Beacon

After jolting and swaying all along the road, they finally arrived at Lijing Town. Xiao Xian was shaken awake from his daze by the blare of suonas. He took out the wooden box and looked inside: only the few pastries he had eaten when first boarding the carriage were missing; the rest were stacked neatly, completely untouched. “Qingxiao, Qingxiao.” Xiao Xian hurried to wake the girl. Groggy with sleep, Li Qingxiao stumbled down from the cushioned seat. Below came the shrill, joyous wails of suonas, and a pair of large hands drew back the curtain, letting in the sunlight. “Xiao’er.” “Father!” The man was solemn and steady. It turned out Chen Donghe, missing his daughter dearly, had waited in town early on. Circulating his dharmic powers, he soothed Li Qingxiao’s discomfort. Xiao Xian hastily called out: “Xiao Xian of Yushan, from the Xiao family of Lixia, greets Senior.” “Mm.” Chen Donghe only gave a polite acknowledgment and said gently: “The guest courtyard is just ahead, and someone will soon come to guide our esteemed guests. Please wait a moment.” With that, he dropped the curtain and carried Li Qingxiao away, leaving Xiao Xian sitting quietly in the carriage. With not a single familiar face around, an unspeakable sense of loneliness and awkwardness washed over him. “Hey!” The curtain was pulled open again with a whoosh. Li Qingxiao scrambled back inside bathed in golden sunlight. Though fatigue lined her features, a smile brightened her little face as she called out: “I’m up on the mountain! Come find me when you’re free!” With that, she did not forget to pick up the wooden pastry box from the floor, thrust two pastries into Xiao Xian’s hands, and skipped off the carriage. Xiao Xian held the two pastries in a daze. He stood frozen for a dozen breaths before gently pinching the pastries and slipping them into his sleeve. A pocket had been sewn into the lining, easily holding them without trouble. Having stowed them away carefully, he sat obediently back in his seat to wait. Meanwhile, Chen Donghe carried Li Qingxiao up the mountain. Exhausted, the little girl was taken straight to the courtyard to rest. In the courtyard, Li Jingtian was tidying wooden slips. Chen Donghe stepped forward and took his wife into his arms. Seeing the distant look on her face, he asked gently: “Why so listless today?” Li Jingtian paused. Picking up a wooden slip from the desk with her slender hand, she replied: “Decades of affairs, great and small, have finally all been recorded. Yuanyun has taken over my duties to chronicle our history. Suddenly having so much free time on my hands, I don’t even know what to do with myself.” Chen Donghe fell silent. Li Jingtian put down what she held and murmured: “Without realizing it, even Yuanjiao has married. More than half my life is already gone, yet I’ve remained confined to these hills. It just feels pitiful... It would be one thing not to ride the wind and steer the qi, but I haven’t even stepped beyond little Mount Lijing more than a handful of times.” She lifted her head. Time had left only faint traces on her face, preserving much of the beauty of her youth. With a hint of eagerness, Li Jingtian said softly: “My tasks here in the mountains are finished. I was thinking that once Qingxiao is married off, I’ll plead with the elders for you and me to make a journey north, so we can see different sights for the rest of our days.” Chen Donghe loved his wife above all else. Under Li Jingtian’s eager gaze, how could he possibly refuse? He could only nod tenderly and reply: “In a few more years, once Qingxiao is married and the clan has more Qi Refinement cultivators, I’ll go make the request.” The husband and wife exchanged a glance. Li Jingtian smiled, nodded, and leaned against Chen Donghe’s chest as she replied: “As it should be... As it should be. You and I have served the clan for over a decade. Once our kin are secure and the borders peaceful, we can finally think of ourselves.” She paused for a moment before continuing: “Qinghong and Yuanjiao both have their own minds. The household today is no longer as intimate as back when siblings lived together on the mountain; it’s just that the children are sensible and get along warmly. Qinghong insists on practicing the Purple Lightning Secret Origin Method, and Second Uncle let her have her way... They are close today, but who knows what the future holds.” “Having read through the secret histories of so many affairs, I know every clan is united and harmonious on the rise, only to splinter apart once power is attained. The road ahead may not be an easy one.” Li Jingtian had read countless historical records, after all, and seen much; worry lingered in her heart. Chen Donghe kissed her forehead and answered: “Each generation has its own tasks to bear. Only someone like Old Master Li could plan five generations ahead. You and I need not fret over this; let us leave it to Yuanjiao and Qinghong.” *** “A marriage alliance with the Xiao family, a Purple Mansion immortal clan personally marrying off their daughter... What is Xiao Chuting thinking?!” Yu Mugao stood aloft riding the wind, his expression grim. Behind him stood a crowd of clansmen, all watching the procession below under the shroud of mist and clouds. After watching for a long time, Yu Mugao was still in disbelief, muttering: “There has been no word of Li Chijing for decades. Is the Xiao family... truly so certain the Li family will succeed?!” The others remained silent. Yu Mugao gritted his teeth. Not knowing how many Foundation Establishment cultivators were watching from within the procession below, no matter how many thousands of schemes he harbored, he could only bottle them up inside, staring blankly at the carriages without a word. “Xiao Chuting is far-sighted by nature. For him to marry a daughter of the clan into their family, Li Chijing must not only be safe and sound, but likely not far from the Purple Mansion realm. All our schemes across this single lake, in the end, cannot compare to a few casual words from a Purple Mansion master.” Yu Mugao had led the clan for many years. Externally, the Fei family was constantly stirring up trouble while the Li family rose like the morning sun; internally, clan elders and uncles tied his hands, and Yu Yufeng carried out blood sacrifices year after year. Having endured so much, he had finally taken firm hold of the Yu family and prepared to accomplish great things—only for the Li family to latch onto a Purple Mansion immortal clan. His soaring ambition utterly crushed, despair washed over him, and he could only say: “What use is there in scheming? What use is there in fighting? Our Yu family is simply cursed with ill fortune, something no human effort can mend. Even if I have planned for years and drained my heart’s blood, what was it all for? Our fortune has run dry. Scheming further will do nothing more than prolong our dying breath. All thirty years of my calculations wasted, only to end up in a dead end.” The people behind him were struck dumb by his words. Several stepped forward to console him, but Yu Mugao kept silent. Only after a long while did he say: “What is there left to say? Our best course is to move the entire clan north, cross mountains and rivers, and flee into the State of Xu or the State of Qi, never to return. That way, a thread of life might yet remain. Carrying on like this is nothing more than waiting to die.” “Mugao... We hold the eastern shore, and Muxian is within the sect. At worst, we can still scrape by for a few hundred years until the Li family’s momentum passes. Why plunge into such despair...?” Moved and alarmed by his bleak words, the clansmen stepped forward to urge him otherwise. Yu Mugao only shook his head and sighed: “None of you see the situation clearly.” “Li Tongya is a slippery serpent—elusive, insidious, and cunning. Back when he was merely a Qi Refinement cultivator, we could do nothing against him. Now that he has reached Foundation Establishment, what hope do we have?” “Li Yuanjiao and Li Qinghong possess extraordinary innate talent and look set to achieve Qi Refinement in their twenties. Once they come into their own, how could we possibly stand against the Li family? Li Yuanxiu was even more deeply contemplative, profound, and distinguished. Had we not crippled him, how could you and I still be standing here unharmed? We would already be in dire straits, beset on all sides.” Exhaustion weighed heavily on Yu Mugao’s face. Clasping his hands behind his back, he gazed into the distance and continued: “I see it clearly now. The Li family’s current state is already the result of their own misfortune and our relentless suppression... Had Jianixi marched north back then, had Yu Muyuan hesitated, had Li Chijing returned home... the Li family would be far beyond what they are today.” Panic stirred in everyone’s hearts. As they waited with Yu Mugao for a while, a Yu family cultivator flew in from afar, landing hurriedly before him and crying in joy: “Clan Head! Clan Head! The immortal master is about to arrive! The beacon for the Rosy Dawn Cloud Vessel has lit up! In less than three days, the immortal master from the Qingchi Sect will be here!” The Yu family members immediately beamed with delight, voicing congratulations one after another. Yu Mugao’s expression eased considerably as well. He merely replied: “Good news at last. Let us see what the immortal master has to say. Muxian sounded full of confidence; perhaps there will be word.”