In the animated series Sword of Coming (剑来), an innocent game among children takes a dark turn. The Li family matriarch asks the young ones to say idioms containing the characters for “plum” and “peach” . Those who say “to throw a plum and return a peach” or “peaches and plums do not speak” receive prizes. But when a boy blurts out “Li Dai Tao Jiang (李代桃僵)” — meaning to substitute one thing for another — her face twists. She nearly strikes the child. Why such rage over four harmless syllables? The answer cracks open a conspiracy hidden beneath the family’s peaceful facade.
The Forbidden Phrase
After scolding the terrified child, the grandmother’s eyes drift toward Li Xisheng’s (李希圣) room. That glance says everything: the idiom strikes a nerve because it mirrors his very existence. Li Xisheng is not a true Li. He was born into the Chen clan of Beiju Luzhou (北俱芦洲). His real name should be Chen Xisheng. Years ago, the strategist Cui Chan (崔瀺) swapped him with the Li family’s firstborn son, Li Baozhou (李宝舟). Had the exchange never happened, Li Xisheng’s name would include the character “Bao” (treasure), just like his younger brother Li Baozhen (李宝箴) and the beloved sister Li Baoping (李宝瓶).
Cui Chan’s scheme was no secret conspiracy — he called it an open move. By binding Li Xisheng to the Li bloodline, he tied the boy’s fate to that of Baoping Zhou (宝瓶洲), the continent where the Li family resides. The rule is brutal and simple: if Baoping Zhou falls, Li Baoping dies. Her life and the land’s destiny are one — “shared life and death, glory and ruin together.” And Li Xisheng, despite being a Confucian incarnation of the Dao (道) Ancestor’s first disciple, loves his sister with a ferocity that defies his serene image.
Rumors among cultivators say: “Offend the Dao Ancestor, and he may reason with you. Offend Li Baoping, and Li Xisheng will teach you physics.” He is the ultimate doting brother. So when the war between humans and demons inevitably reaches Baoping Zhou — dragging the entire Haoran (浩然) realm into chaos — Li Xisheng will not stand idle. And that is exactly what Cui Chan planned.
The Master’s Gambit
Cui Chan plays a very long game. He understands that Li Xisheng is no ordinary cultivator. As the physical incarnation of the Dao Ancestor’s senior disciple, his true self sits at the 14th level — a realm few can even imagine. If Li Xisheng intervenes to save Baoping Zhou, his master the Dao Ancestor may be forced to back him. Then the second disciple of the Dao, and even the enigmatic Lu Chen (陆沉), might join the fray. Cui Chan’s trap is not aimed at one person but at the entire Daoist lineage.
From the very beginning, Cui Chan treated everyone as pieces on his board. The child swap, the idiom game, the grandmother’s outburst — none of it is random. The old woman’s anger is not mere superstition. She knows the truth. “Li Dai Tao Jiang” is not just a phrase; it is the story of her own family. A plum tree (the Li clan) sacrificed to save a peach (the Chen bloodline). But here, the substitution works in reverse: a peach (Chen Xisheng) disguised as a plum (Li Xisheng) to protect the real plum’s branch.
Yet the scheme runs deeper than lineage. Why did Chen Ping’an’s (陈平安) fortune flow into Li Xisheng? Chen Ping’an, another member of the Chen clan, had his fate porcelain shattered. That porcelain was meant to hold his destiny. Once broken, his overwhelming luck had nowhere to go. It seeped out like water from a cracked jar — and rushed toward the only vessel strong enough to bear it: Li Xisheng. Ordinary people would be crushed by such immense fortune. But a 14th-level incarnation? He can carry it with ease.
The Weight of Fortune
Think of fate as a river. When Chen Ping’an’s porcelain broke, his river flooded its banks. That torrent of luck — enough to change the course of wars and tip the balance of worlds — needed a new channel. Li Xisheng’s body and soul, forged through countless reincarnations of the Dao Ancestor’s disciple, became that channel. It is not theft. It is physics. A cracked cup cannot hold water. An ocean must pour into an ocean.
But here lies the tragedy. Chen Ping’an, the man who should have been blessed, walks a path of thorns. Every step he takes is hard-won. Meanwhile, Li Xisheng carries a fortune he never asked for — and a burden he cannot refuse. The grandmother understood this the moment she heard “Li Dai Tao Jiang.” The phrase does not describe a trick. It describes a sacrifice. One life substituted for another. One destiny swapped. One family’s secret hidden behind a child’s innocent game.
So when the boy spoke those four syllables, he did not just say an idiom. He spoke the truth. And in the Li household, the truth is the only thing more dangerous than a war between humans and demons.
