Old Xiao Peak, the Wind-Sheltered Slope, where willows grow askew and a single grave lies. On a gusty, overcast day in October, another new tomb was added to Wind-Sheltered Slope behind Li Family Village at the top of Old Xiao Peak.
It was a funeral that almost no one attended.
Li Luoyang remained almost completely silent throughout the entire funeral. He silently watched as Lin Luoshui and Li Guo sweated heavily while digging the pit. Clothing worn by Li Cunxiao, along with his personal items were placed into the pit. Li Luoyang continued watching silently as heaps of yellow earth were meticulously added and compacted, then topped with stones.
Under the gloomy sky, a nameplate was erected for the grave, yellow paper floating freely in the chill wind. The mourning flag flapped mournfully, mixing with the tears of the woman and youth. Li Luoyang continued to remain silent, wearing an expression no ten year old should wear and carrying a cold smile on his lips.
The funeral hadn't ended. Li Luoyang continued to kneel, his knees numbing, but he had to endure. If he couldn't manage at least this much, how could he have become a successful hidden tycoon in his previous life?
Although he could only see his mother Lin Luoshui's back, no action of hers escaped his attention. This included the instances she discreetly pulled a pair of scissors from her sleeve after a few attempts, and drove it into her own face.
The sharp tip punctured the skin with just a gentle touch, instantly filling the sorrowful atmosphere with an unpleasant odor. As children, their sense of smell was sensitive. Li Guo jumped the moment and was on his feet, only to be frightened back to his knees by the sight of Lin Luoshui's wound.
"Mom!"
The fifteen year-old Li Guo clung to Lin Luoshui's leg, sobbing uncontrollably. Li Luoyang was just as shocked by Lin Luoshui's drastic action! His eyes twitched involuntarily, and after taking a deep breath, he looked up at the increasingly overcast sky, speechless.
"What a damned age this is!"
He couldn't understand why in this world, Wu Zetian had utterly replaced the Li of Tang dynasty, establishing The Wu Zhou dynasty that passed onwards and persevered for over four hundred years now.
"Have all the descendants of Li Shimin in this world become useless? What about Huang Chao, renowned in martial and literary accomplishments who wrote, 'The Chongtian scent rises up to Longan, Every city wears a golden armor'? Has he decided to abandon martial contest in favor of literary ones in the Wu Zhou and sell chrysanthemums instead in this world? And what about Zhao Kuangyin, who was supposed to seize power in the Chen Bridge Incident, is he just selling cold tea in the Luoyang Ma Camp his whole life?"
Li Luoyang speculated that the once widespread Wu Zhou dynasty, with its Protectorate Generalships spread across the Eurasian continent, was now entering its twilight years. It was a helpless condition of the time and his unfortunate circumstance. However, life must go on. Staring wide-eyed as Lin Luoshui carved her face with scissors was not something Li Luoyang should do.
"Guo'er, don't cry.”
Lin Luoshui's voice trembled, even more so than the birds calling out in the cold lunar winter night. She reached to touch Li Guo’s head, but even before her fingers could touch him, beads of blood fell onto Li Guo’s head, trickling down onto his face, sometimes sinking into their coarse hemp clothes to be a permanent stain, or seeping into the yellow earth, merging with the nature around them.
"Maybe I should advise him first."
With this thought, Li Luoyang finally stood up, despite his nervousness. Li Guo, who had been quiet till now, spoke to Lin Luoshui: "Mother, you needn't care about the gossip from those people. If they come again, I will take care of them."
Lin Luoshui shuddered slightly, her scissors automatically lowering due to her surprise, "Watch your language!"
"I've been learning martial arts in the post station. If those matchmakers come again, I'll make an example of them!" Li Guo waved his hand dismissively.
"Holy smokes! How come I never realized my brother can be so brave!" Li Luoyang watched the impassioned Li Guo with admiration and surprise.
"A post station?" Lin Luoshui shook her head slightly, a hint of disdain appearing at the corner of her mouth. She quickly shot a sharp look at Li Guo, "Make an example of them? You sure know how to use idioms. But do you really dare to kill someone?"
"They're just some elderly women." Li Guo, who was born with the face of a young heroic character, was rather startled at the thought of murder. Killing, after all, was not like slaughtering chickens or fish.
"Are they just elderly women? Don't they have husbands and sons? Can you kill them all? Even if you can, do the government officials exist for nothing? With your father gone, are you planning to doom our family?"
"All I know is 'To kill one is a sin, to kill thousands is a hero!'"
"Who did you hear those words from?"
"I..."
Li Guo was speechless. He unconsciously turned his gaze toward Li Luoyang.
"I must say, you don't beat around the bush. Even though killing a few people isn't that big of a deal, you shouldn't be so blatant about it. You've implicated me too." Li Luoyang had a slight headache and had to step up with a brave face, only to be greeted with a frosty look from Lin Luoshui.
"Don’t speak like this in public anymore. Guo, go pack your belongings."
Lin Luoshui's expression returned to its apathetic state. She stopped looking at her two sons, picked up the scissors, and prepared to continue. Perhaps if she disfigured this face, the homeless son would stop whistling by the fence; the gossiping matchmaker wouldn't step foot in the Li's house anymore; the village elders would stop sending their messengers; and her eldest son, Li Guo, wouldn't turn into a murderer.
"Well, well, there is no need to disfigure yourself in such a way. If you apply some Chinese scholar tree, carthamus, and galla chinensis mixed with chicken dung onto your face, it's unremovable by water and almost similar to disfiguring," Li Luoyang said, helplessly kicking a stone away.
"Although it's rather embarrassing to use such a method, it's definitely effective. Moreover, soapnut boiled and crushed mixed with lime can clean it thoroughly."
Li Luoyang didn't believe that a little bit of skin damage could deter those eager beavers. However, seeing Lin Luoshui relaxing, he whispered to Li Luoyang, "Your father was not weak in martial arts."
"What?" Li Luoyang thought he had heard it wrong.
"I meant your father could handle some mere mountain bandits if he really makes up his mind."
"Really? Why didn't Father…" Li Luoyang knitted his eyebrows, realizing why Lin Luoshui had seemed not too sad about their situation and was so disgusted by the marriage proposers. There was more to it than met the eye.
"But don't keep your hopes too high. Either your father is really dead, or the crisis is so big that he has no choice but to fake his death."
"Understood. The conclusion is that we are going to struggle in the days ahead." Li Luoyang nodded.
For a ten-year-old boy to say such a thing should be surprising, yet it didn't seem to astonish Lin Luoshui. Li Guo, carrying his gathered belongings, turned back. Unaware of the secret shared between the mother and son.
Looking at Li Guo, Li Luoyang sighed quietly in his heart. He didn't fear the tough days ahead. In his past life, he was always manipulating rules until his death. He had grown tired of such a life and decided that in this life he'd do something more meaningful, such as breaking and establishing rules. As for starting a harem, given the development of certain parts of his immature body, he did not think it was the right time to consider such a thing.
"Let's go home."
Li Guo gathered his things; Lin Luoshui looked at the grave a couple more times and then spoke.
"Sounds good." Li Luoyang nodded, followed Lin Luoshui's steps along with Li Guo. The three of them huddled together for warmth as they descended the mountain, a solemn scene under the chill wind, noticed by only one old man besides the universe itself.
