Li Zhiyuan wasn’t speaking words imbued with loss or negativity, for his life suddenly brimd with excitent since he started school and moved away from his hotown.
"The path can be taken step by step, but one ought to have a goal. As the old saying goes, turtles seek the bottom of the pond, and dragons are born from braving the river. It all depends on one’s aspiration."
"River Crossing?"
Yin Fuhai had told himself, "After so many years, soone from the Liu family is finally braving the river again."
"It’s a taphor, for ambition."
"Grandma Liu, I want to know what it originally referred to?"
"What did it originally refer to?
From the start of the river to its end, one confronts people and deals with events, should wade through what is flattenable and handle what needs handling.
For new households, their standing is established by river crossing;
For ancestral hos, their thresholds are steadied by river crossing.
The river nurtures n, who unlike pythons, can more readily transform into dragons."
"Then Uncle Qin back then..."
No longer in the Grandmaster’s House, he felt freer to speak, but Li Zhiyuan sensed that Grandma Liu, despite this, still showed caution in her words, probably due to Alii’s sickness not being fully cured and not speaking yet, uncertain whether they may need to "repay a vow" to their own Grandmaster’s House one day.
"Ali did indeed attempt the crossing in his ti, but he didn’t finish it, nearly broke in the attempt. That was my fault, I was too impatient back then."
Liu Yui’s eyes betrayed a glint of reminiscence.
"Did sothing happen?"
"Well, it’s trivial old news, let’s not bring it up." Liu Yui changed the subject, "What about you, lad, what do you plan to do in the future?"
"Grandma, how exactly does one undertake the River Crossing?"
"Heh heh." Liu Yui laughed, "That question, it’s like asking where the jianghu is. Is there a specific way to describe it? If you want to cross in your heart, isn’t the river right under your feet?"
Li Zhiyuan fell silent.
"Is what Grandma said too profound?"
"I did understand it."
"Oh?"
"Once you’ve entered this threshold, if you don’t wish to stop, you’ll continue to go on."
When you wish to fish out corpses, not only are you seeking trouble, but trouble will also "grow legs" to find you.
It very much resembles what he had told Tan Wenbin about the "cleaning sphere" on the truck during his trip to Jinling.
But this seed sowhat idealistic.
Li Zhiyuan couldn’t help but look up at the ceiling, his thoughts wandering to how he and Mao Chang’an had tricked the Heavenly Dao, as even the Heavenly Dao felt a bit idealistic.
Furthermore, the Yin Family Genealogy also recorded the ancestors’ travels, yet they didn’t use the term "River Crossing," possibly because it was a special term used only by families like the Qin Liu’s, akin to ordinary folks not being able to use "grace with their presence" when visiting a scenic spot.
In the travel accounts of the Yin ancestors, one feature was constant: no matter how high-spirited they started, they all eventually faced so setback and returned to their old ho in Fengdu. Indeed, many of those accounts abruptly end midway, implying they never made it ho.
Such as the four Yin ancestors who carried the serpent woman’s palanquin.
So, "settling down," isn’t it more or less the sa as seclusion? Arriving at a certain dock, settling down comfortably, it’s not really about dividing territories; it rather resembles a bow to fate.
Li Zhiyuan poured Liu Yui another cup of tea, handed it to her, and asked, "Grandma, the past was the past, and the present is the present. Can the situations still be the sa?"
"In the past, the foreign vessel Purple Quartz ca up on the river, now they don’t. Is it that the foreigners no longer wish to co?"
"Do you an to say that, on the surface things have changed, but the underlying conflicts have always been there?"
"Give another explanation, I find this one disagreeable."
"The scenery on both shores of the river has improved, but the undercurrent beneath the river is still as treacherous as it was a hundred years ago?"
"Hehehe." Liu Yui chuckled, stretching out her finger to point at the youth, "Now I understand why Alii likes to spend ti with you. I’ve heard your Grandmaster say before, your grandparents were particularly fond of your mother. It seems this glibness of yours is inherited from her."
Li Zhiyuan: "..."
"No matter how many dams are built on the river making its surface appear calm, the silt underneath can still easily bury soone alive. This river, it’s as challenging as ever to navigate.
However, these matters are still too early for you. For now, just focus on studying and growing up."
That said, Liu Yui silently glanced at the "Liu’s Qi Observation Technique" placed conspicuously on the table.
Li Zhiyuan bowed his head; he felt that had he continued to find joy in fishing for corpses with Run Sheng, Binbin, and Yin ng, he might already be on the path of river crossing by now.
If Uncle Qin had beco so powerful without completing the journey, what if he succeeded?
The books had reached a bottleneck, and to continue advancing and improving, one would have to actively embrace the gifts of fate.
"Will you stay here for lunch? I’ll ask Ah Ting to prepare it."
"No, I’d better head back to school. I’ll co to see Alii again tomorrow."
"Alright then."
Li Zhiyuan stood up: "Thank you for your guidance."
Liu Yui nodded, a gesture of farewell.
And then, Li Zhiyuan left the study. He was gone.
Liu Yui looked at the book left on the coffee table, puzzled. Did that brat forget sothing?
Aunt Liu pushed open the door and walked in.
"Did the brat leave?"
"Yes, he left. Huh, why is this book still here? Were you too harsh?"
", harsh to an outsider in my life? I’ve been nothing but gentle and encouraging, fearing he would be too shy to ask. I even comforted and encouraged him."
"Then perhaps your attitude wasn’t clear enough. Young people are thin-skinned; they’re too embarrassed to ask."
"Not clear enough?" Liu Yui picked up the "Liu’s Qi Observation Technique." "I was this close to presenting the book to him respectfully, begging him to read it and then asking for his guidance!"
"Strange, that boy is sharp-witted, could it be he really overlooked it this ti, not catching your intentions?"
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