Unsheathed

Autumn passed, and winter arrived, time strolling by at a leisurely pace.

If it weren’t for the fact that Chen Ping’an could see the silhouette of the southern end of the Sword Qi Great Wall when he looked up, he would have almost mistakenly thought that he was at the White Paper Blessed Land, or perhaps at the Golden Millet Blessed Land after drinking some Forgetting Sorrow Wine.

Even though Chen Ping’an cultivated diligently without slacking off — in fact, he could be described as very busy — he still felt like this wasn’t enough. Thus, he asked Grandma Bai to spar with him, yet Grandma Bai was unwilling to unleash deadly power, no matter what, and at most taught him some fist stances. Not satiated by the fist technique training sessions, Chen Ping’an could only invite Grandpa Nalan to the training ground in the Minute Small World, allowing him to familiarize himself with the deadly power of an Unpolished Jade Tier sword cultivator’s flying sword.

At the same time, Chen Ping’an also learned some elementary stealth techniques from the so-called assassin who had fallen from the Immortal Tier. There were many exquisite movements that pertained to the fundamental principles of cultivation, yet these movements could only be performed by sword cultivators. This left Chen Ping’an feeling slightly disappointed.

Besides cultivation, Chen Ping’an would try his best to visit the wine shop whenever he had free time. He would stay for around two hours each time, though he wouldn’t help much when it came to selling wine. Instead, he would sit amidst a large group of young children, continuing to play the role of a storyteller. At most, he would also teach them some characters and recite some poems and essays, ones that didn’t pertain to any particular teachings or principles.

Even though Chen Ping’an was delegating all of his responsibilities, Shopkeeper Die Zhang didn’t have any complaints at all. This was because the money-making strategies of the wine shop had all been devised by Assistant Shopkeeper Chen, so it was only reasonable for him to slack off now. Die Zhang admitted that she had only invested some money and provided some ordinary labor, and in any case, Chen Ping’an had done many more things following the successful opening of the wine shop. For example, he had plastered a brand new horizontal scroll above the entrance to complement the original couplet.

“Those who drink my wine can advance.”

The shopkeepers of the other restaurants and wine shops on the street were nearing the brink of collapse. Not only had this new wine shop stolen a large chunk of their business, but most importantly, it clearly exuded a more impressive aura. This led to the restaurants and wine shops in the Sword Qi Great Wall clamoring to put up couplets and horizontal scrolls.

Looking around and comparing, however, many alcoholic sword cultivators ultimately felt like the couplet at the new wine shop was the most appealing. Or to put it bluntly, it was the most shameless.

After almost every single wine shop in the Sword Qi Great Wall started to put up couplets, the new wine shop promptly came up with a new marketing strategy.

There were many small wooden tablets in the shape of Peace and Safety Tablets hanging around the shop, each with an inscription by a sword cultivator customer of the wine shop. Die Zhang would ask the customers to inscribe their names and some calligraphy works on the small wooden tablets, after which she would hang them on the wall as auspicious good luck charms.

These wooden tablets weren’t placed according to the customers’ cultivation bases, and they were instead hung up by the customers themselves. The front side of these tablets would always be the customers’ names, while the backside would be whatever they wanted to write. The wine shop didn’t place any limit on how much or how little they could write.

Of the customers that had already hung wooden tablets in the wine shop, four were surprisingly sword immortals at the Upper Five Tiers. There was Wei Jin of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent’s Wind Snow Temple, Gao Kui of the Sword Qi Great Wall, Yuan Qingshu of the Southern Whirl Continent, and the Unpolished Jade Tier Tao Wen of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, who had visited the wine shop alone late one night.

All of them had left inscriptions on the backside of the wooden tablets, but this hadn’t been by choice. They had initially inscribed their names on the front side only, but Chen Ping’an had found opportunities to pester all of them afterward, forcing them to leave inscriptions on the backside as well. He had all kinds of methods to force compliance, and this had been an eye-opening experience for the embarrassed Die Zhang. As it turned out, businesses could also be run like this.

And thus, Wei Jin’s inscription read: Troubled by love, sword unable to be drawn.

