Unsheathed

It was evening at the small town located at the foot of Lion Peak.

A young outsider dressed in azure, carrying a bamboo bookcase, and holding a hiking pole walked into a fabric shop with decent business.

A woman currently greeting customers in the shop turned around and glanced at the newest customer, saying with a smile, “Oh my, it’s a handsome little brother. Are you here to choose some satin for your wife’s garment?”

Chen Ping’an used the small town’s dialect to reply, “Hi Aunt Liu, my name is Chen Ping’an, and I’m from Clay Vase Alley.”

The woman faltered for a moment before asking, “The Chen Ping’an whom my Little Huai always talks about?”

Chen Ping’an nodded in response. There were various large bags and small bags of presents in his hands, the contents of which were purchased from shops in the small town.

Aunt Liu hurriedly put down the matters at hand, telling the several well-off women from the town to browse and pick the right fabric themselves. She carried a bench over for Chen Ping’an, gesturing for him to sit down as she said, “Here, have a seat. Li Huai’s father has entered the mountain, so it’s hard to say when he’ll return. However, he’ll definitely return before dark at the latest as long as there aren’t any seductive fox spirits in the mountain. In any case, if you ask me, those fox spirits won’t take a fancy to a blockhead like him, right? I must have been stupid and blind to fall for someone like Li Er in the past.”

Aunt Liu sat on the other end of the bench, appearing very familiar with Chen Ping’an as she said, “I’m familiar with Clay Vase Alley. It’s quite close to the Iron Lock Well, and it’s a small alley without many residents. There was a young widow living at the end of the alley, and her looks were only slightly inferior to mine. There was also Apricot Blossom Alley’s Granny Ma not far away from Clay Vase Alley. You should know about her, right? The older she grew, the more vicious her tongue became. Tsk, in my opinion, she could kill someone with her words alone. Even that young widow from Clay Vase Alley’s Gu family couldn’t beat Granny Ma in an argument.”

Chen Ping’an lightly placed the presents on the counter, having already taken off his bamboo bookcase and placed it beside his feet, with his hiking pole leaning diagonally against it. He turned toward Aunt Liu, smiling as he quietly and patiently listened to her reminisce about their hometown.

Aunt Liu suddenly slapped her thigh and asked, “Have you met Li Liu, my heartless daughter, before? Most likely not, right? Ahh, you might not know, Chen Ping’an, but my daughter has become rebellious and entered the mountains to become a tea-carrying maidservant for those lofty immortals. She immediately forgot about her mom and dad after entering the mountains, and she also travels outside from time to time.

“And what would you know? She hasn’t returned home for a long time again. In any case, I won’t feel heartbroken even if she’s tricked away by some glib-tongued person in the outside world. I’ll just pretend that I raised a daughter for nothing. However, this is a huge pity for Li Huai, who won’t be able to rely on his brother-in-law in the future.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and replied, “Li Huai will do well in his studies. I know him well, and even though he isn’t a quick learner, he has the stamina to keep going. Most importantly, he has a kind heart like uncle and aunty. This isn’t something that can be learned from the books. In addition, Miss Li has become an immortal in the mountains now, so she at least doesn’t need to worry about food and shelter. I believe she can definitely find a good partner in the future. I’m not being polite, and I genuinely believe this to be the case. Aunt Liu is a person with good fortune.

“In any case, people from small towns like us always need to look further into the future to determine who is better off and who is worse off. Adding a few pots and pans today, purchasing a large table tomorrow, and slowly adding more furniture and decorations to our houses — this will naturally allow us to live a better and better life.”

There was a beaming smile on Aunt Liu’s face. Not only was this young man handsome, but he was also very good at speaking. Moreover, he wasn’t just saying some pretty but insincere words, and even Aunt Liu felt like he was speaking the reasonable truth.

In any case, he had earnestly protected Li Huai the entire time during their distant journey to Mountain Cliff Academy, so could he possibly be a bad person? Even though Chen Ping’an didn’t look like a wealthy person, judging by his getup, he was already able to treat Li Huai so well, even when he was yet to become his brother-in-law. That being the case, wouldn’t he help Li Huai even more when he became Li Huai’s brother-in-law?

