Unsheathed

Chen Ping’an looked up at the night sky, not retracting his gaze for a long time.

He was standing under the eaves and holding a charcoal basket in his hand.

Gu Can was crying hysterically, much like a wounded child.

Chen Ping’an had already turned his gaze back to Gu Can, yet he still didn’t open his mouth to say anything. Rather, he let Gu Can kneel there and bawl, with tears and snot covering the young boy’s face.

Gu Can continued to cry uncontrollably, all the way until his body started to convulse. When he ran out of energy, he started to sob quietly. After recovering some energy, he started to wail hysterically again, seemingly wanting to cry his heart out.

“Why didn’t you plead with me?” Chen Ping’an asked slowly. “Is it because you knew it would be futile? Were you unwilling to lose your final chance just like that? After all, pleading for Tan Xue would have meant severing the final strand of relationship with me. My relationship with your Spring Courtyard Mansion, your mother, and you, Gu Can, would have finished once and for all. Is this the reason why you didn’t plead with me?

“Did you finally come to the realization that you might not be able to stay alive in Bamboo Scroll Lake even if Tan Xue were here to protect you? That being the case, perhaps it would be better to trade Tan Xue for me, Chen Ping’an, and have me become the door god of the Spring Courtyard Mansion. In this way, you and your mother might still be able to continue living like the past.

“Of course, things will be slightly less satisfying than before, and you’ll no longer be able to confidently announce to me that you like to kill people. However, this is still better than being mysteriously slapped to death by a cultivator that you’ve never met before someday in the future and being made to reunite with your family in the afterlife. Compared to this outcome, you’ve still come out on top, no?”

Gu Can refused to speak, and he didn’t wipe the tears and snot from his face either. He simply stared at Chen Ping’an with a blank expression.

Chen Ping’an sighed and walked over to Gu Can, bending over and handing him the charcoal basket.

Each step through the thick snow caused a loud crunching sound to reverberate through the surroundings.

Gu Can didn’t accept the charcoal basket.

Chen Ping’an squatted down, coming face to face with Gu Can and looking him in the eyes as he said, “It’s okay, Gu Can, tell me what you’re really thinking. I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”

Gu Can grabbed a large handful of snow before turning around and smearing it across his face. After doing this, he turned back around and sobbed, “You’re the worst, Chen Ping’an!”

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but chuckle in speechlessness. After hesitating for a moment, he replied, “I can indeed be viewed as a good person in your Bamboo Scroll Lake. However, a good person becoming smart doesn’t make them a bad person.”

Gu Can immediately burst into tears again, exclaiming, “Your Bamboo Scroll Lake, your Spring Courtyard Mansion, your mother and you! Chen Ping’an, you always like to speak like this! Let’s not be like this, okay…?”

Gu Can covered his face with the back of his hands and started to sob.

“You can go home now,” Chen Ping’an said.

Gu Can punched Chen Ping’an in the chest, causing him to fall backward into the snow.

Gu Can then stood up and quickly stumbled away.

After running forward a dozen or so steps, Gu Can stopped but didn’t turn around, sobbing, “Chen Ping’an, you were more important to me than the small catfish, and this was always the case before. However, it isn’t like that anymore. Even if the small catfish is dead, it’s still better than you.”

Chen Ping’an sat in the snow and gazed at Bamboo Scroll Lake.

His mind was as calm as a tranquil pond.

Chen Ping’an stood up, shaking off the snowflakes on his cotton robe before walking over to the dock and waiting for Millet Grain Island’s Tan Yuanyi to arrive. With Liu Zhimao’s swift manner of dealing with things, he would have definitely used a flying sword to deliver a message to Millet Grain Island after returning to his Hengbo Residence.

However, Chen Ping’an suddenly thought of Tan Yuanyi’s position as a spy deployed in the central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent by the Great Li Empire’s Green Ripple Pavilion, meaning that he most likely wouldn’t travel here on a boat. Instead, he would first notify Liu Zhimao before secretly making his way to Cyan Gorge Island. With this in mind, Chen Ping’an turned around and directly headed to the Hengbo Residence.

————

At the Spring Courtyard Mansion…

Gu Can’s mother stood there with a fox fur coat, anxiously waiting for her son.

When she saw Gu Can return, she hurriedly walked over and asked, “How is the situation? Where’s Tan Xue? She didn’t come back with you?”

When Gu Can and his mother had been making dumplings in the kitchen before, Gu Can’s expression had suddenly changed drastically, following which he had collapsed to the floor and clutched at his heart. It was as if he had been struck by a severe illness.

Gu Can’s mother immediately knew that something had gone wrong, most likely Tan Xue suffering an accident outside the Spring Courtyard Mansion.

