Chapter 885: The Daoist Hairpin
Chen Ping'an and Xiao Mo walked onto an arched bridge and stopped.
On the Calamus River, a gentle breeze suddenly arose, water ripples forming like scales, shimmering with golden light.
Xiao Mo asked, "Young Master, is something on your mind?"
Chen Ping'an reached out and pressed his hand against the railing, "I'm estimating how much silver a tavern here could earn in a year."
Xiao Mo was momentarily speechless, then chuckled.
There was the Cassia Island Gui Vein courtyard, the Spring Dew Nursery's Jade Ying Cliff and the Ant Shop, and the Dragon Palace Cave Heaven Duckweed Island, bought for only eighty Grain Rain coins.
Additionally, when Jiang Shangzhen was the sect master of the True Realm Sect, he had allocated five islands to give the Fallen Mountain a detached enclave, though it was temporarily under Zeng Ye's name. The Grand Li Ministry of Rites naturally had secret records of this, so Fallen Mountain could reclaim it at any time.
The current Chen Ping'an could be said to possess quite a bit of private property.
Chen Ping'an turned his head to look at this "attendant" in a yellow hat and green shoes, teasing, "Later, I'll give you a walking staff and a bamboo bookcase. When you're out and about, you'll look even more like a frail scholar traveling with his books."
Xiao Mo nodded, "Then I'll take that as a promise. If the young master accidentally forgets about this matter, Xiao Mo will shamelessly remind you."
Chen Ping'an said, "Back then, Yang Zhi was intercepted by the Liu Qi who had returned to the Bright World, using magic against magic to block her retreat, preventing her from escaping into the Guixu passageway. Now, she seems to be confined by the Confucian Temple within a volcanic group said to be the ancient 'Alchemy Furnace' of the Dao Ancestor. If there's ever a chance to travel together through the Central Earth Divine Continent, I can take you to chat with her for a bit."
Xiao Mo thought for a moment, then pressed his hat, "Actually, there's nothing much to reminisce about with Yang Zhi. As for that Zhu Yan, he truly is annoying. Seeming reckless in words and actions, but actually shrewd and calculating. Back then, some of my old friends who were relatively straightforward in temperament all suffered losses at Zhu Yan's hands, and quite severely too. So when I woke up this time, I originally planned to first gather the remaining forces of the Six Caves back on the mainland. The second thing was to bring along two friends to watch the fight. I needed to challenge Zhu Yan to a sword duel."
Talking about a sword duel, of course, meant a group beating, to finish off Zhu Yan. Why else would Xiao Mo bother to bring two old friends?
If word accidentally got out, and Bai Ze or Tuo Yue Mountain intervened to stop it and save Zhu Yan, then he'd just find another opportunity next time.
This was probably the unique style of the peak thrones of the Barren Wasteland World. That rebellious and untamable spirit was etched into their bones.
Chen Ping'an laughed, "Mountain Mover Ancestor taking on three at once—what heroic spirit!"
Xiao Mo was deeply impressed by this statement. Sure enough, his young master was learned and knew how to phrase things.
Chen Ping'an said, "Xiao Mo, let's go to the celestial inn of the Earth Branch lineage cultivators."
Xiao Mo nodded, "Perfect. I can thank the innkeeper lady and give her a magic robe I wove last night. Young Master, is this appropriate?"
Chen Ping'an replied, "One should not strike a smiling face, especially someone bearing gifts. There's nothing inappropriate about it. As for whether she accepts it or not, either way, you're fine."
The most important matter of the trip to the Grand Li capital, the Destiny Porcelain, was already settled. There was also an unexpected bonus: he had managed to track down and expose Lu Wei, the ancestor of the Central Earth Lu Clan. As the old saying from his hometown went, bad things never come too early, good things never come too late.
He would only leave the capital after Ning Yao finished her secluded meditation. But there were still some loose ends to tie up. For example, the ninth-tier martial artist Zhou Haijing—it was a foregone conclusion that she would join the Earth Branch lineage. Her current hesitation was just due to her usual caution. But as long as Zhou Haijing still wanted to take revenge on Yu Hong, a first-class Grand Li royal priest, and do it in a way that would be satisfying justice, she would definitely join the Earth Branch lineage to obtain a talisman more powerful than the Criminal Ministry's first-class No-Trouble Token.
Furthermore, during this return to the Grand Li capital, Liu Jia had asked him for two seals, specifying the inscriptions: "Sword Immortal" and "National Hand."
That head of the Tianshui Zhao Clan, the creator of the national standard script style, an undisputed master of calligraphy, had given "Liu Jia" two entire scroll tubes of calligraphy models, twenty-two pieces in total, especially the "Yuanjia Blue Robe Model," which was breathtakingly exquisite.
And Chen Ping'an only reciprocated with two seals. Such a gesture of returning a favor—the more, the better.
Ning Yao was still in seclusion, so Chen Ping'an decided not to go to the next room to carve seals, afraid of distracting her.
But doing it at the Echo Chamber Pavilion made Chen Ping'an a bit uncomfortable. Wasn't that just making a fool of himself? After all, everyone in the world knew how accomplished Senior Brother Cui Chan was in calligraphy—one of the Three Splendid Arts of the Bright World. At the celestial inn, on the other hand, it would be more suitable for seal carving.
Leaving the brightly lit Calamus River, Chen Ping'an and Xiao Mo first walked into a relatively secluded alley. Chen Ping'an used the Water-Cloud Body technique to conceal his form and flew by wind to that celestial inn.
The two landed and arrived at the entrance of the inn at the end of the small alley. There were seven or eight inns in the Grand Li capital that provided lodging for Qi refiners similar to this one. Chen Ping'an could guarantee that this one was definitely the least busy, without exception.
