Even an old-timer of Shujian Lake like Zhang Ye didn’t anticipate such a heavy and prolonged snowfall today.

The surging momentum was as if it sought to elevate the surface of Shujian Lake by a foot.

“Heavy snow presages a bountiful harvest.”

More than just a common saying, it held true for the tens of thousands of itinerant cultivators of Shujian Lake. Rain, snow, and dew, these rootless waters, were naturally beneficial for the spiritual energy and water transport of Shujian Lake. Every island probably wished this snow would fall only on its own head, snow that wasn’t snowflakes, but snowflakes of money, piles of immortal money.

In fact, many Earth Immortal cultivators had already ascended to the heavens, employing their divine powers and signature techniques to seize tangible benefits for their respective islands.

On this Winter Solstice, according to local custom, Chunting Mansion was making dumplings.

The day before, Little Loach had finally suppressed her injuries, allowing her to quietly return to shore. Today, Gu Can dispatched her to summon Chen Ping’an to the mansion for dumplings. While speaking, Gu Can was busy with his mother near the stove. Nowadays, the kitchen of Chunting Mansion was even larger than the ancestral homes of Gu Can and Chen Ping’an combined in Mud Bottle Alley.

On her way to the mountain gate, Little Loach was curious. Gu Can had said that Chen Ping’an might give her something. What could it be?

She had heard that Chen Ping’an had been secluded lately, rarely leaving his house. Occasionally, he would open the door, just to gaze at the snow-covered lake, a stark contrast to his previous wanderings around Shujian Lake.

She was still somewhat afraid of Chen Ping’an.

Initially, upon their reunion in Pond Water City, it was a primal reverence related to her own Dao foundation. After Chen Ping’an’s battle with Liu Laocheng, Little Loach, who had been given the name “Charcoal Snow” by Chen Ping’an, became even more fearful.

She genuinely liked Gu Can, her master, and always felt fortunate that Chen Ping’an had gifted her to Gu Can back then.

By Chen Ping’an’s side, she felt constrained now.

She arrived at the house and gently knocked on the door.

Chen Ping’an’s hoarse voice came from inside, “The door’s unlatched, come in. Be careful not to break the bluestone slab.”

She opened the door, and the accumulated chill of the winter snow outside rushed into the room.

Initially, she didn’t pay attention. She was naturally fond and intimate with the freezing cold of the changing seasons. But when she saw Chen Ping’an, his face pale, coughing behind the desk, she immediately closed the door, bypassed the bluestone slab, as large as the study in Gu Can’s mansion, and stood timidly near the desk, “Mister, Gu Can wants me to invite you to Chunting Mansion for dumplings.”

Chen Ping’an had stopped writing, placing a homemade bamboo and copper charcoal warmer on his lap, warming his hands with the charcoal fire. He said apologetically, “I won’t go. Please apologize to Gu Can and your auntie for me later.”

She said softly, “If Mister is worried about the wind and snow outside, Charcoal Snow can help a little.”

Chen Ping’an shook his head, “Never mind.”

She wanted to say something more, but when she glanced at Chen Ping’an’s eyes, she immediately dismissed the idea.

Chen Ping’an asked, “Do you know why I named you Charcoal Snow?”

She shook her head.

Chen Ping’an said slowly, “Ice and charcoal cannot coexist, a truth even children understand, right?”

She nodded.

Chen Ping’an said, “So, for charcoal and snow to coexist and remain close is most precious, that’s one reason. Another is that I had a selfish thought. Seeing you reminds me that giving you to Gu Can was indeed an act of sending charcoal in the snow. If…”

Chen Ping’an paused, lifted a hand from the charcoal warmer, and picked up a carving knife from the table.

This action made Charcoal Snow, a Nascent Soul cultivator who was heavily injured but still a lean camel stronger than a horse, tremble involuntarily.

On the table lay a bamboo scabbard and bamboo knife, made just last night. Originally, he wanted Zeng Ye, who liked snow scenes, to make a trip to Purple Bamboo Island to beg or buy a bamboo stalk. But then he thought that a green bamboo knife would look better, and a purple bamboo scabbard hanging on the waist would be a bit too flamboyant, so he changed his mind and had Zeng Ye casually chop down a green bamboo stalk on Green Gorge Island and bring it back. Chen Ping’an made the knife and scabbard overnight. There were many leftover scraps, which he shaved into a pile of small bamboo slips. On the table were several blank bamboo slips without any writing. However, unlike the previously inscribed bamboo slips, these newly made bamboo slips from Green Gorge Island were no longer the same size, but varied in length and thickness.

