Unsheathed

After leaving the Yang Family's medicine shop, Chen Ping'an paid a visit to the abandoned school, peering into it from outside the window with the umbrella held above his head.

He felt as if he had returned to his formative years, where he had squatted beneath the window to listen to Mr. Qi's teachings.

After leaving the school, he traveled to the new school founded by the Dragon Tail Creek Chen Clan, and it was far larger than the old school. Chen Ping'an stopped outside the archway for a while, then turned and departed.

While passing through the crab archway, Chen Ping'an looked up at the four plaques that had been personally inscribed by sages, the Confucian Sect's "doing my part," the Daoist Sect's "comply with the natural order," the Buddhist Sect's "refrain from looking outward," and the Militarian Sect's "unmatched aura."

Following the fall of the Jewel Small World, multiple rubbings of these plaques had been made by the Great Li Empire's imperial court through the use of secret techniques, stripping them of the energy, essence, and spirit that they once contained, and it was unclear who had been the lucky recipients of those blessings.

While looking at the Daoist plaque, Chen Ping'an thought of the contents of Cui Dongshan's letter again, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

After that, he also passed by the Iron Lock Well, which had already been purchased by a private party, and a low fence had been constructed around it, prohibiting the local residents from drawing water from the well.

Chen Ping'an was reminded of the young man at the ferry station, who had obtained that iron chain. He was Liu Laocheng's disciple, a tall, black-robed young man with a gentle personality. Not only did he think that, even Pei Qian was of the opinion that the young man was a good person, so he had to have truly been a good person.

It was only because of him that Chen Ping'an later dared to venture onto Palace Willow Island. He couldn't help but feel like someone who had raised a disciple like this surely couldn't have been rotten to the core, and as it turned out, he had been right to take the gamble. However, there was still a sense of lingering fear whenever he thought back to the mind games that he had played with Liu Laocheng.

All of a sudden, an amused smile appeared on Chen Ping'an's face. For some reason, looking at the well from outside the fence reminded him of back when he was looking at the heavenly gate leading to the Sword Qi Great Wall from afar on Stalactite Mountain.

There had been a sword-hugging middle-aged man seated atop the stone plaque and a child Daoist reading a book while seated on a cushion. Having traveled far and wide, Chen Ping'an felt like Stalactite Mountain was the only place that could compete with the small town when it came to harboring prodigious talents. As the largest mountain seal in the Majestic World, it was certainly an apt reflection of the Daoist second disciple's power.