Unsheathed

At the stroke of dawn, a horse-drawn carriage drew to a halt outside the Yuan Clan’s manor. Yu Lu and Xie Xie were waiting beside the horse-drawn carriage with their luggage on their backs, and Cui Chan was making his way out of the manor while yawning lazily. He was wearing an ivory-colored robe of?exceptional material and tailorship, and trailing along behind him was the young boy, who had a dejected and reluctant look on his face.

“Where are we going, Young Master?” Yu Lu couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m taking you to seek out an education in Great Sui Nation. The two of you were meant to be students of Mountain Cliff Academy to begin with,” Cui Chan replied in a lazy voice.

Yu Lu and Xie Xie exchanged a bemused glance upon hearing this.

The coach driver was one of the spies of the Great Li Empire, and he was seated in a completely still manner at the front of the carriage. Cui Chan bent down to lift up the curtain covering the entrance of the carriage, then suddenly turned and instructed, “Get Wang Yifu to come and replace you as coach driver. You stay in Dragon Spring County and continue to keep an eye on Dragon Riding Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley.”

The spy nodded in response, then got down from the carriage?and departed in silence.

Around 15 minutes later, Wang Yifu arrived to replace the coach driver. Yu Lu was looking directly ahead with a composed expression, while a cold look surfaced in Xie Xie’s eyes, and she didn’t seem to have been very fond of Wang Yifu.

Wang Yifu was the man who had been tasked with killing Song Yuzhang. He had once been a general of the Lu Empire, but he hadn’t been reduced to a prisoner of the Great Li Empire, nor had he been integrated into the Great Li Empire’s military. Instead, he had become a personal lapdog to Song Jixin’s mother, and now that she had been banished to the Palace of Eternal Spring, Wang Yifu’s master had changed from her to Cui Chan.

Due to the fact that they were traveling along the official road, the horse-drawn carriage they were taking was quite a large and spacious one that was enough to fit the three of them. However, Cui Chan instructed Yu Lu and Xie Xie to sit outside, while he occupied the spacious carriage on his own.

It didn’t take long before the sound of reading rang out from within the carriage. Cui Chan was the esteemed imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire and arguably the best go player on the?entire continent, yet he was having to recite passages from these children’s books every day, and it was quite an amusing sight to behold.

The horse-drawn carriage traveled out of the town through the eastern gate, and Cui Chan lifted the curtain to take a look at the newly constructed county office near the eastern gate.

At the moment, only the foundation of the county office had taken shape, and under the supervision of the county officials, the manual laborers sourced from the town were busy at work, raising clouds of dust across the entire eastern gate. Cui Chan lowered the curtain with a dark expression.

After leaving the town, the horse-drawn carriage traveled along the official road for roughly two hours before Cui Chan instructed Wang Yifu to stop the carriage. Cui Chan then emerged from the carriage before making his way to a small hill on his own, where Cui Minghuang of Lake View Academy had already been waiting for him for quite some time. As soon as he spotted Cui Chan, Cui Minghuang immediately extended a respectful bow.

Cui Chan stood on the hilltop as he looked back at the town. Unfortunately, given how drastically his cultivation base had fallen, he no longer had the eyesight to be able to see the town clearly. “It’ll take some time for Cloud Drape Mountain to be instated as the Northern Mountain of our Great Li Empire, so that’s most likely not going to be happening anytime soon.

“However, construction of the new academy on Cloud Drape Mountain must continue, and it’ll be completed in half a year at the very least. Rest assured, you’ve taken a huge risk here and almost lost your life, so I definitely won’t renege on my promise to you. Once the academy is constructed, you will be instated as the deputy mountain master.

“After that, the Great Li Empire will be sure to do everything in its power to support this new academy so that it will be more worthy than Mountain Cliff Academy of becoming one of the 72 academies of Confucianism.”

Cui Minghuang was quite relieved to hear this, and he vowed with a determined expression, “I won’t disappoint you, esteemed patriarch.”

Cui Chan paid no heed to Cui Minghuang’s promise as he continued, “I’m going to leave that porcelain boy to you. Once the new academy is constructed, get him to study there. Barring any mishaps, his cultivation should progress very smoothly. In fact, he may even reach the Middle Five Tiers at a startlingly fast speed, so you have to be mentally prepared.

“I advise you to hide him so that he isn’t exposed to the outside world too early. I meticulously selected those pieces of broken porcelain?from the mountain porcelain, and it took me a great deal of time and effort to assemble those porcelain pieces into a porcelain person that possesses a soul.

“He was nothing more than a pile of scrap porcelain, yet he’s now virtually indistinguishable from a living person, and his creation is the culmination of my life’s work, coupled with a healthy dose of luck, so you have to look after him. I don’t mean to make things sound more dire than they are, but essentially, I’m entrusting him fully to you now as I’m no longer able to look after him myself. ”

Cui Minghuang was overcome by emotion as he cupped his fist and extended a deep bow. “Rest assured, patriarch, I’ll be sure to treat him as if he were my own flesh and blood!”

