Unsheathed

Chapter 379 (5): Omen

Not far from where Noble Scholar Hou Zheng and Virtuous Scholar Zhou Juran were eating spicy noodles in the capital, there was a small and relatively unknown Daoist temple. The temple master was a middle-aged priest who was completely unknown in the Azure Phoenix Nation, and if he were to be viewed as a cultivator like any other, then he was even less remarkable, since he hadn't even reached the Middle Five Tiers.

Moreover, this White Cloud Temple had only been there for a hundred years or so, making it far younger than the established Daoist temples in the Azure Phoenix Nation that could easily have histories of thousands of years. Because of this, all of the locations with good feng shui in the capital had already been taken by the so-called senior Daoist temples a long time ago.

Compared to the size of the city, the White Cloud Temple looked much like a small piece of tofu. It was also forced to neighbor a bustling market. However, there were indeed a few ancient trees planted inside the temple, and this was something that the temple could be slightly proud of. However, these ancient trees also caused huge problems for the temple.

The children living in the surroundings liked to fly paper kites, but their kites would very often get stuck in the large trees of the temple. Thus, parents would often bring their sobbing children over and curse outside the temple. After venting their anger, they would barge into the temple to scold and lecture those timid little Daoist priests, instructing them to bring ladders over to climb the trees and retrieve the paper kites.

Upon getting their kites back, the tears of sadness on the children's faces would quickly transform into smiles of delight. However, having delayed their proper matters because of these trivial things, the parents would often continue to curse. Many of them would inevitably mumble that these troublesome and useless old trees should be chopped down and used for firewood.

When these troubles presented themselves, the haggard middle-aged temple master would walk out from the scripture library every single time. However, he would only dare to secretly stand in the distance with an anxious expression, relying on his junior brothers or disciples to face the wrath of the parents.

One time, a little Daoist priest secretly snuck out of the Daoist temple to fly paper kites with the other children. However, he accidentally flew his kite into one of the trees, and he had a huge mental battle with himself before deciding that he cherished the paper kite far too much. Thus, he mustered his courage to tell the Daoist temple about this.

In the end, however, he became an outlet for his master, the temple master, to vent his anger. He was almost spanked silly. However, the little Daoist priest also beamed in joy on the same day. As it turned out, a porcelain doll that he had wanted for a long time had mysteriously appeared on his bed. This allowed him to show off to the other little Daoist priests for a very long time.

It was late in the evening now, and the middle-aged Daoist priest raised his head while sitting inside the small scripture library. His eyes were feeling slightly sore after reading for too long.

Two walls of the scripture library had bookshelves reaching the roof, and apart from an incredibly large set of Daoist scriptures, there was surprisingly a large number of Buddhist scriptures and Confucian classics as well.

The middle-aged Daoist priest had carefully read all of these scriptures and classics already, and just his reading notes from the past few years alone numbered more than nine hundred thousand characters.

Others cultivated to transcend above nobles and officials, to attain Dao and achieve longevity, and to break free from the shackles of heaven and earth. However, the temple master of the White Cloud Daoist Temple simply cultivated for the sake of living a few years longer and reading a few more books.

He wanted to read all of the scriptures and classics of the three teachings and the hundred schools of thought.

————

Even though Chen Ping'an and the others were staying at the Great Marsh Gang's residence for the moment, Zhu Fengxian didn't visit Chen Ping'an and try to cotton up to him a single time. Only on the day of the disciple-recruitment ceremony did Zhu Fengxian meet up with Chen Ping'an in the morning and inform him that it was time to head to the Golden Osmanthus Daoist Temple together.

Zhu Fengxian and Chen Ping'an walked side-by-side while climbing Azure Waist Mountain, and they simply chatted about the traditions and customs of the Azure Phoenix Nation.

After arriving at the entrance of the Golden Osmanthus Temple, Xu Borui smiled and welcomed them before bringing the two groups of people to their seats. Zhu Fengxian's Great Marsh Gang and Chen Ping'an's group were seated next to each other.

