Lin Yue called over the children to pull weeds, and the four older ones happily trotted off to do so. Old Huang gave little Jingming, the youngest, a basket to gather stones while he nimbly cleared weeds with a hoe. As the sun set in the west, the donkey and horse grazed at their leisure.
Li Le scratched his head in frustration, ruffling his hair until he looked even more like a beggar than Old Huang. Carrying a woodchopping knife, he went off to cut down vines.
Old Huang bought some chickens and ducks from a farming family at the foot of the mountain and brought them back, their squawking drawing a crowd of curious children.
"We get to eat chicken eggs!" "We get to eat duck eggs!" "When can we eat them?"
The children chattered endlessly, heading to the back courtyard to look for bugs to feed the chickens and ducks, while Old Huang grinned from ear to ear.
After half a month of hard work, the vegetable garden finally took shape. Old Huang burned the weeds into ash to mix into the soil, then scattered vegetable seeds across the plot.
Once the compound repairs were nearly finished, the five children officially began their martial studies on Mount Guiwu, starting with the most fundamental lower-body training—horse stances.
On the open ground before the main hall, four of the kids strained to hold their postures with pained expressions. Little Jingming, barely over three years old, just squatted directly on the ground. Only after Li Le lightly flicked his rear with a tree branch did he push himself up into a horse stance that looked more like he was taking a dump.
Lin Yue practiced Tai Chi while Old Huang lit the fire in the kitchen to cook, curling wisps of smoke drifting upward.
After breakfast, Lin Yue led them through the Twenty-Four Form Tai Chi, even dragging Old Huang along to build patience, loosen tendons, invigorate circulation, and strengthen their bodies.
Afterward came more stance training before Li Le took over to teach them literacy, starting with basic characters.
Li Le wrote out the characters, which sprawled like squiggling earthworms. Lin Yue stared at them for a long time without recognizing a single one. Realizing he was practically misleading the young, she had no choice but to step in and teach them herself.
Hearing her evaluation, Li Le bristled with indignation—his handwriting was clearly much better than that of the old man who had taught him!
Still, since he no longer had to teach, he didn't bother arguing.
The staff was the supreme leader of all weapons. In the afternoon, he taught them basic staff technique, followed by another session of stance training.
Time flew by until the New Year arrived. Snow fell softly from the sky as Jingcheng used an incense stick to light firecrackers on the ground. Crackling sounds echoed between heaven and earth while red lanterns matched spring couplets in a festive, vibrant display, accompanied by laughter, joy, and the savory aroma of fish and meat.
After the New Year's Eve dinner came the midnight vigil. The five children enjoyed pastries and built snowballs in the courtyard, having the time of their lives.
While roasting frozen pears, Li Le chatted with Old Huang about how he and Song Jiqing used to scrounge for food in the village at the foot of the mountain during the New Year, begging from door to door for little bites until they were half full.
Old Huang resonated deeply with this and recounted his own begging life—how he would beg from one end of a town to the other, where there was always a kind family with pity to spare so he wouldn't starve.
By the end of their conversation, the two drank a bit of liquor, putting their arms around each other's shoulders in a shared bond of mutual sympathy.
Clad in a fox-fur coat and holding a hand-warmer, Lin Yue reclined on a lounger like a noble lady from a prominent family, watching snow dance across the sky. As snow accumulated and bent the tree branches, it looked as if black tresses were turning white.
Closing her eyes, she could hear the soft patter of falling snow, mingled with the casual chatter of adults and the joyful laughter of children.
"Lin Yue—"
Hearing her name, Lin Yue turned her head to look at Li Le, who was sitting on a low stool. Dressed in a silver-white brocade robe trimmed with cloud patterns, his flushed face reeked of alcohol in the prime of his youthful vigor. Holding Old Huang around the neck with one arm and a wine cup with the other, he declared grandly like a nouveau riche returning to his home village after striking it rich.
"Listen up! This sect master has decided that tomorrow, our sect will open the granary to distribute grain to every villager at the foot of the mountain! Whether you agree or not, this matter is settled!"
Having finally taken a stand on a major issue for once, his face wore a look of utter determination, like a proud rooster holding its head and tail high, refusing to allow any opposition.
