Unsheathed

There was a short old man in the private school in the small town, and even though he was a teacher, his appearance was unkempt and disheveled. His name was Chen Zhenrong, and he liked to drink. After getting drunk, he would raise his finger to the air and casually draw squiggly lines in empty space. No one knew what he was writing or drawing.

When he mumbled drunk nonsense, he wasn’t speaking the official dialect of the Great Li Empire nor was he speaking the official dialect of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. In other words, no one knew what he was saying either.

Even though the old man’s surname was Chen, he wasn’t a descendant of the Dragon Tail County Chen Clan. However, the distinguished Chen Songfeng still treated the old man with utmost respect. In reality, however, the other teachers in the private school didn’t have a good impression of this unsociable and unkempt old man.

On this day, the unkempt old man took swigs of wine as he drunkenly crossed the stone arch bridge and walked toward the blacksmith shop. Using the dialect of his hometown, he loudly mumbled, “Soaring through the stars, arriving before lofty mountains, riding the aura of heavenly essence, roaming the vast universe.[1] Clouds swirl, rain lashes, heavens fall, seas rise. How majestic!”

The old man arrived at the blacksmith shop, where he finally stopped walking and didn’t barge in without invitation. Instead, he smartly ran over to Dragon Whisker River to wash his face. Most likely because a few handfuls of cold water were still unable to sober him up, the old man decided to directly lie down on the ground and stick his entire head into the cold creek. He furiously shook his head around before finally lifting it out of the water and roaring with laughter. “How refreshing and comfortable!”

He stood up and suddenly sighed. This was because he recalled the miserable state of almost all of the Chen Clan descendants in the small town. These people had actually become slaves and servants for the other clans. The old man didn’t have any deep relationships with them, and he understood the hardships of the world and the fact that he couldn’t blame these Chen Clan descendants who were bringing great shame and humiliation to their ancestors. After all, these were still people with the same surname as him.

The old man was unable to rid himself of his pent-up depression. He opened his wine flask again, yet he was extremely hesitant at this moment. After a long internal battle, he glanced at his surroundings before sneakily taking a few small sips like a criminal. “If this were in the Southern Whirl Continent, descendants of the Chen Clan with names in the genealogy records certainly wouldn’t fall to the miserable state of becoming slaves for others regardless of how impoverished they become. Otherwise, they would be bringing shame and humiliation to the Pure Confucian Chen Clan,” he muttered.

After saying this, the old man mysteriously slapped himself and scolded, “Shameless old geezer, you were unable to control your tongue again! You promised yourself that you wouldn’t drink again, yet here you are taking sips of wine!”

After slapping himself, the old man chuckled and decided to give in since things had already come to this. He took another two swigs of wine, and he simply punished himself with two half-hearted slaps.

The old man finally felt satisfied after enjoying two large mouthfuls of wine that he had purchased from a beautiful lady. He directly walked into the blacksmith shop and loudly shouted Ruan Qiong’s name. It wasn’t long before Ruan Qiong walked out from a sword furnace and removed his cowhide apron. He casually tossed his apron to the young boy with long eyebrows who was following behind him.

The old man immediately started to disparage the sage from Wind Snow Temple, saying, “Ruan Qiong, you’re inferior to Qi Jingchun. You’re genuinely far inferior to Qi Jingchun…”

Ruan Qiong paid no heed to this as he had already become accustomed to this old man’s eccentricity. He surprisingly didn’t greet Chen Zhenrong, and he simply remained silent as he stood in front of the old man. Instead, it was the young boy with long eyebrows standing behind him who frowned in displeasure. However, the young boy suppressed his negative feelings and didn’t say anything.

Ruan Qiong started to lead the way, and Chen Zhenrong walked beside him. However, the old man was still unwilling to spare Ruan Qiong, and he continued to mutter and grumble like some common woman from a marketplace. He spoke using the official dialect of the Southern Whirl Continent this time, and there was a unique charm to this dialect as he said, “Ruan Qiong, just look at Qi Jingchun. The lineage that he belonged to was targeted by us, yet he was still willing to repay animosity with kindness. He was still willing to look after that model tree.

