The golden-armored deity, having traversed the small town, returned to the Ma family ancestral home in Apricot Blossom Lane. It was strange that such a magnificent god could walk about without anyone noticing.

The young Ma Kuxuan squatted on the doorstep, his face filled with hopeful anticipation as he watched the golden-armored god approach. The Bingjia cultivator from True Martial Mountain inquired, “How fares it?”

The god, resplendent in golden armor and exuding a solemn aura, moved his lips slightly. Ma Kuxuan, unable to hear any sound, anxiously looked towards the swordsman inside the house. The latter sighed and said, “He says your grandmother committed too many sins in life. Before her death, her three souls and seven spirits were as withered and fragile as her body. Therefore, upon her passing, her life soul decayed alongside her. Furthermore, this town is different, naturally resistant to ghosts and阴物, so he could not find your grandmother’s remaining soul fragments.”

Ma Kuxuan’s face contorted in rage. He raised his head and roared at the god, “I don’t care what method you use! Go and find my grandmother’s soul!”

The swordsman from True Martial Mountain’s expression changed drastically, fearing that Ma Kuxuan would anger the true god named Yin. He was about to intervene when, inexplicably, the golden-armored god spoke in the proper Mandarin of Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, “It is not that I am unwilling, but that I am truly unable.”

After uttering those words, the mighty god, shrouded in golden light, looked towards the True Martial Mountain swordsman. The swordsman took a deep breath, cupped his hands in a gesture of offering incense, and bowed three times to the god in the courtyard. With each bow, a wisp of faint golden energy, as thin as a strand of hair, floated from the swordsman’s Niwan Palace (point between the eyebrows) and was gently inhaled by the golden-armored god.

After the third bow, the god rose into the air, transforming into a brilliant pillar of light that departed from this realm.

The True Martial Mountain swordsman, his face pale, sat down on a chair, exhaling a sigh of turbid air.

This was the true meaning behind the common saying, “It is easy to invite a god, but difficult to send one away.”

Ma Kuxuan, his face cold, withdrew his gaze, turned, and entered the house. He sat beside the cold corpse, grasping the old woman’s withered hand, staring intently at her face. For a long time, the young man remained silent.

The swordsman unclasped the tiger tally from his waist, its color slightly dimmer than before, and slowly placed it into his sleeve.

After resting for a moment, the swordsman rose. He didn’t go to Ma Kuxuan’s side but sat on the threshold, his back to the young man, and slowly said, “Your grandmother was likely slapped at the doorway, with great force, causing her to fly and fall to her death inside the house. What I’m about to say may not be what you want to hear, but you deserve to know the truth. The one who struck her was likely a Qi Refinement cultivator, acting without restraint. Given your grandmother’s fragile constitution, that’s what led to her death. Since it was a Qi Refinement cultivator, it’s likely related to Chen Ping’an from Mud Bottle Lane and that foreign girl, or the young woman whose water meditation state you intentionally disrupted earlier at the covered bridge, seeking revenge. The former is less likely, the latter highly probable. So, your going to the burial mounds to kill Chen Ping’an was out of filial piety for your grandmother, to settle the cause and effect. But you never expected that your leaving would coincide with someone coming to make trouble.”

Ma Kuxuan tremblingly reached out a hand, gently touching the back of his hand against his grandmother’s cheek, which was swollen and already bruised.

The young man softly said, “So, I’m the one who killed my grandmother, right?”

The swordsman said, “According to worldly views, yes and no. If we follow the…”

Ma Kuxuan didn’t want to hear any more. He stood up, a savage smile on his face. “Slaughtering cities and destroying nations is forbidden, wantonly killing innocents is forbidden, doing this is forbidden, doing that is forbidden! Then is taking revenge allowed, or not?!”

Before the man could answer, Ma Kuxuan continued, “If even that is forbidden, then what’s the use of me being a Bingjia cultivator? Why don’t I just become a free-spirited great demon? Why didn’t I agree to go to that sect with those Daoist men and women back then?!”

