The Unsharpened Blade

Taiping Medical Hall had always kept to itself. On Anxi Street, no matter how many merchants came and went, through spring and autumn, the winter solstice and the summer solstice, the medical hall remained where it was, a reassuring sight.

But Taiping Medical Hall had suddenly become lively.

The heir and the commandery princess had climbed over its wall, Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er had come to stay, and now there was laughter, a fire in the kitchen, and a steady stream of jianghu visitors...

Standing outside the door, Chen Ji looked at Old Yao with a complicated expression. "Master, was this so he'd teach me saber techniques?"

Old Yao stood outside with his hands behind his back. "The Liang Family's way of the saber is unrivaled in Yu Province. There are many in this world who possess techniques, but few who seek the Dao. Study hard."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "What's the difference between technique and the Dao?"

Old Yao answered at his leisure, "The Dao is an intangible direction; technique is the road beneath your feet. Remember, if you master technique through the Dao, the technique will flourish. If you try to master the Dao through technique, the technique will decline."

"Then why are you still having me learn saber techniques first?"

"Start learning. How to enter the way of the saber through saber techniques is the Liang Family's own closely guarded secret, but they have no descendants now. There's no telling when that skill might be lost. What if Liang Gou'er takes it into his head to pass it on to you? ...Oh, right, you've made quite a bit of money lately. You'll pay for the Liang brothers' meals."

Chen Ji grew wary. "You're still eyeing my few measly coins?"

Old Yao said, "I am."

Chen Ji said, "..."

Just then, Liang Mao'er's voice came from the back courtyard. "Excuse me... where are we sleeping?"

Chen Ji hurried inside. "You can sleep in the apprentices' room. Our shared bed is big enough for five."

Liang Mao'er hastily said, "No, no, five people would be a bit cramped on that bed. My brother can sleep here. I'll sleep in the kitchen."

Chen Ji smiled. "It's all right. We can squeeze in. Winter's almost here, and someone could freeze to death in the kitchen."

"All right..."

Liang Gou'er was already snoring sound asleep. Liang Mao'er gently laid him on the bed and took off his shoes and socks.

But once Liang Mao'er had done all that, he didn't go to sleep. Instead, he turned to Chen Ji and said carefully, "Um... I can help with the work. I can clean, cook, and wash clothes. I'm not afraid of hard work."

Before Chen Ji could answer, Liang Mao'er fetched a wooden basin and took the dirty clothes and socks from the apprentices' room. Then he got some plant ash from beneath the kitchen stove, squatted in the courtyard, and scooped up several dippers of water to scrub the laundry, as though afraid the medical hall would change its mind and refuse to shelter the two brothers.

Plant ash and soapberries were the natural cleaning agents of this era. Households that could afford it would also rub in some mint, Chinese skullcap, and lotus leaves, leaving the clothes with a faint fragrance after washing.

Liang Mao'er was plump, and squatting on the ground was a bit of a struggle for him. After a moment's thought, Chen Ji brought him a small chair. "Sit down to wash."

Liang Mao'er looked up and smiled. "Thank you... sorry for the trouble."

Chen Ji studied him. Without Liang Gou'er beside him, Liang Mao'er didn't look like a man of the jianghu at all. He looked more like a diligent worker in some little eatery.

"Don't you have any money left at all?" Chen Ji asked, puzzled.

"Actually, I've secretly saved a little, but I can't let my brother know," Liang Mao'er said with an honest smile. "I'm planning to save enough to buy a few mu of land in the countryside around Luo City. That way, even if my brother doesn't risk his life working for rich families, the two of us can still get by."

"That wouldn't even cover your brother's wine."

"I'll worry about that when the time comes..."

By the time Liang Mao'er had finished washing all the clothes Liu Quxing and She Dengke had accumulated, his stomach suddenly began to rumble.

Liang Mao'er looked embarrassed. "Um... is there anything to eat in the medical hall? Anything at all is fine. I'm not a picky eater."

