Unsheathed

However, it was already too late, and the voluptuous woman wearing the cloak suddenly looked up and reached over to drag the young man beside her off his horse. She had an iron grip on his arm, and a coquettish smile appeared on her face as she smiled and said, “And here I was thinking that you guys could at least block those men for a while. Yet, who would have thought that all of you were trash and insects? Since that’s the case, why don’t you give me, the lady from Green Sprout Mountain, a hand?!”

However, just as she was about to channel her Qi to extract the young man’s blood essence and transform it into nutrients for her acupoints, she noticed the movements of the young boy in straw sandals out of the corners of her eyes. This young boy had been quietly observing the situation with a cold gaze from inside the rundown temple.

At this moment, he leaped over with strength and agility far beyond her imagination. He was as swift as a rabbit, and he immediately arrived before her and threw a punch at her head. The woman smiled seductively, and she simply treated him as a naive and foolish young boy. She completely ignored his punch, and she refused to believe that it could even leave a single wrinkle on her clothes.

However, just as she began to enjoy the intoxicating flavor of the strong young man’s blood essence, the punch aimed at her head smashed into her temple like an iron hammer. The voluptuous woman’s head was violently thrown back. Even though Chen Ping’an’s attack didn’t break her skin, a searing pain traveled through her head from her temple, causing her to tighten her grip on the young man’s arm. Her fingers viciously dug into his elbow, causing the young man to release a high-pitched scream of anguish. It was as if his soul were being torn apart.

After successfully striking the voluptuous woman, Chen Ping’an took advantage of his backward momentum to leap back and increase the distance between himself and his opponent. After landing, he rapidly channeled his Qi and adeptly guided it through the first six stops. As he threw another punch, he solemnly shouted, “Attack her together!”

The brawny man was a step slower than the young boy in straw sandals, and he was further astonished by the swift and forceful attack launched by him. At the same time, he was also afraid that the immensely destructive attacks of him and his subordinates would hurt the innocent young boy. Thus, he couldn’t help but hesitate.

In the end, he had no option but to gesture for his subordinates to engage with and trap the old demoness first. Meanwhile, he continued to draw closer to the voluptuous woman, lest the young boy fail to kill the demoness and end up becoming a nutritional meal for her instead.

Compared to the young cultivators on horseback, the brawny man had a far better impression of this young boy who had quietly observed the situation for a long time before finally deciding to launch a swift and powerful attack.

When traversing through desolate mountains and marshes, it was all too common that one would encounter spirits, ghosts, and fiends. Oftentimes, having good observation skills and judgment was far more important than simply being powerful. It was important for one to understand their own limits and act within their own powers, or else one would be doing nothing more than blindly creating trouble. This was the key to staying alive.

The brawny man did indeed appreciate the righteous and warm-hearted nature of those youths, yet he was also very annoyed at their recklessness and naivety at the same time.

The seductive-looking woman was unwilling to let go of the young man’s arm, and after being struck by Chen Ping’an’s sudden attack, she no longer dared to be careless. She quickly turned to her side. Upon seeing that detestable young boy throw another punch at her, she also replied with a powerful kick of her own. Her attack carried with it the sound of roaring wind and rumbling thunder, and it was as if it were powerful enough to blast a crater into the mountain cliff.

There was a determined expression on Chen Ping’an’s face, and his footsteps were especially light and nimble as he deviated from his line and suddenly shifted to the side, dodging the voluptuous woman’s vicious attack. At the same time, he ducked down and raised an arm to shoulder height, defending against a possible follow-up attack from the woman. He continued to charge forward, throwing a punch at the woman as he did so.

Only at this moment did the demoness finally realize the strange power of the young boy. His punch appeared plain and normal on the surface, yet it was in fact imbued with a subtle sense of true fist intent. It was no wonder that he had been able to wound her just then.

“Don’t even think about hurting anyone else!” the brawny man bellowed.

The brawny man leaped up and threw a punch, unleashing a burst of fist aura that ripped through the air and smashed down at the woman’s head.

At the same time, the projection of a snow-white iron chain clanked as it flew out from the sleeve of a man standing behind the brawny man.

Not only that, but a man with a peach wood sword strapped to his back also put two fingers together to form a sword as he shouted a command. After accumulating enough power, the peach wood sword on his back automatically flew out from its scabbard and soared high into the air. It then carved a beautiful arc in the air before slashing down at the woman’s neck.

“Do you people genuinely think that I’m easy to pick on?! Why have I tolerated you people for over a hundred kilometers? What do you think I’m after?!”

The demoness roared with wanton laughter. Sure enough, just as Chen Ping’an expected, the woman changed her front kick into a sweeping kick toward his shoulder after failing to strike him the first time. Meanwhile, the projection of three fiery red and fox-like tails surprisingly materialized behind her back. These tails blocked the brawny man’s fist aura and also the attacks from the snow-white iron chain and the peach wood sword. Even though the three tails became bloody because of this, they were ultimately successful in blocking the three vicious attacks.