Gao Kui, the rugged-looking man with a single eye and a large beard, left the inscription: May the flowers bloom, the moon be round, and people enjoy longevity.

The elegant and carefree Yuan Qingshu had inscribed: This world should know that I, Yuan Qingshu, am a sword immortal.

Sword Immortal Tao Wen was the most understanding, and after hearing that he could receive a free pot of Bamboo Sea Small World Wine, he immediately wrote: The wine here is affordable and delicious, and it would be even better if buying on credit were allowed.

Casting one’s gaze over the youngest generation of prodigious sword cultivators, the wine shop had been graced with the presence of Pang Yuanji, Yan Zhuo, Chen Sanqiu, Dong Huafu, and a dozen or so others. Of course, there was also the young girl, Guo Zhujiu, and apart from writing her name and her nickname, Lü Duan, she had also made a secret inscription on the back, reading: Master sells wine, and this disciple buys wine, the relationship between master and disciple warms the heart and lasts for eternity.

There were also quite a number of earth immortal sword cultivators who were too embarrassed to turn down the request of inscribing their names on the small wooden tablets, but many of them only inscribed their names and left the backsides blank. In any case, Chen Ping’an seldom worked at the wine shop, while Die Zhang was truly at a loss regarding how to ask the customers for this favor. Chen Ping’an felt like this wasn’t sustainable, so he handed Die Zhang a few paper slips, saying that she could hand these over to Nascent Tier sword cultivators who appeared suitable and were actually willing to inscribe the small wooden tablets, but simply didn’t know what to inscribe on the backside. She could hand over a paper slip when they paid.

And thus, an old and abrasive Nascent Tier sword cultivator who had no experience with calligraphy had initially put on airs and turned down Shopkeeper Die Zhang’s request, but after seeing one of the paper slips, he had unexpectedly changed his attitude straight away and secretly put away the slip, telling Die Zhang to make haste and hand him a small wooden tablet.

Appearing serious as if he were facing a great demon, the old sword cultivator had left an inscription according to the poetry line on the paper slip. When leaving, he had even purchased an additional slip of the most expensive Azure Divine Mountain Wine. Purposely suppressing his sword qi as he drank to his heart’s content, he had sung loudly while stumbling down the street. He repeated the same line again and again, the line of poetry that had suddenly come to him like a stroke of inspiration. “Past glories not worth boasting about, countless battles fought over the years. Drunk and satisfied, my sword becomes my pillow, dreaming that the Azure God visits to pour me wine.”

One day later, this Nascent Tier sword cultivator who mysteriously learned how to compose poems became extremely famous among the alcoholics and gambling addicts of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

However, he was eventually struck by a Sword Immortal’s flying sword from some unknown place, causing him to lie in a sickbed for several days.

There was also a Nascent Tier sword cultivator from the Northern Complete Reed Continent who could still be considered young, and he regarded himself as someone who would occasionally attain enlightenment when drinking under the moonlight. The inscription on his wooden tablet read: Half of the sword immortals in the world are my friends, which fine lady in the world isn’t demure? I wash my sword with fine wine, who doth say I’m not a free spirit?

The Bamboo Sea Small World Wine sold by the wine shop came in three grades, with the lowest grade costing one snowflake coin a pot and tasting the blandest.

Medium-grade Bamboo Sea Small World Wine tasted slightly better and cost five snowflake coins a pot, and the wine shop announced that one extremely valuable bamboo leaf from the Bamboo Sea Small World would be hidden in each one hundred pots. Sword Immortal Wei Jin and Guo Zhujiu could both attest to this.

High-grade Azure Divine Mountain Wine cost ten snowflake coins a pot, and there was no guarantee that customers would be able to purchase it, given that the wine shop would only sell a single pot a day. If a customer missed out, then they could only try again tomorrow.

The small wine shop was always packed to the brim now, but after the initial popularity, there was no longer the sight of sword cultivators fighting to buy wine and squatting down on the streets to drink wine. Even so, the six tables would always be full.

