Unsheathed

The little girl’s brows furrowed tightly in contemplation and befuddlement. She had no idea what he was talking about, but she also didn't want him to see that she had no idea what he was talking about, so she was trying to pretend like she did have some idea of what he was talking about.

However, that was proving rather difficult. It was just like how Chen Ping'an had been put on the spot by those spirits posing as scholars that had requested him to recite an impromptu poem. He had been completely stumped at the time, just as she was completely stumped now.

Chen Ping'an rose to his feet, and as soon as he did so, the talisman on the window flew off on its own, following which the window itself was also flung open.

At this point, the ship was already high up above the clouds, and he stood at the window with his sleeves billowing in the wind, while the little girl looked on with a pout of envy and displeasure.

Why does he get to be so tall?!

She hesitated momentarily, then seemed to have suddenly arrived at an epiphany as she got up to stand on her chair. Wouldn't it make her story more fleshed out and well-rounded if there were some struggles included?

With that in mind, a wide smile instantly appeared on her face, and she clasped her hands behind her back as she began pacing back and forth over the tiny surface of the chair as she said, "After I bought those newspapers, the man who sold them to me immediately burst into laughter with his friends.

“I didn't know what they were laughing about, so I smiled at them. You told me to be polite to others, regardless of whether they're humans or demons. One of his friends just so happened to leave his room, and as he accidentally bumped into me as he opened his door. I stumbled as a result, and the newspapers spilled out of my hands and onto the ground.

“I told him that it's fine, and I bent down to pick up the newspapers, but he stepped on me and even ground his foot into my back. I don't think that was an accident. I couldn't help but grimace because it hurt, and he sent me flying with a kick. The man who sold me the newspapers told him to let me go, seeing as I was a passenger on the ship, so the other man did, and I picked up the newspapers and ran back here.

“I'm not lying to you! I grimaced just a little bit because it really hurt, but only a little!"

She raised two fingers as she insisted, "Only this much!"

Chen Ping’an turned to her with a smile as he asked, "Do you think it's right to be kind and polite to all people at all times in all settings, or should it depend on the circumstances? Would it be more appropriate to be polite to kind people and ruthless to bad people? However, if the punishment that we administer upon an evil-doer does not match the extent of their transgressions, wouldn't that go against the theory of sequential order?