The demoness casually tossed aside the arm of the young man that had a wound so deep that bone was already visible. With nothing else impeding her, she was finally able to fight freely. She grabbed Chen Ping’an’s fist with one hand, and she forcefully endured the searing pain shooting through her hand as she lightly jabbed her other hand at the young boy’s glabella. The woman was furious at this young boy, and she could only soothe her anger by smashing his brain out of his head.

However, even though she was wary of the young boy, her true enemy was ultimately someone else. She looked toward the distance, toward some place beyond the rundown temple, and said with a light-hearted smile, “Old sweetheart, are you truly going to watch on and do nothing while your woman is getting bullied by outsiders?!”

Unexpectedly, however, the young boy before her was extremely cunning and slippery. After Chen Ping’an’s fist was caught by her, he leaned back and threw both of his feet at her abdomen, sending a burst of pain through her body. The woman instinctively released her grip, and she decided against pursuing the young boy. Instead, she made eyes at him and said, “I’ll deal with you afterward. I’m a woman who’s renowned for my Bodhisattva-like kindness, and I’ll make sure that you experience euphoric joy before your life comes to an end. Before you die, you’ll be dearly hoping that could have had several extra lives to enjoy my service!”

The brawny man felt a huge sense of relief, and he couldn’t help but raise a thumb at the young boy. He laughed loudly and praised, “Beautifully done!”

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath after retreating to a safe distance. In fact, the little girl in pink who had charged out from the rundown temple a while ago was already on the brink of tears. “Master, Master, the water snake told me to protect you while he went to deal with the more powerful enemy, but I genuinely don’t know how to fight! I was so worried just then! I’m so sorry Master, it’s all my fault for being so useless…”

Chen Ping’an kept his eyes locked on the voluptuous woman the entire time, yet he still reached over to lightly pat the little girl in pink on her head. “It’s okay, just be more careful next time,” he said in reassurance.

The little girl in pink who had cultivated in a scripture library most of her life felt increasingly guilty after hearing this, and she was no longer able to hold back as she burst into tears.

“There are still other powerful demon cultivators in the Centipede Mountain Range,” the brawny man warned. “We need to act according to the situation, and if we’re truly unable to push them back, we still need to at least protect these youths before we retreat and leave.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Even though they all understood that trying to protect the youths would be as difficult as trying to ascend the heavens if the worst-case scenario played out, they were still determined to give it their best shot.

Their pursuit of the demoness had been filled with grave dangers, and if it weren’t for the Rejuvenation Technique of the old man in azure robes, it was very likely that their group would have already suffered wounds or even casualties. In any case, why had they shouted such crude and vulgar threats at the demoness when they were almost about to capture her? It was because she had committed far too many sins, so much so that the men were truly unable to quell their seething rage. They genuinely wanted to cook her alive to soothe their anger.

After teasing Chen Ping’an with a smug smile, the woman suddenly realized the lack of response or movement from the distance. Theoretically speaking, with the temperament of that stupid bear, he should have already charged over in a grand and earth-shattering manner. The demoness instantly became anxious, and she shrieked, “Where are you?!”

In the mountain forest far behind the rundown temple, a burly man who was three meters tall and with twin axes in his hands looked at the little boy in azure standing a dozen or so steps in front of him. The little boy was smiling and baring his teeth at him, and his expression was as if he were looking at a delicious meal.

The powerful spirit who was as burly as a small mountain gulped upon seeing this. He then turned around to flee, sprinting wildly and obliterating everything in his path, pushing aside vegetation and hacking down trees. After a while, he decided to toss his axes away and directly revert to his original form. He transformed into a gigantic bear, and he got down on all fours as he fled in a frenzied manner.

The demoness’ plans were sent awry, and she now no longer had the expected support from the powerful bear spirit. She instantly fell into a panicked state, and she was eventually struck by the brawny man’s powerful fist aura due to a lapse in concentration in their battle afterward. She collapsed to the ground, and her shoulder was quickly impaled by another person’s peach wood sword.

She was further bound by a length of snow-white iron chains, and she was also struck by a burst of mystical powers and abilities. In the end, the brawny man stomped on her forehead several times, forcefully dispersing the Qi flowing through her acupoints. In fact, his stomps were so forceful that her entire head was driven into the mud path.

Afterward, the brawny man retrieved a small silver saber and thrust the entire blade through the demoness’ heart. Only after doing this did he pick her up by the neck with a single hand. After carrying her for a short distance on his shoulder, he casually tossed her onto the back of a horse.

