The Two Yi Brothers Meet

The afternoon heat in Three Trees Village made everyone drowsy.

In the Yi Family Courtyard, Yi Yang lay in an old wicker chair, a battered fan covering his chest and his eyelids half lowered.

In the kitchen, Jiang Yuexin crouched beside a wooden basin, sorting wild greens. As she worked, the young girl stole glances at the old man outside.

Grandpa still looked sickly these past few days, but she kept feeling that something was different.

His back wasn't as bent, and his feet no longer dragged when he walked.

And those eyes-usually cloudy, yet whenever he raised them, they sometimes made her chest tighten.

She didn't dare ask.

If she did, Grandpa would probably fob her off again.

He would say something about an old man's last flare of life before death. Just hearing it felt unlucky.

Just then, the sound of wheels grinding over hard earth came from the distant village road.

Creak, creak.

That sound was a rare thing in Three Trees Village.

Normally, the village had nothing better than ox carts and battered handcarts. Who could afford a horse-drawn carriage?

People from a few households poked their heads out first, then half the village began peering through their doorways.

"Oh my, a carriage!"

"Whose relatives are so rich?"

"Could they be here to take Old Master Yi away to enjoy the good life? I heard his younger brother's doing well in town."

"Wouldn't that be something? Old Yi's struggled most of his life. Is he finally coming out the other side?"

On the village road, a carriage with a fairly fresh coat of paint slowly approached Yi Yang's little courtyard. Its curtains hung closed, and a small wooden plaque bearing the Yi Family's emblem dangled beside the shaft.

Yi Yang remained in his wicker chair. Even after hearing the villagers' chatter, his battered fan didn't move.

The carriage stopped outside the courtyard gate. The dust stirred up by its wheels slowly settled onto the grass by the entrance, right before the watching villagers' eyes.

The middle-aged driver jumped down first. He wore a blue cloth robe of finely woven fabric, with a satin sash tied around his waist.

That outfit alone could have bought new clothes for an ordinary Three Trees Village household to wear at New Year.

He brushed the dust from his cuffs and raised a hand to knock.

Knock, knock.

"Is First Master Yi home?"

Yi Yang removed his fan and slowly sat up.

Jiang Yuexin came out of the kitchen and called softly, "Grandpa."

Yi Yang glanced at her without speaking.

No more needed to be said. The girl bit her lip and retreated to the kitchen doorway, though she kept her grip on the kitchen knife.

Yi Yang walked to the courtyard gate and pulled it open.

Outside, the middle-aged steward bowed. "First Master Yi, this humble servant is Liu Fu, steward of Second Master's household. Second Master made a special trip from Cloud Pattern Town to visit you today. His carriage is just outside."

His words were polished, but the trace of contempt in Liu Fu's eyes wasn't buried very deep.

He looked at Yi Yang's short jacket, the cracks in the courtyard wall, and the hard, dry mud beside the threshold. One word was written in his eyes.

Shabby.

Yi Yang leaned against the doorframe and said evenly, "Yi Xun?"

When he spoke that name, the onlookers beside them quieted a little.

"It's been so many years since you came that I'd almost forgotten I had such a relative."

Liu Fu's smile nearly slipped. He coughed once, keeping his head lowered.

"Second Master often thinks of you. It's just that there's so much to attend to at home, he couldn't get away."

Yi Yang didn't take up that remark.

The carriage curtain lifted, and Yi Xun stepped down.

He wore a silk jacket, his beard neatly combed. As his soft-soled boots touched Three Trees Village's dirt road, he looked utterly out of place among the crumbling walls and gray roof tiles.

A youth of seventeen or eighteen followed behind him, a new saber hanging at his waist. His clothes were well tailored, his chin raised. When his eyes swept over the three small rooms, even lingering another moment seemed a waste to him.

It was Yi Zhanzhi, who had tagged along out of curiosity.

Yi Xun stepped through the courtyard gate and paused. The courtyard was a little better than he remembered. As a child, he had only come back here once with his parents.

A faint unease rose in his chest, but the thought of five hundred taels soon pressed it down.

What did unease matter? The silver was what counted.

"Eldest Brother."

Yi Xun spoke, deliberately softening his voice.

"It's been years. You've grown thinner."

Yi Yang looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

"You've grown fatter, though."

One of the watching villagers couldn't help lowering his head to stifle a laugh.

