Unsheathed

Cui Chan paid no heed to Yu Lu as he inspected the plain and simple furnishing inside the dormitory. After a brief silence, he turned to Li Baoping and said, “It’s the right decision for Li Huai to move in here, and it doesn’t have anything to do with courage or cowardice.

“For Li Huai, continuing to stay at his dormitory would be the worst idea, moving here would be a decent approach, and the best way to proceed would be for him to move to Li Changying’s dormitory.”

At this point, Lin Shouyi had already returned with Xie Xie. Lin Shouyi re-entered the dormitory before taking a seat, but Xie Xie only dared to stand by the entrance, clearly very fearful of Cui Chan.

“I understand why moving to Li Changying’s dormitory would be the best move, but why would staying at his current dormitory be the worst idea?” Li Baoping asked.

Cui Chan was twirling a finger around his teacup as he explained, “It’s only to be expected for immature children like them to pick on Li Huai and steal his things. On top of that, they’re at an age where they’re still completely oblivious to the full consequences of their actions.

“You haven’t truly been out in the world yet, so you haven’t encountered any of those hot-headed young brutes who would go as far as to kill someone’s entire family over just a verbal altercation. After the event, they get captured by the authorities and sentenced to death by beheading, but they still have no remorse.

“Even as they’re about to be beheaded, they’ll still be happy with themselves and feel as if they had done the right thing. Do you think people like them fear death? No. They don’t hesitate to kill, and they’re not afraid of being killed themselves. That’s how unreasonable and terrifying they can be.”

Li Huai was astonished by what he was hearing, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the type of people that Cui Chan was describing were mentally handicapped. Could there really be such unreasonable people in this world?

Cui Chan smiled as he continued, “Even if those children were to apologize and receive beatings from their fathers when they get home, that’ll only exacerbate the grudge that they hold toward Li Huai, and that grudge will continue to marinate in their hearts over time.

“All it would perhaps take to push them over the edge would be some goading from some individuals with ill intentions, saying something like ‘your father is a so-and-so important figure, how could you take this humiliation without retaliation? Don’t forget that your ancestors were heroes that played pivotal roles in the founding of Great Sui Nation! Are you just going to dishonor them with your cowardice?’”

Yu Lu nodded in agreement with this sentiment.

As a former prince of the fallen Lu Empire, he was not unfamiliar with what Cui Chan was describing, so out of everyone in the room, he was the one who was most able to understand what Cui Chan was saying.

After a brief pause, Cui Chan continued, “After that, they’ll feel they have to stand up for themselves. Otherwise, if they allow themselves to look like such cowards on their own territory, how will they be able to salvage their reputation? Their clan would be made the laughingstock of the entire city!

“Hence, one day, late at night, they would sneak over to Li Huai’s bed and slit his throat. Perhaps those three boys wouldn’t be able to still feel triumphant and righteous even on the verge of death like the young brute in the hypothetical example I described earlier, but at that point, Li Huai would already be dead, so what would it matter if they were filled with remorse over their own actions or were so terrified that they peed their pants?”

Li Huai’s face had turned deathly pale as he listened to the hypothetical scenario unfold.

Yu Lu patted him on the shoulder as a soothing gesture, and Li Huai turned to him with a smile that was even more hideous than the most fearful of grimaces.

Cui Chan set down his teacup, then gently tapped the table with his knuckle as he continued, “Outside of the potential extreme acts that a bunch of immature children could commit, there are many more complex conflicts of interest involved here.

“There will be people trying to fan the flames and benefit from the ensuing chaos, but none of that has anything to do with any of you. Now that I’m here, all you have to do is focus on your education and leave everything else to me.”

Everyone in the dormitory was feeling mixed emotions upon hearing this.

Cui Chan suddenly burst into laughter as he asked, “What, you don’t believe me? Do you not believe that I’m capable of dealing with everything, or do you not believe that I have the kindness in my heart to do so? If it’s the former, then all of you are in for a good show, and if it’s the latter…

“Alright, I’ll admit that’s a valid concern, but I’ll tell you this: my teacher, Chen Ping’an, was worried that you would be picked on, and he’s been concerned on the entire way back, so he made a deal with me, sending me back to the academy to look after all of you. Surely you believe me now.”