Meanwhile, his expression was complicated as he glanced at the little boy in azure squatting on the roof of the rundown temple. In the end, he turned to the skinny young boy standing beside the little girl in pink before cupping his fists and chuckling, “Young master, you also need to be more careful when traveling around the world in the future. After all, not all cultivators are like us.”

Chen Ping’an quickly understood the deeper meaning behind the brawny man’s words. When ordinary immortals came across him and the two little children, it was possible that they would directly attack the water snake and fire python after seeing through their identities. These immortals wouldn’t be like the brawny man and his companions, who only attacked beings whom they had witnessed committing evils. Chen Ping’an cupped his fists and replied, “I will be careful.”

The brawny man jumped onto his horse. After turning around to make sure that the woman wasn’t showing signs of regaining consciousness, he laughed loudly and said to Chen Ping’an, “Your fist technique is fairly impressive. Keep at it!”

Chen Ping’an thought that the brawny man was teasing him, so he smiled in embarrassment and replied, “No, it’s your fist technique that is genuinely impressive.”

The brawny man laughed heartily and didn’t say anything else. He once again cupped his fists at the young boy before finally turning around to leave with his companions, returning the same way that they had come. Their pursuit of the demoness hadn’t been smooth sailing, and just luring her out had taken them more than two weeks time. Afterward, they had spent a further two days and two nights to chase her to this location.

Even though the brawny man was a pure martial artist at the fifth tier, he still couldn’t help but feel slightly exhausted, both mentally and physically. This was not to mention the other Qi refiners in his group. Right now, they needed to hurry up and return to the state government office to close out this bounty. To say nothing of the generous rewards from the imperial court of Yellow Court Nation, they would definitely receive huge merit after returning to their own forces and sects as well.

When passing the young woman, the brawny man huffed and said, “Neither good people nor evil people will carve the characters good or evil on their foreheads to warn you. Don’t be so rash in the future. Since you’ve decided to adventure around the world to train yourself, bravery is naturally something that should be commended. However, you should avoid doing stupid things that will require your sect to clean up the mess after you.”

The two groups brushed past each other.

The bearded young man finally found and retrieved his saber, while the young man whose arm had been severely wounded by the demoness was in a most pitiful state. Even though they had applied ointment to stem his bleeding, the young man still couldn’t help but wail in agony. His arm was a mangled mess of blood and flesh, and it appeared extremely likely that this arm would become crippled in the future.

One person was deathly pale, and he couldn’t bring himself to look at the miserable state of his friend any longer. Suddenly catching sight of the young boy turning around and walking toward the rundown temple out of the corners of his eyes, he stood up and scolded in anger, “What’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you help us earlier? If you already saw through that demoness early on, then why didn’t you say anything to warn us?! Did you want to sit there and enjoy a show?!”

Another person quickly echoed the same sentiment in a quivering voice, shouting, “It’s all because of you that Brother Ma got wounded!”

Chen Ping’an stopped and turned around, not saying a word as he looked at the two people.

One of them stumbled back in fear, while one of them summoned the courage to glare at Chen Ping’an and shout, “What’s wrong? You’re in the wrong, yet you still want to use violence to harm us?!”

Chen Ping’an remained silent, and he simply raised a hand to point at his head and his heart. Only after doing this did he turn around to return to the small fireplace that he had built. He squatted down and checked on the small pot of rice.

However, that person was still unwilling to relent, and he continued to mumble about soldiers from the prefectural office, someone being lawless, and generals and cavalry. In the end, he only shut up after being stopped by the young master with the silver sword tassel.

They all jumped back onto their horses, and one of the youths shared their horse with the wounded young man. The two of them were bound together using ropes, and this was to prevent the wounded young man from falling off the horse due to his agonizing pain.

There was a bright and piercing glimmer in the little boy’s eyes as he looked at the group of disappearing youths, and he asked, “Master, why didn’t you let me teach those ungrateful brats a lesson? I’m almost about to explode with anger! How incredibly infuriating! No, I need to vent my anger!”

The little boy in azure used his mystical powers to gather the water vapor in the air and form a large ball of water. He then released this ball of water onto his head, completely drenching himself.

In a rare sight, the little girl in pink squatting beside Chen Ping’an agreed with the little boy azure and said, “Yes, it’s very infuriating!”

“Other people being unreasonable isn’t an excuse for us to become unreasonable as well,” Chen Ping’an said in a soft voice. “We simply need to have a clear conscience.”

The young boy suddenly smiled and continued, “In any case, it’s not like we’ll see them again in the future. Moreover, we’re not their parents either, so there’s no need for us to try to reason with everyone we come across. I’ve only just understood some important principles, and it’s taken me a lot of effort to learn them from the books. Why should I teach this to them?”

The little girl in pink covered her mouth and smiled.

