"Second Uncle!"
Li Xuanxuan dropped to his knees in the cave dwelling. Li Tongya watched his nephew's tear-streaked face silently, wordlessly.
"Are we... going to just... forget about this whole incident?!" Li Xuanxuan asked through his gritted teeth.
"Forget about it..?" Li Tongya lowered his gaze and continued, "This is not up to the Li Family to decide alone... The question lies in whether the Yu Family is willing to cease hostilities! Once enmity is sown between two families, either party cannot easily resolve it..."
Li Xuanxuan lifted his head, wiping his tears before clenching his jaw tightly.
"It's Yu Mugao who colluded with others and killed the members of the Li Family... He can't still resent us and keep harming us! It's our family members who got killed, yet we still have to be wary and fearful that the Yu Family won't stop at this... That's just..."
Li Xuanxuan hesitated just as he was about to finish the sentence with the word "unfair". As someone approaching the age of forty, it was absurdly childish for him to be hung up about fairness in this world.
Yet, the weight of powerlessness and grief still bore heavily upon him. He bowed his head as he wept silently.
"Such is the cruelty of the world... the merciless whims of fate, where even the mightiest are but ants," Li Tongya lamented, his gray locks cascading around him as he sighed in anguish.
Li Xuanxuan covered his face and said mournfully, "Xiu'er was the pride of our family, destined to lead the Li Family... And now he lies fallen..."
"With Xiu'er gone, who among our remaining disciples is fit to lead the family? Yuanjiao is fierce, Yuanyun is gentle, Qinghong is carefree..." Li Xuanxuan murmured.
Li Tongya shook his head gently and quietly said, "That can wait... You'll take charge for now but do not descend the mountain. Let Xiewen manage matters at the foot of the mountain and relay them to you. Considering the two centuries of a Qi Cultivator's lifespan, you're still in your prime. If none of the children among the generation of Yuan are suitable to lead the family, we'll assess the younger ones in twenty years' time."
Li Xuanxuan's lips trembled as he closed his eyes, shedding two more tears as he uttered only a single word quietly.
"Understood."
—————
The cool spring rain continued for several consecutive nights, marking the end of spring on Moongaze Lake. With its departure came the arrival of warm summer winds sweeping down from the north, colliding with Mount Dali and dispelling the lingering dampness and chill.
Gusts of wind from the southern shore of the lake carried remnants of gray and black paper, casting an onyx hue across the sky as far as the eye could see. The mournful sound of weeping drifted through the air, echoing from Mount Lijing to Mount Huazhong and onward to the Milin Prefecture, where homes were decorated in white.
Li Yuanxiu had been torn apart by the thunder flames, leaving behind only bits of flesh and blood combined with the debris of the collapsed rear courtyard.
Li Xuanxuan and Li Xuanfeng labored to clear away the rubble so that they could gather the soil that was soaked with Li Yuanxiu's blood. The bloodstained soil and pieces of his bones were filled inside the coffin. They had also made a wooden sculpture that resembled Li Yuanxiu and placed it on the bloodstained soil before burying the coffin.
"Xiu'er!"
Veiled in white, the coffin was transported from the town to the mountains in solemn procession, the only sound piercing the silence being the muffled sobs of mourners. Clan uncles and brothers mourned in silence while the elders wept openly, their grief etched upon wrinkled faces.
Li Xuanxuan led the procession, carrying two long gray wooden poles that bore the weight of the coffin, with Li Yuanjiao supporting it from behind.
Raising his head, Li Yuanjiao met the gazes of those gathered around him. Among them, he caught sight of his half-brothers, their countenances reflecting a mix of sorrow and anger.
Li Yuanjiao's adoption was carried out in secret, so in the eyes of the others, he was still an illegitimate heir. Li Xuanxuan had just become a Qi Cultivator, so he would be preoccupied with cultivation and unable to handle the family's affairs.
With Li Yuanxiu's death, the position of the family head was likely to fall to Li Yuanyun's hands. This meant the authority would potentially be shifted away from Li Changhu's lineage and to Li Xiangping's lineage. How could those shrewd brothers not worry?
The major sect of the Li Family upheld principles of equality. Yet in reality, only those with spiritual orifices who grew up together on the mountains truly treated each other as equals.
Those dwelling at the foot of the mountain found themselves subject to differential treatment. There was also a huge difference between the way the Family Head treated those in the main lineage and those of a different lineage.
Although Li Yuanjiao immediately understood the thoughts of his half-siblings, he was too consumed by his own grief and anger to pay any heed to them.
