Chapter 391 (3): To Save or Not to Save

Chapter 391 (3): To Save or Not to Save

When Chen Ping'an slowly opened his eyes, he discovered that he was already using his palms instead of his two fists to stand on his hands. He then looked outside the window, and he realized that it was already late into the night.

Chen Ping'an lightly smacked the floor and flipped around, soaring through the air before dropping to the floor in a perfectly straight stance. He pushed open the door and walked outside, and saw that Zhu Lian was sleeping soundly beside the table in the courtyard. The bright moon and a few twinkling stars decorated the sky above.

Zhu Lian smiled and stood up, explaining, "Young Master, you seemed to have entered an extremely beneficial state that the Daoists refer to as 'obtaining intent and losing sense of form.' I didn't dare to disturb you, so I allowed you to stay in that state for the past two days. Because of this, Pei Qian ran over to spar with me three times. In the end, I locked her in her room. Until just now, she was standing on a chair and observing your room for a long time again. She was waiting for you to wake up and light a candle or something. Well, that didn't happen, so she went to sleep."

Chen Ping'an was astonished, and he asked, "It's already been two days?"

Zhu Lian nodded with a smile.

Chen Ping'an sat down with Zhu Lian, and he remarked with emotion, "No wonder it's said that sixty years pass in the blink of an eye for cultivators in the mountains."

"That's indeed the case," Zhu Lian concurred. "Martial artists like us are much more straightforward. We practice fist techniques, eat, sleep, and kill our foes once we open our eyes."

Chen Ping'an pretended not to hear the last bit about killing people, and he asked, "Have there been any changes in the Lion Garden recently?"

Zhu Lian shook his head and replied with a smile, "It's been calm and peaceful, with the flowers fragrant and the moon radiant. Sadly, there's no chance to see the grand debate between Buddhism and Daoism in the capital. I think that it's quite a pity."

"Even if you want to travel to the capital to attend that grand event... you're still not allowed to leave the Lion Garden," Chen Ping'an said with a serious expression. "Things will become far too risky if you aren't here to help."

Zhu Lian pushed for some additional benefits, swaying the almost empty pot of osmanthus wine in his hand and asking with an extremely wide smile, "Then reward me with another pot of wine, Young Master? After drinking this osmanthus wine, the wine in the Lion Garden truly tastes no different from plain water."

Chen Ping'an immediately shot that down. "Stop trying to get your hands on my osmanthus wine. I only have two pots remaining, and even I don't want to drink them now."

"Beautiful sceneries at the perfect time, and rich wine along with a beautiful woman—it's always been very difficult to achieve these pairings," Zhu Lian lamented.

Chen Ping'an changed the topic to the proper matters. "Clans that perform good deeds for generation after generation will definitely be protected by their hidden virtue. This statement isn't false. If my guess is correct, then the extraordinary feng shui of the Lion Garden and the upstanding nature of the Liu Clan should have given birth to an incense person.

"At the same time, there should also be a mountain lord to protect the area. It's a shame that I don't possess Cui Dongshan's cultivation base and mystical abilities, so I'm unable to summon the mountain lord to ask about the situation. Otherwise, we could have learned more about this fox demon."

Zhu Lian glanced toward the main room and suggested, "Then how about I head over to ask Shi Rou?"

"She wouldn't purposely conceal this ability from us if she could achieve this... right?" Chen Ping'an asked with a puzzled expression.

Zhu Lian glanced at Chen Ping'an and drank the last sip of osmanthus wine in his pot. "Allow this old servant to be blunt, Young Master. You more or less know the worst people next to you might do, but you're still overly optimistic when it comes to judging the character of other people. This is... unlike your disciple, who is able to observe everything clearly and in great detail. Of course, this is also because you exhibit incredible self-restraint and conduct yourself as a noble person."

Chen Ping'an pondered for a moment before nodding and replying, "Then I'll ask Shi Rou tomorrow. At the very least, I'm more or less able to tell whether someone is telling the truth."

Zhu Lian shook his head and said with a smile, "Why wait until tomorrow? Why not today? You are her master, and you've also bestowed a great fated opportunity upon her. That being the case, is it not okay to ask a few questions? As far as I am concerned... Think of me as an infatuated man viewing a beautiful woman. I naturally have to love and cherish her, and even speaking too harshly would be a crime.

"However, you shouldn't view her in the same gentle way. Taking into account Shi Rou's personality, she's the kind that will rebel and cause trouble if she isn't smacked or scolded for three days. Young Master, you must understand that there are many dim people in the world, and they all fear power but fail to respect virtue. They're not as bright as Pei Qian."

Chen Ping'an couldn't help but chuckle and say, "The sun is truly rising from the west today... You're actually praising Pei Qian now?"

Zhu Lian sighed with emotion and replied, "She's sinister in a pure sense, yet she's also good in a pure sense. How could I dislike such an interesting little child?"

The door of the main room opened, revealing Shi Rou.

She walked over to Chen Ping'an and Zhu Lian, taking the initiative and saying, "Mr. Cui indeed taught me a mystical technique to summon mountain lords. However, I'm afraid that it will cause too much commotion and make that fox demon feel a sense of apprehension, causing it to develop killing intent against us."

Chen Ping'an smiled and replied, "That's a reasonable explanation. But I want to ask you two questions on that matter. First, are you more afraid of the fox demon targeting you, or are you more afraid of it targeting the three of us? And second, since you know this mystical technique and are able to summon the mountain lord, then why didn't you say so earlier, even if you were hesitant to use it?"

Zhu Lian smiled with squinted eyes and fanned the flames even further, remarking, "Young Master has hit the nail on the head."

There was hesitation in Shi Rou's eyes.