"Alright," Lin Yue agreed with a nod, rubbing her hand-warmer. "I have nothing to do tomorrow, so I can offer free medical consultations in the village. Make the arrangements then."
"Splendid!" Li Le laughed heartily, poured a cup of wine, and held it out. "Have a drink!"
Taking the wine cup, Lin Yue clinked hers with his and drank it down. The wine was slightly cool and spicy, but a moment later, a warm surge spread through her.
Snowy weather was precisely when people froze or starved to death easily. The small village below had only about twenty households, barely over a hundred people in total. Giving each person a few jin amounted to less than a thousand jin of grain, which didn't cost much money.
Early in the morning on New Year's Day, Li Le led Old Huang and Jingcheng to the storehouse to haul grain down the mountain.
The blue-stone steps extended down the mountain, flanked by pine trees and bare branches. Lin Yue held a medical kit in one hand and an umbrella in the other as she walked down through the snow.
"Everyone gets a share! Line up! Did you hear me? Hurry up and get in line, get in line!"
"You brat, talking to your Uncle Shuanzi like that! What's wrong with an old man like me cutting in line?"
The old man shakily raised his walking stick as if to strike, but Li Le snatched the cane directly and hauled the struggling old man to the back of the line.
The village chief's yard was bustling. Inside the room, a gentle woman clad in a padded cotton coat was checking a child's pulse, while behind the house, Jingrong and the others brewed medicine, its aroma mingling with the warmth in the air.
A year passed. The five children's stance training had become solid and precise; even Jingming could keep up with the rhythm without wobbling. They had learned most common characters and could wield basic staff technique with decent form.
Another year went by. Their horse stances were firm, their lower bodies possessed strength, and their staff moves were no longer limp. They began learning about the body's meridians.
The old man named Shuanzi passed away, and Li Le took everyone from the Guiwu Sect to attend the funeral. Unbeknownst to anyone, a few traces of life's vicissitudes had crept into the young man's eyes.
Disciples must first spend three years on stance training. With three years gone, their horse stances were firm and solid, and having practiced the Guiwu Technique for a year, they possessed a bit of internal energy and solid staff fundamentals. Li Le began teaching them the Eight-Technique Fist and the Canghai Sword Technique—ultimate arts he had acquired during his travels—while Lin Yue taught them her modified Tai Chi. The two martial styles were opposite—one hard and one soft—with distinct forms, making it difficult to master both if they attempted to learn everything.
Li Le's Eight-Technique Fist was hard to master, requiring one to push martial force to extreme realms. The Tai Chi Lin Yue learned was easy to pick up but extremely difficult to master; it was practically the only martial art that could never be truly perfected. It emphasized transformation and comprehension—water spills when full, and the moon wanes at its peak. Its inner subtle mysteries were endless, balancing hardness with softness while adhering to the Doctrine of the Mean, reaching peak strength only through the harmony of yin and yang.
Even Lin Yue, having practiced it for so long, remained at the grand accomplishment realm.
Tai Chi could never be brought to great perfection.
After explaining the pros and cons, they had the children pick one to start with.
In the end, Jingcheng, Jingtong, and Jingming chose the Eight-Technique Fist, while Jingrong and Jingyang chose Tai Chi.
Jingyang was lively by nature yet chose Tai Chi, whereas Jingtong had a gentle temperament yet chose the fierce and powerful Eight-Technique Fist, which surprised Lin Yue a bit.
"Jingtong said I have no patience, so I want to practice Tai Chi! I'm going to practice Tai Chi!" Jingyang explained, looking indignant.
"Second Senior Sister said choosing the Eight-Technique Fist would be good for catching opponents off guard," Jingtong stated, having listened to her senior sister's advice.
The five learned quickly. Aside from young Jingming, the other four reached basic entry within a month. Tai Chi was simpler, and with Lin Yue's guidance, Jingrong and Jingyang became proficient in two months. Jingrong in particular possessed great martial aptitude; her internal energy and martial skills were the most outstanding among the five, followed by Jingcheng.
However, to achieve mastery in Tai Chi, they still needed extensive practice and real combat experience. Given their situation, it would take them at least three or four years.