At this moment, Chen Ping’an picked up the carving knife he had acquired from a shop in the Great Sui capital, selected the longest bamboo slip, and gently cut it off near one end, dividing it into two sections of vastly different lengths. Then, he repeatedly cut the longer section, creating gaps like the nodes of a green bamboo stalk.

Smoke rising from small alleys, the sun shining on fields, the resplendent Chunting Mansion between the two ancestral homes in Mud Bottle Alley, the lawless Shujian Lake.

This scene, though she didn’t know what Chen Ping’an was doing, what he was pondering, still made Charcoal Snow feel terrified.

This true dragon descendant, who showed no fear even facing Liu Laocheng, was like a naughty child about to be punished, waiting for the ruler to fall on her palm from an unforgiving teacher.

Chen Ping’an didn’t look up, just stared at the repeatedly broken bamboo slip, “We have a saying in our hometown, ‘Lotus root doesn’t cross bridges, bamboo doesn’t cross ditches.’ Have you heard of it?”

Charcoal Snow hesitated, then said softly, “In the Li Zhu Grotto-Heaven, I had no intelligence. It was only when I got to Green Gorge Island that I truly began to remember things. Later, in Chunting Mansion, I heard Gu Can’s mother mention it casually.”

Chen Ping’an finally looked up and smiled, “You have the same temper as Gu Can, but did you learn the subtleties of these words from your auntie?”

Charcoal Snow remained silent, her eyelashes trembling slightly, looking pitiful.

Chen Ping’an said, “I’ve already felt twice guilty towards Gu Can, and I’ve also paid back Auntie. Now, only you are left, Little Loach.”

Charcoal Snow slowly raised her head, her golden vertical pupils staring intently at the accountant sitting behind the desk.

The murderous aura in the room was so heavy that the wind and snow outside howled.

She was extremely weak now, but how much better was he?! Even more sickly than her!

Once it involved the Dao and life and death, she would not hesitate in the slightest. Outside of that, she could even serve Chen Ping’an, doing his bidding, being obedient, treating him as half a master, and respecting him greatly.

Her affinity with Gu Can, was it not innate and aligned with the Dao?
Chen Ping’an coughed, flicked his wrist, and placed a golden rope on the table, sneering, “What, trying to intimidate me? Why don’t you take a look at what happened to your kind?”

Tan Xue instantly recognized the origin of the golden rope, and her heart nearly shattered.

The other rogue cultivators of Jianjian Lake, let alone Nascent Soul cultivators like Liu Zhimao, even Golden Core Earth Immortals like Yu Hui, would not be as terrified as she was upon seeing this magical treasure.

Chen Ping’an put down the carving knife in his hand, picked up the demon-binding rope made from the sinews of an old Nascent Soul Jiao dragon, walked around the desk, and slowly approached her. “Of course, I didn’t personally kill this old Nascent Soul Jiao dragon. Even the demon-binding rope was made by a friend of a friend over at Inverted Mountain. The one who killed the old Jiao was a Great Sword Immortal, and the one who had it refined was another Great Sword Immortal. The old Jiao, who was sitting in his own small world, about to ascend to the Jade Purity Realm, met such a fate. Gu Can may not know, but don’t you know that Jianjian Lake is just too small for you? It will only get smaller and smaller.”

Chen Ping’an stood before her. “You helped Gu Can kill this and kill that, killing with gusto and satisfaction, for what? Of course, your Great Daos are intertwined, you won’t harm Gu Can, but you’re just blindly following your own impulses, causing trouble all day long. Aren’t you just foolishly thinking of helping Gu Can gain a foothold, and then helping Liu Zhimao and Qingxia Island devour the entire Jianjian Lake, so you can devour half of Jianjian Lake’s water fortune as your foundation for taking a gamble and risking ascension to the Jade Purity Realm?”

