Unsheathed

Dragon Spring Prefecture…

There was a small residence in Clay Vase Alley where the owner was yet to return from his distant journey.

However, someone had already meticulously put up new couplets, fortune characters, and door gods on New Year’s Eve.

Not only was there a large table full of delicacies for New Year’s Eve dinner, but the chef who had made these dishes was actually a Far Roaming Tier martial artist. An older man was enjoying the food, and he was a tenth tier martial artist who had almost advanced to the Martial God Tier in the past. Meanwhile, the elegant man in white was none other than the formal god of the Great Li Empire’s Northern Mountain.

There was also a female ghost residing in an immortal body.

However, the person who was stubbornly and shamelessly sitting in the host’s seat was actually a tanned little girl. She claimed that she was sitting there in place of her master, so no one was allowed to fight her for the seat. Every house had its rules, so since her master was absent, she needed to enforce these rules as his opening disciple.

Apart from her, there was also a little boy in azure squatting on a long bench as well as a little girl in pink sitting upright beside him.

After eating New Year’s Eve dinner, Cui Can’s grandfather left the small residence first. Afterward, Wei Bo and Zhu Lian left together to casually wander around the small town.

However, the three “little ones” stayed behind and sat around the fire to guard the night.

Following sunrise the next day, there was the loud explosion of firecrackers outside the small residence in Clay Vase Alley.

A tanned little girl with a sword and a saber by her waist crossed her arms and nodded, showing that she was relatively satisfied with the celebration. The New Year’s atmosphere at her master’s place was fairly good.

Pei Qian adhered to her master’s instructions and didn’t light firecrackers for the entire morning. Otherwise, she would have tried to wake up everyone in the small town with firecrackers with her temperament.

After lighting up the firecrackers, Pei Qian waved an arm and announced, “Let’s go, it’s time to fight!”

The little girl in pink didn’t join them on their adventure, choosing to stay back to look after the residence. Shi Rou was even less inclined to muck around with Pei Qian, and she only felt a little closer to the little girl in pink after arriving at Dragon Spring Prefecture.

The little boy in azure giddily ran after Pei Qian, eager to look for trouble and chaos.

When he first saw the hunchbacked old man and the tanned little girl, the little boy in azure had felt like he needed to show some maturity and ego as a lofty senior in Downtrodden Mountain. As such, he had suppressed his lively nature and feigned a demeanor of maturity every single day. This was extremely tiring, and the little girl in pink had also felt very unaccustomed to this sudden change.

Afterward, he discovered that the tanned little girl couldn’t understand him at all, stupidly and dazedly looking at him with her eyes wide open whenever he spoke. He finally gave up on his act upon realizing this, and he completely let loose and ran around to play with her, going crazy as they rode over the mountains on the black python that now had a golden line on its belly.

After interacting with Pei Qian for a long time, the lingering sense of melancholy and disappointment in the little boy in azure’s mind formlessly decreased by a little.

As for Zhu Lian, he was very respectful when he met Cui Chan’s grandfather. However, this was all there was to it.

In Pei Qian’s view, it was as if the old cook immediately lost his impressive ability to flatter others after arriving at Dragon Spring Prefecture. Instead, he got along very well with the mountain god who was unfathomably handsome, often making his way to Cloud Drape Mountain to visit Wei Bo.

Pei Qian and the little boy in azure wandered through the streets and alleys, yet they came up empty-handed and extremely disappointed.

There was surprisingly no one who dared to accept their challenge.

Pei Qian stomped her feet and fumed, “How boring!”

The little boy in azure chuckled and suggested, “Isn’t there still the stray dog that likes to run around everywhere? Let’s go and look for it!”

Pei Qian hesitated for a moment before replying, “We shouldn’t do something like this on the first day of the New Year, right?”

The little boy in azure rubbed his chin and said, “Hmm, you’re probably right. Then we’ll discuss it again tomorrow?”

Pei Qian nodded in agreement.

Pei Qian’s idea of “fighting” actually pertained to the large and free-range white swans that were being raised in the alleys of the small town. These swans were extremely arrogant and always liked to pick on other people.

The alleys were quite wide, so couldn’t they each walk their own way and not interfere with each other? Yet, why did these swans insist on pecking her? Didn’t they know that they would need to pay with blood, sweat, and tears if they dared to provoke a powerful elite?

When encountering each other for the first time, Pei Qian had engaged in a battle of wits and courage with the formidable foe. In the end, she finally managed to grab the neck of the white swan, spinning around several times on the spot and shouting, “Away you go!”

She had ended up dizzy and light-headed.

However, the white swan had unexpectedly become braver and braver as they fought again and again, flapping its wings as it charged at Pei Qian whenever it saw her. Pei Qian also came up with a tactic, and she managed to successfully implement it time and time again. This allowed her to pick up many snow-white bird feathers, so many that she eventually spent some copper coins to make a shuttlecock out of them.

As time went on, the white swans gradually grew wary of the tanned little girl, surprisingly avoiding her and taking a detour whenever they saw her. This caused Pei Qian to feel slightly lonely. However, she immediately became a little happy, thinking that she had already experienced the loneliness of powerful grandmasters. She was so young, yet she was already so impressive and successful. This was as expected of her master’s opening disciple. She wasn’t bringing shame to her master in his hometown!

Afterward, Pei Qian and the little boy in azure had come across an extremely wild dog in the large mountains in the west.

How could they accept this?

Pei Qian was someone with wild ambitions, and one of her lofty goals was to hit the wildest dog.

And thus, a hunt had ensued all over the mountains.

