Unsheathed

Chapter 233 (1): The Dust Has Settled

A voice that was filled with respect and reverence sounded behind him. "Young Master Chen, what in the world is going on?"

As it turned out, Prefectural Overseer Liu had finally come to his senses.

In terms of matters regarding mountain gods, river gods, ghosts, and demons, Liu Gaohua could only learn about them through supernatural novels and the notes of literati. Moreover, he could only learn very little. However, it was a completely different case for his father, Prefectural Overseer Liu. He was a high-ranking official who looked after an entire prefecture, after all, and Blusher Prefecture was also one of the largest prefectures in Colorful Garment Nation.

Thus, Prefectural Overseer Liu had already learned about many secrets a long time ago. At the very least, he was definitely aware of the matters pertaining to the city gods, mountain gods, and river gods of the provinces and prefectures. Indeed, officials from the Ministry of Rites would especially explain these mystical things to the high-ranking officials of the local areas.

Chen Ping'an stabilized his sea of Qi a little and tied his Sword Nurturing Gourd to his waist. He turned around to look at Prefectural Overseer Liu, and he couldn't help but hesitate.

His victory had been a very dangerous one. In reality, he had already reached his limit after battling against the ghosts and gods in the city god pavilion and drawing a talisman for the little girl. However, he didn't need to expend spiritual energy to control his two unique flying swords like ordinary Qi refiners did, and this allowed him to summon them from his Sword Nurturing Gourd to attack his enemies. It was also because of this that the scorpion lady's meticulously prepared Embracing Snow Barrier had been completely useless against him.

Even so, controlling First and Fifteenth would still consume his mental energy. In other words, if Pagoda Leader Dou from Case Purchasing Pagoda hadn't fled in fear, it was very likely that Chen Ping'an would have been killed by him. Or perhaps the two of them would have severely wounded each other. If that happened, not only would Chen Ping'an's bridge of immortality be shattered, but even his newfound martial arts path might have been obliterated due to irreparable damage to his body and soul.

Chen Ping'an couldn't come up with an immediate explanation for Prefectural Overseer Liu regarding this situation. After all, this pertained to far too many secrets. Fortunately, Prefectural Overseer Liu didn't try to press him for answers after seeing the troubled expression on his face.

Immortals from the mountains also had many rules and taboos when they traveled through the mortal world. Naturally, Prefectural Overseer Liu had this much common sense. He simply needed to confirm that the young sword immortal in front of him was an ally. Wasn't he Liu Gaohua's friend? This was enough!

After making some polite small talk with Prefectural Overseer Liu, Chen Ping'an turned around and walked over to the old man. He squatted down and took the pulse of the kind-hearted Qi refiner. His pulse was stable, and he was most likely safe from danger. He would probably regain consciousness soon after the effects of the Embracing Snow Barrier wore off. Chen Ping'an suddenly looked up. The little girl was blinking her large eyes and looking at him with curiosity.

Her large and watery yin-yang eyes were now filled with a faint golden glow after experiencing the power of the yang energy illumination talisman.

Chen Ping'an smiled and helped her wipe the blood from her face. "Everything is okay now. Does it still hurt?" he asked.

The corners of the little girl's lips curled up into a smile, causing two shallow dimples to appear on her cheeks.

Chen Ping'an lifted the old man up and placed him on a chair. He then walked over to the door. Prefectural Overseer Liu felt like it would be safest to follow this sword immortal around right now, so he also followed Chen Ping'an and walked outside the main hall. Chen Ping'an walked up to the corpse of the scorpion lady and retrieved the white cloth pouch from her waist.

He found a small brush washer made from famille rose[1], and there was a small white snake coiled up inside of it. The snake was only an inch long, and its tail was extremely thin. It furiously hissed at the sky, but it was clear that it was tough on the outside but weak on the inside. There was also a pitch-black scorpion feebly lying down next to it. Looking carefully, one could see that its body was like an ink-black pipa[2].

A thought suddenly occurred to Chen Ping'an. Trying to control First and Fifteenth to fight against enemies would be nothing more than a pipe dream right now. However, getting them to fly out to frighten others wouldn't be too difficult.

