Chapter 2: The Li Family

Li Mutian Yinshi woke up, staring at the dilapidated ceiling of his house, which was pitch black but faintly glowing.

A few days ago, a small hole had appeared in the roof, and Li Mutian had no time to fix it. He hadn't slept well for three days. Looking at the woman sleeping soundly beside him, Li Mutian sighed deeply.

"The woman doesn't understand the gravity of the situation. A few days ago, those high-flying immortals were flying around in the Dali Mountains as if they were mad, searching every inch of the ground. Everyone was trembling in fear, kneeling and kowtowing every time a streak of light flew by..."

Li Mutian's brows were furrowed, his heart filled with worry. The small villages at the foot of the Dali Mountains had always been carefree, but these days everyone was on edge, living in constant fear.

"The mountain paths are narrow and the government can't reach here, and we don't care much about it either. But when immortals fight, a single spell can wipe out the entire Lijing Village, leaving not even a dog alive."

Li Mutian turned over and couldn't sleep anymore. He got up and gazed out the window at the thick darkness outside.

"The child is growing up, eating more and more every day. Tomorrow, I'll send him to Meishe River to catch some river fish and crabs."

"Even if we die from a spell, it's our fate. The Li family has been farming this land for over two hundred years, and we can't move from here." Li Mutian lowered his head, shook it, and walked out the door with his hands behind his back.

The big yellow dog outside the door was still sleeping soundly. Li Mutian walked slowly in the morning mist, looking at the awakening Lijing Village, where roosters were crowing, dogs were barking, and smoke was rising from the chimneys.

"Xiangping!" Li Mutian called out to the house, and a series of clanging sounds came from inside. The door opened, and a half-grown child rushed out.

"Father!" Li Xiangping had a rather handsome face, with a cunning look in his eyes as he looked up at Li Mutian.

"What are we doing today?"

"Go to Meishe River to catch some river fish and crabs."

Li Mutian waved his hand.

"There's no work today. Go and get some fresh food for your mother."

"Great!"

Li Xiangping nodded excitedly, picked up a rope basket and a long spear, and ran off in one breath.

Li Mutian laughed and headed to the fields.

——

Meishe River was shallow and wide, with large stretches of mudflats and reeds along the banks. The village's geese and ducks, numbering in the dozens or hundreds, didn't need to be fed. They were let out early in the morning and went to the river.

In the evening, one person would call out by the river, and the geese and ducks, accustomed to the sound, would follow home slowly.

When Li Xiangping arrived, the geese and ducks hadn't been let out yet, and the Meishe River was empty. Two small wooden rafts were bobbing on the shore. He rolled up his pants and sleeves, knelt in the mud, and felt around with his hands. He squinted and saw a green tail in the water.

"Good fish!"

Li Xiangping pressed down hard, held his breath, and dove. With his right hand, he grabbed the green tail and pulled it up.

"Hehe."

Li Xiangping laughed, threw the fish into the basket, and thought to himself that the fish in Meishe River were not usually this stupid. This green-tailed fish must have come from upstream, giving the child a lucky catch.

Looking at his feet, Li Xiangping seemed puzzled. The bottom of the water seemed unusually smooth, with a faint silver glow.

Just as he was about to hold his breath and dive to investigate, a loud voice called out from the shore:

"Brother Xiangping!"

Li Xiangping instinctively hid the basket behind him and looked up to see a child of about ten or so years old emerging from the reeds.

"Brother Ye, are you here to let the ducks out...?"

"Yep!"

His cousin, Li Yesheng, nodded obediently and smiled.

"Early this morning, I heard a strange story. A large deer was bitten by a snake and died at the village entrance. Its antlers were as big as a table, quite terrifying."

Li Xiangping listened to his story, sighed, and handed the basket forward.

"Look at this green tail, caught by hand."

"Good fish!" Li Yesheng looked down at the basket and smiled enviously.

Li Yesheng's father was bedridden, and his older brother was idle, often leaving them without food. He usually came to his Uncle Li Mutian's house for meals, and his cousin Li Xiangping always treated him like a younger brother.

After chatting for a while, Li Yesheng shook his head and said, "Alright, brother, I'll go back and watch the ducks. If any are missing, my brother will beat me to death."

"Go on, then."

Li Xiangping, eager to investigate the object at the bottom of the river, hurried him away.

"Okay!"

As soon as he left, Li Xiangping held his breath and dove to the bottom of the river. After feeling around, he found a round object.

"Phew."

Li Xiangping wiped his face and examined the object in his hand.

It was about the size of a palm, a small, grayish-green circular disc with a dark iron rim around the edge. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it. The front was broken into seven or eight pieces, held together by the rim, while the back had a rather strange symbol that Li Xiangping couldn't identify.

"It looks a bit like Aunt's mirror." Li Xiangping's aunt had the largest field in the village and was the only one who could afford a mirror. When she got it, his mother had even taken Li Xiangping to see it, and it was indeed more convenient than water. However, the mirror in his hand was too blurry, and he couldn't see anything clearly. He sighed and threw it into the basket, then turned back to catching fish.

——

Lu Jiangxian had been in the water for about half a month. Starting from the third day, the lunar energy had stopped increasing. He tried for another week but made no progress, only managing to emit a faint light.

In the morning, he was staring at a large green fish when a large hand pressed the fish into the mud. The surroundings shook, and the hand grabbed the fish by the gills and pulled it away.

Lu Jiangxian was still in a complex state of mind when he saw a large, rather handsome face. He felt a bit nervous as the man chattered and then threw him into the basket, where he found himself face to face with the green-tailed fish.

At that moment, Lu Jiangxian realized a serious problem: he could hear, but he might not understand.

The pronunciation in this place was somewhat similar to the dialects of the Min and Zhe regions in his previous life, and he couldn't understand a word. This meant that if he could speak, the other person wouldn't understand him either, which would greatly hinder his integration into this world.

Watching the small fish being thrown into the basket, Lu Jiangxian focused his mind to sense the surroundings.

Seeing the boy carefully raising the wooden spear, Lu Jiangxian let out a light "hmm." From this perspective, he could vaguely sense the boy's thoughts, which were focused on a particular fish at the bottom of the river.

With the help of this perspective, the boy would mutter to himself each time he caught a fish. Before long, Lu Jiangxian had learned the pronunciations of the numbers 3 to 6 and the names of different fish species.

"One step at a time."

Watching the boy get up and leave, Lu Jiangxian sighed. This child looked like a farmer's son and would likely hand over the bronze-like object to his parents first.

He needed to interact more with people, gradually learn the local dialect, and find a way to enhance his lunar energy while ensuring his own safety.

(End of Chapter)