Chapter 15: Undercurrents
1347 Words
Moonlight, cold as frost, silvered the threshold of a small cottage on the eastern edge of Willow Creek. Li Yushan slipped out like a shadow, his presence an unwelcome stain on the quiet night. He hadn’t followed Tiange Mo back to this sleepy village for the rustic charm.
The unsuspecting couple next door had been a goldmine of information. The grand house? The village headman’s. Two girls lived there, similar in age: one, the cherished eldest granddaughter; the other… Tiange Mo, the orphaned child of the headman’s daughter who married an outsider. The girl wore rough-spun clothes, but her eyes held a watchful stillness that spoke of hardships far beyond her years.
“A sad story,” Li Yushan had feigned sympathy, effortlessly prying open their tongues. Tiange’s father – a man whispered to possess uncanny medical knowledge and formidable martial skills – had vanished before her birth, leaving no trace. Her mother succumbed to illness three years prior, leaving the girl alone and adrift until her grandfather took her in. The father was the key. “Knew so much,” “healing hands,” “moved like a warrior”… The villagers’ voices held awe and regret.
Li Yushan’s pulse quickened. It confirmed Tiange’s own words – her father was almost certainly a cultivator! But why? Why would one of the Awakened bury himself in this backwater, marrying a mortal woman? And the strangest part – that woman was “born sickly,” and even her cultivator husband could only “ease her suffering, never cure her”?
A poisonous thought slithered into Li Yushan’s mind: *A secret.* Something extraordinary about that woman… or perhaps, something now passed to her daughter!
He ghosted into the abandoned cottage next door. Dust and decay choked the air. The rooms were stripped bare, anything of value or suspicion long gone. Frustration gnawed at him as he emerged empty-handed. His gaze, sharp and predatory, fixed on the headman’s house, a dark silhouette against the star-flecked sky.
He halted before he got close. The house… to his Awakened sight, it pulsed with a strange, *pure* luminescence! The telltale aura of active cultivation! So vivid meant Tiange used no warding arrays – dangerously naive, fatally trusting in this village's peace.
What stunned him was the aura’s *color* – or lack thereof. It shimmered, pristine and transparent, devoid of the elemental hues of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth! This was no common foundational technique! A cultivation art without elemental affinity? It screamed of rare, potent power – either a unique art with hidden functions, or a legendary path to the Dao itself!
Greed seized Li Yushan’s heart, a vise tightening around his breath. *If… if he could possess this art…* Foundation Building, perhaps even Core Formation… it felt suddenly within reach!
He forced his racing heart to slow, observing. The pure light ebbed and flowed steadily, a testament to the young cultivator’s focus and iron will. So young, yet enduring the solitude and grind of cultivation deep into the night… No wonder she’d achieved her level in this magic-starved backwater. It wasn’t just talent; it was raw grit.
As dawn threatened the horizon, the pure luminescence faded. Inside, Tiange Mo slowly opened her eyes, a faint flush of satisfaction on her cheeks. Last night’s cultivation had been remarkably smooth! Those “insights” Li Yushan shared had worked wonders, easing the stubborn blockages in her meridians. A lightness buoyed her steps. Even Aunt Lin’s sour scowl seemed less grating over breakfast.
After informing her cousin Tianqiao, she set off for town again. She wanted to find Li Yushan, hoping for more answers to her cultivation puzzles.
But as she approached the modest inn, she saw him. Li Yushan stood outside, travel pack slung over his shoulder.
“Brother Li?” Tiange called out, surprised. “You’re leaving?”
Li Yushan turned, his face instantly breaking into a warm, practiced smile. “Ah, Sister Mo! Indeed. Lingering half a moon here, it’s time to journey on. Did you seek me for something?”
“Your words yesterday… they cleared a path for me,” Tiange admitted honestly. “I hoped to speak more, but if you’re departing…”
“Nonsense!” Li Yushan waved a dismissive hand, radiating geniality. “Exchanging insights is always beneficial. We have time.” He gestured towards the stone bridge marking the town entrance. “The tea stall by the bridge is quiet enough. Shall we?”
Tiange considered for a moment, then nodded. “Alright.”
They settled at the simple stall. Li Yushan sipped his coarse tea, his gaze sharp and assessing on Tiange. “Your cultivation last night? Did that meridian-nourishing trick help?”
Tiange nodded, her clear eyes reflecting genuine gratitude. “Immensely! That persistent blockage… circulating the energy to soothe it made a real difference. Thank you, Brother Li.”
“A trifle, known to most who walk the path,” he demurred smoothly. His voice shifted subtly. “Though *your* advice yesterday, about practicing the energy flow patterns before attempting a spell… that was truly insightful. It will save me much trouble later.” He paused, his tone laced with casual curiosity. “Speaking of guidance… with your esteemed father away for so long, how do you manage your cultivation? Did he leave you comprehensive manuals?”
Tiange’s guard went up. She kept her expression calm. “When I’m stuck… I write to him.” The lie tasted bitter. Her father was gone, vanished without a word. But revealing her isolation to a near-stranger felt unwise.
Li Yushan’s eyes flickered with hidden contempt, masked by understanding. “Ah… I see.” *Still playing coy, little girl.* He pressed gently into more personal territory. “Forgive my forwardness, but your other kin? It’s rare to find someone so young and Awakened, choosing to live hidden amongst mortals.”
Mention of family, especially her mother, dimmed the light in Tiange’s eyes. She looked down. “My mother… she fell ill. Passed away years ago. I live with my grandfather’s family now.”
“Oh! My deepest apologies!” Li Yushan exclaimed, layering his voice with thick, “sincere” regret. “I’ve stirred painful memories. But…” He feigned innocent confusion, tilting his head. “If your father was Awakened… mortal ailments are usually trivial to mend? Why couldn’t he…?”
Tiange’s shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly. She kept her gaze lowered, her voice quieter. “My mother’s illness… it couldn’t be cured. My father said… it was a problem with her *constitution*. Even he was powerless.”
**Constitution.**
The word struck Li Yushan like a thunderclap! Every disparate piece of the puzzle slammed into place!
A powerful cultivator, choosing exile in the mundane world for a doomed mortal wife. An incurable “constitutional problem.” And now, a young woman with a rare, affinity-less cultivation art, progressing despite a Five-Element Spirit Root (often dismissed as worthless) in a magic-poor environment…
The answer blazed before him: **Pure Yin Constitution!** Only a mortal woman born with a Pure Yin (or Pure Yang) constitution suffered such fatal imbalance, resisting all cure! And for a cultivator… especially a male… a woman with Pure Yin constitution was the ultimate cultivation furnace! A prize beyond measure! Crucially, this heaven-defying constitution was often *inherited*…
Tiange Mo was that inheritor! That explained everything – how a Five-Element Spirit Root could cultivate here! The Pure Yin constitution *was* the perfect vessel and amplifier for ambient energy!
A wave of tremulous ecstasy and dark ambition washed over Li Yushan. A top-tier affinity-less cultivation art! A once-in-a-millennium Pure Yin female cultivator! Either alone was enough to ignite wars in the cultivation world. Now, both priceless treasures resided in this naive, unprotected orphan standing before him!
He snapped his gaze down, his hand tightening on the rough tea bowl to hide the avarice and cold calculation blazing in his eyes. His heart hammered against his ribs. A bolder, infinitely darker plan crystallized instantly.
Fate had just dropped an astronomical opportunity into Li Yushan’s lap.
- Writer
