26: Qingshan proposes marriage

Li Qingfeng's name was like a massive halo, shrouding the entire sky above Black Mountain Town.

The effect of this halo reached its peak when Li Dashan spread the word that he wanted to find a wife for his eldest son, Li Qingshan.

Just two days after the news got out, the threshold of the Li family's new house construction site—which wasn't even fully built yet, only the frame was up—was nearly worn down by visitors.

First came the village matchmaker, carrying a pastry basket and swaying her hips, her clever tongue capable of talking the dead back to life.

"Brother Dashan! Madam Zhang! I've watched Qingshan grow up; he's such a steady boy! Old Zhao's daughter from the east end of the village is so fresh and hardworking! She has wide hips, good for childbearing! She and Qingshan are a match made in heaven!"

"Go, go, go! Old Zhao's daughter is as thin as a bean sprout! Look at the Qian Family from the west end of our village! They're offering five acres of paddy fields as a dowry! The girl is sturdy—a real natural at work!"

Soon, matchmakers from nearby villages also moved upon hearing the news, arriving in donkey carts, making the competition even more intense.

"Brother Li! Sister Zhang! I'm Granny Wang from Willow Tree Village! The Third Young Miss of Landlord Sun's family in our village is literate and well-educated! Her dowry will be eight or ten chests! She even comes with personal maidservants!"

"What does Landlord Sun's family count for! I'm Matchmaker Liu from Qingshui Town! I represent the only daughter of Shopkeeper Wu from the town's Silk Shop! Her looks, her figure! Dowry? They can even provide a shop as a dowry! They've taken a liking to Young Master Qingshan's honest character!"

Finally, even professional matchmakers from Black Mountain Town were dispatched with even more fanfare, bringing 'Shadow Portraits' (rough character sketches) painted by artists, dressing respectably, and speaking in polished phrases.

"Master Li! Madam Li!" Even the forms of address had changed. "Your esteemed family's Eldest Young Master is of upright character and handsome appearance, and your family background... er, now has a future as bright as brocade! The pearl in the palm of Owner Chen from the town's East Rice Emporium is sixteen years of age, educated and reasonable, and excels in all forms of needlework and embroidery! If they could be wed, it would truly be a perfect match!"

The temporary thatched shed the Li family used for stacking Materials became a makeshift 'reception room.'

Madam Zhang was busy to the point her feet didn't touch the ground, boiling water and pouring tea. Looking at the pastry boxes and fabrics piling up on the table and listening to the matchmakers' glib tongues promoting various girls, she was both joyful and worried.

She was joyful that her son finally didn't have to worry about not finding a good wife, but worried because... there were too many choices! She was dazzled by the options!

Li Dashan, however, sat steady as a rock.

He squatted on a large rock next to the construction site, puffing on his dry tobacco pipe while squinting as he watched the craftsmen raising the main beam.

He would glance at the portraits of the girls handed over by the matchmakers before passing them to the nearby Li Qingshan, who was equally dark and sturdy but was now blushing furiously with embarrassment, not knowing where to put his hands and feet.

"Qingshan, you're the one getting married, so you have to like her yourself. It doesn't count if your parents think she's good; you have to think she's good for your future life to go smoothly."

Li Dashan exhaled a smoke ring and said slowly.

Li Qingshan held those 'Shadow Portraits' depicting either plump or delicate girls, his face turning even redder like a red-hot branding iron. After stammering for a long time, he finally squeezed out a sentence.

"Dad... Mom... you... you just decide... I, I'm fine with anything..."

And Li Qinghe became the quietest corner in all this clamor.

The bustling matters of building the house, buying land, and matchmaking all seemed to be separated from him by a layer.

His family knew he had 'business' and tacitly agreed not to let him handle any heavy labor.

He still went out every day with his small hunting fork, using the excuse of going up the mountain to set traps.

But his direction went deeper and deeper into the desolate cliffs and deep valleys where humans rarely visited.

