A plump wild goose dangled from Li Gengye's hand, swaying gently with each step. As he rounded the corner of the Tian family's courtyard wall, he spotted Tian Wan crouched in the yard picking vegetables, humming some unfamiliar tune.
"Uncle Li!"
Tian Wan's sharp eyes caught the visitor immediately. She hastily set down her vegetables, called out shyly, then stood up and shouted toward the house:
"Father! Uncle Gengye is here!"
"It's me."
Li Gengye responded with a smile, his gaze falling on Tian Wan.
The girl had grown more lovely over these three years, her figure curves in all the right places, shapely and graceful. Though not an absolute beauty, her features were proper and dignified, and when she smiled, she possessed a unique captivating charm.
"Not bad, not bad at all." Li Gengye revealed the wild goose he had hidden behind his back, presenting it before Tian Wan.
"Uncle Li, you're too generous."
Tian Wan stared blankly at the man carrying gifts, then looked more closely. A sudden cry escaped her:
"Is that a goose?"
Ancient custom held: marriage negotiations begin with the presentation of a goose.
In the Yue Kingdom, when a man wished to court a woman, he would bring a wild goose to her door—this ceremony was called making a proposal.
Common farming families could not afford elaborate ceremonies. Among the ordinary folk of Lixi Village, some didn't even bring gifts when proposing, let alone a wild goose. This was the first time Tian Wan had witnessed someone conduct such a formal proposal with a goose, and only then did she realize the significance.
"Does my Yunping please you?"
Li Gengye laughed heartily, teasing her a little.
Tian Wan's blush had spread from her earlobes all the way to her neck. Torn between modesty and shyness, she hemmed and hawed, wanting to hide her feelings but afraid Uncle Li might take her seriously. So she spoke quietly yet firmly:
"Yes, he does!"
Tian Shoushan had just stepped through the doorway, and upon hearing those words, felt an immense relief wash over him. The stone that had weighed on his heart for so long finally fell away.
A father's eyes were keen—how could he not see that his daughter's heart had long been set on that Li Yunping?
But that boy always kept his thoughts hidden like water, revealing nothing of his true feelings. Tian Shoushan feared his daughter would be embarrassed, so he had remained silent all along.
"Brother!" Tian Shoushan strode forward with a big smile.
Tian Shoushan had followed Li Gengye around since the age of five, and at twelve, the two of them had enlisted together with Ren Anping. The three men had clung together for survival in the army, closer than brothers.
Later, when they returned to the village, aside from that powerful Yuan family, they had all retired from that life and turned to farming. Li Gengye had looked out for him in every way—sharing farmland and even acting as a matchmaker to help him find a wife.
Tian Shoushan's fate had long been intertwined with the Li family. He had personally helped raise Li Changhe, treating him even more affectionately than his own children.
If his daughter could marry into the Li family, how could she possibly be at a disadvantage?
Tian Wan had no idea how many thoughts had churned in her father's mind. When she saw her father emerge, she retreated as if fleeing, drawing another round of laughter from Li Gengye.
"Brother, besides this marriage matter, there is another important thing." Tian Shoushan shook his head helplessly and grew serious.
"What is it?"
Li Gengye looked up, somewhat puzzled.
"A few days ago when I passed by the Yuan family's ancestral tomb on my way up the mountain, I heard some strange noises. When I turned back to investigate, I saw nothing."
"Are there remaining Yuan family members who weren't killed?" Li Gengye's eyebrows shot up, his expression darkening.
"I think it's just some distant relatives secretly offering sacrifices."
Tian Shoushan felt uneasy and quickly tried to reassure himself.
"Perhaps you're right." Li Gengye gradually relaxed and nodded to Tian Shoushan. "We did investigate back then—the Yuan family had five members, and there were no discrepancies."
"Brother, I shouldn't be saying such ominous things on such a good day!" Tian Shoushan slapped his own mouth, drawing a light laugh from Li Gengye.
After leaving the Tian household, Li Gengye walked calmly along the dirt path, gazing thoughtfully at Cangwu Mountain.
Having settled the marriage arrangements, Li Gengye hummed as he returned to his courtyard. Stepping over the front yard, he found only three brothers chatting by the wooden table.
His youngest son, Li Chixi, was meditating in the room with closed eyes. During the day, when moonlight was sparse, his progress was slow, but Li Chixi trained diligently day and night, refusing to waste a single moment.
In the courtyard, Li Yunping was poring over the Guide to Attraction scroll, the cloth so worn and creased that the ink had started to smudge.
"Third brother, handle it more gently." Li Tongyan teased with a light laugh, though his carving knife never stopped, quietly inscribing the scripture onto wooden slips.
Eldest brother Li Changhe was carefully reviewing the land deeds and accounts nearby. Upon hearing this, he raised an eyebrow and said:
"He's been at it all morning."
Li Gengye stepped over the stone steps, picked up the plain tea from the wooden table, and sat down on the step, speaking casually:
"I went to the Tian family to propose."
At this, Li Yunping leaped straight up from his chair, his face full of anxious concern.
"What did the Tian family say?"
"Tian Wan said she fancies you." Li Gengye sipped his tea slowly, sighing contentedly.
"Good, good, excellent!" Li Yunping nodded excitedly.
"Hahahahaha..." The two elder brothers couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Listen carefully." Li Gengye, however, was thinking of something else. He set down his teacup and spoke gravely:
"Though the path of cultivation is wondrous and miraculous, who knows what terrors and dangers lurk within? Our Li family has so few members—if something happened to you, who would carry on our lineage?"
Seeing all the young men growing serious, Li Gengye waved his hand:
"This treasure mirror is our family's opportunity, but it will also be our family's bane."
"I hastily arranged a match for Changhe and held the wedding, hoping he would quickly produce offspring—it's because I'm afraid that if something goes wrong someday, our Li family might still have a slim chance of survival."
"You're the same." Li Gengye pointed at Li Yunping, then looked at Li Tongyan with a helpless sigh.
"As for Tongyan, I'm getting old and can't reason with you anymore. You're not interested in any of the village women, but you must at least leave some descendants, right?"
Li Tongyan nodded silently. After several breaths, he spoke:
"Rest assured, Father. I know what I'm doing."
"That would be best."
Li Gengye brushed his hand over the white hair at his temples, his heart heavy with worry.
He was already nearly sixty years old. Though his body was strong and he lacked for nothing, the world was unpredictable—he should arrange family affairs sooner rather than later!
"Father!"
A crisp voice interrupted the somewhat oppressive atmosphere in the courtyard. Li Chixi burst out from the house and stood before his brothers.
"I'm about to refine the eighty-first wisp of moonlight and condense the Mysterious Light Wheel!" Li Chixi announced proudly, lifting his chin.
"My Chixi is impressive."
Li Gengye had heard his youngest son chattering on endlessly about this embryonic breath realm and Mysterious Light Wheel. He hugged the child happily, laughing aloud.
The brothers were all infected by this joyful atmosphere, breaking into smiles. Li Changhe even pinched Li Chixi's cheeks until the child kept complaining before letting go.
"The next spirit seed attraction ceremony won't be until the summer solstice."
Li Tongyan smiled at the happy scene in the courtyard, considering:
"The dark moon day passed and we weren't prepared, so we missed it. The next one is the summer solstice. We only need to wait a few more days."
The path of immortality was already calling Li Tongyan forward.
He continued quietly carving the Guide to Attraction into the bamboo slips, but inwardly his heart was surging, wildly excited.