Unsheathed

Chapter 19: The Great Dao

Right as Chen Ping'an was about to rush out of the courtyard, Ning Yao suddenly yelled, "Hold on, I have something to say to you."

Chen Ping'an pretended not to have heard her, but right as he was about to open the gate, Ning Yao raised her voice as she yelled again, "Chen Ping'an!"

Chen Ping'an could only turn around and jog back to the doorstep. At this point, Ning Yao's complexion had already improved somewhat, but her voice was still rather hoarse as she said, "What I want to tell you is that firstly, for outsiders like ourselves in this town, our physical constitutions will be superior to the average person’s, but aside from that, we're no different from the town's residents.

“Secondly, outsiders are not allowed to kill people here, and if we break that rule, no matter what reason we may have, we will be evicted and forced to leave empty-handed. That is an extremely severe consequence, far more dire than you can imagine. Thirdly, you have to think things through properly before you act. For outsiders like me, if our lives are placed under threat, we'll definitely retaliate, even if it means having to leave this place empty-handed. After all, nothing is more important than survival."

Chen Ping'an briefly considered what he had been told, then asked, "So you're telling me that if I want to go through with this, I have to strike fast, right?"

A smile immediately appeared on Ning Yao's face, and it was as if the entire room had been lit up by the exuberant glow that had emerged in her eyes. She patted the green scabbard of the saber laid across her knees, then nodded as she replied, "Indeed, you must strike with the utmost speed. That is the ultimate goal that I'm pursuing with both this saber and this sword of mine. I want to be the fastest under the heavens regardless of whether it be drawing my saber or attacking with my sword!"

She paused here momentarily, suddenly turning from a gallant swordswoman into a young woman who was just trying to show off as she smiled and asked, "Do you know how to improve the speed of your attacks?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head with a blank expression.

Ning Yao could tell that he wasn't very interested in this topic, and she immediately lost all interest in showing off as well, waving a dismissive hand as she said, "Hurry up and go buy the clay pot. I'm still waiting on my medicine."

This time, Chen Ping'an left the courtyard in a far slower and steadier manner.

Not long after he left Clay Vase Alley, the unlocked door of his yard was gently pushed open. Ning Yao had been meditating while using a strange breathing technique, but her eyes sprang open as she cast a wary gaze out the door, as if she were expecting a confrontation.

All of a sudden, the flying sword on the table fell completely silent, and it began to give off a sense of cold killing intent that only contributed further to the early spring chill.

Zhi Gui casually made her way over to the entrance of the house, as if she were doing nothing more than paying a neighbor a friendly visit. She refrained from crossing over the doorstep as she poked her head into the room and began to look around, but she paid no heed to Ning Yao, who was sitting on the plank bed with her saber across her knees.

Only after a long while did Zhi Gui seem to have finally noticed the person in the room, and she put on an innocent expression as she asked, "Who are you, Big Sister, and why are you sitting on Chen Ping'an's bed? I don't recall him mentioning any relatives coming to stay with him."

Ning Yao took a glance at the unwelcome guest, then closed her eyes again and studiously ignored her.

Zhi Gui wasn't incensed by the fact that she was being blatantly ignored. All she did was purse her lips as a disdainful look appeared on her face.

She took a glance at the longsword in the white scabbard resting on the table, and a hint of deep-rooted resentment and fear appeared in her eyes, as well as a golden thread that was moving erratically within her pupils.

After a brief hesitation, she ultimately decided to raise a foot and step into the room, only to suddenly withdraw her foot as she cleared her throat, pretending to ask for permission as she declared, "I'm coming in. If you're not saying anything, then that means you're not against me coming in, right? Then again, this is Chen Ping'an's house, and I've known him for many years. Could it be that you don't understand what I'm saying?

“That's fine, it's not like we have anything to chat about anyway. I just came over here to see if you guys need anything. We're about to move away soon, and we can leave a lot of stuff behind for Chen Ping'an. You might not be aware of this, but he's had a very difficult life up to this point."

Zhi Gui was rambling aimlessly as if she were taking pity on Chen Ping'an, making it sound as if they were far closer to one another than they actually were.

After making her way into the room, Zhi Gui calmly strode over to the table, then took a seat on the bench beside the table, keeping her peripheral vision on the longsword the entire time.

At the same time, Ning Yao pulled out the three pages that the young Daoist priest had left behind for Chen Ping'an, and she scrutinized them in great detail, trying to see if there were anything special about them. However, after flipping them over back and forth several times, she was still unable to see anything remarkable about them, and she sighed in a disappointed manner, "His writing is so bland and boring."

She clearly recalled that there were 10 characters inscribed onto the long wall in her hometown, all of which had been engraved using a sword and were imbued with a vast aura capable of crushing all evil and sinister entities.

Even as a small child, her favorite hobby was to stand in front of the wall and look up at the mighty characters engraved upon it.

Hence, the plaque in the town that contained the idiom "unmatched aura" hadn't been able to captivate much of her interest.

Zhi Gui turned to Ning Yao, surreptitiously sitting up straighter while resting her hands on top of one another on her knees, most likely in an attempt to make herself appear more elegant and refined, and she smiled as she mused in a gentle voice, "A young girl like you should be more careful."

