Dongting Immortal Clan

"father!"

Zhang Nianci trotted in through the courtyard gate, her steps light and quick, like a playful deer, and threw herself into Chen Changhe's arms.

She is seven years old this year. She has two braids and wears a pomegranate red short shirt and pleated skirt. A blue sash is tied around her waist, and a sheathed short sword hangs on the sash.

Chen Changhe smiled and gently stroked his daughter's upturned head, saying softly:

Why are you in such a panic?

Zhang Nianci's face was flushed from running, and she was slightly out of breath. Her round, dark eyes were very bright and lively.

She proudly opened her right palm, as if presenting a treasure, and said in a clear, crisp voice:

"Dad, look!"

Before she finished speaking, a bright golden light suddenly appeared in her palm.

Chen Changhe was familiar with this technique; it was the Golden Light Technique.

"Snapped!"

With a wave of her hand, Zhang Nianci sent out a golden light that struck a green bamboo tree in the corner of the courtyard.

The green bamboo snapped in two with a snap, the cut surface as smooth as a mirror, as if sliced ​​clean by a sharp blade in an instant.

"good."

A hint of surprise flashed in Chen Changhe's eyes, and he nodded in approval.

"Just 'not bad'?"

Zhang Nianci tilted her head back, her lips slightly downturned, feeling that the praise was too bland and lacked substance.

"How long have I been practicing the Golden Light Technique?"

"Three months!"

"Then you'll be able to make it look quite decent."

"Grandpa said I was born to learn magic! Shouldn't Dad praise me more?"

Chen Changhe chuckled, ruffled her hair again, and immediately changed his words to suit his daughter's wishes:

"Father is wrong."

"At such a young age, Nianci in our family has mastered the Golden Light Mantra to the point of being able to control it at will, which naturally shows that she is extremely talented."

Zhang Nianci was finally satisfied and grinned.

When she smiles, her eyes crinkle, much like her mother's, yet she also exudes a heroic air, similar to Chen Changhe.

With her bright, dark eyes and fair skin, she was clearly a beauty in the making.

Zhang Nianci was a lively and mischievous girl from a young age, like a little boy. She was the apple of the Chen family's eye and was deeply loved by the two elders.

Grandpa also said...

"I'm much better than you were back then, Dad."

"It took you a year to ignite your inner fire, but I did it in less than six months!"

Zhang Nianci sat on the veranda, swinging her legs, her tone tinged with a hint of smugness.

She began practicing the "Taiyin Lianxing Ganying Pian" at the age of six, and it has only been a year since then.

Last year, on the day of Lidong, he ignited the fire in his heart and officially entered the first realm of the Spiritual Treasury. Only three or four months have passed, and he has already mastered the Golden Light Technique.

His talent in magic is indeed far superior to Chen Changhe's.

When he first learned this skill, it took him more than half a year to figure it out before he could barely master it.

"Your grandfather talks too much."

Chen Changhe shook his head and smiled, his tone devoid of blame.

Zhang Nianci chuckled, no longer dwelling on the topic. With a "clang," she drew the short sword from her waist and examined it in her hand.

The sword is only a little over a foot long, dark in color, with an ancient and simple design. The blade is polished to an extremely bright shine, with a cold glint in its eyes.

This was something Old Zhang specially asked someone to find for him in Yunmeng County before the New Year, and it cost quite a bit of money.

The old man said this was his dowry for his granddaughter.

Chen Changhe looked at the short sword without saying a word.

Old Zhang's affection for Zhang Nianci sometimes even surpassed that for Chen Chuansheng.

Not only did he transfer all the remaining land under his name early on, but he also tried every means to acquire gold and silver artifacts, bows and swords, and other playthings that Zhang Nianci liked.

She would tell everyone she met, "My Nianci is destined to be a female sword immortal."

"father."

Zhang Nianci suddenly asked:

"Will I be able to join the Taixu Sect and become a disciple of an immortal sect like my uncle in the future?"

Chen Changhe was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

My thoughts were instantly pulled far away, as if I had traveled across mountains and rivers to see the figure of my third brother, who had left home at a young age, in the immortal sect.

After a moment of distraction, he regained his composure, looked into his daughter's expectant eyes, his smile deepened, and he nodded firmly:

"My son is talented and hardworking. He will surely be able to inherit the true teachings of the immortal sect like your uncle in the future."

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.

Spring comes early to Qingxi Town.

Spring had just begun, and the peach trees in the town were already in bloom, their pink and white blossoms clustered together on the branches.

When the wind blows, the petals fall and spread on the bluestone road after the rain, as if a rain of flowers is falling.

A young man dressed in a bamboo-green Taoist robe, with a long sword at his waist, strolled along the bluestone street.

He walked slowly, looking around as he went.

