Unsheathed

Many reclusive individuals and travelers in the world possessed strange temperaments that couldn’t be judged through ordinary means.

However, Chen Ping’an wasn’t curious about the man in azure clearly concealing his strength.

Just like Saber Sharpener Liu Zong had said before, the road underfoot was so wide, so it made absolute sense for everyone to go their own separate ways. It wasn’t as if they were all stuck on a narrow path or a single-plank bridge.

The unkempt and dejected man in azure didn’t walk far from the inn. In fact, he squatted right outside the door beside the emaciated dog lying on the ground. He turned around to look at the dog, and felt like his life was inferior to even this emaciated dog. Emotion welled up inside him, and he felt a strong urge to compose a poem.

However, after wracking his brain for a long time, the man in azure was still unable to come up with one of those impressive poems that the lame young boy had labeled as doggerel. The man consoled himself, telling himself that everything was fine. Essays were written naturally, and poems would be organically formed at the right moment.

On the second floor of the inn…

Chen Ping’an was slightly hesitant about whether he should bring Zhu Lian out of the picture scroll.

The reason for this was that he wanted to stay in the Great Quan Empire for a while longer. However, Wei Xian could only protect Pei Qian at most, so it would be very difficult for the two of them to join forces to face any potential enemies together. If he faced perilous danger as he had in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land again, surrounded by enemies in all directions, Chen Ping’an was afraid that he would make a mistake amid all the chaos.

After successfully bringing Wei Xian to life from the first picture scroll, Chen Ping’an hadn’t offered any grain rain coin to the other picture scrolls. This wasn’t because he was reluctant to use his grain rain coins. After all, it was already very impressive that Chen Ping’an hadn’t chortled in delight after spending just eleven grain rain coins to obtain the service of Wei Xian, the founding emperor of Southern Garden Nation and once the most powerful person in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, someone who could face an entire army by himself.

Chen Ping’an hadn’t placed his threshold at ten grain rain coins because he felt like Wei Xian was only worth this much. Rather, he had been afraid of being screwed over by the old Daoist priest who had clearly been in a bad mood during their final encounter.

It was entirely possible that the old Daoist priest was trying to disgust Chen Ping’an without breaking the rules, giving him four picture scrolls that he couldn’t afford to raise. Thus, Chen Ping’an naturally couldn’t gamble all of his money on these picture scrolls.

Grain rain coins were the most valuable type of ordinary immortal currency, after all, with one grain rain coin worth a whopping one million taels of silver. This was a small mountain of silver. After conquering the Lu Empire and becoming the dominant empire in the northern regions of Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, just how much tax did the Great Li Empire collect each year? Sixty million taels of silver. Of course, this was only what the Great Li Empire’s Imperial Song Clan obtained on the surface.

Chen Ping’an had held off on offering grain rain coins to the picture scrolls these past few days due to the unusual words spoken by the young Daoist priest with the gigantic golden Sword Nurturing Gourd on his back. That young Daoist priest was clearly trying to screw him over, and was very likely that the trap lay with the picture scroll that contained Martial Arts Maniac Zhu Lian. Perhaps due to his status and face, the old Daoist priest had only dug a small hole for Chen Ping’an. However, the young Daoist priest had done everything in his ability to dig a large crater.

Chen Ping’an retrieved all of his remaining grain rain coins and put them in a pile beside his hand. He then grabbed a single grain rain coin and gently tossed it into the picture scroll.

Clouds and mist spread across the picture scroll, a sight that Chen Ping’an would never grow tired of.

Sitting behind the curtain to the kitchen on the first floor of the inn, the hunchbacked old man tapped his smoking pipe on the table before standing up and walking over to the counter, glancing outside the door and saying, “That destitute scholar isn’t an ordinary person.”

The innkeeper absent-mindedly flicked the beads on an abacus as she replied, “Third Grandpa, how many times have you reminded me of this already? I’m aware of this, and I won’t genuinely anger him.”

The old man rested his elbows on the counter and continued to puff on his smoking pipe as he said in a solemn voice, “You can remarry if you truly like him. I’ll support you if your father doesn’t agree to this.”

Jiu Niang stomped her feet, with her embarrassment turning into anger as she exclaimed, “What nonsense are you spewing, Third Grandpa? How can I possibly like him?!”

