Chapter 431: An Accountant Comes to the Island

Chapter 431: An Accountant Comes to the Island

When Gu Can finished speaking those words while crying, the woman lowered her head, her whole body trembling, whether from sadness or anger, it was impossible to tell.

Chen Ping'an gently put down his chopsticks and softly called out, "Gu Can."

Gu Can immediately wiped away his tears and shouted, "Here!"

Chen Ping'an said slowly, "I will hit you, I will scold you, and I will tell you the principles I've figured out—those principles that you think are completely wrong. But I won't abandon you. I won't just leave you like this."

Chen Ping'an never turned his head. His voice wasn't heavy, but his tone carried a firmness that seemed to be spoken to Gu Can, yet even more to himself: "If one day I leave, it will only be because I've gotten past that hurdle in my heart. If I can't get past it, I'll stay here, on Green Gorge Island and at Letter Sea Lake."

Gu Can's tears turned into a smile. "Alright! You keep your word, Chen Ping'an. You've never lied to me!"

Chen Ping'an said suddenly, "Then today might be an exception."

Gu Can's heart leaped to his throat. His body, which had just relaxed a little, tensed up again, and his mind was even more strained.

Chen Ping'an said, "Earlier, on the way here, I said that at the dinner table, I would only listen to you and wouldn't speak anymore. But after eating this bowl of rice, I felt I had some strength back, so I plan to talk a little more. Same rules as before: I'll speak, and you'll listen. After that, if you want to talk, then it'll be my turn to listen. No matter who's speaking, the person listening—whether speaking or listening—shouldn't rush."

Gu Can grinned brightly, scratched his head, and asked, "Chen Ping'an, can I go back to the table? I haven't eaten yet."

Chen Ping'an nodded. "Eat more. You're still growing."

Gu Can wiped his face, walked back to his original seat, and moved his chair closer to Chen Ping'an, as if afraid Chen Ping'an might change his mind and leave the house and Green Gorge Island, so he could block him faster.

Then Gu Can went to get himself a bowl of rice, sat down, and started shoveling food into his mouth. Since childhood, he had always liked to imitate Chen Ping'an—eating like this, tucking his hands into his sleeves like that. Back then, during the freezing winters, the two of them, both poor and friendless, would tuck their hands into their sleeves to keep warm. Especially after building snowmen, they'd shiver together, then burst out laughing and mock each other. When it came to cursing and teasing, Gu Can, with his runny nose, was already far better than Chen Ping'an. So often, Chen Ping'an would be left speechless by Gu Can's words.

Chen Ping'an glanced at Gu Can, then turned to the woman and said, "Auntie, if today there were another child lingering outside your door, would you still open it and give him a bowl of rice? Would you still deliberately tell him that the rice wasn't free, that he'd have to repay it with the money from selling medicinal herbs?"

The woman carefully weighed her words.

Chen Ping'an continued on his own, "I don't think you would."

"Of course, I don't think you were wrong, Auntie. Even setting aside the environment of Letter Sea Lake, even if you hadn't done that back then, I wouldn't say you were wrong."

"So that bowl of rice from back then, I'll never forget it in this lifetime. And it made me feel a little at ease, made me think I wasn't the beggar my mother always said I should never become. Instead, I owed Auntie money first, ate the rice, and I knew I'd definitely be able to pay it back."

The woman turned her head and wiped the corner of her eyes.

Chen Ping'an asked calmly, "But Auntie, have you ever thought that without that bowl of rice, I would never have given that little loach to your son? You might still be in Clay Vase Alley now, living what you think is a poor and hard life. So we should still believe that good deeds are rewarded with good, and evil deeds with evil. And when we're living comfortably today, we can't only believe in good being rewarded and forget about evil being punished."

"Do you think what I'm saying today is right?"

The woman continued to weep silently, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

She was afraid that no matter what she said today, it would turn out badly for her son Gu Can's future.

So she preferred not to say a single word more.

Chen Ping'an understood this. That's why, even back then when Gu Can told him about the woman's choice regarding the little loach, Chen Ping'an had no resentment at all.

What should be grateful for, be grateful for a lifetime.

Whatever happened afterward, whether right or wrong, couldn't erase the original kindness. It was like a heavy snowfall in their hometown: no matter how thick the snow piled up on the mud road of Clay Vase Alley, when spring came and flowers bloomed, it would still be the familiar road in front of every household on Clay Vase Alley.

The only difference was that Chen Ping'an had walked a very long road and learned not to force his own principles on others.

That's why today, at the dinner table earlier, he was willing to carefully listen to all of Gu Can's reasoning—all the inner thoughts of that little snot-nosed kid now.

Chen Ping'an forced a smile. "Auntie, rest assured. I won't force Gu Can to learn from me. There's no need for that, and I don't have that ability. I just want to try to do something—something that both Gu Can and I can agree is 'not wrong' right now. If I stay here, it won't stop Gu Can from protecting you, and I certainly won't ask you to give up the wealth and status you've worked so hard to gain."

Chen Ping'an asked, "Is that okay?"

The woman hesitated, then finally nodded with difficulty.

Chen Ping'an remained seated. He didn't reach for the jug of Crow Cry Wine on the table, nor did he take down the Sword-Nurturing Gourd at his waist. He said softly, "Let me tell you and Gu Can some good news. Although Uncle Gu is dead, actually... he's not truly dead. He's still in the world, having become a yin spirit. This is ultimately a good thing. The reason I came to Letter Sea Lake this time was that he took a great risk to tell me that you were here, and that it wasn't 'all worries gone.' So I came. I don't want to see the day when Gu Can's actions cause the three of you—who finally have a chance to reunite as a family—to lose it all suddenly. My parents both once said that back then, Uncle Gu was the man most worthy of Auntie among all the nearby alleys. I hope that Uncle Gu, that good man from Clay Vase Alley, who could write beautiful Spring Festival couplets and didn't seem like a farmer at all but more like a scholar—I hope he won't be sad either."

The woman covered her mouth, and her tears burst forth like a dam breaking.

This time, it was the most sincere, the most unrelated to right or wrong.

Chen Ping'an said slowly, "Auntie, Gu Can, and I—we've all suffered greatly from unreasonable people. We're not those born into comfort and ease; we're not from families that can afford to be civilized and refined if they just wish it. Auntie and I have both faced times when we almost couldn't go on living. Auntie must have lived only for Gu Can; I lived to vindicate my parents. We both gritted our teeth and endured. So we understand what the word 'difficult' really means. On that point, Gu Can, as the youngest, has had it even harder than both of us since leaving Clay Vase Alley. Because at his age, he's already had a tougher life than me or his mother. No matter how poor Auntie and I were, at least we didn't have to worry every day about dying, like Gu Can does."

