Unsheathed

Two people were descending a mountain that was covered in a thick layer of snow. A young girl carrying an oil-paper umbrella in her arms leaped forward before rolling along the ground, with her entire body getting covered in snow as she continued to roll down the mountain.

The young woman behind her slowly walked after the young girl.

After the young girl stood up, she swung the oil-paper umbrella like a hammer and recited, ”The old lord swings a hammer, sparks accompanied by charcoal dust. Heave ho, heave ho! The rain gods and wind gods give me assistance, the lightning gods and thunder gods lend me a hand. Rumble, boom!”

”This isn’t the way to recite the sword-forging mantra,” the young woman said.

The young girl stopped swinging the oil-paper umbrella and glanced up at the tall mountain in the distance, lowering her voice and asking, ”That’s a mountain god, Big Sister Xiu, a mountain god of the Great Li Empire! Even a fart from him is like thunder that can kill measly beings like me. So, why is he so polite to you? In fact, he’s not just polite, but he actually seems afraid of Big Sister Xiu.”

”You’re very smart, and you already know the answer, so why are you still asking?” Ruan Xiu replied. ”It’s easy to get hungry if you speak too much.”

”Then aren’t you even smarter than me, Big Sister Xiu?” the young girl immediately remarked.

Ruan Xiu shook her head and said, ”I don’t like to think, so I’m actually fairly dumb.”

The young girl purposely acted scared as she stammered, ”You get hungry so easily, Big Sister Xiu, but you won’t eat me when you’re starving, right?”

”I will,” Ruan Xiu replied with a nod.

The young girl giddily ran over to Ruan Xiu’s side, genuinely feeling a little frightened as she tugged the latter’s sleeve and pleaded in a soft voice, ”Please don’t eat me, Big Sister Xiu.”

Ruan Xiu was a bit unwilling to speak.

Holding the oil-paper umbrella nicknamed Raised Flowers in her hand, the young girl continued, ”Be careful of me telling on you, Big Sister Xiu...”

After saying this, a gentle smack from Ruan Xiu sent the young girl spinning several dozen revolutions before forcefully crashing into the snow far away. She continued to roll down the mountain, crushing countless dead branches on the way.

However, it wasn’t long before the young girl sprinted back to Ruan Xiu’s side, completely unfazed as if she were already accustomed to this.

The young girl hurriedly hid behind Ruan Xiu when they approached the foot of the mountain.

Xu Xiaoqiao and Xie Ling gracefully landed on the ground, summoning their swords back into their scabbards. They studied under the same master, but their manner of sheathing their swords was completely different. One was crisp and efficient, while the other was elegant and fluid.

One respectfully addressed Ruan Xiu as Senior Sister, while the other smiled and addressed her as Big Sister Xiuxiu.

Ruan Xiu simply nodded and said, ”You’re here.”

The young girl poked her head out from behind Ruan Xiu. How very strange. Two sword immortals had come at once, but they didn’t look like immortal Dao partners at all. Rather, it was very clear that the proper-looking young man was attracted to Big Sister Xiu.

Had he called her Big Sister Xiuxiu just then?

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

The young girl felt like this young sword immortal was very pitiful.

Xu Xiaoqiao handed a bag to Ruan Xiu and said with a smile, ”These are some desserts from the pastry shop.”

Ruan Xiu smiled and accepted the bag, smiling even wider when she felt its weight.

See, Big Sister Xiu is happier to receive a bag of desserts than to see him, the young girl grumbled in her mind.

She truly wanted to knock the young man unconscious with a whack. Afterward, she could drag him back to her cave abode to become her husband in the future. She could raise him in the meantime, and his good looks could genuinely translate into free food and accommodation. As for her so-called cave abode, she was the only person there.

Ruan Xiu carefully picked out a peach cake and popped it into her mouth, causing a wide smile to instantly spread across her face.

She then offered a piece of cake to the young girl, who gobbled it down and had no thoughts about its taste.

”Did you pay?” Ruan Xiu asked.

”We did,” Xu Xiaoqiao replied.

Ruan Xiu nodded and said, ”I don’t need to pay when I go.”

Xu Xiaoqiao was rendered speechless, and there were complicated emotions in Xie Ling’s mind.

”Senior Sister, Master told me to ask you whether you plan to return,” Xu Xiaoqiao said.