“Isn’t he quite good?” the hunchbacked old man asked in a calm voice. “Even though we’re unfamiliar with his identity and background, he’s a young man even I can’t see through. Just how many such people are there on the border of the Great Quan Empire? Perhaps his appearance will also be passable once he shaves himself clean.”

Jiu Niang directly ignored the final remark of the hunchbacked old man as she raised her chin and pointed it at Chen Ping’an’s room, asking, “How many such people, you ask? Third Grandpa, were you able to see through the young boy in white? Were you able to see through his subordinate? You weren’t able to, were you? Counting the one outside the inn and the two inside the inn, doesn’t that make three people already?”

There was a stern expression on the hunchbacked old man’s face as he snapped, “You’re treating my good intentions as ill will instead. It serves you right to be a widow for so many years.”

He was just about to return to the kitchen to cook something for himself and satisfy his belly.

Jiu Niang was already accustomed to her Third Grandpa’s temper, so she replied, “No matter what, the three people upstairs are our benefactors, so don’t go and poison their food on a whim. You stripped those two travelers naked back then, and even tossed them outside Fox Town on the same night. They were normal men, yet you caused them to become so timid that they were like young maidens. In fact, they almost hung themselves out of embarrassment.”

The hunchbacked old man pursed his lips and said, “They’re not sinister people who commit crimes left and right, so why would I target them and poison their food? In fact, I’m more afraid of you spiking that young boy’s food and doing as you please with him.”

Jiu Niang feigned slapping someone as she spat out, “Dogs can’t spit ivory from their mouth.”[1]

The hunchbacked old man liked to take things literally, so he replied, “Why don’t you go and speak to Prosperity outside? Why don’t you ask him whether he can spit ivory from his mouth?”

“I’m not a dog, so unlike you, I can’t talk to Prosperity,” the innkeeper retorted.

The hunchbacked old man pointed at Jiu Niang with his smoking pipe and remarked, “Whoever takes a fancy to you in the future, I can say that the lids of their ancestors’ coffins will definitely be unable to keep their corpses in.”

Jiu Niang paid no heed to her Third Grandpa’s insulting remarks. After milling around the mortal world and running this inn for so many years, she had already heard all kinds of vulgar, murderous, and jealous words from her customers from all over the world. She lowered her voice and asked, “That great demon wasn’t killed by him, was it?”

The hunchbacked old man shook his head and replied, “If that great demon was truly the number one general under the command of Pine Needle Lake’s water god, then… Heh, only earth immortals would have been powerful enough to slay it.

“Even though this sloppish scholar is definitely more powerful than he lets on, he still isn’t powerful enough to pull off such a feat. He’s not an old scholar who studies profound principles in the Confucian academies, after all. Moreover, those Confucian sages won’t purposely go into hiding and conceal their feats after doing something like this, will they?”

Jiu Niang fell into deep thought.

In the end, her Third Grandpa persuaded, “Alright, let me say this for the last time. Apart from being a little poorer, a little uglier, a little more uncouth, and a little more immature, there’s actually nothing wrong with that scholar sitting outside. He’s a young and strong man…”

Jiu Niang’s expression turned dark. She gritted her teeth and spat, “Piss off!”

The hunchbacked old man was completely unfazed as he turned around and left.

His aged face was like old tree bark filled with knots. If a mosquito tried to bite his face, it was perhaps possible for the hunchbacked old man to frown and squish the offending mosquito to death.

He clasped his calloused hands behind his back, holding his right wrist with his left hand and holding his smoking pipe with his right.

The hunchbacked old man was seemingly mumbling to himself as he said in amusement, “It’s already winter, so why are there still cats meowing in heat in the middle of the night? How incredibly strange… Little Lame even asked me about this today…”

Jiu Niang flushed slightly red as she gritted her teeth and cursed, “Old pervert, it serves you right to be single for your entire life!”

The lame young boy had just finished clearing the table and cleaning the dishes, so upon hearing the final exchange between his hunchbacked master and the female innkeeper, he couldn’t help but ask in curiosity, “Innkeeper, what in the world is going on? We’re not raising any cats in the inn, so perhaps it’s a stray cat that wandered over from somewhere else? I’ll definitely give it a good beating if I find it. Say, we’re always missing drumsticks and steamed buns in the kitchen, so it’s very likely that this was the doing of the stray cat. Rest assured, Innkeeper, I’ll definitely find this stray cat and drag it out.”