"But that doesn't stop us from asking 'why' in the hardest times. No one comes to tell us why, so we might think about it for a while, but then the next day we get slapped again. After a while, we stop asking why, because thinking about it is useless. When we're just trying to survive, any extra thought seems wrong—wrong for ourselves, wrong for others, wrong for the world. If the world throws a punch at us, why shouldn't we kick back? Everyone who's been through this seems to become that unreasonable person from back then, unwilling to listen to others' whys anymore. They stop caring, thinking that if they soften their hearts, they'll lose what they've built, and they'll be betraying the hardships they've endured. Why should the private school teacher favor the children of the rich? Why should my parents be looked down on by the neighbors? Why can other kids afford kites while I can only watch from the side? Why should I work myself to death in the fields while so many people laze at home, and when I meet them on the road, they don't even spare me a glance? Why should what I earn through hard work be something others are born with, and they don't even appreciate it? Why do other families get to reunite every Mid-Autumn Festival while we don't?"

"I don't know why either. I don't know what it was like a hundred years ago, or ten thousand years ago. I don't know whether this world has gotten better or worse. I've read many books and learned many principles, but the more I know, the less sure I am that the principles I come up with are definitely right, or that they can make life better for me and those around me. Before I came here, with a little girl by my side, I thought life could be better. But after seeing Gu Can, I think maybe I was wrong. That little girl could only live a little better because she was with me; it doesn't necessarily mean that the principles I taught her made her life easier or better."

"Who doesn't want to live, to live well, to hope that every tomorrow is better than today? I do too. I wanted it in Clay Vase Alley, on the road to the Great Sui Academy, to Old Dragon City, to Inverted Suspension Mountain, to Parasol Leaf Continent, to Lotus Flower Paradise, and on the road back to my hometown—I've always wanted it! But there's no highest principle under heaven; there should at least be a lowest standard of right and wrong, shouldn't there? Even if we do many things we have to do just to survive, there's still right and wrong, isn't there?"

Gu Can stopped eating and fell into deep thought.

The woman looked at Chen Ping'an, then at Gu Can. "Chen Ping'an, I'm just an uneducated woman who can't read. I don't understand much, I don't think about much, and I can't care about much. I only want Gu Can to live well, for the two of us to live well. It's because we've been through this that we have this chance today, to live long enough for you, Chen Ping'an, to tell us that my husband, Gu Can's father, is still alive, and that there's a chance for us to reunite as a family. Chen Ping'an, do you understand what I'm saying? Can you not blame me for being short-sighted?"

Chen Ping'an nodded. "I can understand. I won't blame you, Auntie."

The woman looked into Chen Ping'an's eyes. She poured herself a cup of wine, drank it in one gulp, then poured another and drank that too. "You came to find Can'er. No matter what you said, Can'er is very happy. I have to drink one cup for that. And you told us this news, so I have to drink another. Both make me happy."

She poured a third cup, drank it, and said with tearful eyes, "Seeing you, Chen Ping'an—grown taller, grown up, safe and sound—I have to drink one more, as if I'm drinking for your parents, to share their joy."

Chen Ping'an went to pick up the wine jug, poured himself a cup, and drank it in one gulp.

—

Inside the tall building at Pool Water City, Cui Chan tsked and said, "Short-sighted? That woman from Clay Vase Alley is no ordinary person. No wonder she could partner with Liu Zhimao to raise a kid like Gu Can."

When Chen Ping'an followed the two carriages into the city, Cui Dongshan had been playing dead. But as soon as Chen Ping'an appeared and met Gu Can, Cui Dongshan had already opened his eyes.

Everything after that, just like Cui Chan, Cui Dongshan had seen and heard.

Cui Chan smiled and said, "What Chen Ping'an said is all in vain. Even if they both come from Clay Vase Alley and once knew the taste of hardship, Gu Can and Chen Ping'an are now completely different people. It's not just a difference in positions; the fundamental way they view the world is vastly different. Chen Ping'an can empathize with Gu Can only because he's walked a much longer road. Gu Can hasn't. For him, from his hometown Clay Vase Alley to Letter Sea Lake, that's the whole world. Moreover, Gu Can's nature is like that—he likes to dwell on things, tends to go to extremes. Don't say Chen Ping'an; even if Gu Can's father, Gu Tao, were standing in Chen Ping'an's position, he wouldn't be able to turn Gu Can's temperament around. The interesting part is precisely here: Gu Can's extremism makes him deeply attached to Chen Ping'an, so he said that line, 'Even if you beat me to death, I won't fight back.' That's the true heart of this little fiend—how rare! Chen Ping'an knows this, which is why he's in even more pain. Chen Ping'an once heard Liu Xianyang, back when he was dying, say without any resentment toward Chen Ping'an, just a single line: 'Chen Ping'an, I don't want to die. I really don't want to die.' So now Chen Ping'an is even more pained."

"Human nature is like this. A frog at the bottom of a well will still puff up its belly and croak in protest. The more someone leaves the well, the more any principles they speak to those still at the bottom are just empty talk. Because deep down, those below will keep telling themselves that those principles are highbrow, not for people rolling in the mud. If they listen, truly listen, it means death. But Chen Ping'an has already realized this."

"So what he said on the way to Gu Can's mansion and what he said at the dinner table after eating that bowl of rice are worlds apart. Unfortunately, Gu Can was too young back in Clay Vase Alley. He never truly saw what Chen Ping'an went through at his age, nor did he witness the suffering and torment Chen Ping'an endured on his long journey. What Gu Can saw was Chen Ping'an carrying a sword, giving a jade pendant to the little loach, and being full of principles after learning so much. As for how Chen Ping'an got to where he is today, he doesn't understand, and he might not even want to. On the other hand, Chen Ping'an is willing to think more, to think deeper, which only makes the tangled mess more chaotic. If their roles were reversed—if Chen Ping'an had Gu Can's personality and had walked far, while Gu Can, with Chen Ping'an's personality, had survived on Green Gorge Island—then today wouldn't be this deadlock. But then, we wouldn't be sitting here either."

Cui Chan said to Cui Dongshan, "Actually, your master has done quite well."

Cui Dongshan scowled. "Can those old dog eyes of yours still see anything beautiful?"

Cui Chan wasn't bothered. He smiled and said, "On this trip to Green Gorge Island, the best thing Chen Ping'an did was in two phrases, four characters—the ones you, little brat, told me about: cutting off and delimiting, applied above human relationships."

