Unsheathed

Chapter 400 (3): Returning North from the Long Journey

Chapter 400 (3): Returning North from the Long Journey

In the beginning, Yu Lu had enjoyed an entire dorm to himself. Afterward, Prince Gao Xuan moved in as his roommate, after which the two of them developed a close relationship and never left each other's side.

Yet, not long ago, Yu Lu had ended up becoming a lonesome person again. This was because Gao Xuan had secretly left Mountain Cliff Academy and gone to Forest Deer Academy located in the Dragon Spring Prefecture's Cloud Drape Mountain. Gao Xuan explained that he was going there to seek knowledge, yet those with a discerning eye could easily see through his lie and understand the truth. Prince Gao Xuan was nothing more than a royal hostage of the Great Li Empire.

After the Great Li Empire's Imperial Song Clan and the Great Sui Nation's Imperial Gao clan signed those treaties and became allies with each other, it wasn't just Gao Xuan who had traveled to the Great Li Empire as a hostage. In addition to him, an eleventh tier gatekeeper of the Great Sui Nation's capital and the initially retired old flood dragon of the Yellow Court Nation had also traveled to the Great Li Empire to become assistant mountain masters of the newly constructed Forest Deer Academy.

Yu Lu had accompanied Gao Xuan to the foot of the mountain before stopping and not seeing him off any further.

Today morning, Yu Lu had unexpectedly knocked on the courtyard door of a standalone residence.

The person who answered the door was Xie Xie.

Yu Lu saw her open the door with a broom in her hand.

Even though Cui Dongshan had already left the academy for a long time, it appeared as if Xie Xie was still working diligently as a maidservant every single day.

"Why are you here?" Xie Xie asked with a stern expression.

Yu Lu smiled faintly and replied, "I suddenly realized that I haven't seen you for a long time, so I decided to come over here to visit."

"Okay, you've already seen me now, so what next?" Xie Xie asked.

"I'm not asking too much to go inside to enjoy a cup of tea, am I?" Yu Lu replied in a helpless voice.

Xie Xie hesitated for a moment before eventually deciding to let Yu Lu — the young man whom she should have respectfully referred to as Crown Prince — step inside her courtyard.

Her courtyard wasn't large, and it was absolutely spotless thanks to her diligent sweeping every single day. When autumn came and the leaves started to fall, or when it was spring and catkins flew around, it would most likely be harder work for her to clean the courtyard.

Xie Xie pointed at the main building in the courtyard, where the doors were tightly shut and the corridor under the eaves was paved with green bamboo planks. It was as if the walkway were a large straw mat, and Yu Lu could easily imagine the young boy with a birthmark on his glabella lazily lying there on his side during a cool night and gazing up at the starry constellations.

"Remember to take off your shoes before walking up the stairs," Xie Xie reminded the young man. "Otherwise, I'll need to scrub it clean again after you leave."

Yu Lu removed his boots and sat down on the bamboo walkway. This bamboo was most likely grown by some Agrarian cultivator in an immortal force, and it would already be very extravagant for an ordinary noble in the Great Sui Nation to craft a brush holder from this material. Indeed, such a brush holder would make a very refined gift between literati. If one owned a sleeping mat or a bamboo chair crafted from this bamboo, that would be an even more impressive display of one's network and wealth. In this courtyard, however, none of these things would be worth a mention.

Xie Xie continued to bustle around and clean, not brewing or pouring any tea for Yu Lu. It was early in the morning, after all, so who in the world would drink tea? Did he genuinely think that he was still the crown prince of the Lu Empire? Yu Lu was inferior to even Gao Xuan at this moment, seeing that the Geyang Gao Clan had at least kept the Great Sui Nation intact.

On the other hand, the survivors from the Lu Clan were dragged to the large mountains in the western region of the Dragon Spring Prefecture and forced to work as slaves and kulis. They were punished by the scorching and the lashing rain all year round, and they would either suffer lashings or be reduced to nothing more than mere commodities for trade. They were purchased by various immortal forces who were constructing residences in the mountains, becoming slaves and maidservants to serve their masters. The fate of the Lu Empire and the Great Sui Nation couldn't be any more different.