Chen Ping’an held the demon-binding rope in one hand and used a finger to jab hard at her forehead. “How big of a bowl can hold how much rice? Don’t you even understand this simple principle?! Aren’t you afraid of bursting from overeating?!”

Her face was filled with anger, and she trembled all over, desperately wanting to lash out with a claw and tear out the heart of this sickly weakling before her.

But she didn’t dare.

A significant reason was that semi-immortal weapon hanging on the wall.

Not some sentiment or familial bond.

Deep down, she sensed a strange aura of natural suppression from Chen Ping’an.

At first, she mistakenly thought it was due to the Great Dao opportunity of that year.

Later, she realized it was not just that.

Because of her limited vision and experience, she was far inferior to a fellow creature in this matter. Wu Yi, the founding patriarch of Ziyang Prefecture in Huangting Country, a mere Golden Core Earth Immortal, could see the truth at a glance. It was the cause and effect of slaying Jiao dragons that was intertwined with Chen Ping’an. As for why it was so profound, Wu Yi didn’t know and couldn’t figure it out. The only one who could possibly guess the general outline was her father, the old ten-thousand-year-old Jiao dragon who went to Pilun Mountain’s Linlu Academy to serve as the deputy headmaster. But he would never reveal anything to his daughter.

Chen Ping’an poked her on the head again and again. “You don’t even know how to be a smart bad guy. Do you really think you can live long?! Go take a look at Sword Qi Great Wall. How many Earth Immortal sword cultivators die in each century’s war?! Have you seen Wei Jin’s sword from the Wind and Snow Temple? Have you seen A Liang, who was punched back to the Great Harmony World by Dao Lao Er, and then returned a punch that sent Dao Lao Er into the Azure Heavens? Have you seen the sword cultivator Leveling Jiao Dragon Gully with a single sword stroke? Have you seen Du Mao, the number one cultivator in Tongye Continent, how he died and vanished?!”

Chen Ping’an retracted his hand, coughing incessantly, his voice hoarse. “You’ve only seen a Jade Purity Realm Liu Laocheng, and you almost died.”

She was filled with shame and anger, grinding her teeth.

The killing intent in her golden eyes grew stronger and stronger, and she didn’t even bother to hide it.

Chen Ping’an twitched the corner of his mouth, staring at this so-called descendant of a true dragon who had always had an easy life. “What is it that makes you and Gu Can think that killing is not wrong, and that being killed is also without regret? People like Gu Can, Jiao dragons like you, and seemingly shrewd people like Gu Can’s mother, if I didn’t know you, do you know that even if I just passed by Jianjian Lake, even if I only had this little bit of cultivation, even if I didn’t throw a single punch or swing a single sword, just had tea and chatted with Liu Zhimao, Liu Laocheng, and the Grain Island Island Lord, and did some business with them, if I stayed in Jianjian Lake for a few years, you could die several times over?”

She sneered, “Then why don’t you kill me? Why don’t you kill me?”

She seemed to become happy in an instant, smiling. “I know that you, Chen Ping’an, have gotten to where you are today because you are much smarter than Gu Can. You are simply meticulous, calculating every step, even probing the most subtle human emotions. But so what? Isn’t the Great Dao collapsing? Chen Ping’an, do you really know how Gu Can felt that night? You said that you went wrong with your cultivation and coughed up blood. Gu Can is not as smart as you, but he’s not stupid. Does he really not know you’re lying? I’m at least in the Nascent Soul Realm, can I really not see that there’s a huge problem with your body? But Gu Can is soft-hearted, after all, he’s just a young boy, he doesn’t dare to ask. As for me, I don’t want to say it. The weaker you are, the less I have to fear you. Facts have proven that I was right. You were just barely able to stop Liu Laocheng, I survived, you were seriously injured, as the tide ebbs and flows, I can now slap you to death, just like slapping those ants who can’t even be used as food after they die, exactly the same.”

Chen Ping’an casually tossed the demon-binding rope on the table, pressed his palms together, and smiled as well. “That’s right, if you didn’t say these words, I would have been tired for you. You’re not good at pretending, and I can see through you clearly. We’re both exhausted. Now, we’re actually on the same line.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Stop acting mysterious here.”

Chen Ping’an extended a palm, his fingers spread wide. “Adding Zeng Ye, you and me, just the two of us, can actually be considered separately, becoming the fifth line.”

