Unsheathed

Chapter 20: Complications

Fu Nanhua could tell that Cai Jinjian was in rather low spirits, so he took her on a stroll, and the two of them were walking side by side in a rare moment of relaxation after arriving in this town. At the same time, they were discussing some interesting stories that they had heard about the southern region of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. Cai Jinjian was still somewhat forcing herself to put on a cheerful facade, but she was definitely in a much better mood than when she first left Clay Vase Alley.

At the same time, her impression of Fu Nanhua was gradually improving. Old Dragon City had a long and illustrious history of producing prodigious and powerful cultivators, and even though it was still slightly behind the top-tier sects on the continent, it was still far above Dawn Cloud Mountain, which ranked near the bottom among second-rate sects.

However, Dawn Cloud Mountain was an orthodox sect with a noble background, so those from Dawn Cloud Mountain harbored an innate sense of superiority over those from Old Dragon City, which was situated in the southern wilderness. Thus, those from Dawn Cloud Mountain often referred to those from Old Dragon City as southern barbarians behind their backs.

Cai Jinjian sighed in a reluctant voice, "Brother Fu, Cloud Root Stones are the lifeblood of our Dawn Cloud Mountain, but seeing as we already had an agreement, I won't definitely go back on my word. Even if I have to sell everything that I own, I'll be sure to follow through on my promise to you."

"At the moment, we still can't say for sure whether Gu Can's fate is set in stone," Fu Nanhua consoled.

Cai Jinjian shook her head with a dejected expression as she replied, "The River Severing True Lord may not have the best reputation, but he's certainly not someone to be messed with. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to claim a spot for himself at Lake Shujian. It would be extremely unwise for me to try and compete against him. If I were to make an enemy out of him, there's no way I would be able to come out the other side unscathed. My concern right now is that he may have already developed a grudge against me.

“Once we leave the town and are no longer restricted by the rules and presence of the Sages, who knows how far he would be willing to go to get back at me? I'm sure you must've also noticed some signs while we were on the border, Brother Fu. Unfortunately, the servants sent to accompany me on this trip do not possess anywhere near enough power to be able to stand against him."

Fu Nanhua smiled as he said, "Don't worry so much. Even if it's just for the sake of those 10 Cloud Root Stones, our Old Dragon City will be sure to ensure your safe return to Dawn Cloud Mountain."

Cai Jinjian turned to him with a warm smile, and her eyes were full of gratitude and tender affection.

Fu Nanhua was quite pleased with himself, and he habitually reached down to stroke his jade pendant, only to recall that his Old Dragon Rainbringer had already been given to Song Jixin.

Cai Jinjian was quite relieved that Fu Nanhua had promised her his assistance, and she tilted slightly to the left while walking so that her shoulder gently brushed Fu Nanhua's.

This trip to Clay Vase Alley was something that was outside of her original plan, as was the bet that she had made with Fu Nanhua. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and even though she had proceeded with a great deal of caution, she had ultimately lost the bet, and the price she had to pay was 10 extremely precious Cloud Root Stones.

This added a huge element of stress to her trip to the town, and she had unconsciously developed a sense of reliance on Fu Nanhua. Another way to put it was that she was leaning into the mindset of a gambler. She was willing to gamble 10 Cloud Root Stones, so why couldn't she gamble 50? If she won, she would recoup all her losses and make a massive profit, and if she lost... Cai Jinjian didn't think that she was going to lose.

In fact, she was convinced that she wouldn't lose. She possessed the best cultivation aptitude out of anyone on Dawn Cloud Mountain! Everything had gone smoothly for her on her cultivation journey, and her cultivation base had progressed rapidly. She was absolutely confident that there was no way that someone like her could fail in such an insignificant place.

While Cai Jinjian's mood was taking a turn for the better, Fu Nanhua was also quite confident that he had all but obtained what he had come here to acquire, and he was finally in the mood to be appreciating Cai Jinjian's beauty. It had to be said that she was a woman who possessed a natural sense of allure. If he could take her as his Dao partner, both his cultivation and his sex life would undoubtedly see an improvement.

