By the White Dragon River, a flat boulder served as a natural fishing platform.
Liu Zhijian did not attach any bait; he simply cast out a line at random.
All was quiet as cloud reflections drifted over the cold river.
Liu Zhijian's restless heart gradually calmed down as well.
The night was deep; he could no longer see where his hook and bobber were.
Holding the fishing rod, Liu Zhijian gazed into the distance with a deep look in his eyes.
With no wife and no children, traveling around the whole country fishing all alone—had he truly never regretted it?!
In truth, he had.
On countless late nights when he tossed and turned unable to sleep, he had shaken with doubt and felt regret.
It was just that when he woke up the next day, he would forget about it and continue his journey.
The moonlight on those nights seemed no different from this very moment.
A long time had passed, feeling like a lifetime ago.
He had thought these memories had long faded into obscurity, yet now he recalled them one by one as if they had occurred yesterday, filling him with mixed emotions.
Especially when he recalled his mother's disappointed yet pitying gaze as she passed away, along with how she had held his hand and asked, "What will you do all by yourself after I die?", Liu Zhijian felt a heart-wrenching pain as his eyes blurred with tears.
He was indeed an unfilial son.
Back then, he had fled his hometown, and now he had even fled Earth.
How much of what he felt now was fear, guilt, regret, or freedom had long interwoven into a tangled mass, impossible to distinguish.
Instead of catching fish, he had fished up a wave of old memories.
Unknowingly, midnight had arrived.
The river was smooth as a mirror, and the cold moon seemed close at hand.
Liu Zhijian gently raised his rod.
Hanging from the hook was a fine-scaled little fish the size of a fingertip, gleaming with a pure white light in the moonlight.
"The first fish definitely goes into the livewell."
"One must still have a sense of ritual."
Liu Zhijian unhooked the little fish and tossed it into his fish basket.
He caught nothing else until dawn began to break.
Yet Liu Zhijian did not feel the least bit frustrated or sad. Carrying the fish basket, he walked toward Mount Yandang, his steps surprisingly light and carefree.
He returned to the thatched cottage.
Jiang Xiaoyu was humming a song while braiding her pigtails. Seeing Liu Zhijian walking over under the morning sun, radiant and showing no fatigue from night fishing, her eyes lit up, and she plunged her head toward the fish basket again. "Let me see, let me see!"
Liu Zhijian had grown accustomed to this routine, so he merely held the fish basket carefully to avoid dirtying the little girl's clothes.
"Che..."
Jiang Xiaoyu said with a face full of disappointment, "You didn't catch any fish again."
"Nonsense!"
Refusing to admit defeat, Liu Zhijian emphasized, "I caught one! And it was a very beautiful, very rare fish!"
Jiang Xiaoyu peered into the basket and looked carefully. "There clearly isn't one!"
Liu Zhijian lifted it to check, and indeed there was none—the fish was probably too small and had escaped through a gap in the basket. Stubbornly, he argued back, "What do you know?! In fishing, the most important thing is one's state of mind!"
"Caring about how many fish you catch is for amateurs!"
Jiang Xiaoyu made a face, sticking out her tongue and mocking him nonstop.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed and annoyed, Liu Zhijian pulled Jiang Xiaoyu over and casually untied her two crooked pigtails.
The quirky little girl was suddenly left with disheveled hair.
Liu Zhijian let out a cold snort, let go of Jiang Xiaoyu, picked up his fishing rod and basket, and ran off.
"Wah!"
Having spent so much effort braiding her hair, Jiang Xiaoyu flew into a rage and surprisingly burst into tears for the very first time. Clinging to Liu Zhijian's leg, she sobbed, "You can't leave! Pay me back for my braids!"
Hearing the crying, Elder Luo stepped out of the thatched cottage, glanced at them, and remained silent.
Liu Zhijian hadn't expected to be caught red-handed by a guardian while teasing a little girl. Instantly feeling deeply embarrassed and ashamed, he had no choice but to drop his rod and basket to comfort Jiang Xiaoyu.
Jiang Xiaoyu refused to listen and kept crying endlessly.
Having no choice, Liu Zhijian could only promise to fix her braids, steeling himself to style Jiang Xiaoyu's loose hair.
Liu Zhijian was adept at tying hooks and untangling lines.
