Unsheathed

Inside Chen Ping'an's room at the entrance of Cyan Gorge Island, all of the materials, including maps of the Bamboo Scroll Lake islands and the nearby cities, the files from the incense room, the genealogical records of the islands, and close to two hundred thousand characters' worth of handwritten notes; so much had already been categorized and placed into the shelves and drawers, yet the desk was still laden with more materials that were yet to be organized.

Inside the room was a desk, a row of shelves placed along the wall, and a dining table. Aside from that, there was only a chair, two benches, and a stool.

Gu Can continued to visit the room frequently from the end of autumn into winter, and each time he did, he always liked to sit at the entrance of the room for a very long time, either to nap under the sun or chat with Tan Xue. While visiting an island by the name of Purple Bamboo Island, Chen Ping'an had requested three bamboo poles from the island master, two large and one small.

The two large ones had been fashioned into a pair of small bamboo chairs, while the small one had been roasted and polished into a fishing pole. The two bamboo chairs had been crafted to make Gu Can and Tan Xue more comfortable during their visits, while the fishing pole was naturally for fishing purposes, but Chen Ping'an was never able to find the time to do any fishing.

On this night, Chen Ping'an opened his hamper and ate his meal in silence.

He was still awaiting the return letter from Peace and Tranquility Mountain.

Wei Bo had already given him all of the answers, and it wasn't that he didn't trust Wei Bo, but what he was about to do next was something of the utmost importance, so no amount of verifying and double-checking would be too much.

However, given that Peace and Tranquility Mountain was on the Parasol Leaf Continent, this was an intercontinental correspondence, and it wasn't out of the question for an intercontinental letter by flying sword to simply disappear for one reason or another. Hence, Chen Ping'an was already prepared for the worst, and in the worst-case scenario, he would get Wei Bo to send another letter to Zhong Kui of Peace and Tranquility Mountain in his stead.

If this had been his first time traveling the world, perhaps even if he had these connections, he would've still relied solely on his own as troubling others wouldn't have sat right with him, but things were different now.

Chen Ping'an didn't want to become the type of loner that the abbot of the Observing Dao Temple had spoken of. Owing a favor wasn't something to be shied away from, as long as the favor could be returned. Only with frequent exchanges of favors would one feel comfortable reaching out to friends in their times of need.

After his meal, Chen Ping'an closed the hamper, then opened a report and began to browse through it.