[Today's Intel (Spiritual Plants): Under Eagle Beak Rock on the North Peak, a fifty-year-old 'Blood-Veined Vine' is about to mature; its vine sap contains a faint amount of blood-qi spiritual energy, which can be used to temper bones and muscles.]

[Today's Intel (Minerals): Deep within an abandoned mine, due to groundwater seepage, three pieces of 'Cold Iron Ore Essence' have condensed; their nature is cold and resilient, and they can assist in condensing water-attribute spiritual energy.]

[Today's Intel (Beast Traces): At the bottom of Crescent Moon Pool, an injured old turtle is lurking; its shell patterns naturally align with the water rhythm, and placing it in a cultivation area can slightly gather water spiritual energy.]

The intel was like a precise treasure map, guiding him through the wild mountains and desolate ridges.

He climbed the steep Eagle Beak Rock and harvested that strange vine with dark red patterns from a crevice in the stone.

He crawled into the depths of a cold, damp, abandoned mine that smelled of decay, prying three pieces of Ore with a faint blue metallic luster and a cold touch from the dripping rock wall.

He even dove into the cold bottom of Crescent Moon Pool, avoiding the old turtle that was on its last breath but still vigilant, and carefully took rubbings of the clearest natural water-patterned scales on its shell.

Every harvest brought with it the scent of the mountains and faint fluctuations of spiritual energy.

He carefully collected the juice of the Blood-Veined Vine and mixed it into the bone-strengthening medicinal soup he brewed for his eldest brother, Li Qingshan.

He wrapped the Cold Iron Ore Essence in cloth and placed it under the cushion where he sat for meditation.

The tortoise shell rubbing with the water patterns was hung at the head of his bed.

His life was clearly split in two.

One half was the Li family's increasingly noisy new house, filled with the mundane atmosphere of the mortal world.

The other half was his lonely cultivation in the deep mountains and quiet valleys, accompanied only by moonlight, cold winds, and cold intel.

In the Dantian Qi Sea, the warm spiritual energy vortex was becoming more condensed and robust at a slow but steady pace under the dual tempering of the Cold Iron Ore Essence's yin-cold energy and the Blood-Veined Vine juice's blood-qi power.

The massive accumulation needed to construct the second Pulse Gate, [black bone], was like trickling streams merging into a deep pool, the water level rising bit by bit in silence.

On the day the new house's main beam was raised, firecrackers thundered, and more than a dozen tables were set for the banquet.

Li Dashan wore a newly made jacket, his face glowing as he toasted the craftsmen and fellow villagers.

Madam Zhang was busy inside and out, attending to the female guests.

Li Qingshan was surrounded by a group of young men who were teasing him, his face red all the way down to his neck.

Li Qinglin excitedly darted back and forth through the crowd.

Li Qinghe also sat at the table, quietly eating his food.

He looked at his father's carefree smile, his mother's busy yet satisfied figure, his eldest brother's unconcealable bashfulness and expectation, and his second brother's liveliness.

A warm and grounded emotion enveloped him.

This was what he desperately wanted to protect.

After three rounds of wine, the noise was deafening.

Li Qinghe put down his chopsticks and quietly left the table.

He walked to the unfinished backyard of the new house.

Wood and bricks were piled here, making it look empty and quiet. The distant clamor from the front yard could be heard faintly, making the silence here even more pronounced.

He looked up at the boundless northern night sky.

Third Brother, are you... doing well in the Immortal Sect?

Dad, Mom, and Big Brother are all doing well.

We built a big house at home.

Big Brother is about to get a wife.

I will protect this home.

I will... become stronger.

The Qi Ming Pulse Gate silently circulated deep within the center of his brows, its cool spiritual energy flowing like moonlight.

He slowly closed his eyes, cutting off the noise behind him, and sank his mind into his body, feeling that power that was constantly accumulating like a sleeping volcano.

The beams of the new house stood tall amidst the sound of firecrackers, while the foundation in his heart was being built up, piece by piece, in a corner known to no one, becoming even more solid.