The man hesitated for a moment, then said, “As long as you can bear all the consequences yourself, then it’s alright.”

“Like today.”

“Also, there are some things I may not have fully explained before. For example, with killing, everyone has their own line, and the number of people you can kill is definitely different from the number I can kill. It’s not just because I’m stronger and have a higher cultivation level. A person’s temperament is also important. I might kill a hundred people, all of whom deserve to die, while you might only kill two or three, and some of them don’t deserve it.”

Ma Kuxuan suddenly sneered, “Why would I ask you about killing or how to kill? Do I need your help? I almost forgot, I’m not an official True Martial Mountain disciple yet!”

The young man lowered his head to look at the old woman’s face, then turned to roar at the eight immortals table in the main hall, “Get out here and lead the way!”

A black cat darted out from under the eight immortals table, and Ma Kuxuan followed it out of the house.

The man didn’t mind.

He knew that his country had fallen into turmoil one hundred and fifty years ago, with shattered mountains and rivers. The century of war was so tragic that it surpassed all others in Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent. In the end, out of ten million households, less than eight hundred thousand remained after the new dynasty ended the calamity. As a result, many young children felt that the dead didn’t need to be collected and buried.

The man was one of those children.

The man slowly stood up. Instead of reminding Ma Kuxuan that the murderer had been driven out of town, he wanted to ask Ruan Shi a question.

Why, even though Buddhism had declined for a thousand years in Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, and only some small countries revered it as their national teacher, and it was the weakest force in this small town, was the karmic cycle so obvious?

The Bingjia swordsman followed the young man from a distance.

Even if Ma Kuxuan was a True Martial Mountain disciple, the man wouldn’t interfere too much in the young man’s personal grievances.

Shared life and death on the battlefield, personal responsibility for life and death on the path of cultivation.

Of course, nothing was absolute. Just as the man had saved Ma Kuxuan when he was almost killed by Chen Ping’an, for two reasons: one, deep down, he didn’t want such a genius as Ma Kuxuan to die young, and hoped that he could hone himself in True Martial Mountain, improving both his talent and temperament, hoping the young man could become one of the representative figures of the Bingjia, shining brightly in the upcoming era of great chaos; and two, Mr. Qi had taken the initiative to say that it was enough for Ma Kuxuan and Chen Ping’an to determine the winner; that they mustn’t cause death.

At the time, he thought Mr. Qi was worried about the Mud Bottle Lane boy being killed, but he later discovered that it wasn’t the case at all.

The man followed the young man from afar, and noticed that after Ma Kuxuan’s initial burst of passion, his pace became slower and more relaxed, until he seemed like an ordinary young man strolling through the streets. It was only when the black cat jumped from a rooftop to the young man’s shoulder, then to the ground, turned around, and ran away, seemingly telling the young man that it had found the target. After that, the young man began to jog, and his demeanor changed once more.

The fine spring rain only made the pedestrians hurry their steps, not enough to seek shelter under the eaves.

A young couple in luxurious clothing were walking from Riding Dragon Lane towards the main street, seemingly each having their own fortune, their faces filled with joy. But a young man was about to teach them what it meant for fortune and disaster to be interdependent. The young man started running fifty paces behind them, and when he was twenty paces away, he shouted, “Hey!” When the young man turned to look, Ma Kuxuan delivered a swift and powerful punch, without holding back.

A direct punch to the head.

The young man flew out, falling heavily onto the street, his body twitching slightly, showing no signs of getting up.

After the punch, the young man landed, standing side-by-side with the young woman.

Ma Kuxuan twisted his body, and his left hand flashed towards the woman’s neck. The woman, who was half a head taller than him, was slammed to the ground by the force of the blow.

The woman’s head slammed heavily into the muddy ground.

Ma Kuxuan stretched out his foot, stepping on the woman’s forehead, gazing at her dazed face. He bent down, speaking in elegant Mandarin, “I know the murderer is no longer in town, but it doesn’t matter. I can investigate myself.”