Time passed quickly. During their time on the mountain, people frequently traveled long distances to challenge Li Le, including rogue martial artists, sect disciples, and scions of prestigious families.
Li Le took on all comers. To accommodate them, they even cleared a sparring platform on the mountain, where he fought every few days.
Lin Yue took the children to set up a barbecue stall selling home-brewed fruit wine while watching the spars, analyzing attack strategies and technique variations. Sometimes she stepped onto the platform herself to fight, gaining a wealth of combat experience.
Mountain nights were filled with stars, with a brilliant Milky Way stretching dazzlingly across the sky. Moonlight illuminated the mountain woods, turning night into day, while fireflies darted among the trees, adding a touch of rustic charm.
As Lin Yue walked along the path toward the sparring platform, the faint clashing of blades echoed from ahead, mingling with the chirping of insects. Everything felt tranquil and serene.
There was little entertainment on the mountain, so Lin Yue intended to watch the spars and listen to the crowd chat to pass the time.
Suddenly, a strange sound came from the shadows by the roadside. Lin Yue looked over and saw a young person in a dark robe step out from beneath the tree shadows.
The newcomer had a thin face, a slight build, and hair tied into a neat Taoist bun. Likely from traveling outdoors often, her skin was tanned a deep wheat color, but her eyes were sharp and full of spirit, marking her as someone of considerable skill.
"I have heard that the Guiwu Sect's lightness technique is peerless. As a disciple of the Guiwu Sect, Miss Lin must have mastered its true essence. I wonder if I might have the honor of testing my skills against yours?"
A contest of lightness techniques? Lin Yue grew intrigued yet hesitated; she didn't know how far her own lightness technique had progressed, and she also doubted the stranger's identity.
"Who might you be, Miss?"
The dark-robed woman said in a deep voice, "You may call me Cuckoo."
Cuckoo? Having never heard of such a figure, Lin Yue politely declined.
"I am flattered by Miss Cuckoo's praise, but my lightness technique is ordinary. You would be better off seeking out Li Le."
The other party's tone was nonchalant. "I have already competed with him, and he lost."
Lin Yue was not surprised; compared to lightness techniques, Li Le focused more on honing combat skills.
"Very well, as you wish." Lin Yue agreed.
A flash of excitement glinted in Liu Dujuan's eyes.
The two arrived at a clearing. Lin Yue's gaze fell upon a tall pine tree nearby. Gathering her breath and focusing her mind, she tapped her toes lightly and leaped into the air, swooping like a swallow and landing on the treetop like a gentle breeze.
As the treetop bowed under her weight, she borrowed its rebound momentum to soar high into the air, while another branch caught her steadily like a gentle hand.
Once steady, Lin Yue turned to look, only to see the woman named Cuckoo bend her knees and channel her full power into the soles of her feet, shooting forward like an arrow off a bowstring and appearing opposite her in the blink of an eye.
Lin Yue was astounded. Though only around thirty years old, the woman wielded her lightness technique with such masterly precision that she had clearly attained a high realm.
Making a quick comparison, Lin Yue was not confident she could win.
Cuckoo looked at Lin Yue with equal astonishment. Though the Guiwu Lightness Technique was formidable, it was exceptionally difficult to master. For a girl in her teens to execute it with such effortless control showed immense dedication.
Lin Yue surveyed their surroundings. Green forests and hills stretched into the distance, where a tall mountain rose abruptly several hundred zhang away, its lonely old pine standing prominently on the peak.
"We start from here. Whoever reaches the old pine atop that mountain first wins. How about it?" Lin Yue suggested.
"Alright." Cuckoo nodded. In terms of internal energy, Lin Yue could not match her and could only perform lightness techniques over short distances; several hundred zhang was not far, but it was enough to decide a victor.
Feeling considerable pressure, Lin Yue tensed up. She took a deep breath and channeled her qi into the soles of her feet.
"Three, two, one!"
Lin Yue held her breath to channel qi and pushed off fiercely with her toes. The branch beneath her barely swayed as her green robe blurred into an afterimage, wind roaring in her ears as a single step launched her several zhang away.
