Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 74 Keeping the Status Quo

Li Tongya stayed in the county for several days and finally heard that the people from the Tang Jin Sect had withdrawn. Anxious and distressed, he bid farewell to the people of the Xiao Family, boarded a carriage, and returned home through the ancient Lidao Entrance across the Mushroom Forest Plain.

Li Tongya had no coachman, and being of peasant stock, he could not ride a horse, but he could manage an ox cart. He had no choice but to drive the ox cart home alone. After travelling on the ancient Lidao for an hour, he couldn’t help but cover his nose.

"What a strong stench of the dead."

It had rained just the day before, and the corpses piled by the road had swollen and bloated from the water, their skin ballooning into large blisters of greenish-black. The flesh inside was decomposing, emitting a foul and overwhelming odor, which only intensified under the morning sun.

"This is truly sinful."

As Li Tongya drove, he occasionally had to stop to remove corpses from the road. The ox cart was difficult to maneuver, often zigzagging due to the array of dismembered limbs scattered on the path, which eventually overwhelmed the ox and it refused to work. Li Tongya had no option but to abandon the cart and return on foot.

Covering his mouth and nose, Li Tongya occasionally had to wipe away tears that were provoked by the dreadful smell. His heart brimmed with an inexplicable and intense emotion. He had not eaten for a day and a night, walking alone among numerous bodies.

"How will Green Pond Sect record this?"

Suddenly, the thought crossed Li Tongya’s mind, and imitating the tone, he said with a cold laugh:

"In the fourth month of summer, the Tang Jin Sect invaded the Mushroom Forest Plain and retreated after several days."

He moved aside a pile of corpses and sat down on a blood-stained green rock, chuckling to himself.

Li Tongya had seen survivors, these villagers climbing out from the heaps of corpses as if they had lost the ability to speak. When they encountered each other, they simply hugged their heads and wept, and after crying, they continued searching for food in the ruins.

Li Tongya, still relatively clean and carrying a long saber, with no blood stains on him, looked like a merchant passing through the Mushroom Forest Plain. Soon, small groups of children began following him, mostly around five or six years old, looking at him with pitiful eyes.

Silent, Li Tongya walked the mountain roads, occasionally hunting a wild boar or wolf, and threw it to the children following him to roast and eat half-cooked. Despite the rough journey, he finally arrived at the boundary of the Wan Family’s land.

The Wan Family’s villages were now desolate, with no residents to live in or guards to watch over them, just as before—a place of blood and rotting corpses.

"Xuanfeng?!"

As Li Tongya walked on, he spotted a small figure moving among a large pile of corpses. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Li Xiangping’s elder son, Li Xuanfeng, rummaging through the bodies with uncombed hair and covered in dried blood.

"What happened?! Where’s your father? What are you doing crawling through these corpses? What if you catch the plague?"

Li Tongya frowned with a sinking heart, picked up the child, and looked at his parched and pale lips, growing more uneasy.

Li Xuanfeng pursed his lips, kicked a severed hand on the ground, and murmured:

"I’m looking for my father!"

"Xiangping... Your father hasn’t returned home?"

Li Tongya suddenly had a bad feeling and asked softly.

"Xuanxuan didn’t tell me, but father must have gone to support the Wan Family. I don’t know where he is now."

After hearing Li Xuanfeng’s reply, Li Tongya pondered for a moment and said in a grave voice:

"Come home with me first."

"Oh..."

Li Xuanfeng agreed and added in a low voice:

"The Ji Family is really ruthless. Not one of the five villages of the Wan Family was spared, all slaughtered. What for?"

"The people were killed by the Tang Jin Sect and the Green Pond Sect."

Li Tongya blurted out a sentence without context, leaving Li Xuanfeng momentarily stunned as he silently muttered to himself:

"That brat from the Tang Jin Sect and the Young Master of Tang Jin Sect are truly nothing. Once I grow up, I’m determined to wipe out the Tang Jin Sect and kick the Young Master’s head around like a ball!"

————

Li Xuanxuan sat alone in the courtyard, feeling extremely troubled. In the past few days, he had quietly searched every corner of the Lidao Entrance but found no signs of battle, let alone any trace of his uncle, Li Xiangping.

"Where could Feng’er have gone... I’ve had people searching for him all day, and yet his whereabouts remain unseen."

Li Xuanxuan rubbed his sore temple—Li Xuanfeng had just received the Talisman Seed and had run off as soon as he left the mountain. He’d come crying, asking him to find Li Xiangping, and all Li Xuanxuan could do was think of ways to appease him.

But the child was clever. He eavesdropped on adults’ conversations, knew about the Wan Family issue, and had almost guessed everything. That’s why he hurriedly dashed out the door.

As the legitimate eldest son of the Li Family, Li Xuanxuan naturally couldn’t recklessly charge into what was now the Ji Family’s territory looking for someone, unlike Li Xuanfeng. Despite being deeply anxious behind closed doors, Li Xuanxuan had to maintain a smiling face in public, dealing with the village stewards and striving to stabilize the situation before Li Tongya’s return—a task that was far from comfortable.

"Young Master!"

Lost in thought, Li Xuanxuan saw someone entering the courtyard with laughter. Li Yesheng then seriously said:

"The Immortal Master has returned!"

Li Xuanxuan startled, then felt as if a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. Overjoyed, he smiled and headed down the mountain to greet him.

Li Tongya, after making arrangements for the children who accompanied him, trudged up the mountain with dust-covered clothes. He encountered Li Yesheng and Li Xuanxuan head-on but showed no particular emotion. He patted Li Xuanfeng’s shoulder and whispered:

"Go have a good bath and get some sleep."

Seeing Li Xuanfeng nod and leave, Li Tongya entered the courtyard with Li Xuanxuan and dismissed Li Yesheng before softly saying:

"Tell me, what’s been happening?"

Li Xuanxuan relayed everything that had happened in the past few days with a heavy tone, and after Li Tongya listened carefully, he said coldly:

"Have you checked out what’s happening in the Wan Family’s territory?"

Li Xuanxuan shook his head, speaking softly:

"The nephew only ordered the people at the Lidao Entrance not to divulge any information to the east, without sending anyone over the boundary."

Li Tongya scoffed, whispering:

"The Wan Family has been annihilated for over a month, and you don’t even know that the Huaqian Mountain’s foothills are empty. Your uncle has been missing for a month, and you’re still dealing with those stewards! You haven’t discovered a single piece of news, and you’ve even allowed Feng’er to slip into the Ji Family’s territory alone."

"Li Xuanxuan! What a great job you’ve done!" he exclaimed.

Li Xuanxuan felt as though struck by lightning, kneeling straight down in the courtyard with a bitter taste in his mouth, and without uttering a word.

"What are you afraid of!"

Li Tongya shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"Even if something happened to Xiangping, I, your uncle, was away, and your eldest uncle is still cultivating within the sect. Who would dare harbor a crooked thought against you? The moment your uncle doesn’t return home, send out the clan soldiers to patrol the forest, and send Li Qiuyang to guard the Lidao Entrance. With weapons in hand, who would dare to underestimate you? Even if a few guess that something happened to Li Xiangping, who would dare to make a noise?" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

He sighed softly and whispered:

"Stop entertaining those stewards with tests. They are nothing but a few dogs of our Li Family. When you’re in a good mood, you throw them a few bones. If they dare to annoy you, a single stroke is enough to kill them!"

"The power of our Li Family comes from weapons and cultivation level. You need to be decisive, ruthless, and willing to kill! Our Li Family does not need a master who clings to achievements and defends success; what we need is a sovereign with the aggressiveness of wolves and tigers!"