Refugees

Lu Jiangxian had grown accustomed over these past several months. Having completely absorbed the power of the jade, he had long been able to cast the minor illusion incantations recorded in the Taiyin Breathing and Wheel Nourishing Scripture to communicate with the Li family. Yet, considering the timing was not ripe enough, he never showed any sign of sentience, lying quietly in the ancestral hall like an inanimate object. After all, the people of the Li family were far from stupid. While this mirror might possess an immensely lofty status, he, Lu Jiangxian, was an absolute novice when it came to cultivation. Speaking up now would not only require him to concoct an origin story, but also force him to answer all the doubts and questions swirling in the Li family's minds—creating flaws and vulnerabilities out of thin air. Fortunately, his divine sense now spanned well beyond the entire Li household. Sleeping his days away and treating waking life like watching a television drama made for quite a comfortable existence. Only the occasional presence streaking across the sky above Guli Road would jolt Lu Jiangxian awake with a start. Sensing those auras—some vast and majestic, others light and ethereal—he would silently shrink his divine sense into a tight ball. Though the Li family had imagined him to be some sort of immortal artifact or divine mirror, he knew his own combat prowess well enough: having the second tier of Embryonic Breathing, the Chengming Wheel, as his foundation, the fourth tier, the Qingyuan Wheel, was his absolute ceiling. Compared to those magnificent auras that made him feel as if thorns were prickling his back even while curled inside the mirror, he felt he had better exercise a bit more caution. Laying low and surviving for another century or so seemed the wiser path. "Still, why are refugees arriving along Guli Road...?" he muttered to himself in confusion. *** Torchlight flickered in the night as Li Changhu stood at the village entrance alongside a crowd of villagers brandishing pitchforks, hoes, and various tools, confronting a ragged group of refugees. Only recently had the wedding of Xiangping and Tian Yun been settled. Li Changhu had just squeezed out some time to cultivate when one of the Li family's tenants rushed in to report that a crowd of refugees had arrived at the village entrance. "Refugees?" The last time Li Changhu had seen refugees was more than three years ago—a clan named Chen who had crossed over Meichi Mountain. Over the past few years, the weather had been favorable and the Meichi River nurtured the land generously; rarely did any household along its upper or lower reaches find it impossible to survive. "They claim to have come from Guli Road," the tenant answered respectfully, looking as though he had found his pillar of support upon seeing Li Changhu. "How could that be...?" Li Changhu pondered for a few breaths, then waved his hand and strode toward the door. "Father has already gone to sleep; no need to disturb him. Call Uncle Tian and Uncle Ren. Let's go take a look." When Li Changhu reached the village entrance, Liu Linfeng, head of the Liu family—the other prominent clan of Lijing Village—was already waiting with a dry-tobacco pipe between his teeth. Seeing Li Changhu, he smiled and said, "Changhu, you're here." "Eldest Uncle." Li Changhu nodded in response. Liu Linfeng was the elder brother of his mother, Liu Linyun. Back when Li Mutian had slain the wealthy Yuan family and distributed their fields, Liu Linfeng's father had taken an immediate liking to the young man. Overriding all objections, he had married Liu Linyun to Li Mutian, binding the two families by marriage. Li Changhu and Liu Linfeng led their men in calling out to the refugees three times before the crowd finally pushed forward a middle-aged man. Though his face was smudged black with dirt and his clothes were in tatters, there was an air of dignity in his posture and gestures. The middle-aged man cupped his hands in greeting and looked at the two with a bitter smile. "This humble one was originally the head of a merchant caravan along Xiali Road. The State of Wu to the south conquered Jingxia City, and war broke out across all of Xiali Road, bringing utter turmoil. We were robbed on our journey and fled here among the refugees. Unworthy as I am, I was chosen by the group to speak on their behalf. We beg you two gentlemen to take us in." "This stretch of Guli Road has fallen into disrepair for years and crawls with wild beasts. You made it through just like this?" Liu Linfeng asked skeptically. "Naturally, many