Jiu Niang retrieved a feather duster from behind the counter and started to strike the lame young boy’s head, scolding, “Go on, drag it out! Do you hear me? Go and drag it out!”

However, this still wasn’t enough to quench her anger, so she walked out from behind the counter and started to chase the lame young boy as she beat him. The boy ran away so fast that he seemed to have miraculously recovered.

Jiu Niang casually tossed the feather duster aside and hesitated for a moment before eventually tiptoeing up the stairs in a stealthy manner. She slowed down and walked back and forth, yet she didn’t hear any noise coming from the rooms. Only then did she return to the first floor and zone out for a while.

She then pushed the curtain to the kitchen aside and strode into the hunchbacked old man’s territory. After grabbing a palm-sized piece of jerky and a small pot of half-year-old green plum wine, she walked outside the inn and looked at the dispirited scholar squatting beside the emaciated dog. She called out to the man in azure, and she tossed the dried meat and wine to him when he looked up at her. “That’s one tael of silver added to your tab. It’s not for free,” she said coldly.

Only when Jiu Niang returned inside the inn did the man in azure retract his gaze and say in emotion, “Prosperity, do you know what this is? Kindness from a beautiful woman is the most difficult to accept.”[2]

He ripped off a small shred of jerky and offered it to Prosperity, after which he stroked his unkempt beard and remarked, “Just how well will I be treated if I shave myself clean?!”

Chen Ping’an had gently placed his hand on the picture scroll and looked toward the door when Jiu Niang had stealthily tiptoed to the second floor.

Fortunately, the female innkeeper hadn’t knocked and disturbed him.

After she returned downstairs, Chen Ping’an continued to toss money into the second picture scroll.

He tossed twelve grain rain coins into the picture scroll in a single breath.

However, Zhu Lian still didn’t come to life and walk out of the picture scroll.

Chen Ping’an grabbed his Sword Nurturing Gourd, yet he suddenly recalled that he had already run out of wine before entering the inn. He had no option but to put it back down.

Back in Old Dragon City, the yin god from the Song Clan had given him ten grain rain coins for the bamboo slip. Afterward, Lu Tai had given him twenty grain rain coins while sharing the spoils in Flying Eagle Fortress. Accounting for what he had earned and spent in Stalactite Mountain, Chen Ping’an had started off with a total of twenty-nine grain rain coins. He had spent eleven on Wei Xian, leaving him with eighteen.

Right now, only six grain rain coins remained on the table.

Martial Arts Maniac Zhu Lian was “posing” in the picture scroll, unwilling to walk out. That being the case, how many grain rain coins would the remaining two picture scrolls cost Chen Ping’an? There was still Lu Baixiang, the founder of the demonic force in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, and Sui Youbian, the only female sword immortal in the history of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land.

Chen Ping’an sighed as he glanced at the smiling old man on the picture scroll.

He would genuinely be gambling his entire wealth if he tossed any more grain rain coins into the picture scroll. Even though he still had quite a lot of snowflake coins and lesser heat coins, even that “lot” was just a number, and that number would be far smaller once they were converted into grain rain coins.

Chen Ping’an felt a slight sense of helplessness as he rolled up the picture scroll and placed it inside Fifteenth. He left his room and went downstairs to drink, hoping to alleviate his worries and improve his mood. He had carried the drunken Wei Xian upstairs, forgetting to fill his Sword Nurturing Gourd with wine.

Swirling his empty Sword Nurturing Gourd around, Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but grumble in his mind as he remembered that young Daoist priest with the gigantic golden gourd on his back. The young Daoist priest had described the abilities of the six other Sword Nurturing Gourds from the vine raised by the Dao Ancestor, yet he had purposely not described the ability of his own. Perhaps its ability was to hold the most wine?

Chen Ping’an had no idea, but he was actually correct. Well, at least he was half correct.

The golden Sword Nurturing Gourd named Abundance was indeed able to hold the largest amount of wine. In fact, it held water from the East Sea that was used in the large majority of wines. Because of this golden Sword Nurturing Gourd’s unique ability, the water level in the East Sea had actually fallen by several meters.