An influential and reputable senior had once declared that Cai Jinjian "possessed aptitude and beauty in equal measure", and the implication there was that she would make for an exemplary Dao partner. The higher-ups of Dawn Cloud Mountain had always relied on the mountain for their livelihood, and they were accustomed to doing business.

Over the years, they spared no expense in nurturing and developing Cai Jinjian, and an important reason for this was that they wanted to use her to improve the sect's standing on the continent. The coming together of two immortal clans had extremely significant and far-reaching implications, so it was something that was taken even more seriously than a marriage alliance between royal clans.

However, Fu Nanhua simply didn't have any fondness for Dawn Cloud Mountain. In his eyes, it was preposterous that the sect was placing its fate entirely on the shoulders of a woman like Cai Jinjian, and that was why he had a very low opinion of the sect.

"If the boy living next door to Song Jixin had also been selected by a certain power outside the town, and he still has his bonded porcelain, then what you did to him could land you in a great deal of trouble. It'll be an easy task for those outside forces to trace everything back to you, and in extension, Dawn Cloud Mountain. On top of that, there's a chance that both Song Jixin and the River Severing True Lord detected what you did as well," Fu Nanhua said.

Cai Jinjian smiled as she replied, "Perhaps you were too fixated on securing a fated opportunity in this town, and as a result, you failed to notice some of the unspoken rules of this place. For boys who are born in this town, if they haven't been taken away by any 'porcelain buyers' after reaching nine years of age, then that indicates that they possess lackluster aptitude for cultivation and are considered to be lacking in value.

“After that, the older they become, the further their value drops. From the perspective of those sects and factions, it would be much wiser to invest in the development of their existing disciples, rather than spend an astronomical sum in 'adoption money', only to secure a child with mediocre aptitude."

Just the mere mention of Chen Ping'an was enough to fill Cai Jinjian with disgust. "A filthy commoner like him should learn to know his place!"

Fu Nanhua took a moment to arrange his words, then said, "While I agree with you, we have to keep in mind that the boy has grown up his entire life in this town, and he has no idea how noble and distinguished you are. Even if he did cause some offense to you, teaching him a lesson once would be enough, why did you have to strike him again?"

Indeed, Cai Jinjian's actions against Chen Ping'an had been very abnormal, and Fu Nanhua had a feeling that there were some suspicious circumstances involved. Hence, he was trying to get Cai Jinjian to speak more about the situation to see if he could identify any leads or details of interest. As the saying went, the praying mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole lurking behind.

He had always regarded her as the cicada in that analogy, but he was concerned that she knew something important that he didn't, and that perhaps she had actually been the oriole this entire time. Old Dragon City had gone to great lengths and spent far more than Sun Scorch Mountain and Dawn Cloud Mountain, only to secure some tidbits of secret rumors.

Only through those investments did Fu Nanhua learn that in the past 3,000 years since that epic battle that had shaken heaven and earth, the so-called fated opportunities in the small town were referring only to the children who possessed exceptional cultivation aptitude and the treasures left behind by their ancestors of the cultivation world. However, now that this blessed place was on the verge of collapse, things weren't so simple.

Throughout history, the fall of each empire had always entailed the emergence of extremely powerful treasures to welcome the rise of a new empire.

Cai Jinjian's mood was quickly souring at the mention of Chen Ping'an. "Let's not talk about him anymore, just thinking about him puts me in a bad mood."

A rare hint of malice flashed through Cai Jinjian's eyes as she spoke, but she didn't want to ruin her image as a kind and gentle woman in Fu Nanhua's eyes, so she refrained from expressing what she actually thought of Chen Ping'an.

If she were to ever encounter Chen Ping'an outside of the town, she was going to make sure to grant him a fast yet painful death, rather than allow him to live out the rest of his shortened life in constant illness.

Cai Jinjian particularly detested Chen Ping'an's eyes. Deep in her heart, there was a subconscious thought that she was trying to ignore.

Even though she had been cultivating for many years on Dawn Cloud Mountain, which was renowned for its pristine purity, she had never seen a pair of eyes as clean and pure as Chen Ping'an's. Why was it that an impoverished boy who had grown up in such a filthy place was entitled to something so beautiful?

Cai Jinjian cocked her head to the side as she massaged her own eyes, and in doing so, her delicate eyebrows were made to look even longer and more slender than usual.