She sneered, “Chen Ping’an, could it be that you’ve been dealing with those Yin spirits for too long, and you’ve lost your mind? Gone mad? Why not just turn around and plunge into the demonic path in one go? What, ambitious, wanting to learn from that White Emperor City Lord? Starting with becoming the co-ruler of Jianjian Lake? It’s not impossible, Chen Da-xiansheng knows so many powerful people. Relying on them, what can’t be done? This little mudfish that even Xiansheng doesn’t think much of, isn’t it just casually crushed by a single finger of Xiansheng’s powerful backing behind the scenes.”
Chen Ping’an smiled, genuinely finding the words interesting and providing him with another potential perspective, thus clarifying the connection between the two sides.

His smile eased the tense atmosphere in the room.

Chen Ping’an gestured for her to sit down and talk, while he turned and walked straight to his desk.

His back was now exposed to her.

She neither attacked nor moved. “Since Mister Chen is a scholar who likes to adhere to the rules, I’ll just stand.”

Chen Ping’an sat back in his chair, picked up the charcoal brazier, warmed his hands, rubbed them together, and breathed on them. “Let me tell you a little story. When I first left the Hidden Brook Paradise and journeyed to the Great Sui, not long after leaving Red Candle Town, I met an elderly scholar on a ferry. He also spoke out righteously, preventing me from reasoning with others who were clearly in the wrong. I couldn’t understand it back then, and the confusion weighed on my mind. Now, thanks to your Scroll Lake, I can understand his thinking. He may not have been right, but he certainly wasn’t as wrong as I initially thought. And I, at most, was merely not wrong, but not necessarily right either.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and drew a circle with one finger.

“In the martial world, drinking is the martial world, murder is the martial world, chivalry is the martial world, and bloody storms are also the martial world. On the battlefield, you kill me and I kill you, and a grand burial mound for the heroic dead is the battlefield. The mass slaughter of surrendered soldiers is also the battlefield. Even the ancient battlefields haunted by lingering spirits belong to it. In the imperial court, governing the country and serving the people with utmost dedication is the court, but treacherous officials and tyrannical rule are also the court. A young emperor with uncertain authority and a woman ruling from behind the curtain are also the court. Someone once told me that in their hometown in Lotus Flower Paradise, people would gather their friends to kill all the government soldiers in order to save a father who had broken the law. As a result, they were regarded as filial sons and eventually became high-ranking officials, their names recorded in history. Others, for the sake of friendship, upon hearing of a friend’s death, would travel thousands of miles in one night to slaughter the friend’s enemies, leaving under the moonlight. They were regarded as heroic figures of the time, pursued by the government for miles, yet everyone along the way helped them. Such a man was admired by countless people during his lifetime, and even included in the biographies of wandering heroes after his death.”

Chen Ping’an drew an even larger circle. “At first, I also scoffed at this, thinking that if I encountered such a person, I would beat him to death with two punches. But now I understand that at the time, this was the custom of the land, the sum of all learning, like the collision, fusion, and manifestation of knowledge in Mud Bottle Lane, Red Candle Town, and Cloud Tower City. This was the family teaching, community agreement, and public order and good customs recognized by the world in that era. But as time flowed on, everything changed. If I lived in that era, I might even admire such a person. Not to mention punching him to death, I might even greet him with a respectful bow.”

“An old Daoist schemed against me most deeply in this regard. He only showed me three hundred years of the river of time, and I dare say it was a section where time flowed relatively slowly, and one that was relatively complete. Just enough for me to see the essence of the old Daoist’s theories, but not too much, lest I return to the learning of an old gentleman.”

Chen Ping’an seemed to be very cold, slumping his shoulders and keeping his hands on the charcoal brazier, smiling slightly. “You and Liu Zhimao, compared to him and that other ‘young’ Daoist, those true immortals standing atop the mountains are tens of thousands of miles beyond.”

Chen Ping’an raised his chin and pointed towards her. “Within your inherent nature, there should be a patch of your heart that is most muddy and unbearable. No matter how clear the spring water is, it will become turbid once it flows into that field, like ditch water. For example, almost everyone unknowingly contradicts themselves deep down. Scroll Lake is a prime example, in contrast to the carefree village of Aiai Island in the Three Four Dispute. How is it, are you not understanding? Then I’ll say something you can barely understand.”