Yu Lu leaned back and lay down on the bamboo walkway, asking, "Xie Xie, have you ever thought about the future that you desire?"

Xie Xie sat down beside the stone table and replied, "No."

Dressed in the Confucian robes of the academy, Yu Lu placed his hands on his abdomen and revealed, "Your young master gave me a good beating before leaving the academy."

"What's wrong? You can't defeat Cui Dongshan, so you came here to use me to vent your anger?" Xie Xie asked with a sneer. "As expected of a seventh tier martial artist who possesses half the martial fortune of an empire. However, are you sure you can defeat me?"

After being captured by the Great Li Empire, that imperial concubine in the palace had instructed a sword cultivator, a guest elder of the empire, to drive several Dragon Restricting Nails into her critical acupoints. The imperial concubine had been extraordinarily vicious and sinister.

Afterward, Cui Dongshan had removed half of the Dragon Restricting Nails and allowed her to partially recover her cultivation base, becoming an Abode Tier Qi refiner. Before leaving the academy, Cui Dongshan had removed several more Dragon Restricting Nails, leaving only one in her body. However, this Dragon Restricting Nail was driven into an acupoint that held one of her bonded items. Even so, she had finally regained her cultivation base as a Sea Observation Tier Qi refiner.

In addition to this, Cui Dongshan had also set up numerous secret formations in the small courtyard. At the same time, he also taught Xie Xie how to activate, channel, and deactivate the large majority of these formations. Because of this, staying in the small courtyard granted Xie Xie a similar ability to Mao Xiaodong staying in Mountain Cliff Academy.

Yu Lu sat up and replied with a faint smile, "You'll still lose if we truly fight with each other."

"Oh, is that so? Then you're truly amazing, aren't you?" Xie Xie replied with an apathetic expression. "I must have misjudged your strength, so do you need me to bow and apologize?"

Yu Lu lay back down on the bamboo walkway, using his hands as a pillow as he sighed with emotion.

Even though they were both evil remnants of the Lu Empire, meaning that they should have shared the same pain and looked out for each other, Xie Xie felt a deep sense of loathing toward Yu Lu's acceptance of the circumstances. Moreover, she didn't conceal her emotions at all.

Yu Lu closed his eyes and said, "Lying here is quite comfortable, so allow me to take a quick nap."

Xie Xie hesitated for a moment and decided against shooing him away.

In reality, she was a little curious about why Yu Lu hadn't gone to Forest Deer Academy with Gao Xuan.

If Yu Lu went to the Great Li Empire, he could at least look after the struggling survivors of the Lu Clan. Moreover, there was actually a decent number of generals from the destroyed Lu Empire who had surrendered to the Great Li Empire and were relatively valued and trusted. Many of them were marching south with the heavy cavalry of the Great Li Empire, and it was said that they had made exceptional contributions and were starting to integrate well with the empire's army.

Even if one were to disregard all of this, Yu Lu had already become a citizen of the Great Li Empire. At the same time, he was also a young Vajra Body Tier martial artist.

This was quite terrifying.

After zoning out for a while, Li Baoping deftly wrapped her arms around the tree trunk and slid down, after which she sprinted off down the mountain.

She saw Li Huai sitting in the distance, with his arm raised in the air yet not knowing what to say.

Li Baoping only shot a quick glance at him before turning around and continuing on her merry way, sprinting down the mountain like a gust of wind.

Li Huai felt slightly upset and aggrieved, so he found himself a branch and started to scribble on the ground.

His eyes suddenly lit up. He remembered that he had scribbled Mom and Dad last time, and they had indeed arrived at the academy soon after to visit him.

That being the case, what if he wrote Chen Ping'an's name? Would this work as well?

