Unsheathed

It was a scorching summer at the Sword Qi Great Wall, yet the first snow of winter had just fallen at the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent’s Dragon Spring Prefecture.

The ancestral hall of Downtrodden Mountain wasn’t located on the main peak and was a fair distance from the other residential buildings. However, Chen Nuanshu would still visit Sky Blue Peak’s ancestral hall every five days, opening the doors and carefully scrubbing and cleaning the building.

Pei Qian and Zhou Mili accompanied Chen Nuanshu today, saying that they would help. While making their way over, Pei Qian extended a hand, and the right-hand guardian of Downtrodden Mountain respectfully offered up a hiking pole with both hands. Afterward, Pei Qian performed her Deranged Demon Sword Technique the rest of the way, shattering countless falling snowflakes.

Upon arriving at the outermost gates of the ancestral hall, Pei Qian stood still on the steps with her hands resting on her hiking pole. She looked out at the heavy snowfall, and, as the opening disciple of the mountain master, she felt a sense of peerlessness and loneliness, what with her master absent from Downtrodden Mountain.

Chen Nuanshu was holding a small bucket in one hand, and with her other hand, retrieved a key to open the main gates of the ancestral hall. There was a large skywell behind the main gates, and further behind that was the ancestral hall, where the doors would never be closed.

Zhou Mili accepted the bucket and took a deep breath before using her innate mystical ability and sprinting around the courtyard under the skywell, which was covered in a thick layer of snow. She furiously swung the bucket of water around with both hands, quickly filling it with water and holding it high up, handing it back to Chen Nuanshu, who was standing at the top of the stairs.

Chen Nuanshu was just about to step over the door threshold and walk into the ancestral hall where the portraits were hung, and the chairs were placed, but Pei Qian suddenly held her back and dragged her behind herself. She bent over slightly, holding the hiking pole in her hands as she stared intently at some place near the chair placed in the center of the front row.

That was the chair belonging to her master.

A ripple appeared in the air, after which an old man with snow-white hair and beard, wearing Confucian robes, materialized in the ancestral hall.

Pei Qian was completely dazed as she looked at the short and skinny old man.

There were countless specks of light in the human world, just like the myriad stars in the sky.

This was a type of mind’s realm that Pei Qian had never seen before. It was vast and endless, seemingly as if the scenery would stretch on forever, no matter how wide she opened her eyes.

The old scholar stood beside the chair, and three portraits hung high up behind him. Many emotions ran through his mind as he looked at the young girl, who had grown much taller, standing outside the door of the ancestral hall. It had been worth it for him to act shamelessly, borrow things from other people, and make bets with other people. At the end of the day, he needed to thank his closing disciple for never disappointing his master and senior brothers.

“Senior Senior Scholarly Sage?” Pei Qian said in a questioning voice.

The old scholar faltered for a moment, having never been addressed like this before.

“Why Senior Senior?” he asked in curiosity.

“To highlight the lofty seniority of the Scholarly Sage,” Pei Qian replied in a serious voice.

The old scholar stroked his beard and smiled, nodding lightly as he remarked, “That’s very good.”

Some of the secret teachings of his lineage could only be comprehended and couldn’t be taught, yet they had already been enhanced and spread so quickly?

Pei Qian glanced at the portrait hanging at the highest level before retracting her gaze and saying in a loud voice, “Senior Senior Scholarly Sage, your physical presence seems to carry much more might and dignity than the portrait!”

Chen Nuanshu blinked her eyes and remained silent.

Zhou Mili cocked her head and furrowed her brows, glancing back and forth between the portrait and the old scholar. She genuinely couldn’t identify any difference.

The old scholar cleared his throat and fixed his collar, standing up straight as he asked, “Do you genuinely think so?”

Pei Qian nodded vigorously, shrinking back and turning her head left and right, before standing on her tippy-toes and moving her head up and down. In the end, she nodded and replied, “Yes, that’s genuinely the case! Even that white goose praises me for being extremely accurate when it comes to judging people!”

The old scholar couldn’t wipe the smile from his face, and he invited the three young girls to come inside and sit down. In any case, there were already chairs assigned to each of them.

The old scholar lowered his voice and said, “It’s okay for the three of you to know about my visit to Downtrodden Mountain, but make sure not to tell anyone else.”

Pei Qian cleared her throat and exclaimed, “Nuanshu, Mili!”

Chen Nuanshu immediately nodded and replied, “Understood.”

Holding the hiking pole bestowed upon her by Pei Qian, Zhou Mili stood up straight and kept her mouth tightly shut.

She would play mute from now on. This was very fitting, given that she was a great water monster from Mute Lake to begin with.

The old scholar slowly paced around the ancestral hall, and Chen Nuanshu began adeptly cleaning all the chairs. Pei Qian stood beside the chair assigned to her, while Zhou Mili wanted to sit down on the chair with a small paper sticker reading “right-hand guardian.”

However, Pei Qian shot a glare at her, wordlessly criticizing her for lacking etiquette. Her master’s master was gracing them with his presence, and even he was yet to sit down, so how could Zhou Mili sit down first? Zhou Mili immediately stood up straight, feeling slightly aggrieved. She wanted to sit down to let the old mister know who she was, no?

The old scholar noticed this and smiled, but he didn’t offer any comment.

His closing disciple had truly spent a great deal of time and effort to painstakingly guide Pei Qian onto her current path. It was even more commendable that he had managed to teach her so well.

In reality, this was the old scholar’s third visit to Downtrodden Mountain. He had come and left in a hurry the previous two times, and thus he hadn’t paid a visit to the ancestral hall. After today’s visit, he would once again be bogged down with all kinds of tasks. He was destined for a life of hard work.

