"How could a True Person's life be measured against an inanimate object? However fine this fruit might be, it was always meant to be eaten."
Jiang Yang offered a few words of reassurance. Once he had given something away, he never regretted it.
Besides, the Tai had shown their sincerity time and again. Their courtesy was no mere pretense, and that always put him at ease.
Tai Pei'er smiled brightly as she settled onto the cushion:
"What do you think of the scenery here in our Tai lands?"
The Strongmen walked slowly, and Jiang Yang could scarcely take in all the sights along the way. Blue stone steps and ancient lanes offered a new vista with every pace. This city was old, at least a thousand years old. He said softly:
"Grand and imposing, with a weight of history all its own. Your Lineage must have illustrious origins and a substantial inheritance."
"That's all ancient history. If our inheritance really were so substantial, our True Person wouldn't have only one Divine Power."
Tai Pei'er lowered her eyes and sighed:
"All this splendor before us is only flowers massed in brocade, oil simmering over a raging fire. Our Lineage's rise and fall rests on our ancestor alone. Yet a few among us still let a single leaf block their sight, utterly unaware."
Old True Person Tai had extended his life by sixty years, but it was only sixty years, not a whole new lifetime. The day of his passing would still come.
The Tai's most pressing task was to carry on their Purple Mansion succession without letting it lapse for a generation. Without a True Person's protection, the entire Lineage could only become meat on someone else's chopping block.
Jiang Yang understood their predicament. He glanced at her and smiled:
"It