”Of course I plan to return. Why would I not?” Ruan Xiu replied. ”I still need to listen to Little Mili’s stories. It’s been a long time since I last saw her, so she’s probably made up a whole heap of new stories.”

Xu Xiaoqiao felt like this kind of reason was actually very suitable and natural for Ruan Xiu.

————

There was an ordinary-looking young woman selling books in a bookshop located in the prefectural city of a small country that was once a vassal state of the Luminous Vermilion Empire. Her name was He Jia, and she had a very shapely body. Because of this, many libertines liked to wander around the bookshop even though her appearance wasn’t outstanding.

None of them would get physical, however, and they would at most flirt with her. The young woman never spoke much, and she turned a deaf ear to these people’s nonsense. Some young scholars from well-off, but not powerful or wealthy, clans would also come here to purchase books. Of course, their interests didn’t necessarily lie in the books.

It was evening, and He Jia was currently sitting behind the counter and reading a book. She glanced at the darkening sky, and she was just about to stand up and close the bookshop for the day. She would then return home, which was only two alleys away, to rest.

Just as she put down the book, however, she noticed a young man with a sword on his back standing at the entrance of the bookshop. His handsome appearance couldn’t be concealed by his unkempt nature, and his elegance was natural and radiant.

”My apologies, Young Master, but the bookshop is about to close,” she said in a gentle voice.

The young man stood outside the entrance, seemingly not daring to take a single step. His lips were quivering, and he tried his best to remain calm and composed as he said, ”I coincidentally passed by, and I just want to buy a few books. I didn’t look for you on purpose.”

He Jia sighed softly in her mind. Even the young man didn’t believe his own lame excuse, so how could he trick anyone else?

She didn’t say anything extra despite this, and she sat back down and picked up her book, replying in a soft voice, ”If Young Master truly wants to buy some books, then please feel free to look around. I can close the shop a bit later.”

The young man still didn’t step inside.

He Jia simply borrowed the final rays of twilight to read. Even though her cultivation base was barely worth a mention now, she was ultimately still a cultivator and not a mere mortal. As such, it wasn’t difficult to read with minimal lighting.

The young man mustered his courage and suggested in a quivering voice, ”Come with me to the Wind Lightning Field, okay? What do you say, Su Jia?”

He was still able to recognize her straight away, even if she hadn’t used an illusion technique, and even if her appearance had genuinely changed to what it was today.

Even if time flowed backward and she suddenly became a young girl, or if time flowed forward and she suddenly became a frail old woman, Liu Baqiao would still be able to pick her out from a sea of people.

But how could he say this out loud? What right did he have to say this out loud?

He Jia looked up and replied with a frown, ”Even though I’m no longer a direct disciple of the ancestral hall, my name is still recorded in the genealogical records of Sun Scorch Mountain. This is clear and unambiguous. So, why are you suggesting this, Young Master Liu?”

She paused for a moment before continuing, ”I’m essentially training outside the mountains now, so please don’t call me Su Jia, Young Master Liu.”

Liu Baqiao felt like his insides were being brutally twisted together. He was a sword cultivator at the peak stage of the Golden Core Tier, with the Great Dao within reach, yet he still felt severely stifled upon hearing this, so much so that he almost wanted to bend down and take a deep breath.

”What are you called now?” Liu Baqiao asked.

He Jia became slightly irritated, and she snapped, ”Does this concern you at all, Young Master Liu?!”

Liu Baqiao lowered his head and murmured in a quiet voice, ”I like you, and I’ve been searching for you for many years.”

Shopkeeper He Jia of the bookshop — or more accurately, Su Jia of Sun Scorch Mountain — stood up and said, ”I’m begging you, Young Master Liu, please let me enjoy the small amounts of peace and quiet I have remaining, okay? I exhausted the last of my savings to build a life here, and things aren’t easy at all. I’m not the same as you, Young Master Liu, not before, and even less so now. In any case, I’ve never liked you either. Ask yourself honestly, just how many times have we met and talked before?”

Liu Baqiao looked up and replied with a tragic smile, ”We’ve never spoken before, and today is the first time.”

Su Jia eased her tone and asked, ”Young Master Liu, you should be aware that I don’t like you, right?”

Liu Baqiao nodded in response.

