"Uncle, spare my life!"
Scared out of his wits, the man began begging for mercy the moment he hit the ground, curling into a ball as he clung to Li Mutian.
"Ah! Spare me, Uncle, spare my life, spare me..."
Li Yesheng had never imagined that sneaking in just to steal a melon and satisfy a craving would, in the blink of an eye, bring the uncle he feared most standing right before him. Terror paralyzed him, and seeing the long saber Li Mutian held in one hand scared him half to death.
"Yesheng?" Li Mutian narrowed his eyes, examining him closely. His brows drew into a tight knot, his face clouding with shifting moods as he stroked his bearded chin, staring fixedly at the young man.
Li Yesheng was the elder brother of the younger Li Yesheng. Their father had been bedridden with illness for years, yet the elder brother spent his days idling about, constantly mooching off others.
The two youths also came running over at the noise. Li Tongya raised his long staff and brought it down firmly across Li Yesheng's shoulder, frightening him so badly that tears and snot streamed down his face. Li Changhu lifted the man's head for a look and could not help being taken aback.
"Cousin?" Li Changhu let out a long breath, asking in bewilderment.
"Why are you here?" Li Tongya asked coldly, the force behind his staff not lessening in the slightest.
"He came to steal our melons!" Seeing Li Yesheng stammering, Li Mutian answered coldly for him. Sheathing his long saber, he turned and walked off.
"Pardon the offense, Cousin."
Li Tongya eased his grip and lifted his staff, dropping that single line before following his father back into the house. Only Li Changhu remained behind to help Li Yesheng to his feet, wipe his face, soothe him with a few gentle words, and politely see him out of the courtyard.
***
Inside the house.
Li Chijing and Li Xiangping sat blankly by the table. With the mirror hidden in his bosom, Li Xiangping hardly dared to twitch. Fortunately, it was not long before his father and second brother stepped into the hall.
"Where is Eldest Brother?"
He looked behind them and asked hurriedly.
"Seeing our guest off."
Li Mutian shook his head. "I know full well that boy Yesheng comes around to mooch now and then, but I feared what happened tonight might leak out and bring destruction down upon our whole family."
Li Tongya found a low stool and sat down. Hearing this, he glanced toward Li Xiangping and was about to speak.
*Creak.*
The heavy front door swung shut. Li Changhu looked perplexed as he sat on a stool and addressed his father, Li Mutian.
"Father, was that really necessary?"
He shook his head. "Yesheng was only trying to steal a melon. Instead of doing a small favor and letting it slide, you went out of your way to offend his family."
"What 'his family' or 'our family'? There is only one Li family—we are the direct branch, they are collateral."
Li Mutian leaned against the window, tilting his ear to listen. He waved to the woman and his youngest son. "Go crouch by the front and back doors. If anyone comes near, call out."
The two complied and stepped outside. Li Mutian turned, shut the doors and windows tightly, and patted Li Xiangping.
"Speak!"
Li Xiangping nodded hard and said in a small voice, "Today, when I went to catch fish at the Meichi River, I picked something up from the water."
Having said that, he glanced at his father, Li Mutian. Seeing him nod, Li Xiangping drew a mirror from his chest.
Li Changhu looked from his younger brother to his father, took the grayish-green mirror, and examined it closely, yet could make nothing of it.
Li Mutian took the mirror from his eldest son's hands, located the small hole in the roof, moved a stone stool beneath it, placed the mirror on top, and squinted at his two sons.
Before their eyes, the moonlight rippled like water, converging above the mirror's surface like young swallows darting into the woods, until a faint white, gem-like lunar halo emerged.
Li Changhu sprang up from his chair with a start, staring unblinkingly at the halo upon the mirror. Li Tongya's face also changed, his expression solemn as he stared thoughtfully at the mirror.
For the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, complete silence filled the room. The members of the Li family stared silently at the mirror without uttering a word, each wearing a different expression.