Cui Chan turned to Li Baoping as he continued, “True heroism never comes in the form of doing what feels good in the moment and throwing all caution to the wind.”

He then turned to Lin Shouyi as he said, “You have a long life ahead of you. If you’ve made an enemy out of someone and don’t want to let them off the hook, then take care of them now, and after that, you can continue to punish his sons, his grandsons, his great-grandsons… Revenge is a dish best served cold, so wait as long as it takes for a suitable opportunity to arise.”

Finally, he turned to Li Huai and said, “Remember that for cultivators, a century is not too long to wait to exact vengeance or to repay kindness.”

With that, Cui Chan clapped his hands together as he concluded, “Alright, that’s all of the important matters out of the way.”

He then slapped a hand to his own forehead, seemingly having recalled something. “By the way, Baoping. While my teacher and I were passing through a mountain, we were fortunate enough to have come across a large school of mountain crossing carp.

“I told him that out of every 10,000 mountain crossing carp, there’s a chance that a golden mountain crossing carp ancestor would appear. After hearing that, he dragged me onto the branch of a tree, and we sat there like a pair of idiots, waiting for over two hours before a golden mountain crossing carp finally showed up.”

Li Baoping ‘s eyes immediately widened, and she stood up on her stool before squatting down again, as if doing so would bring her closer to her junior uncle and that mountain crossing carp.

Cui Chan continued, “After he came down from the tree, he managed to catch the golden mountain crossing carp after an almighty struggle, and his initial plan was to get it to you right away, but mountain crossing carp can only survive about half a month out of water at most, and even a golden one can only survive just over a month out of water.

We could’ve told the people at the relay station about this and requested them to place the carp in some water every once in a while to keep it alive, but Chen Ping’an didn’t trust the relay station not to keep the carp and sell it as it’s quite a rare creature. Hence, he said that he would leave the carp with your brother. Li Xisheng, once he returned home and informed your family of your safe arrival at the academy.”

Li Baoping’s eyes were glowing, and all of her dejection had faded away. It was as if all of a sudden, she had transformed back into the exuberant little girl that had just set off on her journey from Jewel Small World.

“My teacher is truly good to you, little Baoping,” Cui Chan sighed. “Whenever he comes across anything good, you’re always the first person that pops into his mind. I just don’t get it! He’s the type of person who’s so stingy that he’s not even willing to put in an extra bit of oil when cooking meat, so why is it that when it comes to the three of you, he’s willing to give up anything?”

Li Baoping’s little face immediately puckered up upon hearing this, and the corners of her lips began to turn downward, hinting at the imminent waterworks that were to come.

Cui Chan hurriedly raised his hands as he said, “No no, don’t cry! The mountain crossing carp can’t be sent to the academy through the relay station, but letters can. Chen Ping’an wrote letters for all of you at the relay station on the border of Great Sui Nation, and they’ll probably get here in about half a month. When that time comes, you can cry or laugh or do whatever it is that you want while reading the letters.”

A resigned look then appeared on his face as he continued, “Chen Ping’an also said that his student, Cui Chan, is a very bad person, so do not trust him under any circumstances, but if you run into any trouble, you can turn to him for help.”

The three children were mostly convinced by what Cui Chan was telling them, and even Yu Lu and Xie Xie were somewhat convinced that he was telling the truth.

After that, Li Huai went back with Lin Shouyi to the latter’s dormitory to rest, while Li Baoping returned to her own dormitory.

Following the departure of the three children, Cui Chan waited momentarily and had another cup of tea before departing from Yu Lu’s dormitory with Xie Xie.

Xie Xie was trailing along behind Cui Chan in a wary fashion, and she was feeling even more anxious than she did back when she was facing the son of that deceased general of Great Sui Nation in battle.

Without the three children present, Cui Chan put on an expressionless facade, and without even turning his head, he asked in a cold voice, “Why didn’t you fight Li Changying? Were you too scared?”

“I was, Young Master,” Xie Xie replied in a truthful manner.

Cui Chan stopped in his tracks, then gave her a vicious slap across the face. “You did nothing on the entire journey here, and after getting here, all you’ve done is beat up the son of a dead general! How exceptionally brilliant of you! You’re so brilliant that I expect you to ascend to the heavens and become a deity at any moment now!”