Gu Can dazedly looked up and replied, “Tan Xue is dead.”

His mother was stunned, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she had misheard. “Cancan, what did you just say?”

“Tan Xue is dead,” Gu Can repeated.

There was a furious expression on his mother’s face as she exclaimed, “Dead? She died just like that? Tan Xue is a Nascent Tier flood dragon! How can she possibly die?! Apart from that old bastard with the surname Liu at Palace Willow Island, who else in Bamboo Scroll Lake can kill Tan Xue?!”

Gu Can looked at his mother and replied, “There’s also Chen Ping’an.”

His mother was enraged, and she yelled, “What nonsense are you spewing?! Why would Chen Ping’an kill Tan Xue for no reason? And what right does he have to kill the small catfish that no longer belongs to him? Has he gone mad? That ungrateful little wretch… I should have let him starve to death in Clay Vase Alley back then. I knew he came to Cyan Gorge Island with ill intentions. That cursed little bastard…”

“Chen Ping’an might be able to hear you,” Gu Can suddenly said.

His mother immediately shut her mouth and looked around with a panicked expression. Her face was deathly pale, much like the thick snow on the ground and the fox fur coat on her shoulders.

Gu Can fell silent.

His mother stepped forward and pulled him into an embrace, sobbing, “Oh, my pitiful son.”

Gu Can remained expressionless. His physique and soul were extremely weak right now, and his hands and feet had already become ice-cold following his trek from the island entrance back to the Spring Courtyard Mansion.

————

After returning to the Hengbo Residence residence again, Liu Zhimao hesitated for a moment before asking his trusted butler to invite Zhang Ye over.

He then went to the secret Small Sword Resting Ground that was similar to a sword chamber, inside of which there were precious high-grade messenger flying swords. Liu Zhimao carefully contemplated his words before sending a letter to Millet Grain Island’s Tan Yuanyi.

In the end, Liu Zhimao arrived inside a large hall that was decorated with a specialty rug from the Colorful Garment Nation. He grabbed a ball of mist with a sweep of his hand, after which he scattered the mist across the floor and summoned an image showing the island entrance of Cyan Gorge Island.

The heavy snow had already stopped, causing the scenery to appear slightly desolate.

Liu Zhimao gazed down at the images playing on the sheet of mist.

During this time, he raised his head and looked outside the hall on several occasions.

There was a helpless smile on Liu Zhimao’s face. There were close to one thousand cultivators on Cyan Gorge Island right now, yet only Zhang Ye dared to take his sweet time after being summoned by the Hengbo Residence. He definitely wouldn’t rush over on the wind. As for whether Island Master Liu Zhimao would feel displeased and take this to heart, the elderly Zhang Ye couldn’t care less.

Liu Zhimao heaved a soft sigh.

Almost all of his good friends whom he had fought alongside were already dead, either dying in their wars of conquest or dying at the hands of the myriad of assassins and surprise attacks. There were also some who were unruly and had become rebellious, and these people were personally disposed of by Liu Zhimao. Of course, many more of them had died of old age, and in the end, only Zhang Ye remained by his side. He was Liu Zhimao’s last remaining friend from the past in Cyan Gorge Island.

Liu Zhimao directly walked through the screen composed of water fortune, arriving at the entrance where he hesitated briefly. In the end, he decided to step outside to wait for Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye was a Dragon Gate Tier cultivator — one cultivation tier away from reaching the status of earth immortal — and he was more than powerful enough to conquer one of the one thousand or so islands in Bamboo Scroll Lake and become an island master, even disregarding his relationship with Liu Zhimao.

During the past two years, Liu Zhimao had utilized the strategy of attacking nearby islands and allying with faraway islands, allowing him to conquer White Fish Island as well as another dozen or so large islands. Afterward, he had wanted to give an island to Zhang Ye for him to establish his own estate, yet Zhang Ye — a meritorious official who had aided him for many years — had politely declined his offer on both occasions. Seeing this, Liu Zhimao hadn’t insisted any further.

When Liu Zhimao and Zhang Ye had first met, both of them had been at the Sea Observation Tier. Zhang Ye was an official immortal at the time, and not only had he been Liu Zhimao’s friend, but he had also been a military strategist offering his advice to Liu Zhimao in the background. It could be said that Zhang Ye had played a huge role in Cyan Gorge Island’s ability to overcome challenge after challenge in its earlier days. Apart from Liu Zhimao gathering a group of powerful supporters and being ruthless toward his enemies, building his indomitable might, Zhang Ye’s strategies had also proved to be critical.

