For three full days, Tian Zhongqing had not touched a single drop of water. Sitting silently before his desk, thoughts crawled across his heart like ants. His lips were pale, and sweat poured from him ceaselessly.
He was now in his early thirties, yet he had never committed so grave an error. The more he thought, the more terrified he became, murmuring to himself:
"Must I carry thorny brambles on my back and beg for punishment?! But if I bring up something baseless like this out of nowhere... wouldn't that make me look guilty and turn me into a laughingstock? Yet if I bury it like this, who knows what the main family will think? I fear it will plant the seeds of disaster..."
Tian Zhongqing was fraught with anxiety. Fortunately, unlike Xu Gongming, he did not bear the entire weight of his household alone; he still had elders above him. Hurriedly taking out brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, he spread out a strip of fine cloth, dipped his brush, and wrote:
"Your nephew is in peril. Uncle, come quickly to save me. I am in the courtyard on the rear mountain of the Huaqian towns. Let no one know of this."
Having signed his name, Zhongqing, he gritted his teeth, used his magical power to steam away the moisture, rolled the cloth up carefully, and called out, "Someone, come in!"
A servant hurried in. Tian Zhongqing pondered for a breath before solemnly instructing, "Prepare the finest food and wine—go at once! If it is not ready within half an hour, you will suffer the consequences!"
Seeing the servant rush off, he summoned his wife and bade her, "Keep watch over all the servants. Do not let a single one leave, and do not let them disturb me."
Puzzled, his wife departed. Watching her vanish beyond the vermilion doors of the rear courtyard, Tian Zhongqing leapt out the window and took off at a full sprint, heading toward Mount Huaqian.
The speed of a cultivator at the fourth layer of Embryonic Breathing was astonishing. Darting through the dense forest beside the sprawling town in the pitch-black night, he advanced straight through and reached Mount Huaqian in mere moments. Not daring to rest, Tian Zhongqing checked the hour and waited at the foot of the mountain, panting for the time it took an incense stick to burn. Sure enough, a young man came strolling leisurely over. Tian Zhongqing glanced around and called in a low voice, "Cousin!"
The young man snapped his head up and cried, "Brother Zhongqing!"
Tian Zhongqing made a series of gestures pressing for silence and asked in a low voice, "Has Uncle entered seclusion?"
"No."
Realizing the gravity at once, the young man glanced warily around and answered softly, "He is regulating his breath, preparing to break through to Qi Refinement. It should be in the coming days, when the heaven-and-earth spirit qi intersects."
"He hasn't entered seclusion indeed! Heaven is helping me!"
Overjoyed, Tian Zhongqing bowed to him and said, "Worthy brother, as you go up the mountain, you must deliver a message for me."
Stuffing the rolled cloth into the young man's hand, Tian Zhongqing warned solemnly, fearing he might be careless, "This concerns the lives of our entire clan. You must be extremely cautious!"
The young man's face changed drastically. Gritting his teeth, he nodded repeatedly. "Rest easy, Brother Zhongqing!"
Watching him ascend the mountain as if nothing were amiss, Tian Zhongqing dared not linger. Springing into motion, he dashed like the wind through the dense forest and soon returned to his courtyard. He slipped back in through the window, smoothed the wrinkles from his clothes, brushed off the dew, and feigned reading a book.
After waiting half an hour, Tian Zhongqing heard a sharp click at the window. Understanding immediately, he went out to the rear courtyard, carefully locked the gate, instructed his wife to stand watch at the door, and turned back inside.
Crossing the spotless courtyard paved in bluestone, Tian Zhongqing stepped over the orderly stone stairs and pushed the door open. Seated silently at the head of the room was a gray-haired, middle-aged man with a stern countenance. His facial features were well-proportioned, etched with quite a few wrinkles, but his expression was severe, and his eyes glared with ferocious intensity.
This was none other than Tian Zhongqing's uncle—the highest-ranking elder of the Tian family in seniority, and the only cultivator poised to break through to Qi Refinement: Tian Youdao.
"Uncle, Zhongqing is... ashamed!"