“If it were me, I would have shown that girl, Chen Dui, the tree on the graves before returning later to crush it under my feet. Letting them rejoice for a short while before forcing them to face a crushing reality… Isn’t that delightful? However, it’s a shame that Qi Jingchun was a noble and upright person who wouldn’t do such kind of thing.

“Because of this, our ancestor was unwilling to turn on that person even though he stole a sun from the ancestor’s shoulder while reasoning with him. Our ancestor allowed him to ‘borrow’ the sun for a hundred years.

“But look at you. Don’t blame me for saying this, but just look at how listless and unambitious you are. Your cultivation has failed to advance a single inch, and in the end, you’ve only taken two or three measly cats and dogs as your opening disciples. Let’s focus on long eyebrows over here. He’s merely relying on the fortune of his clan, so how many years can he enjoy success for? 100 years? Or maybe 200 years?”

The old man smiled at the young boy with long eyebrows after saying this. The extremely confused young boy had initially felt a bit angry, and he had been displeased at the fact that the old man wasn’t showing enough respect toward his master. However, when the old man looked at him with a benevolent smile, the young boy, who was easily persuaded by reason but couldn’t be cowed by force, could only nod in response. He was completely oblivious to the evil schemes of the old man, and he was completely clueless about the fact that the old man was actually denigrating him.

Ruan Qiong led Chen Zhenrong to someplace under the eaves where there was a row of lush green bamboo chairs. After the three of them sat down, the old man humphed coldly and said, “That girl who’s missing a thumb is truly as stupid as stupid can be. Is she truly someone who walks the same Dao as you?

“And the last one is even more hilarious. He’s a wild boar spirit, yet he insists on transforming into a handsome young man. Hahaha… Ruan Qiong, oh Ruan Qiong, I’m almost about to die from laughter. Even if you don’t find this embarrassing, I can’t help but feel embarrassed for you!”

Ruan Qiong finally opened his mouth, saying, “Are you done yet? If you’re done, then I’ll offer you some wine.”

Ruan Qiong told the young boy with long eyebrows to leave and get some wine.

“Offer me some wine? Sure thing! It’s not like I want to drink or anything, and I’m simply following the local customs. The guest should follow the example of the host, right? Since this is Sage Ruan Qiong’s way of welcoming his guest, this wine can naturally be enjoyed. It can be enjoyed to the heart’s content!”

Sitting on the bamboo chair, the old man turned toward Ruan Qiong and said, “However, drinking is one matter, and taking disciples is another matter. Since you’ve left Wind Snow Temple and have decided to found your own force, and you’ve already obtained your own mountains, it’s time that we discuss the matters pertaining to your opening disciple.

“If it really comes to it, I can help you find three disciples. We need to swap the current ones; we need to swap all of them! Even if you’re only picking from the Chen Clan descendants of Southern Whirl Continent, I can still guarantee that they’ll be stronger than the three unofficial disciples that you currently have.”

Ruan Qiong was unfazed, and he replied, “When picking disciples, I don’t consider their talent, nor do I consider their aptitude. I simply consider their character.”

The old man was infuriated, and he exclaimed, “I knew you would reply with this absolute bullshit! Ruan Qiong, you’re a stubborn piece of crap!”

In a rare display, Ruan Qiong surprisingly smiled and asked, “Then why are you still my friend, Cheng Zhenrong?”

As a Militarian cultivator, how had Ruan Qiong managed to become the overseer of Jewel Small World after Qi Jingchun, a Confucian scholar? Part of the reason was naturally Ruan Qiong’s lofty cultivation base. However, another part of the reason was the Pure Confucian Chen Clan’s significant influence from behind the scenes.

Ruan Qiong never tried to deny this.

“Because I want to! Is this any of your business?!” the old man huffed in anger.

He then turned around and shouted, “Where’s my wine? You said that you would offer me some wine, so why is it still not here yet? What’s wrong with that brat? Is he purposely trying to anger me…?”

Ruan Qiong looked at his extremely noisy old friend and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling annoyed after arriving in Dragon Spring Prefecture and seeing the miserable state of the two Chen Clan branches in the small town? Don’t blame me for saying this, but those two branches have got absolutely nothing to do with you or the Pure Confucian Chen Clan. What are you so angry about?”

“Forget about it. Just thinking about it is infuriating.”