Die Zhang was already very satisfied with the income of the wine shop, but she couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of disappointment at the same time. Just like Chen Ping’an had anticipated, purchasing wine became exceedingly difficult following the hugely successful opening of the wine shop. Many restaurants and wine shops would rather pay compensation to Die Zhang than continue to sell her raw wine, making it abundantly clear that they wanted to see this new wine shop hung out to dry. If their customers were left empty-handed a few times, it wouldn’t be long before their business started to tumble downhill. Indeed, being popular for a short while and then betraying customer expectations was no way to run a business long-term.

Even Die Zhang was aware of this problem, so the assistant shopkeeper who liked to delegate work would naturally be even more aware of it. However, Chen Ping’an never commented about this, and whenever he was at the wine shop, he would either chat with some regular customers and drink some free wine or mingle with the children at the alley corner and act like a storyteller. Die Zhang didn’t want to trouble Chen Ping’an with everything, so she could only mull over the potential solutions herself.

Late at night, Chen Ping’an and Ning Yao arrived at the wine shop that was about to close. There were no customers in the shop.

Die Zhang retrieved the account book, and Chen Ping’an sat to the side and retrieved one snowflake coin, purchasing a pot of the cheapest wine. This was the rule here — even the shopkeepers needed to pay for wine.

Chen Ping’an carefully looked over the account book as he drank wine.

Yan Zhuo and the others had also agreed beforehand that they would drink together today, the reason being that Chen Ping’an was actually willing to treat them in a rare display.

Chen Ping’an and Ning Yao were sitting on the same bench.

Yan Zhuo sat on a bench by himself, while Dong Huafu and Chen Sanqiu shared a bench.

Yan Zhuo looked at Chen Ping’an, who was carefully flipping over the account book, before glancing at Die Zhang, who was sitting nearby. He couldn’t help but ask, “Die Zhang, you won’t feel like Chen Ping’an doesn’t trust you, right?”

Chen Ping’an smiled knowingly, not looking up to say anything. Instead, he raised his wine bowl and took a sip of wine, essentially admitting guilt and thus willingly drinking in punishment.

“What nonsense are you speaking?” Die Zhang snapped. “Is this not the required rigour when doing business? We’re running this business together because we’re friends, so would our friendship end simply because we’re double-checking the account books to make sure everything is correct? Who doesn’t make mistakes? If these mistakes aren’t picked up and corrected, then whose fault will it be in the future? Will everything be fine if we simply ignore the mistakes? If we carelessly and foolishly ignore each other’s mistakes, won’t we be throwing money away when the business starts to fall apart?”

“Your favoritism is showing far too clearly, Die Zhang. Why does it become friends doing business together when you talk about Chen Ping’an? Then didn’t I get beaten up for nothing in the past?” Yan Zhuo lamented in an aggrieved voice.

“Didn’t I apologize to you already?” Die Zhang replied with a smile.

“I was quite happy to hear you apologize back then, but now, I can’t help but feel that you weren’t sincere enough,” Yan Zhuo said sulkily.

Chen Ping’an flipped a page of the account book and remarked in amusement, “It always feels frustrating when your friend makes a new friend.”

Yan Zhuo waved a hand and corrected, “This isn’t my point at all.”

Chen Ping’an raised his wine bowl and touched it with Yan Zhuo’s, saying with a smile, “I’m not making a casual comment about Young Master Yan because you’re so large and seemingly able to carry money everywhere. However, you stingily buy the cheapest wine every time, spending even less than the young girl, Miss Lü Duan.”

Die Zhang appeared slightly hesitant, but she eventually mustered her courage and said, “Yan Zhuo, Sanqiu, can I discuss something with the two of you?”

Yan Zhuo was slightly puzzled, but Chen Sanqiu had seemingly guessed the reason already. He smiled and replied with a nod, “Of course.”

Yan Zhuo’s eyes lit up as he asked, “Are you inviting the two of us into this business venture? So, my curiosity was correct. I took a glance at the wine vats at your residence, and taking into account the number of customers served at the wine shop each day, I knew that you would be running very low on wine. And now, the competing restaurants and wine shops are also very envious of your success, so trying to find a source of wine has become a colossal problem, right?

