Unsheathed

The old Daoist priest shuddered and wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. He looked around with a dazed expression, but he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. In the end, he could only sigh and lament that he was getting old. He lamented that he had to accept this, and that he was no longer able to withstand the chilly cold of spring and winter. He then noticed the young Daoist priest sitting in front of his stall with a cheerful smile again, and his expression was a punchable one that showed his eagerness to listen to his guidance.

Thinking of the business that this bastard had snatched away, how could the old Daoist priest still be willing to offer him any words of wisdom? After all, wouldn’t that be digging a hole for himself? If more of his business was snatched away in the future, who would he go crying to? Thus, he waved his sleeve in impatience and grumbled, “Piss off, piss off! Young lad, you don’t have any talent or potential, so there’s nothing more that I can teach you. Hurry up and scram. Don’t disturb me from doing business!”

Lu Chen placed his hands firmly on the fortune-telling stall and said with a shameless expression, “Don’t shoo me away! Please give me some guidance, Immortal Elder. That way, I’ll be able to run my own business when I return home in the future.”

The old Daoist priest frowned before relaxing his expression and saying with a faint smile, “Even a thousand taels of gold might not be enough to buy words of wisdom from an old and experienced person. Do you understand this?”

“Huh?”

Lu Chen was astonished, and he asked, “Can I owe this first and pay you in the future?”

Seeing that there was no one else around, the old Daoist priest no longer cared about whether he appeared dignified and ethereal or not. He shot a glare at the young Daoist priest and said, “Piss off!”

There was a pained expression as Lu Chen retrieved a piece of loose silver from his sleeves. This was a genuine piece of silver, and he placed it on the table and said, “Immortal Elder, your words are far too mortal and basic. Why is there even the stench of copper coins?”

The old Daoist priest immediately grabbed the piece of loose silver and put it inside his sleeve. He then cleared his throat and started to tirelessly talk about his experience in the world. He only talked about intangible things, and these were principles that were grand but empty. Listening to them was absolutely useless. Indeed, the old Daoist priest stubbornly refused to touch on things that would genuinely be helpful.

However, it was as if the young Daoist priest sitting opposite him didn’t understand this at all. Not only that, but he was also frequently astonished by the old Daoist priest’s exaggerated words. There was an expression of deep respect on his face as he nodded in understanding and sincere agreement. From time to time, the young Daoist priest would also slap his thigh out of nowhere and act as if he had gained sudden enlightenment. This startled the old Daoist priest quite a bit.

Unbeknownst to the old Daoist priest, the ridges on his palm had already returned to normal. It was now exactly the same as before.

There were some gains and losses in the world that would take place silently and without anyone’s notice.

————

It was time to celebrate the Lantern Festival in the capital of Great Sui Nation, and lanterns hung everywhere in the city and transformed night into day.

Almost all of the students and scholars in Mountain Cliff Academy left the mountain to take part in the celebrations that night. Moreover, the teachers in the academy didn’t oppose this. After all, young people would lose their spirit and vigor if they always cooped themselves up in the library to bob their heads and read. This wasn’t an ideal way to learn. After all, being overly strict and pedantic would prevent these saplings from maturing into towering trees.

Li Huai wanted to go to the city to play, but after going around and nagging everyone, only Yu Lu was willing to accompany him. Li Baoping said that she had already explored every nook and cranny of Great Sui Nation’s capital. Moreover, were they truly going there to enjoy the lights and lanterns? No, they were clearly going there to look at a sea of people. How boring would that be? In any case, she still owed her teacher several essays that she had to copy as punishment, so she needed to work on this late into the night!

Meanwhile, Lin Shouyi said that he needed to visit the library to read. Xie Xie, who was known as Xie Lingyue now, had suddenly become Cui Dongshan’s disciple and transformed into an extremely fortunate person. She had a large pile of treasures that only immortals could use, and Li Huai had pestered her to no end until she finally relented and took them out to show him.

After seeing them, however, Li Huai had thought that they were only so-so. They weren’t even as adorable as his colorful wooden doll. As such, he no longer felt envious of her. Anyhow, Xie Xie said that she needed to cultivate at night, so she couldn’t accompany him to go and enjoy the lanterns.

In the end, only the easy-going and unoccupied Yu Lu accompanied Li Huai down the mountain.

However, they came across Great Sui Nation’s Prince Gao Xuan when they reached the foot of the mountain, so the three of them decided to go to the city together. Gao Xuan often came to Mountain Cliff Academy to stroll around, and after chatting with everyone for a while, he was genuinely unable to keep up with Li Baoping’s peculiar train of thought.

Lin Shouyi was also an aloof person, while Xie Xie was always being ordered around by that “ancestor from the Cai Clan”. She would deliver tea, wash clothes, and sweep the floor, and she was in no way being treated like a legitimate cultivation prodigy. In fact, she was being treated even worse than an actual maidservant. And thus, Gao Xuan became the most familiar with Yu Lu, and he would occasionally sit by the lake and fish together with him.

The emperor and officials of Great Sui Nation also celebrated the Lantern Festival, and this was a day when everyone in the nation would celebrate and have fun together.