The little boy in azure snapped his fingers, and his soaking wet clothes instantly became dry and crisp again. He turned around and walked inside the rundown temple to warm his hands by the fireside. “Master, I didn’t say that I wanted to reason with them. In fact, I wanted to gobble them up in a single mouthful…”

Seeing Chen Ping’an raise his head to look over, he hurriedly corrected himself and said, “That was just a joke! Ah… I just wanted to teach them a small lesson, Master. For example, beating them black and blue and leaving their faces so swollen that even their parents wouldn’t be able to recognize them. Mhm, I would have naturally spared that beautiful young woman with long legs and left her for Master to deal with.”

Chen Ping’an lifted up the lid of the pot, causing the fragrance of cooked rice to waft into the air. The little girl in pink helpfully handed a rice ladle to Chen Ping’an, along with three small white bowls that were neatly stacked together.

With some pickled vegetables to add flavor, the three of them squatted around the fire to eat their meal. For some unknown reason, Chen Ping’an thought of that man with the bamboo hat who would often tap his bowl using his chopsticks and shout that he wanted to eat meat. He also recalled the words that this man had once spoken. With this in mind, he turned to the little boy in azure and said, “The freedom of a powerful individual draws its boundary at the freedom of a weak individual! “

The little boy in azure quickly used his chopsticks to scoop rice into his mouth, and the clanking of his chopsticks against his bowl made it appear as if he were ravenously inhaling his food. In reality, however, he had only eaten a very small mouthful. He blinked and praised with a sincere expression, “Wow! Master’s breadth of mind is truly even wider than the Imperial River! How admirable! How touching! It’s such a shame that Master isn’t a scholar. Otherwise, you would have already been promoted to the status of a noble person by some Confucian school or academy.”

Even though he could hear the teasing tone in the little boy’s words, Chen Ping’an still sighed and thought about those things that had happened in the past. “It wasn’t me who came up with these words,” he said slowly.

The little boy in azure didn’t dare to push his luck, and his obsequious remarks that followed were far more sincere. He chuckled and said, “I’ll just pretend that Master was indeed the one who came up with these words. After all, Master’s high moral integrity is completely worthy of these words!”

Chen Ping’an smiled and asked, “Where did you learn all these words of flattery from? Do you not cultivate in your spare time?”

“Cultivation? When I cultivate in earnest, even I start to become afraid of myself…” the little boy in azure replied.

He humphed and continued, “I’m unbelievably hard-working, and in the past, I only stopped cultivation every once in a while to go out and have a breath of fresh air and enjoy some meat and wine with Brother River God. His subordinates all said this about me, and I’m simply borrowing their words.”

Looking at Chen Ping’an, the little boy in azure bobbed his and explained, “In the past, I was slightly suspicious about whether those underlings were simply trying to get some rewards. It was because of their ulterior motives that they uttered such goosebump-inducing words. However, after meeting Master, I feel like they were definitely speaking from the bottom of their hearts. After all, I can’t be any more sincere when I sing the praises of Master.

“Ah… If I had known this earlier, I would have rewarded them more at the time. It would have been worth it even if I had to become indebted to Brother Water God. Sigh… My actions definitely disappointed those underlings… Isn’t that right, Master? When one’s underlings are sincere, one must cherish their sincerity and loyalty!”

After saying so much and speaking in such a roundabout manner, was the little boy’s aim not to seek more rewards from Chen Ping’an?

Chen Ping’an chuckled and said, “You want another snake gall pebble? I do indeed have some at home in the small town. In fact, I have more than just one. However, I won’t give any to you.”

The little boy in azure immediately fell to his knees and raised his bowl above his head. “The heavens can be my witness! Master, please show me some pity! With all that I’ve done on this journey, I should at least be given some credit for hard work if not for merit. It’s so hard for me to refrain from eating that silly girl!”

The little girl in pink shuffled over and hid herself behind Chen Ping’an,

“Alright, after we arrive in my hometown, I’ll give both of you a snake gall pebble each,” Chen Ping’an said slowly.

The little boy in azure suddenly looked up, and there was an indignant expression on his face as he exclaimed, “Why does she get one as well? Master, if you insist on giving her one, then you need to give me two!”

The little girl in pink didn’t dare to say anything, but there was an upset expression on her face as tears brimmed in her eyes.

Chen Ping’an raised two fingers at the little boy in azure and asked, “Two, was it?”

The little boy nodded in earnest.

Chen Ping’an retracted his fingers and said, “Well, they’re all gone now.”

The little boy in azure put his bowl by his feet before leaping forward and wrapping his arms around Chen Ping’an’s lower leg. He rolled around and shouted, “Master, I was wrong! I’m happy with just one!”

Chen Ping’an ignored him, and he gazed at the sky above the rundown temple and murmured, “Is it almost about to snow?”