Xiao Mo walked ahead to the gate, which was pasted with two life-sized colored gate gods. He lightly knocked on the gold-gilded beast-headed ring with three slow raps. After waiting for a long time, the inn's landlady finally came out. She was a woman in colorful robes, a ghost cultivator at the Golden Core realm named Gai Yan.
When Chen Ping'an had first come here, this "Painter" female ghost had given him quite a warning.
Tonight, Gai Yan saw Chen Ping'an. Normally, it was ghosts meeting people, but she looked as if she were a person meeting a ghost.
Chen Ping'an teased, "Manager Gai Yan, as consistent as ever in being frugal. Not even willing to hire a doorman for your own inn. No wonder business is so good."
Gai Yan forced a smile, "To answer your question, Mountain Lord Chen, there's actually been a search for someone, but we just haven't found a suitable candidate."
This wasn't just Gai Yan making things up. She had discussed the matter of hiring a doorman and maids with Han Zhoujin and Yu Yu. Han Zhoujin's idea was to find some decent-looking female Qi refiners, as long as they were nimble, gentle, and not troublesome, they didn't need to care too much about their appearance. Yu Yu, on the other hand, said that wouldn't do at all—they had to find some seductive women with chests that could knock a person dead. Neither side could agree, so the matter was shelved for the time being.
Gai Yan led the two to an unused courtyard.
During this time, Xiao Mo gave Gai Yan a magic robe stored in a miniature green bamboo tube.
Gai Yan coveted it terribly and accepted it without a second word, without any polite refusal.
Chen Ping'an's original intention for the night was just to find Prince Song Xu or the young boy Gou Cun and ask them to relay a few words to the other cultivators. After all, he didn't have many words to say.
Unexpectedly, all nine Earth Branch cultivators quickly gathered in one place. Ge Ling and the little novice Hojue, for example, had received the news and rushed over from the Capital Dao Registry and the Translation Bureau respectively. As for Yuan Huajing and the others, they each left their own snail-bubble meditation grounds within the inn. And upon arrival, they all looked at Chen Ping'an with somewhat strange expressions.
Because earlier that day, the inn had received a confidential intelligence report from the Sunfall Ferry.
On the Barren Wasteland World, there had been two truly earth-shattering upheavals.
Following Chen Qingdu, Dragon Lord, and Guan Zhao, after ten thousand years, the Sword Qi Wall had once again challenged and returned a sword to Tuo Yue Mountain.
In the end, one entire Tuo Yue Mountain was reduced to nothing, gone like smoke and clouds.
Furthermore, after Dong San'geng had pulled the moon down to the mortal world, another bright moon of pure splendor had been relocated to the Azure World by several sword immortals working together.
Now, only one moon remained in the sky of the Barren Wasteland World.
Yu Yu asked cautiously, "Mr. Chen... is that right?"
The usually audacious girl used a vague phrase.
According to Grand Li intelligence, it seemed that two "Chen Ping'ans" had appeared simultaneously in the world—one in the Bright World and one in the Barren Wasteland World. The key point was that both had extremely high cultivation levels, higher than imaginable. According to the Astronomical Bureau's inference, it might be the legendary fourteenth-tier realm...
The only difference was that the Daoist Chen Ping'an wearing a lotus crown carried a sword on his back, having journeyed deep into the Barren Wasteland with several sword immortals, while the green-robed sword immortal who traveled alone southward around various parts of Bottle Gourd Prefecture instead did not carry a sword.
Chen Ping'an asked, "What?"
Yu Yu blinked.
Chen Ping'an smiled faintly, "If you say so, then so be it."
Then Chen Ping'an got straight to the point, "I came here today to tell you three things."
"First, the rules remain the same. As long as you abide by the rules set by Senior Brother Cui, I won't interfere too much in your cultivation or dictate how you conduct yourselves outside. However, if any of you wishes to send a flying sword message to Jise Peak and ask Fallen Mountain for guidance on cultivation, you are welcome. I will tell you everything I know without reservation."
"Second, roughly every ten years, I will ask the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Punishments for a record of your activities and income-expenditure statements to assess your cultivation progress. Once anyone reaches the Jade Purity realm, they will be exempted from this assessment."
"Finally, whether the first two points hold true or not is up to me."
The nine Earth Branch cultivators had no objections.
No matter how much of a heaven-blessed genius or proud spirit they were, facing this existence who had once toyed with them like pawns, they were truly insignificant.
Take Yuan Huajing, for example, who had an extremely strong desire to win. He had now completely lost the will to compete with Chen Ping'an.
Chen Ping'an said he would stay here for a short while and told them to go back to their respective places and continue their cultivation.
As for the young cultivator who stood behind Chen Ping'an with an ever-present smile, no one could discern his depth of cultivation, and no one dared to probe recklessly.
Based on the intelligence from the Ministry of Punishments today, they only knew that this person's Dao name was Xi Zhu, and his given name was Mo Sheng. He was a newly registered nominal priest of Fallen Mountain.
Mo Sheng had recently accompanied Chen Ping'an to the imperial palace. That was all the information there was.
According to Gai Yan, last night, Mo Sheng had come to the inn, claiming to be Chen Ping'an's attendant. In addition to exchanging divine coins, he had also asked for an extra bag of gold melon seeds.
Another strange person and strange deed that defied common sense.
That there were many extraordinary beings in Fallen Mountain and that its foundations were unfathomably deep had become a consensus among the mountains of Bottle Gourd Prefecture.
Take Zhou Mili, the mountain guardian priest, for instance. She was the most deeply hidden of all. During that grand ceremony, it seemed that only this right protector of Fallen Mountain had concealed her cultivation realm—so hidden as to be terrifying.