The young woman, with her beautiful face, her eyes bloodshot, her nose and ears oozing blood, looked up in terror at the dark-skinned young man looming over her.

The young man’s face contorted. “I, Ma Kuxuan, disrupted your cultivation state. If you take revenge later, even if you chop me into pieces, I’ll accept my fate and won’t resent you. In fact, even if you fail to take revenge, if I’m in a good mood, I’ll spare you and be willing to play with you a few more times. In my eyes, the world should be so clear-cut.”

The woman was probably the pride of her sect and had never seen such a scene before. She was terrified, tears streaming down her face. She probably didn’t even remember what the fierce-looking young man had said, just begging for mercy. “Let me go, please let me go. My grandmother wasn’t killed by me, I didn’t know anything about it…”

The young man gradually increased the pressure on his foot, slowly pressing the side of the woman’s head into the mud. “Do you know what I hate most about you? It’s that you can act so nonchalantly after committing sins! Not even a hint of guilt, not even a hint…”

The young man’s words were filled with sobs, his eyes filled with deep-seated hatred.

The woman struggled to reach out, grabbing Ma Kuxuan’s ankle, her eyes filled with pity and pleading. “Let me go, my grandfather is the commander of the Sea Tide Iron Cavalry, I am his most beloved granddaughter. I can compensate you, I can agree to anything you want…”

The young man smiled insincerely. “Oh? What a coincidence, I am the grandson of my grandmother, Ma Lanhua!”

The young man suddenly lifted his foot slightly, then wiped the sole of his shoe across the woman’s delicate cheek. “Sea Tide Iron Cavalry, is it? Wait, I’ll play with you slowly.”

The young man retracted his foot, turning his head to look in both directions. To his left, the True Martial Mountain man stood in the distance, his sword at his side. To his right, a refined young man holding an oil-paper umbrella stood beside the fallen wretch, looking at Ma Kuxuan.

Ma Kuxuan’s intuition told him that the guy with the umbrella was actually waiting for him to kill the woman at his feet.

Ma Kuxuan suddenly crouched down. The woman tried to escape, but the wet young man grabbed her by the neck and held her in place. After the woman stopped struggling, the young man released his hand and gently patted her cheek, smiling. “Remember, my name is Ma Kuxuan. I will definitely find you later. Also, be sure to thank that guy who’s not in town. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have such a good relationship.”

Ma Kuxuan finally spat on the woman’s face.

The young man got up and walked towards the True Martial Mountain man, asking in a low voice, “Who is that person?”

The swordsman said calmly, “He is Cui Minghuang, the future mountain master of the Lake Viewing Academy, one of the seventy-two academies of Confucianism. He has an illustrious background. He’s also here to retrieve a warding object. He’s very cunning. Be careful in the future. If there are no accidents, he’s already targeted you.”

Ma Kuxuan frowned. “This person doesn’t give the same feeling as Mr. Qi from the school.”

The swordsman laughed softly. “Do you think many scholars can adhere to their original intentions like Mr. Qi?”

He hesitated for a moment, then explained, “The outside world says that after the downfall of his teacher, Mr. Qi’s realm fell and his state of mind shattered, so he agreed to be exiled to this small world. Although he is constantly subjected to the erosion of the Heavenly Dao, he can do as he pleases. But I think that’s probably not true.”

Ma Kuxuan wasn’t interested in these things. He turned to look and saw the man with the umbrella crouching beside the woman, probably comforting her.

Ma Kuxuan withdrew his gaze and walked side by side with the swordsman, the young man’s steps heavy, returning to Apricot Blossom Lane.

The man spoke, “Your body is seriously injured. Don’t leave any hidden injuries, otherwise it will hinder your future cultivation.”

Ma Kuxuan reached out to wipe the rain from his face and suddenly asked, “What does our small town mean to those outsiders?”

The swordsman replied, “It’s like the small stream outside the town, mixed with fish and dragons, with shallow wading pools and bottomless deep pools.”

Ma Kuxuan asked, “Have outsiders come here to train and seek treasure, and drowned before?”