“When faced with right and wrong, when a person is uninvolved, many will ignore the truth and blindly favor the weak, disliking the strong from the start. They desperately hope they fall from grace, even criticizing the good, desperately hoping a moral saint will have flaws. At the same time, they greatly admire the occasional good deeds of evil people. The reason is actually not complicated. It’s because we’re fighting for the small ‘one’, trying to balance it, not letting a small group occupy too much. This has little to do with good or evil. Further, it actually benefits all of us, more evenly distributing the big ‘one’. No one goes too high or too far, and no one stays in too low a position, like… grasshoppers on a string. The bigger ones jump high and far, while the weaker ones are dragged along. Even if they are bumped and bruised along the way by the rope, they can still stick together, huddle together for warmth, and not be easily pecked at by birds. So why do so many people in the world like to reason, but still feel secretly happy when those around them are unreasonable? Because the nature of this field in the heart makes it so that when reasoning requires more effort, being unreasonable becomes the capital for survival. Staying with such a ‘strong’ person allows you to fight for more benefits together. The so-called helping family and not helping reason is exactly like this. Gu Can’s mother feels stable staying with Gu Can and you, or even with Liu Zhimao, for this reason. This isn’t to say she… is so wrong in this matter. It’s just that a line that wasn’t wrong at first, extends out continuously, like lotus roots and bamboo, creating all sorts of conflicts with established rules. But you don’t care about the details at all. You only think about collapsing bridges and filling in ditches. So I told Gu Can that all the innocent people he killed were the me, Chen Ping’an, and him, Gu Can, from Mud Bottle Lane. But he still doesn’t listen.”
“I’m here, doing all this, and one day the truth will come to light. I want Gu Can to open his eyes wide and see clearly. If he won’t listen to reason, so be it. But Chen Ping’an is here not just to help him, but to correct my own mistakes and make amends. I also want him to understand a principle beyond books: in Shujian Lake, in two years at most, when a cultivator reaches a high position, they don’t need to establish their authority by slaughtering innocents. I can still live more peacefully and stand even higher than Gu Can.”

She hesitated, wanting to say something.

Chen Ping’an smiled, “What, are you going to say again that I have many backers and too many magical treasures? That you and Gu Can can’t compare to me? Have you ever thought about how I acquired all this? I could explain it word by word, but you wouldn’t understand. Because even if you did, you wouldn’t be able to do it. Isn’t that interesting? It’s your innate nature. When your minds were forming like clay embryos, there was no one to guide you. But none of that matters now; even if there had been, it would have been a waste of effort. Saying all this is pointless. The important thing is that you don’t even know how to be clever villains, so you’re even more unwilling and don’t know how to be clever virtuous people.”

The little mudfish bit her lip, silent for a moment. Her first words were, “Chen Ping’an, don’t force me to kill you today!”

Chen Ping’an tilted his head slightly and asked with a smile, “Why kill me? Wouldn’t killing me be like losing a patron for you, Gu Can, and Spring Courtyard? See, I just said you were foolish, even your villainy is stupid, and you still don’t admit it.”

She subtly shuffled her boots on the ground.

Chen Ping’an ignored her and pointed to the neighboring residence of the young Zeng Ye.

“That over there is a good person, not much older than you. He learns things slowly, but I still hope he can live well in Shujian Lake as a good person, although it won’t be easy, but there’s still hope. Of course, if I find that I can’t change him, or if my scheming and planning, as you call it, can’t guarantee his survival, I’ll let him go, allowing him to survive or perish in Shujian Lake using his own methods.”

There was a detail: Chen Ping’an carried a bench, but Zeng Ye was oblivious, forgetting to bring his own bench into the house.

If that was just because young Zeng Ye was inexperienced and naive, unable to see the complexities of the world.

Then, during his cultivation, he would even be distracted, following Chen Ping’an’s gaze out the window. This made Chen Ping’an feel somewhat helpless. But it could still be explained as a lack of experience and sufficient tempering. He could wait for Zeng Ye’s growth. On the chessboard, every step taken slowly and without error would mean there was no need to worry about winning or losing, ultimately increasing the chances of victory. But if fate truly wanted someone to die, then it was simply destiny. Just like the words Chen Ping’an said to Zeng Ye, at that time, just act without shame and blame heaven and earth.

