Unsheathed

The remaining 100 or so kilometers of their journey on the Embroidered Flower River was peaceful and?smooth sailing.

When Chen Ping’an and the others disembarked, Li Huai and Lin Shouyi were already carrying?brand-new?bookcases. Along with Li Baoping, they were now increasingly living up to their so-called ‘journeys with books on their back’. As a result, Chen Ping’an now looked like a young servant for children from large and powerful clans.

If one didn’t see with their own eyes, one would find it hard to imagine that the young boy was actually a practicing martial artist. Moreover, he was a martial artist who had resoundingly defeated the martial arts subordinate of a county magistrate of the Great Li Empire. In fact, the martial arts subordinate hadn’t even been able to throw a single punch. When they disembarked the ship, this martial arts subordinate had been carried off on a stretcher.

Before disembarking, Chen Ping’an had already studied a geomancy map of the area carefully. He didn’t plan to travel through Wanping County Town. Instead, they would take a detour around the town and continue south through a magnificent mountain range. This section of the journey would take them approximately half a month on foot. Chen Ping’an had asked around on the ship, and he had learned that there was a mountain path that they could follow. However, it would be far more difficult to traverse than the bluestone path that snaked through Go Table Mountain. Horse carriages wouldn’t fit, and most people walked this path with donkeys or mules.

If they didn’t choose this mountain path, then they would have to pass through a county town. However, Lin Shouyi said that he was yet to comprehend the Yang talismans, so he would be unable to conceal the innate Yin energy of the Yin god. As such, the Yin god wouldn’t be able to enter the county town. According to A’Liang, it was very likely that the city god pavilion, the Confucian temple, the martial sage temple, and the residence of the general would all naturally ostracize the Yin god. If a mighty figure was present in the county town, then it was also likely that they would face some complications.

As they walked, they continued to ask the passers-by for directions. During these times, Chen Ping’an would also probe the villagers about whether there were any strange legends relating to these mountains. For example, whether there were mountain ghosts present. When the villagers saw that they were four young children, with all of them carrying bookcases, they treated them as young students from rich families who had run out to adventure. They smiled as they introduced the surrounding mountains and waters to Chen Ping’an and the others. They said that these places didn’t even have names, so how could there possibly be ghosts or spirits? At the very least, they had never heard anything of the sort before.

In the end, most of the villagers suggested that they visit the river god shrine by the Embroidered Flower River. They claimed that drawing fortune sticks and praying to the god there was very effective, and perhaps there was genuinely a mighty river god watching over them. The county magistrate would also lead a delegation of people to worship the river god each year. On this day, the deafening bangs of firecrackers would resonate throughout the sky, and the atmosphere in the area would be as lively as could be.

The four children arrived before the mountain range at noon. Standing in front of the mountains, Li Huai bowed with cupped hands before vigorously bowing another three times. Looking up and seeing no movement from Chen Ping’an, he asked in puzzlement, “Chen Ping’an, didn’t you bow before entering Go Table Mountain last time? You said you were paying respects to the mountain god. So why are you slacking off this time?”

Chen Ping’an hesitated for a moment before eventually replying, “I frequently entered the mountains with Old Man Yang in the past, so I managed to pick up some skills in terms of observing the mountains and tasting clay. When he was in a good mood, he would talk to me about the forms and directions of the mountains. He said that there are many considerations when it comes to the location where a mountain god places their gold statue?or?whatnot.

“If we want to know whether there’s a mountain god residing in a mountain, we can roughly determine this by carefully observing the mountain before we enter. Moreover, the locals all said that there’s nothing strange about these mountains, so I can more or less confirm that this isn’t the territory of a mountain god.”

Lin Shouyi suddenly recalled something, and he added, “The Yin god told me that each empire can only have a limited number of formal mountain gods and river gods. There can’t be gods and deities everywhere. Otherwise, they’ll run rampant and eventually cause catastrophe, bringing chaos and complexity to the fortune of a region. Moreover, the conflict between mountains and rivers is similar to how people fight over land and water sources. If there are too many gods, then things actually become detrimental for the empires. Thus, mountain gods won’t appear in places that aren’t explicitly recorded in the Local County Chronicles.”

