Unsheathed

Chapter 409: There are Some Stories That Don’t Have to be Known

The restaurant was quite a bustling and rowdy place.

The Great Sui Nation had always been quite wealthy, and its citizens were both able and willing to spend. After all, the Geyang Gao Clan had created a nation of peace and prosperity for the past several hundred years, so they had no qualms about spending money and enjoying life.

Mao Xiaodong was standing by a window on the second floor, and he was looking out the window as he cautioned, “Don’t worry about me, just focus on protecting yourself.”

A Golden Core Tier swordsman, a Dragon Gate Tier Militarian cultivator, a Dragon Gate Tier formation cultivator, a Far Roaming Tier martial artist, and a Vajra Body Tier martial artist.

Regardless of their status and objectives, the five assassins had come together, and they were all concealed in an area within a radius ten thousand feet of the restaurant.

Such a formidable lineup would most likely be enough to take down even an Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator, let alone a Nascent Tier earth immortal who wasn’t a swordsman.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but think back to the young girl with bells tied to her wrists and ankles in the city god pavilion of the Colorful Garment Nation. She was the daughter of the prefectural overseer, and her cultivation base wasn’t particularly advanced, but she was able to perfectly assist Chen Ping’an to just the right degree every single time, thereby leaving him with a very positive impression of her.

From that point onward, every battle that he had endured had either been fought on his own, or with the assistance of the four picture scroll martial artists. Even on the occasions where he had the assistance of the four picture scroll martial artist, he was still always the one to deal the decisive blow.

However, on this occasion, all he had to do was stand behind Mao Xiaodong, and that was a rather unfamiliar scenario for him. At the same time, he was feeling a little frustrated at his own powerlessness. Now that he was back to the Majestic World from the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, there was no longer a superimposed cultivation base ceiling, and his cultivation base was found severely lacking.

“If you’re still a worthless Nascent Tier cultivator once you get to my ripe, old age, I’ll have to beat you in our teacher’s stead!” Mao Xiaodong teased.

A resigned look appeared on Chen Ping’an’s face, and he patted his Sword Nurturing Gourd while internally alerting First and Fifteenth to be ready for the approaching assassins.

He then concealed his hands within the sleeves of his Golden Sweet Wine robe, and in his right hand was a Land-Shortening Talisman to be used in the case of sneak attacks, while in his left hand was the Day and Night Wandering Deity True Body Talisman.

Mao Xiaodong was very pleased to see that his junior brother was so calm and well-prepared.

All of a sudden, his voice rang out in Chen Ping’an’s heart.

“Have you experienced what it’s like to walk beside the river of time? It’s an even more suffocating feeling than being subjugated by the righteous energy of the Confucian temple that you experienced earlier.”

Chen Ping’an compressed his voice into a thread as he replied, “I’ve made the walk twice before, one time in the small town in the Jewel Small World when I hadn’t yet begun training martial arts, and the second time in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, where I was led by the abbot of the Observing Dao Temple.

“At the very least, I saw the passage of over two hundred years of time, and the order was often very jumbled and chaotic, so even though I was already a fifth tier martial artist on the second occasion, it was still a grueling ordeal for me, no less so than the punches that I took on Downtrodden Mountain.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this when we were chatting about your past experiences in my study? These are certainly experiences that are worth boasting about. In fact, I’d say that if you don’t brag about them, then you did all that suffering for nothing!

“Even as a Nascent Tier cultivator, I never witnessed the river of time prior to becoming the sage of Mountain Cliff Academy. That’s a sight that’s normally only reserved for Unpolished Jade Tier cultivators,” Mao Xiaodong said with a smile.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Chen Ping’an, and he asked, “Mountain Master Mao, do you really have the ability to move Eastern Splendor Mountain and temporarily transform this place into a small world akin to the academy?”

Mao Xiaodong nodded in response.

“I am indeed capable of that. This is the secret feat that I had been aiming to accomplish during my outings with Little Baoping. I carry the scholarly lineage of an entire academy on my shoulders, so I must be cautious at every turn.”

“That’s understandable,” Chen Ping’an replied with a nod.

“I agree that my actions are understandable, but what’s completely inexplicable to me is that you’re still calling me Mountain Master Mao as opposed to Senior Brother Mao!” Mao Xiaodong countered as he feigned a displeased expression, and Chen Ping’an fell into a sheepish silence upon hearing this.

