Chapter 433: Fists and Swords Can Both Be Set Aside, to Look at a Single Line

Chapter 433: Fists and Swords Can Both Be Set Aside, to Look at a Single Line

Chen Pingan exhaled softly, patted his cheeks, stood up, and returned to that room at the mountain gate.

From afar, the lamplight on the table shone through the window.

Chen Pingan subconsciously wanted to quicken his pace, then abruptly slowed down, letting out a silent, rueful laugh.

Since the age of four, there had never been a single time "coming home" where the lamp in the ancestral home on Mud Vase Alley would be waiting lit. After becoming a youth, he broke his oath and still went to be a kiln apprentice at the Dragon Kiln, earning a few copper coins. But every time he left the house, how could he not extinguish the lamp and let the oil dwindle? Today, when he left, he had already forgotten to put out the lamp. What would he accomplish by rushing to the room now? Blow it out? But he had no sleepiness at the moment, and was destined to read by lamplight through the night, then light the lamp again? What meaning was there in this cycle of extinguishing and lighting?

Chen Pingan simply walked slowly. Entering the room, he closed the door, sat behind the desk, and continued flipping through the Incense Fire Bureau archives and the ancestral hall genealogies of the various islands, checking for omissions and errors.

If the heart is not calm, don't practice fist techniques first. As for a qi refiner cultivating qi, that was even more out of the question.

Chen Pingan had known in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land that when the heart is in turmoil, no amount of fist practice is meaningful. That was why he often went to the small temple near Scholar Lane back then, to chat with the old monk who didn't like to discuss Buddhist doctrine.

Moreover, now Chen Pingan couldn't muster his spirit and energy—even more complicated than a restless heart. Those essences, qi, and spirit had fallen into the bottom of a well, bound by boulders. How could he lift them?

Yet this state of mind could also be considered another kind of "settled heart."

Chen Pingan closed those yellowed archives that had been poorly preserved. He picked up the ordinary small engraving knife that had been a gift from the shopkeeper when he bought the jade hairpin in that shop in the Great Sui capital back then, and lightly drew a dashed line on the table with the handle.

Thinking for a moment, Chen Pingan pulled out a sheet of rice paper he had cut to the size of a book cover. With his brush, he drew a straight line. At the two ends, he wrote in large characters "Gu Can's Great Wrong" and "Gu Can Turns to Good." Between "wrong" and "good," he wrote in tiny regular script "the local customs of the Book-Scouring Lake region." Just as he was about to write the laws of a country, he wiped out the previous seven characters. Not only that, he also erased "Gu Can Turns to Good." In the middle of the line, with slight spacing, he wrote two phrases: "Know the Wrong" and "Correct the Wrong." Soon, he smeared those out as well.

Finally, Chen Pingan crumpled the paper into a ball, but instead of throwing it into the bamboo wastebasket, he stowed it away in his storage item.

Chen Pingan tucked his hands into his sleeves, leaned back in his chair, extinguished the lamp, and closed his eyes, hovering between sleep and wakefulness. When he opened his eyes next, it was already the time of day when the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Often at midnight, a thousand years drift by; one fears that a single dawn might become a hundred.

Chen Pingan stood up. Without stretching his limbs, his bones and joints loosened on their own, producing a series of creaking sounds. He walked out of the room, intending to take a full circuit around Green Gorge Island. Green Gorge Island was the foremost large island in Book-Scouring Lake. It would probably take half a day just to walk around it. Currently, a young female cultivator from Green Gorge Island was responsible for his food, clothing, shelter, and daily needs near the room. Chen Pingan went to inform an old cultivator who lived nearby, guarding the mountain gate. When he saw the young female cultivator, he said that there was no need to deliver a food box today.

The old man was a Cavern Dwelling realm cultivator and quickly agreed.

Chen Pingan suddenly smiled and said, "I suspect she will prepare it anyway. If I'm not here, she won't dare to enter the room on her own. So let it be this way: for today's three meals, have her deliver them to your place. Let Elder Zhang enjoy the treat. Eat your fill without restraint. Consider it repayment for the stories Elder Zhang told me earlier about Green Gorge Island's past."

The old cultivator asked nervously, "Mr. Chen, I won't lose my life just because of a craving for good food, will I?"

Chen Pingan shook his head. "No."

The old cultivator was still a bit uneasy. Truly, having seen too many treacherous ups and downs on Green Gorge Island, he couldn't help but be timid. "Mr. Chen, don't deceive me. I know you mean well, seeing an old wreck like me living frugally, so you're helping improve my meals. But those delicacies are specially supplied to Spring Court Manor. If Mr. Chen leaves Green Gorge Island in a couple of days, some jealous scumbags hiding in the shadows will give me a hard time."