Chen Ji brought Liang Mao'er a large basin of cornmeal porridge left over from the previous night, a dish of pickles, and four mixed-grain flatbreads.

Liang Mao'er ate it all in one go, wiped his mouth, and looked at him again without a word.

Chen Ji took a deep breath and fetched another four mixed-grain flatbreads and a dish of pickles...

When Liang Mao'er finished, Chen Ji said quietly, "Your brother had better start teaching me saber techniques soon."

"Huh? Is it that urgent?" Liang Mao'er said, taken aback.

Chen Ji said seriously, "If your brother doesn't start teaching me soon, I'm afraid I'll change my mind..."

Liang Mao'er hurriedly asked, "Have you practiced with a saber before?"

"No."

Liang Mao'er thought for a moment. "Then I can teach you first. I know all the basic saber techniques."

As he spoke, he swung his plump body around a couple of times. "When my father taught my brother the saber, he had me learn alongside him too. It's just that I didn't have much talent and couldn't master it."

Chen Ji watched Liang Mao'er's clumsy movements, raised an eyebrow, and changed the subject. "Was your brother always like this?"

"No," Liang Mao'er said hurriedly. "My brother didn't drink before, and he didn't go to those pleasure quarters either. Back then, he was a great saber wielder, unrivaled in Yu Province. Alone with his saber, he killed the bandits on three mountains. Ordinary jianghu folk coming to Luo City had to pay their respects to him first."

As Liang Mao'er spoke of his brother's former glory, his eyes were full of recollection and yearning.

Chen Ji asked curiously, "What happened afterward?"

Liang Mao'er's voice fell. "Then my sister-in-law appeared. She was beautiful and gentle, and she treated my brother very well. She was good to me too. When she saw my brother practicing the saber, she kept asking him to teach her, but once she'd learned, she disappeared. After that, my brother stopped practicing the saber and took to drinking."

The Liang Family did not pass its saber techniques to outsiders. This was not only an ancestral rule; the family also knew the secret of cultivation: two people could not cultivate the same Dao.

Yet Liang Gou'er had passed the saber techniques to an outsider and met with such an ending.

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Did your sister-in-law never appear again?"

Liang Mao'er thought for a moment. "My brother said she might have gone back to the Jing Dynasty in the north..."

Before he could finish, Liang Gou'er appeared, drunkenly bracing himself against the doorframe. "I told you, don't bring it up again!" he said angrily.

Liang Mao'er drew in his neck. "I won't, I won't."

Liang Gou'er glanced sidelong at Chen Ji. "You really want to learn the saber?"

"I do," Chen Ji said sincerely.

"Then let me ask you: what do you want to learn it for?" Liang Gou'er asked.

"Self-defense."

Liang Gou'er burst out laughing. "Then you shouldn't learn the saber! Saber techniques are bold and sweeping. Before learning the saber, you need the confidence to cleave mountains apart, not talk about self-defense. The moment you want to defend yourself, you've already abandoned your saber!"

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "Then what should I learn?"

Liang Gou'er tossed his saber to Chen Ji and pointed toward the kitchen. "Bring me a piece of firewood. One chop and I'll know what you should learn."

Chen Ji fetched a piece of firewood and stood it upright in the courtyard. Drawing the saber, he chopped down along a crack in the wood.

The long saber stuck in the surface of the wood. Only then did he discover that Liang Gou'er's saber hadn't even been sharpened!

How was that possible? An unsharpened saber had split Lin Chaoqing's bamboo hat from a distance?

He looked at Liang Gou'er. "Why hasn't this saber been sharpened?"

Liang Gou'er said nonchalantly, "Because there's no need."

For a moment, Chen Ji didn't know how to respond. Between the "most serious" and "least serious" answers, Liang Gou'er had chosen the most showy one.

At that moment, Liu Quxing and She Dengke were also awakened. They clung to the doorframe and peeked outside.

Liang Gou'er was carefully examining Chen Ji's chop mark, though it was impossible to tell what he was looking for.

