, he took the locust leaf that had been brought to him by the flying sword, then placed the leaf onto the palm of her bloody and mangled hand.

As soon as the locust leaf came into contact with the injuries on the palm of her hand, those injuries instantly melted away like snow and ice under the scorching sun.

The Daoist priest mused to himself in amazement, "Whenever I see the power of this world in action, I can't help but be..."

He scrambled to find a suitable adjective for what he was feeling for a while, but was unable to come up with anything that could fully encapsulate what he felt.

In the end, he looked down at the young woman, who was looking very much worse for wear, and he still had no idea what to do with her. "Seeing as there's more that rests on your fate than I first imagined, I have no choice but to take the exact opposite course of action to what I've been attempting to do up to this point.

“Out of the roughly 600 households in this town, all of them have had the aura of this secret realm rub off on them for generations, so it's a simple task for me to find someone blessed by fate and good fortune, but finding a penniless pauper here is even more difficult than trying to ascend to the heavens! It's the equivalent of sending me to the imperial court, but instead of asking me to find an official, you ask me to find a beggar! This simply seems to be a hopeless task!"

All of a sudden, a potentially suitable candidate sprang into the Daoist priest's mind, but instead of being elated by this find, he became even more aghast, and he closed his eyes as he thought about whether it was right to potentially bring more misfortune upon someone who already had nothing.

After a while, he reopened his eyes as he sighed, "In any case, the choice is up to you, and I definitely won't force you to take on this bundle of mishap against your will. If you're unwilling to accept such a burden, then I'll just have to bear it on my own."

He then brought his palms together, much like a monk would, then prayed, "May the almighty Buddha and the merciful Bodhisattva assist me in transcending this tribulation."

Soon, the young Daoist priest wheeled his cart onto Clay Vase Alley, then stopped in front of a certain courtyard before knocking on its gate. "Is Chen Ping'an there?"

Placed in a corner of the cart was a longsword in a pristine white scabbard. The flying sword was lying within the scabbard in a sullen manner, as if it were silently expressing its displeasure toward the Daoist priest for bringing its owner to such a run-down place.

1. Chunfen is another one of the 24 solar terms on the traditional Chinese calendar. ?

Johnchen and Flying Dumpling's Thoughts

There will be a lot of MC progression in the 40s... we are still very early in the book. Right now there are a lot of random characters and it may seem very confusing, but you gotta have faith. Once I got to 43, my heart was beating so fast because it was like, "OH SHIT." moment. The fight scenes are sooo good. Anyway, just don't give up on the novel until you've reached at least chapter 50.

Unsheathed will be launched next week! Stay tuned.