Chen Pingan said, "Then leave the Spring Court food boxes at Elder Zhang's place. I'll pick them up later."

The old cultivator smiled. "That's more reliable."

After Chen Pingan left, the old cultivator grumbled inwardly that this young man didn't know how to handle people. If he truly wanted to take pity on him, why not just give a word to Spring Court Manor? Then no one would dare to snub him. This so-called bookkeeper put on a hypocritical show, mystifying things every day in that room. In Book-Scouring Lake, old cultivators like him had seen plenty of such tricks—pretending to be spiritual or fishing for fame. They didn't live long.

Once the old cultivator started complaining, it was like a flood breaking a dam. He grumbled about how after that fellow settled down at the mountain gate, he had lost a lot of his own perks. He no longer dared to extort spirit coins from lower Five Realm cultivators. When he encountered some graceful young female cultivators, he could no longer talk dirty and pinch their buttocks as he used to.

He had thought he could cozy up to this bookkeeper, get familiar, and maybe even ride this misfortune into fortune, linking up with the Spring Court Manor line. He didn't dare hope for soaring success, but at least securing a lucrative post on Green Gorge Island wouldn't be bad, right? Who would have thought this bookkeeper was a man who couldn't be swayed by any means? No matter how many tricks the old cultivator used, flattering him in every way, either the fellow was a greenhorn who didn't understand the subtext, or he was playing dumb. His heart was detestable. He probably only had eyes for the high-fliers like Lu Cai Sang who were friends with that demon Gu Can, and looked down on old cultivators like him who had no future as a Cavern Dwelling realm cultivator. Truly hateful.

Chen Pingan walked slowly. Along the way, he detoured to climb mountains, stopping at the immortal dwellings of Green Gorge Island's dedicated cultivators, then turned back. By the time he returned to the main mountain gate of Green Gorge Island, it was already dusk.

From afar, Chen Pingan saw the young female cultivator from Spring Court Manor—rumored to be a close maid of Gu Can's mother—holding an exquisite food box in both hands, standing gracefully by the door. The old gatekeeper was bowing and scraping beside her, as if apologizing.

Chen Pingan quickened his pace, took the food box from the young female cultivator, and thanked her. The Spring Court Manor girl, with a fair, egg-shaped face, curtsied to Mr. Chen without saying much and left unhurriedly.

Chen Pingan returned to the room, opened the food box, placed all the dishes on the table—including two large bowls of rice—picked up his chopsticks, and ate slowly, chewing carefully.

Finally, he cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, put them back into the food box, and closed the lid.

Matters of life and death, right and wrong—they are not things that can be done with reasons and excuses, where Gu Can could convince himself in his heart, then erase them like words on paper.

Precisely because Gu Can did not admit his wrong, did not think it was wrong, this had become a deadly knot in Chen Pingan's heart.

Since Chen Pingan could not abandon Gu Can, and since he would not negate the fundamental right and wrong in his own heart because of local customs—those truths that had already sunk as low as the path of Mud Vase Alley, truths that could not be any lower—if Chen Pingan wanted to take the first step forward, trying to correct the wrong and make amends, he himself must first take a step back, first admit his own "insufficient rightness." Forget all the myriad principles for now; change paths, walk, and in the process refine his thoughts. Ultimately, it was still the hope that Gu Can could come to know his wrong.

To put it bluntly, there is only the sky that cannot be reached—the sky being eternal immortality—but there is no mountain that cannot be crossed—the mountain being the various obstacles in the human heart.

Chen Pingan wanted to face these obstacles head-on: his own, those of the dead, and those of the people still alive who cared about the dead—those human sufferings that would inevitably wear down the eternal blade in his heart.

Making mistakes leads to two outcomes: either err to the very end, or correct the error step by step. The former can bring temporary or even lifelong ease; at worst, on the deathbed, one can say, "Death is just death; in this life, I have no regrets." People in the martial world also like to shout, "Eighteen years later, I'll be a good man again." The latter is especially exhausting, both mentally and physically, and the effort may not even pay off.

Ten people plant poplars; one person uproots them—then there are no living poplars.

Chen Pingan wanted to first try to verify the two sides of this statement. As for right and wrong, whatever the final result, he would set it aside alongside the principles in the books.

During this time,

all Chen Pingan could do was to make Gu Can restrain himself a little, not continue to indiscriminately slaughter people.

