Unsheathed

Chapter 447 (2): What a Coincidence, I’m also a Swordsman

Chen Ping’an exhaled and pointed at the young man in front of the cavalrymen, saying to Zeng Ye and Ma Duyi, “Perhaps the two of you didn’t pay attention or didn’t have the opportunity to see, but I’ve seen this person’s appearance inside a residence at Bamboo Scroll Lake’s Willow Catkin Island. I saw it twice, so I know that his name is Han Jingxin. He’s the younger brother of Prince Han Jingling, and the two of them share the same father but a different mother. He’s extremely well known in the capital of the Stone Brush Nation, and he’s also the favorite son of the empress of the Stone Brush Nation.”

Chen Ping’an rubbed his hands together and continued, “I once interacted with two princes who enjoyed similar statuses to Han Jingling and Han Jingxin. They were also brothers, and they hailed from a place called the Great Quan Empire in the Parasol Leaf Continent. However, these two brothers from the Parasol Leaf Continent seemed much smarter than Han Jingling and Han Jingxin. They would at the very least not scheme against other people regardless of whether they were performing good deeds or bad deeds. On the other hand, the youngest prince of the Stone Brush Nation in front of us appears to enjoy clashing head-on.”

Ma Duyi’s expression changed slightly.

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and reassured, “There’s no need to worry. No one knows your true identity, so you won’t bring harm to your clan.”

“Do I need you to tell me this?” Ma Duyi huffed. “I’m worried about you biting off more than you can chew and needlessly losing your life here. At that time… you’ll screw me over as well and cause me to get kidnapped by that perverted prince!”

Chen Ping’an naturally knew that Ma Duyi was expressing sincere care for his safety and well-being. As for the second half of her final remark, this was most likely as a result of Ma Duyi being naturally shy and liking to purposely conceal her kind words, instead transforming them into mean remarks.

Chen Ping’an turned around and smiled at her, saying, “From the beginning to the end, I still haven’t told the two of you to turn around and flee, right?”

Zeng Ye’s entire mind was filled with Miss Su right now, and he was mulling over the premise that Mr. Chen had mentioned to him just then. How should he deal with such a situation? His thoughts were a complete mess, so chaotic that he didn’t catch the implication in Mr. Chen’s words.

Meanwhile, Ma Duyi was an intelligent and considerate young woman. Otherwise, she couldn’t have advanced to the Abode Tier of the Middle Five Tiers at such a young age. If it weren’t for the calamity that she had faced, and if she hadn’t gone crazy and insisted on standing her ground against that flood dragon, perhaps she would have had the potential to slowly advance to the Dragon Gate Tier and become a lofty cultivator in Bamboo Scroll Lake. At that time, she could have forged some good relationships with her seniors and the cultivators of the other large islands, allowing her to obtain an island and establish her own force in Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Even though Ma Duyi understood Chen Ping’an’s insinuation, she was still wracked with worry as she asked, “Mr. Chen, are you truly going to fight to the death with that prince?”

Ma Duyi hurriedly added, “I’m not speaking for those cavalrymen, of course, but Bamboo Scroll Lake had never really promoted fighting for the sake of one’s emotions. Either one doesn’t fight, or one completely exterminates their enemies if they fight. What will happen if we engage in a conflict with Han Jingxin here? After all, we still need to travel to the heartland of the Stone Brush Nation afterward, and we still need to visit many provinces and states in the north. Will things become very troublesome? Will this delay Mr. Chen’s important tasks?”

Chen Ping’an nodded and replied, “I’ll act according to the situation. In any case, killing people has never been my goal. However, it seems that Han Jingxin has developed a habit of killing people for fun after leaving the capital, and one of his subordinates even has several heads hanging from his saddle. Some of these heads don’t look like they belong to the scouts of the Great Li Empire, so this implies that they definitely aren’t being collected as proof to obtain military merit. Rather, they’re simply killing people to vent their anger.”

Chen Ping’an casually drew an imaginary line in the air.

Not only was Zeng Ye confused, but even Ma Duyi who had snow accumulating on her shoulders was completely baffled this time.

Chen Ping’an smacked his forehead and said to Ma Duyi, “Ah, I forgot to summon you back into the talisman and put you inside my sleeve.”

