By the time Li Xiangping reached Lichuankou, the battle was already drawing to a close. Ahui La was especially prominent among the battle lines, swinging his great hammer as he pursued the routed enemy.
Over the past few years, routed Shanyue stragglers had crossed the border in succession. Li Xiangping had called Ahui La to Lichuankou to persuade the tribes familiar to him. In the various clashes, Ahui La had fought valiantly, winning the respect of the clan guards, and Li Xiangping had grown considerably more confident in him.
"Which wave of Shanyue is this for the year?"
Li Xiangping frowned as he gazed toward the distant mountains, feeling a pang of unease in his heart, and asked in a low voice.
"Reporting to Clan Head! It is already the sixth wave!"
Beside him, Li Qiuyang answered in a deep voice, travel-worn all over; he, too, had likely just arrived.
Li Qiuyang was now at the fourth layer of Embryonic Breathing. He had married a daughter of the Chen family and fathered a son and a daughter, visibly having matured a great deal.
Li Xiangping nodded, turned, and walked into the courtyard, leaving a single instruction for Li Qiuyang:
"Once things are cleaned up, have Ahui La come see me."
***
Li Xiangping set down the talisman brush in his hand and quietly looked at the silk cloth on the table. A few years ago, he had broken through to the fifth layer of Embryonic Breathing, the Yujing Wheel, and now he was at the pinnacle of Embryonic Breathing, long capable of taking up the brush to draw talismans.
In the room, Li Jingtian was adding oil to the lamp. The girl was twelve now; having grown quickly and being nimble with her hands and feet, she had already blossomed into a graceful, poised young lady.
Of Lu Jiangxian's six talisman seeds, the three surviving brothers of the Li family had each used one. Two of the remaining ones had been given to Li Xuanxuan and Li Xuanfeng, while the last one was naturally reserved for Li Tongya's branch.
"Clan Head! Ahui La requests an audience!"
Wearing leather armor with a sword hanging at his waist, Chen Donghe entered the courtyard with youthful vigor. His gaze lingered for a split second on the profile of Li Jingtian by the window, before he lowered his brow and announced in a deep voice.
The lad looked seventeen or eighteen, his cultivation already having reached the third layer of Embryonic Breathing. He was reasonably handsome, bearing some resemblance to Chen Erniu.
"Enter."
The beast teeth Ahui La used to wear had all been removed by now, replaced by fur robes like those worn by the folk of Lijing Town. Stepping into the courtyard, he shouted loudly:
"Great King! Great King! Disaster is coming!"
Behind him, Chen Donghe's mouth twitched. Resisting the urge to smack the back of Ahui La's head, he secretly lowered his gaze, using Ahui La's massive frame to block Li Xiangping's sight while stealing glances at Li Jingtian out of the corner of his eye.
Li Jingtian was trimming the wick by the window. The soft yellowish lamplight flickered across the side of her face. Her beauty was not dainty or delicate, but clean, brisk, and spirited. Her features were full of vigor, with only her eyes inheriting Tian Yun's roundness, which gave her a rather lovely and endearing charm.
"What is it?"
Li Xiangping glanced briefly at Li Jingtian, who was focused on the candle by the window, the corners of his mouth curving slightly in amused indulgence. After breaking through to the fifth layer of Embryonic Breathing, the Yujing Wheel, one birthed spiritual sense; he did not even need his eyes to know what was happening in the courtyard.
"My old brother crossed Dayu Brook and came last night to inform me... He said... said that Jianixi has crushed the enemy army and will be marching east any day now!"
Ahui La's words stirred up a thousand waves in an instant. Both Li Xiangping and Chen Donghe were startled, and even Li Jingtian by the window turned her head slightly, listening attentively with concern.
"What is Jianixi's current strength?"
Li Xiangping frowned and asked in a grave tone.