First transformed into a streak of white light as it soared out from the Sword Nurturing Gourd and directly shot toward the ancient-styled brush washer. It came to a stop above the snake and the scorpion, and the small white snake immediately started to tremble in fear. It tightly pressed itself against the wall of the brush washer.

Meanwhile, the small black scorpion was extremely human-like as it wrapped its pincers over its head in a pleading manner. First slowly flew around inside the brush washer as if it were a general patrolling a military encampment. It appeared extremely mighty and domineering.

Prefectural Overseer Liu no longer had the mighty aura of an official and the refined nature of a scholar at this moment. He squatted down next to Chen Ping'an and clicked his tongue in wonder, remarking, "A true immortal sword, and a true sword immortal!"

Chen Ping'an stood up with the brush washer in his hand. He examined it carefully, and he was surprised to discover a ring of extremely small characters near its base. These characters swam around the base of the brush washer like tadpoles, and they appeared like a group of lively and adorable children gleefully running around in circles.

There were 16 characters in total — Spring flower autumn moon, spring wind autumn tree, spring mountain autumn rock, spring water autumn frost.

Chen Ping'an smiled knowingly. He was reminded of the twin sister whom he had met on the Kun ship. The older sister Chun Shui was composed and mature, while the younger sister Qiu Shi was more lively and childish. Chen Ping'an couldn't help but gaze up toward the south. Had they arrived at Old Dragon City yet? If he could meet them again, he wanted to give this small and beautiful brush washer to them as a present. However, it was a shame that the brush washer only had Chun Shui but no Qiu Shi[3]. It was only a single character off. Otherwise, it would have been even better.

Chen Ping'an was still unaware that some misfortunes were an inability to achieve perfection, while some misfortunes would be eternal regrets.

"Lord Liu, we should show some respect toward those who are deceased, so can you please collect her body and organize a burial for her? I'm willing to pay for everything," Chen Ping'an said.

Prefectural Overseer Liu smiled and replied, "This is nothing. There's no need for you to stress about this or pay for it, Young Master Chen. You can leave everything to the prefectural office, and we'll definitely get it sorted."

The smile disappeared from his face, and he said in a hesitant voice, "However, that old bastard Elder Huang is definitely scheming something with his demonic allies and abilities. Perhaps we might need your help again to suppress them in the future."

Chen Ping'an smiled bitterly and replied, "I need a large barrel of scalding hot water right now. I have my own medicinal ingredients, and I need to soak for at lease a couple of hours. I need to recuperate first."

Prefectural Overseer Liu nodded and said, "Yes, it's only right for you to rest. I'll order my subordinates to organize this right away. Young Master Chen, your health is the most important thing; it's definitely the most important thing. The safety of the more than a hundred thousand residents in Blusher Prefecture is all up to you now, Young Master Chen. We definitely can't allow any mishap to occur. I'll get someone to prepare a tub of hot water for you right away..."

Prefectural Overseer Liu briskly walked away. The fourth-rank official of Colorful Garment Nation hadn't spoken in an ambiguous or subtle manner. Instead, he had been extremely straightforward with Chen Ping'an.

No matter how unfamiliar Chen Ping'an was with the imperial court or officialdom, he was still able to easily understand Prefectural Overseer Liu's intention. He couldn't pat his chest and promise anything, but at the same time, he also couldn't turn around and leave at this critical moment. He could only smile bitterly and remain silent.

Apart from delivering the sword to Ning Yao, Chen Ping'an treated everything else with an attitude that could be described with four words — act within my abilities.

He had dealt with the golden city god, Shen Wen, in this manner, and he was going to deal with the prefectural overseer of Blusher Prefecture in the same manner.

In the end, Chen Ping'an climbed into a large tub of medicinal water in a quiet and elegant room. These medicinal ingredients were from Wei Bo; the formal mountain god had given him three portions before he left Dragon Spring Prefecture. Wei Bo naturally could have given him more. The mountain god had enough silver, and the Cloth Wrapper Shop also had enough natural treasures. However, Wei Bo hadn't purchased more portions than necessary.

