Chapter 2: The Li Family

Li Mutian woke up at the hour of the Tiger. He stared at his dilapidated ceiling, where a faint glimmer of light seeped through the darkness.

A small hole had appeared in the roof a few days ago, but Li Mutian hadn't had the time to fix it. He hadn't slept well for three full days. Looking at his wife, who was sleeping soundly beside him, Li Mutian let out a deep sigh.

"Women don't understand the gravity of things. Those immortals who fly high and low have been acting like madmen in the Dali Mountains these past few days, as if they’re desperate to dig three feet into the earth. It’s terrified everyone; every time a streak of light flies past, they kneel and kowtow..."

Li Mutian’s brows were tightly furrowed, his heart filled with anxiety. The small villages at the foot of the Dali Mountains had always been carefree, but these days, everyone was living in fear, each person worried for their own safety.

"The deep mountains have narrow paths; the imperial court can't reach us, and we don't care to be managed. But when these immortals fight, a single spell could leave Lijing Village without even a dog left alive."

Li Mutian turned over, unable to sleep any longer. He got up and looked out at the thick night air beyond the window.

"The brat is growing bigger by the day, eating more with every meal. Tomorrow, I'll send him to the Meichi River to catch some fish and crabs."

"If we’re killed by an immortal’s spell one day, it’s just fate. The Li family has been farming this wasteland for over two hundred years; Mother cannot be moved, and Father cannot be stirred." Li Mutian lowered his head, shook it, and with his hands behind his back, he stepped outside.

The big yellow dog outside was still sleeping soundly. Li Mutian walked slowly through the morning mist, watching Lijing Village wake from its slumber—roosters crowing, dogs barking, and wisps of cooking smoke rising.

"Xiangping—" Li Mutian called out at the top of his lungs toward the house. There was a clattering sound from within, and as the door opened, a half-grown boy came rushing out, chattering away.

"Father!" Li Xiangping’s features were quite refined, his eyes sharp and cunning as he looked up at Li Mutian.

"What work today?"

"Go to the Meichi River and get some fish and crabs."

Li Mutian waved his hand.

"No real work today, just go get something fresh for your mother to eat."

"Yay!"

Li Xiangping nodded excitedly, grabbed a rope basket and a long fork, and slipped away in one breath.

Li Mutian laughed twice and headed toward the fields.

————

The Meichi River was shallow and wide, with large stretches of mudflats and reeds along the banks. The village’s dozens and hundreds of geese and ducks didn't need feeding; they were let out in the early morning and would all head into the river.

By evening, someone would walk to the riverbank and call out. The geese and ducks were well-trained and, accustomed to the sound, would waddle their way back home.

When Li Xiangping arrived, the geese and ducks hadn't been let out yet, and the Meichi River was empty. Two small wooden rafts bobbed by the shore. He rolled up his pant legs and sleeves, knelt into the silt, and began groping blindly in front of him. He fixed his gaze on the water and caught sight of a flash of green.

"Good fish."

Li Xiangping pressed down hard and dove in, holding his breath. His right hand tightened, and he pulled the green-tailed fish up by its gills.

"Heh heh."

Li Xiangping laughed a few times and tossed the fish into the basket. The fish in the Meichi River were never this stupid; this green-tail was likely a wild fish that had drifted down from upstream. The boy had gotten quite a bargain.

Looking down at his feet, a look of confusion crossed Li Xiangping’s face. The riverbed seemed to have a spot that was overly smooth, faintly emitting a silver light.

Just as he prepared to hold his breath and dive again to investigate, a loud voice rang out from the bank

"Brother Xiangping!"

Li Xiangping instinctively hid the basket behind his back and looked toward the shore, seeing a boy of about ten or so emerging from the reeds.

"Little Ye, here to let out the ducks..."

"Yeah!"

His cousin, Li Yesheng, nodded obediently and smiled.

"I heard a strange thing this morning. A huge stag was bitten on the leg by a snake and died at the entrance of the village. Its antlers were as big as a tabletop—truly terrifying."

Li Xiangping listened to his gossip and let out a breath, pushing the basket forward.

"Look at this green-tail, caught it with my bare hands."

"Good fish!" Li Yesheng looked down into the basket and smiled enviously.

Li Yesheng’s father had been bedridden for years, and his older brother was a loafer, so they often went hungry. Usually, he had to beg for food at the home of his uncle, Li Mutian. His cousin, Li Xiangping, had always treated him like a younger brother.

After chatting for a few moments, Li Yesheng shook his head and said, "Alright, brother, I’m going back to watch the ducks. If I lose even two, my brother will surely beat me to death."

"Go, go."

Li Xiangping was anxious to see what was at the bottom of the river and hurried him along.

"Alright!"

The moment he left, Li Xiangping held his breath and dove to the riverbed. He felt around back and forth until he actually touched a round object.

*Plop.*

Li Xiangping wiped his face and looked at the object in his hand.

It was about the size of a palm, a small, round, blue-gray disc in the center, rimmed with a dark, iron-like border. There was nothing particularly strange about it.

The front was shattered into seven or eight pieces, held together by the rim, while the back was etched with a rather bizarre symbol. Li Xiangping stared at it for a long time but couldn't tell what it looked like.

"It looks a bit like Aunt’s mirror." Aunt’s family had the largest fields, and only she could afford a mirror; the village girls usually just used water to check their reflections. When Aunt got that mirror, Mother had taken Li Xiangping to see it; it was indeed more convenient than water.

But the mirror in his hand was too blurry, foggy and showing nothing at all. Li Xiangping shook his head in disappointment, tossed the object into his basket, and turned back to continue catching fish.

————

Lu Jiangxian had been in the water for half a month. From the third day on, the essence of the moonlight had stagnated and stopped increasing. He had tried hard for another week, but the result was zero progress; he could do nothing but make himself glow.

Early that morning, he was staring blankly at the big green fish beside him when a large hand pressed the fish directly into the silt. The surroundings shook, and a hand grabbed the fish by the gills and hauled it away.

Lu Jiangxian was still caught in the complex emotions of seeing a human for the first time when he saw a large hand reach down and scoop up his own body.

Seeing a rather handsome, large face, Lu Jiangxian felt a moment of nervousness. He watched as the person chattered a few sentences, then tossed him into a basket, where he found himself staring eye-to-eye with the green-tailed fish.

In an instant, Lu Jiangxian realized a serious problem: he could hear, but he might not be able to understand.

The pronunciation of this region sounded a bit like the dialects of the Min and Zhe regions from his past life. He truly couldn't understand a word of it. This meant that even if he could speak, the other person wouldn't understand him either, which would greatly hinder his ability to integrate into this world.

Watching small fish being tossed into the basket, Lu Jiangxian calmed his mind to perceive the surroundings.

Seeing the boy carefully raising his wooden fork, Lu Jiangxian gave a soft "eh." From this perspective, he could vaguely perceive the boy's psychological activities; his attention was focused on which fish at the bottom of the river he was targeting.

With the help of this perceptive perspective, every time the boy caught a fish, he would mutter to himself. It didn't take long for Lu Jiangxian to master the specific pronunciations for the numbers three through six and the different types of fish.

"Take it one step at a time."

Watching the boy stand up and leave, Lu Jiangxian sighed. The child looked like a farm boy; he would likely hand this bronze-like object over to his parents first.

He needed to have more contact with people, see if he could slowly learn the dialect of this land, and while ensuring his own safety, find a way to increase the power of the moonlight.

(End of chapter)