Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 217 - 201 An Family An Zheyu

"Uncle!"

Li Xuanxuan thumped to his knees inside the cave mansion, with Li Tongya sitting quietly at the head, watching Li Xuanxuan's tear-stained face. He saw his nephew grit his teeth and say:

"This matter... are we just going to let it go?"

"Let it go?"

Li Tongya lowered his eyebrows and said in a deep voice:

"It's not about whether the Li Family wants to let it go or not, but whether the Yu Family wants to drop the matter! The two families have become sworn enemies; it is not something that can be ended just because one family wishes to..."

Li Xuanxuan lifted his head, wiped away his tears, and said through gritted teeth:

"It was Yu Mugao who harmed the members of the Li Family, and even sacrificed his own brother, yet he still hates us and won't let it go! Where is the justice in that... We're murdered by someone else, yet we have to fear the Yu Family's relentless pursuit; where is the..."

Li Xuanxuan moved his lips, swallowing down the words "sense of justice" that had reached his tongue. He was nearly forty years old, no longer holding any naive fantasies, yet he still felt a deep sense of powerlessness and grief as he bowed his head to weep.

"This is how the world is... the Heavenly Dao is heartless, all beings are like ants."

Li Tongya's gray hair hung down, and the old man sighed sorrowfully. Li Xuanxuan covered his face, choking up as he said:

"Xiu'er was the most sensible child; all the elders liked him for the position of Family Head. Now, he has fallen here..."

"With Xiu'er gone, looking at the other disciples, Yuanjiao is cruel, Yuanyun is weak, and Qinghong is too carefree. Who will take over the family affairs in the future?"

Li Xuanxuan muttered a few words as Li Tongya shook his head and said in a low voice:

"The matters of the family are not urgent. You take over for now, but do not leave the mountain. Let Xiewen organize things below the mountain to be brought up. With a lifespan of two hundred years from Qi Cultivation, you're just beginning. If none of the Yuan generation are suitable, wait another twenty years and then look at the younger generations."

"Now that the Yu Family is eyeing us like tigers, do not let the younger members leave the mountain, especially keep an eye on Yuanjiao. I will send Qinghong to the Fei Clan... Just wait a few more years."

Li Xuanxuan's lips trembled, and he closed his eyes, squeezing out two tears, and uttered a word:

"Yes."

————

The cold spring rain had drizzled for several nights, and the springtime over Wangyue Lake had passed. The warm summer breeze crossed over from the north and plunged into Da Li Mountain, finally clearing away the damp chill.

On the southern shore of the great lake, the wind lifted a sky full of grey and black ashes. Looking out, there was a stretch of pure white, and the sound of wailing echoed. From Lijing Mountain to Huazhong Mountain, and from Huazhong Mountain to Secret Forest County, households hung with white banners were in mourning.

Li Yuanxiu was torn to pieces by Thunder Fire. In the collapsed backyard, there were only chunks of debris and flesh. Li Xuanxuan and Li Xuanfeng moved the rubble, shoveling the blood-soaked sand and soil mixed with bone fragments into the coffin. They carved a wooden figure that resembled Li Yuanxiu by seventy percent and placed it on top of the sand in the coffin and buried it.

"Xiu'er!"

The coffin wrapped in white silk was carried from the town to the mountain, all the way in silence, with only the sound of weeping. The clan uncles and brothers mourned in quiet, while the Clan Elders cried out loud, faces lined with wrinkles and tears, bending over, prompting the other clan uncles to follow suit, filled with trepidation.

Li Yuanjiao carried two white lengths of wood on his back, and Li Xuanxuan carried the front, with the coffin tied in the middle. Li Yuanjiao lifted his head and saw the glances of the crowd cast upon him. He noticed the distress and anger on the faces of his half-brothers in the crowd.

With the death of Li Yuanxiu, Li Yuanjiao's adoption was secretly conducted. In the eyes of many, he was a legitimate offspring, Li Xuanxuan had begun Qi Cultivation, and by rule could not cling to power. The position of Family Head was likely to slip from the hands of the Long Lake lineage to Li Yuanyun. How could his shrewd brothers not worry?

Though the Li Family treated everyone as equals and the elders stressed treating each other as true brothers, aside from the Spiritual Aperture Seed who grew up together on the mountain and truly regarded each other as brothers, there were still differences among the clan members below the mountain. The gap between having one's own brother as Family Head and having a distant cousin from a different lineage as Family Head was simply too vast.

Li Yuanjiao understood the thoughts of his brothers after a brief reflection, but he had no time to care, his heart heavy with sorrow and rage.

