"Thank you for the seat, Little Brother," Feng Xi said, using a polite term for a younger acquaintance. "It is crowded today. Many people are returning from the great war."

  "Indeed," Li Yu said. "Did your sect send people?"

  "We did," Feng Wei said with a serious face. "Three thousand disciples and elders. Most returned, thankfully. But we heard stories... incredible stories."

  "Oh?" Li Yu sipped his tea and was trying to look casual. "What kind of stories?"

  Feng Wei leaned forward, his eyes shining with an enthusiasm that made him look decades younger. He couldn’t wait to share and seemed like he was dying for someone to ask him

  "Have you heard of one of the great heroes of the war? Alliance Commander Li Yu? He shares the same name as you actually." Feng Wei didn’t think at all they were the same person, the Li Yu in front of him was far too weak and too young to match the legends.

  Li Yu choked on his tea.

  Si Luo immediately began coughing into her sleeve to hide a laugh. Bai Ruo simply took a sip of her drink but was hiding a smirk behind her cup.

  "The name sounds... vaguely familiar," Li Yu wheezed, wiping his mouth. "Common name. Very common."

  "He is a legend!" Feng Wei declared as he slammed his hand on the table gently. "They say he came from nowhere. A rogue cultivator with no background to speak of yet he united the fractured sects of the south in a week!"

  "I heard," Feng Xi added, her voice too filled with admiration, "that during the siege of the Iron-Web Gorge, he stood alone against a Beast Tide of ten thousand. He didn't even draw a weapon. He just unleashed his aura and the beasts were paralyzed by the sheer weight of his Dao. How refined his Dao must be to do something like that is so impressive."

  "Ten thousand?" Li Yu squeaked. "That seems... high."

  "It's a conservative estimate," Feng Wei corrected him. "Some reports say it was fifty thousand. And he rides a dragon! A massive, ancient centipede-dragon made of void metal that eats mountains! Both their powers are so immense they are unstoppable!"

  ‘Cetipede dragon? Why can’t you humans ever believe that a centipede on it’s own can be powerful?’ Tekton talked mentally with Li Yu.

  "Tekton eats rocks," Li Yu muttered under his breath. "Sometimes dirt."

  "What was that?" Feng Wei asked.

  "Nothing, that made me think of something else." Li Yu waved his hand. "Please, continue. This Commander sounds... terrifying."

  "Not terrifying," Feng Xi corrected softly. "Inspiring. They say he refused all rewards. The Five Mountain Alliance offered him a kingdom and he gave it all to his subordinates. He walked away with nothing but his robe. He saved countless people and wanted nothing in exchange."

  "A true ascetic," Uncle Fan nodded solemnly. "A man who cares not for worldly possessions. Only helping others. We need to look up to and try to be like him. Unlike me. I care very much for this wine."

  "I wish I had been where he was fighting," Feng Wei admitted. He took a long look at his sword. "I've been cultivating for a long time, yet sometimes I feel my path has stagnated. The Commander... They say he is so young, yet he stepped up when no one else would. He didn't care about politics or face. He just saved people. He even took out the Crimson Fang that oppressed people for so long."

  Li Yu felt his face heating up. It was one thing to hear bards sing silly songs; it was another to hear a seasoned cultivator, someone his senior in age, idolize him to his face. It was a strange experience for him.

  "I'm sure he's not that perfect," Li Yu said, trying to humble himself by proxy. "I bet he has flaws. Maybe he's lazy. Maybe he likes sleeping in and eating food more than cultivating."

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  "Impossible," Feng Wei scoffed. "Great men do not sleep in. They meditate on the mysteries of the universe. They can eat but they would rather ponder their own techniques."

  "Actually," Bai Ruo interjected calmly while setting down her cup. "From a psychological standpoint, high-stress individuals often require significant downtime to maintain cognitive function. It wouldn't be surprising if this 'hero' preferred leisure. It grounds them."

  Feng Wei looked at Bai Ruo and thought about her words. Then he was impressed by them because it made sense. "That is a profound insight, young miss. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps his leisure is a form of cultivation in itself."