He had said so much to Gu Can that in the end, Chen Pingan felt he had spoken a lifetime's worth of principles. Fortunately, although Gu Can was unwilling to admit his wrong, Chen Pingan was not an ordinary person in his eyes, so he was willing to rein in his arrogance a little, not daring to follow too far along that path of "I just like killing people now." After all, in Gu Can's eyes, if he wanted to invite Chen Pingan to his new home at Spring Court Manor every few days, to sit at the same table with him, his mother, and the little loach, he would need to pay something. This kind of rule, akin to a transaction, was very practical, and in Book-Scouring Lake, it worked—one could even say it was unimpeded.

So next, Chen Pingan asked Tian Hujun for a Green Gorge Island dedicated cultivator jade token, hung it at his waist, and starting the next day, he wandered around Green Gorge Island, chatting with people.

On the day when the heroes gathered on Palace Willow Island to elect the "Jianghu Sovereign," Chen Pingan even borrowed a ferry from Green Gorge Island. He put on the Golden Splendor Dharma Robe again, shouldered that Sword Immortal, and began to travel alone, in the capacity of a Green Gorge Island dedicated cultivator and, as he publicly claimed, a home-based qi refiner who liked writing travelogues of mountains and rivers. With this absurd identity—never before seen in the history of Book-Scouring Lake—he toured many islands in the lawless areas of the lake.

According to the Jianghu situation map that Tian Hujun had given him, he first landed on more than ten vassal islands of Green Gorge Island, including Meixian Island, where Tian Hujun had legitimately opened her manor after forming her golden core, and the Plain Scale Island, where the mountain ridges looked like white fish scales under the moonlight.

When Chen Pingan finished touring these islands without rest day and night, three days had passed. He also noted down some names that were not in the Incense Fire Bureau archives.

On Palace Willow Island in Book-Scouring Lake, the quarrels continued endlessly, with three factions roughly emerging. The many island forces supporting Green Gorge Island's Liu Zhimao as the new Jianghu Sovereign insisted that the River-Intercepting True Lord was "unworthy of his position." A group of island lords adamantly held their ground—even if Liu Zhimao sat on the sovereign's throne, they would not recognize him. If he had the guts, he could just wipe out their islands one by one. The last faction comprised island lords who were sitting on the fence, watching the tigers fight. Some were weathercocks ready to shift sides; others might have secretly formed alliances early on but were not yet ready to show their hands.

Interestingly, every time the island lords opposing Liu Zhimao spoke, it was as if they had prearranged it: they loved to say, with innuendo, "Although the River-Intercepting True Lord is of high virtue and prestige..." and then go on.

In Book-Scouring Lake, the phrase "high virtue and prestige" seemed more stinging than any curse, more piercing to the heart.

One day, Chen Pingan piloted his ferry to an island called Hairpin Island. It was quite far from Green Gorge Island. The island was small, with few disciples. So for the current assembly on Palace Willow Island, the island lord, not firmly resolved to go, chose to stay on the island rather than join the many small island lords who were straining every nerve to secure a seat on Palace Willow Island. He declined to participate in this grand gathering that would likely determine the next century's pattern in Book-Scouring Lake.

Chen Pingan docked the boat. At the ferry landing stood a plump woman with a tall bun, wearing a revealing dress, her figure robust, with a broad forehead and full cheeks.

Chen Pingan had already guessed the identity of this Dragon Gate realm female cultivator. It was said that this woman, whose birth name was Liu Zhongrun, had once been a royal clan member of a fallen dynasty in central Bottle Gourd Continent. The last young emperor was reportedly carried by this woman (whom he called aunt) and placed onto the dragon throne. Unofficial histories from Pond Water City said the young emperor, naive and ignorant, happily patted the huge dragon throne beneath him and invited his aunt to sit with him. She actually did sit down, holding the little emperor in her arms. The entire court was awestruck, and no one dared to question her.

Tian Hujun had once casually mentioned this Hairpin Island island lord, praising her as having "the air of a great man."

Liu Zhongrun smiled and said, "You are the bookkeeper who lives at the mountain gate of Green Gorge Island?"

Chen Pingan was taken aback. On Green Gorge Island, no one had ever called him a bookkeeper to his face.

Chen Pingan said, "Sort of."

Liu Zhongrun got straight to the point, asking, "Could it be that your Green Gorge Island finds Hairpin Island an eyesore, and took advantage of the nearby island lords all going to Palace Willow Island to do something?"

Chen Pingan shook his head. "I am visiting Hairpin Island alone. Many apologies for the intrusion. I wanted to ask Lady Liu about the local customs of Book-Scouring Lake. If Lady Liu is unwilling to let me come ashore, I will go elsewhere."

Liu Zhongrun squinted her very narrow phoenix eyes. "What if I said Hairpin Island does not welcome a bookkeeper? On my island, there are only women, none with high cultivation. If any of them catches your eye, and you take her to Green Gorge Island as an open-robe young lady, then should I let her go or not?"