"The Yu Family... and Yu Mugao," Li Yuanjiao uttered their names through his gritted teeth.
Despite his resolve for vengeance, he couldn't shake the bitter realization of his own limitations as a lowly cultivator at the third stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm.
"The Yu Family boasts a late-stage Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, Yu Yufeng, along with Yu Xiaogui at the early stage, and a mid-stage Qi Cultivator—Yu Mugao himself. This path of vengeance won't be an easy one..."
—————
Unlike the mournful atmosphere shrouding Mount Lijing beneath its veils of white silk, Mount Huazhong resonated with jubilant laughter.
"Congratulations, Family Head!"
"Congratulations! An Jingming and his father were long overdue for removal by the Yu Family. Now, Mount Huazhong is rightfully ours!"
The man smiling smugly at the forefront was a cultivator at the fourth stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm. He simply nodded in satisfaction at these words.
"An Zheyan was a fool who squandered the family's resources on his precious son. The two of them acted arrogantly just because they were Qi Cultivators while I, An Zheyu, toiled away like a slave for them! But now, their folly has led to their demise... With the main family's backing, our An Family is poised for prosperity and growth!"
An Zheyu was naturally the puppet leader chosen and supported by the Yu Family. At the age of fifty, he was still stuck at the fourth stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm. If it were not for the Yu Family, he was destined to remain a nobody in the An Family. He reveled in his newfound position of authority, indulging in feasts.
Another figure, at only the second stage of the Embryonic Breathing Realm, chimed in obsequiously, "Well said! Had these resources been bestowed upon your lordship earlier, you would have attained the Foundation Establishment Realm long ago! It's truly regrettable they were squandered on An Jingming!"
The words struck a nerve with An Zheyu, prompting a visceral reaction. His gaze turned fierce as he retorted, "So what? With the allowance provided by the Yu Family, I'll attain the Qi Cultivation Realm in less than three years!"
"Indeed, indeed!" the other man responded as he slapped his own cheek apologetically.
"Family Master, the Yu Family took away An Jingming's head, intending to preserve and study it. His body is still here though... What should we do with it?" he asked quietly.
An Zheyu's eyes gleamed with a mixture of greed and bitter resentment. Through gritted teeth, he responded, 'I've heard tales of the miraculous latent powers in a genius's body. It's rumored that by consuming it, one may be able to inherit one or two of these powers... Get someone to dismember it and present it on a silver platter. I'd love to see how miraculous it is!"
An Zheyu's words immediately caused the temperature of the hall to drop by a few degrees. The guards stationed on either side of him stirred restlessly.
An Jingming had been kind and generous toward everyone, except for the useless ones in the family. Despite being at odds with certain clan members, particularly An Zheyu and the others in his group, An Jingming had a great reputation among the others. During the seven days of his mourning, cries filled the air.
The guards exchanged glances with each other but they were too powerless to defy An Zheyu and could only silently shed tears.
Meanwhile, the lackey vying for favor with the next family head made the necessary arrangements happily. It was not long before an old servant arrived, bearing wooden steamer baskets and a pot of soup.
Observing the tearful look on the old servant's face, the lackey flew into a rage, delivering a swift kick to the man's waist.
"What's with the long face on such a joyous occasion? Someone, drag him away and flog him to death!" he barked with a sneer.
Despite the lackey's order, the guards refused to move. Tears were streaming down their faces uncontrollably as well.
Enraged by their refusal to comply, the lackey lashed out, "You guys have a death wish too?!"
It was only then did the two guards move and drag the old servant away.
"I have served the An Family for four generations... The head of the family is foolish and his sons are unfilial. Ming'er was the only wise one, yet such tragedy befell him and now we are reduced to the lapdogs of the Yu Family... An Zheyu, you have betrayed us!"
As the old servant's anguished cries disappeared down the corridor, An Zheyu burst out laughing.
"I once gambled away two gold bars in my youth, and that old fool snitched on me to Father. I was beaten so badly that I was bedridden for three days... But I couldn't get back at him because he was protected by An Zheyan. I've never forgotten about this and now, after decades of waiting, I've finally taken my revenge!"
After saying that, An Zheyu set his wine cup down and dipped his finger into the pool of watery blood in the steamer baskets. He gave it a careful whiff and could only recognize the all-too-familiar metallic scent of blood.
"They say the corpse of a Qi Cultivator doesn't decay for days... Seems the rumors were true!" he marveled.