Yi Xun's face twitched. Liu Fu hastily bowed his head, pretending not to have heard.

Yi Zhanzhi frowned, feeling that this country great-uncle had no manners.

What kind of man greeted a brother he hadn't seen in years by calling him fat?

Yi Yang stepped aside. "Come in. It's hot outside. We wouldn't want our distinguished guests from town getting scorched."

The words were mild enough, sounding like a welcome, but there was a sting beneath them.

Yi Xun pretended not to notice and led Yi Zhanzhi inside.

The room was even barer: an old wooden table and low stools.

A coarse ceramic jar stood on the windowsill, its rim chipped.

At Yi Yang's instruction, Jiang Yuexin brought them some coarse tea.

With her head lowered, the girl gently placed the tea bowls on the table.

Yi Zhanzhi took his bowl and glanced at it. The rim was chipped, and broken tea leaves floated on the surface of the dark water.

He set it back on the table without bringing it to his lips.

Yi Xun did lift his bowl and take a sip. The tea was so astringent that his throat bobbed.

Still, he swallowed it and put on the air of a brother reminiscing.

"You've had a hard time all these years, Eldest Brother."

Yi Yang sat opposite him, his fan resting across his knees.

"At my age, hard or easy, it all amounts to much the same."

Yi Xun smiled and began talking about Cloud Pattern Town.

He spoke of expanding his shops and of grain prices rising that year.

Yi Yang listened without interrupting. In sixty years of life, the old woodcutter had learned one truth better than most.

No one visited the temple without a reason, especially a younger brother who hadn't kept in touch for decades.

At last, Yi Xun steered the conversation toward Yi Zhanzhi. "Zhan Zhi has a fine natural aptitude."

Yi Xun straightened a little. "He's seventeen and already at the qi-blood second level. The master of the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall in the county seat examined him personally. He said the boy was a rare talent and wanted to take him as his personal disciple."

Sitting beside him, Yi Zhanzhi nodded lightly, his face brimming with pride.

Yi Yang looked at him. Seventeen, and at the qi-blood second level.

After awakening his heavenly mandate, he himself had completed skin refining in six days and flesh-training in a little over ten. Now he was already pushing toward tendon refining.

Compared with an old man running on cheats, this genius they praised to the heavens was slower by far more than a little.

But Yi Yang showed none of that on his face. He merely nodded. "A good thing. He'll bring glory to the Yi Family's ancestors."

Yi Zhanzhi felt a little better hearing that. The country bumpkin had finally managed to say something sensible.

With the pleasantries out of the way, it was time to show their true hand. Yi Xun set down his tea bowl.

His expression changed swiftly, shifting from boastful to troubled. "Eldest Brother, your younger brother didn't come today just to catch up."

Seeing that he had finally reached the real business, Yi Yang raised his eyes. "Go on."

Yi Xun sighed. "Becoming a disciple at the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall costs five hundred taels. But we've recently expanded the shops, and our ready cash is tied up. We can't delay Zhan Zhi's future, so I thought..."

He paused and looked at Yi Yang. "If you could sell this courtyard and those few mu of farmland, that would cover some of it. I'll make up the rest."

The room fell silent at once.

At the kitchen doorway, Jiang Yuexin's breathing grew uneven.

She bit the tip of her tongue to keep herself from charging out and cursing them.

They hadn't come for decades, and the moment they did, they wanted to sell the house and fields. What kind of relatives were these?

They were weasels drawn by the scent, asking where the chicken coop was as soon as they came through the door.

Yi Xun hurried to add, "Don't misunderstand, Eldest Brother. You and Yuexin can move into town. There's room at my house. You won't have to worry about food or clothes, and you won't need to go up the mountain to cut firewood anymore."

Yi Yang didn't answer at once.

Jiang Yuexin saw it clearly, and her heart ached even more.

Grandpa was holding back his anger.

Yi Xun waited. Liu Fu stood beside him with his eyes lowered, while Yi Zhanzhi was growing impatient.

As far as he was concerned, this hardly needed such a long discussion.

A few poor fields and three shabby rooms in exchange for his chance to join the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall-even his toes could work out that bargain.

What was the old man still hesitating over?

After a long while, Yi Yang spoke.

"The courtyard and fields were allotted to me when the family property was divided."

Yi Xun nodded in agreement. "Yes."

