Unsheathed

No matter how powerful a clan was, all of its men had to carry out sword delivery duties at 12 years of age, even if they were the only child of their generation. At the latest, one had to go to the south of the city wall to join in the battle there, and 30 years of age was the oldest one could be before they had to leave the city wall to go and slay demons in the south.

Almost all of the women wanted to marry men who possessed superior swordsmanship to themselves, and if their husband were to die in battle, then she would immediately follow them, after which their children would come next.

None of the poems told about the wars on the borders could compare with the stories that came out of this place.

If any outsiders were to speak of any horrific battles that they had seen, they would be scoffed at by the people in the Sword Qi Great Wall for even daring to make the comparison.

In the wake of the second war’s conclusion, peace and quiet returned to this city, which was situated to the north of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The city was filled with all types of buildings and landmarks, such as bridges over flowing water, vast and flamboyant manors, streets that were lined with sword shops, and also crude thatch huts where multiple generations of people shared the same room.

At a streetside wine shop sat six people around a table, one of whom was a gallant-looking young girl with brows that resembled thin blades. She was sitting on the same bench with another young girl who was missing an arm. The latter was very short and thin, but she was carrying an astonishingly huge sword on her back with a wooden expression on her face.

The oldest one among the six was a handsome young man in his twenties. The sword Qi emanating from his body was so formidable that it formed a virtually substantial barrier around him, and although sheathed, his sword was also giving off an incredibly powerful aura.

There was a portly young boy seated on another bench while taking small sips of wine with a smile on his face. His backside was very large, while the surface of the bench was quite narrow, so it was a rather uncomfortable seating arrangement, and he was constantly having to twist from side to side to get comfortable.

Placed on his lap was a sword that was also in his scabbard, but there were arcs of purple lightning flashing all over it. Whenever an arc of lightning struck him on the belly, he would immediately wince and shudder.

Seated next to him was a hideous young boy with skin black as coal and scars all over his face. However, his sword had a very effeminate name, which was Elaborate Makeu.

Across from him sat another handsome young boy with two swords in his possession, one strapped to each side of his waist. One of the swords had no scabbard, and the words “Cloud Pattern” were inscribed onto its blade in antiquated characters.

The six of them had fought alongside one another during the first battle, but on that occasion, they had lost a friend by the name of Grasshopper.

This time, they had better luck. All of them were injured, but no one had perished during the recently concluded battle. However, the two leaders of their team, a pair of 10th tier swordsmen, were unable to return to the Sword Qi Great Wall alive.

The portly young boy enjoyed drinking wine, but he took even more joy in encouraging others to drink with him.

The handsome young boy with the Dong surname really liked to make fun of the hideous scar-faced young boy, while the young girl missing an arm liked to shoot furtive glances at the handsome young man.

Meanwhile, the gallant-looking young girl was drinking by herself while staring into the distance in a daze, but even in her absentminded state, there was nothing frail or weak about her, and she appeared ready to spring back into battle at any moment.

Some time later, a pair of young women roughly 18 to 19 years of age arrived, and one of them immediately sat down beside the hideous young boy so that the three of them were sharing one bench. As a result, the portly young boy was forced to the edge of the bench, so his rotund bottom was spilling over the bench on three sides, much to his dismay.

As soon as the two women arrived, the young boy with the Dong surname immediately stopped making fun of the hideous young boy, and was looking rather fearful of the pleasant and harmless-looking round-faced woman sitting across from him.

The other young woman had a sharp yet elegant chin, and she immediately sat down beside the handsome young boy without any hesitation, while the latter rolled his eyes in disdain, thinking to himself that the woman wasn’t even as good-looking as he was, yet harbored delusions of becoming his wife.

The round-faced young woman asked the six of them why they were gathered here, and she was informed that the young man’s training stint here was about to come to an end, and he was soon going to return to the Confucian school on Middle Earth Divine Continent, at which point he would be promoted from virtuous scholar to noble scholar.

He removed his Righteous Aura sword from his waist, then set it down onto the table, stating that A’Liang had given it to swordsmen of the Sword Qi Great Wall, not to him, so he had to leave it behind.

The portly young boy was very happy to hear this. He had been longing for that sword for quite some time, and he immediately nodded in agreement while praising the young man for his righteousness and his quality of character, and he also declared that if the young man were to ever come back, then he would welcome him by applauding with both hands and both feet.

For the first time, the young girl with the missing arm spoke up, saying that the young man had fought in two grueling battles and slain so many demons of the Middle Five Tiers, so he deserved to take Righteous Aura with him.

The young man paid no heed to this as he looked around, trying to see if there were any familiar faces on the streets nearby that could pay his bill for him.

Meanwhile, the hideous young boy was focused entirely on drinking. The round-faced young woman sitting beside him was his elder sister, and she tried to persuade him to drink less, but he completely ignored her, so she could only sit beside him with a resigned expression.