Mao Xiaodong then clasped one hand behind his back while raising his other hand, and using his finger as a brush, he inscribed the words “Mountain Cliff Academy” into the air in glowing, golden characters.

After that, he swept a sleeve through the air, and the four golden characters disappeared in a flash.

“Sit down and drink, I’ll be right back,” he said to Chen Ping’an, then abruptly vanished from the spot.

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath, and that familiar feeling welled up in his heart, one in which he felt like an inept swimmer that had been plunged straight to the bottom of the river.

Deathly silence ensued.

There was no longer any sound that could be heard within the entire restaurant.

The Dragon Gate Tier formation cultivator was secretly setting up a formation when the spiritual energy within his body suddenly stagnated, and he hurriedly raised his head to inspect his surroundings, upon which he discovered that everything around him had fallen completely still, including the pedestrians on the streets and the birds in the sky.

The formation cultivator immediately revealed his own aura, no longer concealing it as he summoned a golden talisman, yet before he had a chance to do anything with the talisman, a hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder, following which a smiling voice rang out beside him.

“This formation of yours is derived from the Dragon Gate Formation of Dao Lord Ning Quanzhen from the Middle Earth Divine Continent, right?”

A stunned look appeared on the formation cultivator’s face, and he struggled with all his might, but was unable to break free from the hand on his shoulder.

His face had turned bright red as he strained and struggled while desperately hoping that the other four assassins would be able to help him.

A formation cultivator had to draw upon the power of heaven and earth using their formations, so in terms of bodily refinement, they were far inferior to the likes of swordsmen, Militarian cultivators, and pure martial artists.

Right at this moment, a streak of radiant sword light that resembled a glowing, white thread appeared in the northeastern direction. The streak of sword light was racing through the air, and it was aimed directly at Mao Xiaodong’s glabella.

In this small world, the sword light’s trajectory wasn’t completely straight. Instead, the tip of the sword was trembling slightly, while the sword itself was undulating in an unsteady fashion.

Furthermore, the flying sword was raising a trail of bright sparks in its wake as it was conflicting against the surrounding small world, and Mao Xiaodong displayed no effort in taking any evasive measures.

All of a sudden, the flying sword vanished into thin air no more than ten feet away from Mao Xiaodong. At the same time, the space in front of Mao Xiaodong began rippling incessantly, as if the sword were a stone that had fallen into a lake, sending ripples running across its surface.

At the same time, blood began flowing out of all of the formation cultivator’s orifices, and he began to tremble uncontrollably. Due to this uncontrolled movement, his body clashed against the pervasive flow of time in the small world, causing him to bleed even more profusely.

To compound his woes even further, the energy in his body had been thrown into a state of complete disarray, and all of his important acupoints had been tightly shut, making it impossible for him to summon the bonded items inside. He was desperately trying to activate the life-saving talisman in his hand with all his might, but even though his fingers could move, the spiritual energy in his body had become as viscous as mercury and refused to budge.

Mao Xiaodong grabbed onto the formation cultivator’s neck, then casually tossed him somewhere behind himself.

The Golden Core Tier swordsman’s bonded flying sword created a rippling vortex behind Mao Xiaodong, like an unwelcome guest breaking in through the front door, and it was racing through the air at an incredible speed, but it was already too late.

The formation cultivator was on the verge of death, and he just so happened to be in the flying sword’s path.

The Golden Core Tier swordsman in the distance had no intention of staying his sword, and it pierced straight through the formation cultivator’s body before continuing on toward Mao Xiaodong.

The life quickly drained out of the formation cultivator’s eyes, and his final thought before his consciousness faded away was: Isn’t Mao Xiaodong only supposed to be a Nascent Tier cultivator outside of Eastern Splendor Mountain?

There were countless paths that one could take in the pursuit of cultivation, and upon reaching the Middle Five Tiers, one would become an immortal in the eyes of mortals, wielding unfathomable powers while also enjoying far longer lifespans than others.

However, it was often the case that the loftier a Qi refiner’s cultivation base, the more cautious and timid they lived their lives.

Essentially, it boiled down to having more to lose, and in the case of the formation cultivator, he had been made to pay the ultimate price for just a single misstep.

