Dongting Immortal Clan

The three of them moved closer and looked at the small cauldron together.

The patterns on the cauldron began to slowly flow, transforming into silvery-white lines that meandered across its dark blue-green surface.

Connecting end to end, repeating endlessly, it emits an extremely faint "buzzing" sound.

The sound was like the chirping of insects on a summer night, or the lingering echo of bells and chimes from the depths of distant mountains.

Upon seeing this, Chen Changhe's eyes widened, and his mouth gaped open.

"I knew I hadn't misread it!"

"I saw it on the lake earlier, and I thought I was seeing things."

Chen Dajiang was also very surprised.

Chen Chuansheng's expression had become serious. He took the cauldron from his young son and began to examine it again.

Beneath the small cauldron, the fingerprint was still there, faintly glowing red in the moonlight, as if something was leaping about.

This cauldron.

Something just doesn't look right; there's something indescribable about it.

"father!"

Chen Xiaohu's eyes were filled with excitement, and he said excitedly:

"This cauldron seems to breathe; it's absorbing moonlight!"

Chen Chuansheng did not answer. He carried the small tripod to the courtyard, placed it on the stone mill, then stepped back a few paces and watched silently.

A thin mist had risen all around us, seemingly out of nowhere.

The moon in the sky seemed to have grown hair, and looked bigger than usual, like a wheel, hanging straight overhead.

The hazy moonlight, like a faint pillar of light, fell into the mouth of the cauldron.

The patterns on the small cauldron flowed rapidly, like a living thing, beginning to breathe in and out the moonlight. The silvery-white light that had just emerged from the mouth of the cauldron quickly rolled back, just like a person inhaling and exhaling.

"This is incredible!"

Chen Chuansheng's voice trembled, and his body shook.

"This is probably a celestial treasure; somehow it fell into the lake."

"Are you going to see your great-uncle again tomorrow?"

Chen Changhe immediately asked, his eyes fixed on the small cauldron with intense brightness.

"Don't look for it anymore, don't look for it anymore."

Chen Chuansheng shook his head, worried that the commotion in the courtyard would be discovered. He quickly covered the small cauldron with a rag to block out the moonlight.

Without the small cauldron's pull, the various strange phenomena in the courtyard gradually dissipated.

He called his three sons back into the house, locked the doors and windows, and said urgently:

"The small cauldron is imbued with spiritual power and is no ordinary object. If we hold it in our hands, we may bring disaster upon ourselves."

Although Chen Chuansheng was a fisherman, he understood the principle that possessing a treasure is a crime.

Such a mysterious object, even if it is not a celestial treasure, will surely attract the covetous eyes of others. How could the father and his three sons possibly protect it?

"father!"

Chen Changhe showed no fear whatsoever, his gaze fixed intently on the small cauldron covered by a tattered cloth on the table.

"This is an item belonging to immortals. If the immortals knew that we had retrieved the precious cauldron for them, they might even bestow upon us elixirs and teach us cultivation methods."

"Back then, we could all become immortals!"

"Second brother!"

Chen Chuansheng stared at Chen Changhe, his lips trembling slightly, and pointed at him, saying:

"How old are you?!"

"This thing is not something mortals like us can even touch!"

"Don't forget the great flood that struck the lake when you were six years old!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Changhe immediately lowered his head, and the excitement in his eyes diminished somewhat.

He was already old enough to understand things when he was six years old. He only remembered that winter when the river dried up and a white-robed immortal suddenly appeared by the lake.

He said that a dragon-like creature was hiding at the bottom of the lake, and that it had become powerful, which might cause a demonic threat. Therefore, he came to this place to eliminate the demon.

Then came an earth-shattering battle between immortals and demons.

The serpent knew how to summon wind and rain, and soon it unleashed a massive flood.

That day, a violent storm raged all night, with thunder and lightning. When Chen Changhe woke up, he heard that many people had drowned.

However, when the city gate catches fire, the innocent bystanders suffer the consequences.

"So what does Dad say we should do?"

Chen Changhe sighed, glancing to the side instead of looking at the table.

Chen Chuansheng remained silent, unsure of what to do.

This little cauldron is very mysterious; it might really hold a secret of the immortals. It's impossible for Chen Chuansheng not to have had any thoughts of greed.

However, he had come into contact with cultivators in his early years and knew that they were cold-hearted and ruthless. If they discovered that he possessed a magical treasure, they would definitely try to seize it or even kill him to silence him.

After a while, Chen Dajiang gradually cleared his thoughts:

"father."

Chen Dajiang continued, "We go out on the boat every day and haven't seen any movement on the lake. This small cauldron may not have just fallen into the lake."

"If it were truly important and belonged to someone, it would have been found long ago."

"Since no one has looked for it for so long, it's probably unclaimed."

He removed the tattered cloth, revealing the true form of the small cauldron.