But the most moving thing was that he had to notice the signs, had to clarify things, had to subtly knock on the young man’s heart for the first time, directly and unmistakably telling Zeng Ye that their relationship was only a transaction, not master and disciple, and that Chen Ping’an was not his guide or protector.

It wouldn’t be accurate to say that Zeng Ye’s character was bad; on the contrary, having experienced life and death tribulations, he still held onto his master and Mao Yue Island. This was one of the fundamental reasons Chen Ping’an was willing to keep him by his side, and it weighed just as heavily as Zeng Ye’s cultivation foundation and ghost path aptitude.

But even Zeng Ye, a Shujian Lake youth who allowed Chen Ping’an to vaguely see his own past, could not withstand careful scrutiny.

Zeng Ye, whose temperament seemed completely opposite to Gu Can’s, and his subsequent words, actions, and mental journey, were originally the fourth line that Chen Ping’an wanted to carefully observe.

However, when the time truly came, Chen Ping’an still went against his original intention and hoped that Zeng Ye would not stray from the path, hoping to find a place between the two extremes of “self-seeking” and “others-giving” that would not cause his heart to waver.

But it didn’t matter; while intervening, he had changed the trajectory of that line slightly. The line was still the same line, just with a slight twist in its trajectory, so he could still continue to observe its direction, only with a slight deviation from expectations.

Compared to the woman before him, who was stained with blood and would likely only go down a single path, Zeng Ye’s path, the young man’s life, was still full of countless possibilities and opportunities for redemption.

As for whether the waters of Zeng Ye’s heart would one day encounter disaster and turn from a place of purity to a confrontational extreme of self-centeredness, Chen Ping’an would not force it either.

Within the rules, there is freedom, and everyone will and should pay their own price.

Human power has its limits. Even with Gu Can, Chen Ping’an had admitted defeat and, while stopping the killing and the wrongdoings, had completely severed and defined his relationship with Gu Can, and begun to do things for himself.

What difference would another Zeng Ye make?

Chen Ping’an looked absentminded.

Back then, in the Li Zhu Grotto-Heaven, near the wooden fence gate of that small town.

Inside the gate was a mud-legged youth still wearing straw sandals.

Outside the gate were Cai Jinjian, Fu Nanhua, the Xu family of Qingfeng City, the Mountain-Moving Ape of Zhengyang Mountain, and the girl who clamored to move Cloud-Wearing Mountain back home as a small garden.

That was Chen Ping’an’s first encounter with travelers from beyond the town, all mountain people, gods in the eyes of mortal scholars.

Fortunately, among those people, there was a girl who had said, “The Great Dao should not be so small.”

Chen Ping’an arrived at Shujian Lake.

When his own good and evil clashed, becoming a bloody mess, he realized that there were so many flaws in his own heart mirror, that it was so shattered and broken.

For example, he had to begin to admit that he was now a mountain person, at least half one.

Otherwise, he would have been constantly repelling himself internally because of the existence of the Mountain-Moving Ape and others. This was a deficiency in the Great Dao.

Therefore, back in Lotus Root Blessing Land, he had built a golden bridge over the River of Time, but Chen Ping’an’s heart clearly told him.

If he really walked onto that bridge, it would collapse, and he would definitely fall into the river.

Chen Ping’an sighed, “One turn, this time distracted, little mudfish, I gave you two chances, and you still didn’t dare to kill me?”
She coldly stated, “Isn’t this all within your calculations? According to your reasoning, rules are everywhere. Here, you hide your rules, perhaps a secretly laid hidden array, perhaps that Binding Demon Cord that inherently restrains me—all are possibilities. Besides, you yourself said, what good would it do me to kill you? I’d just lose a backer, a talisman.”

Chen Ping’an smiled, “Does this count as me getting my point across?”

Her face was filled with sarcasm, “Then are you going to say that someone like me only picks and chooses the principles I want to follow?”

Chen Ping’an gently shook his head.

She smiled without warmth, “How would Honored Sir enlighten me? Tanxue listens with utmost attention.”