Perhaps she should match Chen Ping’an with her daughter? Upon thinking of this, she started to look at Chen Ping’an with the gaze of a mother-in-law, reassessing the young man who had traveled over from far away.

Very well. He was clean and tidy, and it was clear that he was an attentive and meticulous person who was understanding and considerate. She wasn’t being biased against Lin Shouyi, but she truly felt like the long distance between Li Liu and Lin Shouyi wasn’t going to be workable. The capital of the Great Sui Nation was large and bustling and filled with beautiful women, so what if Lin Shouyi suddenly changed his mind one day? At that time, should Aunt Liu let her daughter turn into an old but unmarried maiden?

Li Liu was like her mother, and she was indeed very beautiful. However, women being beautiful wasn’t very helpful, especially if they accidentally found themselves heartless and good-for-nothing men. The more beautiful a woman was, the more depressed they would feel if they ended up with a heartless man. It would be even worse if they were proud and ambitious, and their lives would inevitably become meaningless and dispiriting. After seven or eight years, these initially beautiful women most likely wouldn’t even dare to look at themselves in the mirror anymore.

The more she looked at Chen Ping’an, the more she liked him. However, it wasn’t the case that she changed her mind frequently. Dong Shuijing had always helped around at their house in the past, and he was naturally an honest and responsible person. However, she always felt like there was a little something missing.

As for Lin Shouyi, everyone called him a talented scholar, so Aunt Liu felt like her daughter wasn’t worthy. Indeed, she had heard other people mention that Lin Shouyi’s father had once been a fairly high-ranking official in the kiln supervision office. In any case, they were a family that was able to relocate to the capital, so could the threshold to their residence possibly be low? If Li Liu truly married into Lin Shouyi’s family, would Aunt Liu’s naive and foolish daughter not feel frustrated and humiliated? At that time, might Li Huai also be belittled by the gatekeeper when he ran over to visit his big sister?

Chen Ping’an obviously couldn’t read Aunt Liu’s mind, so he was afraid of things becoming silent and awkward as she stopped talking with a smile on her face. Thus, he actively started to make some small talk.

After a while, he suddenly turned around before retracting his gaze and saying with a smile, “Uncle Li is back.”

Aunt Liu leaned forward and glanced outside the door, and sure enough, Li Er was truly walking back to the fabric shop. She smiled and said, “It’s time for dinner, so Aunty will make you some dishes from our hometown.”

She then stood up and hollered out of habit, “Li Er!”

The man immediately started to jog back.

“Can’t you see that Chen Ping’an has come to visit?” Aunt Liu grumbled. “You’re dilly-dallying for half a day just to return home, and it’s almost as if there’s money to pick up on the ground outside.”

Li Er smiled and entered the shop, saying, “I’m back.”

Chen Ping’an had already stood up and greeted him. “Uncle Li.”

Upon seeing Li Er try to sit down at his normal spot, Aunt Liu fumed, “Go and buy some wine, hey? Are you trying to save up to buy rouge and perfume for those fox spirits?”

“I never have money in my pockets,” Li Er replied glumly.

Aunt Liu smacked the counter and scolded, “Then take some money from the drawer and hurry up and buy two pots of good wine. After you purchase the wine, bring Chen Ping’an to the room that we prepared for Li Huai. Think about what’s missing from the room while you’re out, and buy them at the same time that you buy the wine.”

Turning around to look at Chen Ping’an, she changed her scowl to a smile and said, “Chen Ping’an, just treat this place like your home. Your aunt will get angry if you’re too polite.”

“I won’t be too polite with Aunt Liu,” Chen Ping’an replied with a smile. “A plate of stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots is a must.”

Aunt Liu smiled and said, “Yes, that’s a certainty.”

Li Er grabbed some money and left the fabric shop with Chen Ping’an.

Everyone was neighbors here, and the small town was also located at the foot of Lion Peak. As such, there was no need to worry about trouble arising if the shop was left unattended.

