Xu He and Lady Lu stood shoulder to shoulder at the far left of the second row, with their three sons and two daughters behind them.
The eldest son, Xu Jing, stared straight ahead, already carrying the bearing of the next generation's family head.
Xu Sui stood beside Xu He, while her Dao companion stood half a step behind her, one hand resting lightly on the shoulder of their youngest daughter.
Xu Mu and Qin Xian stood side by side at the front of the martial branch's ranks.
Xu Mu's eldest son stood with his hands hanging at his sides.
His second son, meanwhile, lowered his head and fiddled with an unfinished artifact-forging blank.
Xu Xiao stood at the forefront of the collateral branch. His Dao companion held their young daughter in her arms, the vertical eye on the child's forehead tightly shut.
Farther back stood nearly all the second-, third-, and even fourth-generation descendants of the main branch, merchant branch, martial branch, and collateral branch.
Some of them, Xu Changqing could name.
Others, he merely swept a glance over.
At this moment, everyone's eyes were fixed on the crystal bed.
Ruo Qunshuang lay atop it, her white hair like snow and her face weathered with age.
Nearly eight thousand years had stripped away her former youth.
The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were fine and dense as woven threads.
Her forehead was full of deep furrows.
Her once-plump cheeks had now sunken deeply inward.
Her eyes were half-closed, her pupils cloudy, her breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible.
Xu Changqing sat on the edge of the bed, gripping Ruo Qunshuang's hand tightly.
His hand was still fair, his skin smooth as jade. Interlocked with her fingers—withered to skin and bone and covered in brown age spots—it