Chen Ping’an began, “You’re not even human, just a beast. If I had known, I wouldn’t have given you to Little Snot-Nose back in the Lizhu Grotto-Heaven. I should have cooked you and eaten you; there wouldn’t be so much trouble now.”

She smiled, “I just won’t get angry, precisely to disappoint you. I won’t give you the opportunity to cut me off or define me.”

Chen Ping’an clicked his tongue, “You’ve improved. But don’t you suspect I’m just bluffing?”

She shook her head, “Anyway, after this candid conversation, I’ve benefited greatly. And there’s one principle I’ve already taken to heart. Grandmaster Chen is now doing good deeds for himself. I can’t do those things, but I can be obedient by your side, and not continue to make mistakes. Wouldn’t that be even more disgusting for you, Mr. Chen, who is clearly intelligent but also likes to abide by rules and reason? If you kill me, Gu Can’s Great Dao will be damaged, the Bridge of Longevity will surely break. He doesn’t have your perseverance and resilience; he won’t be able to climb back up step by step. He’ll probably be crippled for life. Can Mr. Chen really bear to do that?”

Chen Ping’an nodded, “Indeed, how can Little Snot-Nose compare to me? Someone who doesn’t even know what kind of person his mother was, what a Great Dao-connected beast is thinking, how Liu Zimao, apart from his iron-blooded methods, truly governed people’s hearts, how to genuinely win over Lu Caisang, or even whether the fool Fan Yan is truly a fool… someone who doesn’t even bother to think about the worst-case scenario. What does a Gu Can like that have to compare to me? He’s young now, but even if he spends another ten or twenty years in Shujian Lake, he still won’t think things through.”

He spoke of it all with a light breeze and floating clouds.

Chen Ping’an leaned back in his chair, his hands warm, “The world is such a strange place. I killed the Yellow Eel River Demon and incurred karmic debt, yet Gu Can killed so many innocent people in Shujian Lake, and actually killed some of the right people as well—a very small number, of course. Beyond the great karma, it even added a bit of good fortune. Your Shujian Lake is truly a place that makes one laugh and cry. If you didn’t target those mortal teachers, but instead slaughtered the mountain and wild cultivators, even if you killed them all, at the very least the merits and demerits would cancel each other out, right? Of course, I dare not say for sure; it’s just a guess made during a moment of boredom.”

Laughing and crying.

This saying, when it landed in this Shujian Lake, could be savored over and over again.

The living were like this, and the dead were no exception.

She still smiled sweetly, “I’m not Mr. Chen; I don’t care about these messy things. As for calling me a beast, Mr. Chen can do as he pleases. Besides, Tanxue is one anyway.”

Chen Ping’an smiled brightly, “In my hometown, even after traveling thousands of miles twice, I never felt like a good person. Even two very important people said I was a soft-hearted fool, and I still didn’t believe it. But now that I’ve come to your Shujian Lake, I’m almost becoming a moral saint. Damn world, damn Shujian Lake rules. Are you addicted to eating shit?”

The young accountant’s voice was not fast, and although his words contained questions, his tone hardly wavered. He still spoke as if he were telling a small joke.

She covered her mouth and giggled, “Mr. Chen, go tell Gu Can that. I won’t listen; it’ll just be like the wind in my ears. Gu Can’s temperament is unstable now. Why not pick a sunny day after a snowfall, and Mr. Chen and Little Snot-Nose can sit on small bamboo chairs, one speaking, one listening, just like at the dinner table before? Gu Can is mostly willing to listen now, perhaps he still won’t take it to heart, but at least he’s willing to listen.”

Chen Ping’an nodded, “I’ll consider it. After talking so much with you, have we both forgotten what we were originally doing?”

Tanxue nodded and smiled, “Today is the Winter Solstice. I’ve come to invite Mr. Chen to eat dumplings for a family reunion.”

Chen Ping’an nodded again, “As for me, I promised Gu Can to give you something. Take it.”

It was that jade pendant engraved with “I cultivate the spirit of vast righteousness.”

She frowned, her heart stirred, but she did not reach out to take the “burning coal.” Instead, she suspended it in front of her, looking puzzled.

Suddenly, a chill went down her spine. As expected, a subtle phenomenon appeared on the bluestone slab on the ground. Not only that, but the Binding Demon Cord flashed and wrapped around her waist.

She sneered.