Mao Xiaodong took a step forward, covering a distance of several hundred feet with just a single stride, then swiveled around just in time to catch the oncoming flying sword between his fingers. While it appeared that he had managed to catch the sword with ridiculous ease, the entire small world that he presided over was trembling ever so slightly as he whittled down the sword intent within the flying sword.

The Far Roaming Tier martial artist was no longer able to take flight in Mao Xiaodong’s small world, but he was still extraordinarily fast, barreling his way straight through two walls in succession to plow through an entire shop before throwing an almighty punch at Mao Xiaodong.

Several of the people in the shop had their bodies shattered into pieces as he charged straight through them, and the chunks of their bodies remained hovering within the shop in a stationary manner.

The man had gathered all of his True Qi in his fist, and he was unleashing an all-out attack with no regard for his own safety.

Mao Xiaodong drew upon the spiritual energy in the small world around him to form a stone plaque with golden characters engraved upon it, as well as a golden archway, but both of them were instantly shattered by the Far Roaming Tier martial artist’s fist.

The man continued to rush toward Mao Xiaodong with unstoppable might, while the other Vajra Body Tier martial artist had leaped onto a rooftop.

He didn’t possess the speed of the Far Roaming Tier martial artist, but his astral energy was clashing against the flow of time in the small world, making it appear as if his entire body were enshrouded in a massive flame as he jumped down from the rooftop to pounce directly at Mao Xiaodong.

Shallow gashes had been sliced into Mao Xiaodong’s fingers by the flying sword, and he tossed it aside, redirecting it toward the oncoming Vajra Body Tier martial artist.

At the same time, he extended his other hand to block the fist of the Far Roaming Tier martial artist.

As soon as his palm clashed against the man’s fist, his sleeve instantly began to billow violently.

The Vajra Body Tier martial artist was most likely close friends with the Golden Core Tier swordsman, as evidenced by the fact that he was continuing to charge at Mao Xiaodong, even though the flying sword was aimed straight at his heart.

Sure enough, the swordsman did everything in his power to divert the flying sword off its original trajectory, and in the end, it only pierced through the martial artist’s shoulder.

As a result, the Vajra Body Tier martial artist who was supposed to have been the weakest of all of the assassins was able to land a punch squarely on Mao Xiaodong’s back.

The entire small world shuddered violently.

The Far Roaming Tier martial artist pounced on this opportunity to unleash a barrage of punches, forcing Mao Xiaodong back further and further with each punch.

The muscles on the Far Roaming Tier martial artist’s arms were bulging, and his own blood was beginning to seep into his clothes, but each successive punch that he threw was more formidable than the previous one.

As for the Vajra Body Tier martial artist, he merely kept up with the Far Roaming Tier martial artist and Mao Xiaodong instead of directly participating in the battle.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help the Far Roaming Tier martial artist attack Mao Xiaodong, he simply knew that he would only be getting in the way.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an had emerged from the window of the restaurant before jumping onto the roof, where he had a better view of the fight, and he also refrained from entering the fray.

With his final punch, the Far Roaming Tier martial artist sent Mao Xiaodong flying back over a hundred feet.

The man then immediately stopped in his tracks before springing back to take a new breath.

The Vajra Body Tier martial artist immediately entered the fray, positioning himself directly in between the Far Roaming Tier martial artist and Mao Xiaodong, and at the same time, the Golden Core Tier swordsman sent his flying sword hurtling directly toward Mao Xiaodong as well.

On this occasion, his bonded flying sword was racing through the air even faster than the first time it was unleashed.

This was partially due to the fact that Mao Xiaodong’s aura was wavering, thereby resulting in an instability in the rules of this small world. However, most of the increase in the flying sword’s speed was attributable to the fact that the Golden Core Tier swordsman had managed to find some weak points and shortcuts in Mao Xiaodong’s small world, and the fact that he was able to accomplish this in such a short time was nothing short of remarkable.

A small world ruled over by a sage was considered an inescapable net, but even the finest of nets still had holes to exploit, and small worlds were no different.

Swordsmen required more wealth to support their cultivation than all other cultivators under the heavens, and there were definitely no slouches among Golden Core Tier swordsmen.