Chen Pingan's expression remained unchanged. He cupped his hands in farewell, turned around, and boarded the ferry, indeed heading elsewhere.

Liu Zhongrun stood there, genuinely puzzled. In truth, she had already prepared a stunning young female disciple, thinking it would be a case of "spending money to avoid disaster."

At the next nearby island, Flying Emerald Island, Chen Pingan was also denied entry. The island lord was absent, and the caretaker dared not let him ashore. If he allowed a "dedicated cultivator" from Green Gorge Island to land, and the unruly Green Gorge Island cultivators came and wiped out everyone, who would he cry to? If he were alone, he wouldn't dare refuse so bluntly, but the island had his whole family. He simply couldn't take any risks. Still, refusing to give any face to this young Green Gorge Island dedicated cultivator, the old cultivator didn't dare push him too far. He escorted Chen Pingan all the way, apologizing profusely, nearly kneeling and kowtowing. Chen Pingan didn't try to comfort him or say anything; he just quickly left and poled the boat away.

The third island, Flower Screen Island. The island lord, a Golden Core Earth Immortal, was absent, having gone to Palace Willow Island to discuss great affairs. He was one of the most enthusiastic allies waving the banner for the River-Intercepting True Lord. A young deputy island lord remained behind to guard the nest. Upon hearing that the guest of the great demon Gu Can, the youngest dedicated cultivator of Green Gorge Island, wanted to visit, he hurriedly jumped up from a perfumed, debauched boudoir, dressed in a panic, and rushed straight to the ferry. He appeared in person to greet the man with a smiling face.

But when he actually saw that young dedicated cultivator that Green Gorge Island had been hiding, the deputy island lord was somewhat disappointed. The fellow didn't look like a master skilled in combat; he looked more like a village schoolteacher. The large and small islands around Green Gorge Island had been secretly discussing this matter, but Green Gorge Island kept a tight lid on things, and no useful information had come out. They only heard that this person had publicly slapped the great demon Gu Can twice in Pond Water City, and Gu Can hadn't retaliated; instead, he treated him with courtesy and brought him to Spring Court Manor on Green Gorge Island. The deputy island lord and his gang of scoundrels were all betting on how many days this man would live. The Flower Screen deputy island lord had wagered he would die within a month. Who didn't know that the great demon Gu Can was notoriously capricious, killing on a whim? The qi refiners that huge loach had devoured weren't all enemies; quite a few were honored guests of Green Gorge Island, feasting and drinking as friends.

On Flower Screen Island, Chen Pingan had a drink. He drank little, but the other drank as if meeting a bosom friend—a thousand cups too few—and spilled many "drunken truths" about the deputy island lord.

Back on the ferry, poling along, Chen Pingan thought over the nuances of those words. He knew there were no simpletons in Book-Scouring Lake. After leaving Flower Screen Island far behind, he stopped the boat in the middle of the lake, took out his pen and paper, and wrote down more people and events.

Every day after that, he went on like this, stopping and starting, seeing different sights and dealings on each island. Many islands, like Hairpin Island, closed their doors to him and politely refused to let him ascend the mountain.

On the Book-Scouring Lake situation map in his arms, more and more islands were circled.

Every day, he would leave Green Gorge Island before dawn, poling the boat, and return deep into the night to that room on Green Gorge Island.

Besides gathering wild cultivators from all over Bottle Gourd Continent, Book-Scouring Lake was also rife with shamanic customs and ghostly arts, with all sorts of unheard-of heretical techniques emerging in endless variety.

There were places like Flower Screen Island, where cultivators loved extravagant dissipation, immersed in a life of drunken debauchery. The roads were paved with gold lotuses, and petals were plastered on the ground.

Another island was called Yecheng. The island lord had established a beast-fighting arena. Anyone who dared throw a pebble at the fierce beasts would be guilty of "offending the beasts," punishable by death. Every day, cultivators from other islands would throw disciples who had erred or enemies they had captured into the most famous beast-fighting cages in Yecheng. Yecheng had plenty of fine wine and beautiful women to entertain the cultivators who came seeking pleasure, as they watched the bloody antics of the fierce beasts.

There was also the island lord of Garment Cap Island. He had once been a great Confucian scholar from a country in southwestern Bottle Gourd Continent. Now, however, he delighted in collecting the headgear of Confucian scholars from all over—using them as chamber pots.

One day, Chen Pingan left an island called Cloud Rain Island. On that island, there were two immortal cave-dwelling sects, both skilled in the art of dual cultivation.

When they saw Chen Pingan, the women of one sect, regardless of age, looked at him like starving wolves and tigers. But the young man's Green Gorge Island dedicated cultivator token at his waist prevented them from acting too rashly.