“Take the sword,” the gallant-looking young girl said in a concise manner, and no one raised any objections to this.

All of the people at the table were quite lofty in status, including an imminent Confucian noble scholar, and members of the Dong and Chen clans.

If there were someone from the Qi Clan present as well, then all three surnames of the Sword Qi Great Wall would be represented here.

All of a sudden, the handsome young boy’s brows furrowed slightly, and he grumbled under his breath, “Oh great. Here come those idiots.”

There was a group of young men walking along the street. All of them appeared to be around 20 years of age, and they were giving off formidable sword Qi and killing intent.

Coincidentally, their leader had the Qi surname, and he had a pair of swords strapped to his back. He was a very tall and imposing man, and he made his way over to the wine shop, staring directly at the gallant-looking young girl while trying to make appear as amicable as possible as he asked with a friendly smile, “Ning Yao, are you selling your family’s Dragon Slaying Platform or not?

“We can negotiate the price, my family definitely won’t screw you over. Besides, everyone knows how close our parents are. If it wasn’t for my grandfather’s intervention our marriage would’ve been decided at birth!”

“Piss off!” the gallant-looking young girl snapped without even raising her head.

The man with the Qi surname wasn’t incensed in the slightest as he immediately obliged, scurrying away with his tail between his legs.

Someone from his group was very angry to see this, and he mused in a condescending voice, “Some people are simply born luckier than others. I suppose when both your parents are powerful sword immortals, you can do whatever you please, even almost losing the entire Sword Qi Great Wall to the enemy!”

The gallant-looking young girl remained completely unmoved, but all of the other people at the table instantly sprang to their feet, and even the Confucian scholar who had come here for training had grabbed onto Righteous Aura.

The portly young boy bared his teeth in a menacing fashion as he said, “What was that? Your father here couldn’t really hear you just now. How about you repeat that for me?”

The handsome young boy had already erupted into a furious tirade. “You little shit! I’ll kill your entire family!”

He then took a glance at the hideous young boy across from him as he asked, “So what’ll it be? You wanna go first, or should I go?”

The hideous young boy offered no response, merely shrugging off his sister as he picked up his sword and began making his way toward the group of young men.

The man with the Qi surname raised a hand, gesturing for everyone behind him to remain silent, then stepped forward with a smile as he asked, “Are you sure you want to pick a fight with us, Charcoal Dong?”

The boy continued onward in an expressionless manner, and he had already gripped onto the hilts of his Scripture and Cloud Pattern swords, both of which had been bestowed upon him by A’Liang.

Ning Yao had saved his life on three occasions, and now that her parents were gone and A’Liang had also left, he had to step forward to defend her honor. Otherwise, he may as well put an end to his own life right here.

His sister smiled as she said, “Just don’t kill anyone. As long as you don’t cross that line, I can smooth things over with our grandfather.”

As soon as this declaration was made, even the young man with the Qi surname was left feeling a little fearful.

All of a sudden, the sound of knuckles tapping down onto a table rang out, and Dong Huafu turned around.

“Come back, Charcoal,” Ning Yao instructed in an indifferent manner.

They boy turned around a disgruntled expression before sitting back down at his original spot, and his sister patted him on the head in consolation. The boy was still feeling very frustrated, and he immediately turned to his sister with a furious expression, in response to which she made a funny face at him to try and cheer him up, while the handsome young boy looked on with an enraptured expression.

Only then was the situation defused.

The young man with the Qi surname departed with his companions, and only after they were very far away did he turn to the young man who had just provoked Ning Yao as he said, “Don’t go anywhere the next few days. Alternatively, come stay at my place for a while.”

The man immediately nodded in response with an uneasy look on his face.

After everyone had sat back down again, Ning Yao sighed, “None of you are children anymore, so stop behaving like children. Besides, this is a private matter of mine, so why are outsiders like yourselves getting involved? I’ll remember what he said, and he’ll have what’s coming to him eventually.”

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

A thought then suddenly occurred to Ning Yao, and a cold sneer appeared on her face as she said, “I heard that guy smashed the Daoist second disciple back to the Majestic World with a single punch.”

Everyone immediately smiled upon hearing this, but of course, the smile that had appeared on the young man’s face was a rather bitter one.

An absentminded look appeared on the portly young boy’s face, and he took a large swig of wine, as if something depressing or joyful had just sprung into his mind.

After his first time fighting atop the city wall, he had turned to A’Liang with a hopeful expression as he asked, “A’Liang, A’Liang, what do you think of my swordsmanship? Surely I’m half as good as you now!”

A’Liang merely continued to drink wine while placating the boy with some halfhearted answers.

“A’Liang! Give me a straight answer! I don’t care if you compliment or insult me, I can take it!”