However, braiding a little girl's hair was an absolute first for him.
Flustered, Liu Zhijian managed only to tie two crooked little buns of unequal size and asymmetrical shape.
Jiang Xiaoyu finally stopped crying. Touching her braids, she choked up and said, "They're so ugly!"
Even so, she didn't undo them, nor did she make Liu Zhijian redo them.
Having escaped a crisis, Liu Zhijian offered Elder Luo an embarrassed smile and hastily made his getaway.
Jiang Xiaoyu ran around wearing those ugly braids and even snuck off to the market at the foot of the mountain to play wildly all day, until Elder Luo dragged her back in the evening.
Night came.
Liu Zhijian went to the river to fish as usual.
In the river breeze and moonlight, he carefully savored the memories welling up within him.
Occasionally, he would catch those fine-scaled little fish the size of a finger.
When the morning sun rose, Liu Zhijian would return to rest.
Jiang Xiaoyu would, as usual, hum a song at the crossroads with her hair down. Upon seeing Liu Zhijian, she would rush over to peer into the fish basket, listen to him boast about how rare and beautiful those fine-scaled fish were, and then make faces to mock him.
Liu Zhijian would then help braid her hair as a matter of routine.
After all, practice makes perfect.
In less than half a month, Liu Zhijian could braid her hair quite decently.
A few times, he even tried to recall styles from Earth, but unfortunately, he failed, resulting in surprisingly hideous hairstyles.
Jiang Xiaoyu didn't mind either, playing wildly every day while sporting those strangely shaped little braids.
If he didn't think about gathering qi, days like these seemed quite pleasant.
Liu Zhijian grilled two skewers of fish, sent Jiang Xiaoyu on her way, and suddenly felt a touch of anxiety in his heart.
Deng Gang had been gone for a full month and had yet to return.
Although Deng Gang had swallowed qi to enter the Dao and followed the body refinement path, allowing him to gain the upper hand against cultivators of the same realm,
the disaster victims gathered at the foot of the mountain were growing anxious and fearful.
Mount Yandang had three chiefs.
Elder Luo cared only about his precious granddaughter, Jiang Xiaoyu.
Liu Zhijian was obsessed with fishing to the point of losing track of time.
Only the First Chief, Deng Gang, possessed a profound sense of brotherhood and served as everyone's backbone.
Just as Liu Zhijian was considering whether to go down the mountain to search for him, a clamor arose from below.
Deng Gang was back.
Liu Zhijian finally felt relieved.
"Brother Liu!"
Although Deng Gang showed signs of weariness after being away for a month, he looked radiant as he spoke: "I have decided to raise the banner of rebellion and sweep clean Yandang Prefecture!"
Liu Zhijian was startled upon hearing this, then slowly nodded.
In this dog-eat-dog world, a heroic figure truly needed to step forward and transform heaven and earth.
With a sincere expression, Deng Gang asked, "I often listen to Brother Liu speak of grand strategies for governing a country and managing its people, and I have been deeply inspired. Is Brother Liu willing to help me?!"
Liu Zhijian felt somewhat awkward.
He had barely read a few books himself; how could he understand any strategy for governing a nation?!
He had merely recounted the deeds of revolutionary martyrs, unaware that it would deeply shock Deng Gang, a native of the cultivation world.
As for joining Deng Gang...
Liu Zhijian felt put in a difficult position.
Under Mount Taixuan, there were five prefectures in total.
Huichun Prefecture, where Spring Return Valley was located, had already been taken by the Qingyun Sect.
Deng Gang harbored immense hatred toward Mount Taixuan.
If he were to join the rebellion, he would be undermining his own sect.
If Yandang Prefecture were lost as well, Master would probably come down the mountain to execute his traitorous disciple.
Liu Zhijian sighed and tactfully declined, "Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Brother Deng."
"I still need to gather qi and cultivate, so I'm afraid I cannot divide my attention. I won't get involved."
Deng Gang hesitated as if wanting to say more, but ultimately remained silent, nodding as he said, "Rest assured, Brother Liu. Once I take Yandang Prefecture, the next step is to sweep across the Huang Kingdom and storm the Taixuan Demonic Sect!"
"When that time comes, you won't be lacking the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth you need to enter the Dao!"
"Ah?!"
Liu Zhijian felt his head throb with a massive headache.
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