"On the boat, he first took the only common ground between Chen Ping'an and Gu Can and laid it out in front of them. Otherwise, Chen Ping'an would have lost right there on the boat, and you and I could have left this Pool Water City. That was testing the assassin—both to learn more about the hearts of people in Letter Sea Lake and to finally tell Gu Can that the assassin deserved death anywhere, and that Chen Ping'an was willing to listen to Gu Can's own reasoning. If Chen Ping'an had raised his own principles too high, deliberately placing himself at a moral peak to try to influence Gu Can, then Gu Can might have felt that Chen Ping'an was no longer the same Chen Ping'an from before, and everything would have been lost."

"After getting off the boat, he placed the jade pendant of the Confucian Temple's attendant sage in front of Liu Zhimao, a Nascent Soul cultivator with enough vision, to keep this River-Cutting True Lord from interfering."

"At the dinner table, after eating, he isolated Gu Can's mother, preventing her from interfering too much with him and Gu Can."

"Otherwise, this would be a mess, and with Chen Ping'an added, it would only get worse."

Cui Dongshan sneered, "Even so, what use is it? Isn't it still a deadlock?"

Cui Chan nodded. "But as long as Chen Ping'an can't get past that hurdle in his heart, whatever he does next will just create new knots. Even if Gu Can is willing to admit his mistakes, so what? With so many innocent people having died unjustly, they'll be like lingering ghosts, constantly knocking on the door of Chen Ping'an's heart, crying out for justice, day and night, questioning his... conscience. The first difficulty is whether Gu Can is willing to admit his mistakes. The second difficulty is how Chen Ping'an can sort through all the principles he's read in books, heard from others, and figured out himself, to find the foundation of his own principles. The third difficulty is whether, after knowing all this, he'll find out that he himself was wrong, and whether he can hold on to his original heart. The fourth difficulty is how Chen Ping'an will act. The hardest are the third and fourth. He's doomed to fail at the third."

Cui Dongshan directly asked about Chen Ping'an's final mental barrier, "The fourth difficulty?"

Cui Chan seemed to be playing coy. "The difficulty lies in there being countless difficulties."

Cui Dongshan responded with a sneer.

Cui Chan wasn't bothered. "If Chen Ping'an really had the skill to face the fourth difficulty, then when we see it, it will clearly tell us a truth: why there are so many fools and villains in the world, and why everyone knows so many principles but still lives worse than dogs. Then they all become like Zhu Lu, that Empress Dowager of our Great Li, or Du Mao. Why we will never be like Qi Jingchun or A Liang. But unfortunately, Chen Ping'an won't reach this step, because if he does, he's already lost. If you're interested, you can stay here and watch your master waste away, becoming gaunt and haggard. As for me, I'll definitely leave long before that."

Cui Dongshan said, "Oh? Are you leaving in a hurry to reincarnate?"

Cui Chan laughed heartily, raised a finger, and pointed at Cui Dongshan. "You should learn from your master—learn to stay calm, learn to control your anger, so you can restrain yourself."

Cui Chan looked back at the painting on the ground. "I think Gu Can still won't admit he's wrong. What do you think?"

Cui Dongshan closed his eyes again. It wasn't playing dead; it was more like waiting to die.

Cui Chan muttered to himself, "They say all feasts must end. Sometimes it's that the people are gone, but the feast is still laid out, waiting for people to take their seats one by one. But at this table on Green Gorge Island, even though the people are still here, the feast has long since ended. Everyone speaks their own words, drinks their own wine. What kind of reunion feast is that? It isn't, not anymore."

—

Chen Ping'an was led by Gu Can to a lavishly decorated room. It wasn't a separate courtyard.

It was right next to one of the rooms Gu Can occasionally stayed in.

Chen Ping'an told Gu Can to go spend more time with his mother.

Gu Can closed the door, thought about it, and decided not to go to his mother. Instead, he went for a walk alone, with the little loach following close behind.

It spoke to him through heart-lake telepathy, "When Liu Zhimao saw that jade token, he didn't believe it at first. After confirming it was real, he looked scared out of his wits."

Gu Can laughed and replied in his heart-lake, "I told you, Chen Ping'an would definitely become something amazing. You didn't believe me before. How about now? Do you believe me now?"

It sighed softly.

Gu Can really wanted to go right now and kill that Golden Core female cultivator who was locked up in the water prison.

But after talking with Chen Ping'an, he knew that killing that assassin from the Zhu Ying Dynasty would be pointless and wouldn't help.

What made Chen Ping'an angry wasn't those assassins.

It wasn't the hostile cultivators either. It was the low-ranking young women who died in the little loach's mouth, the ants on various islands who were implicated and effectively "executed with their entire families."

It was in those like the little snot-nosed kid from Clay Vase Alley and the Dragon Kiln apprentice.

Gu Can suddenly asked, "There are some things I want to say to Chen Ping'an. But is it appropriate to go see him now?"

The little loach, appearing in the form of a young girl, scratched its head—a habit Gu Can had picked up from Chen Ping'an, and it had picked up from Gu Can.

Gu Can laughed. "So silly."

It quickly put its hand down and smiled sheepishly.

Gu Can waved his hand. "Let's go. He's Chen Ping'an, after all. What can't I say to him?"

Gu Can looked around. He felt that Green Gorge Island, which had always seemed repulsive, had become charming and lovely now that that person had arrived.

If one day Chen Ping'an stopped being angry and was willing to stay in his new home, then this would definitely be the most beautiful place in the world!

When they returned to the outside of that room, before Gu Can could knock, Chen Ping'an said, "Come in."

Gu Can found Chen Ping'an standing at the door of the study. On the desk were brushes, paper, a carving knife, and a pile of bamboo slips.

Chen Ping'an seemed to want to write something?

Before Gu Can returned.

Chen Ping'an was engaging in self-reflection, trying to truly put himself in Gu Can's position and perspective to look at this Letter Sea Lake.

Chen Ping'an tried to go back to the very beginning.

Starting with the smallest principle.

This was the first step of the doctrine of sequence: establishing order.

Chen Ping'an knew that "talking to oneself" wouldn't work.

The two sat at the table in the living room. On shelves all around were an array of dazzling treasures and antiques.

Those were all carefully selected and prepared by Gu Can for Chen Ping'an.

According to Gu Can's original plan, this place should have been filled with low-ranking young women, and he would have said to Chen Ping'an, "See? Didn't I tell you back then? One day, I'd pick seventeen or eighteen girls as pretty and charming as that bitch Zhi Gui for you. And now I've done it!"

But now, of course, Gu Can didn't dare.

Gu Can sat down and got straight to the point. "Chen Ping'an, I basically understand why you're angry. But my mother was present at the time, so I couldn't say this directly—I was afraid she'd think it was all her fault. And even if it makes you even angrier, I still think I didn't do anything wrong in the things that made you angry."

Chen Ping'an said softly, "It doesn't matter. This time, let's not say everything in one breath. I'll speak slowly, and you can answer slowly."