“No stress. This problem is easily solved. There’s no need to even involve Sanqiu, seeing that he’s a young master who never needs to put in any hard work. He’s accustomed to lying down and enjoying good fortune, so he doesn’t understand these kinds of matters at all. However, I’m different, and I assist with a good number of businesses in my clan. As such, how difficult can it be to hook you up with some suppliers of cheap wine? Rest assured, Die Zhang, we’ll follow the rules as you’ve stated, and I won’t affect the Yan Clan’s business too much either. I’ll try to make a small profit while also helping you earn some more.”

There was a complicated expression on Die Zhang’s face.

Chen Ping’an appeared slightly exasperated as he closed the account book and chuckled. “There are two types of happiness for Shopkeeper Die Zhang when she makes money, with the first type of happiness coming from immortal coins landing in her pockets as she works the abacus and calculates the earnings at the end of each day. The other type of happiness comes from the ability to earn money despite the challenges.

“Say, Fatty Yan, does this not sound reasonable? If you carry a sack of silver to the wine shop, I presume that Die Zhang won’t even be willing to plan ahead and check the accounts in the future. Fatty Yan, won’t it be easier for you to directly give us a number?”

Yan Zhuo was struck by realization as he replied, “Ah, you could have told me earlier. Die Zhang, I would have understood your intentions if you were this direct earlier, no?”

“You’re blaming me?” Die Zhang fumed.

Yan Zhuo drank wine and begged for forgiveness, saying, “No, it’s all my fault. My fault.”

Chen Ping’an changed the topic, telling Die Zhang what the key watchouts were regarding these profits and losses.

In reality, it wasn’t the case that Die Zhang didn’t understand these principles, and she had most likely understood them a long time ago. However, some of these matters pertained to rifts between friends, ones that could be big, small, existent, or non-existent. There were some unintentional words that had hurt other people, but she was unwilling to explain herself, lest she appear too deliberate. Or perhaps she was too embarrassed to explain herself. Things would be okay if she were lucky, and she would be able to delay these matters for a lifetime. These were only small matters, after all, so she could make up for them by doing well at bigger matters. If she were unlucky, however, then friends would be lost, and it would no longer matter whether she explained herself or not.

Every single person, including those sitting in the wine shop right now and including Ning Yao, needed to overcome the barrier in their heart. This wasn’t a unique challenge for Die Zhang, the only person among the original friend group who had grown up in an impoverished alley.

Chen Ping’an was merely borrowing this opportunity to gently touch on the problem as a bystander, helping the two people face the problem head-on. He couldn’t have mentioned this problem too early, or else he would have put himself in a very awkward position. If he left it until it was too late — for example, when both Yan Zhuo and Die Zhang felt like he was one of their best friends — then the timing would become a little inappropriate.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t speak these thoughts out loud, or else it would be like transforming fine wine into bland water. Thus, he could only mull over it himself, at times making him feel like he was manipulating people too much. The past Chen Ping’an would have felt guilty and been riddled with self-doubt, but this was no longer the case.

Each good intent needed to be protected and cherished by a greater good intent. Chen Ping’an believed in good people being blessed with good karma, and this was a sincere and adamant belief. However, people couldn’t place all of their hopes in the heavens alone. Living in this world and interacting with other people, each person could actually be viewed as a so-called heaven. In this sense, there was no need to always seek outside help and seek help from loftier entities.

Many thoughts weigh on my mind as I observe the world, and it appears as if I’m not treating other people with enough sincerity. However, if I adhere to the rules and ultimately cause no harm to others with my actions, perhaps even bring a certain degree of benefits to the world, then I shouldn’t constrain myself due to self-doubt.

I can examine my conscience after my actions, slowly tempering my heart against my conscience. This is a process of cultivating the heart. This is what my master, the Scholarly Sage, suggested by telling me to think more about all kinds of different matters. Even if I discover afterward that my thoughts and actions were simply traveling in circles and returning to the same spot, this is still a top-notch cultivation method. I ask nothing from heaven and earth, yet heaven and earth gains a person who seeks to do good, a person who can protect himself and also benefit other people. Is this not delightful? Is this not good?

The singularity of heaven and earth was eternally unchanging, with only the human heart forever shifting.

The philosophies of the Three Teachings and the Hundred Schools of Thought were fundamentally looking at this notion and striving to influence the human heart.

After finishing the business discussions, they were once again just friends enjoying a drink with each other.