Mao Xiaodong grabbed onto the ruler hanging from his waist to steady himself, and there were already specks of blood on his white beard.

In the face of the persistent flying sword, Mao Xiaodong didn’t catch it between his fingers on this occasion.

Instead, he swept a sleeve through the air, catching the flying sword up his sleeve.

Wisps of sword qi immediately erupted out of the sleeve alongside the sound of tearing fabric, and the sleeve began to billow and flap incessantly.

At this point, the Far Roaming Tier martial artist had already taken in a new breath, and he stomped a foot down onto the ground, shattering the street beneath him as he launched himself through the air to engage Mao Xiaodong in close-quarters combat again. Given that Mao Xiaodong currently possessed Unpolished Jade Tier powers, if they were to allow him to open up some distance between them, then they would be at a severe disadvantage.

Meanwhile, a large man clad in a suit of silver armor had used two Inch Movement Talismans of extremely high calibers in conjunction with an Azure Raincape Talisman to conceal his own aura, and he was able to exploit the weakest point in the flow of time in the small world to plummet out of the sky while throwing a punch directly down at Mao Xiaodong’s head.

All of a sudden, Mao Xiaodong was placed in a dire situation. The flying sword trapped in his sleeve was about to tear its way out, and the Far Roaming Tier martial artist’s fist was almost upon him, but the most fearsome attack was coming from the Dragon Gate Tier Militarian cultivator who was clad in the armor pellet.

With the exception of the formation cultivator, who had perished before he had a chance to make any meaningful contributions, the other four assassins were displaying seamless teamwork, and it was difficult to imagine that out of the four of them, only the Golden Core Tier swordsman and the Vajra Body Tier martial artist were long-time acquaintances.

Mao Xiaodong’s ruler detached itself from his waist on its own, then swung straight into the Militarian cultivator’s face, sending him flying through the air like a vicious slap.

He crashed into the roof of a distant building, shattering a large number of roof tiles in the process.

At the same time, Mao Xiaodong swiveled around before pointing a finger at the Golden Core Tier swordsman as he said, “Here, you can have this back.”

All of a sudden, heaven and earth became twisted and flipped upside-down like a piece of paper that had been scrunched up by a naughty child, presenting an incredibly bizarre sight to behold.

The Far Roaming Tier martial artist could only watch as Mao Xiaodong passed him by, and he did so upside-down.

The two of them were separated by mere inches, but it was as if they were in two different worlds.

Dense clusters of fist-sized golden characters appeared on the scrunched-up sheet of paper, resembling a classic piece of sagely writing meant to educate the masses.

“Look out!” the Far Roaming Tier martial artist yelled as he swiveled around.

It appeared that Mao Xiaodong was moving quite slowly, but after he vanished from the east, he abruptly reappeared in the west, then emerged in the north. However, regardless of which direction he appeared in, he was constantly whittling down the distance between himself and the Vajra Body Tier martial artist. As a result, the Vajra Body Tier martial artist didn’t even know which direction he should flee in.

Before he had a chance to figure out what to do, Mao Xiaodong appeared before him, then smashed his head like an overripe watermelon with a single slap.

Meanwhile, the Dragon Gate Tier Militarian cultivator was being barraged by attacks from the ruler, and the natural order in the small world was restored.

Mao Xiaodong held up the Vajra Body Tier martial artist’s headless body so that it didn’t topple to the ground, and he cast his gaze toward the furious and grief-stricken Golden Core Tier swordsman in the distance as he asked, “You’re not going to avenge your friend?”

With a forceful flick of his wrist, the headless body was sent flying into the wall of a nearby shop, where it was dashed into a large pile of pulverized flesh and bones.

At the same time, both the Golden Core Tier swordsman and the Far Roaming Tier martial artist could see countless smaller golden characters surging into Mao Xiaodong’s acupoints from all directions, and hints of despair welled up in their hearts.

How could they possibly overcome such an insurmountable opponent?

The two of them exchanged a glance with each other, and both of them could see their own resolve mirrored in one another’s eyes.

Meanwhile, Mao Xiaodong was meticulously inspecting his surroundings. Up to this point, he hadn’t found any signs of an Unpolished Jade Tier cultivator lurking nearby, so it seemed that these five assassins were on their own.