Ma Duyi covered her mouth and gave a silvery giggle.

Han Jingxin’s heart burned with excitement and lust when he saw the charming smile of the beautiful female ghost. He felt like he hadn’t suffered in the heavy snow for nothing tonight.

He smiled and asked, “Will killing a few cultivators whom we know nothing about cause any trouble for Mr. Zeng?”

The middle-aged swordsman shook his head and replied, “Killing cultivators isn’t troublesome, and this heavy snowfall can also help us greatly in terms of destroying the corpses and cleaning up the evidence. We just need to take some care. However, the issue is that Your Highness purposely decided against burying the corpses of that convoy a few dozen kilometers away, so it’s very easy for observant people to make a connection and grow suspicious of Your Highness.

“Joining the dots together, Your Highness will be the one facing trouble if those three people are genuinely official immortals from a powerful immortal sect or vagrant cultivators from a large island in Bamboo Scroll Lake. With this in mind, there are three options in front of Your Highness right now.

“First, since we’ve already entered a formation, we should copy those three and also take a step back. We can send someone over to discuss matters with that young cultivator who appears to be recovering from some severe wounds. Your Highness can frankly reveal your identity and say that you want to make a transaction with him, offering money to buy that beautiful ghost. Using one’s superior status to suppress others and drive a transaction is the safest and most reliable method.

“Second, we can brush past each other and pretend that nothing ever happened. In that case, Your Highness will at most lose the opportunity to obtain a beautiful ghost. Third, Your Highness can issue a command for us to charge over and use force. However, we’ll need to go back to clean up the corpses of that convoy, lest we leave any traces that cause others to become suspicious. By and large, cultivators from the mountains won’t entertain any discourse of reasons and principles once they grow suspicious.”

Han Jingxin nodded in understanding. He had also come up with these options already, but he had posed the question anyway because he didn’t want his subordinates to be full of people who only knew how to fight and kill. He also wanted a subordinate who could think and allow him to speak less.

Mr. Zeng was his mother empress’ trusted subordinate, and she had told Han Jingxin to bring Mr. Zeng with him when he left the capital this time. Sure enough, Mr. Zeng had saved him a boatload of trouble on their journey. Han Jingxin sighed with emotion and remarked sincerely, “It’s a true shame that Mr. Zeng isn’t a Diplomatist. If I have the opportunity to ascend the throne and become emperor in the future, I’ll definitely invite Mr. Zeng to become my imperial preceptor. That dogshit Daoist imperial preceptor that my mother spent a huge sum of money to recruit is nothing more than a useless scammer.

“Even though my father is not great at dealing with political matters in the imperial court, it’s not like he’s completely blind and stupid either. It’s just that he can’t be bothered exposing that Daoist imperial preceptor, instead raising him and treating him as some form of entertainment. At the end of the day, my father’s simply wasting some immortal coins instead of silver coins.

“My father secretly told me that he only needed to spend a few lesser heat coins a year, and he even praised my mother for being outstanding at managing the family and its finances. After all, we simply need to look at the state of affairs pertaining to the imperial preceptors of the other vassal states. These imperial preceptors will definitely revolt in anger if they aren’t paid several grain rain coins a year.”

The skinny and monkey-like martial arts grandmaster was already filled with impatience, and he laughed loudly and exclaimed, “We can just go ahead and kill that ghost-raising person. As for that relatively rare and valuable Fox Skin Beauty, we can leave her to Your Highness to play with and educate. Anyhow, we obtained a dozen or so suits of armor from those barbarian scouts of the Great Li Empire, and Your Highness was benevolent enough to keep the two most valuable suits of armor instead of selling all of them to that cowardly great general. One was bestowed to me, and one was bestowed to the lance-wielding poet over there.

“We’ve kept the two suits of armor with us the entire time, so after we kill those two men over there, it will be enough for Your Highness to return to the capital to ask for a reward. The emperor will definitely be delighted, especially since these are specially made suits of armor for cultivators accompanying the barbarian armies of the Great Li Empire. If we toss them at the feet of those old geezer scholarly officials in the capital, I surmise that not a single one of them will be strong enough to pick them up. Even so, I’ve heard that those skinny old geezers all brag about their incredible exploits in the bedroom.