Cui Chan was looking a little weary as he said, “Aside from Song Changjing, you can do with the two groups of spies in the town as you see fit. I’ve already spoken to them in advance, so they’ll be willing to follow your orders. Also, whenever you have some free time, go and chat with Old Man Yang from the Yang Family’s medicine shop.

“That old fart is extremely fair in everything he does, and he never puts any weight on concepts like good and evil, or enemies and allies. Try and convince him to agree to make deals with you. As for Ruan Qiong, I advise you to stay away from him. At this point, the four surnames and ten clans on Four Families and Ten Clans and Peach Leaf Alley are all broken up, and they’re no longer as tight-knit and unified as they once were.

“Make sure to keep an eye out for the Li Clan, the one that Li Xisheng belongs to. As for the Li Clan’s arrogant second young master, Li Baozhen, now that his backer has fallen, he won’t be knocked back down to square one, but this will teach him a lesson on how volatile and unpredictable things can be in the capital city.

“You can choose either one of the two brothers, but you can only choose one. As for Wu Yuan, you can interact with him as you see fit, but stick strictly to official matters and don’t get too close to him.”

Even though Cui Chan was a handsome young boy, Cui Minghuang was struck by the illusion that he was standing before a weary and jaded old man who had lived 10 lifetimes.

A careful look appeared on Cui Minghuang’s face as he asked, “Could it be that Wu Yuan is…”

Cui Chan was slouched over slightly as he made his way down the hill, and he nodded as he replied in a weary voice, “He serves Her Majesty. She’s always had a tendency to select people like him who come from humble upbringings, but are intelligent, and have lofty aspirations?and exceptional forbearance. At the same time, all of them have their own fatal flaws, which make them easy for her to control.”

An enlightened look appeared on Cui Minghuang’s face upon hearing this. “I see. No wonder I felt like something wasn’t quite right on that occasion when?you were speaking to me back at the Yuan Clan’s ancestral residence. It was only after the event that I realized that it had to have been because Wu Yuan was present.”

Cui Chan heaved a faint sigh, and instead of concealing the truth, he revealed, “Back at the Yuan Clan’s ancestral residence, I gave him a chance. In the past, he had leaked all manners of trivial information to Her Majesty, but I turned a blind eye to all of that.

“However, if he had chosen to leak that secret to her after leaving the manor, then he would’ve sealed his own fate. If a disciple dares to betray their master, then the master is perfectly justified to kill the student.”

Cui Minghuang offered no response to this.

Cui Chan patted him on the shoulder as he mused, “I have very high hopes for you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have told you all of this.”

“I’m both honored and terrified,” Cui Minghuang replied with a wry smile.

“You can stop here, there’s no need to accompany me any further.”

Cui Chan sped up as he made his way down the hill, and after taking around a dozen steps, he turned around with a smile as he said, “You’re a smart guy, so I’m sure you’re thinking that given how I set that trap for Wu Yuan, I must’ve set a trap for you as well.

“Truth be told, you’re not wrong. That is indeed the case, but as for where the trap is and when you’ll need to make a choice that decides whether you live or die, that’s something that you’ll have to ponder for yourself.”

Cui Minghuang was horrified to hear this, nor did he display any indignation. Instead, his eyes were full of resolve and anticipation as he replied, “I’ve already read all the books I need to read, so this will be where the joy in my life lies from here onward.”

Cui Minghuang turned and cast his gaze toward the horse-drawn carriage at the foot of the mountain, tucking his hands into his sleeves as he mused, “Sure enough, you really do need all three types of disciples. In Cui Minghuang, Wu Yuan, and the porcelain boy, I’ve completed the set. From now on, the four of us will go our separate ways and see what fate has in store for us.”

As he was walking along, Cui Chan suddenly shuddered as he murmured to himself, “Given Chen Ping’an’s personality, if he ever finds out the truth someday, he’ll definitely beat me to death without a second thought!”

A hint of sorrow and anxiety appeared on his face as he continued, “What’s most damning of all is that a master is completely justified to kill their disciple! No, I can’t allow myself to meet such a terrible fate. I have to think of a way to get myself out of this pickle…”

All of a sudden, a smile appeared on Cui Chan’s face, and he began to swagger down the hill in a carefree manner as he chortled to himself, “I can just pin the blame entirely on the Great Li Empire’s imperial preceptor! I’m Cui Dongshan, not Cui Chan!”

The body that he was currently using was one that he regarded as an extremely precious treasure. It was innately pure and untainted, but the original host of the body had been born with a mental disability, and he passed away before even reaching six years of age.