Mao Xiaodong took a glance at his own ruined sleeve, then raised his head as he said, “All of you swordsmen, earth immortals, and martial artists are always going on and on about how all academy cultivators know how to do is talk, and that we’d all be useless in a fight, isn’t that right? Honestly, you’re not wrong in that assessment.”

The Golden Core Tier swordsman and the Far Roaming Tier martial artist were both feeling extremely tense and apprehensive as Mao Xiaodong casually strolled within his small world.

All of a sudden, what appeared to be countless bonded flying swords appeared near the edge of the small world, and all of them were circling around in mid-air.

These flying swords weren’t of a very high caliber, only roughly equivalent in power to the bonded flying swords of Sea Observation Tier and Dragon Gate Tier swordsmen, but their numbers were certainly nothing to scoff at.

On top of that, a series of Confucian scholars of different ages had appeared on the rooftops of the nearby buildings, and all of them were either holding books or swords.

Similarly, their cultivation bases weren’t particularly lofty, but their sheer numbers made them a threat, nonetheless.

Simultaneously, groups of armorclad soldiers were pouring out of the streets and alleys, and all of the flying swords converged toward the Golden Core Tier swordsman, while all of the Confucian scholars on the rooftops and the armorclad soldiers on the ground charged at the Far Roaming Tier martial artist.

As for Mao Xiaodong, he made his way over to the Militarian cultivator who was already struggling to contend with the pesky ruler, but instead of approaching the Militarian cultivator, he kept his distance as he said, “Out of the five assassins, you serve as the true trump card, right?

“You’re holding the golden core of an earth immortal concealed within your Militarian armor pellet, and as soon as I get close to you, you’ll detonate the golden core to take me down with you. Even if you can’t kill me, you’ll certainly be able to inflict severe injuries upon me, allowing the other assassins to strike me down.”

There was a look of unshakeable resolve in the Militarian cultivator’s eyes, and he completely ignored Mao Xiaodong as he opposed the ruler with his fists, preventing it from shattering his armor pellet.

Mao Xiaodong pointed a finger in his direction, and strings of golden characters rose up from the ground around him to form a cage.

A despairing smile appeared on the Militarian cultivator’s face, but a look of fierce resolve then immediately took its place, and countless rays of golden light erupted out of his body as he self-detonated in spectacular fashion.

Even if he couldn’t kill Mao Xiaodong, he was determined to destroy that ruler that was clearly a vital bonded item of Mao Xiaodong’s.

The self-detonation of a Dragon Gate Tier Militarian cultivator and a golden core was enough to destroy the golden cage formed by the sagely texts, but the ruler remained completely unscathed.

The characters engraved upon it had dimmed ever so slightly, but that was the extent of the damage, and it gently drifted back into Mao Xiaodong’s grasp, following which it was returned to its original spot on his waist.

The Golden Core Tier swordsman had his hands full dealing with the storm of flying swords, but he was in no life-threatening danger for the moment, and the Far Roaming Tier martial artist was also putting up an exceptional fight, destroying all of the Confucian scholars and armorclad soldiers that came within thirty feet of him.

On top of that, he was using his own formidable astral energy to contaminate the spiritual energy within these puppets, transforming it into contaminated energy that he was temporarily unable to use.

Mao Xiaodong looked on expressionlessly as the final two assassins slowly expended their own spiritual energy and True Qi.

There was a limit to the amount of spiritual energy in this small world, and that depended upon the stability of this “Mountain Cliff Academy” and the duration that it had been in existence for.

At this point, the small world had already shrunk down to no more than four thousand feet in radius.

If they were at the true Mountain Cliff Academy on Eastern Splendor Mountain, Mao Xiaodong would be able to maintain a small world with a radius of around eight thousand feet at the same point in the battle.

This wasn’t a Confucian academy’s orthodox mountain-moving secret technique, and even though it allowed Mao Xiaodong to reach the Unpolished Jade Tier, the main drawback was that the foundation of Mountain Cliff Academy remained on Eastern Splendor Mountain.

However, that was not a problem.

As long as no one else intervened, these two assassins were ultimately still going to die here.

Even if Mao Xiaodong were to withdraw this small world and temporarily hand over control of Eastern Splendor Mountain to Liang Rensi, he would perhaps struggle to kill the two remaining assassins, but he wouldn’t be in any danger.

