Inner History

The night was heavy and somber. A misty evening rain drifted down onto the mountain path. Inside Li Jingtian's side courtyard, a lamp still burned. Leaning over the desk, she held her brush and wrote, the scrolls of cloth piled beside her recording the details she had gathered from the village elders earlier that day. She paused slightly, calculating the passage of time. "According to the elders of the Chen family, Great-Grandfather was thirty when Grandfather left home. When Grandfather returned twenty-eight years later, Great-Grandfather had already passed away... If calculated this way, Grandfather went from a mere mortal to Foundation Establishment in just twenty-eight years... What extraordinary natural talent. Even Youngest Uncle, cultivating within the sect, took thirty years, yet Grandfather was born a rogue cultivator and managed to progress at such a speed." Li Jingtian noted the timeline on the paper, her brow furrowing as she sensed something was amiss. She pondered inwardly: *If so, why did Father once say he only began cultivating at fourteen? Calculated that way, didn't he reach Xuan Scenery in just a few short months?... I must have remembered incorrectly.* Faced with the cloth before her, she was at her wits' end. Li Jingtian always felt that the history of decades past was veiled in mystery before her eyes. Clearly not much time had elapsed, yet most of the details had been scrubbed clean. Moreover, Grandfather Li Mutian had not descended the mountain for decades before his passing, leaving her with nowhere to begin. "How very strange..." Lowering her head slightly, she suddenly heard a soft knock at the door. She hurriedly inverted a wooden box over the cloth to cover it, then asked softly, "Who is it?!" "It is me." Li Tongya shook his sleeves and stepped into the courtyard. Not a single drop of the misty night rain touched him. Completely dry, he stood before the room with hands clasped behind his back, a hint of sorrow between his brows. "Ah, Second Uncle! Please, come in quickly!" Startled, Li Jingtian hurried to welcome him, but Li Tongya waved a hand, a gentle force nudging her back. Entering the room, he sat by the desk, picked up the wooden slips inscribed nearby to read, and nodded. "You have done well." Li Jingtian lowered her eyes respectfully to listen, only to hear Li Tongya speak in a low voice: "I have come to you this time for an important matter. Clan histories often involve confidential and vital affairs. I wish to divide it into two volumes: one called the *Inner History*, to be kept within the ancestral hall and hidden from ordinary juniors, and the other called the *Clan History*, which will follow conventional records. I will speak, and you will record." Li Jingtian nodded obediently and lifted her brush. Li Tongya began his quiet recitation—one dictating, the other inscribing. As time flowed past, Li Jingtian's expression shifted continuously through a whirlwind of emotions, her heart in turmoil. Though she did not fully understand terms like talisman bestowal and induction, the faint glimpses of conspiracies woven by several Purple Palace cultivators made her hands and feet tremble. Finally, she heard Li Tongya say: "...Jing cultivated ceaselessly and ultimately achieved a Dao foundation of extraordinary wonder, condensing a sword intent named 'Yueque.' He defeated Chi Jiuyun in combat, shaking the various sects with his renown. Seeing this, the Purple Palace cultivators of Qingchi declared, 'He will do.' They subsequently delivered him to the great flood dragon of Nanjiang to be refined into a pill, which they shared and consumed together with the demonic dragon." Based on his own deductions, Li Tongya had largely reconstructed what had transpired, and it matched the truth almost perfectly. Yet hearing it made Li Jingtian's brush go limp. She looked up blankly, her face filled with shock and horror, and murmured, "Refined into a pill?! Youngest Uncle... this... this!" Li Tongya fell silent and watched her. Only after she wiped away her tears and collected her emotions did he say in a low voice after a long pause, "Such is the truth. See to it how you compile the Clan History based on the Inner History. You must obscure any unreasonable aspects and avoid exposing details from the Inner History, such as the talisman bestowal and induction, and adjust the cultivation speeds so they appear reasonable. Write meticulously and inspect it thoroughly so that no flaws remain. As for Jing'er's matter, write that he ventured deep into Nanjiang so as not to arouse suspicion." "Understood!" Li Jingtian answered with a strained voice, her heart plunged into bleak sorrow. Only then did Li Tongya stand up and instruct, "Draft a copy first and bring it to me. Do not wander about outside these days, and do not speak of Jing'er's matter to others." With that, he stepped out of the courtyard and rode the wind away. Li Jingtian bowed respectfully and waited a while until only the whistling wind remained in the courtyard. Only then did she look up at the dark clouds in the sky, wipe the corners of her eyes, and return indoors. *** Meanwhile, Lu Sisi returned to Mount Huaqian, only to find the foot of the