Ahui La kept his head lowered and replied glumly:
"Jianixi should be in the middle stage of Qi Refinement. Having consolidated the hundred thousand Shanyue across the entire Northern Foothills of Mount Li, he likely commands five to six thousand deployable troops. Four Qi Refinement human shamans who have swallowed heaven-and-earth spirit qi already follow his orders. As for commanders in Embryonic Breathing, there should be dozens as well—though fortunately, they are garrisoned across various parts of the Northern Foothills and do not march with the army."
At these words, Li Xiangping froze for a moment, then frowned deeply and said in a heavy voice:
"My Li family pays annual tribute to Qingchi Sect and is a clan under Qingchi Sect's domain. Jianixi is merely a leader of the Shanyue. It is one thing for him to run rampant across the Northern Foothills, but how dares he recklessly invade eastward? Does he truly take Qingchi Sect for dead men?"
Ahui La hurriedly knelt, pressing his head firmly against the ground, and stammered tremblingly:
"According to the clansmen fleeing from the west, the demonic sect... the Qingchi Sect will not intervene..."
Li Xiangping bowed his head slightly, a flare of helpless fury rising in his heart. When even Shanyue foot soldiers knew Qingchi Sect would not act, he, as patriarch of a clan under Qingchi Sect's rule, was entirely ignorant of what sort of deal the two sides had struck.
"You two step down first..."
Ahui La and Chen Donghe hurriedly took their leave. Seeing the pair exit, Li Xiangping finally sank slowly back into the main seat, closing his eyes without a word.
"Father," Li Jingtian called softly. Approaching Li Xiangping's side, she curtsied gently and said in a hushed tone, "I fear our family may become meat on someone else's chopping block. We must make plans early."
Li Xiangping wearily raised his brows and said in a low voice, "Go on."
Lowering her eyes, Li Jingtian said softly:
"For Jianixi to dare march east unchecked, Qingchi Sect and the great shamans of the Shanyue must have reached an accord to hand over territory and mortals. Yet they did not inform our Li family because they do not wish for us to react..."
"You mean that our whole Li clan has become traded goods."
Li Xiangping raised an eyebrow, looking down at his eldest daughter.
"In your daughter's view, our Li family faces the danger of squandered wealth and exhausted people, but not the peril of annihilation.
"Youngest Uncle is still within the sect, and our family has forged ties with the Xiao family. Qingchi Sect would not abandon us without a word. They have likely only permitted the Shanyue to enter the borders and plunder, rather than intending to bury the entire Li clan."
Li Jingtian raised her eyebrows, looked up at Li Xiangping, and added softly:
"The territories of Qingchi Sect and the various Shanyue tribes are interlaced and jagged, involving numerous clans. Since Qingchi Sect has struck a deal, they can only pretend to be blind to the Shanyue crossing the border. Each clan must rely on its own capabilities to survive."
After listening to Li Jingtian finish, Li Xiangping put away the wooden slips in his hand, looked up, and asked:
"How do you think our Li family should respond?"
"Abandon the common people under our rule and take the whole family into hiding. When the Shanyue plunder, they will never linger here; at most within a day, we could return to Mount Lijing," Li Jingtian said, staring directly at Li Xiangping to test his reaction.
"Out of the question!"
Seeing Li Xiangping shake his head with absolute resolve, a radiant smile bloomed across Li Jingtian's face, making her round eyes look all the more endearing.
"If we did that, there would be no difference between our Li family and Qingchi Sect!"
Li Xiangping shook his head, looking somewhat weary. Seeing Li Jingtian open her mouth again, he waved a hand to cut her off and said in a deep voice:
"I understand. Return to Mount Lijing first."
Li Jingtian obediently nodded and took her leave. With his hands behind his back, Li Xiangping walked slowly out of the courtyard, gazing at the moonlit mountains and forests.
He felt a strong foreboding surge in his heart. This Jianixi was the most formidable opponent he had encountered in all these years. This young Shanyue possessed not only a keen instinct for warfare and a cunning mind, but also overwhelming strength.
"What kind of bottom line did Qingchi Sect draw for the Shanyue, and how much time did they give you..."
Chapter 86