Unsheathed

Late in the night, Chen Ping'an retrieved his calligraphy brush and some paper and recorded the names and birthplaces of the military officer as well as his six hundred or so soldiers, saying that a friend of his would hold two Heavenly Worship Ceremonies and Liberation Rites of Water and Land in the future. At that time, he would try to include their names among those who were being honored.

While Chen Ping'an was completing this task, Zeng Ye opened the door of the main hall following the completion of his cultivation session, providing quite a lot of help to Chen Ping'an and the ten or so yin entities. Chen Ping'an was naturally fluent in the official dialect of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, and he wasn't unfamiliar with the official dialect of the Luminous Vermilion Empire used by the cultivators and commoners in Bamboo Scroll Lake either. However, he was given quite a headache when dealing with the accent of the Stone Brush Nation. Fortunately, Zeng Ye arrived in a timely manner and resolved the communication issues between Chen Ping'an and the yin entities.

They were busy with the task all the way until the roosters crowed in the morning, and it was only then that Chen Ping'an finished recording all of the names and birthplaces of the six hundred or so yin entities.

Yin entities didn't necessarily need to retreat when the sun rose and the roosters started to crow, and some ghosts with powerful yin energy could travel through the living world without any issues even when it was day. Of course, this was as long as they avoided the blazing sun of noon. The notion of yin entities retreating to rest when the roosters crowed was similar to the notion of humans waking up to work in the morning — this was nothing more than nature.

When Chen Ping'an finished writing, the deceased military officer with the surname Wei said that the time for farewell was imminent, so he wanted to go for a stroll outside the Daoist enforcer temple with Chen Ping'an. Chen Ping'an naturally wouldn't turn down his request.

When the two of them walked past the front hall and exited the temple, the military officer from the Stone Brush Nation chuckled softly and asked, "Esteemed Immortal Chen, are you an official immortal from another nation? Or else you wouldn't be so unfamiliar with the official dialect of this place."

Chen Ping'an nodded and replied, "I come from the north."

The military officer subconsciously rubbed his neck and chuckled, "It doesn't matter even if you're from the Great Li Empire. I have to concede that the heavy cavalry from the Great Li Empire is... truly very powerful. There was no need for the accompanying cultivators to participate in the battles, with one side thinking it was unnecessary and one side not daring to seek death.

"Our armies were almost equal in size, yet the battles were completely one-sided. It was only because the heavy cavalry of the Great Li Empire dismounted that the battles between our armies were still relatively intense. Even so, the soldiers of the Stone Brush Nation were no match for their foes. We felt extremely stifled and helpless, and it was because of this that we died with regret and became yin entities. In saying this, we do somewhat acknowledge the strength of our enemies and accept our defeat."

Chen Ping'an nodded in response.

The military officer stopped walking and said, "I won't be nosy and ask anything else, but I'm not that naive either. I know that Esteemed Immortal Chen is actually the one who's going to perform the Heavenly Worship Ceremonies and the Liberation Rites of Water and Land, so..."