So just how high was that "little girl's" cultivation level? There were many speculations, some saying she was at least at the Jade Purity realm, others guessing she was an Immortal. An Earth Immortal? Were they blind, or were their brains filled with water? In a place like Fallen Mountain, where martial arts grandmasters and Nascent Soul cultivators weren't even that precious, could she hold her own? Could she be worthy of being a mountain guardian priest?
Moreover, at that time, the white-clothed youth with a mole between his eyebrows and the chief priest surnamed Zhou had both shown her obvious respect.
Chen Ping'an sat down on the steps, taking out two uncarved seal stones from his self-contained storage tool. Back in the day when he and Yan Zhuo were in business on the Sword Qi Wall, they had left behind quite a few stone seal materials.
He then summoned a flying sword imitation, He Lei, crafted by Hate Sword Mountain.
As for the imitation of "Ancient Emerald" called Pine Needles, it had already been shattered by Pei Min's two fingers.
Chen Ping'an held He Lei like a carving knife and began to carve the side inscriptions, which were the text of the "Yuanjia Blue Robe Model." Finally, he carved the base inscription, "Sword Immortal."
As for the second seal with the base inscription "National Hand," the side inscription contained several phrases from the house rules of the Tianshui Zhao Clan. What appealed most to Chen Ping'an were the lines: "One's bearing should be pure and lofty; one's learning should be profound and far-reaching; one's conduct should be upright and sincere; one's demeanor should be gentle and dignified."
At the end of the side inscriptions of both seals, he inscribed the signatures "Chen Shiyi" and "Fallen Mountain Chen Ping'an."
It took Chen Ping'an nearly half an hour.
If he were on the Sword Qi Wall, where side inscriptions were seldom done on seals, he could have finished about twenty seals in that time.
Putting away the flying sword He Lei, Chen Ping'an held a seal in each hand, lowered his head, and gently breathed on them, blowing away some debris and dust from the crevices of the inscriptions. He looked up and smiled, "This is what you call worthless and priceless at the same time."
Xiao Mo said, "Young Master is being too modest."
Chen Ping'an tucked the two seals into his sleeve, then took out a white jade ganoderma. Seeing Xiao Mo curiously examining the two lines of inscription, he simply handed it to Xiao Mo. Chen Ping'an explained with a smile, "The body movement technique I used earlier to get here was learned from the former owner of this white jade ganoderma."
Xiao Mo saw that the inscription bore a beautiful meaning and praised it profusely.
"One thousand years of flawless clarity in a person; a hundred generations of orchid-like fragrance in a household."
To be given to his young master was truly a perfect match.
This was the level of gift-giving.
So that generous immortal master was someone he must meet someday when the opportunity arose.
Chen Ping'an's Water-Cloud Body, learned from Yun Miao, an immortal of the Nine True Immortal Lodge, had its Daoist meaning derived from "Dense bamboo does not hinder water; high mountains do not obstruct clouds."
Yun Miao also had a trump card divine ability technique, renowned on the mountains as the "Water Essence Realm," which created a self-contained lesser heaven and earth, quite impressive.
When Chen Ping'an was carrying the fourteenth-tier cultivation of Lu Chen, traveling around Bottle Gourd Prefecture, he had been far from idle. He made the most of everything, wasting nothing. From the Heart Lake Library, he had fished out several light-image scrolls depicting duels with Yun Miao. "Stones from other mountains can polish jade," he used as a basis to deduce and evolve this technique. The Water Essence Realm that Yun Miao had created, Chen Ping'an had already achieved a resemblance to it, which was much simpler than back-deriving the secret thunder formation of the Dragon Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion.
After a river duel at the Yuanyang Isle, the suspicious immortal Yun Miao, upon receiving a secret letter from Chen Ping'an, had respectfully replied and sent a white jade ganoderma of semi-immortal artifact rank to the Merit Forest.
If Chen Ping'an ever got into conflict with someone while traveling in the Central Earth Divine Continent, and sincerely declared, "I am not Yun Miao," it was likely that no one would believe him.
Xiao Mo returned the white jade ganoderma to Chen Ping'an.
Chen Ping'an held the white jade ganoderma and lightly tapped his palm with it.
Once the matter of selecting the lower sect's location was completed, he would go into seclusion to cultivate for a while, striving to return to the Nascent Soul realm and the Quenching Body Realm's Guizhen first tier. Then he planned to drag Liu Jinglong along to travel around the Bright World. The route would roughly be: North Julu Prefecture, Ai Ai Prefecture, Central Earth Divine Continent, South Suo Prefecture, then Fuyiao Prefecture, heading north to Golden Armor Prefecture and Flowing Sunset Prefecture.
Chen Ping'an was already quite familiar with North Julu Prefecture, except for the northern regions. As for Ai Ai Prefecture, he would visit the wealthy Liu family and Pei Axiang's Thunder God Temple.
As for the Central Earth Divine Continent, there were even more places he needed to visit or pass through: Dragon Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion, Yu Xuan's Old Pit Blessed Land from the Talisman Sect, the Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven Azure God Mountain, the Great Duan Dynasty where Cao Ci resided, the Profound Secret Dynasty where Yu Panshui was the retired emperor... and not to mention the many scenic spots recorded in the two divine books, "Mountain and Sea Records" and its supplement.
Chen Ping'an looked up and saw a flash of light in the night sky not too far away. A cultivator seemed to be flying away on the wind, and then a sword light chased after him, instantly stretching into a golden lightning bolt a hundred zhang long.
The Qi refiner fled in panic, changing his trajectory several times, but a golden rope-like light from the sword light wrapped around his ankle like a shadow, then yanked him forcefully to the ground. Neither the one fleeing nor the one chasing was an Earth Immortal cultivator.
The place where the sword light and the Qi refiner fell together was only about a li from the inn. Chen Ping'an laughed, "Since we've got nothing better to do, let's go watch the fun."
