Chapter 312: The Head Leader Is a Beast—The Consequences of Losing a Bet [Requesting Votes and Subscriptions]

"You know what happens when you lose a bet, don't you?"

"It's just death—get on with it!"

Though Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's face was calm with despair, Xia Hong noticed the hidden thread of resentment deep in her eyes.

Recalling the Longyou power struggle that began in mid-April and ended now, lasting nearly three months, Xia Hong could guess with near-perfect accuracy what Li Li Ying Xuan Ling was thinking and what she resented.

"You're Bufuqi?"

Three thousand Longyou troops, nearly sixty Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level cultivators, plus fifteen thousand Juedi-level soldiers, over a hundred thousand people—she lost to Does Da Xia, whose strength was inferior in every way; if Li Li Ying Xuan Ling could accept this, it would be strange.

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling suddenly turned her head toward Li Li Ying Xuan Yan on her left and spoke in a low, stern voice: "In mid-April, if this fool hadn't been indecisive, allowing Bai Qiu Cheng, Yu Bin, and Dong Zhong to escape, causing their three families to fully defect to Zhaoyang, how could Does Da Xia have ever gotten a chance to meddle in Longyou?"

On the ground, Li Li Ying Xuan Yan's face flushed crimson; he bowed his head, speechless, clearly admitting Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's words were true.

But Li Li Ying Xuan Ling didn't look at him; after a pause, she continued: "If Li Hu and Yang Zhong hadn't leaked information to you, I, uniting the strength of Longshan and Zhaoyang, would have driven Does Da Xia out of Longyou—it was only a matter of time."

Clearly, last night when Li Li Ying Xuan Ling infiltrated the camp, she had learned the details of its fall from others and knew the true identities of Li and Yang as traitors.

"Two traitors—one from our own clan, one an in-law—forcing our own people to rebel is bad enough; I gave them over two months, yet those fools not only failed to uncover these two, they even let them slip into the new army."

"After the Changbaigou battle, I repeatedly warned this camp to closely watch the dozens of soldiers who fled back; had you followed my orders, how could Li and Yang have had the chance to incite rebellion among the imprisoned families of Yu Cheng?"

Her face was filled with frustrated fury, her voice growing lower and more enraged: "Li Li Li Xuanping and Li Li Li Xuanqiu—both within a hair's breadth of Wu Shuang—couldn't even wait, rushed back to Longshan, and caused over two thousand three hundred men to be annihilated…"

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's words were all an indictment of the Li clan's incompetence.

Pah…

The moment she finished, a sound of knees hitting the floor echoed from behind the hall—it was Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao, Hou Jing, Watching Yue Feng, and others, bringing up Li Li Li Xuanping and the other twenty-plus who had just stormed the first floor.

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling turned to face the group of Li clan members behind her, then spoke in a low, heavy voice, voicing her deepest resentment:

"If not for this bunch of fools constantly ruining everything, I would never have lost to you!"

"Tragic."

The sudden utterance of "tragic" from Xia Hong made Li Li Ying Xuan Ling freeze.

"Even now, you still don't understand where you lost!"

Xia Hong pointed to Li Li Ying Xuan Yan beside him and smiled: "As a leader, you're utterly unfit—barely better than him."

"What did you say?"

Hearing this, Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's eyebrows shot up; she was both furious and incredulous that Xia Hong would compare her to Li Li Ying Xuan Yan.

"Do you really think last night I broke through Longshan thanks to Li Hu and Yang Zhong, and the three thousand they turned?"

Even if you remove those three thousand traitors, your camp still had at least twelve thousand Juedi-level defenders; the remaining hundred twenty thousand—I saw them clearly when I entered last night—over a third were Qimu-level youths, meaning over forty thousand!"

Altogether, your Longshan camp had at least fifty-two thousand defenders last night; counting civilians, far more;"

"While I had only a six-hundred-strong Yunjiao Army, and seven thousand hastily assembled Juedi-level troops from the four Zhaoyang families."

"A minimum sevenfold numerical disadvantage—last night, if your hundred thousand in Longshan had been united, even without that iron-pile wall, I couldn't have broken through with seven thousand traitors, let alone seven thousand Yunjiao troops!"

Xia Hong's voice rang like a bell—Li Li Ying Xuan Ling froze, Li Li Ying Xuan Yan and the newly awakened Li Ying Xuan, the Li clan members behind them, and even Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao and the other Does Da Xia Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level officers were all stunned.

Only Hou Jing, the eldest present, showed no change in expression—he clearly wasn't surprised by Xia Hong's words.

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's pupils dilated violently; her face twisted in pain.

She understood!

Leaving aside everything else, the fact that she, with three thousand Longyou troops and fifty-one Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level cultivators, failed to take a hive defended by only ten thousand Juedi-level soldiers alone was proof enough of Xia Hong's point.

One hundred thousand people—if truly united—how could they possibly fail to hold against seven thousand?