Her footwork was nimble and agile, sometimes stepping diagonally across cliffside pine branches, sometimes gliding over grassy patches. Her posture unfolded gracefully like a dance, appearing almost one with the forest.
Glancing sideways, Lin Yue saw Cuckoo's figure flicker and vanish directly into the shadows of the woods.
Receding trees blocked her line of sight, causing her to instantly lose track of her opponent. Lin Yue did not stop her momentum, and an instant later, an afterimage flashed somewhere ahead to her side.
Cuckoo turned her face upward toward Lin Yue with a confident smile, vanishing back into the woods a heartbeat later.
The opponent was likely using a concealment-type lightness technique. Seeing this, Lin Yue picked up her pace, darting rapidly through the woods while observing her surroundings for any movement.
Concealing herself among tree shadows and cliff faces, Cuckoo darted swiftly and glided close to the ground. Her silhouette flickered between light and dark, making her trajectory nearly impossible to track; unless one stared intently, one might mistake her for a dark shadow swept by the wind.
Lin Yue gave chase with all her strength. The two engaged in a fierce contest across the snowy mountains—a green shadow swooping like a swallow over snow, treading on leaves without a trace at astonishing speed, while a dark shadow moved like a phantom of the night, merging with shadows to slip away undetected with uncanny stealth.
Lin Yue charged toward the high mountain, soaring rapidly toward the old pine. Tapping her toe on a pine branch, she shot toward the tree's peak like an arrow. Just then, an afterimage burst from the shadows below her line of sight, landing on the treetop a step ahead of her.
Lin Yue landed steadily, caught her breath, and cupped her hands with a smile. "Miss Cuckoo's lightness technique is truly superb. I lose."
Seeing her admit defeat so graciously, a hint of admiration flashed in Cuckoo's eyes. "Your lightness technique is decent, slightly better than Li Le's. However, your choices of footholds and qi control need work—you still require more practice."
Lin Yue nodded, understanding where her weaknesses lay. "Thank you for the advice, Miss Cuckoo."
"May I ask which sect's technique Miss uses?"
Cuckoo smiled without answering. "I shall return in a year."
With a slight curl of her lips, her figure flickered and dissolved into the tree shadows once more.
Lin Yue followed her with her gaze, watching her weave through the shadows and vanish completely in just a few leaps.
Such high-level concealment techniques were suited for secret guards or assassins; the woman's identity might be suspicious.
Deciding not to delve further, Lin Yue turned around and returned to Mount Guiwu.
The next day, Lin Yue asked Li Le about Cuckoo's identity. Unsurprisingly, the moment Li Le heard the name Cuckoo, his expression grew unnatural.
"She came to find you?"
"Mm," Lin Yue replied.
"Did you win?"
"No," Lin Yue answered. "She made an appointment to contest against me again in a year."
Li Le let out a sigh of relief and was about to offer words of comfort, but upon hearing her next sentence, a sudden wave of frustration washed over him—Cuckoo had challenged Lin Yue again, but not him!
Noticing the strange look on his face, Lin Yue immediately sensed the gravity of the matter. "What's wrong with this person?"
"The technique she practices is a high-level lightness skill—Shadow Stealth. It is exclusive to the Brocade Guards."
A glint of wariness flashed through Lin Yue's eyes. Brocade Guards meant agents of the imperial court.
Perhaps there was more than one Brocade Guard in the mountains.
Wherever there were people, there was the martial realm. Lin Yue's thoughts grew complex; the Brocade Guards were elusive, so this upcoming contest was likely unavoidable.
Just as Lin Yue turned to leave, Li Le called out to stop her, speaking stubbornly.
"Let's race."
Hearing this, Lin Yue appraised him. The competitive spirit on the young man's face was completely unhidden. "Alright."
As the contest began, the two exchanged a glance and leaped together, rushing toward the distant mountain peak.
Practice makes perfect. Lin Yue took even less time than before, reaching the treetop a step ahead of Li Le.
Li Le's face contorted as he flushed red. He huffed and turned away.
From that day on, Lin Yue practiced even harder. Internal energy was the foundation of lightness techniques, so she focused specifically on training her internal energy and lightness skills.