As Chen Pingan descended the mountain and boarded his boat, he gave a slight shake, and the scent of perfume still clinging near his Golden Splendor Dharma Robe dissipated into nothing.

On his way to the next island, he finally encountered a group of assassins lurking in the lake—three of them.

First Light and Fifteenth each shredded the qi apertures containing one assassin's lifebound object, severely wounding them, and they fell into the water.

One soldier-cultivator seized the chance to close in, thinking he had victory in hand, only to be punched into the lake by the young man, who looked spiritless, like a sickly lad.

Chen Pingan poled the boat, using the bamboo pole to pull the three onto the boat one by one. He asked some questions. While Chen Pingan was deep in thought, one of the assassins made a last-ditch attack, and Chen Pingan killed him with a casual punch.

Then Chen Pingan delivered the two living men and the cold corpse to the shore near Cloud Tower City on Book-Scouring Lake. After one carried the corpse and the other staggered ashore, Chen Pingan turned the boat around and headed back slowly.

Half an hour later, several dozen qi refiners swarmed out of Cloud Tower City, led by a seventh-realm sword cultivator.

They surrounded Chen Pingan and his ferry.

Chen Pingan asked the sword cultivator, "Do you know who I am, what my name is? Did you come out of friendship to fight, or does your grudge lie with Green Gorge Island?"

The sword cultivator boasted that he didn't even know those two well—they were friends of friends—but that cultivators like those from Green Gorge Island deserved death in Book-Scouring Lake.

Chen Pingan hesitated for a moment. He did not use the sword immortal on his back.

Instead, he took out a talisman with two fingers.

A Sun-Moon Traveling Spirit True-Body Talisman.

With a single use, he killed that seventh-realm sword cultivator and several of the "righteous men" from Cloud Tower City who had rushed forward first. Then he used the flying sword First Light to assassinate one of the earliest surviving assassins.

Ignoring the Cloud Tower City cultivators who scattered like birds and beasts, Chen Pingan, even more dispirited, did not head back to Green Gorge Island. Instead, he tied the boat at a ferry and walked into Cloud Tower City. He arrived outside a high-gate manor, saying he was looking for someone—an acquaintance he had just met near Cloud Rain Island in Book-Scouring Lake.

No one stopped him. Chen Pingan stepped over the threshold and found a courtyard. There was the assassin who had carried the dead man ashore earlier. Suspended beside him was the flying sword Fifteenth, which had silently followed into the city.

Chen Pingan turned his head toward a certain spot and called softly, "Tanxue."

A young girl appeared on the wall.

Chen Pingan said, "Don't follow me anymore from now on. Protect Gu Can well. Also, tell Gu Can: don't get involved in these matters. Don't vent his anger on Cloud Tower City."

That little loach nodded vigorously, as if pardoned, and quickly leaped away.

Chen Pingan placed the two severed heads on the stone table in the courtyard. He sat down beside it, looking at the assassin who dared not move, and asked, "Anything you want to say?"

That man, knowing he was as good as dead and having lost the last shred of luck, suddenly grew bold. He let out a fierce grin and roared, "I'll be waiting for you down below!"

Chen Pingan asked, "Then what if I change my mind and kill everyone in Cloud Tower City who knows you?"

The man stared hard at Chen Pingan. "I'm about to die. What do I care about that?"

Chen Pingan turned his head to look at the few people standing at the courtyard gate of the manor, then withdrew his gaze. He stood up. "I'll come see you again in a few days."

With a tap of his toe, he stepped onto the wall, appearing to leave Cloud Tower City.

But as he left, the flying sword Fifteenth shredded the remaining lifebound acupoints of this assassin in one go.

In truth, Chen Pingan secretly returned to that manor afterward.

Then he witnessed a farce.

It turned out that the assassin was not a member of the manor. He was a cultivation immortal who had been close friends with the previous generation's clan head, a survivor from an island in Book-Scouring Lake that had been nearly wiped out. Previously, he had not been hiding in easily discovered Cloud Tower City, but in a border fortress in the Stone Milli Kingdom, some three hundred li from the lake. However, this time, Chen Pingan had delivered them here, so the assassin came to the manor to recover. Meanwhile, the other assassin had considerable connections and goodwill in Cloud Tower City, so he had gathered so many cultivators to pursue and kill that young man from Green Gorge Island. Apart from settling grudges with Green Gorge Island, there was also the intention to cut down the prestige of Liu Zhimao, who was currently on Palace Willow Island. If they succeeded, the anti-Green Gorge Island forces in Book-Scouring Lake might give them some shelter, and perhaps they could even rise again. So the two of them had discussed it at the manor and thought the plan was feasible—wealth sought in danger. If they killed a very powerful Green Gorge Island cultivator, why not?

