Unsheathed

One morning, a shabby-looking wine shop opened its doors for the first time in the Sword Qi Great Wall, and the shopkeeper at this wine shop was none other than Die Zhang, the young sword cultivator with a single arm.

Standing beside her was a young man in azure, and after he personally set off a huge string of explosively loud firecrackers, he cupped his fists at everyone in the surroundings with a dazzling smile.

If it weren’t for the fact that Die Zhang was already the owner of this wine shop — she had already invested everything, and there was no backing out anymore — she would have actually liked to sit inside the wine shop and pretend that this business had absolutely nothing to do with her.

There were many tables placed in front of them.

Ning Yao, Yan Zhuo, and the others were hiding inside the wine shop that was filled with wine vats and wine pots of varying sizes. As shameless as Fatty Yan was, and even for someone who didn’t understand shame like Dong Huafu, they still didn’t have the face to walk outside and show themselves at this moment.

The repairs on the street had just finished, and the shopkeepers and shop attendants of the other restaurants and wine shops were all standing at the entrances of their businesses and cursing in displeasure.

This was because hanging beside the entrance of the shabby little wine shop was a couplet supposedly written by that young martial artist.

“Three feet sword in hand, the sword immortal looks around, lost; for where are the opponents, to quell this hero’s loneliness?”

“A small cup of wine, together we dispel eternal sorrow; till we become drunk, for what does money matter?”

Very well… How impressive of you, Pure Martial Artist Chen Ping’an! Can you please have some shame, outsider?!

Not only that, but the wine being sold by this shabby little shop was apparently related to the Bamboo Sea Small World’s Azure Divine Mountain or whatnot!

What does money matter?

If money didn’t matter, then why the hell was he opening a shop to make money?

There was the sound of whistling and cheering along the street.

Die Zhang was an easily embarrassed person, so her expression had already become tense as beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She tried her best to remain composed, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Chen Ping’an, can we truly sell half a vat of wine?”

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and responded, “Even if no one comes to support us, following the plan I laid out beforehand will ensure that everything goes smoothly and money continues to flow in. Of course, it will naturally be better if someone visits to purchase wine. In any case, it’s very normal for business to be slow during the early morning.”

Fifteen minutes later, Die Zhang started to feel increasingly anxious as not a single customer visited the wine shop.

“Fifty percent off the first pot of wine sold! First come, first serve, and this offer is only available for a single pot of wine!” Chen Ping’an shouted at the top of his lungs.

And thus, a customer truly visited the wine shop.

“Is he also someone you invited over?” Die Zhang asked in puzzlement.

Chen Ping’an was also slightly surprised, and he shook his head and replied, “Of course not.”

The first customer was Pang Yuanji.

He sat down on a bench before smiling widely and saying, “Give me a pot of the cheapest wine. Don’t forget to give me the fifty percent discount.”

Chen Ping’an turned around and glanced at the dazed Die Zhang, chuckling softly and saying, “What are you standing there in a daze for? The shopkeeper should personally serve this pot of wine.”

Die Zhang hurriedly grabbed a pot of Bamboo Sea Small World Wine and a large white bowl, placing them on the table in front of Pang Yuanji. Guilt weighed on her conscience as she cracked open the recently packaged wine and poured out a bowl, so she forced a smile and said in an extremely quiet voice, “Please enjoy the wine.”

Chen Ping’an grabbed an extra bowl and sat down at Pang Yuanji’s table, pouring himself a bowl of wine without asking before smiling and saying, “Thank you for the support, Brother Yuanji. I have to thank you with a toast. Looking at your generosity, Brother Yuanji, there’s no doubt that you’ll become a sword immortal in the future. I’ll drink first to show my respect!”

Die Zhang felt a strong urge to dig a hole and disappear into the ground as she watched on. After all, what kind of shopkeeper would drink their customer’s wine?

After Chen Ping’an finished the bowl of wine, Pang Yuanji surprisingly poured him another bowl. However, this wasn’t a full bowl, seeing that the pot of wine wasn’t very big to begin with. How many bowls of wine did it contain? Thankfully, the white bowls meticulously chosen by this wine shop weren’t very big, and it was because of this that a pot of wine appeared to be big enough.

Pang Yuanji was starting to feel slight regret about coming here to support the wine shop. So be it if business was poor in the future, but what if business started to boom? Would he not scold himself to death at that time? He lowered his head and smelled the wine, discovering that it genuinely smelled a little like immortal wine. It was better than he had imagined. However, a pot only cost a single snowflake coin, so wasn’t this pricing a bit too low? Wine of this caliber would be sold for at least a few snowflake coins in the other restaurants and wine shops in the Sword Qi Great Wall. However, there was one thing that Pang Yuanji knew for sure. To say nothing of the Sword Qi Great Wall, no one in the entire world would sell wine for a loss.

Chen Ping’an and Pang Yuanji touched bowls before downing the wine.