mountain bustling with fiery celebration. Banquet tables stretched all the way to the village entrance, joyful music ringing continuously in his ears, while the descendants of himself and his brothers formed long lines, eating and drinking indulgently at the feast. With so little time left to live, he was running everywhere trying to secure a way out for the Lu family, yet his children and grandchildren below were still drinking and singing merrily. The sight left Lu Sisi instantly short of breath and tight in the chest. Landing at the foot of the mountain to take a closer look, he saw his clan's Qi Refinement cultivator, Lu Yuanlu, with a pretty maiden in each arm. Draped in glittering golden robes, Lu Yuanlu's face was brimming with smug pride. He even had his foot planted on a blood-stained man while raising his cup and singing at the top of his lungs. As Lu Sisi landed among the crowd, the music abruptly faltered. The people looked up at him, then all bowed their heads in disappointment. Lu Yuanlu glanced at him, kicked aside the servant beneath his foot, and called out loudly, "Old Ancestor arrives just in time! Why not join us for a few cups?" Seeing his disrespectful demeanor, Lu Sisi did not lose his temper. Remaining silent, his heart filled with bleak sorrow as he lamented inwardly: *This boy was born impulsive and arrogant. I have only a few years left to live, and the family will depend on him in the future. If I brush aside his dignity now, he will inevitably hold a grudge. After this old man dies, he might settle scores against my branch, which would be utterly disgraceful. For now, I must indulge him.* Thus, forcing a smile onto his weathered face, he said in a low voice, "Drinking is good! Drinking is very good!" Seeing him like this, Lu Yuanlu laughed heartily, and the banquet music once again played joyfully. Lu Sisi sank into a seat. Looking upon the laughing and chattering crowd before him, his heart ached with an empty, gnawing pain. He gritted his teeth in bitter resentment: *Sing! Drink! How many good days do you have left? I have only myself to blame for obsessively secluding myself in cultivation in my youth, failing to discipline you lot. Always believing Foundation Establishment was within sight, I thought I could not waste time, only to end up raising every one of you into such thick-headed fools!* Waving away someone crowding forward with a wine cup, Lu Sisi lifted his head and stared at the sky for a moment, muttering, "Who is that?" As the music drifted for a moment longer, three streaks of flowing light soared across the sky and halted above Mount Huaqian. The crowd looked up blankly, only to hear a loud, chilling voice booming down: "Lu Sisi, roll out here and answer!" Startled awake, Lu Sisi rode the wind upward and looked toward the three figures in the sky. In the center was a young man in brocade robes, keeping his eyes shut without speaking. Behind him on either side stood two figures—one tall, one stout—both glaring as they sized Lu Sisi up. "So it is Young Master Yu's esteemed presence! This old man failed to welcome you from afar! Forgive my lack of welcome!" "So you are that Lu Sisi!" Fright gripped Lu Sisi's heart. He immediately plastered a flattering smile on his face, bowing as he invited the three to alight on the mountain. But the young master in the center merely cast a languid, disdainful glance at him and spoke deliberately: "Our Yu family recently attached ourselves to Qingchi, and in the past, we had not met our fellow neighbors. Now, a disciple of our Yu family has entered the gates of Qingchi Sect's Yuanwu Peak and established a foundation within the sect. My father thought to meet with all of you. Would you, venerable elder, do us the honor?" "I... I... Ah, this Sisi has long admired the prestige of a Foundation Establishment clan! If the Yu family has any instructions, Sisi... I..." Petrified, Lu Sisi hurried to curry favor, only to be cut off by a wave of Young Master Yu's hand. Rolling his eyes, Young Master Yu shook his head impatiently and murmured softly: "From now on, around Lake Wangyue, what our Yu family says goes! I have already visited the ring of families around Lake Wangyue, and all have acknowledged our Yu family as their head. Does the Lu family have any thoughts?" "We would not dare! We would not dare! The Lu family also acknowledges the Yu family as our head and dares not harbor double thoughts!" Lu Sisi shamelessly smiled, heaping flattery to the heavens. The expression on Young Master Yu's face finally relaxed slightly, showing a hint of smug satisfaction. The two behind him stopped glaring at Lu Sisi, instead sneering in cold silence. "Good!" Young Master Yu laughed aloud, then abruptly changed his tone, turning cold: "Since the Lu family is so sensible, the tribute naturally cannot be omitted. I know your Lu family still holds some goodwill on Moon Lake Peak, so I will not touch you. Whatever tribute your Lu family pays to the Qingchi Sect every five years, you shall submit a matching share to our Yu family according to the exact same quota." Pausing, Young Master Yu looked down, squinting as he watched the pale-faced Lu Sisi, and smiled. "No problem with that, is there?"