Faint footsteps could be heard from afar, growing closer. Soon, a soft female voice rang out from outside the door: "The feast is ready. Would the esteemed immortal masters like to dine?"
Sang Tian responded, "We're coming now."
The group exchanged glances, tidied their clothes, and then stepped out. Standing outside was a young maid, dressed in a servant's garb. Upon seeing them emerge, she respectfully stood even straighter, offering three deep bows before saying, "I shall guide the esteemed immortal masters."
She then turned and led the way, stealing occasional glances at them as she walked.
After leaving the bathing quarters, they passed through a small courtyard before reaching the main house. The maid picked up her pace and, reaching the gate, announced their arrival. Through the gate, they could see Li Chengfeng surrounded by a dozen old and young villagers, waiting for them.
Upon seeing the group, Li Chengfeng and his people hurried forward, bowing and calling them "immortal masters." Cang Hai quickly waved them off, saying, "Please, no need for formalities," and helped the elderly man to his feet. Li Chengfeng then asked if they were satisfied with the bath and clothes, before leading them into the main hall.
Inside the hall, the walls were adorned with calligraphy and paintings. At the head of the room were five individual couches, with a table in front of them. Along the sides were several other couches. Li Chengfeng guided the group to the seats at the head of the room before sitting down himself.
As they waited for the food to be served, both sides carefully sized each other up.
Du Chen, pretending to be serious on the outside, couldn't help but ask in the team chat, "Hey, do we have to kneel like this? Feels like we're in Japan... Ugh, this hurts. I think I'll sit cross-legged instead."
Cang Hai facepalmed. "In ancient China, during the Han and Tang dynasties, it was common to sit like this. The Japanese learned from us, alright? A bit of common sense, please! But, yeah, sitting properly isn't easy, and we haven't practiced. Sitting cross-legged is definitely more comfortable."
Du Chen twisted his body to find a more comfortable position and then asked, "Are all these people Li Chengfeng's family? There's quite a lot of them."
Cang Hai replied, "From their ages, it seems Li Chengfeng has four sons and about ten grandchildren. That's not unusual for a large family. It just seems more crowded since they all live together."
Du Chen nodded thoughtfully and asked, "But why is it all men in his family? There are no daughters, and not even a granddaughter?"
Cang Hai sighed. "Don't you remember the saying 'men and women should not freely interact'? In their time, men were responsible for the outside, and women stayed within the household. So, women wouldn't be seen by outsiders."
Du Chen retorted, "That saying is so famous, now that you mention it, I remember. But what about Sang Tian and Tong Xin Fen? They're here too, and no one's said anything to them."
"Maybe they think we're immortal masters," Cang Hai said. "Didn't you notice how the younger ones didn't dare to look them in the eye?"
Du Chen nodded, agreeing.
Sang Tian, who had been listening, couldn't help but comment, "Boss, I thought you were from a rural background. How do you not know anything about these traditions?"
"Heh," Du Chen chuckled, "I did grow up in the countryside, but we moved to the county city later..."
From the perspective of Li Chengfeng and his family, seeing these five "immortal masters" was a completely different experience.
Li Jia Village was remote, and the family had never produced any notable figures. Aside from Li Chengfeng, who had traveled a little in his youth, most of his descendants had lived simple, local lives and had only ever been to nearby county towns. So when they heard that immortal masters had arrived, they were intrigued and eager to see them up close.
In Li Chengfeng's eyes, these five people, cleaned up and now wearing proper robes and skirts, though their hair still a bit messy, carried themselves with an air of dignity. Some were gentle and elegant, others carefree and composed. All of them seemed far more graceful than when they had first appeared, and he no longer doubted their true identity. He now believed they might have gone through some hardships to look so disheveled at first.
Li Chengfeng's four sons, all in their prime, had studied poetry and books from a young age and were thus careful to uphold the gentlemanly manners, not daring to raise their eyes to the female immortal masters sitting at the head of the table. However, the young grandsons—about ten boys, still in their childhood years—were either in their pre-teens or early teens, and their curiosity was strong. With their fathers all keeping their heads down, the children had no such restrictions and couldn't resist sneaking glances at the two female immortals.