Li Huai was slightly disappointed, and he sighed, “Ah… And I still wanted to collect a few more painted puppets.”

As it turned out, the?disaster turned?into?a?fortune in?Go Table Mountain that had resulted in Li Huai receiving a lively painted puppet had caused him to feel eager with anticipation. He was eager to receive a painted puppet for each mountain that he visited. If that were the case, then wouldn’t his small bookcase be filled with puppets by the time he reached the academy in Great Sui Nation? Otherwise, if there were only a single puppet and a single book in his bamboo bookcase, things would seem a little too empty.

“And you still had the gall to call Chen Ping’an miserly before?” Lin Shouyi chuckled in indignation.

“I never said that! I simply said that Chen Ping’an is a virtuous person who makes his fortune in a proper way,” Li Huai retorted with a guileless look.

“How obsequious!” Lin Shouyi humphed coldly.

Lin Hai was enraged, and he shouted, “If it wasn’t for me begging and pleading, would you have been able to get a small bamboo bookcase? Lin Shouyi, have some conscience, will you?”

“Shut up,” Li Baoping snapped.

Chen Ping’an would practice walking meditation whenever there was no one around. However, he didn’t dare to make big movements because he was carrying a large basket on his back. As a result, he would slow down his pace whenever he could. Moreover, when teaching him the Eighteen Stops in Pillow Relay Station, A’Liang had also told him that being slow was the essence of this technique. Now that he was stuck between the sixth stop and the seventh stop, not able to overcome this barrier no matter what, Chen Ping’an decided to practice the walking meditation of the Mountain Shaking Fist Technique first.

After entering the mountains and walking for approximately four hours, Li Huai was already panting heavily. Li Baoping was also huffing and puffing.

Chen Ping’an understood that this was the limit of their “single breath”. Since they were coincidentally passing by a creek, he decided to stop there for a rest. Lin Shouyi was calm and relaxed, and there were only a few beads of sweat on his forehead. This was as expected of someone who had set foot on the path of cultivation. It was just that he still couldn’t compare to Chen Ping’an.

After they all found a spot to sit down, Chen Ping’an retrieved Li Baoping’s saber from his large basket. This was the slender saber that A’Liang had referred to?as Auspicious?Talisman. Even though he had called this a bottom-ranked saber, Chen Ping’an was no blind fool, and he was instead someone who was extremely familiar with kitchen knives and machetes. In fact, he had even borrowed Ning Yao’s skirt dagger for a period of time. Thus, he knew that this saber was definitely very valuable. Whenever there was no one around, he would retrieve the small Dragon Slaying Platform that had mysteriously appeared in his basket and use it to carefully sharpen?the blade of the saber.

After unsheathing the saber, Chen Ping’an first lightly dipped the shiny black Dragon Slaying Platform in the creek. He then squatted down by the creek and started to slowly sharpen the saber. His actions were smooth and relaxed, and it was as if he were handling the most delicate and fragile tribute porcelain from his hometown.

Chen Ping’an enjoyed focusing his mind on one thing. This was especially the case if he could perform the task to a high standard. This would cause the young boy to feel especially happy.

This was just like how he would feel extremely tranquil every time he practiced standing meditation on the peak of a lofty mountain, where his field of view would suddenly open up. He would feel refreshed when he finished meditating, yet he would also feel a slight sense of disappointment. He would feel a strong urge to study the remaining stances of the fist technique in great depth. He wanted to learn and master everything in a single go.

That way, his punches would be more refined, and they would also be faster and more ferocious. He wanted his punches to exude the mighty and magnificent aura that A’Liang had displayed when he had soared up and?flown?away from Pillow Relay Station.

However, Chen Ping’an would quietly practice walking meditation whenever this feeling arose. He would slowly suppress his restless urge and tell himself not to be hasty. He needed to calm down and relax his mind. If his mind wasn’t relaxed, and if he simply pursued speed, then it was much more likely that he would make a mistake and waste all of his previous efforts. This was just like the art of forming and firing pottery.

