Chapter 4: Li Yesheng

“Spare me, Uncle!”

The man was terrified to the core. As soon as he landed, he began begging for mercy, clutching Li Mutian and curling into a ball.

“Ah! Mercy, Uncle, spare me, Uncle, spare me!” Li Yesheng never imagined that all he wanted was to steal a melon to satisfy his craving, and in the blink of an eye, his most feared uncle was standing before him. He was so frightened he couldn't move, and then he saw Li Mutian still holding a long saber, which filled him with even more dread.

“Yesheng?” Li Mutian focused his gaze, frowning, his expression uncertain as he stroked his chin beard and stared at the boy.

Li Yesheng was Li Xiangping’s elder brother. Their father had been bedridden for years, yet Li Yesheng spent his days loafing around and freeloading.

Two youths also rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Li Tongya raised his long staff and pressed it directly onto Li Yesheng’s arm, scaring him into tears. Li Changhu lifted his head to get a look and was visibly moved.

“Cousin?” Li Changhu let out a long breath, asking in surprise.

“Why are you here?” Li Tongya asked coldly, the pressure from his staff not letting up.

“He came to steal your family’s melon!” Seeing Li Yesheng stammering, Li Mutian coldly answered for him. He sheathed his long saber and turned to leave.

“Cousin, pardon us.”

Li Tongya also eased the pressure and lifted his staff, then followed his father back into the house after leaving a remark. Only Li Changhu remained, helping Li Yesheng up, wiping his face, comforting him with kind words, and courteously seeing him out of the courtyard.

***

Inside the house.

Li Chijin and Li Xiangping sat blankly by the table, the mysterious mirror hidden in their embrace. Li Xiangping dared not move. Fortunately, soon after, their father and second elder brother entered the hall.

“Where’s Elder Brother?” he asked quickly, looking behind them.

“He’s seeing our guest out,” Li Mutian shook his head. “I know that Yesheng frequently comes to freeload, but I’m afraid that if word of tonight’s events gets out, our entire family could be annihilated.”

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

The main door creaked shut. Elder brother Li Changhu, looking puzzled, sat down on a stool and spoke to his father, Li Mutian.

“Why was that necessary, Father?” He shook his head. “Yesheng merely stole a melon. You could have done him a favor, yet you chose to offend his family.”

“What’s this about ‘his family’ and ‘my family’? There’s only one Li family. I am the direct descendant, and they are merely a branch.” Li Mutian leaned by the window, listening intently, and gestured to the woman and the youngest child. “You two, squat by the front and back doors and call out if anyone approaches.”

The two agreed and withdrew. Li Mutian turned to tightly close the doors and windows, then patted Li Xiangping, saying, “Speak!”

Li Xiangping nodded vigorously and spoke in a tiny voice, “Today, I went to Meichi River to catch fish and found something in the river.”

After speaking, he looked at his father, Li Mutian. Seeing him nod, he pulled a mirror from his embrace.

Li Changhu looked at his younger brother, then at his father, took the greenish-gray mirror, and examined it closely but couldn't make anything of it.

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

They watched as the moonlight rippled like water, then converged above the mirror’s surface like swallows returning to their nests, forming a pale, gem-like lunar halo.

Li Changhu sprang from his chair, staring intently at the lunar halo on the mirror. Li Tongya also turned pale and was visibly moved, gazing thoughtfully at the mirror.

The Li family remained silent for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, staring at the mirror without a word, their expressions varied.

It was Li Xiangping’s second time seeing this sight, yet he was still shocked and pale, muttering to himself, “I’ve never seen such beauty since I was a child…”

“Haha, not just you, even your old man here has never seen anything so remarkable,” Li Mutian chuckled lowly, though there was no humor in his eyes, only a fierce glint. “This might be an immortal’s artifact.”

Li Tongya said quietly, picking up his long saber and continuously wiping it. He stared at the mirror, appearing calm, but his constantly trembling hand betrayed his inner turmoil. “If word gets out, it could lead to the annihilation of our family.”

Li Changhu paced back and forth in the hall, looking anxious yet excited. “If this is something lost by an immortal, they might use magic to find it tomorrow. How would we protect ourselves?” Li Tongya stared steadily at his father, asking with concern.

Li Xiangping nodded, lowering his gaze and saying in a muffled voice, “Whatever immortals bestow upon us, our family will benefit endlessly from it.”

“Nonsense!” Li Mutian waved his hand. “I’ve heard that many immortals are bloodthirsty, so absolutely not! This mirror has been in the water for who knows how long. If someone wanted to retrieve it, they would have done so already. Why would it be our turn, ordinary mortals? I suspect that immortal has most likely met with misfortune.”

These blasphemous words made Li Changhu tremble with fear. He frowned, lost in thought.

Li Tongya, however, suddenly understood and spoke in a low voice, “Was it seen by that boy, Li Yesheng?”

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

“I’ll kill him!” Li Tongya’s expression turned fierce. He unhesitatingly donned his wicker armor, grabbed his saber, and started to leave. It was the first time Li Xiangping had seen such an expression on his elder brother’s face, and he couldn’t help but stare for a moment.

“Come back!” Li Mutian frowned and called back Li Tongya, then glanced at Li Xiangping, making him look flustered.

“Father!” Li Tongya finally grew agitated. He spoke with a forceful tone, “Li Yesheng is a heartless and disloyal person, boastful and treacherous. Rather than letting him inadvertently reveal information that could bring disaster upon our Li family, it would be better for him to die first.”

“It seems Second Brother learned a lot from the village scholar,” Li Xiangping thought silently, lowering his head in shame. His father had sent the three of them to study, and both his elder brothers were favored by the scholar. Only he, young and mischievous, now couldn’t even understand the idioms his brother used.

“So, if your youngest brother were treacherous and loose-lipped, would you kill him too?” Li Mutian chuckled, counter-questioning his second son.

“Our family doesn’t have such cowards,” Li Tongya said flatly.

Li Mutian shook his head, straightened the wooden table, then leaped lightly onto it, tapping it once, and pulled a wooden box from the roof beam.

Placing the wooden box on the table, he spoke earnestly to the three brothers before him: “There are some things I want you to know. I left home when I was thirteen, following the Ancient Li Road into Anli County. General Yang had received imperial orders to attack the Shanyue people and was conscripting soldiers along the Ancient Li Road. At that time, your father had nowhere to go, so I became a soldier.”

“General Yang governed his troops strictly but also ate and lived among us, treating us like family. He taught us the Yue soldier’s combat techniques, instructing us to practice diligently. This combat technique was widely circulated, easy to learn but difficult to master. Ordinary people who mastered it would only become agile, showing no extraordinary powers.” Li Mutian sighed, and seeing that they were listening intently, continued: “After I returned home, I studied and wrote, transcribing the combat techniques into these bamboo slips. I’ve had you all practice them diligently, but even now, they don’t seem to amount to much. This is the first thing.”

Li Mutian opened the wooden box. Inside lay a bamboo slip, a talisman, and several miscellaneous items such as broken silver and glazed shards.