Most of the shops in town had already opened their doors, breakfast stalls were steaming, cloth shop assistants were hanging newly arrived fabrics on bamboo poles, and the clanging of metal repairs echoed in front of the general store.

This bustling, vibrant atmosphere of the marketplace only emerged after the Zhou family's downfall.

In the past, six or seven out of ten shops in Qingxi Town were owned by the Zhou family. Now that they have changed owners, they seem to have become more lively.

The once magnificent Zhou family ancestral hall has now been transformed into a school, where scholars teach and instruct the surrounding children in literacy.

The young man in the green robe smiled slightly, stopped in front of a tea stall on the street, and ordered a bowl of coarse tea.

The tea was brewed from coarse leaves, dark brown in color, and bitter on the palate, but he drank it calmly, as if he were savoring some precious tea.

The tea stall owner was a man in his early fifties who used to work as a shop assistant in the Zhou family's shop. After the Zhou family's business collapsed, he started his own business.

As he wiped the greasy wooden table with a rag, he struck up a conversation with the unfamiliar young Taoist priest:

"You look unfamiliar, Taoist priest. Is this your first time visiting Qingxi Town?"

The young man in the green robe nodded.

"It's been a long time since I've been here."

The stall owner laughed and said:

"Could it be an immortal who has come to visit the Chen family of Baiyukou?"

The young man in the green robe put down his teacup and smiled slightly at him:

"You noticed that too?"

"Hey, I don't have any discernment."

The stall owner laughed and rubbed his hands together.

"But in this area, everyone knows that the Chen family is now a family of cultivators, and the people they associate with are all highly accomplished monks, Taoists, and Taoist masters. I have seen several people with the same demeanor and attire as the Taoist priest."

As he spoke, he shook his head and sighed softly:

"It's a pity that the Chen family only accepts children aged six to sixteen, and they also need to possess some kind of 'spiritual aperture'. Otherwise, at my age, I would also like to try my luck with the immortals."

The young man in the green robe chuckled upon hearing this, and took out two copper-colored "green coins" from his sleeve, gently placing them on the table.

The stall owner quickly waved his hand upon seeing this:

"No, no, a bowl of tea costs only one coin."

"Consider the extra one as conversation starters while you tell your stories."

The young man in the green robe said gently:

"Stadium owner, could you tell me what makes the Chen family so extraordinary?"

The stall owner glanced at the two coins, then at the young man's expression, and accepted them with a smile, finally opening up completely:

"Speaking of the Chen family, they are truly the best in our Qingxi Town."

He picked up the teapot to refill the guest's water, and said in a low voice:

"In the past, the Zhou family was powerful, while the Chen family was just an ordinary fishing family that made a living by the water near Baiyukou."

"Who would have thought that his third son would have such good fortune, catching the eye of a passing immortal master from the Taixu Sect, who took him directly back to his immortal mountain and accepted him as a disciple!"

"From then on, the Chen family was different; they became a proper family of cultivators."

"And then?"

The green-robed Taoist asked with a smile.

"And then..."

The stall owner sighed:

"The Zhou family somehow committed a serious crime. I heard that it was Master Zhou, who was an official in Yuezhou, who was arrested. In less than half a year, the once-great Zhou family collapsed. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter."

"The fields, forests, shops, and that magnificent mansion outside the town... all now belong to the Chen family."

"By the way, the Zhou family's old house has now been renamed 'Qingchi Villa'."

At this point, the stall owner glanced around and whispered:

"I've heard that the three masters of the Chen family are all true immortals who can fly through the clouds and summon wind and rain!"

The young man in the green robe listened quietly without responding, then nodded and asked again:

"Has there been any unusual developments in the Chen family lately?"

"Something new is happening?"

The stall owner thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"The only significant event was the recent harvest of spirit grains, when we hired a lot of day laborers to help."

"The straw from that spirit grain is as hard as old bamboo roots; it's difficult to cut!"

"Apart from that, I haven't heard of anything else."

The two chatted for a few more minutes about everyday things.

The young man in the green robe smiled, picked up his teacup, drank the last sip of tea, and stood up.

"Thank you for your hospitality, stall owner."

"You're too kind, Taoist priest. Please take care!"

The young man in the green robe walked out of the tea stall and strolled unhurriedly along the bluestone path strewn with peach petals out of town.

When he reached the peach tree at the entrance of town, he paused slightly and looked back.

The peach blossoms are in full bloom, like clouds and rosy hues.

Pink and white petals still flutter down, enveloping this small town nestled against the mountains and by the water in a gentle springtime hue.

"Nine years..."

A faint smile appeared on the green-robed Taoist's lips. Unable to suppress his emotions any longer, the long sword at his waist was drawn automatically.

He stepped on it, and transformed into a blue rainbow, flying towards the direction of the White Fish Mouth.