  "I heard," Feng Xi added and for some reason lowering her voice conspiratorially, "that he is also incredibly handsome. Like a jade statue or masterful painting brought to life. With eyes that burn with divine fire."

  She looked at Li Yu. "You have nice eyes, Little Brother Li. But I imagine the Commander's eyes blaze with the power of the sun."

  Si Luo couldn't take it anymore. She let out a snort that was decidedly un-princess-like.

  "Divine fire," Si Luo giggled. "Yes. Blazing."

  "Ignore my friend," Li Yu said quickly, kicking Si Luo under the table. "She's... easily amused."

  "Is that so?" Feng Xi looked at Si Luo with a polite smile. "It is good to find joy in small things. It makes happiness easier to find."

  "I find joy in accuracy," Si Luo muttered while trying to compose herself.

  "I want to meet him one day," Feng Wei said and looked upwards wistful. "I would ask him to exchange pointers. Or simply... buy him a drink. It is rare to find a cultivator who remembers what it means to protect the weak."

  Li Yu looked at the earnest man. He saw the genuine respect there.

  "You don't need to meet him to follow his path, Elder Feng," Li Yu said gently. "Your actions at the market today... defending that girl? That's exactly what the Commander would have done. He's probably just a guy who tries to do the right thing when he can."

  Feng Wei blinked. He looked at Li Yu, really looked at him. For a second, he seemed to sense something—a weight, a maturity behind the young scholar's smile that belied his age.

  "Thank you, Little Brother," Feng Wei said softly. "That... is kind of you to say. I would be honored to be compared to Commander Li."

  "Enough serious talk!" Uncle Fan declared as he was pouring wine for everyone. "We are in the Green-Hollow Village! We should discuss poetry! Ducks! The moon!"

  "Ducks?" Feng Xi asked, confused.

  "Ah, let me tell you about a man named Gu and his Golden-Bills," Li Yu launched into the story of the retired cultivator, steering the conversation safely away from his own mythology.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and laughing. The Feng siblings proved to be excellent company. They were curious, polite and devoid of the arrogance that usually plagued high-level cultivators from a mighty organization. They treated Uncle Fan with respect, listening to his poems without mockery. They debated philosophy with Bai Ruo and admired Si Luo’s quiet confidence and insights.

  As the sun began to set, the siblings stood up.

  "We must return to our lodging," Feng Wei said. "We have morning practice and my sister insists on punctuality. This has been a wonderful afternoon. Thank you for sharing your table, stories and wine with us."

  "It was our pleasure," Li Yu said.

  "If you are ever near the Divine Wind Sect," Feng Xi added, "please visit. We will treat you to the Cloud-Tea of our mountain. Just ask for Elder Feng."

  "We might take you up on that," Li Yu smiled.

  As they walked away, their retainers falling into step behind them, Feng Wei turned back once. He looked at Li Yu, a puzzled expression on his face, as if trying to place a memory that wasn't quite there. Then, he shook his head and continued on.

  "He suspects a tiny bit. I think me and Bai Ruo give it away, we don’t blend in as well as you." Si Luo noted to Li Yu and was pouring the last of the wine.

  "He's too polite to ask," Li Yu said but was relieved. "That's the best kind of suspicion."

  "You have admirers," Si Luo teased. "Elder Feng looked ready to pledge brotherhood with you."

  "He is a fine cultivator himself. I wouldn’t mind being brothers with someone like that" Li Yu smiled back. He was then leaning back and looking at the bamboo swaying overhead. "However, I just want to drink my wine without hearing about how I have all these powerful techniques that I don’t."

  "Divine fire," Si Luo corrected again as she was smirking. "And apparently, you are a jade statue."

  "I liked the part about being lazy," Uncle Fan mumbled to himself while half-asleep. "That sounded the most realistic out of all the stories I have heard about Commander Li."

  Li Yu laughed. "I agree, the only thing that sounds true."

  He looked at the empty path where the siblings had gone. It was strange, being a legend to people older than him. It felt heavy. But seeing people like Feng Wei and Feng Xi—honorable cultivators who just wanted to do good—made the weight a little easier to bear.