The old man sighed and shot a sideways glance at Ruan Qiong before saying, “You initially wanted to hide in peace for the sake of Xiuxiu, yet look at the situation now. You’re stuck in a place filled with conflicts and schemes. Are you doing alright?”

Ruan Qiong shook his head and replied, “There’s no harm. A mistake can sometimes turn out to be beneficial.”

“It’s fine to have an unyielding spine, but it’s certainly not good to have an unyielding tongue that’s unwilling to admit mistakes,” the old man scoffed.

“If I encounter any troubles, I definitely won’t refrain from asking you for help,” Ruan Qiong said softly.

Out of the corners of his eyes, Chen Zhenrong saw a young girl in green walking over from the distance. Beside her was the young boy with long eyebrows, and they were bringing wine over together.

The old man immediately smiled and waved his arms at the young girl. “Xiuxiu, over here! Huh? Why are you turning around to leave? Xiuxiu, don’t leave! Do you have someone who you like? If you don’t, I can help you find one. Don’t look for men in the tiny Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. This is an isolated and barbaric land, so what kind of good men can there be?

“Wind Snow Temple’s Wei Jin and the Great Li Empire’s Song Changjing are quite alright, but they’re ultimately a bit too old for you. So, if you want to look for a good man, you should look in Southern Whirl Continent… Huh? Xiuxiu’s already left…”

The old man hung his head in dejection. Fortunately, the young boy with long eyebrows walked over and gave him two jars of wine. Chen Zhenrong put one jar beside his feet, and he opened the other jar and started to gulp it down.

Ruan Qiong accepted a jar of wine but didn’t show any signs of wanting to drink it. “After looking around everywhere, didn’t your Pure Confucian Chen Clan only manage to find Cao Jun as well? If I remember correctly, he’s already over a hundred years old.”

“What’s wrong with Cao Jun?” the old man exclaimed in panic. “I feel like he’s fairly good. If he hadn’t been targeted and harmed when he was young, he wouldn’t have been any worse than Wei Jin. Looking back at history, there are more than just one or two great sword immortals who were late bloomers. Ah… If you want to blame someone, then blame his ancestor Cao Xi for not being powerful enough. If he were a descendant of the Chen Clan, who would have dared to target such a talented individual?”

Ruan Qiong didn’t say anything. He had a terrible impression of Cao Jun.

The old man sighed and asked, “I can’t help but find this strange. They all have the same surname, so how have the descendants in the small town ended up in such a pitiful state? Where did all of their fortune go? During the past 1000 or 2000 years, has there been any person with the surname Chen achieving great success in Eastern Treasured Vial Continent or some other continent?”

Ruan Qiong pondered for a moment before replying, “Not that I can think of.”

Chen Zhenrong suddenly thought of something, and he stated, “That sounds about right. However, just in case…”

It was as if Ruan Qiong were facing a formidable enemy at this moment, and he essentially rebuked, “Chen Zhenrong, since when did you become so sordid?!”

The old man raised a hand. As it turned out, his fingers had been trembling uncontrollably this entire time. “I can’t draw true dragons anymore, and I can only draw some feeble four-legged snake. Zhenrong? I should change my name to Jiarong in the future…[2]”

He drank some wine and said in resignation, “If this were in the past, perhaps my words would have still carried some weight and had some influence regarding this matter. Now, however, there’s nothing I can do.”

Ruan Qiong was infuriated, and he fumed, “Being as powerful as the Pure Confucian Chen Clan is…”

The old man interrupted Ruan Qiong and said, “Which clan isn’t filled with a mixture of good and bad people? Even in the Confucian Sect and Daoist orthodoxy, isn’t there still a distinction between sages, noble individuals, and virtuous individuals? Isn’t there still a notion of rank? In any case, this matter isn’t as despicable as you imagine.”

Ruan Qiong fell silent. Heavy emotions weighed on his mind, and it was as if there were a large mountain pressing down on his heart.

Human power had its limit, and the same could also be said about sages.

1. This is based on one of Chen Rong’s poems which was written on his Nine Dragons painting. Chen Rong was a Chinese painter and politician of the Southern Song Dynasty celebrated for his depictions of dragons. Chen Zhenrong is a character inspired by this historical figure. ☜

2. Zhenrong () literally means true appearance, while Jiarong () literally means fake appearance. ☜