“Alright, in that case, I’d say that your swordsmanship… is very flashy, but not very effective.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m saying that your swordsmanship looks like it could kill a tiger, but in reality, you can only kill a mouse.”

The boy was immediately brought to the verge of tears upon hearing this, and he felt as if the entire world were crashing down around him, as if he would never be able to make anything out of himself.

A’Liang then tossed his wine gourd at him with a smile as he said, “Back when I was your age, I wasn’t even at your level.”

The chubby little boy instantly puffed out his chest with pride. That was the first time that he had tasted wine, and it was absolutely rancid.

The handsome young man was resting his chin on one hand while biting onto the edge of his cup between his teeth, and he could drink the wine in the cup without even using his hands by tipping his head back.

He had learned this move from A’Liang, and he had found it to be extremely badass.

“A’Liang, I heard you’ve been to the Bamboo Sea Small World. Is Lady Zhu really that beautiful?”

“She is. She’s got a pair of really long legs.”

“I’m asking about her face! What’s the use in having long legs?”

The young boy was immediately pushed aside A’Liang as the latter said, “You’re clearly not a man of culture.”

Even though Dong Huafu’s sister hadn’t drunk any wine this entire time, there was still a dreamy smile on her face.

She had once mustered up her courage to approach A’Liang before asking if he missed his home.

“I do.”

“Do you want to take a wife back with you the next time you return home?”

“Of course.”

“How about you take me as your wife, A’Liang?”

A stunned look had appeared on his face upon hearing this. “My goodness! I’ve traveled far and wide without encountering a worthy opponent, never did I think such a spritely young girl would prove to be my downfall!”

At the time, Dong Huafu had still been a snotty little kid, but he could understand what they were saying, and he turned his head to the side and spat onto the ground in disgust.

A’Liang handed his wine gourd to the girl, then patted her on the head as he said “Trust me, you don’t want to be my wife. All I do is wander around aimlessly, and anyone who becomes my wife will have nothing but suffering ahead of them.”

The girl accepted the wine gourd, but didn’t dare to drink from it.

A’Liang burst into laughter as he encouraged, “It’s alright, you can have a few sips. I know your patriarch doesn’t want you to drink, but he won’t scold you if you drink my wine. All he’ll do is blame me.”

As the girl was drinking out of the gourd, A’Liang stepped onto the Sword Qi Great Wall, then cast his gaze into the distance, smoothing his own hair down as he sighed, “Wine can make your cheeks red, while worries can turn your hair white… If you’re going to find a man for yourself, make sure you find someone as handsome and talented as myself. Of course, I’m not saying you should pursue me, I’m saying that you should find someone like me.”

All of a sudden, Dong Huafu yelled, “A’Liang, I need to take a shit! Hurry up and take me to the south! It’s about to come out!”

A’Liang hurriedly jumped down from the wall, cursing under his breath as he cradled Dong Huafu in his arms before flying away into the south.

As for whether there were any perils in the south or whether there were any great demons lurking nearby, that was naturally of no concern to him.

Dong Huafu’s sister knew that her brother was as safe as safe could be with A’Liang, so she wasn’t worried, either.

There was no place under the heavens that A’Liang couldn’t go.

No matter how much her grandfather disliked A’Liang, he could never bring himself to denounce A’Liang’s swordsmanship.

In the end, Dong Huafu was unable to hold it in, and he pooped all over his pants. A’Liang was washing his pants by a creek while watching him run around with his backside bare, and he chuckled to himself, “Looks like I’m receiving retribution for rejecting your mother so many times. I’m not even your father, yet I’m being forced to perform these degrading fatherly duties…”

In the end, he left. He left his sword and a “badass” character behind, then departed from the Sword Qi Great Wall with just his conical bamboo hat.

On that day, countless women drank in solidarity in the city behind the Sword Qi Great Wall, while their husbands were also drinking by themselves with sullen expressions.

After that, A’Liang found the young boy who had been chosen by Qi Jingchun, and to the young boy, he declared, “My name is A’Liang, Liang as in kindness.”

After the two of them became a bit more familiar with each other, he told the boy that he had countless female admirers under the heavens, and the boy merely brushed that off as a boastful lie.

————

After drinking for a while longer, everyone parted ways, and Ning Yao returned home on her own.

On the way back, there were many people pointing at and discussing her.

Some were sympathetic, some were spiteful, some heaved forlorn sighs, and some were full of admiration.

Ning Yao lived in one of the largest manors in the entire city, and there were still many of her fellow clansmen around, but there were also some people missing.

She made her way onto the sword spar arena, then laid down onto the massive slab of Dragon Slaying Platform to take a nap.

A letter had told her that an idiot was coming to deliver a sword to her, so why was he still not here yet?

She couldn’t help but feel a little angry at this thought.