Xie Xie’s cheek was already beginning to swell up, and she mustered up some courage to look straight back at Cui Chan as she asked, “Why would I challenge him when I already know the outcome won’t be in my favor? Tell me!”

Cui Chan gave her another ferocious slap as he replied, “Because your life is worthless! You’re not even worth as much as a single one of Li Huai’s fingers! In my eyes, you’re nothing, and a lowly piece of trash like you should know its place!”

Xie Xie’s heart was filled with sadness and indignation, and she bit down so forcefully onto her own lower lip that she drew blood.

Cui Chan raised his hand once again, as if he were going to slap her for a third time, and she was so fearful of him that she didn’t dare to move away, but she reflexively turned her head to shy away from the imminent blow.

However, Cui Chan merely smiled as he slowly extended his hand forward, then gently patted her on the cheek. “It’s a good thing that you’re still so afraid of me. I thought a shameless little slut like you would’ve lost your fear of me during the time we’ve been apart. Honestly, I’m both glad and also a little disappointed.”

Xie Xie remained silent with a wooden expression on her face.

Cui Chan turned and continued onward as he suddenly said, “I can pull out half of the Dragon Restricting Nails that have been punched into your soul. If I were to do that, you would be able to return to the Cave Abode Tier in short order.”

“Why would you do that?” Xie Xie asked in a low voice.

Cui Chan didn’t turn around, but he suddenly kicked back without any warning, striking Xie Xie squarely on the abdomen. Xie Xie was caught completely off guard, and she almost fell back onto the ground as she threw her arms over her abdomen in agony.

Cui Chan’s expression remained unchanged as he said, “I just realized something, and that realization was inspired by Chen Ping’an. He tries to make the most of every single copper coin in his possession, trying to stretch them out so far that he gets a tael of silver worth of value out of it. Seeing as you’re a tael of silver, why should I spend you like a copper coin?”

A film of tears began to well up in Xie Xie’s eyes.

This was an extremely hurtful analogy to make, comparing her to mere copper coins and taels of silver.

Any cultivation prodigy that was renowned across an entire empire would’ve had countless taels of silver and gold invested into them for the sake of their cultivation progression.

Cui Chan continued to walk along, falling into deep thought as he stroked his own chin. All of a sudden, he turned around with a bright smile on his face as he asked, “Do you want to tear off your facade so you can face everyone with your true identity? I’m in a good mood today, and I feel like doing something kind, so why don’t I restore your name back to Xie Lingyue? How do you feel about that? Aren’t you so grateful that you could cry?”

Xie Xie hadn’t dared to raise any objections to Cui Chan this entire time, but somehow, she was able to work up the courage to do so now as she yelled, “No!”

Cui Chan stopped in his tracks, then turned around to look at the horrified Xie Xie as he mused, “Tsk tsk, I didn’t think you would get embarrassed about something like this.”

Tears were streaming down Xie Xie’s face as she fell to her knees and sobbed in a stuttering voice, “Please don’t do that, Young Master… I’m willing to continue being the mundane and ordinary Xie Xie that I am… Please don’t tear off this facade of mine… I’m begging you, Young Master…”

Cui Chan raised two fingers as he said, “You get a choice of two options here. Either reveal your true appearance, or reveal your identity as Xie Lingyue. Hurry up and make the choice now. If you take too long, I may just take the decision out of your hands.”

Xie Xie slowly raised her head, and there was such a sad and helpless look in her eyes that she resembled a vulnerable fawn on the verge of death as she replied in a trembling voice, “I choose to change my name.”

Cui Chan shook his head as he sighed, “You see? You were unwilling to concede when I called you a slut, but look at what you’re doing now. It turns out that nothing matters more to you than your own face, including your nation and your sect. Soon, you’re going to be Xie Lingyue of the number one cultivating sect in the Lu Empire. Hurry up and thank your young master!”

“Thank you, Young Master,” Xie Xie replied in a sorrowful voice.

Cui Chan rushed over to her, then kicked her to the ground as he scolded, “You should be saying Xie Xie thanks her young master!” [1]

“Xie Xie thanks her young master,” Xie Xie sobbed as she laid on her ground with trembling shoulders.

“What a boring little slut you are,” Cui Chan scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “Go back to your dormitory on your own.”

After that, he made his way back to Yu Lu’s dormitory on his own, leaving the sobbing Xie Xie to pick herself up off the ground.

