Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Birthday Banquet

The sun rises, the moon sets, stars revolve in the sky, and the passage of time bends to no one's will. Even when the Lord of the City was found dead in his own residence, the Liu family still proceeded with their planned birthday banquet. Not only would the feast go on, but it would be grander than ever; they intended to draw out the hidden currents lurking in the darkness, to catch them all in one fell swoop.

Troops, weapons, masters of martial arts—spurred by the shocking deaths of the city lord and his son within two days, and under Liu Zhengde's personal guarantee of his reputation, the entire Pei Commandery was fully prepared to meet any enemy who dared approach.

The Liu family’s ancestral estate sat on a broad plain, bisected by a river nearly ten meters wide that divided it into eastern and western sections. The east was reserved for living quarters, the west for hosting guests. This time, the birthday banquet would be held in the western area.

The entire venue bustled with people, and everywhere one turned, individuals of power and influence could be seen. As the festivities had not yet formally begun, the guest of honor was still absent. Worth noting was that Liu Tian’s younger sister, nicknamed Hua’er, had been born three days prior.

Unlike Liu Tian, Hua’er had inherited their father’s black eyes. Being so young, she had yet to grow any hair, so her hair color remained a mystery.

“Little Hua, little Hua.” Uninterested in meeting newcomers, Liu Tian busied himself amusing his baby sister while Liu Yun went to keep company with the grandfather he had seldom seen. After nearly six days of exhausting travel, Liu Tian felt too tired to think of anything else.

“What is it?” Perhaps because of their shared blood, little Hua showed no fear of her tall, burly brother. Her round, jet-black eyes fixed on Liu Tian’s fingers as she hungrily sucked at her bottle, lips smacking with each sip. Yet, limited by her tiny lungs, she could only manage a little at a time.

“So adorable.” Liu Tian had always been patient and gentle with human infants he did not need to care for himself, and he teased her slowly, enjoying the moment.

“All right, that’s enough!” Cradling her daughter, Su Fei rocked her gently, satisfied with the interaction between her children. “Such a big banquet—why not go and meet a few more people? Many here are your cousins. I’m not so old yet that I need you watching over me all night.”

“Because I might be recognized,” Liu Tian shrugged, glancing over the crowd. Many family representatives present had secretly visited him in recent days, and there were others whom Liu Tian recognized, though they did not know him.

Even though he had learned his lesson and not only disguised himself but also masked his face during those visits, he couldn’t be sure someone wouldn’t recognize him by his build, voice, mannerisms, or some inexplicable intuition.

He felt no fear now, yet he couldn’t be bothered to invite trouble.

“I think you’re just lazy,” Su Fei teased him affectionately. “Aside from Wenhan and Wenqian, who here even knows you?”

“You never know,” Liu Tian, in high spirits, shrugged again. “Someone like me stands out in a crowd, just like a crane among chickens. There’s probably plenty of people here who’ve already heard about me.”

“I can’t outtalk you. Do as you please,” Su Fei conceded, deciding not to force him to socialize with people he might not see many times again in his life. “If you don’t want to do it, then don’t. What’s that old imperial poem say?—‘Steal a half day of leisure from life’s fleeting days.’”

“Indeed, stealing a half day of leisure,” Liu Tian echoed, quietly counting the number of protectors both overt and hidden: at least dozens of martial artists, over a hundred fully armed guards, and not far away, a stationed military unit ready to mobilize at any moment. The Liu estate’s defenses were formidable.

With such strength and defensible terrain, even that snake from before would have found no chance of breaking through.

Liu Tian mused silently.

...

“Those two sitting in the corner there—are they really the wife and son of your fifth uncle whom I’ve only heard of but never seen?” Bai He nudged Liu Wenqian’s chest. “That brother I haven’t met looks strong—like he could really fight.”

“So what if he can?” Liu Wenqian rolled his eyes. “This is the era of technology. Ten years of martial arts can’t match a single gunshot. Unless you reach the level of my father, a true martial arts master, but that’s no easy feat.”

“That’s true,” said Li Hua, the chubby boy nearby, joining in. “After I pretended to faint last time, my father stopped forcing me to practice the family martial arts. It’s too tiring, and honestly, pretty useless...”

“Exactly,” Bai He nodded in agreement. “As long as we have protection, why do we need to train ourselves? I’ve practiced for nearly ten years and haven’t even made it through the door.”

This small circle were all children of prominent families from Pei Commandery and neighboring regions. They shared two things in common: similar ages, and a reluctance to practice their inherited martial arts.

They had known each other since childhood. Their similar circumstances, especially their shared desire to find a permanent escape from martial training, had only deepened their friendship over the years—they now kept no secrets from one another.

Among them, Liu Wenqian was always the one with the ideas and held sway over the group. For instance, it was Liu Wentian who came up with the successful plan for Li Ye to escape martial training by feigning unconsciousness.

“Let’s not talk about that. But I heard there have been thieves around here lately?” Liu Wenqian waved a hand, changing the subject. Giving up martial training was always a touchy topic; apart from Li Ye, who truly did not want to practice, the others weren’t entirely opposed to it.

But limited by their own talent, no matter how hard they trained, the results never showed. After years of grueling effort, they hadn’t even entered the threshold, remaining outsiders. With technological advancements, their families no longer demanded martial prowess for the sake of inheritance, so one after another, they had all given up the practice.

“That’s right!” replied Chen Qichao, who had been silent till then. He was from a family in neighboring Changhe Commandery. “Though it’s not exactly theft—our family’s treasure vault was ransacked, but nothing was missing. It just gave my father a real scare. Otherwise, he’d never have let Uncle Peng leave home this time.”

“You should know, Uncle Peng hasn’t left Changhe Commandery since I can remember. I only got to come along because of all the commotion—otherwise, I’d be stuck at those extra classes, which are so hard…”

“We were hit too, and it was the same story. No one knows who’s behind it, but from what I’ve heard, all the families around here have had visits, yet the thief is never caught—only a fleeting glimpse of their back,” Bai He, who was always the best informed, chimed in. “Old Feng says it must be a master martial artist, someone who’s broken through with secret techniques. Unless you trap such an expert in a dead end, there’s no way to catch him.”

“I’m so envious. If only I could run as fast as him, I wouldn’t have to study all this useless stuff,” someone sighed.

“Yes, so envious...”

As small groups everywhere deepened their bonds, Liu Zhengde and Liu Yun entered, escorting the guest of honor for tonight’s banquet…