Over the course of many years, Cui Chan had refined the body using a secret technique to transform it into a vessel that could be easily possessed on a temporary basis, much like an inn that one could stay in. Jewel Small World was extremely important to him as it concerned his Dao attainment catalyst, so he had to enter the small world in person, and that was why he had brought out this vessel and possessed it with a part of his soul.

As a result, there were two Cui Chans in this world, one old and one young. The old Cui Chan remained in the capital city of the Great Li Empire to continue serving as the imperial preceptor, overseeing matters from afar, while the young Cui Chan entered the town and resided in the Yuan Clan’s ancestral residence in case any unforeseen mishaps were to occur.

Of course, deep down, Cui Chan also had a secondary objective, which was to witness Qi Jingchun’s demise with his own two eyes.

For once in his life, he wanted to beat Qi Jingchun fair and square.

However, what Cui Chan had completely failed to anticipate was that he would lose to Qi Jingchun in catastrophic fashion, and that was only the beginning of his suffering.

Following Qi Jingchun’s passing, he was sought out by the old geezer that was supposed to have already perished in the Forest of Virtue, who casually severed his connection between him and his original body and imposed a punishment on him, forcing him to read those same few books every single day.

What was even more ridiculous was that none of those books were ones that had been written by the old man. To make matters even worse, he had made an utterly absurd decision, condemning Cui Chan to serve as Chen Ping’an’s student!

What could I possibly learn from Chen Ping’an? Pottery firing or charcoal making?

As for exactly what that old geezer was thinking, that was something that literally only the heavens knew!

The old man had never attained any lofty scholarly titles in the secular world, but he was once ranked as high as fourth in the Confucian temple. At that time, he had truly been at the height of his powers. People were scrambling to carry his deity statue into the temple in reverence, and even the old man himself couldn’t stop them.

However, Cui Chan had always felt like the old man was quite happy with what was happening at the time, and he never made a serious effort to intervene.

————

On a mandatory path on the way to the Great Li Empire’s southern border, a horse-drawn carriage was parked on the side of the road, and Cui Chan was seated on the roof of the carriage, looking northward with an expectant expression.

Wang Yifu was seated in the driver’s position, and as usual, he was completely silent.

Yu Lu was organizing his belongings, while Xie Xie was seated beside Wang Yifu in a casual and carefree fashion. She and Yu Lu had their backs facing one another, and she was swinging her legs back and forth while snacking on some sunflower seeds.

All of a sudden, Cui Chan stomped a foot down as he exclaimed, “They’re finally here!”

Wang Yifu remained facing away from Yu Lu as he said in a quiet voice, “Look after yourself, Your Highness.”

Yu Lu smiled as he nodded in response. “Likewise, General Wang.”

Wang Yifu also gave a slight nod, and he was just about to say something else when Xie Xie clapped her hands together, having just finished a large handful of sunflower seeds, and she said in a light and airy voice, “There’s no need for an esteemed general like yourself to speak to lowly prisoners like us.”

“I owe your master a great debt,” Wang Yifu said with a wry smile.

Xie Xie rested her hands on her knees as she looked up at the sky, and she smiled as she replied, “In that case, you should be saying this to all of those people who’ve passed away. I took no part in that battle, and I didn’t take my own life after the event, either. On the contrary, I’m doing quite well, and I’m about to become a student of the new Mountain Cliff Academy very soon, so there’s no reason for you to be telling me this, General Wang.”

“Don’t mind her, Wang Yifu,” Yu Lu interjected. “She’s just a child who hasn’t grown up yet, and she has all this pent-up anger, but doesn’t know who to vent her frustrations on, so she’s lashing out at anyone that she can.”

“Do you still think you’re the revered prince of the Lu Empire?” Xie Xie scoffed. “What right do you have to condescend me like this?”

Yu Lu smiled and offered no response as he continued to organize his belongings.

Meanwhile, Wang Yifu was feeling a little exasperated.

If it weren’t for the fact that he was concerned for the safety of these two children, there was no way that he would’ve agreed to serve Song Jixin’s mother.

————

Chen Ping’an’s group was traveling southward along the official road when he suddenly spotted a familiar young boy rushing toward him. The boy was displaying such glowing enthusiasm that he seemed even more ecstatic to see Chen Ping’an than a young maiden would’ve been to see the man of her dreams.

The young boy was none other than Cui Chan, and there was a dazzling smile on his face as he declared, “Chen Ping’an, I know this might sound like a joke to you, but I’m telling you now with the utmost sincerity and seriousness that from this day forth, I am your student!

“If you won’t accept me as your student, then I’ll kill myself right here and now! Once I’m dead, don’t forget to erect a tombstone for me and engrave the words ‘The grave of Chen Ping’an’s disciple’ onto the tombstone!”

Chen Ping’an was stunned into silence, and only after a long while did he return to his senses as he asked, “What’s your real name?”

“Cui Dongshan!” Cui Chan replied with a wide smile.

Chen Ping’an nodded in response. “Alright, I’ll make sure to include your name on the tombstone as well.”