Prince Han Jingxin shook his head and said, “Don’t repeat these words in the capital.”

After pausing for a moment, Han Jingxin continued in self-ridicule, “However, there’s probably no need to discuss their troubles in the bedroom anymore. Even if I hold them up by the ear and loudly scold them, not a single one of them will be in the mood to criticize or impeach me. They’re all looking for ways to protect themselves or flee, after all. They couldn’t care less whether the emperor of the Stone Brush Nation still has the surname Han or not, and they can continue to fight for the welfare of the commoners as long as they keep their positions as officials.”

He glanced at the south and lamented, “My older brother, the Noble King, is much more fortunate than me. He initially wanted to hide like a cowardly turtle, but who knew that his act of hiding has almost made him the new emperor? Even if he won’t be able to sit on the throne for many days, he would have at least become a legitimate emperor. How can I not feel envious?”

The skinny and monkey-like martial arts grandmaster had already stood up on horseback, saying, “Your Highness, you can keep discussing matters with Mr. Zeng, but please give me an instruction as well. Are we going to kill those two men or not? Rest assured, I won’t hurt a single hair of that female ghost!”

Han Jingxin smiled and replied, “Go on, go ahead. And regarding that specially made suit of armor for martial secretaries of the Great Li Empire, I won’t ask you to return it for nothing. When we get back, I’ll reward you for both of these contributions.”

The skinny and monkey-like martial artist wiped his mouth and chuckled, “Following Your Highness around is truly great. There’s always something to feast on.”

He was a seventh tier martial artist who was extremely skilled at close-quarter combat, and he also possessed a powerful technique that was widely renowned and caused a huge headache for all of his opponents. As such, he genuinely couldn’t find an interesting opponent in the cultivation world of the Stone Brush Nation. It was because of this that he had joined the army.

He had initially joined an army under the crown prince’s influence, yet that bookish crown prince was far too poor at identifying good talent, only giving him an unimportant position in the military and never giving him any tangible benefits. That being the case, he had decided to join Han Jingxin’s camp instead, planning to make some profits off these tumultuous times and become a great general or the like. He especially liked Mr. Zeng’s title of “One Man Army.”

In the cultivation world, how many people could he kill even if he massacred an entire clan or force?

On the other hand, there would easily be tens of thousands of soldiers clashing with each other on the battlefields, allowing him to kill to his heart’s content. In fact, he could even kill his own soldiers by accident!

As the skinny but powerful martial arts grandmaster tapped his foot and drifted forward…

Han Jingxin turned to the man holding the lance and said, “General Xu, please watch over Hu Han and provide some assistance if needed, lest he slip up and get himself killed. Our opponents are cultivators from the mountain, after all, so it would do well for us to be careful.”

The sturdy general who wasn’t wearing any armor nodded and nudged his horse with its legs, commanding it to walk forward slowly.

The young and strong general didn’t bring any armor with him after leaving the capital, and he only brought with him the lance that was a family heirloom.

General Xu wasn’t a fan of Prince Han Jingxin’s speech and actions, but it wasn’t to the point that he detested the prince. Even though Han Jingxin was eccentric, unreasonable, lustful, and bloodthirsty, he was actually quite intelligent and witty. On the contrary, the bookish crown prince was a good person who was very suitable to being an emperor during peacetime. That would be a blessing to the commoners. However, he was destined for mediocrity during times of chaos.

It was coincidentally a chaotic time right now, and this chaos didn’t cover just a few nations. Instead, chaos was sweeping through the entire Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Influenced by the times, General Xu naturally had to choose the better path for himself, even if this path was crooked from the very beginning.

After Han Jingxin’s two trusted subordinates, Hu Han and General Xu, advanced toward the three people in front of them, Han Jingxin was already feeling at ease and not too worried about the battle that was about to take place. He continued to chat with Mr. Zeng who was riding beside him.

They were chatting about the chaotic situation unfolding in the central region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

Han Jingxin said something about this and something about that, and there didn’t appear to be any logic or reason behind his words.

