My Life As A Mirror in this Cultivation World - Chapter 3: Appraisal

“Oh, Brother Xiangping.”

Li Xiangping walked back with a basket, and from a distance, a girl approached. The girl had a round face, ordinary features, and a full smile that added charm to her plain appearance.

“Yun’er.”

Li Xiangping smiled at the girl, turned around, and handed over the basket of fish.

“Take some of these good fish caught by your brother home and taste them.”

“I can’t do that.”

Tian Yun smiled and lowered her head. The girl matured early; at eleven, she had already grown taller than thirteen-year-old Li Xiangping. In the Li Jing Village, men and women married at thirteen or fifteen, and among the same generation, only these two were the most suitable in age. In the girl’s heart, the young man in front of her had long been set as her husband.

“No, take them!” Li Xiangping stuffed two fish into Tian Yun’s hands. He didn’t think much about it. Among the villagers, Uncle Tian was the most generous, and he particularly liked fish. If he encountered his daughter, he naturally had to take care of her.

After bidding farewell to Tian Yun, Li Xiangping hurriedly walked into his home and threw the basket into the small pond. After some thought, he took out the appraisal token, wiped it clean, put it into his pocket, and picked up three wooden boxes from the table before heading to the fields.

There, his two brothers were working with their father.

The Li family had four brothers: Li Changhu, Li Tongya, Li Xiangping, and Li Chijing. In Daya Village, whenever the Li family was mentioned, everyone would praise these four brothers. Tian Yun’s father often enviedly said, “Li Mutian is really blessed with such good fortune!”

Li Mutian, despite being considered fortunate by others, did not think so. As the only person in Daya Village who had traveled far, he watched his children toil and suffer in the fields.

“A good man should study and become a soldier. Being in the fields is for the weak!” He pointed at Uncle Tian and scolded.

However, life was ironic. Those who had experienced the light often suffered. Li Mutian had been through the military, had taken lives, and at the age of over forty, he returned to Changchi Village, bought land with military pay, and became a wealthy landowner. Yet, he was the least satisfied.

As Li Xiangping reached the fields, his eldest brother, Li Changhu, was already waiting under the shade of a tree. Being the oldest at seventeen, he already had a hint of a beard on his face.

“Little brother, take it easy. No need to rush,” Li Changhu said, gently patting Li Xiangping’s head and looking at him with warmth.

“I heard from Uncle Tian that you had a good harvest today.”

“Way too much, brother!” Li Xiangping laughed heartily. “Tonight, we can finally have a good meal!”

“You, indeed.”

Li Changhu wiped the sweat off his brother’s face, picked up a wooden box, and shouted towards the field, “Second brother—”

“Coming!” The second brother, Li Tongya, walked quickly with a hoe in hand. He sat down, greeted Li Changhu as big brother, and then smiled at Li Xiangping.

“You guys eat, I’m heading back.” Li Xiangping had been busy all morning and was starving. He hurried back home.

When Lu Jiangxian was in Li Xiangping’s basket, he felt a vague, unexplainable force pulling him. As they approached the Li family, this sensation became stronger and stronger.

Passing by the large locust tree at the village entrance, as Lu Jiangxian entered the village, this attraction reached its peak. Lu Jiangxian felt chest tightness and shortness of breath, the mirror in the basket trembled slightly, and a red light radiated from it.

“That is a part of me, or something crucial to me,” Lu Jiangxian had a kind of enlightenment.

“To the north! In the direction of that big lake!” As Li Xiangping gradually moved away from the village entrance, this attraction slowly disappeared. Lu Jiangxian mentally noted down this direction.

Sticking close to Li Xiangping, Lu Jiangxian wandered around the village. Combining his perception of psychological activities with the observation of the target’s actions and tone, Lu Jiangxian could basically understand what each person he saw was talking about.

He found that this seemed to be an ordinary village. There were no martial arts experts with extraordinary skills, and no immortal cultivators flying around.

“People work diligently from sunrise to sunset, and the tools and scale of the fields are not unexpectedly different.”

“This place seems to be really just an ordinary village, and the best house is just a two-story earthen structure…” Lu Jiangxian pondered. If there were cultivators, they wouldn’t live in a small mud house, right?

“Powerful strength will bring about strong productivity, but this small village is too backward.”

He already had a rough idea in his mind, and his future plans were slowly taking shape.

Tonight, the Li family was exceptionally busy. Mother and the two younger brothers were busy washing and cooking.

Li Xiangping returned with a full load, and his younger brother, Li Chijing, secretly caught a nest of fat field mice while picking mulberry leaves for silkworms on the back mountain. He stuffed them in a grain bag and brought them back. Their father, Li Mutian, was delighted, patting the shoulders of the two boys hard, praising them until their tails were high.

At the age of fourteen or fifteen, a growth spurt, several dishes on the table went into the stomachs of the people.

Li Mutian only tasted a piece, and the mother, Liu Linyun, smiled at the four brothers. Only the big yellow dog was anxiously turning around under the table, shuttling between the legs of the six.

After dinner.

The moon slowly rose over Dali Mountain. Li Xiangping leaned against the corner of the wall, holding a long straw in his mouth, while Li Mutian frowned and looked at the sky, as if searching for something.

“Oh, Dad.” Li Xiangping patted his father’s leg and took out the appraisal token from his pocket.

“I found this thing in the river early in the morning.”

“Hmm.” Li Mutian took the token, squinted, and examined it repeatedly.

“Neither iron nor copper, what kind of good thing is this?”

The cool moon slowly descended in front of the house, seemingly coming to life, gathering bit by bit above the mirror, forming a faint lunar halo. Li Xiangping couldn’t help but rub his eyes, as if the most beautiful moonlight he had seen in thirteen years appeared in that faint lunar halo.

“Dad!” Li Xiangping whispered.

“Shut up!” Li Mutian was shocked, forcing himself to look away from the lunar halo. His hands trembled uncontrollably as he stuffed the appraisal token into Li Xiangping’s arms and whispered to him:

“Hide inside, tell your brothers to grab their knives and come out.”

For the first time, Li Xiangping saw such a fierce and murderous intent on his father’s face. His eyes narrowed slightly, resembling a hawk ready to strike.

“Yes…”

His voice trembling, legs weakening, he slowly moved into the room.

The night was still young as Li Xiangping pushed open the door.

“Brother— Dad said to quickly grab your weapons and go to the door.” Li Xiangping almost cried, speaking softly to his two brothers leaning against the bed.

“What?!”

Li Changhu stood up in shock, hands supporting Li Xiangping, looking at him anxiously. “Is Dad in danger? What’s going on?”

On the other hand, the second brother, Li Tongya, flipped over and retrieved two knives from under the bed. He also took down the vine clothes and long sticks hanging on the wall, gazing gloomily outside, and whispered:

“It must be enemies at the door.” He handed the long knife and vine clothes to Li Changhu, holding the long stick himself, and patted Li Changhu.

“Brother, no need to ask more. Third brother, take Mother and the fourth brother and hide in the backyard.”

“Alright.”

Li Xiangping hurriedly went to find his mother, while Li Changhu quickly calmed down. He put on the vine clothes, held the knife, and headed towards the door.

Outside the house.

Li Mutian was standing at the door, silently watching the melon field in front of the house. When the two youths stood behind him, he waved his hand and took the long knife.

“You two, one on the left and one on the right, check in front and behind the house, make sure there’s no one around.” The two hurriedly complied, checking in opposite directions.

Li Mutian boldly walked into the melon field in front of the house. Bending over, he lifted something from the field—a person.