At the time, he had joked that purchasing more would be a bad omen. After all, giving Chen Ping'an too many portions of medicinal ingredients would be akin to wishing him bad luck. He wished that Chen Ping'an would have a safe and smooth sailing journey, where he didn't get wounded more than three times. Giving him three portions of medicinal ingredients was a form of wishing him good luck.

Chen Ping'an asked Prefectural Overseer Liu to keep things a secret for him when he entered the room with the prepared tub of hot water. He didn't want others to find out that he was a so-called sword immortal. Prefectural Overseer Liu happily agreed to his request. In fact, it was almost as if he wanted to make a vow.

At the same time, Chen Ping'an also handed a divine movement talisman to Prefectural Overseer Liu, asking him to return it to Zhang Shanfeng for him.

While soaking in the tub of medicinal water, Chen Ping'an clearly detected the huge commotion taking place in Blusher Prefecture's city god pavilion. However, he couldn't do anything about this, so he decided not to think about it at all. He calmly nurtured his Qi using the Eighteen Stops Technique that A'Liang had taught him and the breathing technique that Old Man Yang had taught him.

He entered a meditative state in the tub of medicinal water, and his hands formed the Sword Furnace seal from the Mountain Shaking Guide. He was like a withered tree in winter quietly waiting for the rejuvenating spring breeze.

Violence and bloodshed remained prevalent throughout Blusher Prefecture on this night. The demonic cultivators successfully activated their formation, and this caused commoners from various places in the prefectural city to fall to demonic ways. The prefectural office was stretched to the limit to deal with this.

Meanwhile, there was both good news and bad news from elsewhere in the city. The good news was secretly sent over from the east gate by General Ma. Elder Huang, the demonic cultivator who had disguised himself as an immortal, had suddenly gotten into a conflict with three other people for some unknown reason. They were having an earth-shaking fight near the city god hall.

However, the bad news was also caused by this very fact. Neither of the four people was holding back, and they were all using their trump cards and powerful immortal treasures. They were naturally unleashing all kinds of sinister techniques as well. As a result, hundreds of houses and buildings were damaged, and many residents were wounded or killed.

The elite cavalry under General Ma's command rushed over to the prefectural city as quickly as possible. However, they couldn't charge through the streets and alleys on horseback, so they were forced to dismount and do battle on foot. They were all dressed in armor and wielding powerful bows or crossbows. Apart from the several dozen special arrows from the prefectural office's storage, however, ordinary arrows were unable to wound or threaten the four demonic cultivators.

Firstly, these arrows were unable to keep up with the four demonic cultivators as they twisted and dashed around the battlefield. Secondly, the arrows would often be swatted aside before they could even near their target. In fact, some arrows were even caught and casually thrown back by the four demonic cultivators when they had a slight reprieve from the intense battle. This wounded and killed 80-odd elite soldiers.

In fact, the elite soldiers couldn't wound the four demonic cultivators even if they died trying.

General Ma could indeed be described as a fearless warrior. He was brave and skilled on the battlefield, and he also led the charge against these demonic cultivators. He and his lieutenant found several opportunities to charge over and engage in close-quarters combat with whichever demonic cultivator had become separated from the others. After a while, their actions angered Immortal Colored Glaze and Old Demon Mi who had been engaged in a ferocious fight with each other.

The two parties were so annoyed that they resolutely decided to hold a truce first, using this opportunity to severely wound General Ma and his lieutenant. If it weren't for a dozen or so elite soldiers using specially crafted Mohist arrows to cover for them, and the elite soldiers putting their lives on the line to protect their superiors, it was almost certain that General Ma and his lieutenant wouldn't have been able to leave the prefectural city alive tonight.

During the second half of the night, Immortal Colored Glaze, who was fighting against three opponents had a large handful of white rice sprinkled over his head. Smoke instantly started to rise from his body. In just a few moments, he was a bloody mess, with countless holes burned into his flesh.