A month later, Li Le challenged her again, but Lin Yue still won.
Seeing him sulking, Lin Yue tried to offer comfort, explaining that people master skills in different orders and specialize in different fields; everyone has strengths and weaknesses. She was merely decent at lightness techniques and lagged behind him in other areas.
Seeing her attack him with wisdom and humility, Li Le flew into a rage. He gritted his teeth and barked:
"Just you wait! I'm definitely going to surpass you!"
With that, he turned and flew off into the distance.
Seeing that Li Le was heading in the direction of the town, Lin Yue immediately called out to stop him.
"What is it?" Li Le stopped and snapped impatiently.
"If you're going to town, remember to buy a few jin of meat, some snacks for Jingcheng and the others, a few bags of candied fruit, and some steamed buns..."
Li Le choked on his frustration. "I'm not going! Go yourself!"
Though he said so, he still returned before sunset carrying big and small bundles of goods, and everyone got to eat meat that evening.
Time passed swiftly. Through years of accumulation, Li Le's martial skills grew refined, and he became noticeably more steady, beginning to look the part of a sect master. Having consumed the rest of his elixir pills, his cultivation reached the peak of First-Rate, on the verge of stepping into the Master Realm.
Reaching the Master Realm allowed one to release martial astral qi to protect the body, extending one's lifespan to two hundred years.
Breaking through to the Master Realm was arduous, and masters were exceedingly rare in the world—legend had it there were only four, all long retired from worldly affairs.
Right when everyone was rejoicing, Li Le suddenly vanished.
The crowd searched around until someone mentioned seeing him leave Mount Guiwu, saying he would return in ten days to half a month.
Hearing this, Lin Yue merely acknowledged it with an "mm" and stopped worrying. The children had grown up and taken over all the household chores, leaving her with little to do.
Life on Mount Guiwu went on as usual. Lin Yue focused on practicing her techniques, occasionally taking the donkey out to graze. Eldest disciple Jingcheng took charge of daily affairs, while the children practiced martial arts, chopped firewood, hauled water, picked vegetables, cooked, did laundry, and fed the chickens and ducks. During busy farming seasons, they helped the villagers at the foot of the mountain with planting and harvesting, and the villagers occasionally came up to give them vegetables and fruit as tokens of gratitude.
With the children managing all the chores, Old Huang felt bored and looked for things to do. Lin Yue forbade him from helping the children with work, so he could only learn crafts from the villagers—weaving bamboo baskets, hampers, and mats, or crafting chairs and benches. Yet the children swarmed around to learn the craft as well, to the point where anyone could fix whatever broke at home.
Old Huang had no choice but to find another outlet.
"Miss Lin, where is Brother Li?" A knight-errant on Mount Guiwu asked after waiting in vain for him.
"Perhaps he went down the mountain to fight someone," Lin Yue replied. Seeing so many people asking, she posted several notices explaining the situation, telling them to either leave or wait.
Some assessed the situation and left, while others stayed to wait. A few disbelieved her, shouting and even attempting to seize the children to force Li Le out. Lin Yue had no choice but to painstakingly break their bones and issue a fierce warning: if they dared try that again, they would be left dead or crippled once the sect master returned.
Seeing that Li Le did not show up, the knights-errant stopped causing trouble and joined the search party to look for him.
One month passed, but Li Le did not return. Two months passed, and still he did not return. The number of people waiting gradually grew; sometimes they sparred on the platform. Life on the mountain was dull, so Lin Yue and the children occasionally went to watch and exchange pointers.
A year passed, and the woman named Cuckoo actually returned.
Lin Yue sparred with her again, resulting in a tie. They agreed to battle again in another year, after which the woman departed in a hurry.
Li Le still had not returned. Mountains were high and roads were long; in an era of inconvenient travel, setting out on a long journey meant being gone for years, and sometimes, once someone left, it was for a lifetime.
Those waiting on the mountain were patient. It had taken them months or years to travel here, and searching for him elsewhere might take even longer. The road was too long, and life was too short; they took things as they came, and a few even built huts outside the compound to settle down.
Rate on N.U.
