However, Li Tongya and Li Xiangping entered the dense reed marsh, and upon parting the overlapping layers of reeds for a closer look, they saw the Mirror emitting a warm, greyish-blue light. Li Xiangping glanced in the direction of the light and whispered,
"This is the direction of Wangyue Lake; just follow the ancient Lidao for half an hour, and we should be there."
Li Tongya shook his head and said, "We can't take the ancient Lidao; let's go through the reed marsh."
Li Xiangping quietly agreed with a 'yes' and started to make his way through the marsh, crouching down beside his brother.
Lu Jiangxian felt the pulling force growing stronger. Upon entering the reed marsh, he was greeted by a bright scene, a vague vision that seemed to be a cool and clear lake with dozens of white egrets resting on one foot by the lake shore.
As Li Xiangping kept moving forward, the greyish-blue Mirror in his hand grew hotter, causing him anxiety. He looked up at his second brother, and Li Tongya's face was tense and silent, but his eyes were filled with worry.
"Can mortals really meddle with such divine fate..." Li Xiangping, oblivious to the heat, caressed the Mirror.
"Good Mirror, nice Mirror, we're almost there," he murmured to the grey-blue precious Mirror in his hands.
Suddenly, the brothers emerged from the thick reed marsh, and Wangyue Lake, shimmering with waves, and a flock of startled egrets came into view.
Lu Jiangxian looked straight at a messy stone shoal in the lake where amid the moss-covered rocks, a piece of Jade Stone was firmly stuck in a crevasse, gleaming with white light.
The hot greyish-blue Mirror emitted a pale beam of moonlight, and an image of that sandy shoal with the Jade Stone wedged in the crevice blurry appeared before Li Tongya and Li Xiangping.
Li Xiangping and Li Tongya exchanged glances, each seeing surprise and joy in the other's eyes. Li Xiangping nodded vigorously, stripped off his clothes, and was about to step into the lake.
"Wait!" Li Tongya grabbed him and shook his head,
"I'll get it. You hold onto the Mirror and wait on the shore. If the moon moves to that position and I'm not back yet,"
he pointed to a spot in the sky.
"Hide the Mirror in the reed marsh and run towards the ancient Lidao. Don't go home," advised Li Tongya gravely as he looked at his brother. "Come back after the sun is well up in the sky to see how things are."
"Yes..." Li Xiangping sounded choked up, wiping away tears as he watched his second brother.
Li Tongya gave a wry smile, stripped to reveal his muscular arms, and turned to swim toward the center of the lake, leaving Li Xiangping to hide in the reeds, dazedly watching his brother.
Years before, he had come to Wangyue Lake with his father and brothers, swimming back and forth numerous times, making him familiar with the lake, allowing him to swim easily to its center.
He gingerly prodded among the many crevices and after a short time, he had scoured the sandy shoal thoroughly.
"Nothing," Li Tongya frowned, checking carefully once more and retrieving five or six small river crabs.
Indeed, he felt a cool touch between his fingers upon finding something smooth. Using his fingers, he pulled out a piece of Jade Stone, about two fingers wide.
This Jade Stone was long and rectangular, with characters and patterns engraved on its surface. Li Tongya squinted at it in the moonlight,
"Tai... Yue... Qi... Nourish... Wheel..." He recognized only a few characters. Li Tongya had learned reading as a child and could recognize most characters, but the intricate patterns on the Jade Stone were hard to decipher.
After a calm look back at the shore, he clenched the Jade Stone in his hand and swam back.
"Younger brother!"
Upon reaching the shore, he called softly into the reed marsh, and Li Xiangping appeared. Just as Li Tongya was about to show the Jade Stone, it transformed into a streak of white light and "whooshed" into the Mirror.
The sudden change startled them both; they watched the Mirror's surface as white light surged, and moonlight turned into beams that flew into the Mirror.
Lu Jiangxian felt as if struck by lightning. A beam of white light collided straight with him, as a vast sea of knowledge rushed into his mind. He cried out in pain and promptly fainted from the overwhelming sensation.
Li Tongya and Li Xiangping watched as the Mirror swallowed the Jade Stone in their hands and gradually calmed down, its white light also slowly dimming.
The golden red glow of the dawn crept across the sky, falling on the bare upper body of Li Tongya, revealing his shining golden lines. He looked down at his younger brother and said,
"Let's go back home first."
————
Li Mutian sat next to the red lacquered wooden table, listening as his two sons explained the ins and outs of the matter clearly. He nodded towards Li Tongya and said,
"You've done well."
He and Li Changhu tossed and turned, unable to sleep all night. Now that he saw his two children return safely, the weight on his heart finally fell.
"Our house with its front gate and back courtyard is not small, and the backyard even backs onto the mountain. I've been thinking about uprooting those two fields in front to build two houses, flanking and connecting into one large courtyard. Once the front gate is closed, there's no worry of peeping strangers."
Li Mutian said slowly, harboring this thought in earlier years. His children were growing up day by day, and it was almost time to split the household.
Relying on his savings, the Li Family could be considered a prominent household in Lijing Village. After returning from military service, Li Mutian bought more than ten acres of paddy fields, plus the inherited five acres of good land from his father, amounting to almost twenty acres in total.
Lijing Village was known for its fertile soil and nurturing environment, with reed marshes and tidal flats all being precious for sustaining life.
If one excludes labor, the twenty acres of land could feed more than ten people in a bountiful year; the Li Family had long been able to shut their doors and live as landlords.
Precisely because the Li Family had grain and fields, his four children could attend school and learn to read and write. It was indeed Li Mutian's disdain for the idle wealthy that prompted him to require his children to study and farm daily, so that after the divvying up of the household, they could all live well.
"Now, the family cannot be divided, and even the wives we choose must be from our own close-knit community."
Li Mutian recalled the grand households he had seen in the city, with their extended families residing in large courtyards, some attending school and joining the official ranks, others practicing martial arts and leading troops—such splendor! In contrast, poor peasant families were split up cleanly, without entangling each other's affairs.
"Let's do it this way!"
Li Mutian's eyes brightened as he spoke to his two children.
"Call your eldest brother back from the fields to level the ground; leave those tenant farmers to handle the fields. Your fourth brother need not go mulberry picking this afternoon. From now on, he will study for the full day at the master's place."
"Alright." Li Xiangping, after milling about all night, was still full of energy and darted out the door upon hearing this.
Li Tongya looked at his father and pondered for a moment before he finally spoke up:
"Father, are you considering adopting those clan precepts from the books, establishing ancestral halls, opening a clan office, studying for civil service, practicing martial arts to lead troops?"
"Our Li Family's savings span two centuries; it is indeed time."
Li Mutian laughed and waved his hand.
"As for studying and martial arts, the ancient Lidao is extremely dangerous. Venturing in and out of Li Mountain is a life-threatening ordeal, and those skills aren't something to sell to the Emperor of Yue Country. It's nothing more than a means to ensure the inheritance of our family business and to protect ourselves..."
Li Tongya nodded and said softly,
"There might be things even more marvelous than studying and martial arts."
"Don't spout nonsense here."
Li Mutian laughed heartily, patted Li Tongya on the shoulder, and walked out with his head held high and hands behind his back.