"Alas, Brother Xiangping."
Li Xiangping carried a basket on his back as he walked home, when a girl with a round face and ordinary features approached from afar. Her full smile added considerable charm to her eyes and brows.
"Sister Yun,"
Li Xiangping smiled as he looked at the girl, then turned and handed over the basket of fish.
"Look at the fine fish I've caught, Sister. Take a few home to try."
"Oh, I couldn't possibly."
Tian Yun smiled, looking down. The girl had developed early; at eleven, she was already taller than thirteen-year-old Li Xiangping.
In Lijing Village, boys and girls often married at the age of fifteen, and among their peers, only these two were of suitable age. The girl had long set her heart on the boy before her as her future husband.
"Not at all, take them!" He shoved two fish into Tian Yun's hands. Li Xiangping hadn't given it much thought; Uncle Tian from the village was the most honest man he knew and his favorite. It was natural for him to look after the man's daughter.
After saying goodbye to Tian Yun, Li Xiangping hurried into his home, tossing the basket into the small pond. He thought for a moment, took out the Mirror, wiped it clean, and tucked it into his chest before picking up three wooden boxes and heading for the fields.
There, his two older brothers were working on the farm with his father.
The Li family had four brothers: Li Changhu, Li Tongya, Li Xiangping, and Li Chijin. In Lijing Village, everyone gave a thumbs up when speaking of these four brothers. Tian Yun's father would often speak enviously of them, saying, "Li Mutian is indeed blessed!"
But Li Mutian, who was considered so fortunate, didn't see it that way. As the only person in Lijing Village who had traveled far, he watched his children toil in the fields with great distress.
"A good man should study and command troops; working in the fields is for the weak!" he said, pointing at Uncle Tian and cursing.
Yet this is life. Those who have seen the light suffer the most. Li Mutian, who had served in the military and killed people, came back to Lijing Village in his forties to buy land with his military pension and become a landlord, yet he was the least satisfied.
Li Xiangping reached the edge of the field, and his eldest brother, Li Changhu, was already waiting under the shade of the tree, a beard starting to show on his seventeen-year-old face.
"Take it easy, little brother; there's no hurry,"
Li Changhu said with a smile as he patted Li Xiangping's head lovingly.
"I hear from Uncle Tian that you had quite a catch today!"
"So much, brother!" Li Xiangping laughed heartily. "Tonight we'll have a good meal!"
"You and your appetite,"
Li Changhu wiped his sweat, then picked up a wooden box and shouted towards the field.
"Second brother—"
"Here I come!" Li Tongya, carrying a hoe, hurried over. He first sat down, greeted Li Changhu as 'big brother', and then smiled at Li Xiangping.
"You all eat. I must get back," Li Xiangping, who had been busy all morning, was famished and quickly headed home.
————
Lu Jiangxian had felt a vague but undeniable force drawing him in from the moment he was in Li Xiangping's basket. As he got closer to the Li Family, this feeling grew stronger.
Passing the big locust tree at the entrance to the village, stepping into the settlement, the force reached its peak. Lu Jiangxian felt a tightness in his chest; the Mirror in the basket trembled faintly, emitting a red glow.
"That is a part of me, or something crucial to me," Lu Jiangxian realized.
"The north! Towards that big lake!" As Li Xiangping gradually moved away from the village entrance, the force slowly faded, and Lu Jiangxian mentally noted the direction.
Sticking close to Li Xiangping, he wandered around the village for a while, figuring out what each person was saying based on his perception of their thoughts and observations of their actions and tones.
He found that this place seemed to be an utterly ordinary village. There were no martial arts experts flitting over roofs or visible cultivators flying about.
The people here worked diligently from sunrise to sunset, and the tools they used and the scale of their fields held no surprises.
"This place really does seem to be just an ordinary little village, with the best house being only a two-story building made of mud and wood..." Lu Jiangxian pondered, if there were cultivators, they surely wouldn't live in a tiny mud hut, would they?
"Great power brings great productivity, this small village is far too backward."
He already had a rough idea in his mind, and his future plans slowly began to take shape.
Tonight, the Li Family was exceptionally busy, with the mother and two younger brothers occupied with washing and cooking vegetables.
Li Xiangping had returned fully laden, and his younger brother, Li Chijin, had quietly caught a nest of fat field mice while picking mulberries and raising silkworms in the back mountains, hiding them in a grain sack, which delighted their father, Li Mutian, who heartily slapped the shoulders of the two young boys, making them puff up with pride.
Fourteen to fifteen was the age for growth, and the few dishes on the table practically went straight into the stomachs of the few of them.
Li Mutian merely tasted a chopstick-full, while the mother, Liu Linyun, watched her four sons with a beaming smile, and only the big yellow dog under the table was spinning anxiously, weaving through the legs of the six people.
After finishing dinner.
The moon slowly climbed over Da Li Mountain, Li Xiangping, with a long stalk of reed in his mouth, leaned against the corner of the wall, while his father, Li Mutian, frowned as he looked up at the sky as if searching for something.
"Oh right, Dad." Li Xiangping patted his father's trouser leg and took out the Mirror from his bosom.
"I found this thing in the river early this morning."
"Ha." Li Mutian took the Mirror, squinting his eyes as he turned it over to examine it
"Not iron nor copper, what kind of treasure is it?"
The cool moonlight slowly drifted down in front of the house, seemingly coming to life as it gathered bit by bit above the surface of the mirror, forming a faint halo. Li Xiangping couldn't help but rub his eyes; it was as if the most beautiful moonlight he'd seen in thirteen years had manifested on that halo.
"Dad!" Li Xiangping called out softly.
"Shut up!" Li Mutian was startled and quickly forced his eyes away from the halo, his hands trembling, he shoved the Mirror back into Li Xiangping's chest, whispering in his ear:
"Go hide, tell your brothers to take up arms and come out."
For the first time, Li Xiangping saw such a fierce killing intent on his father's face; his eyes narrowed slightly like a hawk ready to launch.
"Yes..."
His voice trembled, his legs went weak, and he slowly shifted into the doorway.
The night was still young, and Li Xiangping pushed open the door.
"Brother... Dad said to quickly take up arms and head to the doorway." Li Xiangping was on the verge of tears as he whispered shakily to his two brothers leaning against the headboard.
"What?!"
Li Changhu stood up in shock, holding Li Xiangping's shoulders caringly as he looked at him, "Is Father alright? Did he say what's happening?"
His second brother, Li Tongya, however, rolled off the bed and took out two knives from underneath, also grabbing the Vine Armor and a long staff hanging on the wall, he looked out of the window gloomily and said quietly:
"It must be enemies coming to our doorstep." He handed over the long knife and Vine Armor, holding the long staff in his hands, and patted Li Changhu.
"Brother, no need to ask anymore. Third brother, you take mother and the youngest brother to hide in the backyard."
"Okay."
Li Xiangping hurried to find his mother, and Li Changhu quickly calmed down, donned the Vine Armor, and carrying his knife, he headed for the doorway.
Outside the house.
Li Mutian was standing at the doorway, silently watching the melon field in front of the house. When both young men had taken their positions behind him, he waved his hand and took the long knife.
"You two split up, one to the front and the other to the back of the house, to make sure there's no one around." The two men quickly complied and went to investigate.
Li Mutian himself casually walked into the melon field in front of the house, bent down, and to his surprise, pulled a person out from within the melon field.