Then she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

She looked down, then looked up.

An extremely thin golden thread extended from the wall to just before her heart, and then a peerless half-immortal weapon pierced through her body.

Chen Ping’an reached out and took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a Water Palace Secret Treasure pill, swallowed it, and then gently placed the porcelain bottle on the table. First, he raised his finger to his lips, making a silencing gesture to her, “I advise you not to make a sound, or you’ll die immediately.”

Chen Ping’an saw that she dared not move at all, her heart pierced by a half-immortal weapon. Even a nascent soul in its peak state would be severely injured.
Chen Ping’an, unmoved by her wretched state, quietly digested and absorbed the spiritual energy of the elixir, slowly saying, “Today is the winter solstice. It’s a custom in my hometown to sit down together and eat dumplings. I spoke those words to Gu Can earlier, calculated the approximate speed of your Nascent Soul Flood Dragon’s recovery, and kept checking Gu Can’s physical condition. Adding it all together, I judged when you could come ashore. I remember the approximate dinner time at Spring Courtyard Mansion, and I also considered the possibility that you wouldn’t want to appear in front of the Qingxia Island cultivators, and would only use your Earth Immortal powers to knock on my door. So, not too early, not too late, about an incense stick before you knocked, I consumed three Qi-replenishing pills. You, on the other hand, don’t know my true origins, and relying on your Nascent Soul cultivation, you were unwilling to carefully examine my natal water mansion. So you didn’t know that I can fully control this Sword Immortal at this moment, it’s just that the price is a bit high, but it doesn’t matter, it’s worth it. For example, just now, scaring you that you would die if you moved was actually just to scare you, otherwise, how would I have the chance to replenish my spiritual energy? As for now, you will truly die.”

Chen Ping’an stood up, walked around the desk, waved his hand, and controlled the jade pendant to fly up from the ground, gently holding it in his hand.

Seemingly not afraid of the mud loach’s death throes and final counterattack, he simply walked to a few steps away from her and Chen Ping’an asked with a smile, “A Nascent Soul realm with an empty shell, a Golden Core Earth Immortal’s cultivation, I really don’t know who gave you the courage to openly try to kill me. Having murderous intent is one thing, but do you have the ability to support that murderous intent? Look at me, I’ve been plotting against you almost since I set foot on Qingxia Island. After the battle with Liu Laocheng, realizing that you were even harder to teach than Gu Can, I began to truly lay out the plan. In the room, from beginning to end, I was reasoning with you. So, reasoning still needs to be done. Useless? I think it’s very useful. It’s just that the way of reasoning with good people and bad people is different. Many good people just didn’t understand this point, so they suffered so much, letting this world owe them in vain.”

Chen Ping’an extended a hand, but not to grasp the Sword Immortal.

Instead, he pressed his palm against the hilt, inch by inch, pushing forward.

The sword body advanced continuously.

Chen Ping’an said, “Actually, even if I ate that elixir, I wouldn’t really be able to kill you. Now, well, it should be real now. If you don’t believe me, struggle a bit, why not give it a try? Don’t you people from the Book Brief Lake like to gamble with your lives?”

Chen Ping’an waited for a moment and laughed, “You’re not clever at all, but your luck is not bad.”

“Do you know why I haven’t told you and Gu Can the name of this sword? It’s called Sword Immortal, the Sword Immortal of the Land. So I deliberately didn’t say it.”

“Think about it, in the ancient times of our Treasure Bottle Continent, where did Sword Immortals appear most often?”

“The ancient Shu Kingdom.”

“Why so many Sword Immortals? Because there were many Flood Dragons there, the most suitable for Sword Immortals to use to hone their swords.”

Chen Ping’an finally said, “So, you’re right not to gamble with your life. This sword, even if I didn’t take the last elixir, after it tasted the fresh blood of your heart orifice, it would have been eager to stir up your heart orifice, and I wouldn’t need to expend spiritual energy and mind to control it at all. The reason I took the elixir was to control it, to prevent it from killing you immediately.”

She felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, her face full of sorrow and entreaty.

Chen Ping’an tilted his ear, as if listening. “You have a reason to tell too?”

He stopped that action, stood up straight, folded his hands in his sleeves, and smiled, “But did you ask me if I wanted to listen?”