It was also because of this that an old scholar had clicked his tongue in wonder and remarked, “It’s but a small gourd, yet it’s able to raise hundreds upon thousands of flood dragons. The Dao Ancestor is truly impressive, greatly impressive, and has been impressive for a long time.”

Of course, the last few words could be regarded as words of flattery.

In fact, it was also possible that the Scholarly Sage had said this because he had damaged many lotus leaves in the Dao Ancestor’s Lotus Flower World while discussing the Dao with him.

Located in Middle Earth Divine Continent, the Confucian temple regarded as the “authentic temple of decorum” contained the towering clay statues of many lofty sages. These sages definitely couldn’t do something like this, lowering themselves to the level of flattering others and acting shamelessly after damaging someone else’s property.

As for the Scholarly Sage whose divine statue had already been removed from the Confucian temple, however, this couldn’t come any more naturally to him. He was even more adept at this than those Daoist immortals in White Jade Capital.

A smile blossomed on Jiu Niang’s face when Chen Ping’an walked downstairs.

He was handsome, wealthy, and also possessed an impressive temperament. The female innkeeper became increasingly fond of Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an asked for half a liter of five-year-old green plum wine, and he poured this into his Sword Nurturing Gourd right in front of Jiu Niang.

However, the Sword Nurturing Gourd appeared like nothing more than a vermilion wine gourd to Jiu Niang, a cheap trinket that had been rubbed smooth due to usage. It was clear that this wine gourd was an adored trinket of at least two generations, and that was why it appeared aged.

Jiu Niang rested her cheek in one hand, turning to her side on the chair such that she could cock her head and look at the young boy whose hand was perfectly steady as he poured wine. Her cheeks were slightly red, and the effects of the wine from lunch were yet to wear off. She smiled and asked, “Young Master, isn’t it easier to drink out of a bowl? Once you finish the wine in your wine gourd, won’t you need to repeat this process and refill it again?”

While saying this, she also grabbed a pot of wine and started to leisurely drink by herself. She didn’t forget to grab three plates of snacks either. Of course, she also brought over two pairs of chopsticks.

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, “This is the limit of my wine tolerance, so I when I finish what’s in the wine gourd, I know I’ve had enough. I won’t need to refill it again.”

“Your friend’s wine tolerance is truly very impressive,” the innkeeper said with a chuckle.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed. Wei Xian was the founding emperor of a nation, after all, so how could he make such a fool out of himself?

He casually asked, “Since the Yao Clan’s border army is so renowned in the border regions, do you know any of the mighty figures currently in the Yao Clan?”

Jiu Niang raised an eyebrow and exclaimed, “Oh? Young Master, you’re not a spy from Northern Jin Nation, are you?”

Chen Ping’an pointed upstairs and asked, “Have you ever seen a spy like me? One with a self-proclaimed heavy drinker for a friend? And one who even brings a child with him?”

Jiu Niang nodded and conceded, “That does make sense. How could there be so many wars if all of the spies from Northern Jin Nation were like you? The world would have already achieved peace long ago.”

She was slightly drunk, and she failed to grab any braised meat after reaching over with her chopsticks twice. Chen Ping’an gently pushed the plate over, and Jiu Niang shot a charming glance at him. She decided to put her chopsticks down before saying, “It won’t hurt to tell you some of these things. At the very least, I can have you barbaric southerners understand the might of our Great Quan Empire’s border army.”

She let out a burp, yet she didn’t feel embarrassed at all. “Old General Yao has spent more than half of his life on horseback, and he’s a mighty expedition-level great general of the Great Quan Empire. He has three sons and two daughters… well, he had them, at any rate. Unfortunately, two of his sons and one of his daughters have passed away. His youngest daughter married someone in the capital, and she was fortunate enough to find someone well-off and caring. They were truly a match made in heaven.

“He also has a bunch of grandsons and granddaughters, and two of them are clearly a cut above the rest. His grandson is Yao Xianzhi, and I heard that he joined the army when he was just ten years old. The granddaughter is Yao Lingzhi, and she’s even more impressive. Everyone living near the border has heard of her incredible martial arts talent.”

“Why do all of their names end in Zhi?” Chen Ping’an asked in curiosity.