Of course, that would not be a desirable scenario.

All of a sudden, Mao Xiaodong’s brows furrowed slightly as a golden flying sword barged its way into the small world without any warning.

The flying sword then hovered in mid-air before swiveling around to point in a certain direction.

Mao Xiaodong immediately withdrew the small world, reverting back to the Nascent Tier as a result.

Meanwhile, Chen Ping’an sprang into action from the rooftop of the restaurant without even requiring any instructions from Mao Xiaodong, patting his Sword Nurturing Gourd to release First and Fifteenth.

At the same time, the Inch Movement Talisman concealed up his sleeve erupted into flames, but instead of targeting the Far Roaming Tier martial artist, Chen Ping’an went after the Golden Core Tier swordsman, who was arguably a more formidable adversary.

If a bystander had been present, they would’ve definitely been of the opinion that Chen Ping’an had chosen the wrong opponent.

At the same time, the true bodies of a day-wandering and a night-wandering deity descended out of the sky. Each deity stood at around ten feet tall, and they descended from the heavens with an even more formidable aura than the one displayed by the Militarian cultivator earlier as they pounced on the Far Roaming Tier martial artist.

The day-roaming deity was clad in a suit of radiant, golden armor, and it was wielding a pair of axes, while the night-roaming deity was clad in a suit of black armor while wielding a large halberd.

A pleased smile appeared on Mao Xiaodong’s face upon seeing this, and he patted the ruler hanging from his waist before rushing toward the Golden Core Tier swordsman.

Inside Mao Xiaodong’s small world, the Far Roaming Tier martial artist had been completely backed into a corner, so he had no choice but to stand his ground and fight.

Now that the small world had suddenly been inexplicably withdrawn, if he were to work with the Golden Core Tier swordsman, then perhaps they would have some chances of securing victory.

However, now that he was no longer trapped in the small world, the Far Roaming Tier martial artist’s resolve began to waver, and after a brief hesitation, he turned and fled the scene.

The Golden Core Tier swordsman was rather taken aback to see this, but he then immediately fled the scene as well.

“We don’t have a decisive advantage, so don’t go chasing after them,” Mao Xiaodong cautioned.

However, he discovered that his cautionary words were unnecessary as Chen Ping’an had already stopped in his tracks, displaying no intention of pursuing the pair of fleeing assassins. However, at the same time he didn’t withdraw the two wandering deities, either, even though they were burning through large sums of immortal currency with each passing moment that they remained in this world.

Mao Xiaodong made his way over to Chen Ping’an, then said, “I’ll take a short rest, then take you back to the academy.”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response as he continued to keep a close eye on his surroundings while reaching around his own shoulder to grab firmly onto the hilt of the sword strapped to his back, refusing to let go even as the flesh on the palm of his hand was scorched and mutilated.

Despite his young age, he was as cautious and alert as a sly, old fox.

In the wake of his close friend’s passing, the Golden Core Tier swordsman had an added incentive of revenge to stay and fight, and that was why Chen Ping’an had chosen him as his target.

As for the Far Roaming Tier martial artist, there was no guarantee that he would flee as soon as an avenue for retreat was opened up, but at the very least, compared with the Golden Core Tier swordsman, he was more likely to abandon his ally and flee.

Chen Ping’an had made this decision on a split-second basis right after Mao Xiaodong withdrew his small world, and it was precisely because of his complete lack of hesitation that the Far Roaming Tier martial artist was left feeling even more apprehensive.

Why was it that Chen Ping’an had chosen to attack the more dangerous swordsman? Was there a trap waiting for them?

With those doubts in his mind, it naturally stood to reason that the Far Roaming Tier martial artist would choose to flee.

Chen Ping’an released the hilt of his sword while simultaneously withdrawing the pair of wandering deities back into the talisman.

As the flow of time was restored, shrieks of horror immediately rang out in the surrounding area.

Chen Ping’an took a glance at the nearby ground, where the head of the Vajra Body Tier martial artist had landed.

Out of the five assassins, three had been slain, while two had fled, and with that, the crisis was temporarily averted.

“Let’s go,” Mao Xiaodong said as he laid a hand onto Chen Ping’an’s shoulder. “When it comes to others, there are some stories that don’t have to be known.”