This was already the second time Li Xiangping had witnessed this sight, yet he was still stunned, murmuring to himself, "I've never seen such a beautiful sight in all my life..."
"Haha, let alone you, your old man has never seen anything so fine either."
Li Mutian chuckled softly, though there was no humor in his voice; instead, his gaze grew fierce.
"This might well be a treasure of the immortals," Li Tongya said quietly, picking up the long saber and wiping it repeatedly. He looked calm as he gazed at the mirror, but his trembling hands betrayed his inner turmoil.
"If word leaks out, it will mean the extermination of our clan."
Li Changhu paced back and forth across the hall, looking anxious yet excited.
"If it is something an immortal lost, and they cast a spell to search for it tomorrow, how can we hope to survive?" Li Tongya stared intently at his father, speaking with unmistakable worry.
Li Xiangping nodded, lowering his brow and muttering in a subdued voice, "Whatever reward an immortal might bestow would benefit our family beyond measure."
"Bullshit," Li Mutian said, waving his hand dismissively. "I've heard that many immortals are bloodthirsty fiends. Absolutely not! Who knows how long this mirror had been lying in the water? If someone were going to retrieve it, they would have picked it up long ago. Why would it ever fall to mortals like us? To my mind, that immortal has most likely met with disaster."
Hearing such audacious words made Li Changhu's heart leap into his throat. He frowned, his mind racing with uncertain thoughts.
Li Tongya, however, suddenly understood and said in a low voice, "Could that boy Li Yesheng have seen it?"
"I showed it to Father in front of the house. Brother Yesheng must have been in the fields back then." Li Xiangping cast his eyes downward.
"I'll go kill him!"
Li Tongya's expression turned ruthless. Without hesitation, he threw on his rattan coat, grabbed his blade, and headed toward the door. Li Xiangping had never seen such a look on his brother's face before and couldn't help staring.
"Get back here!" Li Mutian snapped, scowling as he halted Li Tongya. He cast a sharp glance at Li Xiangping, which sent a jolt of panic through the boy.
"Father!" Li Tongya finally grew urgent, his voice turning firm. "Li Yesheng is heartless and ungrateful, recklessly boastful and treacherous to boot. Rather than let him slip up and leak word, bringing destruction down upon our clan, it would be better to strike him down first!"
*It seems Second Brother learned quite a bit from the village teacher,* Li Xiangping thought silently, lowering his head in shame. Back then, Father had sent all three of them to study, and both older brothers had earned the teacher's favor. Only he, young and mischievous, had fooled around; now he couldn't even grasp all the idioms his brother used.
"And if your younger brother turns treacherous and loose-lipped, will you slaughter him as well?" Li Mutian chuckled, asking his second son.
"Our family has no such cowards," Li Tongya said flatly.
Li Mutian shook his head. He straightened the wooden table with a light push, then leaped up, tapping lightly on the tabletop as he drew a wooden box from the roof beam.
Placing the box on the table, he turned to the three brothers with a grave expression:
"There are some things you ought to know. At thirteen, I left home and traveled along the Guli Road into Anli County. General Yang received orders from the imperial court to attack the Shanyue and was conscripting soldiers along the Guli Road. Back then, your father had nowhere else to turn, so I had no choice but to enlist.
"General Yang maintained strict discipline in his army, yet he ate and slept alongside us, treating us like kin. He taught us the Yue Soldiers' Battle Method and urged us to train hard in the martial arts. That battle method is widespread—easy to learn, but difficult to master. When an ordinary man masters it, he gains nothing more than agility and vigor, without any miraculous power." Li Mutian sighed. Seeing how attentively they were listening, he continued:
"After returning home, I learned to read and write, and transcribed the battle method onto these wooden slips from memory. I have already made you boys practice it diligently, yet so far nothing remarkable has come of it. That is the first matter."
Li Mutian opened the wooden box. Inside lay a bundle of wooden slips, a talisman, several pieces of broken silver, some glazed glass, and other odds and ends.
Chapter 4