Sang Tian naturally possessed a bit of classical beauty—her oval face, light brows, phoenix eyes, and a constant smile that made her approachable at first sight. Tong Xin Fen, on the other hand, had delicate features, but her face always wore a neutral, expressionless mask, exuding an air of coldness. No matter how one looked at them, these two women perfectly matched their image of either a warm, gentle goddess or a lofty, unapproachable one.
Among the three male immortals, one appeared kind-hearted, wearing an odd object on his nose, which was probably a magical artifact. Another had a full beard, was not very tall, but seemed lively, his face glowing with vitality. The third immortal, however, looked somewhat strange. He was tall and had a fair complexion, a gentle expression, but there was an ominous, dark aura surrounding him. A small puppet perched on his shoulder, giving off a sinister vibe.
As these thoughts passed through their minds, the younger members of the Li family, seated near Xiao Yue, instinctively shrank back in fear.
Had Du Chen and the others known what the Li family's descendants were thinking, they'd probably have spat their tea in their faces. The "cold aura" and "dark energy" were just the mage's ice armor and the warlock's demon skin, nothing to be so mystified about.
By this time, the sky had darkened. For the people of ancient times, who lived by the rhythm of the sun, this was already quite late for dinner. Soon, maids and young servants came in to serve the dishes and stood quietly to the side. Du Chen looked at the food on his table and glanced at the tables around him. The dishes were quite similar to traditional Chinese food, though some of the ingredients were unfamiliar. After several days of eating nothing but flatbread and roasted meat in the forest, Du Chen had grown tired of it. Seeing such a lavish spread before him, he called to the others and eagerly picked up his chopsticks to dig in.
Cang Hai awkwardly smiled at Li Chengfeng, who had just raised his cup to toast, and reciprocated the gesture before starting to eat.
It seemed the Li family had strict customs, following the principle of "no talking while eating." The Li family's descendants were silent, and the only sound at the table was Du Chen's enthusiastic chewing and slurping. Sang Tian couldn't help but quietly chuckle at the scene. Cang Hai, unable to endure it any longer, said, "Can you pay attention to your manners a little? We don't want the hardworking folks here to think we're just ragged refugees who don't know how to eat."
Du Chen, who looked like a refugee at that moment, wasn't offended by Cang Hai's remark. Instead, he casually said, "But the food really is delicious. Hey, you're right. I usually don't get meals this good, so I can't help it." He spoke with such flair that Cang Hai was left speechless for a moment.
After the meal, the maids came to clear the dishes and brought tea. Cang Hai took the opportunity to ask Li Chengfeng about the surrounding area: "We got lost in the dense forest, wandered for several days, and finally found our way out. But we don't know what town this is."
Li Chengfeng's face lit up as if a light bulb went off. He explained, "Ah, that explains the disarray when I first saw you. You've been through quite a journey. Immortal masters, you wouldn't know, but this forest is called Mo Ye. It's known to be treacherous. Several villagers who ventured in have never returned. The Li family village is located in the northwest of Xuan Zhou, a remote area. Thirty miles to the east is Lin Yu County. I've heard that another several dozen miles north of the county is Zhen Lian City, where many immortal masters come and go."
After finishing their tea, there was a report from outside that Li Er had arrived. As Du Chen and the others were about to leave, Li Chengfeng stood up, looking troubled. After a long pause, he spoke again: "There is one more thing I would like to ask the immortal masters to guide us on."
Li Er entered and bowed before standing to the side. Li Chengfeng nodded at him before speaking again.
It turned out that Li Chengfeng had once heard of cultivation during his youth. On one occasion, he came across a cultivation sect recruiting disciples and attempted to join, but unfortunately, due to his poor aptitude, he was not accepted. From then on, he urged his children and grandchildren to study and advance through the civil service, hoping they could follow a different path. As he grew older, to his great joy, he unexpectedly met several cultivators in the village, and he was filled with excitement, hoping that his descendants might have some fate with cultivation. He knew that cultivation relied heavily on one's natural constitution, so he hoped this could be an opportunity for Du Chen and the others to observe the children of Li Family Village and see if any of them had the potential for cultivation.