Su Jia didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry, and she continued, ”Young Master Liu, the prodigious sword cultivator from the Wind Lightning Field, likes Su Jia, so does Su Jia need to express gratefulness in return?”

Liu Baqiao shook his head and replied, ”No such logic exists in the world. It’s only right that you don’t like me.”

Su Jia closed her book and lightly placed it on the counter, saying, ”If Young Master Liu is feeling guilty about your senior brother defeating me in that sword duel several years ago, then I can sincerely tell you that there’s no need. I don’t hold a grudge against your senior brother, Huang He.

”Conversely, I came to realize during the sword duel that Huang He is indeed far superior to me both in terms of his Sword Dao and his cultivation. I lost fair and square. In addition, Young Master Liu has misunderstood me if you feel that I resent Sun Scorch Mountain after being expelled from the ancestral hall and falling to this state following my loss.”

Su Jia’s eyes were limpid as she continued, ”I entered the mountains to cultivate from a young age, so I have absolutely no recollections of the outside world. Because of this, I’ve always treated Sun Scorch Mountain as my only home.”

”If Miss Su continues to run this shop here, then I’ll leave right away and promise that I’ll never disturb you again,” Liu Baqiao said in a soft voice.

Su Jia laughed in anger and said, ”I already told you that I exhausted the last of my savings to open this bookshop and buy a small residence. Even if I want to move, where else can I move to? I simply hope that you keep your promise.”

”I will,” Liu Baqiao replied with a nod.

Even until the end, Liu Baqiao still didn’t step inside the bookshop. Instead, he asked, ”Can I sit at the entrance for a while? Just a short while.”

Su Jia was utterly helpless.

Liu Baqiao genuinely sat down on the door threshold.

Only when the shadows on the street stretched longer and gradually merged together with the darkness did Liu Baqiao finally stand up and leave.

Jia, as in the Jia from the Sage’s words, ”Crops are liked by all people.”[1]

Was it wrong to feel attracted to a young woman like this?

Inside the bookshop, Su Jia shook her head, hoping that these mysterious events would stop here.

Even back then, it hadn’t been a secret in Sun Scorch Mountain and the Wind Lightning Field that Liu Baqiao liked Su Jia. However, Su Jia genuinely didn’t like Liu Baqiao.

Su Jia closed the bookshop and started to walk home.

She had lost everything following that sword duel back then: a sword peak, her status as a direct disciple of the ancestral hall, and the Sword Nurturing Gourd that her master had given her...

As a result, she plummeted from great heights and could only hide in the mortal world.

Things hadn’t been smooth sailing, but she had already gone through the arduous process of facing and overcoming the many challenges of varying sizes.

Just like she had said, she didn’t feel any resentment toward Sun Scorch Mountain. Rather, she actually felt a sense of guilt that she couldn’t let go of.

There were also some people and some remarks that she couldn’t forget.

Toward Li Tuanjing’s closing disciple, the current leader of the Wind Lightning Field, Su Jia felt an indescribable sense of fear. In fact, she would often wake with a start because of nightmares about Huang He.

She couldn’t understand this, and she wasn’t able to push it out of her mind either.

During the three sword duels at the Wind Snow Temple’s Divine Platform back then, Huang He had carried a sword case on his back, one that was filled with small swords. These weren’t bonded flying swords, however, so his ability to split his attention and control all of them was astounding.

One sword had pierced through Su Jia’s sword-wielding hand, one sword had severed the red string attaching her Sword Nurturing Gourd to her waist, and two swords had eventually pierced through her wrists.

Before Su Jia lost consciousness, the last thing she had seen before closing her eyes was Huang He stepping on the Sword Nurturing Gourd and gently rolling it around.

The young man had appeared like a towering and indomitable mountain, one that was cold and heartless from every angle.

In fact, fear and trepidation had gripped Su Jia’s heart even when seeing Liu Baqiao just then. She was involuntarily reminded of Huang He and her nightmares, the source of her downfall.

Su Jia wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she walked through the quiet alley, seemingly wanting to gain some warmth.

She became increasingly pale as she walked, and she eventually leaned her back against a wall and forcefully massaged her glabella.

After a long time, she used the back of her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, after which she continued to make her way home.

Su Jia arrived at the end of an alley and opened the door to her residence, and she was transfixed with shock by what greeted her. Tears instantly flowed down her cheeks.