The swordsman smiled and shook his head. “Almost never before. Mostly it was about harmony and wealth, everyone being happy. This time is an exception.”

—

At the Yang Family Shop, a heroic young woman carried a young man quickly across the threshold, asking a middle-aged shop assistant, “Is Old Man Yang here?”

Seeing the young woman’s extraordinary demeanor, the assistant didn’t dare to be negligent, nodding. “He’s in the backyard, just finished sorting out medicinal herbs. Do you have business?”

The young woman nodded, her voice deep. “We’re familiar with Old Yang, we need to ask him for medicine.”

The assistant hesitated for a moment, but didn’t press the issue, leading them to the main house in the backyard, where an old man was gently tapping his old pipe against the table. In the corner of the room stood a slovenly man, the gatekeeper from the east side of town, the unattached Zheng Dafeng. Perhaps one thing overcomes another; when Zheng Dafeng met Old Man Yang, he didn’t dare to breathe loudly, with none of his usual slippery and rogueish behavior.

Old Man Yang waved his pipe, and Zheng Dafeng quickly slipped out of the room, taking the shop assistant with him.

Old Man Yang looked at the familiar young man on the young woman’s back, Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an’s lips were pale, his body trembling, his arms desperately wrapped around the young woman’s neck.

Old Man Yang unhurriedly stood up, his one hand behind his back, the other holding his pipe. He came to the young woman, looked Chen Ping’an in the eyes, and said hoarsely, “How many times have I told you, the cheaper and thinner your life is, the more you must cherish your life and fortune. What, encountering a little setback and you want to die? Why didn’t you just go with your mother, wouldn’t that have been easier? Your Yao Shifu was right, he always used to say, ‘See a person at three, see their age at three.’ You’re not going to live long, even if you’re taught good skills, it’s a waste. You’re still going to be buried in the ground early.”

Ning Yao was dumbfounded. In her impression, Old Man Yang should be a kind old man, always smiling.

Who would have thought he would be such a sarcastic old man.

The old man mocked, “Does it hurt a lot?”

Chen Ping’an nodded slightly, already unable to speak.

After waking up on the young woman’s back, probably as the medicine wore off, it had actually already started acting up. But Chen Ping’an felt he could endure it. When Ning Yao carried him near the covered bridge, he knew he couldn’t hold on any longer. So Ning Yao couldn’t even retrieve the knife from the road by the stream, and quickly carried him to the Yang Family Shop.

The old man said with a chuckle, “It hurts, huh? Then obediently endure it.”

Then the old man glanced at Ning Yao, saying testily, “Have him sit on the bench himself!”

The old man then mumbled, “Being carried by a young girl, doesn’t he feel ashamed?”

Ning Yao endured her anger, carefully helping Chen Ping’an to sit on the bench. But as soon as she let go, the young man was about to fall.

Ning Yao was about to help him, but even though the young man couldn’t speak, his eyes signaled that he didn’t need her help.

The old man took a puff of his homemade dry tobacco, looking at the young man’s body and aura, clicking his tongue. “Truly a down-and-out person. Well, at least his conscience is clear.”

The old man completely ignored the young man’s piercing pain. “Liu Xianyang had such good fortune, what a lowly life you have. Haven’t you figured it out after all these years? One death for him is almost enough for you to die ten times, you know?”

Ning Yao couldn’t bear the old man’s sarcastic words any longer, saying in a deep voice, “Old Man Yang, can you first help Chen Ping’an relieve the pain?”

The old man’s body was hunched, turning his head to squint at the young woman, asking casually, “Your man?”

Ning Yao glared at him.

The old man ignored the young woman, turning his head to look at the young man.

The old man was lost in thought.

Finally, the old man pursed his lips, sighed, and used his old pipe to tap Chen Ping’an’s shoulder once, and his arms and legs twice each.

In an instant.

The young man lay on the bench in a reclining position, his elbow propping up his head.

The old man shouted softly, “Go to sleep!”

Chen Ping’an closed his eyes instantly, and immediately snored loudly.