Even so, there were still the occasional moments when Chen Ping’an couldn’t calm himself down even when he practiced walking meditation. One of these times, Chen Ping’an had decided to study the maps of the states and prefectures. He had inadvertently discovered three carefully stowed-away prescriptions, and these were the ones that Daoist Lu had personally written for him. Ning Yao had commented that the characters were written in a bland and flavorless way, just like the boring “guangeti” of the scholars.

However, Chen Ping’an now had a habit of reading over these three prescriptions whether he was busy or not. Doing so would allow him to calm down a little.

Li Baoping washed her face, leaving strands of hair sticking to her forehead. After journeying for so long, the little girl had already become a lot more tanned than before. Thus, the areas of her forehead that weren’t covered by her hair at this moment appeared especially pale and smooth in comparison.

The little girl liked to watch her junior uncle as he fully absorbed himself in sharpening the blade. As the blade of the narrow saber moved back and forth against the Dragon Slaying Platform, it was as if her junior uncle were the only person remaining in the world. She would never get bored of watching him.

Of course, she also liked it when Chen Ping’an practiced his fist technique as he walked, when he shielded her behind him and used his fists to reason with others, when he studiously learned characters from them, and so on and so forth…

The only difference was whether she liked it, really liked it, super-duper liked it, or liked it the most.

There were naturally things that she didn’t like as well. However, Li Baoping would often forget these things very quickly.

The little girl suddenly became a little gloomy when she recalled the letter that she had sent home from Pillow Relay Station in Red Candle Town.

Chen Ping’an noticed her sudden change in mood, and he asked with a smile, “What’s wrong? Something weighing on your mind?

Li Baoping sighed and replied, “I’m worried about what’s going on at home. Second Brother is so bad, so will Big Brother be bullied by him in the future?”

“In terms of this matter, you’ll definitely come face-to-face with your second brother and ask him about Zhu Lu’s assassination attempt on me in the future,” Chen Ping’an replied with a serious expression. “However, your second brother most likely still cares about you.”

“How could Zhu Lu do that? How could she?!” Li Baoping exclaimed with a wry expression. “She’s already a martial artist, and her father Zhu He is also a capable person. If they joined the army, who wouldn’t be fighting over them? Would it be difficult for her to win an honorary title in the future? Why did she blindly follow my second brother’s instructions?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and said, “I have no answer to these questions either.”

Nearby, Lin Shouyi had a grim expression as he remarked, “For profit and self-interest do people come and go.”

Li Huai humphed and retorted, “Crock of shit! If you ask me, I’d say that the idiot Zhu Lu has fallen for Baoping’s second brother. With her heart fluttering and with?love hearts?in her eyes, receiving a promise from her crush might be even more alluring than receiving an honorary title.”

“If that’s the case, then she’s truly as stupid as she is evil,” Lin Shouyi sneered. “She’s beyond saving.”

Chen Ping’an sighed and glanced at the three children nearby. Thinking back to his days in Clay Vase Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley, where commotion, petty arguments, barbed arguments between women, badmouthing, and all sorts of things would happen, Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but say, “You three are scholars who understand a lot, and on top of that, you’re also Mr. Qi’s personal disciples. You three are very different from people like me. Even though there were many elderly people where I lived, they were almost no different from the county magistrate and old man we encountered on the ship before. They’re unwilling to speak reason, or they’re only willing to speak their own reason.”

Chen Ping’an decided to stop sharpening the narrow saber, and he placed it back in its scabbard. His voice was filled with emotion as he continued, “However, even though these people are unreasonable, some of them are extremely strong and capable of earning enough money to raise their family simply by firing pottery or making charcoal. Some of them are exceptional at growing crops, so their lives are fairly satisfactory as well. Then there are also people who work as midwives but like to boil charmed water and do all kinds of strange things, like Granny Ma. She’s a very bad person, yet she’s extremely good to her grandson, Ma Kuxuan. She’d love to give everything good in the world to her grandson.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and concluded, “So I want to read some books to understand the reason behind these things.”

Li Baoping suddenly stood up and started to slowly pace beside the creek. There was a serious expression on her face.

In the end, the little girl wearing the red jacket suddenly said, “Junior Uncle, I’ve been thinking about the question you asked on the ship this entire time, and I feel like I’ve made a little headway now. Do you want to hear about it?”

