Chapter Eight: The Enigma of the Spring Rite

“Father, Mother!” Gu Weiyu held Little Stone’s hand and walked step by step toward the stone house.

Little Stone quickly broke free from his sister’s grasp and ran to Qin and Gu Yun, showing off like a treasure, “Candied hawthorn, oh—candied hawthorn! Sister bought me candied hawthorn!”

Qin glanced at the bright red candied hawthorn in Little Stone’s hand, smiled, patted his small head, then turned to Gu Weiyu, “Ayu, come inside quickly—are you hungry?”

Gu Weiyu was indeed hungry. The moment she neared the stone house, the fragrant aroma of food greeted her. She and her mother helped her father inside, and the family sat together for dinner.

After the meal, Little Stone started nodding off. Qin, noticing this, picked him up to wash up and sleep. Gu Weiyu walked to her father, carefully drew a beast hide pouch from her bosom, and took out a small bottle of Revitalizing Pills. “Father, take one of these pills every day. Sister Mu said you’ll gradually get better!”

Gu Yun, leaning against the stone wall, received the pale blue porcelain bottle with trembling hands and studied it closely, holding it as though it were a priceless treasure. “Ayu...”

He was overwhelmed with emotion, unable to speak. This bottle of pills was surely expensive—otherwise, the clan would have bought it for him long ago.

Qin came over and, overhearing, joyfully pulled her daughter into her arms. Her heart ached with boundless tenderness for her child. Her Ayu, so young, had already taken on the burdens of the family.

——

Days passed, and with each new day, Gu Yun took a Revitalizing Pill. Gradually, his health improved.

After ten days, Gu Weiyu specifically invited Mu to come by. After examining him, Mu said, “Ayu, your father no longer needs to stay in bed. He should get up and move around more often. He doesn’t need to keep taking medicine either. Sihua, make more nourishing porridge for Brother Yun to drink…”

Mu’s words filled the whole family with joy, as the long shadow hanging over their home was finally dispelled. Little Stone leaped up, crowing with delight.

After going over a few things to watch out for, Mu smiled and beckoned to Gu Weiyu. “Sihua, you stay busy. Ayu can see me out.”

Qin readily agreed, urging Gu Weiyu to escort Mu outside.

Mu led Gu Weiyu to a small slope beside the village, overlooking the distant green mountains—mountains beyond mountains, skies beyond skies. The world outside was so vast and marvelous, yet she herself would never see it in this lifetime.

“Ayu, do you know this is a matter that determines whether you can become an immortal cultivator?”

Gu Weiyu was stunned. In the past, her days had drifted by in a muddle. She vaguely remembered that every year, children would leave the village, but she’d never wondered why—they always came back after a day, so she’d foolishly assumed they were just out to play.

“Is it to test whether we have a spiritual root?” Gu Weiyu asked, her mind flashing with sudden insight.

“Exactly!” Mu turned to her, eyes shining. “I have high hopes for you, Ayu!”

There were children with spiritual roots in the clan, but most had mixed roots like herself, cultivating at a snail’s pace and unable to progress past the third stage of Qi Refining for their entire lives. The clan would give them a basic cultivation technique and let them fend for themselves.

Only those with pure and high-value spiritual roots would be kept in the clan for careful guidance and cultivation.

It had been many years since a child with a good spiritual root had appeared in their village. For some unexplainable reason, Mu felt that Gu Weiyu might be the exception.

Because of Mu’s words, Gu Weiyu’s heart stirred. For the first time, she found herself looking forward to the coming Spring Festival.

If she really did become an immortal cultivator, could she perhaps find miraculous medicine to restore her father’s severed limb?

The two returned silently to the village. The adults were all busy, making preparations for the approaching Spring Festival.

——

Boom, boom, boom—

Wailing horns and deep drums echoed through the village—the annual Spring Festival had arrived.

Every clansman gathered on the flat ground before the village for the ancestral and mountain deity rites, presided over by the clan chief.

The sacrificial beast, resembling a sheep, had already been prepared and was carried forward by the clansmen.

Gu Weiyu stood behind her parents, holding Little Stone’s hand, her expression solemn.

Qingshan Village lived by the mountains, surviving on hunting and gathering herbs, and they took the annual Spring Festival very seriously. The ceremony lasted a full hour before drawing to a close.

“All children of the clan who have turned six this year, stay here. The rest may go home,” the clan chief announced, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, repeating the familiar phrase uttered every year.

The clansmen gradually left, leaving only a dozen or so children standing there, wide-eyed and bewildered before the chief.

The clan chief shed his stern demeanor and smiled kindly. “Tomorrow, you’ll all go to the county city to test your spiritual roots. Rest well tonight and keep your spirits up…”

Before he finished, the group of children burst into excited chatter at the mention of the city.

“Oh, we’re going to the city!” one little one cheered, hopping up and down.

“I heard there’s lots of good food in the city—” a boy drooled at the thought.

“They say the city is this big—this big…” another child stretched out his arms to show an impossibly huge circle.

The clan chief was left speechless by his hopeless charges—none of them grasped the real point! But then, he remembered the cause: the adults never spoke to the children about the spiritual root test, lest high hopes lead to bitter disappointment. Since the odds were slim, they never harbored any hope.

Standing among the children, Gu Weiyu heaved a sigh, feeling especially sympathetic toward the clan chief. With such a group of aimless, unambitious juniors, his heart must be bitter indeed!

The clan chief, truly displeased, straightened up and cleared his throat with a heavy cough. At once, the children snapped to attention, finally recalling that the person before them was the clan chief.

“Behave yourselves when you get to the city tomorrow!” he admonished sternly. With a wave of his hand, he said helplessly, “Alright, go home now!”

The little ones scattered like startled birds, racing off the square, leaving the clan chief standing alone, lost and forlorn.