Afterward, Chen Ping’an went inside to grab another pot of wine, placing it on the table and saying with a smile, “It’s half price, so I’ll only charge Brother Yuanji one snowflake coin for two pots of wine.”

The wine tasted decent, so Pang Yuanji decided to tolerate Chen Ping’an’s behavior.

After finishing one pot of wine, Pang Yuanji grabbed the other pot that Chen Ping’an was just about to “help” him open, slapping one snowflake coin on the table and standing up to leave, saying that he would visit again in the future.

Die Zhang wiped away the sweat on her forehead and accepted the snowflake coin from Chen Ping’an, a beaming smile on her face.

Approximately one hour later, just when Die Zhang was starting to worry about the business of the wine shop again, another customer arrived on the wind and gracefully landed in front of the shop. Die Zhang couldn’t help but turn around and look at Chen Ping’an.

After Chen Ping’an clarified that this was still an unexpected surprise, Die Zhang was surprised to see that he appeared a little…nervous?

The customer was the Wind Snow Temple’s Sword Immortal Wei Jin, someone who also hailed from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent like Chen Ping’an.

Wei Jin asked for a pot of the most expensive wine, which came in at a cost of five snowflake coins. There was a bamboo leaf inside this wine pot.

Wei Jin was in no hurry to start drinking, and he asked with a chuckle, “Is she still well?”

Chen Ping’an felt like he was sitting on a bed of needles at this moment, yet he couldn’t play stupid and act dumb in front of someone like Wei Jin. Thus, he could only smile wryly and reply, “She’s most likely doing very well, seeing that she’s already become a sect leader. However, I was almost killed by her at Malicious Ghost Alley.”

Was Wei Jin here to cause trouble?

Chen Ping’an hadn’t hidden anything from Ning Yao about He Xiaoliang, who had initially been a Daoist nun at the Divine Edict Sect and was now a sect leader at the Refreshing Sect. He had explained everything to her in detail.

Fortunately, Ning Yao hadn’t displayed any anger about this, instead saying that He Xiaoliang had taken things slightly too far. She wanted to meet this sect leader in the future.

Wei Jin insisted on opening Chen Ping’an’s old wounds today, causing Chen Ping’an to feel a cold chill down his spine. He felt like the entire wine shop was flooded with eerie sword qi.

After finishing a bowl of wine, Wei Jin asked, “Does she truly like you?”

“I’m not sure,” Chen Ping’an replied with a shake of his head.

Wei Jin nodded and poured himself another bowl of wine, downing it in a single gulp before chuckling, “There’s no need to accompany me, Shopkeeper. You can deal with your other matters.”

In the end, Wei Jin sat by himself and continued to drink wine, slowly but not stopping.

Men who were strongly attracted to a particular woman often liked to drink so-called heartbreak wine. However, the person holding the blade and breaking their hearts would always be the person whom they loved but was never beside them.

Chen Ping’an squatted down beside the shop entrance with his back facing the shop, unable to smile even though he was making money. Instead, he was feeling as worried as could be.

This was because Wei Jin had slapped a lesser heat coin onto the table after drinking the third bowl of wine, saying that they could deduct payment from this immortal coin when he came here to drink wine in the future.

Fatty Yan and Chen Sanqiu tactfully kept their mouths shut.

However, the slightly dim Dong Huafu stupidly commented, “I feel like there’s a story to be told here.”

Chen Ping’an finally understood why Fatty Yan and Chen Sanqiu were sometimes very afraid of Dong Huafu opening his mouth to speak. His words were like flying swords, truly sharp enough to stab someone to death.

Wei Jin was yet to stand up and piss off, but Chen Ping’an felt hugely relieved as he hurriedly stood up.

As it turned out, Guo Zhujiu had dragged a bunch of other children over, noisily making their way over to support the newly opened wine shop.

Guo Zhujiu didn’t beat around the bush, directly revealing her intentions to Chen Ping’an as she respectfully referred to him as “future master in three years.” She continued, “My friends and I just learned about this new wine shop opening here, so we’ve come here to buy some wine as presents for our parents and elders! Future master in three years, I truly didn’t force them to come here!”

Guo Zhujiu then signaled to the other children with her eyes.

The young girls, whom Guo Zhujiu had especially visited late last night to give a reminder to, appeared listless as they obediently handed over the money and accepted the wine. They then waited for Guo Zhujiu’s instructions.

They truly didn’t care about the three snowflake coins they were earning from Guo Zhujiu.

Guo Zhujiu had already pestered them for many days.

Some of them had wanted to directly hand Guo Zhujiu six snowflake coins instead, but Guo Zhujiu had turned down this offer, insisting that they needed to gather enough people.

In the end, Guo Zhujiu also retrieved three snowflake coins to purchase a pot of wine, not forgetting to explain once again, “Future master in three years, they’re all voluntarily here to purchase wine!”

“I performed some calculations, and the three years can be halved to one and a half years. I can reconsider your request again at that time,” Chen Ping’an replied in earnest.