Li Huai grinned and started to write "Chen Ping'an" with his branch.

Yet, before he could finish, a hand suddenly reached over and wiped away the name that was only one stroke away from being completed.

Li Huai was extremely confused, and he turned around only to see Li Baoping who had returned at some unknown time.

Li Huai stubbornly began to write the character "Chen" on the ground again. However, Li Baoping reached over and wiped it away.

If this were in the past, Li Huai might have shrunk back after being challenged twice in a row by Li Baoping. Today was different, and it was as if he had suddenly found the courage to disobey the young girl. He overcame his fear and started to write on the ground again.

Li Baoping didn't say anything, and she continued to wipe the characters away again and again.

In the end, Li Huai persisted until his branch snapped yet he still failed to write a complete "Chen" on the ground. This was not to mention the characters "Ping" and "An."

Li Huai tossed the broken branch away and burst into tears.

Still squatting down, Li Baoping ignored Li Huai and picked up the broken branch. Her chin was slightly sharp already, and she rested it on one arm as she started to write "Junior Uncle" on the ground. She was quite happy with her handiwork, and she nodded in satisfaction.

Li Huai roughly wiped the tears from his face and sobbed, "Li Baoping, when Chen Ping'an comes, I'm going to complain to him if you continue to bully me like this! If he becomes angry, he might refuse to be your junior uncle in the future!"

Li Baoping changed scripts and continued to write "Junior Uncle" with the broken branch. She was completely focused as she stared at the ground, and she treated Li Huai's threats as nothing more than empty air.

Li Huai suddenly squeezed out a smile and asked in a careful voice, "Li Baoping, can you let me write three characters? They're extremely effective, and Chen Ping'an might arrive at the academy tomorrow. Really, I'm not lying to you! I missed my mom and dad back then, and after I wrote Mom and Dad on the ground, they immediately visited the academy with my older sister. You also know about this, right?"

Li Baoping didn't so much as glance up as she handed the broken branch to Li Huai.

Li Huai was overjoyed, yet he had only just completed the first stroke when Li Baoping suddenly frowned and warned, "Write properly!"

Li Huai's hand shook in fright, causing the next stroke to immediately become crooked. "What are you doing?!" he sobbed with downturned lips.

Li Baoping helped him wipe the crooked stroke away.

Li Huai's sobs turned into a smile, and he started to carefully write the character "Chen."

When he finished writing Chen Ping'an's name...

Li Baoping looked around and asked, "Where is he?"

There was a sullen expression on Li Huai's face as he replied, "How can it be so quick?"

Li Baoping stood up and nimbly ran back to the tall tree, climbing onto a branch and gazing into the distance.

Li Huai's eyes darted around, and knowing that things were going south, he immediately tossed the branch aside and started to flee.

However, could he possibly outrun Li Baoping? She caught up to him in no time, causing him to squat down in terror and wrap his arms around his head.

Surprisingly, however, Li Baoping didn't beat him up this time. Instead, she continued to run down the mountain, all the way until she reached the entrance of the academy. She then left to wander around the streets and alleys of the capital.

While Li Baoping was busily roaming the capital of the Great Sui Nation, Li Huai breathed a sigh of relief and walked back to his dorm.

Over at the entrance of the Great Sui Nation's Mountain Cliff Academy...

...A group of four travel-worn people made their way over, with a young man dressed in white and carrying a bamboo bookcase and sword on his back smiling and handing his travel documents over to an elderly Confucian scholar.

The old Confucian scholar examined the documents for a long time, shifting his gaze over the myriad of stamps from the various countries and regions of the two continents. The old scholar was astonished, and he looked up and remarked with a smile, "Young Master Chen, you've traveled to so many places already."

The young visitor to the academy smiled faintly and nodded in response.

1. The long red skirt is referring to Ruqun (襦裙), a set of attire in Hanfu which consists of a short jacket typically called ru worn under a long Chinese skirt called qun. ☜