died—the elderly and children have all perished," the middle-aged man replied with a wry smile. While the representatives of the two prominent clans inquired into the refugees' background, Old Man Xu stood amid the crowd, a woven grass cricket dangling from one hand and a hoe in the other, squinting as he scrutinized the newcomers. He lived near the village entrance and had been woken early by the commotion. Upon hearing that Li Changhu was coming, Old Man Xu had joyfully fetched the grass cricket he had woven a few days earlier, intending to give it to the unborn child in Lady Ren's belly. Now, however, his attention was drawn to a young man among the refugees. Clad in ragged cloth with a bundle of animal hide wrapped about his waist, the young man had eyes that burned like fire, glaring fixedly at Li Changhu and Liu Linfeng standing at the front. *Those eyes look so familiar,* Old Man Xu thought, stroking his graying beard, unable to recall where he had seen them before. "Listen to me, everyone!" Liu Linfeng quieted the refugees, stepped forward, and called out: "I am the patriarch of the village's Liu family. Lijing Village still has plenty of wasteland available for clearing. If you are willing, our Liu family can supply this year's grain and tools. The cleared land will be leased to you by our Liu family, and we will collect only thirty percent as rent." As the junior, Li Changhu stood half a step behind Liu Linfeng and pledged the same: "The Li family offers the same terms." Hearing this, the young man among the refugees jerked his head around and stared intently at Li Changhu's face. Those fiery, burning eyes fixed upon him for several seconds before the youth lowered his head in swift satisfaction. Over on his side, Old Man Xu strained with all his might to squeeze to the front of the crowd. He scanned the refugees closely, yet could no longer find the young man. Turning his gaze, he saw that the youth had already pushed into the very forefront of the refugees, only a few paces away from where Li Changhu and Liu Linfeng stood. The middle-aged man standing bowed beside the two glanced at the youth, wondering to himself: *What sharp eyes. There was someone like this among the refugees? We ate and lodged together for three whole months, yet I never saw him once.* "You may drink wine and eat meat in Lijing Village, marry and have children, but under no circumstances may you steal or commit rape..." Even as Liu Linfeng admonished the crowd, the unease in Old Man Xu's heart grew stronger and stronger. He watched as the youth lunged forward, dropped to his knees before Liu Linfeng, and began to sob aloud. "My entire family was slaughtered in the war; I alone escaped! Only after trekking a thousand li did I meet two masters willing to take me in. I am endlessly grateful! How could I ever dare commit such shameless deeds here!" He wept with such genuine heartbreak that it stirred the grief of the refugees behind him. One after another, they broke into wails, their weeping filling the air until even Liu Linfeng was visibly moved. Old Man Xu, however, was staring at the ankle exposed as the youth knelt. A scarred left foot protruded from the tattered trouser leg, and upon the ankle joint were several black moles. A vivid sense of recognition surged in his mind. His face flushed red as though drunk, he stared warily at the young man. Behind him, Li Changhu could no longer hold back. Looking upon the kneeling youth with pity, he stepped half a pace forward and bent down to help him up. A deafening roar erupted in Old Man Xu's mind, and his vision went completely blank, as if in an instant he had been cast back to that afternoon more than twenty years ago. He, Old Xu, was still a tenant farmer for the Yuan family. Golden paddies rippled in the autumn breeze. A woman had carried her child to the fields, and he had bowed low, uttering flattering, auspicious words: "Look at the moles on this child's foot—he is destined to do great things!" "Hold on!!" Old Man Xu forcefully straightened the back he had kept hunched for over twenty years. Throwing his head back with wide eyes, he roared in fury. "Hold on!" Yet not far away, another voice rang out, shouting the very same words in unison with him. It was the middle-aged man chosen by the refugees, who was staring in shock and suspicion at the youth's face, shouting to stop him. Before the echoes of their voices could fade, the youth had already snapped his head up, and Li Changhu, caught completely off guard, met those eyes. Eyes ferocious and piercing, like those of a wild beast.