Stepping out of the courtyard, Li Yuanping snapped his fan shut with a sharp flick. His face was dark with displeasure as he walked in silence. Behind him, Dou Yi followed anxiously, acutely aware that trouble was brewing and daring not say a word.
Li Yuanping suddenly halted. Caught completely unprepared, Dou Yi nearly tumbled over and stammered in panic, “Young Master! Young Master!”
“Shut up!”
Li Yuanping jabbed the fan against Dou Yi’s chest. The youth knitted his brow slightly and whispered, “Which idiot in the Dou clan took it upon himself to replace that man from the Liu family with you? You nearly caused me to lose face before my eldest brother! If Mother finds out about this, she will have you all caned within an inch of your lives!”
“Yes... yes...”
Dou Yi knew his future lay entirely in serving Li Yuanping, but he could not bear to throw his own father under the bus to take the blame. Unable to get the words out, he merely stammered in agreement. Li Yuanping waved his hand placidly, turned around, and resumed walking as he spoke.
“Even if you say nothing, I already know. It is most likely Old Master Dou. Now that he has grown old and gained power, his head is full of schemes, forever turning over petty tricks.”
Dou Yi hurriedly caught up, saying respectfully, “This was all done for Young Master’s sake as well. The Clan Rectory has always served as the stepping stone for transferring the position of family head. Young Master Yuanjiao has repeatedly said he intends to yield authority, and now that Young Master has become the clan rector, the mantle of family head is practically set in stone... If Father plants more hands in place, they can help you when the time comes.”
“Heh.”
Li Yuanping was amused and scoffed, “You certainly sound sure of yourself. How is your father trying to help me? He is trying to ruin me! If he truly wanted to help, he would just sit quietly and wait for three years. What need is there to meddle so clumsily?”
He frowned, glancing at Dou Yi, who had lowered his head in shame, and continued, “Your father is merely using my name to expand his own influence. Why drape it in the pretext of doing it for my good? Your family is my mother’s clan. Once I run the household, your place will naturally be assured. Why act so impatiently?”
“Do not think me young and easily fooled.”
Cold sweat drenched Dou Yi’s back. Li Yuanping leisurely waved his fan and said, “Setting that aside for now, I do not care whose orders brought you here. Since my eldest brother assigned you to me, you will follow me from now on. Put the Dou clan out of your mind.”
Dou Yi stood dumbfounded. He found that everything Li Yuanping said was utterly contrary to his father’s parting instructions. When Old Master Dou had sent him up the mountain, he had repeatedly drilled into him:
“Young Master Yuanping and Lady Dou are the pillars supporting our Dou clan. Leaning on them, you must secure more positions of power for our house... In the future, our Dou clan will be a prominent family.”
Yet from Li Yuanping’s tone, far from treating the Dou clan as cherished retainers, he and Lady Dou were guarding against them at every turn, fearing only that the Dou clan would drag them down! Dou Yi’s heart turned sour and bitter, and he pleaded in anguish:
“Young Master, everyone in the Dou clan obeys only you and listens to your word alone... Back then, both the Tian and Liu clans rose with the tide. Maternal relatives are a young master’s right arm—why must you be so distant...?”
To his surprise, Li Yuanping stopped in his tracks, turned his head with keen interest, and smiled.
“Cousin! My surname is Li! I am the legitimate son of the principal branch.”
With that, he turned and walked on. Shaken to his core, Dou Yi dared not utter another word and could only trail closely behind.
The two walked along the mountain paths for a while before entering a brightly lit manor. Li Yuanping waited in front of the courtyard for a moment until a maid hurried out carrying a basin of water. He asked gently, “Has Mother gone to sleep yet?”
“Her Ladyship has washed her feet and is waiting inside for the young master!”
Dou Yi immediately realized this was Lady Dou’s courtyard. Recalling his father’s reckless machinations and this aunt’s unyielding temperament, his legs began to tremble uncontrollably, and he wailed inwardly.
‘My old father goes courting death, yet it is I who must pay the price! Alas!’
Li Yuanping paid him no heed and led him into the courtyard. Inside, soft yellow hues met the eye, framed by layers of hanging curtains, flickering candlelight, and sweet lingering incense. Two maidservants stood obediently beside the bed. Li Yuanping bowed respectfully and said in a warm voice:
“Your child comes to pay respects to Mother. Congratulations on Mother’s breakthrough—Qi Refinement is within sight.”