When Cang Hai and the others heard this, they were immediately at a loss. After all, they weren't actual cultivators, and none of them knew any divination techniques. However, having just eaten their food and donned the clothes provided by these people, they felt a bit awkward outright refusing, so they began discussing it in the team channel.
Du Chen, who had been impatiently tuning out during the long speech earlier, wasn't paying attention, and his thoughts seemed to have drifted elsewhere. When he saw the discussion, he asked Xiao Yue what was going on. Xiao Yue kindly told him, but naturally, Du Chen had no idea what to do, and no one expected this brainless fool to have a solution.
Sang Tian suddenly said, "I remember that the monsters we fought in the forest were either of a certain level or not. The ones without levels were no different from regular animals, but the ones with levels often knew some spells. I think Li Chengfeng must be one of the low-level ones. Maybe the ones with numbers in their avatars are the ones who have a chance at cultivating?"
This hypothesis was supported by Cang Hai and Tong Xin Fen. They began to carefully inspect the avatars of the Li family descendants, noticing that most of them had no numbers, except for a timid young boy of about five or six, whose avatar displayed a "0."
Cang Hai had an idea, so he approached Li Chengfeng and said, "This isn't difficult. If we want to check the potential of all the children in the village, we can wait until tomorrow when everyone gathers and have a look. How does that sound, old sir?"
Li Chengfeng, overjoyed by his agreement, immediately expressed his deep gratitude.
While the Li family went off to inform the whole village, Du Chen and the others arrived at Li Er's home. As they walked along, they noticed that, although Li Er's house was relatively large, it was extremely plain, with very little furniture, and the house looked old and worn compared to the wealth of Li Chengfeng's residence.
After Li Er led the five of them inside, he immediately bowed to the ground and began kowtowing, which shocked everyone. Cang Hai hurried over to help him up, but Li Er refused to rise and began to explain the reason for his actions.
Li Er, whose full name was Li Chengyun, was actually a cousin of Li Chengfeng. He had an older brother who passed away young, and as a branch of the Li family, he had lived in the ancestral home with Li Chengfeng. Li Chengyun had only had one son, Li Tonghan, after the age of thirty, and as such, his son was extremely precious. However, his son was born with a congenital illness, and despite seeing many renowned doctors, they all said the boy wouldn't survive past fifteen years of age.
Li Er was deeply saddened but refused to give up. He separated from Li Chengfeng, selling all his property to treat his son. However, no matter how many doctors he consulted or remedies he tried, Li Tonghan's condition didn't improve. With his son already fourteen, Li Er, unwilling to bury his son, risked everything and repeatedly ventured into Mo Ye Forest to seek out rare medicinal herbs that could only be used by immortals. It was there that he encountered Du Chen and the others. Having witnessed the magical abilities of Cang Hai, Li Er's hope was reignited, and he persuaded Li Chengfeng to let the five of them stay at his house, hoping they could cure his son.
The group, moved by his fatherly devotion, found themselves at a loss. It seemed he truly believed them to be immortals. While the others were hesitating, Du Chen, who was unbothered, casually said, "What are you afraid of? We've got two healers in our team! What's the worst that could happen? Even if it's some weird, dark magic, we've got antidotes, cures, and ways to break curses. If we still can't cure him, then we'll need an immortal to do it!"
Although the others felt that Du Chen was being somewhat blindly optimistic, they had to admit that he had a point. Thus, they agreed to take a look at the situation and see what they could do for Li Er's son.
Upon hearing this, Li Er was overjoyed. He quickly led the five of them into the inner room. After passing through a coarse cloth screen, a weary-looking woman was kneeling beside it, performing a deep bow. She didn't dare say much, only constantly kowtowing. Li Er introduced her as his wife, Sun Shi.
Seeing the deep concern and devotion of Li Er and his wife, the five of them couldn't help but feel moved. Sang Tian, in particular, was reminded of her own parents, and she couldn't help but turn her head away, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.