Without a word, he took the long saber from Chen Ji and swung it casually. The piece of firewood standing in the middle of the courtyard split in two, its cut surfaces smooth.

Liang Gou'er turned to Chen Ji. "The saber is the way of domination. My Liang Family's saber techniques neither swerve nor evade. I don't care whether you have an opening or not. Once I strike, your whole body is full of openings. In your hand, a saber doesn't look like a saber anymore. It's more like a sword that picks at openings and takes an unorthodox path. So you shouldn't practice the saber. You need to find someone to teach you the sword."

"Does a person's character determine their Dao?" Chen Ji asked thoughtfully.

"The heart and intent must be in harmony. If the Dao you walk doesn't accord with your heart, you won't get far," Liang Gou'er explained.

Liang Mao'er, standing nearby, asked in confusion, "Brother, didn't you say before that the sword was the kingly way, very much like our family's saber techniques?"

Liang Gou'er looked at Chen Ji and said meaningfully, "The sword I spoke of wasn't a long sword at the waist, but the Sword Seed in the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple. That's why you shouldn't learn the saber from me. You should go to the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple to learn the sword."

Chen Ji was taken aback.

He had once been carried by the icy current into that ancient battlefield, and someone there had asked him: Who stole my Sword Seed?

Was the Sword Seed that person spoke of connected to the Sword Seed in the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple?

Chen Ji asked, "Can I only learn it at the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple?"

Liang Gou'er thought for a moment. "There should be someone cultivating it in the Ning Dynasty too, but the last time that person fought was more than ten years ago, and everyone who saw him fight is dead."

Chen Ji sank into thought.

If he really had to go to the Jing Dynasty's Martial Temple to cultivate it, did that mean he would have to render a great service in the Ning Dynasty, rise through the ranks one step at a time, and eventually be transferred back to the Jing Dynasty?

But how long would that take?

Liang Gou'er looked at him and said, "Don't practice the saber anymore. Practicing it now will only lead you astray, and it won't be easy to set you right afterward."

Liang Mao'er muttered quietly, "Brother, but if he doesn't practice, where will we stay? What will we eat..."

Liang Gou'er immediately changed his tune. "You can start with stance training and footwork! As the saying goes, teach a man fists but not footwork; teach him footwork and he'll beat his master! Footwork is the foundation for bringing your whole body's strength to bear. Without practicing it, you use only the strength of one arm when you punch, but how much strength can one arm have? If you practice footwork, the force travels from your legs to your hips, from your hips to your waist, and from your waist to your arms. Only by gathering your whole body's strength at one point can you..."

Before he could finish, someone called from the entrance to the medical hall, "Chen Ji, Chen Ji!"

She Dengke looked over abruptly, while Chen Ji frowned. Both of them recognized Chunhua's voice.

She Dengke hesitated again and again, but in the end he did not step out of the room. Chen Ji went to the entrance and asked curiously, "Miss Chunhua, is something the matter?"

Chunhua's eyes were still swollen from crying. She took out an invitation and said softly, "My lady invites everyone at the medical hall to attend the literary gathering at the prince's estate this afternoon. She says she has an important matter to discuss with you in detail."

Chen Ji opened the red invitation. It read: A banquet shall be held on the evening of the tenth day of the ninth month, to which the literary gentlemen and refined scholars of Luo City are invited, that we may renew our acquaintance. I venture to hope you will not consider yourself an outsider. We shall speak at length when we meet.

-Zhu Yunxi of Prince Jing's Estate.

The literary gathering was being held by the heir, and Consort Jing wanted to use it as an opportunity to discuss the Liu Family with him in detail?

Chunhua looked at Chen Ji pleadingly and gently lifted her sleeve, revealing skin covered in welts from a rattan cane.

Chen Ji shook his head. "Miss Chunhua, showing me that won't help. If I don't want to go, even if someone gives you another beating, it has nothing to do with me."

Chunhua grew anxious.

But then Chen Ji changed the subject. "Still, tell Consort Jing I'll go."