In the end, Temple Master Zhang Guo took nine disciples, with Zhu Ziyang and Liu Qingcheng unsurprisingly taking up two of the nine spots. Of the other seven, two were siblings with a commoner background and five were descendants of wealthy clans in the Azure Phoenix Nation, Fortune Mountain Nation, and Lofty Sky Nation.

Counting Xu Borui and his two fellow disciples, Temple Master Zhang Guo now had twelve direct disciples.

The little Daoist priest who had lent an umbrella to Pei Qian had now become the senior brother of nine new disciples. Standing behind Xu Borui, he was so delighted that he couldn't wipe the smile from his face.

He hurriedly looked over at Pei Qian, yet he discovered that she wasn't looking at him at all. The little Daoist priest couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

The recruitment of disciples in Daoist temples was filled with formalities. The entire process actually took almost two hours. Following the conclusion of the ceremony, however, the Golden Osmanthus Temple gave Chen Ping'an, Zhu Fengxian, the old woman from Blusher Hall, and the leaders of the various other forces an oil-paper umbrella each. Considering the value of these items, they didn't have the right to complain even if they observed formalities for two entire days.

Zhu Fengxian needed to remain at the waist of the mountain for a few more days. Zhu Ziyang had only just become a disciple of the Golden Osmanthus Temple, after all, so what if she was unaccustomed to the lifestyle and failed to acclimatize quickly enough? Zhu Fengxian would feel uneasy and anxious if he left right away.

Chen Ping'an had watched a disciple-recruiting ceremony for free, and he had even been given a precious osmanthus branch umbrella for his trouble. After farewelling Zhu Fengxian and the old woman from Blusher Hall, Chen Ping'an and the others left Azure Waist Mountain, walking along the serene mountain path and heading to the chief military governor's office.

The yellow earth bull joined the group, and Pei Qian was sitting on its back right now.

When asking to ride the earth bull just then, Pei Qian had received a solid knuckle to the head from Chen Ping'an. However, the earth bull surprisingly didn't reject Pei Qian's request and allowed the little girl to sit on its back.

Compared to the four martial artists from the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia knew much more about matters pertaining to immortals in the mountains. Thus, they were very surprised by the yellow earth bull's response.

Another ten days passed, and they walked by a village that was surrounded by mountains on three sides. Dusk was setting in, and wisps of curling smoke rose from the chimneys of the houses with white walls and black roofs. The beams were filled with carvings and the pillars were covered in paintings, and the whole picture of the village was that of a paradise of peace and happiness.

Chen Ping'an and the others walked over following the small path on the mountain ridge, and when they arrived at the village, they discovered that neither side could speak the language of the other. Finally, a teacher from the village school hurriedly walked over and communicated with Chen Ping'an using the official dialect of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, which he wasn't very fluent in.

After speaking for a while, Chen Ping'an learned that almost everyone in the village coincidentally had the surname Chen. They had practiced martial arts and worked as armed escorts for generation after generation, and according to the clan rules established by their ancestors, children needed to stay in school for at least four years before they could leave and work in the fields, regardless of how poor their family was.

The clan leader was an old man, around seventy years of age. Yet even at his age, he was still filled with energy and vigor, with a spring in his step. He was dressed in a gray changshan, and according to the teacher from the village school, he was extremely skilled at martial arts and highly respected in the surrounding region of several hundred kilometers in radius. Because the clan leader had once stopped a prancing horse with his bare hands to save a little child in the busy market, people had honored him with the title of "Chen's Archway."

The elderly clan leader was extremely delighted upon hearing that Chen Ping'an's surname was also Chen, and he cordially invited Chen Ping'an to his house as a guest. He had already finished dinner, yet he asked his family to cook up an entire table of delicious dishes again. Meanwhile, the elderly clan leader retrieved a pot of self-made sorghum liquor and dragged Chen Ping'an over to drink with him.

Even though the elderly clan leader liked to drink, he wasn't a fan of forcing others to drink with him. However, it was exactly because of this that Chen Ping'an ended up having a little too much to drink.