It is covered in rust and has a long history, looking as if it is a thousand years old.

"This small cauldron is extraordinary. Now that we have obtained it, if we do not accept it as a gift from Heaven, we will surely suffer the consequences!" Chen Changhe said in a trembling voice.

Seeing that even the mighty Yangtze River spoke this way, Chen Chuansheng fell silent once again.

……

Not long after, Chen Xiaohu, who was fiddling with the small tripod at the table, discovered that there seemed to be some words inside the tripod.

"It's too small, I can't see it clearly."

He squinted with one eye, trying to see.

Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he grabbed the small cauldron and ran towards the courtyard.

This action startled Chen Chuansheng and the other two.

When they arrived at the courtyard, Chen Xiaohu was holding the small cauldron. The scattered moonlight condensed into a pillar of light and fell into the mouth of the cauldron.

As the light faded, the small cauldron began to move, and the inscriptions inside flickered.

"It really works!"

Chen Xiaohu revealed a look of joy.

The small tripod absorbed the moonlight, and the inscriptions became clearer. He held his breath and carefully observed them, gradually making out the words inside.

About an incense stick's time later, the light from the small cauldron in Chen Xiaohu's arms dimmed, the patterns on its body stopped pulsating, and it quickly returned to normal.

but.

The inscription inside the cauldron shines brightly, as if it had just been carved, with the strokes clearly visible.

The originally tiny characters were miraculously reflected in Chen Xiaohu's eyes.

By the moonlight, he recited somewhat awkwardly:

"The Taiyin Refinement Form... The Chapter on Response and Retribution"

He had only read a few words when Chen Changhe covered his mouth:

"Don't recite it."

Chen Dajiang's expression changed, and he became tense. He retreated to the courtyard wall to check the surroundings.

Chen Chuansheng carried Chen Xiaohu and immediately went back into the house.

……

Inside the house, Chen Dajiang stood guard at the door, while Chen Chuansheng, along with Chen Changhe and Chen Xiaohu, sat around the table.

Chen Xiaohu felt a little nervous seeing everyone surrounding him.

"Lake".

"Did you really see the words inside the cauldron?" Chen Changhe asked repeatedly.

Chen Xiaohu nodded.

Just now, his mind went blank for a moment, and unfamiliar texts were forcibly crammed into his head, clearly etched into his memory.

"The essence of Taiyin, called lunar radiance, is drawn into the body to cleanse impurities, circulates throughout the body, and builds the foundation for physical refinement..."

Chen Xiaohu looked at Xiao Ding and immediately read aloud what he had seen.

The room was completely silent.

After reading the last sentence, Chen Xiaohu suddenly came to his senses and found that his father and the other two were looking at him as if they had seen a ghost.

"There really are words! How come I didn't see them?"

Chen Dajiang held the small tripod and examined it for a long time, his face filled with doubt.

Chen Changhe's voice trembled.

"The words were so faint I thought they were just scratches, how could Hu'er see them so clearly?!"

"What does it say on it?"

He looked at Chen Xiaohu excitedly.

Chen Xiaohu opened his mouth, but didn't know where to begin.

The inscription inside the cauldron was not written in the script commonly used today. He did not recognize any of the characters, but he could pronounce them and understand their meaning.

It was as if a voice was speaking in his head, explaining its meaning.

Chen Chuansheng reached into his pocket and pulled out a pipe, intending to light it, but his hand trembled so badly that he couldn't get the tinder to come up with the right flame no matter how many times he tried.

Chen Dajiang took it and lit it for him.

The smoke dispersed under the moonlight, a bluish-white color, like the kind of mist that a cauldron would exhale.

"Let's eat first."

After a long while, Chen Chuansheng finally uttered a sentence, his voice hoarse.

They went out fishing and haven't eaten anything yet.

Chen Xiaohu hurriedly ran to bring the food to the table, which had been kept warm on the stove.

On the table were three bowls of brown rice, a dish of pickled radish, and a steamed mandarin fish.

Chen Chuansheng divided the meat from the belly of the fish among his three sons, while he himself ate the head and tail of the fish.

Chen Changhe ate absentmindedly, poking at the rice in his bowl with his chopsticks while his eyes kept looking at the cauldron.

Chen Dajiang ate steadily, chewing heartily, but Chen Xiaohu noticed that his chopsticks seemed to be trembling slightly.

Chen Xiaohu couldn't eat it himself.

The text "Taiyin Lianxing Ganying Pian" seemed to have taken root in his mind.

There are a total of 362 characters.

It describes the methods of sensing the moon's essence, drawing it into the body, cleansing the meridians, and transforming the body.

This is a manual of spiritual practice!

Each time he silently recited it in his mind, the warmth in his dantian intensified, as if someone was adding firewood to the stove.

The fire wasn't big, but it kept burning.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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