But now, this former "old immortal" of the Viewing Sea realm, once revered by everyone in the manor, was quickly captured after a half-hearted struggle by two mere fourth-realm cultivators of the manor and a fifth-realm pure martial artist. They had hesitated for a long time, afraid that the man bleeding on the ground still had a killer move; only after much effort did they dare to strike and arrest him. The three of them were drenched in sweat. The current clan head began to curse this man's ingratitude, how he had nearly dragged the whole manor of over a hundred people into death with him. The clan head's face twisted with fury, saying that even if they had to dig three feet into the ground, they would find his beautiful daughter who had visited the manor a few years ago, and then they would show him a living spring-palace picture right before his eyes, day and night.

That assassin, now tied up, began to struggle desperately, his skin splitting open, flesh and blood blurring.

The clan head, oddly exhilarated, his eyes red, added the most devastating words: Don't think that your daughter, born to you in old age, is hard to find. Others may not know your background, but I do. Isn't she hidden in one of the border passes or cities of Stone Milli Kingdom? I heard she has no talent for cultivation, a waste, but she was born beautiful. With her looks, it shouldn't be too hard to find her by throwing down a lot of silver. If that doesn't work, we'll spread the word in that area that you're about to die in Cloud Tower City. I don't believe your daughter will still hole up and refuse to show herself!

Three days later.

In a border fortress of the Stone Milli Kingdom, a middle-aged man was already waiting there before a group from Cloud Tower City entered the city.

That group had been traveling fast, eating in the wind and sleeping in the open, complaining bitterly.

Led by a fourth-realm cultivator and a fifth-realm martial artist, they never noticed that someone was watching their every move and even silently jotting down notes on paper.

After searching the border fortress fruitlessly, the group immediately rushed to a nearby prefectural city in Stone Milli Kingdom.

Finally, in an alley of that prefectural city, they found the household where only an old woman and a young girl lived together. They were not extremely wealthy, just a modest family.

The group did not rush in to seize the girl. After all, this was a Stone Milli Kingdom prefectural city, not Book-Scouring Lake, and certainly not Cloud Tower City. What if the old woman was a hidden middle-Five Realm cultivator? They would capsize in a ditch!

They put their heads together and came up with a plan: have the most honest-looking family guard go to inform the girl when the old woman went out. He would say that her father had been severely injured by a Green Gorge Island cultivator at the manor in Cloud Tower City, that he was dying and had lost the ability to speak, but refused to breathe his last. The clan head had leaned close and could only hear him repeating the name of the prefectural city and "daughter." That was why they had gone to such trouble to find this place. If she didn't go to Cloud Tower City soon, she would miss seeing her father one last time.

At first, the girl didn't open the door. But upon hearing the news brought by the Cloud Tower City manor guard, she indeed opened the courtyard gate, her face covered in tears, sobbing miserably, her frail body like a delicate willow. The guard's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

After the girl packed her bundle, she suddenly thought of the old woman who had been taking care of her day and night. She insisted on saying goodbye to her. She said the old woman's health was too poor; if she couldn't find her, she would surely worry and grieve, and might even die before she reached Cloud Tower City. Then she would have no relatives left in the world.

The guard thought to himself, an old, useless crone? He then looked at the touching, innocent young woman. She was around seventeen or eighteen—not really a young girl by mortal standards. He decided it should be fine to let her inform the dying old woman. What could go wrong? If he was too forceful, he might arouse her suspicion.

So he changed his mind, accompanying the beautiful, sorrowful young woman, waiting for the old woman to arrive.

But when the old woman, carrying a vegetable basket, entered the door, the guard's smile froze. A dagger pierced his back. He turned his head to see the young woman quickly covering his mouth, giving him a push. He fell to the ground in the courtyard.

The old woman saw all this without any change in expression.

Suppressing her inner pain and worry, the young woman recounted the change in Cloud Tower City. The old woman nodded and said it was most likely that the clan was adding insult to injury, or had decided to offer a "letter of allegiance" to Green Gorge Island's enemies.

The young woman begged the old woman to go to Cloud Tower City. Even if she herself could only die, she wanted to see her father one last time.

The old woman sighed, saying their peaceful days had come to an end. She looked around, then rose into the air like a bird spreading its wings. She went straight to a dwelling where some cultivator—who had been spying on them—lived. After a bloody battle, she returned to the courtyard with a nearly fatal wound. She told the young woman that she had eliminated the hidden threat that had been lurking. The old woman definitely couldn't go to Cloud Tower City. She told the girl to be careful. She also handed her a pill, to be bitten when the time came, bringing instant death.