Prior to his departure, Cui Chan left behind a rather strange parting statement, but unfortunately, Xie Xie was in no state to be listening to what he was saying.

“A change in name equates to a change in fortunes. From now on, you, Xie Lingyue, will enjoy an immense turn in fortune for the better. If you don’t believe me, then just wait and see. My goodness, how incredibly lucky you are to be serving a generous young master like myself!”

Meanwhile, Xie Xie remained seated on the ground with a blank expression, too broken to even wipe the tears from her face.

The wind at night during winter was extremely cold, and she felt like a pile of dead ash fluttering aimlessly in the chilly wind.

————

By the time Cui Chan returned to the dormitory, Yu Lu was already seated at the table. His complexion was red and rosy, and he was looking vibrant and healthy.

As soon as he spotted Cui Chan, he immediately rose to his feet with a smile. “Please forgive me, Young Master.”

“Take a seat,” Cui Chan said. “Seeing as you’re a lot smarter than Xie Xie and also possess a slightly superior aptitude to her, I’ll let you off the hook this time.”

Yu Lu sat back down obediently, then poured Cui Chan a cup of tea, moving in a graceful and languid fashion, as if he weren’t injured in the slightest.

“Why don’t you go ahead and tell me why you intervened?” Cui Chan asked with a smile as he accepted the cup of tea.

Yu Lu was sitting with his hands tucked up his sleeves, as if he were trying to keep them warm.

He was quite a bit taller than Cui Chan, so he was having to hunch over and curl up slightly in order to ensure that his eyes were level with Cui Chan’s and he explained, “First and foremost, I felt like there wasn’t much point to living, but during this journey to Mountain Cliff Academy, I suddenly realized that there was something quite interesting and worth living for, so I decided to do it on a whim.

“The second reason is that I haven’t really been able to do anything on the entire journey here, and I’ve been getting a little disgruntled. I wanted to put what I’ve learned to good use, but Chen Ping’an’s cultivation base is too low, you’re far too powerful for me to oppose, and all of the small fry that we encountered along the journey were taken care of by Lin Shouyi, so what else could I do?

“I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to use that swordsman from Great Sui Nation as a whetstone to hone myself on my martial arts journey. Having to live is a very boring and tiresome proposition anyway, and it’s not every day that I get to challenge an opponent more powerful than myself in a relatively safe and risk-free environment like the academy.”

“It’s more accurate to call him a stepping stone,” Cui Chan corrected with a smile.

“You’re right, Young Master,” Yu Lu replied with a smile and a nod.

“Keep going,” Cui Chan prompted.

Yu Lu fell into a contemplative silence.

Cui Chan smiled and asked, “Do you want me to continue for you?”

A wry smile appeared on Yu Lu’s face as he said, “The final reason is that as long as I don’t die, Chen Ping’an will feel like he owes me a favor for this.”

Yu Lu was feeling a little anxious, but he didn’t dare to hope that he could fool Cui Chan by not saying anything, so he could only muster up his courage as he continued, “In the past, you said that Xie Xie and I have personalities that are far too different from Chen Ping’an’s for us to ever become friends with him, and I know that that’s mostly correct.

“However, deep down in my heart, I’m also not convinced. Even with you standing before me right now, I still have to say something that can be considered quite disrespectful, which is that I won’t know until I try, and it would be best if I could prove you wrong.”

Yu Lu then stood up as he prepared to accept his punishment. “However, I didn’t think that you would return to the academy. Now that you have, I’m willing to accept my punishment.”

Cui Chan gestured for Yu Lu to sit back down as he said, “What a splendid move, killing three birds with one stone! I’m ecstatic to have a servant like you, why would I punish you?”

Yu Lu did as he was told and sat down calmly.

This was perhaps the biggest difference between him and Xie Xie.

Xie Xie was just as smart as him, but she wanted things she would very likely never be able to obtain, even with a lifetime of trying. In contrast, Yu Lu was able to make practical choices and lay down his ambitions if they were out of reach, and when he did decide to strive for something, it was never too far out of reach. Furthermore, nothing that he did had a bearing on Cui Chan’s overall plan, so he had nothing to fear.

1. As explained earlier, Xie Xie means thank you/thanks in Chinese, so essentially, Xie Xie thanks her young master also means Thanks thanks her young master. 👈