"Yu Family... And Yu Mugao."

Li Yuanjiao ground his teeth and uttered the name, then sighed helplessly at his own Fetal Breathing Third Layer Cultivation Level, and cursed inwardly:

"The Yu Family has an elder, Yu Yufeng, at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, as well as Yu Xiaogui at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Yu Mugao himself is a cultivator at the middle stage of Qi Cultivation. This vengeance will be difficult to avenge..."

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Unlike the crying under the white silk on Lijing Mountain, although white silk also hung on Huazhong Mountain, below was filled with laughter and joyful voices.

"Congratulations to the Family Head!"

"Congratulations, congratulations, An Jingming and his son got what they deserved, eliminated by Yu Family members. Now Huazhong Mountain is finally our territory!"

The man in the lead, with Fetal Breathing at the fourth layer, wore a satisfied expression and nodded contentedly, saying,

"An Zhiyan is a fool who doesn't know what's good for him, spending all of the clan's resources on his precious son. The two of them, relying on their Qi Cultivation level, bullied and plundered, making me, An Zheyu, labor for them like an ox or a horse! Heavenly Dao is clear and just, and now that these two are finally dead, our An Clan has rid itself of these calamities and with the main family's support, we will surely thrive and prosper!"

An Zheyu, naturally a puppet supported by the Yu Family, was over fifty years old but only had Fetal Breathing at the fourth layer. Without the Yu Family's machinations, he would have been nothing more than a middle-tier figure in his clan for his whole life, but now, with the Yu Family's backing, he had become the Family Head and was proudly feasting.

"Exactly!"

The person seated below him, with a face full of flattery, only had Fetal Breathing at the second layer and looked like a complete sycophant. He toadied,

"Had such resources been given to the superior earlier, he would have achieved Foundation Establishment by now. It's such a pity they were wasted on An Jingming!"

This seemed to hit a sore spot with An Zheyu at the head of the table, who raised his head with a ferocious expression and exclaimed,

"So what! Now that the Yu Family has provided provisions for immortal cultivation, I can begin Qi Cultivation within three years."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

The sycophantic person below slapped his own face, his eyes rolling around. He whispered,

"Family Head, the Yu Family members took An Jingming's head, saying they want to salt and observe it carefully. An Jingming's body is still here, I wonder... how should it be dealt with?"

An Zheyu's eyes widened with delight, and he glared with a look of greed and hatred, gritting his teeth,

"I've heard that the bodies of the talented often have mystical traits. It is rumored that if they are placed within the Five Viscera Temple, one can gain some mystical benefits. Have someone chop it up fine, bring it in a basin, I want to have a good look, to see if there is any mystical aspect!"

This statement seemed to chill the air in the hall, and the surrounding guards all shuffled uneasily. An Jingming had been a magnanimous and kind person during his life, generous to the common people and harsh to the arrogant wastrels of the clan, offending An Zheyu and a gang of wastrels, yet had a good reputation among the people. Cries could be heard in every household during the seven days of mourning, and the guards exchanged glances, feeling helpless and silently shedding tears.

The flattery-loving person below, hearing this, hurriedly gave the orders, and after some chatting and laughing, an old servant soon presented a wooden tray and a basin with a fire pot of soup. When the sycophant saw the old servant with tears in their eyes, he became furious and kicked the man in the waist, shouting,

"What are you crying about on this day of great joy? Drag him down and execute him with a staff!"

As these words fell, the guards on either side remained motionless, still shedding tears. The flatterer grew even angrier and yelled,

"Do you all wish to die too?"

Then two guards stepped forward and dragged the old servant away. The old servant's hair and beard were disheveled as he cried out,

"I have served the An Clan from a young age, through four generations. A father who is not virtuous, a son who is not filial, among them only Ming'er was wise and just, yet he was harmed by others. The whole clan has become lapdogs for the Yu Family... An Zheyu, the fate of our entire clan is tied to you alone..."

The old servant's crying faded in the corridor, but An Zheyu just laughed loudly, saying,

"When I was young, I merely gambled away two gold bars, and this old thing reported me to my father and had me beaten so badly I couldn't get out of bed for three days. Later, the old man was protected by An Zhiyan and I couldn't get revenge. But I remembered this grudge for decades, and now I've finally avenged it!"

After saying this, An Zheyu lowered his head feeling smug, put down his wine cup, dipped his finger into the blood flowing out on the wooden tray, and noticed the rust-like taste was light, with no stench. He sniffed it closely and exclaimed in surprise,

"I've often heard that the bones of those who practiced Qi Cultivation do not rot for days, and it is indeed true!"