Gu Can nodded.

Chen Ping'an suddenly said, "Gu Can, are you disappointed?"

Gu Can shook his head. "I don't like anyone lecturing me. If anyone dares to nag me like that, I either beat them or beat them to death—mostly the latter. Anyway, you'll find out sooner or later. And you said yourself, no matter what, I have to tell the truth, my true feelings. You can't get angry at me for that."

Chen Ping'an nodded and asked, "First, that guest elder who deserved to die, and your senior brother—the cultivators, servants, and maids in their mansions. The little loach had already killed so many people, and when it left, it still killed them all. Forget what I think about it. Tell me yourself: was it really that important to kill them or not?"

Gu Can was indeed honest. "Not that important, but killing them made things better. So I didn't stop the little loach. In this Letter Sea Lake, that's the most correct method. If you want to kill someone, if you want revenge, you have to wipe out the enemy completely, raze an entire island to the ground, or there will be endless trouble. In Letter Sea Lake, there really are many who slipped through the net back then, and decades or centuries later, they suddenly pop up and kill the entire family of the person who wronged them, leaving no one alive. That's normal. I've already prepared myself for the day I'll be killed for no reason. When that day comes, I won't beg for mercy on my knees, and I won't ask who they are or why they're killing me. So I've already started planning how to secure a way out for my mother. I've thought of many things, but for now, I don't think any of them are foolproof, so I'm still thinking. After all, the only people in the world I care about are my mother, you, Chen Ping'an, and now my father, even though he's an yin spirit and I have no memories of him. As long as I know that the three of you won't suffer because of me, then even if I die someday, I'll die without regret!"

Chen Ping'an listened carefully to Gu Can, didn't say whether it was right or wrong, and just asked another question. "Then, when you were able to protect yourself on Green Gorge Island, why did you deliberately let one assassin go, letting them continue to try to kill you?"

Gu Can said, "That's also a way to deter bad people. You have to scare them so much that their hearts tremble, frighten them out of their wits, so that all potential enemies nip their bad intentions in the bud. Besides the little loach fighting, I also have to show that I'm worse and smarter than them. Otherwise, they'll get restless and think they have a chance. I'm not just making this up, Chen Ping'an; you saw it yourself. Even after I did all that, and the little loach was ruthless enough, there are still assassins from the Zhu Ying Dynasty who won't give up and keep coming to kill me, right? Today it's an eighth-tier swordsman; next time it'll definitely be a ninth-tier swordsman."

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment, drew a line on the table with his finger, and said to himself, "According to your logic, I kind of understand your thinking now. Hmm, this is your principle, Gu Can, and it makes sense in Letter Sea Lake. But it doesn't make sense to me. However, not all paths in the world are occupied by me, Chen Ping'an, and my principles aren't suitable for everyone and every place. So I still won't judge who's right or wrong between us. Then let me ask you another question: if it wouldn't harm you or your auntie... forget it, according to your and Letter Sea Lake's logic, it wouldn't work."

Gu Can was baffled. Chen Ping'an hadn't even finished his thought before he negated himself?

Is this how you reason with people?

If you're arguing, or to put it more nicely, reasoning with someone, isn't it all about being right on every point, never giving an inch, and talking them to death? It's like fighting: you have to kill them in one go.

Then Gu Can couldn't help but laugh, but he quickly forced himself to hold it in. If he laughed out loud now, he was afraid Chen Ping'an would slap him again. Could he even fight back?

He could only take it.

Besides, Gu Can wasn't the least bit angry about being slapped by Chen Ping'an.

No one in the world, not even his mother, would hit him, Gu Can.

Only Chen Ping'an would. It wasn't because he hated him, but because he truly cared, truly got angry, truly disappointed—that's when he hit him.

That's what Gu Can learned back in Clay Vase Alley.

Why, among all the so-called Ten Heroes of Letter Sea Lake, was the one Gu Can was closest to that idiot Fan Yan?

It was because a truly brainless simpleton like Fan Yan could say stupid things like, "When my mother hits me lightly, it makes me feel a little sorry for her."

At that moment, the little loach also had a hint of a smile on its face.

No matter what, Chen Ping'an hadn't changed.

Even though Gu Can himself had changed so much, Chen Ping'an was still the same Chen Ping'an.

Right now, Chen Ping'an wasn't in a hurry to speak.

Earlier, at the desk, when he was about to pick up his brush, he thought of something he had said to Pei Qian, about March carp and spring birds. At that time, Chen Ping'an had explained to Pei Qian that it was a very precious kindness from someone who had enough to eat and warm clothes, but you couldn't talk about such compassion to someone who was starving—it wouldn't be right. If people don't even pity the dying, and they skip over that to pity birds and frogs, then according to the doctrine of sequence that the Sage of Wen had taught Chen Ping'an, that was wrong.

So when Chen Ping'an applied this reasoning to Letter Sea Lake and Green Gorge Island, it was just that.

This wasn't about doing good deeds or not. It was about how Gu Can and his mother should survive.

That's why Chen Ping'an suddenly began to reflect.

Right and wrong have their order.

Weigh the large and small.

Determine good and evil.

You can't skip any step and then talk about your principles with Gu Can.

If you haven't thought it through clearly yourself, then no matter what you say, it's wrong. Even if it's right, the most correct principle is just a castle in the air.

Thinking of that principle he told Pei Qian naturally led to thoughts of Pei Qian's hometown, Lotus Flower Paradise, and then to that time when he was restless and went to the Heart-Phase Temple near Scholar Lane, where he met the kind-faced old monk. Finally, he remembered what the old monk, who didn't like to talk about Buddhist teachings, said to him before he died: "Never go to extremes in anything. When reasoning with people, the worst thing is to want to take all the right for yourself. The worst thing is, once you have a falling-out with someone, to see none of their goodness."

Finally, Chen Ping'an recalled the Sage of Wen, drunk, saying, "How many books have you read that you dare say this world is 'just like this'? How many people have you met that you dare say men and women are 'all the same'? How much peace and suffering have you seen with your own eyes that you dare judge others' good and evil?"

So before Gu Can came, Chen Ping'an picked up his brush and wrote on two pieces of paper: "Establish order" and "Weigh the large and small."

He placed them side by side but didn't take out a third piece of paper to write "Determine good and evil."

On the first paper, "Establish order," Chen Ping'an began writing a series of names.

Gu Can, Auntie, Liu Zhimao, Green Gorge Island's chief guest elder, senior brother, the Golden Core assassin... and finally, "Chen Ping'an."

After writing them, looking at those nameless guest elders, senior brothers, assassins, and so on, Chen Ping'an sank into deep thought.

Then Gu Can arrived.

So he put down the brush and left the desk.

Now Gu Can saw Chen Ping'an starting to daydream again.

