Chapter 37: The old woman’s doubts—are the Jiang family fools?
“Tianxing, Tianze, time to eat!” The kindly old woman tapped a porcelain bowl with her spoon, its crisp sound rousing the sleeping brothers.
Li Tianze, the younger, sprang up, dressing swiftly. Seeing Li Tianxing lingering in bed, he grabbed his ear and twisted hard.
“Ow!” Li Tianxing jolted awake, rubbing sleepy eyes as he sat up.
Li Tianze gave a satisfied grunt and strode out. Behind him, a sharp golden glint flashed in Li Tianxing’s eyes, so quick it seemed an illusion, before he reverted to his usual timid, docile demeanor.
In this remote mountain village, resources were scarce, but spiritual beasts roamed the hills, an endless supply.
Breakfast was simple: slightly charred cuts of some unknown beast, paired with watery rice porridge you could see your reflection in.
The three ate in silence. The old woman stood, arming herself with a rusty machete, checking ropes and a sack.
“Grandma, where are you going?” Li Tianze asked, eyeing her preparations.
“Didn’t Tianxing say a fairy landed on the mountain last night?” she replied matter-of-factly, not looking up. “I’m going to bring her back as Tianxing’s bride.”
“Pfft.” Li Tianze snickered. “Grandma, in this backwater where even birds don’t bother, a fairy? Big brother probably mistook a snake for a beauty. Your taste, bro… tsk, unique!”
“It’ll make finding a wife easier, though.”
He teased Li Tianxing.
The old woman’s head snapped up, her cloudy but sharp eyes glaring at Li Tianze. The brash boy shrank back, silenced like a choked rooster, not daring to speak.
She stuffed the machete and ropes into a dusty sack, slinging it over her shoulder. Turning to Li Tianxing, her gaze softened with affection. “Which of you is coming with me?”
“Me!” Both brothers spoke in unison. Li Tianze’s voice was bold and eager; Li Tianxing’s softer, less confident.
Hearing his brother volunteer, Li Tianze’s face darkened. He shot Li Tianxing a cold glance, snorted disdainfully, slammed the door, and left alone.
Li Tianxing watched him go, silently clearing the dishes and locking the flimsy wooden door—useless against the fierce mountain beasts.
The rain-soaked path was muddy, but the trio moved as if on flat ground. Their steps seemed ordinary, yet their speed was astonishing, darting through the wet forest trail.
Soon, they reached the peak Li Tianxing had pointed to the previous night.
On a flat stone slab lay a figure—a silver-haired woman, deep in sleep.
Her skin was radiant as jade, shrouded in a faint glow, truly like a fairy descended to earth.
Astonishingly, despite the night’s downpour, the stone around her and her clothes were dry, untouched by rain.
“It’s… really a fairy!” Li Tianze’s face was full of disbelief. He glanced back at Li Tianxing, who’d just climbed up, panting, his gaze brimming with unconcealed hostility.
The old woman’s expression grew complex. Her wrinkled face flickered with uncertainty, her cloudy eyes darting between the woman and her grandsons, weighing something.
“A Lunar Sacred Body… a physique with the potential to become an Emperor, yet her cultivation lags far behind her peers. Impossible. The Lunar Sacred Body greatly boosts early cultivation; it only slows after the Divine Treasury Realm.”
“Unless… she lacks a suitable technique, or is practicing one that conflicts with her physique…”
“And why is she alone here? This place will face a great calamity…”
“No clan would waste such a prodigy. Even imperial clans crave talents who could shape their future. If they knew, they’d fight tooth and nail for her.”
“Could it be…” The old woman pondered, recalling old rumors. Exiled from her clan long ago, she was out of touch.
“I heard the Jiang Clan has been touting their saintess, Jiang Ningshuang, as Emperor material. This girl… resembles her…”
“Is the Jiang Clan out of its mind? Who boasts about their prodigy so openly? The North Star Emperor, their ancestor, was brazen, stealing saintesses and crushing rival prodigies.”
“Offending so many human and beast clans, flaunting like this—isn’t that just begging to get their prodigy killed?”
Her wrinkles deepened, unable to fathom the Jiang Clan’s motives.
What could be more important than an Emperor-potential heir?
“Forget it. I’m just an exiled old woman now. I hate that I missed that golden era. If I’d been born a few years later…”
She stood on the peak, gray hair fluttering, reminiscing her days as the Clear Moon Fairy, famed and adored.
Now, all was dust. Even the mightiest heroes and most radiant beauties turned to bones.
Immortality—a fleeting dream luring countless to their doom, yet who had ever achieved it?
This golden age was also a chaotic one. How many would die? Who could stop them?
But none of that concerned a dying old woman.
“To-Yang Emperor, you rose from nothing, crushing all foes, paving the way for humanity’s rise. But your descendants? Cowards.”
“Fight, tear each other apart. Some grow greedier, while the Li Clan declines.”
She spoke clearly, unreserved before Li Tianze and Li Tianxing.
Though they were rising suns and she a fading dusk, they’d all die soon enough. No one cares if the dead keep secrets.
“Huff… huff… finally here.” Li Tianxing leaned on his knees, panting, sweat beading on his forehead.