He had no option but to dive into the ground using an earth movement technique. His three opponents started to scour the area for him. If they came across any guards or soldiers who dared to obstruct them, they would immediately lash out and kill them without mercy.

Dawn arrived, and Chen Ping'an walked out of the room after stepping out of the bathtub and getting dressed. What greeted him was the sight of Liu Gaoxin nodding off on a small stool at the end of the corridor.

The young girl was only in shallow sleep, so she quickly woke up after detecting Chen Ping'an's presence. Afraid that she was drooling in her sleep, she hurriedly turned around to wipe her face.

In reality, she had only arrived back at the prefectural office a short while ago. After changing into a set of clean clothes, she had come here to guard the door for Chen Ping'an.

Liu Gaoxin and Chen Ping'an walked to the main hall together. Chen Ping'an asked her some questions, and he roughly caught up with the events that had transpired in the prefectural city during the previous night. He felt slight disbelief when he heard that the demonic cultivators had gotten into an internal conflict. However, they couldn't have faked their battle.

Even though Chen Ping'an was unaware of the reasons behind their internal conflict, he knew that it was a good thing as long as it benefited Blusher Prefecture. Many people had died because of this, but in a battle between demonic entities, collateral damage was simply inevitable.

In Cui Chan's words, this was the attitude of the most powerful entity in the world — obey me and prosper, or resist me and perish.

At the time, the young imperial preceptor in flowing white robes had purposely given Chen Ping'an a hint. However, it was a shame that his hint had gone unheeded. Chen Ping'an hadn't been willing to speculate on the identity of this entity, so the young Cui Chan had been given no option but to reveal the answer himself. He had referred to this entity as the "unstoppable momentum of the world."

This was the unstoppable momentum of the world.

The young Cui Chan had also said that the prosperities and vicissitudes in the world were determined by the trend of some unstoppable momentum.

Chen Ping'an had been completely uninterested in Cui Chan's profound and mystical musings. This was because he hadn't understood them at all. At the same time, he had been afraid of falling victim to Cui Chan's tricks.

Even though Lin Shouyi, Li Huai, Yu Lu, and Xie Xie weren't especially close with the young Cui Chan, it was very likely that they all felt a sense of respect and reverence toward him from the bottom of their hearts. In fact, they probably felt some measure of admiration toward him as well.

Of course, only Li Baoping, the little girl in the bright red jacket, was different. She definitely didn't feel these emotions toward Cui Chan.

Instead, it was the young Cui Chan who was fearful of her.

Through his conversation with Liu Gaoxin, Chen Ping'an was able to learn about the numerous battles that had plagued the prefectural city last night. Including Xu Yuanxia and Zhang Shanfeng, many powerful cultivators from the mountains and from outside the mountains had fought to suppress the demonic commoners all over the city. Each time they returned to the prefectural office, they would treat their wounds and rest for a short moment before rushing out to help again.

During this time, Xu Yuanxia and Zhang Shanfeng had even come across a young but elite demonic cultivator. This person was most likely one of the key members responsible for setting up the demonic formations.

The two sides had fought for less than ten minutes, but their battle had been riddled with perilous danger. A large chunk of flesh had been torn off Xu Yuanxia's shoulder by the young demonic cultivator who had fought with his bare fists. It was only after Daoist Chong Miao had hurried over with his copper-armored warrior that the vicious demonic cultivator had been forced to retreat.

Moreover, Liu Gaoxin's older sister and older brother had already left the city safely, yet they had suddenly returned again for some unknown reason. Liu Gaoxin's master, the old aide, had also accompanied them back.

They had held a long discussion with her father behind the closed doors of his study, and her master had then brought her older sister and older brother to the backyard. It was as if they had encountered something extremely strange. Moreover, they seemingly couldn't decide whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

If it were good, then everyone would be happy. If it were bad, then all would be finished. In any case, neither Liu Gaoxin's father nor her master wanted to involve her in this matter. She had been rushing around the prefectural city to fight against the demonic cultivators and commoners anyway, so she hadn't had the time to think too much about this matter either.

