover after making those purchases, then Qi Jinglong could look into purchasing an additional replica sword from Hatred Sword Mountain and some miscellaneous treasures from the Three Official Attendant Temple at his own discretion.

Chen Ping’an also specifically requested that Qi Jinglong take full advantage of his status as an Upper Five Tiers sword immortal. During the bartering process, if things weren’t going smoothly, then he wanted Qi Jinglong to shamelessly mention that he was Liu Jinglong of the Great Emblem Sword Sect repeatedly to try to secure the desired discount.

At the end of the letter, he wished Qi Jinglong luck in his three battles against Li Cai, Dong Zhu, and Bai Shang.

In the letter sent to Xu Xingjiu, he wrote that he had already met with Liu Jinglong, and he claimed that the latter had told him that he wished he could have drunk more wine with Xu Xingjiu during his visit. He claimed that Liu Jinglong had to abstain from drinking in the lead-up to his three battles, but he had expressed a high level of approval for the wine that Xu Xingjiu had brought.

Hence, he encouraged Xu Xingjiu to travel to the Great Emblem Sword Sect to visit Liu Jinglong once again after he was finished with his three battles, at which point Liu Jinglong would be able to drink to his heart’s content. He also requested Xu Xingjiu to pass on a message to Bai Shou and tell him that once he left the Great Emblem Sword Sect to explore the world in the future, he could consider paying a visit to Downtrodden Mountain of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

At the end of the letter, he told Xu Xingjiu that if he wished to send a letter in reply, then he could send it to the Flax Robe Sect of Skeleton Shoal. He told Xu Xingjiu to make the letter’s recipient Pang Lanxi of the Wood Garment Mountain ancestral hall and request Pang Lanxi to pass the letter onto Chen Haoren.

The final letter was sent to Smelting Peak of the Golden Crow Palace, and its recipient was naturally the former owner of the Luminous Jade Cliff, Liu Zhiqing.

It was a very short letter that read: “Cultivation of the heart is no easy task, but I will persevere with you. Once I return to Skeleton Shoal, I’ll be sure to request a set of divine maiden portraits from Mr. Pang for you.”

After returning to the Luminous Jade Cliff, Chen Ping’an sat alone in the pergola, lost in thought for quite some time.

The immortal ship traveling between the Spring Dew Garden and Skeleton Shoal would only arrive at the Talisman Water Ferry Station in two days.

It felt like he had a huge list of things to do during that time, but also nothing to do at all.

After some thought, Chen Ping’an left the pergola, then rolled up his sleeves and pant sleeves before wading into the stream to pick up stones.

***

Song Lanqiao was feeling rather uneasy.

The source of his unease was a terrifying passenger who was traveling on his ship. It was a white-robed young man headed to the Spring Dew Garden.

The earlier attack on Skeleton Wall City had commenced very abruptly and concluded very quickly, so Song Lanqiao wasn’t able to personally bear witness to the incident. However, all official cultivators with any status to speak of were very adept at one thing: gathering information from all kinds of connections and sources before making extrapolations.

As soon as the white-robed young man boarded the ship, Song Lanqiao immediately sent a flying sword letter to the Spring Dew Garden ancestral hall, warning them to be on their guard. He told them that the young man had a very peculiar personality and that the first thing that he did after reaching Skeleton Shoal was to tear open the heavens of Malicious Ghost Valley before raining down a torrential storm of treasures upon Gao Cheng!

What was most perplexing and surprising of all was that Gao Cheng, who possessed what was equivalent to an Immortal Tier cultivation base, had chosen not to pursue the insolent young man.

Clearly, this was someone who could destroy the entire Spring Dew Garden on a whim.

As the immortal ship was traveling toward the Spring Dew Garden, the white-robed young man snuck out of the ship on one occasion to visit Verdant Bamboo Lake. However, he then quickly returned to the ship, traversing through the air by performing a rather comical doggy paddle stroke.

All of this had taken place in the dead of night, and if it weren’t for the fact that the uneasy Song Lanqiao had been extra vigilant over these past few days, keeping a close eye on his ship day and night, he would’ve never been able to imagine that the white-robed young man would possess such unfathomable power.

The Spring Dew Garden immortal ship was riddled with restrictions, yet the white-robed young man had been able to come and go as he pleased without any impediment, and that left Song Lanqiao feeling even more terrified.

Through his observation, Song Lanqiao noticed that the young man seemed to have had a great deal of free time on his hands, and he often left his cabin to wander aimlessly on the deck of the ship.

As the ship drew closer to the Spring Dew Garden, the young man began displaying clear signs of impatience, seemingly displeased with how slowly the ship was traveling. However, for some reason, he chose not to depart from the ship and travel by flight, even though he was perfectly capable of doing so, and that would’ve also allowed him to reach his destination faster.

On this day, the young man came to see Song Lanqiao of his own accord, and he didn’t waste any time with small talk as he asked in a direct and straightforward manner, “How has business for the Pi Fu Shop on Old Locust Street been recently?”

Song Lanqiao hadn’t detected the young man’s presence at all right up until the latter began to speak, and he tentatively asked, “Are you a friend of Sword Immortal Chen’s, Senior?”

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying?!” the young man snapped in a furious voice. “How could we possibly be friends?!”

Song Lanqiao’s unease instantly deepened at the sight of the young man’s reaction to his question.

Could it be that he’s an enemy of Sword Immortal Chen? Does that mean our Spring Dew Garden will be implicated? What should I do?

“Do you know him?” the young man asked.