Gu Can didn't disturb him. He lay down on the table. The little loach hesitated, then mustered its courage and lay down beside Gu Can.

Two heads, both staring at Chen Ping'an, whose brows were tightly furrowed.

This little loach was actually very curious about Chen Ping'an, who should have been its master.

Deep in Gu Can's heart, there was a bizarre thought: if one day Gu Can's own abilities were high enough, he would return the little loach to Chen Ping'an.

Even for friends Gu Can acknowledged, like Lü Caisang, at most if Lü Caisang was killed, Gu Can would help him get revenge—that was already being a good friend.

Gu Can, lying there, asked, "Chen Ping'an, back then, wasn't that bowl of rice from my mother just a bowl of rice? Even if you went knocking on other people's doors, begging the neighbors, you wouldn't really have starved to death, right?"

Chen Ping'an nodded. "That's why I'm even more grateful to Auntie."

Gu Can asked, "Just because of that sentence?"

Chen Ping'an said slowly, "You forgot? I told you, my mother only told me never to do two things in life: one is to be a beggar, and the other is to be a kiln worker at the Dragon Kiln."

Gu Can sighed.

Gu Can asked again, "Looking at it now, even if I hadn't given you that tattered boxing manual back then, even without Mountain-Shattering Fist, there might have been some Water-Shattering Fist or City-Shattering Fist, right?"

Chen Ping'an nodded again but said, "But that's not how you reason it."

The world gives you a kindness. That doesn't mean that when one day the world gives you malice, even if that malice is far greater than the kindness, you have to completely deny the world. That bit of kindness is still there. Remember it, hold onto it, recall it often.

This was the "thread barrier" that Cui Dongshan had mentioned. Each right and wrong exists independently, like the lotus in a small cave heaven that the Dao Ancestor observed. On a small scale, each right and wrong; on a larger scale, each doctrine of the Hundred Schools of Thought. It's like each lotus flower emerging from the water. Though underground in the mud, there are complex, intertwined connections, like broken lotus roots that are still connected. But if you can't even see the obvious lotus flowers and leaves on the surface, how can you see the truth beneath the water?

Gu Can laughed. "Chen Ping'an, why can't you ever change?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment. "Maybe it's because I've been luckier than you. At some very important moments, I met good people."

Gu Can shook his head vigorously. "That's not it at all. I met you too, and I was so small then."

Gu Can sniffled. "Back then, I had two streams of snot every day."

Chen Ping'an scrunched up his face, as if trying to smile.

Gu Can found an excuse and left with the little loach.

When the door closed and the footsteps faded away, Chen Ping'an's expression and spirit seemed to collapse. After a long time, he wiped his face. There were no tears.

Chen Ping'an let out a soft breath, walked back to the study, and sat down at the desk.

He stood up again. Chen Ping'an took off the Sword Immortal at his waist and the Sword-Nurturing Gourd, placing them on one side of the desk.

On the paper with "Weigh the large and small," he wrote four lines.

Local customs of a region.

Laws of a nation.

Rituals of a continent.

Morality of the world.

After writing, Chen Ping'an looked haggard. He picked up the Sword-Nurturing Gourd and took a sip of wine to refresh himself.

Then, after "Local customs of a region," he added three characters: Letter Sea Lake.

—

Gu Can returned to his room, where three low-ranking young women were waiting. One was sent by Fan Yan of Pool Water City, a fallen daughter of an official from the Shi Hao Kingdom. One was from Su Lin Island, whose entire sect had been wiped out by Green Gorge Island, and who had been forcibly taken by Gu Can. One was an outer disciple from Shu Ku Island, who had volunteered to become a low-ranking young woman.

Gu Can sat at the table, propping his cheek with one hand, and made the three young women stand in a row. "I'm going to ask you a question. Answer honestly, and you'll all be heavily rewarded. If you dare lie to me, consider it an appetizer for the little loach today. As for whether telling the truth will anger me... well, before, maybe. Not today. Today, as long as you tell the truth, I'll be happy."

The three young women, each with different looks but all quite charming, were trembling with fear, not knowing what this unpredictable little master wanted to do.

Gu Can asked, "Do you think becoming a low-ranking young woman is a good thing or a bad thing? Good—how good? Bad—how bad?"

The young woman from Shu Ku Island immediately replied, "Reporting to the young master, for this servant, it's a great thing. Not only did I survive from all of Shu Ku Island, but I no longer have to live in fear every day. The young master doesn't bully or kill us wantonly. Young master, you don't know how many young female cultivators in Letter Sea Lake want to become maids by your side."

The second young woman, from a noble family in Shi Hao Kingdom, hesitated. "This servant thinks it's neither good nor bad. After all, I've fallen from a legitimate daughter of a noble family to a servant. But compared to becoming a courtesan in a brothel or a plaything for some crude brute, it's much better."

The last young woman, the direct disciple of the island lord of Su Lin Island, said coldly, "I wish I could cut you into a thousand pieces, young master!"

Gu Can wasn't the least bit angry. He asked, "Su Lin Island was going to be destroyed anyway. You dared to secretly collude with the other eight major islands to try to attack our Green Gorge Island. Do you know how your sect died? They died of stupidity. Of the nine major islands, yours was closest to us, and you still acted so recklessly. That senior brother of yours, how did he become a low-ranking guest elder on Green Gorge Island? Don't you really know? Why do you hate an outsider like me? Just because me and the little loach killed a few more people? Hating is fine, but at least you should be a little grateful that I saved you, right? Otherwise, right now, you'd be a plaything between your senior brother's legs. You've heard about the bedroom habits he's been slowly revealing, haven't you?"

The young woman gritted her teeth. "Grateful? I wish I could pluck out your eyeballs and make them into a drinking snack!"

Gu Can chuckled. "Before, I didn't think much of you, but now I find you the most interesting. Rewards, heavy rewards. Of the three of you, you get double the reward."

Gu Can waved his hand. "All of you, leave. Go collect your rewards."

Gu Can asked softly, "Little loach, do you think I'm wrong?"

The little loach sat beside him and said gently, "No, I think the master and Chen Ping'an are both not wrong. It's just that Chen Ping'an is more... correct? But that doesn't mean the master is wrong, either."

Gu Can turned his head and laughed. "Little loach, your brain used to be so slow. How come you're so smart today?"

The little loach suddenly seemed a bit down. "Master, I'm sorry."

Gu Can laughed heartily. "Sorry for what? Are you afraid of Chen Ping'an? Look at me—am I afraid of Chen Ping'an? Crying and sniffling, and I'm not even embarrassed. What are you sorry about?"

The little loach shook its head, perking up again.

Gu Can crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not even afraid of my mother. In all the world, I'm only afraid of Chen Ping'an. I think we're already pretty heroic."