In this strict and orderly Grand Li capital, were Qi refiners actually daring to fly freely in the air and duel with magic?
Those who could hover and fly here, aside from the Grand Li Song clan's imperial priests, were only the holders of No-Trouble Tokens registered with the Grand Li Ministry of Punishments.
Even Chen Ping'an himself, when traveling in the capital, had to carry a low-grade No-Trouble Token from the Ministry of Punishments just to keep up appearances.
He walked with Xiao Mo, shrinking the distance, and arrived at the spot where the sword light had fallen.
The Grand Li capital was vast, and the area around the inn was neither wealthy nor noble, only slightly better than where Zhou Haijing had settled in the capital.
On the main street, it seemed a brawl was brewing. Two large groups of people, packed like clouds, were confronting each other. They were evidently from the martial world. It didn't look like they were going to trade harsh words and then go drink at the same table; they seemed to mean business.
The two groups combined, even without counting the undercover agents sneaking among the onlookers, numbered at least 140 to 150.
Chen Ping'an crouched on the wall of a house, his shoulders hunched, his hands tucked into his sleeves, like a farmer looking at his fields.
Xiao Mo sat beside him, noticing that quite a few people in the nearby streets had come out to watch the commotion. They were not afraid of trouble at all. Instead of closing their doors to avoid conflict, they had flocked over. The fleeing Qi refiner had been pulled back to the ground by the sword light with quite a loud crash. Coupled with the two parties confronting each other in the street, the noise was tremendous. Even people in the nearby houses who had already gone to bed would have been woken up.
In the middle of the street, the one who had released the flying sword was a short, ordinary-looking old man in brocade robes. One hand was behind his back, and his other hand formed a hand seal with two fingers, gently shaking it.
He had the upper hand, looking completely confident.
The old man's head was sparsely haired, like a dried-out field that hadn't gotten its share of water, with just a few strands of grass growing far apart.
Still, it was slightly better than a harvested rice paddy.
But according to Xiao Mo's way of putting it, this unremarkable old predecessor was looking around arrogantly, as if he were the best in the world.
Since the old sword immortal hadn't put away his flying sword, the golden light it transformed into still wound around the other's ankle. As the old man moved his joined fingers, sword energy surged around the ankle of the young cultivator held by the sword light. The young man's face showed pain, and fine sweat beaded on his forehead. However, he neither begged for mercy nor said a word; he just stared fiercely at the old man.
Xiao Mo glanced at the confrontation of the two groups in the street and asked, "Young Master, in the middle of the night, causing such a public disturbance—doesn't the capital yamen care?"
As for this duel between immortals, it was certainly a violation of the law. He wondered how the yamen would deal with the two parties afterward.
Chen Ping'an said softly, "As long as no one is killed and it's not a weapon fight, if both sides fight bare-handed, the government will mostly turn a blind eye. A national capital is often a mix of fish and dragons. Martial arts sects, martial gyms, escort agencies, banks, those in the river transport business, carriage-and-horse firms, even thieves and pickpockets—each has its own patron deity, mountain sects, branch halls. I heard from Manager Liu an interesting piece of news: there's a guy in the capital who controls thirty-seven manure lanes in the capital, and he earns more money than opening a tavern on the Calamus River."
Of course, there were also some young, greenhorns full of youthful bravado, who relied on their toughness and always disregarded government laws, treating a few stints in prison as martial world credentials.
Chen Ping'an said, "Xiao Mo, listen to the old sword immortal's heart-voice for me."
Xiao Mo nodded.
The young cultivator's face was ashen with anger. "Frame me with false evidence! What despicable methods!"
The old sword cultivator said in a loud voice, laughing, "If you were wronged, why would you run? Would the Ministry of Punishments wrong you? Clearly, it's the thief's guilty conscience."
Simultaneously, he spoke through his heart-voice: "I was afraid you wouldn't run. If you hadn't, I really wouldn't have been able to do anything to you."
The old sword cultivator shook his head, saying, "As a cultivator, flying freely over the capital without permission is a first-class violation of the law. Why bother? Couldn't we sit down and talk things out calmly? Chief Fan is the most reasonable person."
But his heart-voice said completely differently: "You little bastard, when I detain you here tonight, even if the Ministry of Rites later convicts me and the Ministry of Punishments holds me accountable, my punishment will still be lighter than yours."
Talking nonsense with eyes wide open; clever people saying foolish things.
After the war ended, the Grand Li dynasty still strictly controlled the mountain immortal families. But now, the Song dynasty's court was much more lenient and tolerant when it came to martial world matters and martial artists, as long as they didn't go too far. The capital's major and minor yamen didn't interfere much in martial world affairs. As a result, martial arts sects in Grand Li were springing up like bamboo shoots after rain. Many wanderers from the countries south of the Grand Li secondary capital were traveling north along with merchants.
Sensing Xiao Mo's questioning gaze, Chen Ping'an said calmly, "The good and bad of a person can easily be confused with the right and wrong of a matter. The Grand Li dynasty's laws have always been about the matter, not the person."
Nearby, a martial arts gym had sent out a bunch of strong young men. The gym had strict rules, including a night curfew, and the master didn't allow them to cause trouble outside. So they could only sneak out to watch the excitement. Now, looking up and seeing that someone had already taken the prime spot on the wall, one of the burly young men asked, "Friend, is this spot taken?"
Chen Ping'an moved over towards Xiao Mo a bit, freeing up some space, and smiled, "Just the two of us. Feel free."
One after another, they rushed towards the wall, leaped high, grabbed the top of the wall with both hands, and with a sudden gathering of breath, they were up on the wall.
It was a long-simmering feud between martial arts sects, but through twists and turns, it had somehow gotten these cloud-riding mountain immortals involved. It was like dumplings being thrown into the pot one after another—a rare opportunity.
