Chapter 4: Li Yesheng

"Uncle, have mercy!"

The man was terrified out of his wits. As soon as he hit the ground, he began to beg for mercy, curling into a ball while clutching Li Mutian.

"Ah! Mercy, Uncle, have mercy, Uncle, have mercy..."

Li Yesheng had never imagined that he only wanted to steal a melon to satisfy his craving, but in the blink of an eye, the uncle he feared most was standing right before him. He was so frightened he couldn't move, and when he saw Li Mutian still holding a long blade in one hand, he was scared half to death.

"Yesheng?" Li Mutian squinted to get a better look, his brows furrowing. His expression shifted unpredictably as he stroked his beard and stared fixedly at him.

Li Yesheng was the older brother of Li Yesheng. Their father had been bedridden for years, yet Li Yesheng spent his days idling about, constantly looking for handouts.

Two youths also rushed over at the sound. Li Tongya raised his long staff, pressing it directly onto Li Yesheng’s shoulder, which made him burst into tears and snot. Li Changhu lifted his head to take a look and couldn't help but be moved.

"Cousin?" Li Changhu let out a long breath and asked in confusion.

"Why are you here?" Li Tongya asked coldly, the pressure of the staff in his hand not wavering.

"Came to steal your melon!" Seeing Li Yesheng stammering, Li Mutian answered for him with a cold face, then sheathed his long blade and turned to leave.

"Cousin, my apologies."

Li Tongya also retracted his strength and lifted his staff. He dropped this one sentence before following his father back into the house. Only Li Changhu remained to help Li Yesheng up, wipe his face, offer a few words of gentle comfort, and politely see him out of the courtyard.

————

Inside the house.

Li Chijing and Li Xiangping sat blankly at the table. With the mirror hidden in his robes, Li Xiangping didn't dare to move a muscle. Fortunately, it wasn't long before his father and second brother walked into the hall.

"Where is Big Brother?"

He looked behind them and asked hurriedly.

"He went to see the guest out."

Li Mutian shook his head.

"I know that boy Yesheng often comes around looking for handouts, but I am terrified that tonight’s events might leak out and bring total destruction upon our family."

Li Tongya found a small stool and sat down. Hearing this, he tilted his head to look at Li Xiangping, about to speak.

"Creak."

The sound of the front door closing echoed. Big Brother Li Changhu, looking puzzled, sat on a stool and spoke to his father, Li Mutian.

"Father, why go to such lengths?"

He shook his head.

"Yesheng only stole a melon. You didn't have to do him a favor, yet you chose to offend his family instead."

"What is his family or our family? There is only one Li family; I am the main branch, they are the collateral."

Li Mutian leaned against the window, listening intently, and beckoned to the woman and the youngest child. "You two, go crouch behind the front and back doors. If anyone comes, call out."

The two agreed and exited. Li Mutian turned to bolt the doors and windows, then patted Li Xiangping.

"You, speak!"

Li Xiangping nodded vigorously and whispered

"Today I went to catch fish in the Meichi River and picked up an object from the water."

After saying this, he looked at his father, Li Mutian. Seeing him nod, he pulled the mirror from his robes.

Li Changhu looked at his younger brother, then at his father, and took the blue-gray mirror. He examined it closely but couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Li Mutian took the mirror from his eldest son's hand, found the small hole in the roof, moved a stone stool, and placed the mirror beneath the opening. He squinted at his two sons.

They watched as the moonlight rippled like water, gathering above the mirror's surface like swallows returning to the woods, revealing a pale white, gem-like lunar halo.

Li Changhu stood up from his chair with a start, staring fixedly at the halo on the mirror. Li Tongya’s expression also changed, and he stared at the mirror, lost in thought.

For a full cup of tea's time, the Li family members stared at the mirror in silence, each with a different expression.

This was the second time Li Xiangping had seen this sight, yet he was still shocked, muttering to himself

"I have never seen such beauty in all my life..."

"Haha, never mind you, even your old man has never seen such a fine thing."

Li Mutian chuckled, but there was no warmth in his smile; instead, his eyes were fierce.

"This is likely an object of the Immortals."

Li Tongya spoke quietly, picking up his long blade to wipe it repeatedly. He stared at the mirror, appearing calm, but his trembling hands betrayed his inner turmoil.

"If word leaks out, it will be the ruin of our family."

Li Changhu paced the hall, his expression anxious yet excited.

"If this is something lost by an Immortal, and they use magic to find it tomorrow, how are we to handle it?"

Li Tongya stared intently at his father, saying with no small amount of worry.

Li Xiangping nodded, lowering his brows and saying in a muffled voice

"Whatever the Immortal might reward us with, it would be more than enough for our family to live on."

"Bullshit."

Li Mutian waved his hand.

"I have heard that many Immortals are bloodthirsty. We must not! This mirror has been in the water for who knows how long; if they wanted to retrieve it, they would have done so long ago. How would it ever fall to mortals like us? I suspect that Immortal has already met with misfortune."

This blasphemous talk made Li Changhu tremble with fear; he frowned, lost in thought.

Li Tongya, however, had a sudden realization and spoke in a low voice

"Could it have been seen by that brat, Li Yesheng?"

"I showed this to Father in front of the house; at that time, Brother Yesheng should have been in the fields." Li Xiangping lowered his eyes.

"I'll go kill him!"

Li Tongya’s expression was fierce. Without hesitation, he threw on his rattan cloak, grabbed his blade, and headed for the door. It was the first time Li Xiangping had seen such a look on his brother's face, and he couldn't help but stare.

"Come back!" Li Mutian frowned and called out to Li Tongya, then glanced at Li Xiangping, whose expression was panicked.

"Father!" Li Tongya was finally anxious, his tone firm.

"Li Yesheng is a man of no loyalty, reckless and unbridled, yet he bites the hand that feeds him. Rather than letting him leak the news and bring the disaster of extermination upon our Li family, it is better to let him die first."

"It seems Second Brother has learned quite a bit from the village teacher," Li Xiangping thought silently, lowering his head in shame. When their father sent the three of them to study, both older brothers were favored by the teacher. Only he, young and ignorant, had been mischievous. Now, he couldn't even understand the idioms his brother used.

"And if your younger brother were to bite the hand that feeds him and couldn't keep his mouth shut, would you kill him too?"

Li Mutian laughed and asked his second son.

"Our family has no such cowards."

Li Tongya said flatly.

Li Mutian shook his head, lifted the wooden table to straighten it, leaped up, tapped lightly on the table, and pulled a wooden box from the rafters.

Placing the box on the table, he spoke solemnly to the three brothers before him

"There are some things you should know. I left home at thirteen and followed the Guli Road into Anli County. General Yang received orders from the imperial court to attack the Shanyue, and he was conscripting soldiers along the Guli Road. At that time, your father had nowhere to go, so I became a soldier."

"General Yang was strict in governing his troops, but he ate and lived with us, as close as family. He taught us the battle tactics of the Yue soldiers and told us to practice our martial arts well. These tactics are widely circulated; they are easy to learn but difficult to master. Ordinary people who master them only become agile and strong, with nothing miraculous about them." Li Mutian sighed. Seeing that they were listening very carefully, he continued

"After I returned home, I learned to read and write and transcribed the battle tactics into these wooden slips. I have already had you practice them carefully, but as of now, nothing much has come of it. That is the first thing."

Li Mutian opened the wooden box. Inside lay a set of wooden slips, a talisman, and a few pieces of broken silver and glass-like trinkets.

(End of chapter)