However, Mr. Zeng didn’t treat Han Jingxin’s words lightly because of this.

Hu Han, the skinny and monkey-like martial artist, didn’t directly lunge forward after leaping off his horse. Rather, he gracefully landed in the snow before boldly walking toward the three steeds as if he were taking a stroll.

Ma Duyi couldn’t help but feel tense, and she said in a soft voice, “They’re coming.”

This man was a powerful subordinate of the prince, after all, and he very much looked like a grandmaster from the cultivation world who was especially skilled at close-quarter combat. When Qi refiners in the Lower Five Tiers were forced into close-quarter combat with pure martial artists who were like crazy dogs, which of them wouldn’t suffer greatly? This was an opinion widely held by cultivators in the mountain and cultivators in the cultivator.

Thus, Ma Duyi couldn’t help but feel anxious regardless of how much she trusted Mr. Chen. As for Zeng Ye, he didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly at this moment. He had only heard about Mr. Chen’s great exploits in Bamboo Scroll Lake, but he had never witnessed any of them for himself. The tall young boy had still been occasionally brushing the snow from his clothes just then, yet he was already drenched in sweat at this moment, feeling so anxious that he couldn’t even feel the biting cold anymore.

Chen Ping’an dismounted his horse and shook the snow from his shoulders, rolling up his sleeves at the same time.

Just like the martial arts grandmaster who was unparalleled in the cultivation world of the Stone Brush Nation was doing, Chen Ping’an slowly walked toward his opponent.

The atmosphere wasn’t tense at all, and it was as if the two of them were friends reuniting in the cultivation world after many years apart.

Ma Duyi resented the fact that her soul wasn’t stable enough. The Fox Skin Beauty Talisman was a safehouse for her, yet at the same time, it was also a form of restriction. She had at least been an Abode Tier cultivator when alive…

However, Ma Duyi felt slightly deflated when she realized her Abode Tier cultivation base would have most likely been of no help to Mr. Chen tonight.

Her mind was truly filled with gentle kindness and warmth.

“Miss Ma, Mr. Chen will be okay, right?” Zeng Ye asked in a timid voice.

Ma Duyi turned around to glance at the tall young boy, snapping, “Perhaps you want him to not be okay? And that way we can rely on your immense power to overcome this challenge?”

Zeng Ye almost choked upon hearing this, and he could offer no response to Ma Duyi’s words.

Mr. Zeng, the swordsman who was yet to reach forty, seemingly felt some inspiration as he observed the situation and said slowly, “The barbarians from the Great Li Empire have stretched their front lines too long and thin. If the Luminous Vermilion Empire can grit their teeth and hold the Great Li Empire back for another year, successfully defending against the two armies of heavy cavalry commanded by Su Gaoshan and Cao Ping and preventing them from breaching the heartlands, then they’ll have a chance to continue this war and perhaps even turn the tables.

“The Great Li Empire has already enjoyed smooth-sailing expeditions for far too long, so the coming winds of change might arrive at any moment. In fact, the key to whether the Luminous Vermilion Empire can win this war or not doesn’t lie with the Luminous Vermilion Empire itself. Rather, the key lies with how long its vassal states can hold back the Great Li Empire. If they manage to blunt the incisiveness of Su Gaoshan and Cao Ping’s armies, then the Great Li Empire will only be able to pillage the vassal states surrounding the Luminous Vermilion Empire before retreating north.”

“If I weren’t completely clear about Mr. Zeng’s background and identity, I would have almost started to suspect that Mr. Zeng was a supporter of the Luminous Vermilion Empire,” Han Jingxin joked.

Mr. Zeng smiled wryly and replied, “I’m nothing more than a sword practitioner who only understands some low-level sword manipulation techniques. I’m a mere pure martial artist from the cultivation world, the measliest of beings in the eyes of sword cultivators from the mountains. In fact, I didn’t even dare to carry a sword with me when I traveled around the Luminous Vermilion Empire for the first time during my youth.