The person standing there looked like an ordinary woman, but just as Liu Baqiao could recognize her with a single glance, Su Jia was also able to recognize this woman with a single glance.

This woman was none other than her master, the person who had led her into the mountains to cultivate.

For some unknown reason, however, this wasn’t reflected in the genealogical records in the ancestral hall. Su Jia had been placed under the lineage of an old ancestor very early on, allowing her to become a direct disciple of Sun Scorch Mountain’s ancestral hall.

Meanwhile, not a single disciple was recorded under her master’s name. Her master’s seniority wasn’t low, but she had never enjoyed any renown in Sun Scorch Mountain.

Su Jia’s master almost never attended the meetings in the ancestral hall, with the seat near the very back of the hall always empty. This was because her master liked to travel around outside the mountains, often leaving Sun Scorch Mountain for ten years or even dozens of years.

The woman retracted her illusion technique, and it became clear that she was none other than the female cultivator who had represented Sun Scorch Mountain at the meeting in the Great Li Empire’s imperial study. She had sat at the very back of the room, and no one had conversed with her from the beginning to the end.

She had a young appearance, but she couldn’t be regarded as beautiful.

She walked over to the teary-eyed Su Jia and placed a hand on her head, smiling and saying in a gentle voice, ”I simply left Sun Scorch Mountain to travel around for a few years, yet you’ve somehow ended up in such dire straits, my foolish disciple. What’s the problem? Without Master by your side, you’re still the young girl who doesn’t dare to walk outside at night? If I knew this earlier, I wouldn’t have sent you to Wing Formation Peak back then.”

Su Jia smiled widely, so widely that her eyes became small crescents.

It was as if she could truly become unafraid when her master was by her side, turning back into the happy and carefree young girl of the past.

Su Jia’s master retracted her hand, on which there was a red string tied to her wrist.

She stayed at Su Jia’s place for a moment before standing up to take her leave.

She didn’t say anything about bringing Su Jia back to Sun Scorch Mountain to reinstate her status as a direct disciple of the ancestral hall, nor did she mention the future ownership of that Sword Nurturing Gourd.

However, Su Jia felt like this slow and relatively bland life wasn’t as difficult to accept as she had imagined. Even though there were many feelings of regret and disappointment in her mind, she felt at ease running the bookshop and earning silver coins and copper coins. Of course, this was disregarding her nightmares.

Su Jia’s master once again channeled an illusion technique and transformed into an ordinary-looking woman after leaving her disciple’s residence.

There was a knock on Su Jia’s door not long after her master left.

Su Jia quickly ran over, mistakenly thinking that her master had returned. However, she shuddered and stumbled back in apprehension when she opened the door and saw the visitor.

With her sword heart shattered and her cultivation base falling to the Lower Five Tiers, Su Jia appeared even inferior to a mortal woman at this moment.

The young man standing outside the door had a cold expression as he said slowly, ”Su Jia, you should be well aware that Liu Baqiao will definitely visit you in the future, albeit in secret so you don’t notice him. You have two options right now. Either you scramble back to Sun Scorch Mountain to drag out your feeble existence, or you find some man to marry and diligently look after your husband and children. If Liu Baqiao still refuses to give up on you after this, detrimentally impacting his sword cultivation, then I’ll do what’s necessary to make him give up for good.”

Su Jia bit her lip, causing wisps of blood to seep out. She was unable to say a single word.

This young man was none other than Huang He, the sect leader of the Wind Lightning Field who had exited seclusion at some unknown time.

If it weren’t for the Wind Snow Temple’s Sword Immortal Wei Jin, Huang He would now be the number one sword prodigy in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

Huang He immediately stepped on his sword and flew away after issuing this threat to Su Jia.

If it weren’t for their master having extremely high hopes in Liu Baqiao, Huang He most definitely wouldn’t have concerned himself with these utterly lame romantic relationships between men and women.

The Wind Lightning Field needed someone to lead and hold everything together if Huang He were to suffer an accident, and it was only because of this that Huang He was going out of his way to interfere in Liu Baqiao’s matters. Otherwise, he would feel absolutely no need to even interact with Liu Baqiao.

They were both sword cultivators, but their Great Dao were far too different.