Chen Ping'an waved a hand and said, "Both you and I are clearly aware of the answer. Don't let this happen again. Otherwise, I'll simply ask you to leave this immortal body and return to the talisman. Once the sixty-year contract is up, I'll naturally give you freedom as we agreed to before."

There was an ice-cold expression in Shi Rou's eyes.

The old woman loudly kowtowed a dozen or so times before looking up and staring intently at Chen Ping'an again, pleading, "I implore you, Senior Sword Immortal, please unleash your strength and slay that great demon! The descendants of the Liu Clan will definitely remember your great deed and offer incense to you for generation after generation!"

Zhu Lian's expression became dark, and he was just about to say something. However, Chen Ping'an waved his hand at the hunchbacked old man, signaling that he would deal with the situation.

Chen Ping'an reached over to help the old woman up, saying, "You should stand up to speak."

However, the old woman pushed his hand aside and continued to kowtow. "If you aren't willing to help, then so be it if I die right here, right now. I might as well kowtow until I die."

Chen Ping'an had no option but to quietly squat down, carefully considering what to say next.

Zhu Lian stood still, yet the tips of his feet were dragging along the ground. It was clear that he wanted to launch a kick to shatter the godly body of the old woman. To say nothing of mountain lords, even some low-level mountain gods and river gods—and perhaps even formal gods of the Five Mountains from some tiny nations—would be completely obliterated by a few kicks from an eighth tier martial artist.

Shi Rou had initially viewed the old woman's actions with disdain, and there was now a cold smile on her face as she glanced at the seemingly helpless Chen Ping'an.

She thought to herself that Chen Ping'an had brought this troublesome situation upon himself.

The squatting Chen Ping'an and the standing Zhu Lian turned around and looked up at the curved eaves at almost the exact same moment, resting their gazes on the Daoist nun who was once again standing there with her fishtail hat and Dao saber.

She glanced at the local mountain lord who had been freed from the restrictive black ropes by First and sneered, "How pathetically naive and crude. No wonder you failed to save the Lion Garden that's intricately linked with your own fate."

She then glanced at the vermilion wine gourd, and she raised her arm and put her index finger and middle finger together, drawing them across her eyes and making them turn gold. Appearing much like a deity who was peering down at the mortal world, she said in realization, "Oh, so it's a high-grade Sword Nurturing Gourd. No wonder you managed to easily sever those crappy ropes."

"You're here to kill the demon but not save the people?" Chen Ping'an asked.

"So what if I am?" the Daoist nun retorted.

Chen Ping'an smiled and replied, "Then you focus on killing the demon, and I'll take responsibility for saving the people."

The Daoist nun from the Daoist Saber Room hesitated for a moment before responding, "This is the best option."

The old woman was overjoyed upon hearing this, but still remained kneeling on the ground as she straightened her back and grabbed Chen Ping'an's arm. Hope and eagerness filled her eyes, and she said, "Senior Sword Immortal, let's head over to the young lady's residence to save her straight away. This old woman will lead the way."

There was no need for Chen Ping'an to help her up this time, and it was instead the old woman who stood up by herself and tried to drag him along with her as she walked toward the entrance of the courtyard. However, she quickly discovered that the young sword immortal was standing still and as immovable as a mountain. She couldn't help but frown slightly and ask, "Esteemed Immortal, why aren't you moving? Saving people is like putting out a fire. If we're too slow, then..."

Chen Ping'an was unfazed as he explained in a gentle voice, "I still need to wake my disciple up and have her stay together with me. Otherwise, it's possible that the fox demon might seize the opportunity to cause harm to her. Moreover, it isn't right to wantonly enter Liu Qingqing's residence by myself. At the very least, I need to notify Assistant Minister Liu first. These two matters won't delay us for too long..."

Before Chen Ping'an could even finish speaking, however, the old woman had already started to grumble in dissatisfaction, complaining, "Senior Sword Immortal, you're a cultivator from the mountains, so is there any need to pedantically follow these overly complicated rules and customs? You can simply ask someone to stay behind to take care of your disciple. As for Liu Jingting, his clan is facing imminent destruction right now, so why care about these trivial matters? We can simply inform him about everything after we save his daughter. In any case, that bookworm will thank us all the same. Will he dare to complain about these trivial matters?!"

Zhu Lian looked at the side of the old woman's face. Behind his back, his palm popped and crackled as it clenched into a fist.

"Have you heard about those that a noble person won't save?" Chen Ping'an suddenly asked.

The old woman was stunned into silence. She was slightly afraid at this moment.

However, Chen Ping'an's next action allowed the extremely anxious old woman to breathe a huge sigh of relief. He asked Zhu Lian to make haste and explain the current situation to Liu Jingting. He then asked Shi Rou to wake Pei Qian up.

Chen Ping'an gently patted the dirt from the old woman's sleeve. While looking down, he said in a soft voice, "Please rest assured, Old Granny, I will save the young lady. However, I hope that you and the Lion Garden can also help others facing the same misfortune in the future."

—————

By the time they arrived in front of Liu Qingqing's residence, Zhu Lian was also back, telling them that Assistant Minister Liu had agreed to their proposal.

Seeing this, Chen Ping'an walked inside and headed upstairs. The drowsy Pei Qian simply walked behind Chen Ping'an. She still had a yellow paper talisman on her forehead, but she wouldn't feel especially afraid as long as she was with her master.

Shi Rou followed closely behind them.

Zhu Lian remained downstairs, not making a move even though the others had already walked inside. He simply looked at Chen Ping'an walking up the stairs.

The hunchbacked old man craned his neck and scratched his head, feeling like Mr. Cui's master was truly walking at a very lofty height.

1. It is said that constant help breeds grudges because the help becomes normalized and expected. Thus, those being helped might end up detesting those helping them if the help eventually stops or becomes insufficient. ☜