The little boy in azure had enjoyed himself greatly as he helped Pei Qian corner the wild dog, and the two of them started to frequently cause trouble for the wild dog that had already become a dog spirit.

The pitiful dog was suffering undeserved bad luck, and its biggest helper was coincidentally not at Dragon Spring Prefecture at the moment. As such, it could only flee through the mountains with its tail between its legs.

Most importantly, it was unable to find reprieve even if it fled to the mountains of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect. The two young and cruel bastards would charge onto the mountain without inhibitions, yet the immortals and disciples on the mountain wouldn’t dare to reprimand them at all.

In fact, even Ruan Qiong would chuckle in amusement when he saw them, showing no signs of wanting to stop their behavior. Not only that, but he even told the disciples of his sect not to restrain the two naughty children.

Pei Qian didn’t forget her manners, and she would hold her hiking pole in her hands and cup her fists at Ruan Qiong whenever she saw him, displaying the spirit of those from the cultivation world.

Ruan Qiong never smiled in front of his disciples, yet he had surprisingly smiled and patted the little girl’s head, saying that she could enter his sect to learn swordsmanship if she wanted to. Moreover, it wouldn’t matter whether she was an official disciple or an unofficial disciple.

Pei Qian had rejected him on the spot, reiterating once again that she was her master’s opening disciple.

She wasn’t especially afraid of the widely renowned Militarian sage, and she instead felt a sense of closeness to him. This pertained to a small secret of hers.

After witnessing the Fleeting Glance Picture Scrolls relating to Chen Ping’an’s childhood, Pei Qian had ended up with a strong impression of the big sister in green. She felt like it would be extremely difficult for Ruan Xiu to become Master’s wife, but she could at least become his second wife, right?

Ruan Qiong had laughed heartily and told the tanned little girl that they could discuss this again in the future. There was no hurry at all.

However, he most likely wouldn’t be able to laugh anymore if he became aware of the thoughts running through Pei Qian’s mind.

Not only that, but he would even curse Chen Ping’an in anger, scolding him for not giving up his impure thoughts. His scheming methods were truly unpredictable and difficult to guard against.

Pei Qian and the little boy in azure arrived near Clay Vase Alley, and Pei Qian suddenly ran over to the Iron Lock Well that had already lost its iron chain, leaning over the edge of the well and looking down.

“What are you doing?” the little boy in azure squatted down beside her and asked.

“You guys all say that there are many valuable treasures hidden around Dragon Spring Prefecture, so I want to see if there’s any treasure lying inside this well. If there is, then won’t we get rich?” Pei Qian replied in a quiet voice.

The little boy in azure rolled his eyes and replied, “I encourage you to expel this thought. This place is a restricted private land now, and it’s only thanks to my impressive influence that no one has tried to stop you from wandering around and openly walking to this place. Have you not realized that no resident of the small town comes here to collect water anymore?”

Pei Qian was extremely disappointed, and she punched her palm and exclaimed, “What’s going on? Why am I unable to find a single treasure after coming to Master’s hometown?!”

The little boy in azure scratched his head in helplessness.

When he explained the notions of fated opportunities and principles to Pei Qian, she didn’t care about these things at all. When he casually mentioned experiencing a huge fortune and finding treasures, however, Pei Qian was as alert and serious as could be.

He was truly talking to a brick wall. The little boy in azure felt like he was already stupid enough, yet even he couldn’t deal with Pei Qian.

The little boy in azure sighed as the two of them sat on the well.

“What’s the matter? Pei Qian asked.

The little boy in azure massaged his cheeks and mused, “I wonder how my river god brother from the Imperial River is doing right now.”

“Oh, he’s probably doing so-so. How else could he be doing? Perhaps he can’t live simply because he’s left your side? I’m not trying to criticize you or anything, but you think about far too many things. It’s completely useless,” Pei Qian quipped.

The little boy in azure rolled his eyes in response.

Pei Qian crossed her arms, no longer worrying about the matters of the little boy in azure. She started to worry about her own matters, saying in concern, “What’s Master playing at? It’s already been so long, yet he still hasn’t returned home.”

The little boy in azure nodded and remarked, “This unreliable master owes me quite a few red pockets.”

Pei Qian hesitated for a moment before turning around and retrieving a few copper coins from the embroidered pouch that Old Dragon City’s Lady Gui had given her, saying, “Just treat this as a red pocket from my master. Is it enough?”

The little boy in azure dazedly looked at the copper coins lying in Pei Qian’s outstretched palm, and a sense of grief instantly welled up inside him. He was filled with indignation, yet he still reached over to grab the small amount of copper coins. This measly amount was better than nothing.

However, Pei Qian laughed loudly and clenched her hand into a fist, placing the copper coins back inside her embroidered pouch as she said, “In your dreams! I’m not willing to part with so much money.”

She then retracted her smile and patted the little boy in azure on the shoulder, continuing, “To covet even a few copper coins like this, you’ve truly got yourself into a miserable state. Life must be quite tough for you. However, this doesn’t matter. Master once said that those who are persistent enough will eventually see the clouds part to reveal the bright moon. I’m giving this saying to you now. I’m quite a loyal friend, aren’t I?”

The little boy in azure wrapped his arms around his head and started to wail in grief.

How could he endure this difficult life?

Pei Qian heaved a long sigh. This little boy truly wasn’t able to grow up. She had no option but to retrieve the copper coins again, offering them to the little boy in azure and saying, “Here, take them.”

A smile immediately spread across the little boy in azure’s face.

Pei Qian feigned an air of maturity and shook her head, lecturing, “To have your eyes grow round with delight at the sight of money… How pathetic!”