Chapter 3: Authentication

"Hey, Xiangping-ge."

Li Xiangping was walking back with a basket on his back when a girl approached from afar. She had a round face and very ordinary features, but her beaming smile added a great deal of charm to her eyes and brows.

"Yun-mei."

Li Xiangping looked at the girl with a smile and turned to hand over the basket of fish.

"Look at the good fish your brother caught. Take a few back to taste."

"I really shouldn't."

Tian Yun lowered her head with a smile. Girls matured early; at eleven, she was already taller than thirteen-year-old Li Xiangping.

In Lijing Village, men and women married at thirteen or fifteen. Among their peers, the two were the most suitable in age, and the girl had long since decided in her heart that the boy before her would be her husband.

"Nonsense, take them!" He firmly shoved two fish into Tian Yun's hands. Li Xiangping didn't think much of it; among the villagers, Uncle Tian was the most kind-hearted, and he liked him best, so naturally, he felt he should look after his daughter.

After bidding farewell to Tian Yun, Li Xiangping hurried home and set the basket down by the small pond. After a moment's thought, he took out the mirror, wiped it off, tucked it into his tunic, and picked up the three wooden boxes on the table before heading to the fields.

There, his two older brothers were working the land with his father.

The Li family had four brothers: Li Changhu, Li Tongya, Li Xiangping, and Li Chijing. In Lijing Village, no one failed to give a thumbs-up when mentioning the four Li brothers. Whenever Tian Yun's father spoke of them, he would say with envy, "Li Mutian is truly blessed!"

But the "blessed" Li Mutian didn't think so. As the only person in Lijing Village who had traveled far, Li Mutian felt immense pain watching his children toil in the fields.

"Good men should be studying or serving in the military; being in the fields is for cowards!" he would say, pointing at Uncle Tian while cursing.

But that was life. Those who had seen the light were the ones who suffered. Li Mutian had served in the army and killed men; returning to Lijing Village in his forties, he used his military pay to buy land and become a wealthy man, yet he was the most dissatisfied of all.

When Li Xiangping reached the edge of the field, his eldest brother, Li Changhu, was already waiting in the shade of a tree. Being the oldest at seventeen, he already had stubble on his chin.

"Take your time, Third Brother, no rush."

Li Changhu smiled and patted Li Xiangping’s head, looking at him gently.

"I heard from Uncle Tian that you had a great harvest today."

"Too much, Brother!" Li Xiangping laughed heartily. "We’ll finally have a good meal tonight!"

"You, really."

Li Changhu wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up a wooden box, and shouted toward the field

"Second Brother—"

"Coming!" Second brother Li Tongya walked over quickly, carrying a hoe. He sat down, greeted Li Changhu as "Eldest Brother," and then looked at Li Xiangping with a smile.

"You guys eat, I’m heading back." Li Xiangping had been busy all morning and was famished, so he hurried home.

————

When Lu Jiangxian was in Li Xiangping's basket, he had felt a vague, inexplicable pull. As he got closer to the Li household, this feeling grew stronger.

Passing the large locust tree at the village entrance and walking into the village, this attraction reached its peak. Lu Jiangxian felt a tightness in his chest and shortness of breath; the mirror body in the basket trembled slightly, emitting a red glow.

"That is a part of me, or something vital to me." A realization dawned on Lu Jiangxian.

"To the north! In the direction of that large lake!" As Li Xiangping slowly moved away from the village entrance, the pull gradually faded, and Lu Jiangxian silently noted the direction.

After sticking with Li Xiangping as he wandered around the village, and by observing his psychological activities, actions, and tone, Lu Jiangxian could basically understand what everyone he saw was saying.

He discovered that this seemed to be just an ordinary little village. There were no martial arts masters leaping over walls, nor were there any cultivators flying through the air.

People lived by the sun, working at dawn and resting at dusk. The tools they used and the scale of their fields were nothing out of the ordinary.

"This place really seems to be just a common little village. Even the best house is only a two-story structure of earth and wood..." Lu Jiangxian pondered. If there were cultivators, surely they wouldn't live in a small mud hut, right?

"Great power brings great productivity. The village before me is too backward."

He had a rough idea of the situation, and a framework for his future plans began to take shape.

The Li household was exceptionally busy that night. The mother and the two younger brothers were busy washing and cooking vegetables.

Li Xiangping returned with a full load, and his younger brother, Li Chijing, had even secretly caught a nest of fat field mice while picking mulberry leaves on the back hill, bringing them back in a grain bag. Their father, Li Mutian, was so pleased that he patted the two lads on the shoulders, praising them until their tails were held high.

At fourteen or fifteen, they were in the midst of growing, and the few dishes on the table were quickly devoured.

Li Mutian only tasted a single bite, and Mother Liu Linyun watched the four brothers with a beaming smile. Only the big yellow dog paced anxiously under the table, weaving between the six pairs of legs.

After dinner.

The moon slowly climbed over Mount Dali. Li Xiangping chewed on a stalk of grass, leaning against the corner of the wall, while his father, Li Mutian, frowned at the sky as if searching for something.

"Oh, Father." Li Xiangping tapped his father's pant leg and pulled the mirror from his tunic.

"I picked this up in the river this morning."

"Hoh." Li Mutian took the mirror, squinting as he turned it over and over.

"Neither iron nor copper. What kind of treasure is this?"

The cold moonlight drifted slowly in front of the house, as if coming to life, gathering bit by bit above the mirror's surface to form a faint lunar halo. Li Xiangping couldn't help but rub his eyes; it seemed as if the most beautiful moonlight he had seen in thirteen years was manifesting in that halo.

"Father!" Li Xiangping whispered.

"Shut up!" Li Mutian was horrified. He forced himself to look away from the halo, his hands trembling uncontrollably. He shoved the mirror back into Li Xiangping's tunic and whispered low in his ear

"Go inside, and tell your brothers to grab their blades and come out."

For the first time, Li Xiangping saw such fierce, murderous intent on his father's face. His eyes were narrowed slightly, like a hawk ready to strike.

"Yes..."

His voice trembled, his legs felt weak, and he shuffled into the house.

The night was still, and Li Xiangping pushed open the door.

"Brother... Father said to grab your weapons and come to the door quickly."

Li Xiangping almost cried out as he whispered tremblingly to his two brothers leaning against the bed.

"What?!"

Li Changhu stood up in shock, grabbing Li Xiangping by the shoulders and looking at him with concern. "Is Father alright? Did he say what happened?"

Second brother Li Tongya, however, rolled off the bed and pulled two blades from underneath. He took down the rattan armor and long staff hanging on the wall, looked gloomily out the window, and whispered

"It must be an enemy at the door."

He handed over the long blade and rattan armor, held the staff in his hand, and patted Li Changhu.

"Brother, don't ask any more questions. Third Brother, you take Mother and Fourth Brother and hide in the backyard."

"Right."

Li Xiangping hurried off to find his mother. Li Changhu quickly calmed down, put on the rattan armor, and walked toward the door with his blade.

Outside.

Li Mutian was standing at the doorway, quietly watching the melon patch in front of the house. When the two youths stood behind him, he waved his hand and took the long blade.

"You two, check the front and back of the house to ensure no one is around." The two quickly agreed and split up to investigate.

Li Mutian walked openly into the melon patch in front of the house, bent down, and with a tug, pulled a person out from the patch.

(End of chapter)