“Thinking back to that utter embarrassment and humiliation, I should probably be hoping that the Luminous Vermilion Empire is completely trampled into oblivion by the iron hooves of the Great Li Empire. I shouldn’t be encouraging Your Highness to lay low in the capital of the Luminous Vermilion Empire for a few years, only returning to the Stone Brush Nation to stabilize the situation and reap the rewards when everything clears up again. If it weren’t for the empress’ trust in me, I might still be working odd jobs to make ends meet at some random place right now.”

Han Jingxin suddenly brought up something completely unrelated to their conversation, remarking, “People all say that the imperial preceptor of the Great Li Empire is flawless in his planning and strategies. However, the larger vassal states of the Luminous Vermilion Empire are all stubbornly resisting the advance of the Great Li Empire. Our Stone Brush Nation is no different.

“By the looks of it, the infiltration of the Great Li Empire’s spies into these vassal states has been an abject failure. The only person they managed to win over in our Stone Brush Nation is that border general from the Huang Clan. Even then, it was only because the general saw a good opportunity and was loathe to continue eating sand and smelling horse manure on the borders. He wanted to take a huge gamble, and it was because of this that he impulsively decided to defect to Su Gaoshan, taking with him my older brother, the Noble King.”

The middle-aged swordsman smiled and shook his head, saying, “No one in the world can truly be flawless in their planning and strategizing. There are only those who can precisely predict the trend of the world and thus explicitly tailor their plans and actions to this trend. This is the proper way.”

“Such wise observations from Mr. Zeng,” Han Jingxin said in earnest admiration.

Mr. Zeng suddenly furrowed his brows and stopped talking, focusing his gaze on the imminent battle approximately forty paces away from them.

Hu Han and the young cultivator wearing an azure cotton robe had both come to a stop already.

Behind Hu Han, the lance-wielding General Xu had also commanded his horse to stop.

Han Jingxin was slightly puzzled as he asked, “Is that young man seeking death? Not only is he refusing to retreat and unleash some immortal techniques and bonded treasures to defend himself, but he’s even advancing voluntarily? Perhaps he wants to surrender and respectfully offer us that Fox Skin Beauty?

“By the looks of it, the backbones of immortals from the mountains aren’t much straighter and stronger than those of mortals from outside the mountains. That beautiful ghost can count herself unlucky to have come across such an unreliable master. After all, shouldn’t a disloyal bastard like me be doing this instead?”

Mr. Zeng didn’t concur with Han Jingxin’s joking remark, with his expression becoming increasingly solemn as he explained, “Everything feels slightly off. This person is indeed a Qi refiner, and I can sense the two small worlds circulating spiritual energy inside his body. Either his cultivation base is too low and only at the Lower Five Tiers, causing the flow of his spiritual energy to be murky and obstructed, or he’s concealed his Sea Observation Tier or Dragon Gate Tier cultivation base far too well, so much so that even I can’t see through it.

“Or perhaps he’s unexpectedly a pure martial artist instead, one whose fist intent has become completely natural. But I’ve been closely observing his actions after he dismounted his horse, and even though his footsteps are stable, he’s largely missing the unique aura of martial artists. He looks like a complete amateur who never had a good teacher to guide him. Anyhow, I can say one thing for sure even if we disregard these few possibilities. This young man definitely doesn’t intend to surrender to us.”

Han Jingxin held his palms together and rubbed his jade pendant between them, chuckling, “Is it possible that he’s a clueless idiot who understands no fear? Perhaps he’s accustomed to doing as he pleases in the mountains or in the territory of his master, so he hasn’t noticed Hu Han’s terrifying strength at all?”

“That seems unlikely,” Mr. Zeng replied with a shake of his head.

However, he quickly corrected himself, shaking his head again and saying, “That’s not the case.”

Han Jingxin was bored out of his mind, and he breathed large plumes of white mist into the air as he said, “Let’s not guess randomly. A single punch from Hu Han, and we’ll see whether that young man’s made from rock or paper.”

Han Jingxin then lowered his voice and chuckled, “In any case, it won’t be a bad thing even if Hu Han truly comes across a tough opponent. At that time, Hu Han might truly start to appreciate the two rewards that I bestowed upon him. This is quite a difficult thing to achieve.”

Mr. Zeng couldn’t help but nod and laugh in speechlessness.

When Han Jingxin said things like this, one had no option but to feel impressed by his thoughts and temperament.