Gu Can suddenly slumped his head. "Little loach, why can't Chen Ping'an just turn a blind eye? Why does he have to lecture me with all those principles I definitely won't listen to?"

The little loach shook its head vigorously.

Gu Can extended a finger. "That's why I say you're stupid. I know it."

Gu Can muttered to himself, "Chen Ping'an is being stupid again, trying to give me the thing he values most. But this time, it's not food or clothes or fun things, so I don't really want to accept it."

The little loach leaned forward, extended a finger, and gently smoothed the furrow between Gu Can's brows.

—

At dawn, the sky gradually turned a fish-belly white.

Chen Ping'an, who hadn't slept all night, closed the door, left the house, and walked out of the mansion to take a walk.

Gu Can, dressed in an ink-green python robe, quickly caught up.

In the lake waters near Green Gorge Island, the little loach appeared in its true form, slowly swimming.

Chen Ping'an said, "I said a lot yesterday, hoping you would admit your mistakes. Later, I realized that was very difficult. It doesn't matter. What I'm about to say today, I hope you will remember. Because I'm not trying to convince you; I'm just telling you about some possibilities you might not have thought of. If you don't want to listen, just remember them—maybe one day you'll need them. Can you do that?"

Gu Can nodded. "No problem. I've kept what you said yesterday in my heart too."

Chen Ping'an held a tree branch in his hand, lightly poking the ground as he walked slowly. "In this world, not everyone can be me, Chen Ping'an, and not everyone can be you, Gu Can. That would be wrong."

"It's precisely because there are good people like this and that in the world, many we've seen and many more we haven't, that you and I are still alive today, able to sit there yesterday and talk about our respective principles."

"Saying this isn't to prove that you, Gu Can, are definitely wrong. It's that I hope you will understand more about this world, know more. The martial world isn't just Letter Sea Lake. One day, you will leave here, just like when you left your hometown town back then."

Saying this, Chen Ping'an walked off the white-jade stone path toward the lakeshore, with Gu Can following closely.

Chen Ping'an squatted down and used the branch as a pen to draw a circle on the ground. "Let me tell you about a principle I came up with through random thinking. It's not yet complete. It came from a friend I met in the martial world on Parasol Leaf Continent. The first time I heard about the division of sages, gentlemen, and worthies in the academies, it sparked this idea, which I then expanded on."

Gu Can muttered, "Why didn't I meet any good friends in Letter Sea Lake?"

Gu Can wished that Chen Ping'an had no other friends in the world but him.

Chen Ping'an smiled slightly. Inside the small circle he had drawn, he wrote two characters: Worthy. "To become a worthy of the seventy-two academies, the academy has rules: this worthy, through extensive reading and contemplation, must create a personal doctrine applicable to a whole country, a governing strategy beneficial to the nation's landscape."

Then Chen Ping'an drew a slightly larger circle and wrote the word Gentleman. "If the worthy's doctrine can be applied to an entire continent, he can become a gentleman."

Finally, Chen Ping'an drew an even larger circle and wrote the word Sage. "If the gentleman's doctrine grows even greater, to the point of proposing universal principles that cover the entire world, he can become an academy sage."

Chen Ping'an pointed at the three circles. "Look, just by looking at these three circles, it seems to suggest that even the Confucian academies advocate 'standpoints'—the worthy, the gentleman, and the sage each have their own standpoints. So then, why would we be wrong to talk about standpoints and not ask about right and wrong? The common folk, the officials, the generals, the rogue cultivators, the registered immortal masters—why are we wrong? Do you know why?"

Gu Can felt a headache coming on and shook his head.

Chen Ping'an said, "First, standpoints can exist, and it's hard not to have them, but that doesn't mean you can 'only' talk about your own standpoint and ignore everything else. That kind of clear conscience is narrow-minded. Whether in learning or in conduct, the most fundamental foundation is the same. The worthy, the gentleman, and the sage are connected; the common folk, emperors, generals, and Qi practitioners are connected. So in the orthodox Confucian Temple in the Central Divine Continent, the writings of successive Confucian sages—the greater the learning, the lower and more unbreakable they are. I've heard that even so, in history, as time passed, even the golden words of great sages have lost their luster."

Seeing Gu Can growing even more bewildered, Chen Ping'an twitched the corner of his mouth—a semblance of a smile. "These words are what I thought about last night, wanting to say them to you to hear. But actually, I was saying them more to myself."

Chen Ping'an stood up and looked around. "Green Gorge Island is a circle, and the sect rules are set by Liu Zhimao. On a smaller scale, the place where you and Auntie live is also a circle, with many household rules set by you and Auntie. On a larger scale, Letter Sea Lake is still a circle, with rules that are the customs bought by countless rogue cultivators with blood and lives. On an even larger scale, the central region of Vase Bottle Continent, where Guan Hu Academy draws its circles. On a smaller scale again, you and me—our own principles are the smallest circles in heaven and earth, only constraining ourselves. Someone once said that in the mortal world, using relatively high morals to discipline yourself is better."

Chen Ping'an seemed to be questioning himself. He leaned on the branch, muttering, "Do you know what I'm most afraid of? It's that the principles that convince me in the moment and help me suffer less, that help me get through the current difficulty, will become my principles for a lifetime. The river of time, ever-present yet hard to see, keeps flowing. As I said just now, in this irreversible process, even the golden words of many sages will grow dim."

"The principles of yesterday can become no principles at all."

Gu Can suddenly tilted his head and said, "What you're saying today is that you, Chen Ping'an, hope I know I'm wrong, right?"

But Chen Ping'an didn't answer Gu Can. He continued as if talking to himself, "But I think some things, at the very bottom, the lowest—so low they've fallen onto the muddy road of our Clay Vase Alley, covered in chicken shit and dog dung—these things won't change. What they were like ten thousand years ago, they are today, and they will be the same ten thousand years from now."

"For example, when we were about to starve to death... I didn't think about stealing or robbing. I remember the bowl of rice Auntie gave me when she opened the door. I'll remember it for a lifetime. I also remember that when someone wanted to give me a sugar-coated hawthorn stick, I held back and didn't take it. Do you know what I told myself in my heart as I ran away?"

As long as it didn't involve admitting he was wrong, Gu Can was more interested. He asked, curiously, "What was that?"

Chen Ping'an gazed into the distance. "If I took it, it would be wrong. Because at that time, I still had a few copper coins on me. I wouldn't starve to death immediately. So I couldn't take that sugar-coated hawthorn stick. Because I was afraid that after eating something so delicious, I would find that a life satisfied with a bowl of rice would become unbearable. It would make my future days even harder. I would eat a bowl of rice that was sixty percent filling, and I still wouldn't be happy. Would I then go every day to ask that person for a sugar-coated hawthorn stick? Even if he was still willing to give me charity each time, one day his stall would be gone. What would I do then?"