Apart from this, there was also the matter regarding the little girl that Chen Ping'an had rescued from the Zhao Clan residence. She and the stubborn little boy had both been settled down in the prefectural office for the moment.

When Chen Ping'an and Liu Gaoxin approached the main hall, they immediately noticed the somber aura hanging in the air. They hurriedly walked inside, only to discover the stench of blood filling the hall.

An elderly Daoist with tattered robes was slumped in a chair. His hair was disheveled and his face was bloodied, and there was also blood flowing from a chest wound. He was covered in wounds, so many that it was almost impossible to bandage him up. He was in a miserable state, and was barely able to draw breath.

Prefectural Overseer Liu, Xu Yuanxia, Zhang Shanfeng, and the elder who had a calligraphy brush hanging by his waist were all standing around the old Daoist priest. The old Daoist priest who had helped the little girl last night weakly shook his head. There was pain and guilt on his face. Prefectural Overseer Liu also heaved a long sigh.

The dying old man was none other than Daoist Chong Miao, the person who had appeared to everyone as arrogant and sordid in the beginning.

The old Daoist priest experienced a period of terminal lucidity, and his murky gaze brightened up for a moment. He looked up at Prefectural Overseer Liu and chuckled, "Lord Liu, if the esteemed immortals from the Spiritual Horn Force manage to eliminate the demonic cultivators and save Blusher Prefecture, then I'll leave my family of several dozen people in your care. I'll have to trouble you, the parent official of the prefecture, with the task of looking after them."

Prefectural Overseer Liu nodded and replied in a solemn voice, "Please rest assured, Daoist Chong Miao. Even if I'm not holding office in Blusher Prefecture in the future, I'll still inform the new prefectural overseer of the events that occurred today. I'll tell them about your contributions to Blusher Prefecture. Whatever the means, I'll definitely ensure the safety of your family."

Daoist Chong Miao cupped his fists with much difficulty. He then turned to the young Daoist priest, Zhang Shanfeng. The rims of the young boy's eyes were slightly red. Daoist Chong Miao smiled and said, "Zhang Shan, if it weren't for you being foolish and rushing in with no regard for your own safety, perhaps I would have been killed by them right there and then. Not only that, but the demonic cultivator might have fled as well. If it weren't for you, how could I have performed the great feat of killing a demonic cultivator...?"

The old Daoist priest started to cough. His coughing became increasingly severe, and everyone persuaded him not to speak anymore.

"Old Daoist priest, should I get someone to call your descendants and juniors over?" Xu Yuanxia asked in a soft voice.

Daoist Chong Miao nodded in reply.

Prefectural Overseer Liu immediately went over to talk to his subordinates, telling them to inform the close relatives of Daoist Chong Miao about the situation as quickly as possible.

While he still had some energy and consciousness, Daoist Chong Miao silently calculated the time it would take for his descendants to rush over here. He then quietly rested for a while before looking around at everyone and slowly saying with a smile, "I'm actually well aware of the fact that you guys held contempt toward my decision to take advantage of the dire situation for personal gains before. However, business is business, and cultivators shouldn't be ashamed of talking about money or trying to make a profit. There's nothing we can do about this.

"As wandering cultivators with no powerful sect of backer to support and protect us, we can only rely on ourselves to make money and fight for those slivers of opportunities. If we don't fight for these things, what else can we do?"

The old Daoist priest fell silent again after saying this. He appeared to be in a reverie, as if he were thinking about the glory and humiliation of his life.

He pushed aside these thoughts after a long while, and he suddenly sighed with emotion and remarked, "We have to do business, but as human cultivators, we also have to act human, don't we?"

He chuckled to himself, which triggered a coughing fit.

"However, maybe it's because of my poor aptitude and my early realization that I'm unable to attain the Great Dao that I have such naive and laughable thoughts. How can genuine cultivators from the mountains coat themselves in the stench of copper coins? And why would they concern themselves with the lives and sufferings of mortal humans from outside the mountains?"