In the end, he had no idea how he left the dinner table and went inside a room. When he woke up halfway through the night, he finally discovered that he was lying on a large and unfamiliar bed with an antique design. He pulled aside his blanket before putting on his boots and walking outside. Gazing up, he could see the exquisitely crafted dougong of the building.[1]

Back in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, Chen Ping'an had asked Imperial Preceptor Zhong Qiu for many construction books related to building bridges. Among these books, Chen Ping'an had read the Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standards quite a few times.[2] This treatise not only explained the standards of building bridges, but also introduced the standards for building houses, pagodas, and many other building types. Chen Ping'an was enraptured by these aspects of the treatise as well.

Most of the houses in the village were connected with a shared wall, leading to many of the corridors being extremely long. After splitting up their inheritances, many siblings would continue to be neighbors with each other.

Chen Ping'an walked out of the long corridor and onto a small path paved with bluestone slabs, following it all the way to a pond. He then stood there for an entire night.

In reality, he wasn't thinking about too many things either. Instead, he was simply standing there and zoning out.

The next day, he stayed behind again, following the insistence of the elderly clan leader.

Even though Pei Qian couldn't speak the local dialect, she was still able to play together with a large group of children the same age as her.

When heading over to call Pei Qian back for dinner, the group of children were busy playing catch the chicks.[3]

Pei Qian was just about to ask Chen Ping'an to play with them, yet Chen Ping'an smiled and raised a finger, bending it inward and pretending to strike her forehead.

However, he couldn't resist Pei Qian's relentless nagging, so he eventually caved in and became the mother hen protecting the little chicks. Meanwhile, Pei Qian became the eagle hunting the little chicks.

How could Pei Qian hope to catch a single chick tagging along behind Chen Ping'an, the mother hen?

And thus, Pei Qian swapped positions with the "chick" at the end of the line.

As they played, Pei Qian was the one who laughed the loudest.

There was a young Daoist priest standing in the distance, and he beckoned to them with a smile, signaling that it was time for the master and disciple to return and have dinner with everyone else.

It was almost time for the children to stop playing and return home as well. Smoke and steam rose from the kitchens into the colorful twilight sky, and many adults stood outside their houses and loudly called their children's names.

Chen Ping'an held Pei Qian's hand and walked toward Zhang Shanfeng.

Afterward, a short old Daoist priest with a bulbous nose suddenly appeared in front of the three of them as they walked along an alley. He was wearing black Daoist robes, and there was a bright red and lifelike fire dragon embroidered on each of his two sleeves.

Zhang Shanfeng was completely dumbfounded.

Chen Ping'an held his breath and gathered his concentration as if he were facing a powerful enemy.

Pei Qian only stole a few glances at the old Daoist priest before turning her head around, not daring to look at him anymore.

Zhang Shanfeng hurriedly walked forward and asked in confusion, "Master, why have you come here?"

The old Daoist priest widened his eyes and replied, "If I don't capture you and bring you back to the mountain to cultivate, then perhaps you're going to stay in the outside world, marry, have children, and start your own clan?"

Zhang Shanfeng turned around and flashed a helpless smile at Chen Ping'an, most likely signaling to his friend that this was the stinky temper of his master, so he shouldn't take it to heart.

When Zhang Shanfeng turned around, the old Daoist priest dazedly looked at the slightly pale face of the young Daoist priest as well as his shoulder, which had been pierced by a bonded flying sword. The old Daoist priest stomped his foot and flared up in rage, asking, "Who dared to injure you?! Tell me who it was, and your master... will stab a voodoo doll of them!"

Zhang Shanfeng reached up and rubbed his face. To have a master such as this... He truly had no face to look at Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an's expression was solemn as he cupped his fists and paid respect to the old Daoist priest from the Northern Complete Reed Continent.

