Unsheathed

Even though the sky had turned dark, it wasn’t actually all that late. Additionally, the layout of the Clear Dew Courtyard in the Autumn Reed Inn was quite exquisite, and Li Huai didn’t feel like sleeping anyway, so while Chen Ping’an was busy engraving the jade hairpins, Li Huai pulled out the wooden box that had been gifted to him by the mountain lord of Go Table Mountain before setting it down onto the table.

He then placed his wooden doll and the four clay figures given to him by Wei Jin of Wind Snow Temple into the box, along with the copy of “Severed Water Cliff” that had been purchased in Red Candle Town.

Even with all of those items transferred into the delicate yellow ebony box, there was still some space left over. The wooden box was displaying a red hue, and according to Wei Bo of Go Table Mountain, the box had gradually turned from yellow to red during the countless years in which it had been buried in the soil.

Not only had the wood not rotten in this process, it had developed a unique fragrance. Li Huai leaned in close to the wooden box to take a careful whiff, and sure enough, the fragrance was still there, and it hadn’t faded in the slightest compared with when he had last smelled it at the Pillow Relay Station.

Ever since leaving the small town to travel to Mountain Cliff Academy, Li Huai had been forced to endure plenty of?hardships, but he had reaped some rewards along the trip as well. Aside from the prized bamboo bookcase sitting in the corner, there was also this delicate yellow ebony box, the wooden doll, and the clay figures.

Additionally, there were several precious silverfish dwelling within that copy of “Severed Water Cliff”, as well as the green darkness fish that A’Liang had slapped into the book, but Li Huai wasn’t a very keen reader, so he very rarely read through the book that Chen Ping’an had spent close to 10 taels of silver on.

Li Huai turned to look at Chen Ping’an, who was focused intently on the engravings that he was making on the jade hairpins. He thought about how much money that Chen Ping’an had spent on the book, and how he had barely even touched the book since it was purchased.

At the time, he had vowed to Chen Ping’an that he would definitely read the book, and he was feeling a little guilty for not living up to that promise. Thus, he pulled out the copy of “Severed Water Cliff”, which appeared to be in brand new condition, and he opened it to a random page to read so that he would feel a little better about himself.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Li Huai, and he slapped a hand to his forehead before putting a hand down his own collar. He reached into the chest pocket that Li Liu had sewn into his robe, then pulled out a parchment paper bag that he waved at Chen Ping’an with a grin as he asked, “Chen Ping’an, do you know what this is?”

Chen Ping’an carefully set down the hairpin and the carving knife, then asked, “What is it?”

A smug look appeared on Li Huai’s face as he pulled a neatly folded piece of paper out of the parchment paper bag and explained, “A while ago, there were people constantly leaving the school, and in the end, there were only five of us left, Li Baoping, Lin Shouyi, Shi Chunjia, Dong Shuijing, and me. During our final lesson, Mr. Qi gave us each a piece of paper with the Qi character written upon it.

“He told us to imitate it as closely as we can, and that it would be our homework. After that, Mr. Qi didn’t take the pieces of paper back from us. My mother felt like Mr. Qi’s writing was quite neat and uniform, but it didn’t even have as much flair as the characters inscribed on the neighbor’s couplets.

“However, seeing as Mr. Qi was our teacher for quite some time, she told me I should keep this piece of paper as a reminder of him, so I asked my sister to sew a pocket inside my robe in secret and placed the piece of paper in the pocket, wrapped in a parchment paper bag.

“After?that, I asked Li Baoping and Lin Shouyi where their pieces of paper were, and Li Baoping told me that she had lost hers long ago, while Lin Shouyi told me that he had put it in a safe place at home so that it didn’t get lost or damaged during our journey.”

Li Huai unfolded the piece of paper, then gently smoothed down the creases, revealing a neat Qi character that was around the same size as the palm of his hand.