Song Lanqiao was very conflicted on how he should answer, but ultimately, he decided to come clean and be honest, replying, “I am indeed familiar with Sword Immortal Chen. In fact, he traveled on my ship the first time he went to the Spring Dew Garden.”

To his surprise, the young man slapped a hand firmly down onto his shoulder with a bright smile as he praised, “Well done! You’ve earned yourself a bit of leeway!”

Song Lanqiao stumbled involuntarily under the force of the young man’s firm hand, and he was dazed by the latter’s sudden and drastic emotional swing.

The young man’s bright smile remained as he gestured for Song Lanqiao to sit down and have some tea, and the latter complied, sitting down in an uneasy fashion before hurriedly accepting the teacup being offered to him.

Even though they were on his ship, it felt to Song Lanqiao like he was on the young man’s territory.

The young man didn’t drink any tea himself.

Instead, he set his bamboo hiking pole down onto the table, then folded his hands over one another with a smile as he said, “Cui Dongshan is my name. If you are an acquaintance of my teacher, then you are a friend of mine.”

Song Lanqiao was feeling more puzzled by the second. He could count off all of the Upper Five Tiers cultivators of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, and he had never heard of a Cui Dongshan before.

There was one with the Cui surname that he knew of, namely Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan of the Great Li Empire. Even among the cultivators at the pinnacle of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, he was a very renowned figure.

Furthermore, he was perplexed at the notion that Cui Dongshan was supposedly Chen Ping’an’s student.

It wasn’t that he had a low opinion of Chen Ping’an, but this simply didn’t make sense to him.

“My teacher is a very nostalgic man, so he’ll be sure to visit your Spring Dew Garden before returning to Wood Garment Mountain,” Cui Dongshan said with a smile.

Most importantly, there was an old locust tree there, and that was why Cui Dongshan was so confident that he would find Chen Ping’an there.

“Sword Immortal Chen is your teacher?” Song Lanqiao asked in a tentative fashion.

“Are you envious or something?” Cui Dongshan scoffed. “Let me tell you now that you have no chance! When it comes to choosing disciples and students, my teacher only picks the cream of the crop!”

Song Lanqiao felt like he was in a fever dream.

What in the world is happening right now?!

At this point, he would consider himself a close acquaintance of Chen Ping’an’s, and throughout all of their interactions, Chen Ping’an had come across as a very reasonable and well-mannered young man, someone who was very amicable and pleasant to be around, so how did he have such a strange and erratic student?

All of a sudden, a dangerous smile appeared on Cui Dongshan’s face as he asked, “Are you skeptical of the fact that I’m my teacher’s student, or do you not believe that my teacher has a student like me?”

Song Lanqiao immediately felt a chill run down his spine. It sounded like Cui Dongshan had simply framed the same question in two different ways, but in reality, they held vastly different connotations, and he had to be extremely careful with how he answered.

He didn’t actually have many options, only two, in fact. He could either praise Cui Dongshan or praise Chen Ping’an, but if he were to choose the latter option, then he would be indirectly belittling Cui Dongshan.

After quickly weighing up his options, he decided to once again take the honest and steady approach, explaining, “I’m just shocked that someone as young as Sword Immortal Chen could have a student like you.”

Cui Dongshan shook his head as he lamented, “What a shame. You’ve just lost that little bit of leeway.”

Song Lanqiao couldn’t help but roll his eyes internally. In the face of such a strange and erratic senior, he was just glad not to lose his life! If he could survive this journey, then he would be sure to go and offer up incense to the old ancestors of the Spring Dew Garden.

“You should indeed go and offer up incense to your ancestors once you return to the Spring Dew Garden,” Cui Dongshan said with a chuckle.

Song Lanqiao’s entire body instantly tensed up, bristling at the notion that Cui Dongshan was able to read his thoughts.

Cui Dongshan smiled as he reassured, “If you haven’t done anything wrong, then you have no need to fear ghosts knocking on your door at night. I’m not a ghost, and you haven’t done anything wrong, so there’s nothing for you to be afraid of.”

Song Lanqiao could only respond with a wry smile.

Cui Dongshan picked up his hiking pole as he rose to his feet and declared, “Alright, I’m off. I’m going to try my luck to see if my teacher is already at the Spring Dew Garden. I’m sure my departure comes as a massive relief to you.”

Song Lanqiao felt like there was no good way for him to respond, so he simply closed his mouth and said nothing as he respectfully escorted Cui Dongshan out of the room.

After making his way out into the walkway outside, Cui Dongshan gave Song Lanqiao a parting wave as he said, “There’s no need to escort me any further.”

Song Lanqiao stood on the spot in a daze, completely oblivious to the fact that his robes were drenched in cold sweat.

Cui Dongshan made his way to the very front of the ship, then sprang up into the air, causing the entire ship to plummet by several hundred feet. From there, he sped away as a streak of white light, resembling a bolt of white lightning.

***

Chen Ping’an was picking through the stones in the stream when he suddenly turned in a certain direction and caught sight of Cui Dongshan.

After a long, dazed silence, he asked, “Is Senior Cui gone?”

Cui Dongshan gave an affirmative response as he lowered his head.

“How are you feeling?” Chen Ping’an asked.

“Not very good, Teacher,” Cui Dongshan replied.

Chen Ping’an allowed the pebbles that he had meticulously picked out to fall back into the stream as he began making his way toward the shore, and it was only now that he realized that he had become quite a bit taller than Cui Dongshan.

He pressed a hand down onto Cui Dongshan’s shoulder as he said, “Let’s go back home together.”