Chapter 6: Jade

Li Tongya and Li Xiangping entered the reed marsh. Pushing aside the layers of reeds to take a closer look, they saw the grey-green mirror glowing with a warm, white light. Li Xiangping gauged the direction and whispered

"This is the direction of Wangyue Lake. If we follow the Guli Road, we’ll be there in half an hour."

Li Tongya shook his head and said, "We cannot take the Guli Road. We’ll cut through the reed marsh."

Li Xiangping gave a low acknowledgment, and he and his older brother crouched down to make their way through.

Lu Jiangxian felt that gravitational pull growing stronger. Upon entering the reed marsh, his vision brightened, and a hazy scene appeared before him: it seemed to be a clear, limpid lake, with a dozen white egrets resting on one leg along the shore.

As Li Xiangping continued forward, the grey-green mirror in his hand grew hotter and hotter, so hot that he became restless. He looked up at his second brother, but Li Tongya only kept a cold face, his eyes filled with worry.

"Is an immortal destiny really something a mortal can touch..." Li Xiangping stroked the mirror, oblivious to the burning sensation.

"Good mirror, obedient mirror, we’re almost there," he murmured while cradling the grey-green treasure mirror.

Before long, the two emerged from the dense reeds, and the shimmering Wangyue Lake and a flock of startled egrets came into view.

Lu Jiangxian looked straight toward a rocky sandbar in the lake. Among the moss-covered stones, a piece of jade glowing with white light was wedged tightly into a crevice.

The scorching grey-green mirror gushed out a pale white moonlight. A hazy image of the sandbar and the white-glowing jade in the stone crevice appeared before Li Tongya and Li Xiangping.

Li Xiangping and Li Tongya exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise and joy in each other's eyes. Li Xiangping nodded vigorously, stripped off his clothes, and prepared to step into the lake.

"Wait!" Li Tongya grabbed him and shook his head.

"I’ll go get it. You stay on the shore with the mirror. If the moon moves to that position and I haven't returned yet..."

He pointed to a position in the sky.

"Hide the mirror in the reed marsh and run toward Guli Road. Don't go home," Li Tongya looked at his younger brother solemnly. "Wait until the sun is high before coming back to check the situation."

"Yes..." Li Xiangping’s voice choked with tears, and he wiped his eyes as he watched his second brother.

Li Tongya chuckled, stripped off his clothes to reveal his sturdy arms, and turned to swim into the lake, leaving Li Xiangping hiding in the reeds, staring blankly at his brother.

He had come to Wangyue Lake with his father and brothers many years ago and had swum back and forth countless times, so he navigated the water to the center of the lake with ease.

He carefully probed the various stone crevices, and within the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he had searched the entire sandbar.

"It’s not here." Li Tongya frowned. He checked again, very carefully, and pulled out five or six small river crabs.

Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation between his fingers as he touched something smooth. With a firm pinch, he pulled out a piece of jade about two fingers wide.

The jade was long and narrow, with characters carved on its surface. Li Tongya squinted at it in the moonlight

"Tai... Yue... Qi... Yang Lun..." He could only recognize a few characters roughly. Li Tongya had learned to read from a tutor in his youth and could recognize most characters, but the patterns on this jade were complex, and the writing style was ancient and peculiar, making it truly difficult to identify.

He looked calmly toward the shore, clutched the jade in his hand, and swam back.

"Third brother!"

He reached the shore and gave a low call into the reeds, and Li Xiangping poked his head out. Just as Li Tongya was about to show him the jade, he opened his hand, and the jade turned into a streak of white light and "whooshed" into the mirror.

The two were startled by this turn of events. They watched as white light surged on the surface of the mirror, and the moonlight itself turned into halos of light, one after another, pouring into the mirror.

Lu Jiangxian, however, felt as if he had been struck by lightning. A beam of white light crashed directly into him, and a vast ocean of knowledge flooded into his mind. He let out a pained cry and promptly fainted.

Li Tongya and Li Xiangping watched as the mirror in their hands slowly calmed down after swallowing the jade, the white light gradually dimming.

The golden-red morning glow climbed into the sky, landing on Li Tongya’s bare upper body and highlighting his golden-toned muscles. He looked down at his brother and said

"Let’s go home first."

————

Li Mutian sat by the red-lacquered wooden table, listening as his two sons explained the sequence of events. He nodded and said to Li Tongya

"Well done."

He and Li Changhu had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep. Now that he saw his two children had returned safely, the heart that had been hanging in his chest finally settled.

"Our house isn't small, and the backyard leans against the back mountain. I’m thinking of tearing down the two melon fields in the front to build two more houses, connecting them to form a large courtyard. Once the front gate is closed, we won't have to worry about anyone peeking in."

Li Mutian spoke slowly. He had had this idea for years; his children were growing up day by day, and it was almost time for them to divide the family property.

Thanks to his savings, the Li family could be considered a prominent household in the village. After returning from military service, Li Mutian had bought more than ten mu of paddy fields, which, added to the five-plus mu of fertile land inherited from his father, totaled nearly twenty mu.

Lijing Village was blessed with good water and soil, and the reed marshes and mudflats were treasures that sustained life.

If one excluded the labor costs, twenty mu of land could support more than ten people in a good year. The Li family was already at the level where they could close their doors and live like landlords.

It was precisely because the Li family had grain and land that his four children were able to read and write. Li Mutian had always despised idle rich families, which was why he required his children to study and farm every day, so that they would be able to live well after the family was divided.

"Now, the family cannot be divided. And we must find wives who are our own kind."

Li Mutian recalled the appearance of the wealthy families he had seen in the city: a large clan living together, studying to become officials, practicing martial arts to become soldiers—how glorious! In contrast, poor farming families were completely separated; you don't pull me, and I don't drag you.

"That’s how we’ll do it!"

Li Mutian’s eyes brightened as he called out to his two children.

"Go to the fields and call your eldest brother back to level the foundation. Leave the fields to the tenants to handle. Your fourth brother doesn't need to go pick mulberry leaves this afternoon; from now on, he will study at the tutor's place all day."

"Understood." Li Xiangping, despite having been through a restless night, was still full of energy. Hearing this, he slipped out the door in a flash.

Li Tongya looked at his father, pondered for a moment, and then spoke

"Is Father planning to follow the clan laws from the books—establishing an ancestral hall, opening a clan estate, studying to become officials, and practicing martial arts to become soldiers?"

"The Li family has been saving for two hundred years; it is time."

Li Mutian waved his hand with a smile.

"As for studying and martial arts, the Guli Road is extremely dangerous. Entering the Dali Mountains is a life-or-death gamble. Studying and martial arts won't be sold to the Emperor of Yue; it’s merely to preserve the family business and ensure our own survival..."

Li Tongya nodded and whispered

"Perhaps there are things even more wonderful than studying and martial arts."

"Stop talking nonsense."

Li Mutian laughed heartily, patted Li Tongya on the shoulder, and walked out with his head held high and his hands behind his back.