Guo Zhujiu held the pot of wine in one hand and fist-pumped with the other, exclaiming in delight, “Sure enough, today is an auspicious day to buy wine! I didn’t memorize that old lunar almanac for nothing!”

With Pang Yuanji and Wei Jin’s patronage, as well as the support from this group of young girls, the wine shop slowly saw some business.

By the looks of it, it wouldn’t be difficult to break even.

This was already enough to have Die Zhang feel overjoyed.

She slowly became busier and busier.

When it came to selling wine, they had agreed beforehand that Die Zhang would need to do the bulk of the work. Chen Ping’an couldn’t keep an eye on the wine shop every single day.

The extremely dumbfounded Dong Huafu had already been carried away by Chen Sanqiu and Fatty Yan.

Ning Yao leaned against the counter in the wine shop, snacking on roasted seeds as she looked at Chen Ping’an.

“You’re not angry, are you?” Chen Ping’an asked in an uncertain voice.

“How could I possibly be angry?” Ning Yao replied.

There was a look of grief on Chen Ping’an’s face as he asked, “How could you possibly be angry, or how could you possibly not be angry?”

“Guess,” Ning Yao responded with a wink.

Chen Ping’an sighed in grief and lamented, “I’m going to open a pot of wine for myself. Keep it on my tab.”

“Is He Xiaoliang worth my anger?” Ning Yao suddenly said with a smile.

Standing in front of her, Chen Ping’an asked in a quiet voice, “Do you know why I didn’t feel frustrated after losing three battles in a row to Cao Ci?”

“Why?” Ning Yao asked.

Chen Ping’an smiled and revealed, “Because you couldn’t be bothered remembering who Cao Ci was.”

Chen Ping’an also leaned against the counter, gazing at the customers sitting outside as he continued, “After seeing you, that impoverished child who grew up at Clay Vase Alley has never been short on money again.”

Ning Yao stopped snacking on roasted seeds as she looked at Chen Ping’an’s smile, which could no longer be hidden, and she asked, “Are you laughing at me for being scatterbrained?”

Chen Ping’an immediately wiped the smile from his face. In the next moment, he came to the realization that he was no smarter than the little girl, Guo Zhujiu. He was also making his intentions as evident as could be.

However, Ning Yao extended her hand and offered Chen Ping’an some roasted seeds. She continued to snack on roasted seeds as she said, “I won’t get angry about other women liking you.”

After pausing for a moment, she continued, “However, I’ll feel very sad if you like a woman other than me in the future. If such a day truly comes, then you don’t need to apologize to me, much less visit me to personally tell me the situation. I don’t want to hear it.”

Chen Ping’an reached over and placed a hand on Ning Yao’s head, gently swaying it and saying, “Stop imagining things. It might be very difficult for me to become a lofty cultivator in my lifetime, especially since there are always taller mountains and more talented individuals. I can only try harder and put in more effort, striving to fulfill my promise one bit at a time. However, Chen Ping’an will forever be the person who loves Ning Yao the most. There’s no need to work on this anymore.”

————

Business was steadily improving at the new wine shop.

However, Chen Ping’an started to shirk his responsibilities as an owner.

Whenever he was at the wine shop, he would surprisingly spend more of his time chatting with that group of children, sitting on a small stool outside, and even borrowing children’s books from them.

He would occasionally teach them how to read.

Afterward, the young man in azure didn’t try to make money in his spare time, nor did he take advantage of the nearby Dragon Slaying Platform in the Ning Residence to hurriedly temper his spiritual energy. Instead, he insisted on making rubbings of the stone tablets in the streets and alleys, collecting a large stack. Following this, he would often bask in the sun and become a storyteller, recounting some fantastical stories about mountain spirits and water ghosts of the Majestic World to the group of children.

After that, the young man would retrieve a bamboo branch and write on the ground whenever a child asked about a character they didn’t know. He would roughly explain the character but not expand any further, only smiling and nodding even if the children peppered him with additional questions. After teaching them characters, the young man would talk about the mystical and wondrous matters of his home world.

One day, the young man in azure who wore a jade hairpin taught the children some characters under the warm sun, after which he told some stories. He then placed the bamboo branch across his knees and recited in a quiet voice, “Lustrous is the sheepskin coat, dazzling golden in the sun.”[1]

Seeing the young man stop, a child asked in curiosity, “And then? Is there more?”

The young man placed his hands on his knees, gazing forward as he continued slowly, “Insects awaken during spring, vitality fills heaven and earth, all matter flourishes. Sleeping late and waking early, striding leisurely through courtyards, easing one’s mind…”[2]

None of the children surrounding the young man understood what he was saying, but they were willing to quietly listen to him recite these texts in a soft voice.

In a relatively remote alley of the Sword Qi Great Wall, it was as if a small private school had sprung into existence, one without a genuine teacher and without genuine students.

1. This is a line from the poem Sheepskin Coat, written by an anonymous person in the pre-Qin period. ☜

2. This is a line from the Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor (黄帝内经), an ancient Chinese medical text and a fundamental doctrinal source for Chinese medicine. ☜