The burly man asked in a low voice, "Brother, are you also a practitioner?"
His breathing was steady, with that particular aura.
Of course, being able to climb onto this high wall, he was definitely not some frail scholar who couldn't even truss a chicken.
Chen Ping'an laughed, "I've practiced some boxing and footwork, know a bit about striking techniques. My family is in business, so I need to travel far and wide regularly. It's safer to have some skills on hand."
The burly man's side was crouching a young martial artist who secretly rolled his eyes. Striking techniques, huh? Definitely a rich playboy who had read a few shabby books. Poor folks study literature, rich folks practice martial arts, after all.
The burly man continued, "Brother, have you heard of our Yangyuan Martial Gym? Our master, Guild Master Wu, though young, is a renowned figure in the capital's martial world."
Chen Ping'an said, "I'm afraid I'm ignorant of that."
Regardless of whether the guild master was a hero or not, the gym was definitely short of money.
Otherwise, they wouldn't try to recruit just anyone they met on the street to be their cash cow.
Martial arts sects need patrons, just like temples for mountain and river spirits need large donors.
Seeing that the man seemed uninterested, the burly man persisted, "Big brother, the heroic 'Six-Armed Divine Fist' master Situ Qiuting—you must have heard of him, right? He's a martial arts grandmaster who shook the entire Grand Li. He's the boss in the northern part of the capital. Some matters that the authorities can't handle all need him to step in. Our guild master often drinks with Master Situ."
Chen Ping'an nodded. He actually had heard of him. The man wasn't that old, but he was a pure martial artist who had gotten some medicine money from his first disciple. Chen Ping'an wondered what this "Six-Armed Divine Fist" hero was thinking; it seemed he had enshrined that bag of money. If it were Pei Qian in her younger days, this hero's fate would be concerning.
But a martial artist at the Golden Body realm was indeed enough to navigate the martial world.
Back when he had mistakenly entered the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, a whole world, including Cultivation Master Zhong and the knife sharpener Liu Zong, hadn't reached the Golden Body realm yet. Of course, that old temple master had done that intentionally, and it was also related to the formless suppression of the Blessed Land's Dao.
The burly man asked, "Brother is from out of town, right?"
Chen Ping'an took his hands out of his sleeves, turned around, and clasped his fists with a smile, "Good eye, brother. I am indeed from elsewhere, from a small place. My name is Cao Mo, the 'mo' from 'sharing saliva'."
The burly man nodded, pretending to understand. He didn't recognize the character, but it didn't affect what he called him.
Chen Ping'an added with a laugh, "The 'mo' from 'spit'."
A handsome young man in a crane-feather cloak walked out onto the street, clutching a wine jug. He was drunk, with blurry eyes.
The burly man's eyes lit up. "Brother Cao, our capital is a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons dwell! Not only are there a bunch of old grandmasters who have reached the pinnacle of the martial arts path, whose strikes have the force of thunder, no less than mountain immortals, but there are also the Four Great Beauties and the Four Great Young Experts, each with extraordinary talents, heaven-sent prodigies in martial arts. The one before you is one of those young experts. Like Brother Cao, he's an out-of-towner. He's only been in the capital for three or five years, but he's already made a big name for himself. They say he often visits Chi'er Street."
In the eyes of Qi refiners, there are only the mountains; in the eyes of martial artists, there is only the martial world.
The burly man's junior apprentice brother grinned inwardly, thinking that the senior apprentice brother's binge-listening to street storytellers and tavern performers hadn't been in vain, nor was the money he poured into them wasted.
A young boy from the martial gym on the wall shifted his buttocks and let out a fart.
The burly man turned his head and cursed with a laugh, "A loud fart isn't stinky, a stinky fart isn't loud. But in your case, it's the opposite. I told you not to eat garlic like it's a meal. Now look at that! Your farts could kill a person. Take it easy, kid. I heard that the young miss of this house has been weak lately. Your fart made such a big noise, be careful not to scare her soul away."
"Liu Xiaokui! Watch your mouth! What nonsense are you talking?!"
Inside the house, two young girls were about to put a ladder against the wall. One of them, with a delicate figure, was pinching a handkerchief and holding it lightly against her nose, slightly frowning. Beside them, two maids were helping to hold the ladder so that their young lady could see what was happening outside. One of the maids was quite feisty. She put her hands on her hips and glared angrily at the man on the wall who couldn't utter a decent word from his dog's mouth.
But none of the three chased them away.
The other maid quickly reminded, "Quiet, quiet! If the master finds out, we'll be in for it, and we'll get the young lady grounded too."
The man named Liu Xiaokui turned around and crouched, smiling, "Oh, isn't this Miss Fengsheng? I heard that you invited a Daoist priest to perform a ritual at your front gate. Is it peaceful in the house now? That Daoist who came on his own to help with the exorcism—did he have an official license? He didn't look like a proper person to me. You'd better not be taken for a ride. If you ask me, you should just invite our guild master over to keep watch for your house. Just have him sit there. With his full yang aura, any dirty thing would be scared away for sure. And it won't cost you a cent. How about that?"
The feisty maid spat, "Liu Xiaokui, what the hell do you know? Besides a few pounds of muscle, what else have you got? A piddling little martial arts gym that only knows how to cheat money—you have nothing to do with these mountain affairs that only immortal masters can handle!"
Liu Xiaokui grinned, not at all annoyed, and didn't retort. He just craned his neck to look at the girl's chest. From this angle, the view was nice.