In the past, the old scholar had secretly visited the private school in the small town, standing in a certain spot and immersing himself in the atmosphere.

Looking over, he recalled that many years ago, a little girl wearing a bright red jacket would have been sitting straight and upright in the classroom, seemingly listening to the teacher very carefully. In reality, however, her mind would have been wandering all over the place.

There was the attentive Lin Shouyi, whose mind would focus on whatever the teacher was talking about.

There was the napping Li Huai, whose head would nod up and down like a young chick pecking at rice.

There was Zhao Yao, who definitely couldn’t have imagined that he would one day leave his teacher’s side, embark on a distant journey in an ox-drawn cart, and eventually travel around the Middle Earth Divine Continent by himself.

There were also the wise but humble-looking Dong Shuijing and the little girl with twin braids.

Standing there at the time, the old scholar had also recalled Ma Zhan, one of his unofficial disciples who was similar to Mao Xiaodong. One wrong step had turned into countless wrong steps, and even though Ma Zhan clearly had the opportunity to repent and make up for his misdeeds following a stroke of realization, he had only been willing to die to express his sincerity.

In the end, the old scholar discovered that all the mistakes and wrongs seemed to trace back to him. As their master who was responsible for teaching them knowledge and clearing up their confusions, he had failed to impart upon them enough knowledge, and he had made a mess of teaching them the skills necessary to settle down and establish themselves.

The old scholar had lowered his head and stroked his beard, feeling even more anxious and troubled than before.

After arriving at Downtrodden Mountain’s ancestral hall, which was founded by his closing disciple, a small smile finally returned to the old scholar’s face when he saw the hanging portraits, the neatly laid out chairs, the spotless windows, and especially the three young girls who were lively and adorable.

However, this also caused the old scholar to feel increasingly guilty. Why was his portrait hanging the highest? He was a terrible master, and just how much had he actually done for his closing disciple? Had he ever taught him diligently and carefully cleared up his confusions? Had he traveled around the world with him as he had with Cui Chan? Was his closing disciple given the opportunity to ask him questions whenever he was unsure about something?

Instead, the old scholar had simply pushed the theory of sequential order onto his closing disciple in a few brief sentences, causing his young disciple to feel confused and stuck, with many things weighing on his mind. Apart from that, the old scholar had only imparted some drunken remarks to his disciple. With this in mind, how had he managed to become Chen Ping’an’s master?

Interacting with some knowledge too early was as difficult as trying to enter the mountains and move the mountains.

The old scholar felt extremely guilty.

When he was standing in the private school back then, the old scholar had turned around and looked outside, and it was as if an emaciated little boy had been standing on his tippy-toes outside the window, his eyes wide and his ears pricked as he listened to the sound of scriptures being recited and smelled the fragrance of books. Standing alone outside the classroom, the little boy had gazed inside with his pure, limpid eyes that were filled with yearning.

Afterward, that little boy might carry a large basket and enter the mountains to collect herbs, loudly reciting, “At the beginning of life, one is naturally good in nature,” to give himself courage despite not understanding the meaning of this phrase.[1] While descending the mountain, he might spiritedly recite, “The heavens dark and the earth yellow, the universe vast and swirling with chaos.”

The sun would be blazing as the little boy navigated up and down the mountain, leaving him drenched in sweat. The little boy would hide under the tree’s shade to rest, playing the game of grass fighting by himself. He would be both the victor and the loser, so he would raise one hand high into the air and loudly cheer that he had won. It was only at these moments that he would appear like an innocent little child.

There were myriad hardships in the world, so it was no surprise to see children facing difficult childhoods. However, it was rare to see these children being able to handle the difficulties.

In fact, the old scholar even regretted saying those words to Chen Ping’an back then: This is how a young person’s shoulder should be. Avenging the destruction of one’s empire or clan and upholding the notion of righteousness? These things can wait. One should first carry the gentle breeze and the bright moon, the long grass and the flying warblers. What rests atop a young person’s shoulder should be these beautiful things.

It would be okay to say these things to Pei Qian and the other young girls, but saying these things to Chen Ping’an? It was easy for him to utter such words as a spectator who hadn’t endured the same hardships as Chen Ping’an.

Thinking about this a bit more, and looking at the current state of Downtrodden Mountain, the old scholar felt like it had perhaps been the most correct decision to speak those words to the young boy in straw sandals at that time.

In the end, Pei Qian and her two companions saw the old mister from afar sitting down on a chair located closest to the door threshold. He sat there quietly and gazed up at the three hanging portraits.

He didn’t look at the portrait of himself in the middle; instead, he looked at Cui Cheng’s portrait for a long time. He nodded lightly and murmured softly to himself, with none of the three young girls being able to make out his words. In the end, the old scholar silently looked at the portrait of his disciple.

“Someone asks: How to view repaying injury with kindness?” the old scholar murmured to himself.

He answered his own question, saying, “Confucius replies: If we repay injury with kindness, then how should we repay kindness? Thus, we should repay injury with justice, and repay kindness with kindness.”[2]

————

Two sword cultivators from the Northern Complete Reed Continent, a master and his disciple, stepped down from Osmanthus Island, an intercontinental ship from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent.

The master was a sword immortal in azure, and he was perhaps still unaware that many of his allies in the Sword Qi Great Wall had mysteriously gained some small fame.

1. The first line of the ‘Three Character Classic’. It was probably written in the 13th century, and is mainly attributed to Wang Yinglin during the Song dynasty. It is also attributed to Ou Shizi. ☜

2. This is an exchange recorded in the Analects of Confucius. ☜