Huang He had successfully exited seclusion now, so he was waiting for some old ancestor of Sun Scorch Mountain to challenge the Wind Lightning Field to a sword duel.

While following Liu Baqiao here from a distance, Huang He had forcefully stopped himself from lashing out several times. He had felt a strong urge to knock Liu Baqiao unconscious with his sword, after which he would drag the young man back to the Wind Lightning Field and force him to cultivate in seclusion for one hundred years, lest he waste his talent even further.

Su Jia was barely able to hold herself together as she closed the door. She turned around and leaned against it, sliding down to the ground before starting to sob.

How was she going to deal with Huang He in the future? He was like a haunting spirit that she couldn’t get rid of.

Su Jia’s master glanced up at the sky after leaving through the city gates of the prefectural city. She continued on her way, not to Sun Scorch Mountain, but to search for her next disciple.

As for the Wind Lightning Field, it wouldn’t progress past its current state for the next several hundred years.

There was life-and-death enmity between the senior brother and the junior brother.

Whether Huang He came out on top or Liu Baqiao remained standing, they would ultimately become nothing more than the next Li Tuanjing.

What was interesting wasn’t the fact that Su Jia didn’t like Liu Baqiao, whether now or in the future. Rather, even Su Jia was unaware that the person she had already fallen for was actually Huang He.

It would naturally be even better if both Liu Baqiao and Huang He ended up half-dead.

As for the woman from Sun Scorch Mountain whom Li Tuanjing had personally killed several hundred years ago? In reality, she could also be regarded as a disciple of the woman who had just left the provincial city on foot. And like Su Jia, she was also an unofficial disciple.

Su Jia’s master also had some relationships with other females who weren’t her disciples.

Or to put it another way, she had done some minor things that were unrelated to master-disciple relationships.

For example, how the Wind Snow Temple’s Wei Jin had met and fallen for He Xiaoliang.

There were also some small stories pertaining to trivial events that had taken place in the Luminous Vermilion Empire many years ago.

Before people knew it, she was already toying with the Sword Dao fortune of an entire continent and spanning over one thousand years. Perhaps it would be an exaggeration to say that she was toying with all of it, but she was at least toying with half of this fortune.

Beyond this, she had once visited the Parasol Leaf Sect and given a prophecy at the Planchette Writing Sect.

The woman shook her sleeve and raised her wrist slightly, smiling as she glanced down. She then retracted her gaze and continued to slowly walk forward.

Many so-called smart people standing at the pinnacle of the mountains were also skilled at laying schemes and plots that stretched far and wide over long periods of time. However, these schemes were ultimately fragile and easy to sever, rendering them useless thereafter.

However, there existed a ploy in the world that even sword immortals would find difficult to sever once it succeeded. Even if it looked to be severed on the surface, there would still be tendrils that remained connected for life.

Only those who were far-sighted and incredibly skilled at diving into the fine details to untangle the silk-like tendrils would have some hope of resolving this ploy, allowing the victims to feel slightly better.

Once the ploy successfully linked the victims together, however, they wouldn’t be killed as a result, given that this wasn’t a case of sword immortals unleashing sword strikes. However, they would often suffer a fate worse than death, after which they might seek death as a release.

Su Jia’s master never underestimated her opponents.

As such, she would launch several ploys against those whom she viewed as important.

Those who were lovesick always gravitated toward heartbreaking matters. They would seek happiness amid pain, and they would lose themselves in this vicious cycle. Indeed, how could one be regarded as lovesick if one didn’t experience heartbreak?

Her thoughts drifted far away.

It was a shame that she hadn’t seen her senior brother for many years.

They had actually been very close to each other one time, and it could almost be said that they had rubbed shoulders with each other. However, as long as her senior brother insisted on avoiding her, she wouldn’t be able to recognize him even if he were standing right in front of her. This couldn’t be helped.

The previous time he had appeared was apparently near the Observing Dao Temple in the Parasol Leaf Continent.

There was one bad thing about her senior brother: he would almost never return those red strings on her wrist when he ”borrowed” them.

”My ploy hasn’t been noticed already, has it?” Su Jia’s master suddenly said in self-ridicule.

She then shook her head and said to herself with a smile, ”That’s definitely not possible. Just how young are they? Is there any need for them to care about the measly Sun Scorch Mountain?”

1. The Chinese character for Jia literally means crops. ☜