The old Daoist priest, an external Heavenly Master from Mount Longhu, nodded at Chen Ping'an in acknowledgment. He then used the ripples in his mind's lake to directly say, "Young lad, your bridge of immortality has been destroyed and then reconstructed? You've had a rough ride. However, your bonded item belonging to the water element is truly filled with an immortal aura. Mhm, this is quite impressive."

After saying this, the old Daoist priest turned his attention back to Zhang Shanfeng and asked him to hold out his hand. Holding two fingers together, the old Daoist priest drew a talisman in the air before casually flicking his sleeve and causing a burst of golden light to flash in the air. The two weapons that had been left in the chief military governor's office—Zhang Shanfeng's True Martial and Xu Yuanxia's short saber—immediately fell down from the sky.

Zhang Shanfeng wasn't surprised at all. He reached out and caught True Martial and the short saber, and he didn't forget to turn around and explain to Chen Ping'an, "My master's cultivation base isn't high, and he isn't skilled at many things. However, he's quite good at these kinds of small tricks."

The old Daoist priest stroked his beard and smiled smugly, surprisingly not feeling humiliated about being exposed by his disciple. Instead, he looked quite proud of himself.

Chen Ping'an glanced at the young Daoist priest before glancing at the old Daoist priest with fiery dragons embroidered on his sleeves. He felt like Zhang Shanfeng's familiarity with his master was causing some deep misunderstanding and blinding him to his master's true capabilities.

Using the tip of his foot, the old Daoist priest appeared to randomly scribble on the ground for a moment. Not a single mark was left on the bluestone path, yet the old Daoist priest instructed Zhang Shanfeng to step inside. Zhang Shanfeng wanted to speak, yet he couldn't help but hesitate. The old Daoist priest's voice was firm and unable to be questioned as he said, "I'm going to take you on a trip to Mount Longhu."

Zhang Shanfeng raised his foot to step inside the talisman that seemingly didn't exist, but first tossed the short saber to Chen Ping'an and said with a bitter smile, "Help me apologize to Big Brother Xu. This has come far too suddenly, so I can only leave without saying goodbye."

Chen Ping'an caught Xu Yuanxia's short saber and suddenly remembered something. He hurriedly retrieved the azure wooden box from his pocket treasure and tossed it to Zhang Shanfeng, saying, "Here, this is a gift for you. There's a seal from the city god pavilion of the Colorful Garment Nation's Blusher Prefecture inside this box, and it's best that you use it together with the Five Lightning Righteous Technique."

Seeing that the wooden box was old and seemingly very ordinary, Zhang Shanfeng felt at ease as he accepted it and placed it inside a pocket.

The old Daoist priest suddenly squinted his eyes before returning to normal again. He smiled and said, "I'll give you ten seconds to make a request. I won't accept any request after the time is up."

Chen Ping'an didn't hesitate at all as he replied, "Then, Spiritual Master, can I please trouble you with earnestly teaching Zhang Shanfeng some profound Dao techniques? Can you please be... a little more diligent?"

The old Daoist priest laughed heartily and pointed at Chen Ping'an, clicking his tongue in wonder and remarking, "Good one, young lad, you're scolding me in a roundabout manner."

He then grabbed Zhang Shanfeng, and the two of them disappeared in a flash. Chen Ping'an noticed that the sparse spiritual energy in the alley wasn't affected at all.

Chen Ping'an fell deep into thought.

Pei Qian tugged Chen Ping'an's sleeve and asked, "What should we do?"

Chen Ping'an regained his senses and replied with a smile, "Go back and eat, of course."

1. Dougong is a structural element of interlocking wooden brackets, important in traditional Chinese architecture for both its structural capacities and cultural implications. ☜

2. The Yingzao Fashi (营造法式), or Treatise on Architectural Methods or State Building Standards, is a technical treatise on architecture and craftsmanship written by the Chinese author Li Jie, the Directorate of Buildings and Construction, during the mid Song Dynasty of China. He revised many older treatises on architecture from 1097 to 1100. ☜

3. The game is literally called "eagle catching chicks," and it involves the "eagle" trying to tag the "chicks" while the "mother hen" tries to protect them. ☜