There were several reasons why Liu Zhimao still treated Zhang Ye with courtesy and respect. Apart from the valuable friendship that they had built up during the early days of hardship, Zhang Ye never hesitated to speak his mind even after he established himself on Cyan Gorge Island. This didn’t change even after Liu Zhimao soared far above him on the path of cultivation. Because of this, Zhang Ye forcefully transformed himself from a meritorious official who should have enjoyed many extravagant benefits into an annoying official who always criticized his leader without fear of death.

Indeed, there were several occasions when Liu Zhimao had become furious at Zhang Ye’s lack of sensitivity and tact. After all, would the rules be the same for a force that was fighting for territory versus a force that was guarding their territory? However, Zhang Ye continued to do things his own way, causing Liu Zhimao to grow more and more distant from him after the former advanced to the Nascent Tier. Liu Zhimao tasked him with looking after the Fishing Room and the storage chamber, meaning that Zhang Ye was performing the duties of local officials even though he was an official from the capital.

It was very clear that Zhang Ye wasn’t a favored official, resulting in his situation being relatively unfavorable in the past few years. He wasn’t necessarily in a difficult situation, but compared to Guest Elder Yu Gui and the others who had come later but were enjoying all the limelight, Zhang Ye was indeed given fewer and fewer opportunities to do anything significant in Cyan Gorge Island. He still attended many banquets that were hosted on the island, yet he never opened his mouth to say anything, neither flattering the River Severing True Lord in an obsequious manner nor pouring any cold water on his achievements.

As if he were riding a galloping horse and looking at lights, many past events flashed through Liu Zhimao’s mind. He surprisingly sighed with emotion as he thought about these ancient matters.

His guest finally arrived.

Zhang Ye continued to walk unhurriedly even after he saw Liu Zhimao.

Not only that, but he was surprisingly holding a firm snowball in his hand as well. From this, it could be seen just how relaxed and leisurely Zhang Ye had been when making his way over. At the same time, one could imagine how anxious the messenger was feeling.

The butler of the Hengbo Residence was also a Dragon Gate Tier cultivator, and his trip to look for Zhang Ye and invite him over had truly been a frustrating one. When he saw True Lord Liu Zhimao standing outside the door and waiting for Zhang Ye, however, his heart immediately jolted. He immediately started to feel a slight sense of regret for telling Zhang Ye to hurry up so many times during their trip. Fortunately, he hadn’t grumbled or scolded Zhang Ye in any other way. Otherwise, he would have most likely suffered severe reprimands.

Liu Zhimao waved his hand at the butler, gesturing for him to keep his distance from the hall. The butler immediately bowed and left upon seeing this.

Zhang Ye cupped his fists and bowed in respect, saying, “Greetings, Island Master.”

Liu Zhimao smiled and gestured for Zhang Ye to stop, signaling that there was no need for Zhang Ye to treat him as an outsider and act so respectfully.

The two of them entered the hall one after another, with Zhang Ye remaining silent as he looked at the image hovering above the splendid rug.

Liu Zhimao didn’t beat around the bush, saying straight away, “Back then, you and the Fishing Room faced many hardships and spent eight entire years to find the reincarnation of that female Golden Core Tier cultivator. You encouraged me to detain her at Cyan Gorge Island at the time, but I definitely shouldn’t tamper with her in any other way. Moreover, I should only reveal this matter when Liu Laocheng returned to Palace Willow Island and eventually turned against me. When that time came, I could perhaps save my own life.

“I didn’t believe you before, and we even got into an argument with each other. I called you foolishly benevolent and accused you of having a laughable understanding of Liu Laocheng. Looking at the current situation, you weren’t necessarily correct, but I was most definitely wrong.”

Zhang Ye remained expressionless as he replied, “It’s a rare sight for Island Master to admit his mistakes. I do wonder, will the sun rise from the west tomorrow?”

Liu Zhimao pointed at the stubborn old man, chuckling in mock anger and saying, “If I were someone else, I would have already killed you ten times over after seeing your filthy temper and listening to your grating words.”

“Oh, then I must thank Island Master for kindly sparing my life,” Zhang Ye said.

Liu Zhimao was just about to reply, yet he suddenly pointed at the image above the rug and said, “Watch carefully.”

In the image, Gu Can was kneeling in the snow outside Chen Ping’an’s door.

The young bookkeeper opened the door and spoke a few words, after which he held the charcoal basket in his hand and looked up. He looked up at them just like that.

There was a gloomy expression on Liu Zhimao’s face.

“I suggest that Island Master put away this image. However, I surmise that it will be useless no matter what,” Zhang Ye said.

Liu Zhimao extended a finger and lightly tapped on the image. He then flicked his sleeve and genuinely retracted the image.