A day passed in the blink of an eye.
Toward the end of the workday, Meng Xihong learned from the idle chatter of his colleagues and Wang Hai about the follow-up to the incident of the Sun family's eldest son galloping his horse through the West Market.
The Sun family paid compensation to every household injured or suffering losses due to the matter. After obtaining their forgiveness, these families naturally went to the magistrate's office to drop their lawsuits.
This time, the Sun family had to pay both compensation and bribe the entire magistrate's office. It truly was a brutal fleecing.
But none of this concerned Meng Xihong. He still went home when the workday ended.
Six months later, Meng Yanqing, now over ten months old, had begun learning to walk. His two little legs tottered as he made his way toward Meng Xihong, who had just returned home from his duties.
Meng Xihong crouched down, opened his arms, and scooped up the little fellow who had finally reached him.
"Yaya ya."
The little one waved both hands in the air while in Meng Xihong's embrace, babbling sounds coming from his mouth.
After Meng Xihong played with him for a while, Madam Bai happened to finish preparing dinner in the kitchen. She washed her hands and took the little one from his arms.
The little one was somewhat reluctant to leave, his two big eyes staring unblinkingly at Meng Xihong, his small hands still waving nonstop. Seeing this, Meng Xihong smiled for no particular reason.
"Husband, you must be tired. Hurry up and wash your hands so we can eat."
The little one was now over ten months old and had just learned to walk. He was at an energetic and lively age, and when he got rowdy, there was no stopping him.
Meng Xihong held high hopes for this eldest son of his.
In the future, the Meng family wouldn't consist of just him, Meng Xihong, alone. There would also be his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons... generations of descendants without end.
The Meng family would definitely not stop at this tiny Wufeng County.
And that distant, seemingly unattainable path of cultivation and immortality—the Meng family would eventually set foot upon it!
After the meal.
He accompanied the little one to play in the courtyard for quite a while. Finally, the little fellow got tired. Meng Xihong placed him in the cradle cart he had specially crafted for him. Madam Bai hummed a hometown tune while gently stroking him, and the little one finally fell asleep.
Meng Xihong, meanwhile, remained alone in the courtyard, practicing his fist strikes against a wooden stake.
Punch after punch exploded forth, and the sturdy solid wooden stake emitted wave after wave of dull thuds.
It had been over six months since Meng Xihong previously comprehended Bright Force. During these past few months, he had practiced his fist strikes against the stake day after day, wrecking at least four or five stakes every month.
These days, Meng Xihong's application of Bright Force had gone from initial unfamiliarity to practiced mastery.
His right fist gathered power, his waist sank down, and his waist and horse stance merged as one.
Boom!
A fierce punch blasted out, instantly splitting in two a wooden stake weighing several hundred jin. Wood splinters flew everywhere across the courtyard.
Meng Xihong withdrew his hand and exhaled a turbid breath.
With that punch just now, he had pushed his application of Bright Force to the extreme, mobilizing every bit of strength his body could muster. The blood and qi within him surged endlessly, yet he had only managed to split a several-hundred-jin wooden stake in two with one punch.
If he wanted to shatter it into pieces, presumably he could only accomplish that by comprehending Hidden Force.
The practice of martial arts, like cultivation, was never something accomplished overnight.
For now, Meng Xihong was still young. He had ample confidence that he would comprehend Hidden Force before the year's end.
"Husband, it's getting late. You should bathe and rest."
Madam Bai heard the commotion from outside the courtyard and came out to remind him after coaxing the child to sleep.
"Coming." Meng Xihong tidied up the courtyard, then grabbed his change of clothes to go bathe.
By the time Meng Xihong finished, the night had grown deep.
Meng Xihong embraced Madam Bai, and his hands inevitably became a bit restless. Madam Bai's breathing clearly quickened.
Madam Bai lowered her voice, her tone gentle. "Husband, stop that. If you keep going, Qing'er will wake up."
"It's fine. The little brat is sleeping deeply today."
"."
The night was long.
Time rushed by. With only a month left until the year's end, an extraordinary figure arrived in the county.
An Immortal Official!
To be precise, he was an imperial court official sent by imperial decree to routinely inspect the tenure accomplishments of the county magistrate.
Although both the county magistrate and he were imperial court officials, they were completely different in nature.
This Immortal Official had been granted cultivation methods by the court and had embarked upon the path of longevity. Though he still served as an official in the court, his status was far higher than that of ordinary officials.
This was Meng Xihong's first time seeing an Immortal Official.
He wore a fifth-grade vermillion court robe. His sleeves fluttered in the wind, his beard moved with the breeze, and every gesture contained boundless immortal charm.
In the days that followed, the entire county discussed the topic of the Immortal Official.
The county magistrate of Wufeng County had not accomplished any major feats during his seven years in office. Wufeng County remained as before—the poor were still poor, the rich were still rich—but at least he hadn't committed any major errors.
After inspecting Wufeng County for several days, the Immortal Official finally made a vermillion annotation on the county magistrate's inspection record with a cinnabar brush. This meant the tenure inspection was passed.
However, although the county magistrate had passed his tenure inspection, he could not leave Wufeng County immediately. He still had to remain in Wufeng County until after the New Year, when the Provincial Governor would send a new county magistrate to hand over the work, and notify him to report to the Provincial Governor for a debriefing.
After explaining the matters requiring the county magistrate's attention until after the New Year, the Immortal Official swept his sleeve, and when he appeared again, he was already flying through the air and departing.
An immortal.
This was the first time Meng Xihong had laid eyes upon one, and the thought of cultivating the immortal path sprouted in his heart.
Cultivating immortality, seeking the end of the immortal path, living for tens of thousands of years, and ultimately ascending to prove one's Dao.
But for now, he could only think about it.
In the Great Li Dynasty, the threshold for cultivation was far higher than that of the martial path. Both fortune and spiritual roots were indispensable.
Those capable of cultivation would be born accompanied by heaven-and-earth phenomena. From birth, they were favored children of heaven, immortals destined by the heavens. For a cultivator to appear among tens of thousands of common folk was already the greatest of fortunes.
And these two things—Meng Xihong currently possessed neither.
But Meng Xihong was not discouraged.
Though he lacked great fortune and the bones of an immortal, he had a golden finger!
With the inspection concluded, everything in the county continued as usual. The county magistrate was overjoyed. Not only did he grant the county constables three days of leave, but he also distributed bonus money to everyone.
With the New Year approaching, Meng Xihong discussed matters with Madam Bai and began preparing New Year's goods.
For the new year, they at least needed new clothes to wear. Meng Xihong prepared several festive outfits for both the child and Madam Bai. With the colorful decorations of lanterns and ornaments, the Meng household finally had the atmosphere of a family of three celebrating the New Year.
Under the eagerly expectant gaze of the harmonious family of three, the New Year finally arrived.
Meng Xihong specially invited the neighboring Wang family's five members. Whether it was Old Mrs. Wang acting as matchmaker to introduce Madam Bai, or her help during Madam Bai's childbirth—Meng Xihong remembered all these kindnesses.
The two families sat around the table. The delicious dishes that Madam Bai and Meng Xihong had been busy preparing all morning were laid out across the table.
As Meng Xihong held little Meng Yanqing and used the latter's plump little hand to grasp a burning stick and light the firecrackers, the crackling sounds announced the arrival of the new year.