Chen Ping'an's expression was dazed. "But you know? At that moment, none of these principles could outweigh the temptation of that sugar-coated hawthorn stick. I really, really wanted to turn around and tell that vendor, 'I changed my mind, just give me one.' Do you know how I made myself not turn around?"

Chen Ping'an answered his own question. "I told myself, 'Chen Ping'an, Chen Ping'an, what are you craving? Maybe one day your father will come back. Then you can eat as many as you want! He promised you that next time he came home, he would bring you sugar-coated hawthorn sticks.' So later, when I secretly went back to that place and didn't see that vendor anymore, I was a little sad. Not because I missed out on free sugar-coated hawthorn sticks, but because I was worried that if my father came home, he wouldn't be able to buy any."

Gu Can reached out, wanting to tug on the sleeve of the person beside him, but he didn't dare.

Chen Ping'an murmured, "People need something to hold on to, don't they?"

"Do you think I didn't know my father would never come back?"

"I knew."

"But I still thought that way."

"You know, when you were little, Little Snot, and we walked at night, you always asked me why I wasn't afraid of ghosts. It wasn't that I was never afraid from the start. But one day, I suddenly thought: if ghosts really exist in this world, then maybe I could see my parents through them. Once I thought that, I became much braver."

"But I was also a little worried. My parents were so good. If they really became ghosts, they would be good ghosts. Would they be bullied by evil ghosts, so they couldn't come to see me?"

After saying this, Chen Ping'an turned around and ruffled Gu Can's head. "Let me walk alone for a bit. You go do your own thing."

Gu Can nodded and quietly left.

After walking a long way, Gu Can turned to look back. A strange thought suddenly arose in his heart.

It seemed that Chen Ping'an wasn't as angry or sad as yesterday.

But he seemed more... disappointed. Yet not in him, Gu Can.

—

That night, Gu Can saw that the lights in Chen Ping'an's room were still on, so he went to knock on the door.

Chen Ping'an walked around the desk to the table in the main hall and asked, "Still not asleep?"

Gu Can smiled. "You're awake too."

Gu Can had seen earlier that the desk was piled high with papers covered in dense writing, but not a single crumpled ball in the wastebasket. He asked, "Practicing calligraphy?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Just thinking randomly, writing randomly. I've been reading and listening all these years, but I still haven't thought enough."

Gu Can asked, "So, have you come up with anything?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment. "I was just thinking about a sentence: in this world, the true freedom of the strong should be bounded by the weak."

Gu Can rolled his eyes. "What kind of strong person am I? And how old am I now?"

Chen Ping'an said, "It has something to do with age, but not necessarily. I've met many powerful opponents before: a empress of Great Li, an old flood dragon more powerful than the little loach is now, a flying-ascension realm cultivator. I can't say they were purely evil. In many people's eyes, they were also good people. But at the very least, they didn't understand this principle."

"This is one of my most precious principles. It's because you're Gu Can that I'm telling you. Whether you listen or not is up to you. But precisely because you're Gu Can, I hope you'll take it to heart. You're so young, and you already want to protect your mother well. You are a strong person—stronger than many, many adults."

Gu Can lay on the table and laughed. "My mother said that when you were little, you did so many things for your mother. She always nags me about being ungrateful, saying she gave birth to a white-eyed wolf."

Chen Ping'an said slowly, "Let's not talk about right and wrong or good and evil for now. If everyone in the world thought like you do now, Gu Can, what do you think the world would become?"

Gu Can shook his head. "I never think about things like that."

Chen Ping'an nodded.

That was precisely Gu Can's true inner thought.

Gu Can was afraid Chen Ping'an would get angry, so he explained, "I'm telling the truth. Say what I think, say what I feel—that's what Chen Ping'an himself said."

Chen Ping'an changed the subject. "If everyone were like you, Gu Can, our hometown town wouldn't have had Teacher Qi at the private school, or our neighbor Grandpa Liu in Clay Vase Alley, or Grandma Liu, or Uncle Zhao, who often helped your mother harvest rice and fight for water."

Gu Can said, "I don't think it matters if they were there or not. Even with them, it didn't matter. My mother and I survived anyway. At worst, I'd get a few more beatings, my mother would get her face scratched a few more times. I'd eventually kill them one by one. As for the former, I'd repay them one by one too. Immortal money? Grand mansions? Beautiful women? Whatever they want, I'll give it to them!"

"So there would be no me in Clay Vase Alley."

Gu Can's eyes widened. "That won't do!"

Chen Ping'an, his face slightly pale, smiled.

After a moment of silence, Chen Ping'an said, "Gu Can, I know you've been telling me the truth all along. That's why I'm willing to sit here. Now I hope you'll tell me the truth for one last question."

"Okay!"

"Do you like killing people?"

Gu Can hesitated, but then a smile slowly spread across his face. His eyes were fervent and sincere. He said resolutely, "Yes!"

Gu Can's smile was brilliant, but tears began to flow. "Chen Ping'an, I don't want to lie to you!"

Chen Ping'an smiled too. He reached out and wiped away Gu Can's tears. "It's okay. I think I was wrong. My principles can't clearly decide right and wrong. But I'm still Chen Ping'an, and you're still Little Snot."

Gu Can asked worriedly, "Are you angry with me?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head. "I'm not angry with you."

Gu Can muttered, "But you're still angry."

Chen Ping'an said, "I'll try not to be angry with anyone."

After Gu Can left.

Chen Ping'an stood up and walked toward the desk but stopped.

He was about to turn around to sit at the table and rest, but he didn't really want to.

He just stood there.

Chen Ping'an tucked his hands into his sleeves, bent slightly, and thought.

The old monk in the small temple in Nanyuan Kingdom had said a saying: "Lay down the butcher's knife, and become a Buddha on the spot."

But Gu Can didn't think he was wrong. The butcher's knife in his heart was still tightly gripped in his hand. He had no intention of laying it down.

So what he had said to Pei Qian—"Yesterday's things die yesterday; today's things are born today"—was also empty talk.

Defeating the bandits in the mountains is easy; defeating the bandits in the heart is hard.

Now Chen Ping'an felt that these "bandits in the heart" had moved from Gu Can's side to his own. They had pushed open the door of his mind and taken up residence. He couldn't kill them, couldn't chase them away.

Because he couldn't get past that hurdle in his own heart.

Gu Can was someone he would never abandon.

That old Sword Immortal, the elder named Chen Qingdu, had said that he spent his whole life talking about principles in everything, doing everything by principles, just so that occasionally he didn't have to be so principled.

