In the fiery afternoon sun, Li Zi'an picked up a hoe and ventured out from his back door, moving along a small path by the stream.

On such a day, turning on a fan and enjoying a refreshing nap sounded appealing. Unfortunately, the Feng Shui fish pond in their house had run dry, and the elderly lady exclaimed that he should tend to it.

With no choice, wasn’t he after all, a "kept" husband?

The winding path stretched from the start of the village all the way to its tail.

Yueya village, located in the northwest of Shu, was surrounded by hills on three sides, forming a crescent-shaped valley in the middle, hence its name.

The source of the creek was right at the tip of the crescent.

The spring at that source flowed ceaselessly, year-round. This was the first time it had ever run dry.

Several women gathered beneath a large banyan tree, seeking shade from the scorching sun. Some fanning themselves with hand fans, others cracking melon seeds. Those wearing skirts didn't bother to close their legs and used their fans to stir up breezes underneath them; those shelling melon seeds didn't bother to clean up, dropping their trash nonchalantly.

These women whispered among themselves.

"One of them said, “Last night, that good-for-nothing husband of mine fumbled with my belt. I gave him a nice kick under the bed, the nerve of him. I can't even get him to buy me a lip stick that costs fifty yuan, let alone anything else.”

“Mine managed to lose over two hundred from a measly two yuan mahjong game, can you believe it?” another scoffed. “The wretch bet all the money we had saved for meat this month. And he has the gall to still crave for meat? The old lady that I am won't even spare him a hot mouthful of sh*t.”

One woman noticed Li Zi'an walking their way and lowered her voice, “Isn’t that Li Zi'an? He hardly comes out. How rare.”

“What’s he doing out when he lives off the Yu family's generosity?”

“I heard he married into the Yu family four years ago, just to raise money for his mother's treatment. But poor guy, his mother-in-law is a curse, his mother passed away not long after their marriage.”

"Do you all know how the Yu family made their money? I heard his daughter-in-law is out there selling... you know what. Telling people she's working, such a liar!"

"And what do you think of Li Zi'an? They say he's so handsome; does he not remind you of someone?"

"Daniel Wu."

"Exactly! Look how handsome he is, he could have chosen anyone, yet he chooses a lady of the night for a wife. If his parents knew, they would be turning in their graves."

"They couldn't care less about being made a fool, as long as they're living lavishly."

"They already look like fools, like they're in a field of wormwood."

"Living off a working girl -- what a perfect match."

"Hehehe..."

As Li Zi'an approached, the few women tactfully closed their mouths.

"Zi'an, what brings you here?" a woman greeted Li Zi'an.

Li Zi'an glanced at the women, one of them was named Ma Xiaorong, the wife of the village bully Chen Gang. She has a reputation for being a gossipy and unkind woman. Many village rumors originated from her mouth. Li Zi'an disliked her and ignored her insincere greeting, continuing on his way.

Feeling slighted, Ma Xiaorong yelled out sarcastically: "If my wife was out there selling herself, I'd be better off dead. At least she wouldn't be making a fool of herself like this!"

The few women around broke into laughter.

Li Zi'an's face became increasingly cold.

Then, Ma Xiaorong added, "Everyone in the village knows Mrs. Yu is out there selling herself. Saying she's working, such a blatant lie, how ludicrous!"

Rage suddenly welled up inside Li Zi'an. He turned around, took a few broad strides towards her, and said sharply, "Say that again!"

Ma Xiaorong, defiant and heated, stuck her hand on her hip and pointed at Li Zi'an, "So what if I said your wife is a fruit peddler? Seriously, I'm not scared of you. Do you dare to hit me? If you dare to touch me even once, my man will kill you!"

Before she could finish speaking, Li Zi'an swung his hand and landed a heavy slap across her face.

Snap!

Her cheek instantly welled up, bearing the furious slap's five-finger signature. Shocked and furious, she clutched her stinging cheek, screeching, "How dare you hit me!"

Li Zi'an swung his hand again, landing another slap on her other cheek.

Ma Xiaorong was left dazed and speechless.

In this Crescent Moon Village, she had always strutted around arrogantly, backed by her ruffian boyfriend, Chen Gang. She bullied others and was never bullied herself. But now, a man she looked down upon as a wimp who lived off his wife dared to slap her publicly, and twice at that!

Li Zi'an's eyes held a chilling glint, "I'm warning you, if I ever hear you badmouth my wife again, you'll get another beating!"

Dare to say, dare to hit, respect out the window!

"I'll fight you!" Ma Xiaorong lost her temper entirely and reached out to grab Li Zi'an's hair.

He swiftly kicked her in the stomach.

Ma Xiaorong was knocked to the ground, writhing in pain, curled up like a shrimp.

"Hey, Zi'an, this isn't right. We all live in the same village." An elderly woman tried to mediate the situation.

"Zi'an, you should apologize to Ma Xiaorong," added another woman.

Li Zi'an turned around and left.

An apology?

An apology, my foot.

“You gold-digger, just wait. My man isn't one to be messed with!” Ma Xiaorong wailed in frustration from behind.

Li Zi'an was too lazy to pay her any attention. He left the small path, climbed up the hill, and arrived at the source of the stream.

The source of the stream was a pool situated under a steep cliff, filled to the brim with water. However, there seemed to be no spring water gushing out of the pond's source, probably blocked by some object. Yet, through nearly two meters of water depth, it was not possible to see clearly.

The weather was hot. He did not even bother to take off his shorts and vest, and with a great splash, he dived straight into the water.

Just as he guessed, the spring source was blocked. The blocking object was round and covered with verdigris, looking like a piece of bronze ware, engraved with some marks and patterns, but they were blurry to discern.

Feeling extremely curious, Li Zi'an grabbed it and tried to pull it out.

It was stuck tightly. Despite several pulls which caused his fingers to chafe, he still could not pull it out.

His scarlet blood stained the object as threads of blood floated in the clear spring water.

Li Zi'an held his breath until he could no longer. Just as he was preparing to return to the surface for air, the bronze ware in the spring source slightly trembled. The vague symbols and patterns suddenly emitted a faint green light. Strangely enough, in that instance, the blood threads floating in the water were all sucked into the bronze item.

With a sudden surge of nervousness, Li Zi'an pushed off the bottom of the pond with his feet, trying hard to float up. But as he did so, the bronze object also left the source along with him. The blocked spring water gushed out adding a little buoyancy for him.

Splash!

Li Zi'an broke the surface of the water. He swam ashore flusteredly, then inspected the object he'd pulled out.

It was a modestly sized censer, but not made from bronze. It was a bronze-colored jade censer, a little smaller than his fist.

How did this thing get jammed in the spring source?

Before Li Zi'an had time to think this through, a surge of warmth suddenly released from the censer, darting into his body in a blink. In that moment, his vision blacked out, and he fell flat on the grassy ground.