“Because they belong to the Zhi generation,” Jiu Niang replied with a smile.[3]

Chen Ping’an became increasingly puzzled, and he asked, “Shouldn’t the generation name be in the middle? Perhaps this custom is slightly different in the Great Quan Empire?”

“How would I know about the ancestral rules of that wealthy Yao Clan?” Jiu Niang huffed in reply. “Aren’t rich people allowed to have their own quirks and eccentricities?”

“The Yao Clan’s mounted troops are so renowned, so there’s definitely a lot of people in the Great Quan Empire who are jealous of them, right?” Chen Ping’an asked in a slightly probing manner.

Jiu Niang rolled her eyes and retorted, “You’re asking me? How should I know? Perhaps you want me to ask the emperor?”

She started giggling to herself, and appeared increasingly seductive as she continued, “But the emperor will need to take a fancy to my appearance and invite me into the imperial palace first. He might be quite old already, but he is the emperor, after all. Maybe his bed frame is forged from gold as well…”

Perhaps she was finally talking about something that made her feel happy, so she raised her wine bowl and said loudly, “The road of life might be narrow, but the wine bowl is assuredly wide. I, Jiu Niang, offer a toast to you, Young Master.”

Chen Ping’an’s eyes lit up, and he also raised his wine bowl with a smile, saying, “What a brilliant line! I’ll definitely remember this. Bottoms up!”

Both of them downed the wine in their bowls.

The man in azure sitting outside the inn secretly glanced at Chen Ping’an and Jiu Niang having a hearty conversation while drinking wine. There was a sulky expression on his face as he continued to grumble.

“Obedient dogs don’t block their owner’s path!”

There was a loud shout as the dejected scholar was ruthlessly kicked to the side. One after another, three men with sabers by their hips swaggered into the first floor of the inn.

The leader was a sturdy man purposely exposing some of his muscular chest even though it was the middle of winter. He sat down at a table to the left of Chen Ping’an, and his two subordinates appeared especially familiar with the inn as they walked over to grab some wine and bowls. The two of them sat on the bench on the opposite side of the table, instantly causing the table to become full.

The sturdy man refused the white bowl from his young subordinate, and he instead insisted on snatching the wine bowl that was sitting in front of Jiu Niang. He poured himself a bowl of green plum wine, spilling it everywhere as he drank it in a single gulp. He wiped his mouth before suddenly clutching his stomach with a terrified expression. He pointed at Jiu Niang with a shaking finger and said in a quivering voice, “There’s something wrong with this wine… There’s poison in it…”

The two young subordinates sitting opposite him instantly placed their hands on the hilts of their sabers, with their faces becoming slightly pale.

“Ma Ping, do you have shit for brains?” Jiu Niang snapped. “Perhaps you ate too much shit for lunch, and there was some poison in the shit? And this poisoned shit ended up damaging your brain?”

The saber-carrying man chuckled and wiped the terrified expression off his face. “I’m joking, I’m joking. There’s no need to abuse me like this, is there?”

His two young subordinates hurriedly drank some wine to suppress their lingering fear.

Ma Ping glanced at the eyesore named Chen Ping’an and demanded, “Where are you from, brat? Show me your travel documents and passport!”

Jiu Niang was just about to say something, yet Chen Ping’an had already retrieved his documents and placed them on the table in front of the sturdy saber-carrying man.

The sturdy man picked the documents up and examined the dense array of big and small vermilion stamps. He clicked his tongue in wonder. “Whoa, you’ve got quite some stamps here. So you’ve really traveled this far?”

Chen Ping’an nodded with a smile.

1. The phrase “Dogs can’t spit ivory from their mouth” (狗嘴里吐不出象牙) is an insult meaning that someone can only say bad things. In other words, a filthy mouth can’t utter decent words. ☜

2. It’s difficult to accept in the sense that you’re already attracted to them anyway, so if they’re also nice to you, you’ll only feel more attracted. ☜

3. This refers to generation name, a common practice in China where each member of a generation shares the same character in their name. This character is used to identify which generation and branch a person belongs to. Usually, the generation name is the first character of the given name (so people would be called Wu Jianyi, Wu Jianzi, Wu Jianwu etc.), hence Chen Ping’an’s puzzlement. ☜