Feeling the unpredictability of fate, the young woman forced a smile, wiped away her tears, packed her things, and left the prefectural city alone, heading for the uncertain fate of Cloud Tower City in Book-Scouring Lake.

After she hired a carriage and drove out of the city gate,

she was unaware that back at the small courtyard, a middle-aged man carrying a long sword on his back had knocked out all the remaining members of the Cloud Tower City group at an inn. Then he went to the courtyard where the old woman was coughing blood and brewing medicine. Seeing the man appear silently, the old woman was ready to die. But the ordinary-looking man, who seemed like a wandering swordsman, dropped a pill for her, then crouched down by the wall, helping to tend the medicine. While watching the heat, he asked about the origin of that now-dead cultivator. The old woman examined the fragrant green pill, then selectively answered his questions. She said that cultivator was a Book-Scouring Lake heretic who had coveted her young lady's beauty. His skills were not bad, and he was good at hiding. He had been away for a long time, and only recently gave himself away. He was most likely from Cloud Rain Island or Gilt Island, and he intended to abduct the young lady to offer as tribute to a great cultivator in his sect. She had planned to wait for the master to return before dealing with him. How could she have known that the master with heaven-reaching skills had already suffered disaster at Cloud Tower City?

The old woman grew more and more confused.

Because in between tending the medicine, that middle-aged man took out paper and a brush and recorded what he had heard.

After helping to finish brewing the medicine, he stood up. But before leaving, he pointed to the corpse that hadn't been hidden yet and asked, "Do you think this man deserved to die?"

The old woman hesitated, then chose to be honest: "If he hadn't died, my young lady would have come to harm. Once she reached that Cloud Tower City, she would have suffered a fate worse than death. It's possible that among those who would make her suffer, he would be one."

The middle-aged man neither agreed nor disagreed. He left the courtyard.

A few days later, in the dead of night, a graceful figure vaulted over the wall of that Cloud Tower City manor. Although she had only stayed here for a few days back then, she had an excellent memory. With only the strength of a third-realm martial artist, she could still slip in as if entering an empty space. Of course, this was also because the three manor dedicated cultivators were still on their way back to Cloud Tower City.

But just as she landed silently in a courtyard, the entire manor suddenly lit up. Lanterns were lit and hung high.

A temporary dedicated cultivator hired at great expense—a sixth-realm sword cultivator—used his lifebound flying sword to deliberately press against her heart, rather than her forehead or neck. Then he gently rested a drawn longsword on her shoulder. With two fingers together, he lightly flicked, tearing away the veil that concealed her face. The "young" sword cultivator, whose face looked like a sexagenarian, was quite impressed. "Not bad, not bad. With no cultivation, you still have such skin. Truly born beautiful. I hear you're a pure martial artist. With a little training, your bed skills will be even more anticipated."

He turned to the manor lord and smiled. "Not lying. As agreed, you don't have to pay the remaining half of the immortal money."

The young woman only said she wanted to see her father one last time; after that, she would accept whatever happened.

The sword cultivator sheathed his sword and nodded. Then, with lightning speed, he tapped her neck with two fingers, then flicked several times. A pill was forced from her mouth. The sword cultivator caught it, brought it to his nose, and sniffed it with intoxication. Then he casually dropped it to the ground and crushed it under his toe. "As beautiful as a flower, a lovely young lady—why seek death? Do you know how much that half of the immortal money I spent to buy your life was? Two hundred thousand taels of silver!"

For some reason, the young woman's limbs went numb and limp; even biting her tongue to kill herself became a luxury. The sword cultivator pressed her shoulder and dragged her to a side room in the courtyard. He kicked the door open, and she saw the man inside, covered in blood, his eyes wide open.

The young woman wept.

The sixth-realm sword cultivator said smugly, "After the father and daughter are reunited, it's time for..."

Just then, the sword cultivator's body tensed. His lifebound flying sword, which had just left a critical qi aperture, emitted a trembling sound. It had collided head-on with the tip of another lifebound flying sword.

Not only did a small section of his sword tip shatter, but the sword cultivator's flying sword was also caught between two fingers.

The sword cultivator turned stiffly and immediately cupped his hands in salute. "Junior Cloud Tower City Du Shehu, pays respects to the Green Gorge Island Sword Immortal senior!"

It turned out that somehow, a pale-faced young man with a sword on his back and a gourd hanging from his waist had appeared beside this sixth-realm sword cultivator, the old man.

The young man released his fingers and handed the sword cultivator two Small Summer Coins.

The sixth-realm sword cultivator Du Shehu, trembling, accepted the two Small Summer Coins and, without another word, left the manor directly.