Li Huai stared at the character for a moment, then raised his head as he turned to Chen Ping’an and said with a serious expression, “I want you to have this, Chen Ping’an. I don’t have any use for it, and I’m always losing stuff.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head with a smile as he replied, “If you’re worried that you’ll lose it, I can keep it for you before we reach Mountain Cliff Academy. However, seeing as this is homework left for you by Mr. Qi, then as a student of Mr. Qi’s, you should keep this as a prized possession. Even though Mr. Qi is no longer with us and you don’t have to imitate the character anymore, you should keep it as a reminder of him, just as your mother said.”

Li Huai nodded in response, then slipped the piece of paper between the pages of “Severed Water Cliff” that he was on, then tossed the book back into the wooden box.

Unbeknownst to him, the three silverfish and the green darkness fish that were dwelling on different pages of the book all quickly left the original pages that they were on, swiftly swimming through the gaps between the lines of text on the pages before swimming into the slip of paper that carried the Qi character. It was as if they had returned to water, and they were swimming around in elation.

Compared with the extremely fortunate rewards that Li Huai had reaped along the journey, Lin Shouyi hadn’t been any less fortunate than him. He had obtained a large collection of ancient scriptures of different standards and materials, including the “Recite Atop Clouds Scripture” and the “Mountain Scouring Album”, which was filled with illustrations of all types of mountain spirits.

The blind old Daoist priest had bestowed the book upon Chen Ping’an as the latter had given that lame young boy a snake gall pebble of an extremely high quality. In return for the precious gift, the old Daoist priest had given him this album, which he proclaimed to be a treasure that had been passed down for generations to his master, and the album had then been gifted to Lin Shouyi by Chen Ping’an.

As for Li Baoping, she had obtained the Auspicious Talisman and the Sword Nurturing Gourd. It was only a collection of two items, but both of them were extremely valuable treasures, even in the eyes of immortal cultivators.

In contrast, Chen Ping’an had put in more effort and contributed more than anyone else on this trip, but he had only ended up with that rather withered-looking golden lotus seed, and to this day, he still didn’t know what it could be used for. On top of that, he also owed Cui Chan a huge sum of money.

Li Huai rested his head down onto the table as he repeated for the umpteenth time, “Lin Shouyi comes from a very wealthy family, but his status as an illegitimate son is very awkward, so he’s prone to being more sensitive than others. Don’t take what he says to heart, Chen Ping’an.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response. “I’ll find him later, and everything will be fine once we talk things out.”

All of a sudden, Li Huai said, “Good and honest people are always the ones who get screwed over. My father is like that, and you’re the same, Chen Ping’an. I think you should stop being such a good and honest person in the future. Think more about yourself, and don’t constantly do things for the benefit of others. Otherwise, even if nothing happens to you, Li Baoping will get so angry for your sake that she’ll die of an aneurysm!”

An amused smile appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face at the mention of Li Baoping, and he asked, “Why is it that Baoping is always picking on you, but you never retaliate?”

“I don’t dare to retaliate! I’m no match for her!” Li Huai replied in a justified manner.

Chen Ping’an burst into laughter upon hearing this, and the weariness he felt from engraving the jade hairpins was instantly swept away.

Li Huai also burst into joyful laughter. In his memory, Chen Ping’an rarely ever laughed like this. Regardless of what he was doing or saying, Chen Ping’an was always very restrained and cautious, fearful of doing or saying the wrong thing.

This reminded Li Huai of his father, who was rather similar in that regard. If he was happy, he would purse his lips ever so slightly, and if he was unhappy, then his eyebrows would droop down.

Li Huai hesitated momentarily, then decided that he wanted to tell Chen Ping’an some things from the bottom of his heart. He continued to rest his head on the table as he put on a mysterious expression and asked in a low voice, “Do you know why I’m always putting up with Li Baoping?”

“Is it because you like her?” Chen Ping’an jibed.

“Of course not! I’m just a little kid!” Li Huai scoffed with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not a pervert like Lin Shouyi and Dong Shuijing. Whenever my sister brings something to me at school, those two would?stare at her as if their eyeballs were glued to her, especially Dong Shuijing!

“Whenever he makes up an excuse to come play at my house, only to find that my sister isn’t around, he would mope around like he’s sick, but as soon as my sister gets home, he would immediately come alive again, looking like he wants to fill our house’s water vat twice over!