This was a joyous occasion, so Li Huai especially wore his black jade hairpin that had the characters “Locust Shade” engraved on it. He walked with his back straight and his chest puffed, and he appeared as haughty and proud as could be.

Yu Lu and Gao Xuan walked to his left and right, guarding him in the middle. This wasn’t because they were afraid of anyone bullying Li Huai. Instead, it was because this bratty little child had a unique and innate aura that blessed him with good fortune regardless of how much of a country bumpkin he was. Take now, for example, where he was being guarded by the former prince of the Lu Empire and the current prince of Great Sui Nation.

This was definitely a worthy trip for Li Huai.

Lin Shouyi was sitting in the library in Mountain Cliff Academy and reading through the night. However, he suddenly felt a sense of unease, and he sighed before putting his book down. He walked to the window and thought of a beautiful young girl.

He silently told himself that he needed to study hard and cultivate earnestly, so that in the future he could…

Upon thinking of those beautiful scenes, a warm smile crept onto the face of the young boy who always had an aloof expression.

The handsome young boy appeared increasingly handsome.

Elsewhere, the lamp was also burning brightly inside Li Baoping’s room. However, in addition to reading, she also needed to copy essays as punishment. There was a serious expression on her face as she dipped her calligraphy brush in the black ink, and after raising her writing arm high into the air, she let out a soft shout before starting to write at a ridiculous speed.

The sound of her brush gliding over the paper was unceasing, and it was truly impressive that she was able to write regular script at such a rapid pace. It was clear that she was very accustomed to copying essays. After filling in one entire page, she pushed the sheet of paper aside and silently said, “Off you go.”

An old teacher who was responsible for night patrol didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry when he stood outside her window and witnessed this sight. He felt both exasperation and care for the little girl. In fact, he was also one of her teachers.

He silently turned around and walked away, not disturbing her great undertaking of copying essays. However, he couldn’t help but think, should they punish Little Baoping with less essay copying in the future?

Mao Xiaodong, the deputy mountain master of Mountain Cliff Academy, was sitting in his room and quietly reading a Go manual. In fact, after many years of wandering around, this was one of the things that the old man hated himself the most for. He couldn’t give this hobby up matter what. He had tried to give this addiction up several times, yet whenever he saw someone playing Go, he would be unable to walk away.

He would stand there and watch them do battle, and he would often become increasingly restless as he watched. If someone made a bad move, he would silently scold them for their stinky decision. If someone made a brilliant move, however, he would inevitably feel an itch in his mind. When he returned home, he wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of replaying the entire game on his Go board. He would scold himself for his lack of self-control, yet he would continue to merrily place the Go pieces and replicate the games.

Some of his old Go friends liked to tease him about this, and they would jokingly call his act of quitting Go an act of entering seclusion. Meanwhile, his return to playing Go would be an act of exiting seclusion.

Mao Xiaodong turned down the emperor’s invitation tonight, and he didn’t enter the imperial palace to enjoy that brilliant light show. Instead, he was silently studying a Go manual in his room.

In fact, it was a bastard with the surname Cui who had taught him how to play Go. More infuriating than this was the fact that he couldn’t defeat Cui Chan no matter how much effort he put in, how many top-notch Go manuals he studied, how many elite Go players he practiced with, and how many Go theories of different branches he studied. He did everything he could, yet his Go skills were still unable to improve quickly.

The old man put the Go manual and his Go set away. He then retrieved the ruler from his waist and lightly rubbed it against his palm.

The young Cui Chan in the academy had visited him for a discussion once, and he had then gone to visit the emperor of the Great Li Empire. After that, he had finally gone to look for that 11th tier Qi refiner who was also a storyteller. When meeting with Mao Xiaodong, the old man had encouraged him not to have any wishful thoughts. He was revealing his identity far too soon, so he needed to be careful of being killed in the capital of Great Sui Nation and even implicating the academy as a result.

Mao Xiaodong had been extremely frank, and he had said that he would be the first to lash out and kill the young imperial preceptor if Great Sui Nation mistakenly thought that Mountain Cliff Academy was a perpetrator, and if the two sides failed to make peace through dialogue.

Mao Xiaodong sighed and lamented, “Why have scholars become businessmen?”

Inside a serene side courtyard, the young Cui Dongshan was dressed in white and sitting under the eaves. He had just hung some new bells on the eaves, and he was listening to them peacefully jingling in the spring breeze at night.

He suddenly turned around to look at Xie Xie who was sitting in a kneeling position nearby, and he asked, “Do you have a grandpa?”

The young girl was shocked by his question. What kind of question was this? Perhaps there was a deeper meaning behind it? Otherwise, who in the world didn’t have a grandpa?

She was convinced that this was a trick question designed to test her mind and conviction. Just as she was about to give a careful answer, Cui Dongshan roared with laughter and said, “Oh, so you also have one?”

Xie Xie was rendered speechless.

This joke wasn’t funny at all.

In the end, both of them gazed up at the night sky.

This was the full moon of mid-autumn, seen by those who were wealthy, and also seen by those who were impoverished.

This was very comforting.