Fu Nanhua had been surveying the surrounding area this entire time, and he casually jibed, "There's a popular superstition on the streets of our Old Dragon City, which states that the twitching of the left eyelid signifies wealth, while the twitching of the right eyelid entails disaster. Which eyelid is twitching for you?"

Cai Jinjian hurriedly retracted her finger as if she had been burned, then glared at Fu Nanhua with a displeased expression. It was clear that her right eyelid had been twitching.

Having dug himself into this hole, Fu Nanhua hurriedly tried to make amends. "That's just a superstition among the commoners, don't take it seriously."

The corners of Cai Jinjian's lips perked up as she turned to look up at Fu Nanhua with a smug expression. "I tricked you, didn't I?"

Fu Nanhua faltered slightly at the sight of her flirtatious demeanor, and his heart suddenly began to waver.

He suddenly found himself feeling a little hesitant, and his conviction to kill her began to falter. If he could take her as his Dao partner, wouldn't that help Old Dragon City extend its influence toward the north? If Cai Jinjian could successfully obtain her fated opportunity here, her status would undoubtedly be severely elevated once she returned to Dawn Cloud Mountain, and it certainly wasn't a stretch to think that she could become the mistress of Dawn Cloud Mountain.

Throughout the extensive history of Dawn Cloud Mountain, there had been precedents of women becoming the master of the mountain. If everything went according to plan, Old Dragon City would have a legitimate reason to infiltrate the central area of the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, forming an alliance with Dawn Cloud Mountain in the north.

For the past several centuries, Old Dragon City had always been an extremely powerful sect, but it was constantly being ostracized and shunned by other powers due to its terrible geographic location. If this pitfall could be addressed, then Old Dragon City's potential for future growth would be truly limitless.

Not far up ahead was a crossroads where a pair of alleys intersected.

Upon seeing this crossroads, Fu Nanhua abruptly snapped back to his senses, and a determined look reappeared in his eyes.

At the same time, fine drops of sweat began to bead up on his forehead under his tall hat.

In order to strengthen his Dao Heart, he had to kill those who scrambled his mind and placed doubt in his heart.

In that instant, as Fu Nanhua turned to look at Cai Jinjian again, his expression, demeanor, and mindset had all returned to their former carefree state. It was as if he were purely appreciating a beautiful painting. Beautiful women were always very pleasing to the eyes, and he was going to enjoy this visual feast as much as possible. After all, after they left this town, she was destined to meet her demise at his hands.

Ultimately, nothing mattered aside from his pursuit of the Great Dao, and all obstacles on that path had to be cleared away. With that in mind, a sense of clarity welled up in Fu Nanhua's heart.

Cai Jinjian turned to him with a smile as she asked in a seductive voice, "What are you thinking about that's made you so happy, Nanhua?"

She had surreptitiously switched to referring to Fu Nanhua by a more intimate name.

Fu Nanhua shook his head with a smile, and he was just about to say something when he spotted a shadow out of the corner of his eye.

A thin young boy charged out of the alley that intersected the one that they were on, and it seemed that it had only taken him a single step to reach Cai Jinjian. Immediately thereafter, he raised his left hand in a sharp and forceful motion, and at the same time, his right fist had already slammed into Cai Jinjian's abdomen. The punch was packed with so much power that the faint sound of wind could be heard as his fist sped through the air, and Cai Jinjian involuntarily doubled over from the force of the impact.

The strength in the boy's right hand already far exceeded that of his peers, but his left hand was actually his dominant hand. Hence, he was holding his weapon in his left hand, and at this moment, the weapon had been plunged in its entirety into Cai Jinjian's throat, piercing straight into the underside of her oral cavity.

The boy didn't stop there, throwing another punch with his right fist into Cai Jinjian's chest while continuing to raise his left hand, ensuring that there was no way his target would survive this sneak attack.

In the next instant, blood began to gush out of Cai Jinjian's fair and delicate neck.

After that, the boy exerted force through his core and his feet, driving his shoulder into Cai Jinjian's chest and violently slamming her into the intersecting alley.

Fu Nanhua was completely rooted to the spot, and in this instant, his mind was entirely blank.