While listening to Xiao Mo relay the heart-voice conversations and gathered sounds from the street, Chen Ping'an turned his head to look into the house, somewhat puzzled. In ordinary small-nation capitals, there might indeed be fox spirits, haunted houses, or promiscuous spirits causing mischief, but here in the Grand Li capital, could ghosts still be roaming about? There were the City God Temple and the Earth God Temple, plus numerous other yamen offices here. Just the Day and Night Wandering Spirits alone could make ghosts, goblins, and other evil entities regret being born. How would they dare to loiter freely here? It'd be like an insignificant little thief, in broad daylight, openly challenging the county magistrate in charge of catching thieves at the county yamen door: "Arrest me! Come on, do your worst!"
Within the house of this well-off family, there were indeed wisps of yin and baleful energy, fluctuating uncertainly. But it was very faint. It avoided places pasted with gate gods, only lingering in the shadows of the house. People with a bit stronger yang energy could make it give way. Chen Ping'an looked again at the expressions of the three women at the wall's corner; they seemed normal.
This situation could occur if someone's body was weak, their soul unstable, their yang energy insufficient, or if they had invited some so-called "dirty thing" inside by breaking taboos outside the home. Another possibility was that the family's ancestors had insufficient yin virtue, causing the house to lose its ancestral protection. But this family didn't seem to fit either case. Then it was most likely that the Daoist priest was using some charlatan trick—first stirring up some trouble to scare people, then fleecing them for money. It was like: gate gods can block demons and evil spirits, but they can't block human hearts and schemes.
The buxom maid covered her chest with her hands and glared fiercely at the row of perverts on the wall, which looked like a row of sparrows. Among them were two unfamiliar faces, and one was still looking into their courtyard. She turned her head and whispered to the young lady, "Miss, I think if that guy is hanging out with Liu Xiaokui, he's not a decent sort either."
Chen Ping'an withdrew his gaze and chuckled.
Caught in the crossfire.
Xiao Mo smiled and retorted, "Miss misunderstands my young master. My young master is a gentleman."
The girl snorted, "Heh, a 'gentleman of the rooftop' would be more like it."
Meanwhile, Xiao Mo relayed a heart-voice: "Oh, quite handsome. He has a scholarly air. Could he be an out-of-town candidate going to the capital for the exams?"
Chen Ping'an looked confused.
Xiao Mo explained with a smile, "It's Miss Fengsheng's heart-voice."
Chen Ping'an silently memorized the faces of those Qi refiners and "martial world masters" on the street, then asked, "Xiao Mo, can you find that guy who's making his money through crooked means?"
Xiao Mo nodded. "Easy."
Chen Ping'an said, "Then let's relocate. Let's go meet this 'resourceful' Daoist."
Somehow, Chen Ping'an felt in the depths of his being that this was a... karmic opportunity, one whose fortune or misfortune was temporarily uncertain. Not too big, not too small, may or may not be needed, illusory and vague.
For Chen Ping'an, such a fluctuation in his state of mind could be considered extremely rare.
Even when he encountered the one who called himself "a poor ghost who can't keep money," Xun Xuban, it was only afterward that he realized that Xun Qu was actually a reincarnated spirit.
After Xiao Mo led him to a nearby ordinary inn, the two appeared outside a somewhat shabby room. The door latch fell off by itself. Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open and entered.
Inside, a young Daoist sat cross-legged. His old Daoist robe was washed white from repeated scrubbings. He was reading a Daoist scripture by lamplight. On the table were a bowl of wine and two plates of appetizers. When Chen Ping'an and Xiao Mo appeared, the young Daoist slowly turned his head and said calmly, "Finally here."
Chen Ping'an squinted at this opening line.
The young Daoist still didn't get up. He just looked up at the two who had crossed the threshold. One of them, a young man in a yellow hat and green shoes, closed the door.
The young Daoist closed the crudely printed Daoist scripture in his hand. He sat there unmoving, then leaned forward slightly and performed a Daoist salute, saying, "May boundless Heavenly Venerables bless you."
Then he put two fingers together, slightly moved an empty wine glass on the table forward, then stretched out a palm towards the two uninvited guests, saying with a free and easy smile, "Cloud and water wanderers, a guest is a guest. I only have a cup of murky wine. I am poor and cannot offer proper hospitality. As for which of the two of you will drink, that will depend on your respective karmic connections."
"Young Master, he looks like a cultivator below the fifth realm. On the surface, he seems calm, but in reality, his heart is trembling with extreme panic."
Xiao Mo said through heart-voice: "Unless... unless he is a Flying Ascension realm grand cultivator who is even better at concealing his identity than Lu Wei or Cao Rong. It would have to be the peak Flying Ascension realm, and the type who likes to play tricks in the mortal world."
Chen Ping'an sat down expressionlessly across from the young Daoist at the table. He took the wine glass, picked up the wine pot, and silently poured himself a cup of wine.
The young Daoist shook his head with a smile and said, "Mountain immortals are ignorant of ignorance; mortal fools have stubborn and unenlightened natures."
Then he stuck out one finger and lightly tapped the rim of his own wine glass. "I have long been on a journey of hard labor, and I regret that I did not enter the mountains earlier."
Xiao Mo stood behind Chen Ping'an, completely confused. Was this fellow playing Zen riddles?
"Ouch! Ouch! That hurts!"
Suddenly, the young Daoist began to wince in pain. It turned out that Chen Ping'an had come to his side and grabbed one of his arms.
Chen Ping'an said, "We are from the yamen. You know very well what you've done."
The young Daoist's face turned pale, and he shouted, "I was wrong! I shouldn't have gone to that house to play tricks pretending to be a spirit..."
Once he heard that the two were officials, this Daoist couldn't keep up the act anymore. He poured out everything like beans from a bamboo tube, recounting all his tricks of deception and fraud.