As the two of them walked along the increasingly quiet street, Chen Ping’an asked in a soft voice, “Uncle Li, are you familiar with Fortune Street’s Li Xisheng, Li Baoping’s older brother? He should be at the Northern Complete Reed Continent right now.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with him,” Li Er replied. “He visited me with a fairly strange scholarly attendant not long ago. I’ll fill you in later.”

Chen Ping’an breathed a sigh of relief.

Otherwise, it would be truly difficult for him to find Li Xisheng.

Li Er hesitated for a moment before looking around and eventually focusing his gaze on a certain location, furrowing his brows and launching a fist.

Of everyone on the street, only Chen Ping’an was able to vaguely detect Li Er’s movement.

Even if someone standing nearby were coincidentally staring at Li Er with their eyes wide open, they most likely wouldn’t be capable enough to catch sight of his incredibly quick punch.

Afterward, a deep rumble exploded in the sea of clouds extremely far away, something that even the small town was able to hear.

Li Er didn’t explain anything after throwing the punch, simply saying, “Li Xisheng told me to pass on a message to you before you go looking for him. He wanted to give you a peach wood talisman back then, and this wasn’t a casual spur-of-the-moment decision. Of course, you didn’t accept it in the end, so he drew talismans for the bamboo building of Downtrodden Mountain instead. This was in order to resolve a sizable karmic fate intimately linked with you. Thus, Li Xisheng said there’s no need for you to feel gratitude toward him. If you’re unable to do this, then there’s no need for you to look for him.”

Chen Ping’an nodded and replied, “Okay.”

Li Er arrived at a wine shop on the corner of the street and purchased two pots of the most expensive wine, saying, “It’s thanks to you that I’m able to purchase this expensive wine.”

A young customer at the wine shop chuckled and asked, “Li Er, has your daughter, Li Liu, not left the mountains yet? It can’t be that Miss Li has grown accustomed to life in the immortal abodes in the mountains, so she doesn’t want to return to the dog kennel outside the mountains anymore, right?”

Li Er paid no heed to this person.

As they walked back to the fabric shop, Li Er nodded and said with a smile, “Your sixth tier cultivation base is very sturdy.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t need to keep too many secrets from Li Er, so he revealed, “Senior Gu You provided me with guidance through three punches at a place further east than the Plenty River.”

Li Er nodded in response before quickly adding, “Three punches are a bit too few.”

“That couldn’t be helped. Senior Gu was in a hurry at the time, needing to rush to Ape Call Mountain for his battle with Senior Ji Yue,” Chen Ping’an explained.

Li Er hadn’t traveled over to spectate that battle.

There hadn’t been any need to.

“That’s okay. There’s enough food to eat here, and there are also enough punches to satisfy your appetite,” Li Er said.

Chen Ping’an thought for a moment before replying, “We can discuss that after dinner.”

Li Er’s expression became serious in a rare sight as he looked over and asked, “I need to confirm one matter first. What are you seeking? Are you striving to become the strongest?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head and replied with a smile, “I’ve never sought this ever since starting to practice fist techniques. There was a period of time when I thought about the notions of martial fortune and becoming the strongest due to the influence of other people, but I ultimately came to realize that these two matters aren’t actually in conflict with each other.”

Li Er continued to look at Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an continued, “If I only rely on myself to practice fist techniques, then my spirit, my strength, and my fist intent have already reached their peak. However, since I know Uncle Li, I can naturally seek external help this one time. I don’t care much about martial fortune, but I definitely need to break through with a stronger fist intent. Simply put, this Vajra Body Tier needs to be founded upon the pinnacle of my physique. This is all I strive for.”

Li Er didn’t mention anything about practicing fist techniques, and he instead grinned and said, “Your Aunt Liu definitely won’t allow you to go hungry. If she doesn’t allow it, then I naturally won’t dare to leave the table and collect the bowls and chopsticks.”

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and remarked, “How good.”

Only at this moment did Li Er pat Chen Ping’an’s shoulder and chuckle, “You can say this again after you’ve eaten your fill and feast on my fists.”