Chen Ping’an suppressed a chuckle and replied, “I just learned the phrase ‘wash my ears and listen respectfully’ from you guys, and it seems like now is just the right time to use it.”

Li Baoping puffed her cheeks in anger, and in the end, she exclaimed in slight annoyance, “Junior Uncle!”

Chen Ping’an hurriedly smiled and said, “Yes, please continue.”

Before explaining anything, the little girl made sure to leave herself a path of retreat first, saying, “My explanations might be a little messy, so if Junior Uncle thinks I’ve said anything wrong, then just keep listening and don’t worry about it. You’re not allowed to laugh at me.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied, “I was able to reason with someone much older than me on the ship, so why can’t you? Don’t worry about it and just focus on explaining. Junior Uncle is listening attentively.”

Li Huai pursed his lips and randomly swung his painted puppet through the air. It was as if he were commanding an army of thousands of soldiers and cavalry. “Yes, go on, explain. Speaking and arguing with others never hurts. Only fighting with others hurts.”

Much like a scholar outlining the main topics of their lecture, Li Baoping introduced the three areas that she was going to focus on first. “I’m going to talk about virtue and morality, local customs and rules, and the laws of empires.”

Li Huai immediately felt a headache forming. He turned his attention to the exquisite wooden puppet in his hands, and he dreamed about the day that it might suddenly come to life and alleviate his boredom.

Lin Shouyi smiled and rested his cheek on one hand. He looked at Li Baoping, who was standing by the creek.

Only Chen Ping’an pricked his ears up and listened attentively.

When he was little, he would often squat by the wall of the private school to eavesdrop on Mr. Qi’s lessons. This was a memory that the young boy in straw sandals cherished.

“These notions relate to virtuous people, commoners, and evildoers who perform illegal acts.

“After reading many books, virtuous people will understand more theories and principles. However, we need to keep one thing in mind. Just like Big Brother said, morality is a concept that’s far too lofty and intangible. At the end of the day, this concept isn’t something that can discipline others. Instead, this concept can only be used to discipline oneself!

“A person needs to have a righteous mind if they want to establish themselves. With a righteous character, they can gain a righteous reputation. With a righteous reputation, their words can carry truthful reason. With truthful reason, they will accomplish what they seek.

“In addition, if one wants to bring virtue to the world and educate the masses after cultivating their own character to a state of high virtue, then one can choose to spread their knowledge and virtuous principle just like our teacher did when he taught us in the private school.

“Ordinary people only need to abide by the rules of their local region.

“Meanwhile, the laws of empires are?explicitly?targeting those who flout rules and break regulations. These laws are a string of criteria used to constrain evildoers. These are the lowest-level criteria, and they also correspond to the lowest-level ‘rules’ in our Confucian etiquette.”

Even though Chen Ping’an was listening attentively, he was unable to understand and absorb the principles behind these words even though he understood every single word.

No wonder A’Liang had told him to read more.

Lin Shouyi had already shifted to sitting in an upright manner at some unknown time, and he interjected with a frown, “It’s the Legalist etiquette.”

Facing the three others, Li Baoping firmly proclaimed, “Legalism is unquestionably derived from Confucianism.”

Lin Shouyi was stunned.

Li Baoping was peeved upon seeing the distracted Li Huai, and she quietly shouted, “Li Huai!”

It was as if Li Huai had returned to the days in the private school, where his name would often be gently called?out?by Mr. Qi. “Here!” he instinctively exclaimed.

However, he quickly discovered that it was no longer Mr. Qi calling him, but instead Li Baoping, the little girl who always hit him. Li Huai huffed in anger, and he felt like his response had been quite embarrassing. He lowered his head and continued to play with his puppet.

Li Baoping ignored him, and she continued, “Each entity has?its?own rules, and if they can coexist without friction, then society will be harmonious and the world will be peaceful! Emperors and rulers will be able to maintain order with minimal effort! And thus, sages will cease to exist, and great evildoers will be no more!

“The saying, ‘as long as sages remain, so too will great evildoers’, is a concept raised by Daoists, isn’t it…?” Lin Shouyi interjected again.