"When our parents were still alive, the two shops, the house in town, and all the family connections went to you."

Yi Yang's voice wasn't loud.

"I got three shabby rooms and a few mu of poor farmland."

The troubled look on Yi Xun's face cracked. "Eldest Brother, that's ancient history..."

"I'm not digging up ancient history."

Yi Yang cut him off. "I'm saying this is all I have left. If you take it away, where are Yuexin and I supposed to live?"

Yi Xun hurried to reply. "Didn't I tell you? Move into town. In my back courtyard..."

"The empty room beside the stables?" Yi Yang asked with certainty.

Yi Xun choked on his words.

Song Yi had suggested that arrangement at home.

He hadn't mentioned it.

Yet Yi Yang had guessed exactly right. It wasn't because someone had tipped him off.

He simply knew them too well. In sixty years, the place the Yi Family gave him had never changed.

When he was useful, they called him Eldest Brother. When he wasn't, even a place beside the stables counted as a favor.

Yi Xun struggled to keep his composure and forced himself onward. "Eldest Brother, I would never mistreat you. Once you move in, the household will cover all your expenses. Yuexin is growing up, too. When she comes to town, I'll pay for her dowry."

At the kitchen doorway, Jiang Yuexin nearly burst into tears.

A dowry?

These people would put her beside the stables, yet they still dared talk about a dowry?

Yi Zhanzhi finally spoke.

"Great-Uncle, forgive me for speaking bluntly."

He sat a little straighter, unable to suppress his youthful arrogance.

"How many taels can you earn cutting firewood in the village for a year? Even with favorable weather, those few mu of poor fields only produce a dozen or so shi of grain."

"But if that money is spent on me, once I join the Thundercloud Martial Arts Hall and enter the Sinew Tempering Realm, the entire Yi Family will have a different standing."

"When that happens, who would dare bully you? Who would dare bully Yuexin?"

The more he spoke, the more reasonable he felt. "Isn't that better than clinging to a few lousy fields?"

After saying that, Yi Zhanzhi even glanced at Jiang Yuexin in the kitchen doorway.

There was no malice in his eyes, and precisely because there was none, they were all the more chilling.

He truly believed he was bestowing a favor. He truly believed his great-uncle would be getting the better end of the bargain by handing over his land and home.

Yi Yang looked at him. "Zhan Zhi, is it?"

"Yes."

"How old were you when you started practicing martial arts?"

"Eight."

Yi Zhanzhi raised his chin another half inch.

"How much silver has your family spent?"

Yi Zhanzhi didn't answer.

Yi Xun hurried to interject.

"Eldest Brother, that isn't important..."

"Not important?"

Yi Yang turned toward Yi Xun.

His old eyes were cloudy, but beneath that cloudiness lay a hardness honed by the years. "When our parents emptied the family coffers for you to practice martial arts, they said it wasn't important then, either."

"When I asked for a few taels to start a small business, Father slammed his pipe against the table and scolded me for being inconsiderate. Mother wiped her tears and told me to give way to you."

"Now your grandson wants to practice martial arts, and you don't have enough money, so you've come to make me give way again."

Yi Yang smiled briefly, but that fleeting smile held nothing but desolation and coldness.

"I'm sixty this year."

"I've given way my entire life."

"Enough."

The heat in the room suddenly turned cloying.

Yi Xun's face took on a sickly green cast, and the walnuts in his hand creaked under his grip.

He had never expected Yi Yang to dredge up old grievances in front of his grandson.

As far as he was concerned, all that was long past.

He had mastered martial arts, opened a shop, bought a home, and raised children and grandchildren who did him proud.

Successful people always liked to paint past injustices as the workings of fate.

Because the outcome was on their side.

But today, Yi Yang had stripped away that veneer of respectability, without leaving him a shred of dignity.

"Eldest Brother!"

Yi Xun stood up, his voice rising. "Your younger brother came to discuss this with you politely, and you insist on dragging out all that stale grain and rotten chaff from years ago?"

He jabbed a finger at the shabby room, his anger battering the dignity he had cultivated over the years into scattered pieces.

"What's the point of staying here alone, guarding this broken-down courtyard?"

"With you, Yuexin doesn't have enough to eat or warm clothes to wear. She's fifteen and still wearing old skirts and patched clothes."

"Have you lived up to what our younger sister entrusted to you on her deathbed?"