Li Mutian walked to the Tian family courtyard with his hands clasped behind his back. Tian Yun, crouched in the yard washing vegetables, looked up immediately. Recognizing him, she smiled shyly.
"Uncle Li!"
She set down the greens, rose quickly, and called toward the house. "Father! Uncle Mutian is here."
"It's me," Li Mutian said with a warm smile, looking Tian Yun over.
The girl had blossomed over the past three years — willowy figure, delicate features, nothing strikingly beautiful but pleasant enough, her smile carrying a certain charm all its own.
"Not bad, not bad." He swung his arm forward, revealing the wild goose he had been hiding behind his back.
"Uncle Li, you're too kind." Tian Yun stared at the bird, then gasped. "Is that a goose?"
In the State of Yue, a man seeking marriage brought a wild goose to the woman's family gate — the ritual of *nacai*, the formal marriage proposal. Farming households rarely troubled themselves with elaborate ceremony. Most men in Lijing Village showed up empty-handed. Tian Yun had never seen a proper proposal before.
"How do you feel about my Xiangping?" Li Mutian laughed, teasing her.
Tian Yun flushed crimson from ears to neck. Caught between maidenly reserve and the fear he might take her silence for refusal, she stammered out: "I'm... I'm fond of him!"
Tian Shoushui emerged from the house just in time to hear this. The weight that had pressed on his chest for months finally lifted.
A father always knows. His daughter's heart had belonged to Li Xiangping for a long time. But the boy was so inscrutable — never giving anything away — and Tian Shoushui feared his daughter would only embarrass herself.
"Big brother!" Tian Shoushui greeted him with a booming laugh.
Tian Shoushui had followed Li Mutian since age five. At twelve, they'd enlisted together alongside Ren Ping'an. The three had clung to each other like brothers through the army years — not blood, but closer than blood. After returning to the village and dealing with the Yuan household, Li Mutian had helped him at every turn: dividing land, even arranging his marriage. Tian Shoushui's fate was bound to the Li family. He had practically raised Li Changhu himself.
His daughter marrying into that household? She couldn't lose.
Tian Yun, seeing her father emerge, fled the scene — setting Li Mutian laughing again.
"Brother," Tian Shoushui said, his smile fading. "There's something else."
"What is it?"
"I was on the mountain a few days ago. Passing the Yuan family tomb, I heard something. When I turned back to look — nothing."
"Yuan survivors?" Li Mutian's brow furrowed darkly.
"Probably just distant relatives sneaking offerings," Tian Shoushui said, more to reassure himself than anything.
"You're right," Li Mutian said, relaxing somewhat. "Back then we confirmed five Yuan household members. No mistakes."
"Big brother, on such a good day I shouldn't speak such cursed words!" Tian Shoushui slapped his own mouth, drawing a soft laugh from Li Mutian.
Walking home along the dirt path, Li Mutian's face was calm, but his gaze lingered on Great Li Mountain.
---
The marriage settled, Li Mutian returned to the courtyard. The three brothers sat around the wooden table, talking idly. The youngest, Li Chijing, was shut in his room cultivating — the daytime moon essence was thin, but the boy wasted not a single moment.
Li Xiangping was poring over the *Attraction Method* text, the cloth so creased and thumbed the ink was bleeding at the edges.
"Third brother, go easy on it," Li Tongya said with a soft laugh, his knife-pen never pausing as he carved characters into a wooden slip.
Eldest brother Li Changhu sat nearby, going over land deeds and accounts. "He's been at it all morning," he said dryly.
Li Mutian stepped across the stone threshold, lifted the teapot from the table, and settled onto the steps. "I went to the Tian house to propose," he said casually.
Li Xiangping shot up from his chair, face tight with anxiety. "What did they say?"
"Tian Yun said she's fond of you." Li Mutian took a slow sip of tea.
"Good... good, that's wonderful." Li Xiangping nodded, giddy with relief.
His two elder brothers burst out laughing.
"Listen to me." Li Mutian set down his cup, his expression turning grave. "The immortal path may be wondrous, but who knows what terrors and dangers lie hidden? Our Li family has few members. If anything happens to you boys — who carries on the bloodline?"
Seeing the young men straighten with attention, he waved a hand. "This mirror is our fortune, but it may also be our ruin."
"I rushed Changhu into marriage hoping he'd produce children quickly. If disaster strikes, at least the Li name might survive." He pointed at Li Xiangping. "The same goes for you."
Then he turned to Li Tongya with a weary sigh. "As for you, Tongya — I'm old. I can't persuade you. You have no interest in the village women, but you must leave descendants behind somehow."
Li Tongya nodded in silence. After a long pause, he spoke. "Don't worry, Father. I know what I'm doing."
"That's best."
Li Mutian rubbed at the white creeping into his temples. He was nearing sixty. His body was still strong, his household prosperous — but the world was fickle. Better to settle family affairs while he could.
"Father!"
A clear, bright voice broke through the heavy atmosphere. Li Chijing burst from the house, planting himself before his brothers.
"I'm nearly finished refining eighty-one strands of moon essence! Soon I'll form the Profound Vision Wheel!"
"Our Chijing is remarkable," Li Mutian said, his gloom evaporating. He swept the boy into his arms, laughing. The brothers' faces lit up in turn. Li Changhu reached out to pinch Li Chijing's cheeks, only releasing him when the boy yelped in protest.
"Next time, we summon the spirit seeds at the summer solstice," Li Tongya murmured, watching the joyful scene. "We missed the new moon — unprepared. Summer solstice is only days away."
He kept carving the *Attraction Method* onto the slip, but inside, his heart surged like a storm-tossed sea.
*The path of immortality — Li Tongya is coming for you.*