The tip of his lifebound flying sword had been shattered. Even if the compensation for this mission was four Small Summer Coins, it would by no means cover the cost of repairing the flying sword. But then again, how could a few immortal coins compare to his own life?

Too bad that tender, fair-skinned little girl was beyond his reach now.

That night, a carriage slowly drove out of Cloud Tower City toward the Stone Milli Kingdom. By dawn, far from Cloud Tower City, Chen Pingan stopped the horse, jumped down from the carriage, and prepared to return to the ferry dock outside Cloud Tower City, hoping that the boat tied on the shore had not been stolen. Otherwise, it would be a small nuisance.

The young woman pushed aside the carriage curtain and sat in the driver's seat. Her father was asleep in the back compartment, his life out of danger but his cultivation unlikely to ever return to the middle-Five Realms. She stared at the young man's retreating back, holding back tears, and said in a deep voice, "One day, I will take revenge on you!"

But the young man didn't even look at her, let alone respond. This made the young woman even more bitter and furious.

Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.

Because he stopped and turned around.

Chen Pingan said, "I will probably stay in Book-Scouring Lake for at least two or three years. If that's too short a time for you to be confident in taking revenge, you can come find me in Dragon Spring Commandery of Great Li in the future."

The young woman was stunned.

Chen Pingan said to her, "You can bring a friend to collect your corpse, because when the time comes, I will only kill you."

The young woman stared blankly as the figure gradually faded into the distance.

Inside the carriage, her father seemed to wake from the noise. He coughed and said, "Don't think about taking revenge on him."

She wiped away her tears and turned to ask, "Father, before, when he was here, I didn't want to ask. What is the grudge between us and him?"

In the carriage, the man was speechless.

Chen Pingan circled Cloud Tower City and returned to that ferry dock. Not only was the ferry still there, but there were even two cultivators from Cloud Tower City—who he didn't know—keeping watch, probably to prevent any blind thieves from coveting the boat for money and losing their lives, lest the Green Gorge Island dedicated cultivator vent his anger on the whole of Cloud Tower City.

Chen Pingan thanked the two cultivators and poled away.

Farther and farther away, his thoughts drifting, he came back to himself, freed one hand, and drew a circle in the air.

The water route to Green Gorge Island was long.

For now, Chen Pingan had no plans to stop at the islands near Book-Scouring Lake. But halfway there, he encountered the huge ship that had come to pick him up. Chen Pingan drifted up onto the bow. Gu Can and the little loach stood side by side. Gu Can scratched his head and said, "Chen Pingan, what happened? You've only been gone a few days, and you've gotten even thinner?"

Chen Pingan asked, "How is it over at Palace Willow Island?"

Gu Can rolled his eyes and tucked his hands into his sleeves. "Boring. They just slam tables and stare at each other, arguing all day long. But that's not surprising. In the history of Book-Scouring Lake, the most recent few elections for Jianghu Sovereign dragged on for as long as half a year. They almost built thatched huts or slept on the floor in the assembly hall on the island. The shortest was only about a month, because, in the end, someone got annoyed and killed more than twenty island lords on the spot that day. Then a new Jianghu Sovereign was appointed immediately—that person's paramour, and the only female cultivator in Book-Scouring Lake to ever sit on the sovereign's throne."

Chen Pingan nodded.

Gu Can asked curiously, "This time, when you left the lake and went ashore, did anything fun happen?"

Chen Pingan thought for a moment, then said, "I looked at a single line."

Gu Can and the little loach exchanged glances.

Gu Can decided not to ask further and changed the subject, laughing. "Green Gorge Island has already received the first flying sword transmission, from Piyun Mountain back in our homeland. I've ordered that the flying sword be enshrined like an ancestor in the sword hall, and no one will open the secret letter without permission."

Chen Pingan looked back at Gu Can, nodded, and forced a smile. He warned, "Over at Palace Willow Island, the calmer the surface, the more you and the little loach need to be careful. I suspect that Great Li and the Red Candle Dynasty will secretly test each other in Book-Scouring Lake. If that happens, and either side gets involved, you'd better step back and not act rashly. Whether Liu Zhimao of Green Gorge Island becomes Jianghu Sovereign is no longer something that you and the little loach can decide by eating up one or two Golden Core Earth Immortals."

Gu Can said, "Mm, I remember! I know the importance. I'll think things through before I act—who I can kill, what forces I can't provoke."

The little loach rubbed its belly; it was a bit hungry.

Then Chen Pingan withdrew his gaze and continued to gaze into the lake scenery.

He didn't know if he would ever have the chance in this life to look back and see, shining like beautiful jade.