He was from a vassal state in the central part of Grand Li. Naturally, he didn't have any Daoist license, and he didn't dare casually wear a Daoist crown. Disguising oneself as a wandering Daoist was one thing; disguising oneself as a Daoist from a specific lineage was another, with a vast difference in severity of punishment. The former came under the jurisdiction of the imperial government, while the latter would fall under the management of the mountain Daoist immortals.
Chen Ping'an let go of his hand and looked at this audacious young Daoist. No matter how he looked, he couldn't see any particular clue.
The young Daoist grimaced, rubbing his arm as if in serious pain, and asked timidly, "May I ask, esteemed officials, for thirty taels of silver, how many strokes of the board would I get in the Grand Li capital yamen, and how long would I have to eat prison meals?"
This guy, whose real name was Nian Jing, style name Xian Wei, and self-titled "Master of Vacuity Profundity," was obviously a repeat offender.
Chen Ping'an asked with a smile, "Master of Vacuity Profundity, you earned thirty taels of silver from that ritual. How many taels do you have left now?"
The young Daoist glanced at the books and wine jug on the table. "The capital is expensive. Not much left. Only seven or eight taels remain."
Chen Ping'an twitched the corner of his mouth, and the young Daoist immediately changed his tune. "To answer your question, sir, including my savings, it's about twenty taels of silver."
Chen Ping'an began to look around the room. The young Daoist sniffled, feeling as if his heart were being cut, and said in a trembling voice, "And one gold ingot as well."
Xiao Mo found it somewhat amusing. This kid was like someone straining to take a crap—nothing easy about it.
But in an instant, Xiao Mo subconsciously wanted to take a step back. However, relying on his extremely tough Dao heart, he forced himself not to move. Instead, Xiao Mo came to Chen Ping'an's side. Just as he was about to communicate through heart-voice, Chen Ping'an unexpectedly spoke first: "It's fine. I already know."
Xiao Mo summoned his natal flying swords for the first time, all four at once.
Chen Ping'an reminded through heart-voice, "Put away the flying swords."
Xiao Mo wanted to say more, but seeing his young master's firm expression, he had no choice but to silently put away the flying swords.
It turned out that on that young man posing as a Daoist, nestled in his hair bun, was a wooden Daoist hairpin. Its style was ancient and unique, one of a kind.
That hairpin—Xiao Mo was far too familiar with it!
Although the wooden hairpin on the young Daoist's head was certainly not the one from back then, just its identical style was enough to shake Xiao Mo's heartstrings.
Chen Ping'an remained seated in his original spot, his expression unchanged.
Was this perhaps a karmic consequence of him personally cleaving the Immortal Hairpin City in two on the Barren Wasteland World back then?
"It seems you two have already guessed my identity."
The young man smiled, slowly stood up, and shook his two Daoist sleeves. Just as he was about to speak, he started again, "Ouch! Ouch! It hurts! My hand's going to break! Spare me, Sir Official!"
He groaned inwardly. No matter how good he was at reading people's expressions, no matter how glib-tongued and quick to spin nonsense, he couldn't withstand the pain. These government officials were all so crude, liked to get physical, far too uncivilized...
Accompanying this "Master of Vacuity Profundity" out of the inn, the young Daoist, with a bundle slung diagonally across his body, of course didn't forget to settle his bill at the front desk.
That younger official with a rather bad temper said he was going to take him to a more spacious place to stay. The young man sighed. Prison food wasn't good, but what could he do?
He had inexplicably been given a yellow paper talisman, a "Yang Energy Lighting Lantern Talisman," with instructions to paste it at the ancestral hall entrance of that household tomorrow.
The young Daoist had originally thought they were heading to the yamen. But instead, they took a winding route. The young Daoist was drenched in sweat. Finally, they arrived at a small alley. The young Daoist abruptly stopped, looking panicked. He took the initiative to take off his bundle and hand it to the one who called himself Cao Mo, his teeth chattering, "You can take my goods, but please don't harm me! Including that gold ingot, all my possessions add up to less than a hundred taels of silver. You don't need to kill me over that!"
In the end, the young man leaned against the wall, his voice almost breaking into sobs.
Liu Jia and Zhao Duanming were inside the White Jade Meditation Ground, watching this fine show at the entrance of the alley. The master and apprentice looked at each other. Was Mr. Chen bringing back a living treasure?
"Keep your bundle. I don't want your money. Nian Jing... forget it, I'll call you Xian Wei, it's smoother. I'll keep your real name for now."
Chen Ping'an waved his hand and smiled, "By the way, I am a man of the mountains. From now on, you will practice Daoism with me."
That silent, dumbfounded Xian Wei listened as if it were a celestial book, his heart full of doubt. Was it a case of one mountain higher than another? Had he run into an even better liar? Besides cheating him out of his money, what else did this guy want to do? And what could he possibly want to do? It wasn't as if he was a woman... Thinking of this, Xian Wei gave the bundle to Cao Mo and sat down on the ground with a plop, refusing to move another step.
Chen Ping'an's face darkened. He had no choice but to raise one hand and summon from his palm the Five Thunder Law Seal. Its light and color swirled, illuminating the small alley.
Xian Wei stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly snapped out of it. He nimbly picked up the bundle from the ground, slung it back over his body, and followed Cao Mo into the alley. A true man faces even a mountain of swords and a sea of fire without batting an eye.
"Immortal Master Cao, did you take a single look at me on the street and recognize my immortal roots? Think I'm a piece of raw material that can be molded and shaped?"
"May I ask which mountain's estate in Bottle Gourd Prefecture Immortal Master Cao comes from? Could it be that legendary land immortal who can reach up and pluck the moon and stars?"
"Immortal Master Cao, how about I just call you Master now? All that red tape of formal apprenticeship, tea offering, bowing to portraits—we can postpone that. Master, do I have any senior brothers or sisters now? When can I meet them?"