Seated high upon the couch, Lady Dou was dressed in luxurious garments. Her countenance appeared youthful, and her aura had remarkably attained the peak of Embryonic Breathing, a mere step away from Qi Refinement. Without anyone noticing, she had already become one of the foremost cultivators among the families married into the clan.
Over the years, Lady Dou had not only relied on her formidable methods to keep Li Xuanxuan’s numerous wives and concubines thoroughly in line, forcibly raising the peasant Dou family from the dirt, but she had also never allowed her cultivation to fall behind.
“Ping’er, there is no need for such formality.”
Though Lady Dou had an unbending temperament, she held nothing back for her child. She repeatedly bade him sit. Li Yuanping nodded and recounted everything that had transpired that evening, concluding with Li Xuanxuan’s letter. As Lady Dou listened from above, Dou Yi felt his scalp prickle with numbness. He timidly looked up, only to meet a pair of eyes as piercing as cold stars.
“Come up here.”
Lady Dou spoke in soft, measured tones. Dou Yi scrambled before his aunt, only to see a jade-white hand reach out from behind the bed curtains, its nails three inches long and stained with balsam blossoms. Just as Dou Yi was staring blankly at the hand, Lady Dou casually swung her arm.
*Smack!*
A resounding slap struck Dou Yi squarely across the face, leaving half his cheek burning red. Dou Yi did not dare show the slightest hint of anger; terrified, he bowed repeatedly and cried out, “Aunt, spare my life! Aunt, spare my life!”
Lady Dou’s words drifted down, light as air: “Go back and deliver this slap to your father. Tell him this.”
Her red lips parted, uttering a few cold words: “If there are any more petty tricks, he can kiss his little life goodbye.”
***
Mount Yuting.
Li Qinghong exhaled deeply, letting out a plume of white vapor. The spear resting across her knees shimmered with mystical light. The woman opened her eyes, and her gaze, nurtured by spiritual power, gleamed brilliantly in the dark chamber.
“The second layer of Qi Refinement.”
Over the past five years, Li Qinghong had essentially remained holed up on the mountain cultivating. It had taken her the first three years to break through to Qi Refinement, and the following two to reach the second layer. Li Qinghong was still only in her twenties, and compared to the typical cultivation pace of three to five years per layer, her progress was quite swift. Only Li Yuanjiao, aided by the Circulating Qi and Devouring Spirit Talisman, had managed to outpace her by a step.
Rising to her feet with spear in hand, a faint violet glow swirled within the young woman's eyes, looking exceptionally alluring. The Purple Lightning Secret Origin Method truly lived up to its legacy as a former fourth-rank lightning art; Li Qinghong’s formidable aura soared, far surpassing that of an ordinary cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refinement.
“Clan Sister...”
A man stood cautiously outside the stone chamber. He was also a concubine-born son of Li Xuanxuan, but he possessed no spirit aperture. With Li Xuanxuan having fathered so many children, this man had never possessed much presence and had been sent to Mount Yuting to manage a small township.
“Speak up.”
Li Qinghong parted her crimson lips, uttering two words. The man respectfully replied, “Some time ago, men began disappearing. This went on for three months, and cultivators from the clan came to investigate, yet found nothing. Then, over three days, nine entire households perished one after another. Only after we reported this to the main clan and obtained permission did I dare come disturb Clan Sister.”
Li Qinghong nodded slightly and asked in confusion, “Where is Uncle-in-Law?”
Knowing she referred to Chen Donghe, the man replied hurriedly, “Together with Consecrator An, he is escorting pelts and spiritual goods to the market and is not holding the fort in the clan. The family head is surveying mountains in Shanyue territory and it is unknown whether he has returned, which is why...”
“I see.”
Li Qinghong nodded, lifting him as she rode the wind into the sky, gently inquiring about the situation along the way.
This was the first time in his life that the man had ever ridden upon the wind, and he was thoroughly enthralled. Gazing at the small township below and the drifting clouds and soaring birds flashing past, his heart was filled with envy. While answering Li Qinghong’s questions and pointing out the way, he thought to himself:
‘How truly exhilarating!’
Following his directions, Li Qinghong descended toward several empty houses with traces of blood on the ground. Sweeping her spiritual vision across the area, she sensed numerous anomalies beneath her feet. Setting down her clan brother, she raised her slender hand, traced several runes in midair, and struck forth with a talisman.
Chapter 275