Chapter 82: The Pillar of the Mansion Breaks

When Lu Jiangxian was offered back to the stone platform, he silently scanned the surroundings of the courtyard with his spiritual sense. Watching Li Mutian walk slowly into the courtyard, leaning against the door frame and gasping for breath with his eyes closed, he suddenly felt a lot of emotion.

"So much time has passed."

The day Li Xiangping picked up the magic mirror from the river, Li Mutian was still a patriarch with a solemn expression and eyes that were weary but powerful. Now, he was an old man over seventy, so old he could barely walk.

Since crossing over, Lu Jiangxian had always been half-asleep and half-awake in the mirror. Nearly twenty years had passed in a daze, but in his perception, only about a month had passed. The Li family had already stood firm and become a new cultivation family.

Li Mutian before him, however, was weakening day by day. The Li family's rapid growth seemed to have been blown out by the last breath in his chest, and this breath had now reached the end of its life.

Li Mutian said:

"Grandfather wants to eat lamb rice noodles."

Li Xuanfeng was stunned for a moment, listening to Li Mutian speak again:

"Your grandfather really wants to eat lamb rice noodles."

Li Xuanfeng responded and ran out without looking back. His grandfather's strange way of speaking left a huge, shadow-like worry in his heart. His words did not sound like an order, but rather carried a kind of pleading, which made him, who was always clever, shudder.

"Father wants to eat lamb rice noodles!"

Li Xuanfeng's words made Ren Shi freeze. Looking at the tears flowing down the child's face, she hurriedly called several women in the house, patted Li Xuanfeng on the shoulder, and said in a low voice with a secret sense of instruction:

"Quickly call your father back."

————

The steaming lamb rice noodles were sprinkled with green onions, and oil stars flashed on the crystal-clear rice noodles. The rich fragrance was pungent. It was placed on a wooden table in a porcelain bowl with a small chip, and a pair of wooden chopsticks were placed beside the bowl, looking clean and neat.

The bowl was one Li Mutian had used for thirty-one years. The chip was knocked out by a young Li Xiangping, for which he was severely beaten, crying out in pain and avoiding Li Mutian for several days.

Li Mutian moved slowly to his seat and picked up a chopstick of noodles with trembling hands. The sour, spicy, and soft noodles and the rich fragrance of the lamb soup made his limbs tremble. The taste made him burst into tears, recalling the bowl of lamb rice noodles his father, Li Genshui, had cooked for him personally.

That bowl of lamb rice noodles was far less delicious than this one; it had less vinegar, more spice, and insufficient soup. But both his mother and Li Mutian understood that his father was apologizing. Yet, he still smashed the bowl and ran away from home, gone for twenty-eight years.

Li Mutian cursed his father for being indecisive and only capable of ruining the whole family. Li Genshui cursed his son Li Mutian for being ungrateful, a bastard born of his wife and a wolf. He drew his knife and pointed it at his father, watching his father, Li Genshui, turn purple with rage, tears also on his face.

Twenty-eight years later, Li Mutian returned home. His father had indeed died at the hands of the Yuan family. He sneered and presented the heads of the entire Yuan family before his father's grave, dividing the land with an expressionless face. But when he woke up at night, he often found his pillow wet.

The memories only shuttled through Li Mutian's mind for a dozen breaths, because he fell straight down after eating only one mouthful of noodles.

Li Mutian felt as if a piece of charcoal had been thrust into his chest, burning his skin and flesh with a sizzling sound. A steel knife was rolling in his abdomen, and there was intense pain from head to toe.

The charcoal jumped from his chest into his mouth. His tongue and throat all became dry, and his hands and feet stiffened, becoming so iron-like and rigid that the circle of women around him couldn't lift him up.

"Grandfather! Grandfather!"

Li Mutian vaguely heard the sobbing of Li Xuanling. This child was Li Tongya's eldest son. Although he was only five, he was already unusually calm, just like Tongya when he was young.

He was a little anxious, stroking his tongue hard, wanting to make some sound to prove he was fine, but could only make a few dog-like whimpering sounds.

"Move him to the bed! Move him to the bed!"

Ren Shi called out with tears. She had just sent off her own father, Ren Ping'an, a few years ago. Seeing that the old man was about to die, she knew she couldn't let him die on the cold floor like this, so she hurriedly called several people to lift the old man up together.

"Where is Mother?"

Tian Yun asked hurriedly, only then learning that Li Mutian's wife, everyone's mother, Liu Shi, had gone down the mountain to visit her maiden family some time ago.

Several people moved the stiff Li Mutian to the bed and busied themselves in a flurry. Lu Jiangxian in the backyard felt complex emotions. He hurriedly cast a Calm Heart Spell and released the power of moonlight to sustain the old man's life. Seeing Li Xiangping and the others rush up the mountain, he stopped.

"This is the end of his life."

Lu Jiangxian felt Li Mutian's breath gradually weakening. Li Xiangping and Li Tongya finally entered the courtyard, followed by Li Xuanfeng, who was shedding tears.

Li Tongya held Li Mutian's hand with a worried expression, slowly transferring his peak Embryonic Breath magic power into Li Mutian's body. Li Mutian shuddered, let out a deep breath, and finally opened his eyes.

"Xiangping... Tongya..."

Li Mutian muttered, his eyes wandering over the people around him, his mouth opening and closing, saying something very, very low.

Li Tongya leaned down with tears in his eyes, hearing Li Mutian mutter:

"Chen, Xu, Liu... all families have deep roots in the village. Recall them all to Lijing Village, upgrade the village to a town, so they don't grow too powerful..."

"Father... you rest first, talk when you feel better..."

Li Xiangping choked and tried to dissuade him. Li Mutian shook his head at him and forced out the words:

"There are many arrogant members of the Li clan. You must establish a clan head to manage them... The direct line of four branches shall be the Great Clan, the rest of the Li surname shall be the Small Clan, and those further away shall be branches. Let them circulate among themselves, you handle it..."

"Xuanxuan can manage the family, you must watch over him. Xuanfeng is wild and clever, but you must guard against his indulgence in killing. Xuanling is steady and calm, he can accomplish things... Jingtian... has beauty... must guard against disaster... The Shanyue are far more harmful... Be very careful!"

Li Mutian's voice grew smaller and smaller. Li Xiangping also leaned close to him with tears in his eyes, watching the old man suddenly raise his hand and grab his wrist. That strength did not look like that of a dying man at all. A fierce light flashed in his dying eyes, and he twisted on the couch, his voice suddenly growing louder, gritting his teeth:

"When necessary... all the lands of the four villages can be abandoned... Do not learn from the Wan family... As long as one member of the Li family escapes... they can all... accomplish... things..."

Li Xiangping's tears streamed down, and he said fiercely:

"Father... the child remembers everything!"

Li Mutian then suddenly let go of his hand and stopped breathing. Everyone burst into loud sobs, but the old man's gaze was still fixed straight on the bowl of lamb rice noodles on the table beside him.

The soup was full, sour and spicy, and still steaming. ===== CHAPTER 83 =====