There was a brilliant glow in Li Baoping’s eyes, and she loudly countered, “If one principle can be grasped, then all principles can be grasped. The fundamental principles of the world are undoubtedly unanimous!”

As if remembering something, she slowly paced in front of her three companions and continued, “During my final lesson in the private school, Mr. Qi started explaining the concept of ‘right and proper’ to me when there were only the two of us. The foundation of Confucianism lies in the moral regulations expounded in the classical texts…”

Li Huai finally opened his mouth to speak, saying, “Mr. Qi never talked to me about this! What about you, Lin Shouyi?”

Lin Shouyi shook his head.

Li Baoping crossed her arms and fumed, “One of you didn’t like listening to Mr. Qi’s lessons, and one of you never asked questions after hearing Mr. Qi’s explanations. What, did you want Mr. Qi to stuff his knowledge into your brains?”

“If it’s possible, then I wouldn’t be against it at all,” Li Huai said with a cheeky grin. “Mr. Qi was so?knowledgeable, so just a small bit of his knowledge would have been enough to last me an entire lifetime. Having it stuffed into my brain would have saved both time and effort. In fact, it would even prevent me from going down the wrong paths.”

“If one principle can be grasped, then all principles can be grasped… If this?is?true, then one indeed?needs?to seek the ‘one principle’ that acts as the key to understanding all principles. This also aligns with A’Liang’s remark of choosing a path that is focused and profound, not paths that are broad and shallow,” Lin Shouyi murmured to himself.

After being interrupted by Li Huai, it was as if Li Baoping suddenly thought of something else. However, this caused her to hit another bottleneck. The little girl was slightly embarrassed, and she said to Chen Ping’an, “Junior Uncle, let me think for a while longer. Another question has jumped out to trouble me.”

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and gave her a thumbs up.

“My explanation wasn’t bad?” Li Baoping asked in delight.

Chen Ping’an didn’t retract his thumb, and he loudly announced, “It was brilliant!”

However, the four children were completely unaware that the Yin god who was guarding them from a distance was violently convulsing like a pitiful person who had just crawled out from a pot of boiling oil.

However, disaster and fortune often came hand in hand.

The Yin god was only casually listening to the little girl’s childish “lecture” in the beginning. However, a string of inconceivable situations then arose. His mind shuddered, his soul left his body, and it was as if his dense Yin energy that was directly proportional to his cultivation base was being sliced apart by gusts of powerful and blade-like wind.

The Yin god refused to accept this situation at the start, and he?wasn’t willing?to take a single backward step. However, he was eventually unable to withstand it, and he was forced to retreat time and time again. In fact, he retreated an astonishing several dozen kilometers before he finally felt slightly better. Unwilling to yield, the Yin god braved the formless gusts of righteous wind and forged his way forward one step at a time. He was like a small boat fighting against the current of a tumultuous river.

It was said that nine large continents existed in this world. There were 72 Confucian academies, and a wisp of righteous aura in the minds of the virtuous Confucian disciples would give rise to blissful winds that swept hundreds of kilometers through heaven and earth.

At the same time, in an extravagant residence that sat 50 kilometers away in the desolate mountain range, a slender yet extremely pale woman in red attempted to light a white paper lantern and hang it up. However, the lantern would quickly extinguish each time she lit it up.

This caused her face to contort slightly in anger.

The residence that was as magnificent as the?mansions?of princes was brimming with ghosts and spirits. Winds of Yin energy rushed through the halls and corridors.

The woman tossed the white lantern away and slowly rose into the air. In the end, she hovered to a stop at a point higher than the roof before sweeping her gaze over the surroundings.

1. Doing something in a single breath means?summoning?the strength to do something in one go.

2. Guangeti was the standard script style for official documents of the Qing Dynasty imperial court.

3. An idiom that essentially means ‘all ears’.

4. Legalism is one of the six classical schools of thought in China.

5. A reference to a notion raised in Zhuangzi, an ancient Chinese text from the late Warring States period.

6. This references a sentence from one of Su Shi’s lyrics. Su Shi is one of the most accomplished figures in classical Chinese literature.