"Who are you?" Ning Yao couldn't help but ask.

Zhi Gui's hand flew to her chest as she feigned a surprised expression and exclaimed, "So you could understand me all this time!"

"Do you need something?" Ning Yao asked.

"Is this yours?" Zhi Gui asked as she pointed at the longsword on the table.

Ning Yao's brows furrowed slightly, and she offered no response.

Zhi Gui was completely unbothered by Ning Yao's refusal to answer her question, and she stood up before making her way over to a corner of the room, where she began inspecting the pots and pans on the wooden shelf. None of those things had any significant value, but she was scrutinizing them very carefully.

Back when he was an apprentice at the kilns, Chen Ping'an had explored all of the areas around the small town. He would scale the mountains on his own to dig for clay and collect firewood, and over time, he became very fast at scaling and descending from the mountains. As long as someone was willing to teach him something, he would always practice that thing to the very best of his ability, regardless of whether it was something rudimentary and basic or complex and difficult to grasp.

As for how well he would be able to do that thing, Chen Ping'an didn't care, nor did he really have a say in the matter. When it came to Old Man Yao, he had always been very stingy, never willing to teach any of his best skills to Chen Ping'an. However, Chen Ping'an always practiced whatever Old Man Yao was willing to teach him with the utmost concentration and diligence. After that, Liu Xianyang taught him to make things like wooden bows and fishing rods, and he was just as diligent in learning those things.

Song Jixin had never been shy to deliver scathing remarks about Chen Ping'an, and in his words, Chen Ping'an was someone who made the best of what he had, but unfortunately, he simply had too little to work with. Hence, he was better off not trying so hard and simply resigning himself to his fate.

Zhi Gui waved at Ning Yao with a bright smile as she said, "I'm leaving now. I wish you a speedy recovery. If you need anything, feel free to tell me. My name is Zhi Gui, and I live right next door."

Ning Yao offered no response.

After leaving the room and stepping into the courtyard, Zhi Gui murmured to herself in a voice that was just barely audible to Ning Yao, "She's not that good-looking at all."

"What a tacky name Zhi Gui is," Ning Yao retorted, also pretending as if she were only speaking to herself.

As Zhi Gui closed the gate behind her, she did so with more force than necessary, resulting in a loud thump.

Ning Yao closed her eyes again and continued to meditate, seemingly completely unmoved by Zhi Gui's visit.

She really detested this small town, particularly the cultivators who had come to seek out fated opportunities in this town. They were constantly hatching underhanded plots and schemes against one another, and it was particularly ironic, considering they regarded themselves as immortals who stood above those at the foot of the mountain.

In Ning Yao's heart, this wasn't what the pursuit of the Great Dao should've been like.

Upon emerging from Clay Vase Alley, Chen Ping'an gently exhaled as he raised his right hand to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight.

He then began to jog, taking quick and nimble steps, and even though he had already jogged through these same streets and alleys countless times, he still hadn't grown weary of them at all. He was accustomed to regularly scaling the mountains, so this was nothing more than some light exercise for him. What was truly arduous was the process of scaling the mountain to make charcoal.

Each year, a dragon kiln would go through around 10,000 to 15,000 kilograms of charcoal, and it was an especially laborious task to be living on the mountain, chopping firewood to be burned into charcoal during periods of heavy rain. Chen Ping'an had once had a very close brush with death when a charcoal kiln that he was constructing had collapsed on him.

Over the years, almost all of the jobs that Chen Ping'an had undertaken had fallen under the category of manual labor. There was some technique involved, but ultimately, virtually all of the tasks assigned to him had been very physically grueling to complete. Hence, his thin and frail appearance was only a facade, and he possessed far more strength and stamina than what appeared to be the case on the surface.

Chen Ping'an stopped at a crossroads, then leaned his back against the wall as he crouched down to tighten his straw sandals, continuing to keep one hand clenched in a tight fist this entire time.

At this moment, his heart was as still as a tranquil pond.

However, he did miss his only friend in the town.

Liu Xianyang had once boasted to Chen Ping'an in secret that his grandfather had once told him a story. According to the story, back when Liu Xianyang's grandfather was still a child, he had witnessed someone running only a few steps to build up momentum before leaping over the entire creek.

After that, Liu Xianyang and Chen Ping'an decided to try that themselves, picking out the narrowest part of the creek before getting a running start and leaping into the air at the same time. Even though Liu Xianyang was a few years older than Chen Ping'an, he didn't travel very far before falling into the water, only to then notice a shadow vaulting over his head, continuing onward before falling into the water far ahead of him.

After that, Liu Xianyang didn't make any further mention of immortals leaping over the creek.

However, he knew that following that event, Chen Ping'an would often go to the creek on his own before attempting the same feat over and over again.

Each time he did so, he would get closer to the other side, and it seemed that this was something that he would never grow tired of.

One time, Liu Xianyang couldn't help but watch in secret from afar, and upon witnessing the progress that Chen Ping'an was making, he felt like this was a different Chen Ping'an from the stubborn little idiot that he knew.

While leaping over the creek, he resembled the eagles that often circled around in the sky above the town.

Johnchen and Flying Dumpling's Thoughts

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