“My mother likes Dong Shuijing more than Lin Shouyi because she thinks he’s a good and honest guy like my father, while my sister probably likes Lin Shouyi a bit more because he’s more like a scholar.”

After taking a brief detour to badmouth Lin Shouyi and Dong Shuijing, a slightly dejected look appeared on Li Huai’s face as he returned to the subject at hand, and he continued, “In the school, everyone used to make fun of my father, saying that he’s the most useless man in the entire town, that he’ll never amount to anything, that all he does is rely on my mother.

“As the saying goes, like father like son, so it only makes sense that I’m the worst student in the school and always scores?last whenever Mr. Qi gives us tests.”

A smile appeared on Li Huai’s face as he continued, “Li Baoping came from the wealthiest background out of anyone in the school, but she never plays with anyone, not even Lin Shouyi. She’s always flying around like the wind every day, and she’s always the last one to enter the classroom and the first one to disappear when class ends.

“She finds me noisy and annoying, and she often likes to beat me, but she never makes fun of my father. One time, my father came to find me at the school, and everyone looked down on him, while Li Baoping was the only one who was willing to guide my father through the school.

“She even called him Uncle Li, and thinking back to that, he was really happy even a few days later. Whenever someone intentionally badmouths my father in front of me, Li Baoping would step in and stop them, not allowing them to say whatever they please.”

“I see,” Chen Ping’an mused with an enlightened?expression. “By the way, do you have anyone that you hate, Li Huai?”

Li Huai faltered slightly upon hearing this, then replied, “No. Whenever I go home and get to eat a fat and yummy chicken drumstick while hearing my mother telling my father and my sister off for the most trivial things, everything that I felt unhappy or angry about during the day would immediately be forgotten.”

Chen Ping’an squeezed the wick of the lamp between his fingers so that it would burn brighter, and he smiled as he said, “That’s very impressive.”

A perplexed look appeared on Li Huai’s face as he asked, “What’s so impressive about that? I think it’s much more impressive that you can grab a lit wick with your bare fingers, that you can traverse the mountains without even having to wear straw sandals, that you know how to cut firewood and catch fish.

“From a very young age, Li Baoping would always like to climb onto trees and proclaim that she could fly. Even if she fell onto the ground, she never cried, she would merely stand up on her own and limp her way back home.

“In order to prevent her parents and other senior family members from noticing her limp, she would intentionally wait until it was very late before she went home. She’s not scared?of anything, yet even she thinks that you’re the most brilliant and impressive person under the heavens.”

Chen Ping’an picked up his carving knife again as he explained, “You’ll know what’s so impressive about yourself when you’re a little older.”

Li Huai didn’t understand what that meant, and a look of yearning appeared in his eyes as he stared at the hairpins. “When are you going to give us those hairpins?”

Chen Ping’an stopped what he was doing as he replied, “When all of you get to Mountain Cliff Academy.”

“Why did you give that ‘Mountain Scouring Album’ to Lin Shouyi?” Li Huai asked. “I could tell that you liked it as well.”

Chen Ping’an picked up one of the jade hairpins and carefully inspected the fine patterns on it under the light of the lamp as he replied, “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to hold onto such a good thing, and I’m really close with all of you, so it doesn’t pain me to give the book to Lin Shouyi.”

“It doesn’t pain you even to spend 2,000 taels of silver for just a single night of accommodation?” Li Huai asked?in a careful manner.

Chen Ping’an placed the jade hairpin and the carving knife back into the box, then said with a stern expression, “I have to go outside more and see more of the scenery here. Otherwise, it won’t be worth all the money I spent to stay here.”

Li Huai turned to look at Chen Ping’an’s departing figure while concealing an amused grin.

Following Chen Ping’an’s departure, Li Huai vowed to himself that he was going to give Chen Ping’an something that was most precious to him in the future.

Along this journey, they had traveled a vast distance, and Li Huai had already lost count of how many times Chen Ping’an had accompanied him to pee and poop while standing nearby in silence, all because he was too afraid to go on his own. Even if it were just for that alone, he had to repay Chen Ping’an.

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