But Chen Ping'an knew that even though the old senior didn't talk about principles anymore, the principles were still in his heart. It was just that even someone like that old Sword Immortal sometimes couldn't get his principles across, so he had no choice but to draw his sword.

Chen Ping'an felt a sense of bewilderment.

He suddenly realized that he had said all the principles he knew in this lifetime, maybe even all the principles he would ever want to say to anyone.

—

Inside the tall building at Pool Water City, Cui Dongshan murmured, "Good advice is hard to give to someone who's bent on self-destruction!"

Cui Chan smiled. "The wonder of the Great Way is that people like Gu Can, more than so-called mediocre good people, can rise above."

Cui Dongshan turned his head and glared at Cui Chan. "Did you secretly arrange for someone to protect Gu Can? Deliberately encourage him to cause such havoc?"

Cui Chan retorted, "If I had arranged for someone to successfully assassinate Gu Can's mother and then blocked Chen Ping'an's journey south, and then let Ruan Xiu accidentally injure Gu Can, wouldn't that make the deadlock even tighter? But do I need to arrange that? I don't. Of course, doing so would lose the subtlety of the timing, lack the most intriguing diluted charm. The paths left for Chen Ping'an to choose would be fewer, seemingly narrower, more like dead ends. But that would actually make it easier for Chen Ping'an to go to extremes. If he followed his heart, he might punch Gu Can to death or stab him with his sword, or just kill himself. A deadlock that just ends in death has no meaning. Even if it has some meaning, it's not enough. You won't be convinced, and I'll feel I've won unfairly."

Cui Dongshan looked desolate.

He suddenly erupted in fury, "Cui Chan, what has Chen Ping'an ever done wrong?!"

Cui Chan smiled helplessly. "How childish is that?"

Cui Dongshan roared, "Tell me!"

Cui Chan smiled, tilted his head, and raised his hand to his ear as if listening for an answer. "Confucius, Sage of Ritual—you have the most learning. Come, come, you tell me."

Cui Dongshan fell silent instantly.

Cui Chan smiled. "The situation is set. The only thing I still want to know is that line from the Legalists you wrote in the brocade pouch: 'Make no distinctions between close and distant; judge all by law alone'?"

Cui Dongshan shook his head, dazed. "It's not from the Legalists."

Cui Chan nodded. "Then it's not from the Buddhists either."

Cui Dongshan said blankly, "It's not from the doctrines of the Three Teachings or the Hundred Schools. It's not one of the many principles."

Cui Chan frowned.

—

Chen Ping'an tremblingly reached into his sleeve and took out the brocade pouch. Before parting at Red Candle Town, Pei Qian had given it to him, saying he must open it when he was angriest.

Chen Ping'an opened the pouch and took out a slip of paper.

On it was written, "Chen Ping'an, please don't be disappointed with this world."

After reading it, Chen Ping'an put it back into the pouch and returned it to his sleeve.

Chen Ping'an turned his head and looked out the window at the night sky, murmuring, "I'm just very disappointed in myself."

—

Inside the tall building, Cui Chan laughed heartily.

Cui Dongshan felt ashen as death.

Cui Chan laughed nonstop, extremely pleased.

This Grand Secretary of Great Li, Cui Chan, hadn't been this thoroughly satisfied in a very long time.

Cui Dongshan was about to stand up and walk out of that golden lightning pool he had drawn around himself.

Cui Chan suddenly narrowed his eyes.

In the painting, Chen Ping'an picked up the Sword-Nurturing Gourd and drank all the wine in one go.

Then he took out the Dharma robe, Golden Nectar, and stood still. The robe put itself on him.

Chen Ping'an then took out a Purifying Talisman and pasted it on one of the pillars of the room.

He closed his eyes.

Using a cultivator's inner vision, Chen Ping'an's spiritual consciousness arrived at the gate of the mansion where the golden moral heart resided.

The gate slowly opened.

Back when he had successfully refined this second lifebound object, the little golden Confucian-robed figure carrying a sword and books had said something to Chen Ping'an that even Mao Xiaodong couldn't figure out.

"To know one's mistakes and be able to correct them is the greatest good."

That was actually the deep worry Chen Ping'an harbored in his heart for Gu Can. It was a hint to himself: if you make a mistake, you can't refuse to admit it. It's not that because someone is close to me, I think they're not wrong and I want to shield them. Rather, those mistakes can be made up for.

But so many people had died.

And Gu Can wouldn't admit fault.

Now, how could he make up for it?

Right and wrong were right there. Chen Ping'an couldn't make an exception for himself, couldn't lie to himself.

Many people do many things and say many things, but that doesn't make them right.

The mansion gate slowly opened.

Chen Ping'an bowed in farewell to the little golden Confucian-robed figure.

The golden moral heart, which had already formed the embryonic form of a golden core and was on the verge of reaching the realm of "Morality Embodied," the little golden Confucian-robed figure, with thousands of words, only gave a single sigh. It bowed respectfully, just like Chen Ping'an, in farewell.

With a loud crash.

Within the entire microcosm of the human body, it was like a death knell, echoing through heaven and earth.

The golden moral heart shattered with a bang. The little golden Confucian-robed figure, its sword that had recently become rusted, its books that had lost their luster, and the figure itself, melted like snow and disappeared.

In this house on Green Gorge Island, this room.

A bloody smell wafted up.

Chen Ping'an stumbled and fell to the ground, sitting cross-legged.

He struggled to his feet, pushed aside all the papers, and began to write letters. He wrote three.

—

Cui Dongshan's eyes were icy cold. "I lost."

A long silence.

Cui Dongshan was somewhat puzzled. He turned to look.

Cui Chan was sitting up straight, as if facing a great enemy!

—

The next day, a very strange person suddenly appeared on Green Gorge Island.

First, he sent three secret letters by flying sword.

As for what was written and to whom, this person was a honored guest of Gu Can—who would dare to spy?

The three letters were sent respectively to Wei Po of Dragon Spring Commandery, Zhong Kui of Parasol Leaf Continent, and Fan Junmao of Old Dragon City.

He asked if there was any shortcut to quickly becoming proficient in the immortal arts of condensing souls and gathering spirits. He asked about the intricacies of how a person becomes a ghostly yin spirit after death or how reincarnation works. He asked if there were any long-lost ancient secret arts that could summon the "ancestors" from the underworld to help the living converse with them.

After that, this person rented a small hut near a mountain gate on Green Gorge Island.

On the table were brushes, ink, paper, and an ordinary abacus.

This person was young, but he looked dispirited, his face pale. However, he was neatly dressed, and no matter who he looked at, his eyes were bright.

He asked Tian Hujun of Green Gorge Island for all the files of the cultivators and menial workers on the island.

He was like... an accountant?