The old man dazedly stared in the direction of the door, seemingly searching for the familiar figures of his descendants. "I've been referred to as Daoist Chong Miao for all this time, yet I've ultimately been unable to hear others respectfully refer to me as Spiritual Master Chong Miao. Such a shame! Such a great shame!" he murmured.

Upon expressing his disappointment, it was as if his entire aura collapsed at the same time. His vision became blurry, and his breathing became extremely feeble. His voice was barely audible as he murmured, "Why are they still not here...?"

In the end, the old man was unable to hold on until his family hurried over. He passed away with his back slumped on the chair.

He hadn't been especially discontent or regretful in death, but he hadn't been able to close his eyes in peace either. He had simply appeared like an old man peering into the distance, straining in an attempt to see something but failing to see it clearly.

Everyone fell silent.

Chen Ping'an walked over and helped to clean the blood from Daoist Chong Miao's face.

Soon after he finished this, the descendants from Daoist Chong Miao's family finally rushed over. There were more than a dozen of them, and there was a mixture of young, elderly, men, and women. Prefectural Overseer Liu roughly recounted the situation to them. Of course, he also told them about his promise to the old Daoist priest.

Daoist Chong Miao's eldest son was a middle-aged man with a large belly, and he naturally expressed deep gratitude toward Prefectural Overseer Liu. Meanwhile, most of the women in the family were sobbing in grief.

However, a little boy who was a tad over 10 years old suddenly charged forward and furiously roared, "Why did only my grandpa die?!"

There was rage and resentment on the little boy's face, and his gaze was like that of a jackal as he widened his eyes and roared, "Answer me!"

Xu Yuanxia furrowed his brows.

Zhang Shanfeng turned around to look at the pale old man who had already passed away. He sighed to himself. There were times when giving a truthful answer would be even more hurtful.

In the beginning, the old Daoist priest had actually wanted to obtain all of the battle merit for himself. It was because of this that he had fallen prey to the demonic cultivator who had purposely shown himself weak. He had rashly advanced and fallen into grave danger. If it hadn't been for him and Xu Yuanxia risking their lives, the outcome would have been even worse.

However, while it was true that Daoist Chong Miao had his personal interests, this was nothing more than human nature. He had fought from last night all the way until today morning, and all the way until his heroic death. This definitely couldn't be explained as simply doing business. As a resident of Blusher Prefecture, the old Daoist priest definitely wouldn't have fought for his hometown with his life on the line if he hadn't felt a sincere attachment to this place from the bottom of his heart.

Human emotions and worldly affairs were the most difficult things to explain using reason.

Wanting to to break down all matters and explain them using reason was like attempting to separate alcohol from liquor. It would become bland and tasteless.

The utterly enraged little boy pointed at everyone and yelled, "All of you are murderers!"

The middle-aged man with a large belly, the eldest son of Daoist Chong Miao, hurriedly told his wife to drag their crazed son away. He then apologized to Prefectural Overseer Liu and the others.

Prefectural Overseer Liu appeared unfazed, and he replied that one shouldn't take offense at a child's babble. In fact, he even apologized to the middle-aged man, saying that it was his dereliction of duty as the prefectural overseer that had led to this situation. He expressed a feeling of guilt and shame toward Daoist Chong Miao's family, and he said that it was his actions that had led to the loss of a strong pillar of their family. He also promised them that he would personally visit their residence to apologize.

However, no one knew what Prefectural Overseer Liu was truly thinking in his mind. Would the relationship forged by Daoist Chong Miao with the prefectural office be tainted because of this? Heavens knew.

And thus, it was often said that it was up to destiny whether one could obtain the blessings passed down by their ancestors or not. Some people could grab it with both hands, while some people could only watch it slip through their fingers. Some people could grab an entire handful, while some people could only grab a small sliver.

Very often, the person involved would be completely oblivious to all of these mystical happenings. They could only act according to their instincts and true nature.

1. Famille rose (French for "pink family") is a type of Chinese porcelain introduced in the 18th century and defined by pink overglaze enamel. ?

2. A traditional Chinese string instrument. ?

3. Chun Shui's name literally means "spring water" (春水). The Qiu in Qiu Shi's name literally means autumn. ?