Tian Zhongqing let out a bitter smile and fell to his knees with a thud, filled with remorse and sorrow. Tian Youdao had a stern temper; lifting the teacup from the table before him, he took a sip and replied, "I have already swept the surroundings with my spiritual sense. There are no prying eyes. Speak."
Tian Zhongqing recounted his conversation with Xu Gongming word for word. The more Tian Youdao listened, the tighter his brows drew together. By the end, he sputtered and spat out a mouthful of tea with a spray. Tian Zhongqing did not dare flinch, taking the spray directly across his face and head.
Tian Youdao's face was livid. He overturned the table with a violent heave, sending porcelain clattering and shattering across the floor. His hair and beard bristling with fury, he roared, "You worthless bastard!!"
Tian Zhongqing trembled, not daring to move. Still furious, Tian Youdao hauled him up and delivered a hard slap across the face, then backhanded him across the other cheek, sending stars dancing before his eyes. Trembling, Tian Youdao spun around, kicked a large table to splinters, sending white porcelain shards scattering everywhere, and gnashed his teeth so hard they clicked.
"Uncle..." Tian Zhongqing slumped weakly to the floor, letting out a pitiful cry.
Tian Youdao exhaled a long breath, pulled him up, and swept away the floor full of shards with a wave of his sleeve. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Idly gossiping is bad enough, but you went and talked with the Xu family! Even talking to Xu Gongming might be forgiven, but you let a spy overhear it! You truly are a worthless bastard!"
"Things have come to this... what should we do?" Tian Zhongqing asked in a meek, humble voice.
Tian Youdao said viciously, "Fortunate for you, it is Xuanxuan who manages the household today! If it were Duke Xiangping, not even nine lives would be enough to save you!"
Seeing Tian Zhongqing looking so submissive with downcast eyes, Tian Youdao's anger abated slightly. He said in a low voice, "You must understand, the character of everyone in the main family stems from Uncle Mutian. The Yuan-Qing generation never received his direct teachings, so they are slightly better. But going upward, with the sole exception of Li Changhu, they all share the exact same disposition. Whether they appear gentle, severe, or aggressive, deep down they are all ruthless men! Do you think the prominent clans don't know the main family's cultivation techniques are superior? How dared you say those words aloud?"
Tian Youdao paused slightly, his expression grave, and continued in a deep voice, "On the surface, the main family all look kind and approachable. They don't mind minor matters; they can tolerate people and tolerate faults. Otherwise, look around the lake—how many clans allow cultivators of different surnames? How could all the towns flourish like flowers today, with folk songs composed even about the main family's seniors? But if you truly touch upon the few taboos they fiercely guard, the very next moment will bring slaughter and butchery, wiping out entire households! They are ruthless enough to make you think they are entirely different people."
Tian Youdao was Tian Yun's own younger brother, the maternal uncle of Li Xuanfeng and Li Jingtian. Not only was his generational standing intimidatingly high, but his talent was also respectable; it was only because he had begun cultivation too late in life that he had reached the peak of Embryonic Breathing in his fifties. Now expressionless, he recounted secret clan lore with steady cadence:
"You think the Liu clan—as the Old Ancestor's wife's family, the maternal line of the main branch—holds a large tract of spirit fields exclusively in Jingyang Town, and their family head is quite shrewd. Why then, when Liu Rouxuan is still alive and well, do they fare even worse than our Tian family?"
Tian Zhongqing listened, enthralled, and could not help asking, "Why?"
"Back then, none of you were born yet, and Xuanxuan was probably only four or five years old. When the Mount Lijing mountain gate was newly established, a son of the Liu clan spied on the main family's gates. Duke Xiangping managed the household at the time, and the Liu clan head bound the culprit with his own hands and beheaded him before the mountain gate, thus preserving their clan... Xuanxuan also knew of this and harbored resentment in his heart. That is why, all these years, the Liu clan has remained lukewarm and stagnant..."
Tian Youdao viewed that past event through the lens of the present, his voice tinged with emotion. Yet while spoken in reflection, it struck the listener like lightning. Tian Zhongqing's hair stood on end, his legs trembled violently, and an overwhelming dread seized him. Tears welled in his eyes, and he gritted his teeth:
"Uncle... Uncle, what do you mean?!"
Chapter 233