Why Make It So Troublesome

Liu Miaotu wandered the mountains for a day and a night. Let alone some immortal treasure, he had not even seen a single hair. Furious, he sat atop a Large Bluestone and cursed the idle men in the village: "You plague-ridden mongrels! Talking about some great treasure on the mountain—you're all full of shit!"

As fog rose through the mountains, Liu Miaotu shivered and thought to himself, Though the wolves, tigers, and leopards on this mountain were driven out years ago, who knows if any slipped through the net! This fog came up strangely. I'd better head down first...

Liu Miaotu got to his feet and followed the mountain path for nearly two hours, yet all around him was a vast, hazy whiteness, with no exit in sight.

"This is damned strange! Why haven't I gotten down the mountain yet?!"

When he looked again at the Large Bluestone before him, a chill ran down Liu Miaotu's spine. He cried out, "Impossible!"

This was clearly the Large Bluestone Liu Miaotu had sat on before. He had followed the mountain road for two hours—how could he possibly still be in the same place?!

Terrified out of his wits, Liu Miaotu turned and ran. He screamed as he fled for some distance, only stopping to catch his breath. Yet that Large Bluestone had somehow appeared before him again.

"Damn it... I can't get out."

Night had fallen. Liu Miaotu was lightly dressed, and after his emotions surged and the cold wind blew over him, he simply fainted.

At dawn, Liu Miaotu finally woke, his whole body burning hot. He vaguely heard someone calling out. Looking up, he could barely make out a figure seated some distance away. He had only just crawled to his feet when he heard a loud shout:

"Who goes there?!"

Liu Miaotu was already dazed, and at once his knees gave way and his feet slipped. He rolled head over heels all the way to that person's feet.

When Liu Linfeng saw the man's face, he recognized him as one of the Liu Family's street loafers and understood everything at once. In an instant, rage surged from his heart to the crown of his head. His face flushed scarlet as he bellowed, "Why the hell are you here?!"

That shout actually startled Liu Miaotu awake. He immediately answered in a timid, shrinking voice:

"I... I came up the mountain to gather firewood."

"Bullshit!"

Liu Linfeng cursed outright, pointing at Liu Miaotu's nose as he continued to berate him:

"Why the hell did you come up this mountain without telling the main family? Is this a place you can come to?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Liu Linfeng himself was jolted awake. A chill crawled up his spine to the back of his head. How did my Liu Family produce such a worthless fool? We're in for a disaster now. My nephew is vicious and suspicious—how could he spare this man's life? I only hope it doesn't bring calamity upon my Liu Family!

Watching Liu Miaotu kowtow before him like a pounding pestle, Liu Linfeng made up his mind. His expression immediately changed, and he said coldly:

"Come with me. At least I'll save your miserable life!"

Liu Miaotu hurriedly followed him into the courtyard, where Liu Linfeng took out a thick hemp rope, pulled Liu Miaotu's hands behind his back, and began binding them.

"Clan Head, you... what are you..."

Uneasy, Liu Miaotu asked timidly.

"I'm taking you to beg forgiveness. That's the only way to show sincerity."

Liu Linfeng waved a hand, quietly hung a knife at his waist, and said coldly, "Move!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Clan Head!"

Before long, the two arrived in front of the courtyard. Liu Linfeng pointed at a patch of mud by the roadside and said:

"Kneel there."

With that, he went to invite Li Tongya and Li Xiangping. Entering the courtyard and seeing the two men seated above, he dropped to his knees and said bitterly, "The Liu Family failed in its discipline. I beg the main family to forgive us!"

That kneel startled both men to their feet. They hurried forward to help him up, Li Tongya saying in a deep voice, "Absolutely not! There's no need for this!"

Liu Linfeng gave a bitter smile and explained Liu Miaotu's outrageous deed. After hearing him out, Li Xiangping merely said softly, "Handle him as you see fit. There is no need for such a great gesture."

"Please come with me."

Liu Linfeng shook his head and led the two to the gate, pointing at Liu Miaotu, who was kneeling in front of it.

The moment Liu Miaotu saw the three men, he began to cry out his grievances. But Liu Linfeng unexpectedly took a single swift step forward, bent over and raised his arm, then slashed his knife across Liu Miaotu's throat. Liu Miaotu only squeaked twice. Blood sprayed from his neck like water. He coughed violently, spat out more than a dozen blossoms of bloody froth, and collapsed to the ground with a thud, never to rise again.

"Uncle is still the more meticulous one."

Li Xiangping clapped his hands and watched Liu Miaotu fall before smiling at Li Tongya.

"He chose a patch of mud, so as not to dirty our stone steps."

Li Tongya merely let out a long sigh and looked at Liu Linfeng.

"I'll trouble Uncle with handling it."

"Of course."

Liu Linfeng quickly replied, dragging the corpse into the woods.

Only then did the two turn and enter the courtyard. Li Tongya's brows remained furrowed, but Li Xiangping patted him on the shoulder and said in a deep voice:

"He brought it upon himself."

Li Tongya gave a bitter smile, looked into his younger brother's eyes, and explained:

"It isn't that I pity him. I merely feel moved. It is precisely because you manage the Li Clan that Father is willing to let go and stop handling affairs. In the end, we are simply not ruthless enough."

Yet Li Xiangping smiled and shook his head. "You, Li Tongya, would kill him too. You would only make the villagers bear witness first, count out his eight great crimes, and then openly take his head—just so you could feel better about it."

"Since it is killing either way, why make it so troublesome!"

Standing before the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain, Li Tongya recalled Li Xiangping's words and felt deeply moved. If I do not kill him, my Li Clan will become the next Wan Family, riddled through and through like a sieve.

He shook his head and cast this small interlude from his mind. Gently pushing open the courtyard gate, he saw Liu Rouxuan sitting obediently cross-legged in cultivation, breathing in and out spiritual qi.

This Azure Origin Nurturing Wheel Method relies entirely on breathing in and out spiritual qi to condense the Profound Scene Wheel, yet this method of cultivation is terribly inefficient. No wonder Rouxuan has cultivated for nearly two years and is still an ordinary mortal. As for that Li Qiuyang I heard about, he has progressed rapidly by relying on the power of the Snake Dragon Fruit and is about to condense the Profound Scene Wheel.

Liu Rouxuan always beamed whenever she saw him, so he rarely saw her cultivating so seriously. Li Tongya could not help looking at her a few more times. Seeing her eyelashes tremble and her nostrils flare, as though she were about to awaken from Entering Samadhi, he quickly shifted his gaze away.

"Brother Ya!"

The instant Liu Rouxuan opened her eyes and saw Li Tongya, she cried out in delight.

"Mhm."

Li Tongya lowered his eyes and answered softly, feeling somewhat like a thief with a guilty conscience.

Liu Rouxuan secretly looked at the Side of the Face, then suddenly spoke in a somewhat despondent voice:

"I'm already seventeen. The friends I grew up with in the village have probably long since married and had children, but I don't even have a companion."

Li Tongya could not help shaking his head at those words. "You have already entered the Immortal Dao, so there is no need to think of such things. You are different from them. Cultivate diligently; condensing the Profound Scene Wheel is your foremost priority."

"I've been very serious! I cultivate for eight hours every day!"

Liu Rouxuan puffed out her lips and defended herself softly, then raised her head to look at Li Tongya.

"Is Brother Ya alone because of cultivation too?"

Seeing Li Tongya nod gently, Liu Rouxuan's face reddened. With slightly hurried breaths, she asked in a low voice:

"Tongya Ge... do you still... find me acceptable?"