Seeing that this mountain immortal didn't answer, Xian Wei rubbed his belly, steeled himself, and changed his address back to "Immortal Master Cao," tentatively asking, "Is there anything to eat? I've been walking all this way, and I'm starving."
Chen Ping'an took out a key and opened the front door of a house, laughing, "Xiao Mo, go buy some supper."
Xiao Mo nodded silently, then vanished in a flash.
In the front courtyard, Chen Ping'an let Xian Wei stay temporarily in a side room, telling him not to wander around and to stay put in the room. Chen Ping'an walked back to the entrance of the alley, chatted briefly with the master and apprentice, then handed the two newly completed seals to Liu Jia for forwarding to the head of the Tianshui Zhao Clan.
When he returned to the front courtyard, that "young Daoist" was wolfing down his food, eating ravenously. Xiao Mo stood at the door. Chen Ping'an looked at that Daoist hairpin once more, then returned to the study building.
Nothing happened that night.
After eating and drinking his fill, Xian Wei tossed and turned, unable to sleep. It was a long time before he finally drifted off.
The next day, the young Daoist found that Cao Mo had already disappeared. Truly like a mountain immortal, with an erratic temperament and elusive whereabouts. Only the one who called himself "Xiao Mo" was in the courtyard, accompanying him to that household. Xian Wei gave his prepared spiel and pasted the Lighting Lamp Talisman that Immortal Master Cao had given him by the ancestral hall door. That was that. Then Xiao Mo grabbed hold of his shoulder. Xian Wei felt as if he were riding the clouds, and when he looked again, he found himself at a celestial ferry outside the capital—the Plain White Ferry. The name wasn't very pleasant, but Xian Wei knew its origin. Over the past century, the Grand Li border army had fought many battles. He had traveled on foot, enduring wind and food exposure, all the way north to the Grand Li capital. Wasn't it because he sincerely admired the invincibility of the Grand Li iron cavalry?
But a single coin can stump even a hero. If he had money, why would he resort to deception? He would have thrown his money around at a tavern on the Calamus River long ago.
Xiao Mo told Xian Wei to stand right where he was. The latter focused his eyes and saw that in the distance was a fortune-telling stall. It was actually Immortal Master Cao, wearing a different outfit—a green gauze Daoist robe—with a bamboo cylinder for fortune sticks on the table.
At the ferry port, it was barely dawn. This stall was already doing business. A plain-looking woman with two children—a boy and a girl with somewhat similar features—sat on the bench in front of the stall. Beside them stood an old steward.
A little farther off, two burly men with sharp eyes stood guard. They were undoubtedly the family's protectors.
This bit of insight Xian Wei had: the woman's bearing and the two guards' fierce aura all indicated that they were not just any common family. Could be a military general's household from the capital.
Immortal Master Cao was truly formidable. His Daoist cultivation was indeed a notch above his own. Calling him Master was definitely not a loss.
Chen Ping'an had traveled through Bottle Gourd Prefecture before. He had made a special trip to the hometown of Great General Su Gaoshan. The man had not built a luxurious mansion or constructed grand tombs, nor did his family rise to prominence like dogs and chickens ascending to heaven. The relatives were only elevated from poverty-stricken homes to ones that were well-fed and devoted to farming and studying.
Now, this "Master of Vacuity Profundity," who acted as a fortune-teller, was interpreting the fortune stick for the woman. She was using it to divine the prospects of a distant journey. Fortunately, it was an upper-middle-level fortune stick. The woman listened carefully, with some joy in her eyes.
Apart from the fee that had been agreed upon beforehand, the lady gave an extra ten taels of silver.
That young Daoist master smiled, took a white jade fortune tablet from his sleeve, then slapped his head, saying that good things come in pairs, and pulled out another fortune jade tablet. He said they were gifts for the young master and young lady.
"Fortune, wealth, peace, health, honor, and prosperity. May you obtain everything you desire. May the orchid's fragrance travel a thousand miles."
"Deep roots and lush foliage, rain nourishing seedlings and grain. House and home peaceful and safe. May it long benefit one's descendants."
The lady saw the auspicious inscriptions on the fortune tablets and accepted them with joy. She took a snow-flower coin from an old embroidered pouch, placed it lightly on the table, and said, "I request that the Daoist Master accept this."
But that young man, who appeared young but spoke elegantly, gently pushed the divine coin back and said with a smile, "Matters of karmic opportunity cannot be bought for ten thousand gold. Madam, no need to be polite. Consider it a virtuous encounter."
Xiao Mo communicated through heart-voice, "Young Master, could such actions cause the Grand Li Song clan to have second thoughts?"
Chen Ping'an replied, "Then let them think what they will."
Xiao Mo smiled and nodded slightly, because behind the lady and her two children, a pair of large red lanterns had risen.
On each lantern was a string of golden words: "Jise Peak Patriarch Hall Secretly Made," signed by Chen Ping'an.
And sealed with a private seal.
"Hidden Official."
That lady brought her son and daughter away from the fortune-telling stall, not forgetting to make them thank the young Daoist master.
After walking some distance, the lady seemed to say something to the old steward and learned a certain truth. She suddenly turned her head to look. That young Daoist master with a jade hairpin had stood up, his hands tucked into his sleeves, a smile on his face, waving goodbye to them.
The lady stopped, turned around, and curtsied from a distance to the young man.
The man took a step back and returned the bow with a formal salute.
Though she was a first-rank titled lady of the Grand Li court, the woman was not very knowledgeable about court politics or the battlefield. In fact, she had only learned today that the last Hidden Official of the Sword Qi Wall was also a person of Grand Li.
At the break of dawn, as the moon set and the sun rose, the air was fresh.
Like a person walking in the night, under the stars and moon, having already reached the daybreak.