"Your Li clan lost the hearts of Longshan long ago—it was doomed to collapse. Li Hu and Yang Zhong were merely two reflections of that truth. It wasn't them, nor was it Does Da Xia, that toppled the Li clan—it was the overwhelming majority under Longshan's rule!"

After making her point, Xia Hong looked at Li Li Ying Xuan Ling and sneered: "I never expected to take Longshan's camp this quickly."

"You still don't believe I said you're barely better than Li Li Ying Xuan Yan?"

"At Hanqiong Hanqiong Hulugu, you abandoned other Juedi-level cultivators to save the Longyou Army—causing Li Hu and Yang Zhong to rebel, which led directly to the destruction of the new army at Changbaigou. After that, I thought you'd learn something."

"Yet last night, at the Wu Shuang tunnel entrance, you abandoned over two thousand Longyou soldiers again—for the sake of those Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level officers."

"You've made the same mistake twice. To me, you're no different from the fools you've been cursing."

"All of you care only for yourselves, treat others' lives as worthless, constantly weighing and calculating, cleverly discarding this one, abandoning that one—so naturally, you'll be discarded in turn, left utterly alone."

Hearing this, Watching Yue Feng, Liu Liu Liu Yuan, and Li Li Li Yuankun in the hall involuntarily clenched their fists, their eyes filled with emotion.

Whether others understood Xia Hong's words, they didn't know.

But they—understood instantly.

Because Xia Hong had always shown them, by example.

Since Does Da Xia's humble beginnings on the earth mound, through every hardship, every dead end, their leader Xia Hong had never abandoned a single one of them—not even the weakest.

Because of Xia Hong's example, all three firmly believed: Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's actions at Hanqiong Hanqiong Hanqiong Hulugu and Wu Shuang tunnel entrance would never happen in Does Da Xia, never to them.

After hearing Xia Hong's words, Li Li Ying Xuan Ling was struck as if by lightning; her inner world shattered, her face drained of color, eyes hollow with tears, lips tightly pressed, fingers digging into her palms—no trace remained of her former pride as Longyou's golden daughter.

"Head Leader Xia, killing is enough—why must you break her spirit?"

The hall had been silent; Li Li Li Li Tiancheng's aged voice suddenly echoed from behind, drawing every eye.

Tap… tap… tap…

In white robes, Li Li Li Li Tiancheng slowly walked out from a small side chamber behind the hall—he was under no restriction from Does Da Xia, his complexion better than before, showing no sign of imprisonment.

Of course, his left sleeve still hung empty.

"Father!"

"Grandfather!"

"Li Li Li Tiancheng Ancestor is alive!"

"Second Uncle…"

Li Li Ying Xuan Yan and the other twenty-plus Li clan members kneeling on the ground, upon seeing Li Li Li Li Tiancheng, instantly lit up with joy, calling out in unison.

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's eyes flickered slightly—her reaction was muted.

Li Ying Xuan was also surprised, but when he noticed his second uncle, Li Li Li Li Tiancheng, ignoring all the Li clan's cries, even refusing to look at them, and then saw the deep sorrow in Li Li Li Li Tiancheng's eyes, his heart lurched—he understood.

"Since she's about to become my wife, I might as well teach her a lesson, change her ways—otherwise, future chaos will be hard to clean up."

Xia Hong's words left everyone in the hall stunned.

"You… I… pah… Xia Hong, I'd rather die than marry you!"

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's previously lifeless face flushed crimson with fury; in humiliation, she spat directly at Xia Hong's face.

Pah…

Xia Hong didn't indulge her—he slapped her hard across the face, then gripped her chin and growled:

"Worthless woman, do you get to refuse? Even if you truly want to die, you'll die after you're married!"

For the first time in her life, Li Li Ying Xuan Ling had been slapped so brutally; she froze after the blow, then after three or four breaths, looked up at Xia Hong, trembling with rage, unable to utter a single word.

Li Li Li Li Tiancheng clearly wanted to intervene, but seeing Xia Hong had held back his force, he opened his mouth, then closed it again, sighing softly.

The hall's occupants, still reeling from the sudden turn, were jolted awake by Xia Hong's slap.

The Head Leader really is a beast.

Below, Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao, Watching Yue Feng, and the other Does Da Xia Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level officers, seeing Li Li Ying Xuan Ling struck without a word, lowered their heads to suppress laughter—and secretly gave Xia Hong a thumbs-up.

"Enough, Senior Li—our bet is settled. Since Li Li Ying Xuan Ling chose to lead an assassination attempt, you've lost…"

Sssss…

As Xia Hong turned to speak, sudden searing pain shot through his tiger's mouth.

His right hand had been gripping Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's chin—this woman had bitten his tiger's mouth while he was distracted speaking.

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling was Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level, with twenty-two zong of strength; though she didn't break the flesh, she tore through the skin membrane—blood immediately seeped out.

Xia Hong endured the pain, looked down at Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's defiant face, forced down his fury, let out a cold laugh, then turned to Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao and said sternly: "Lock all these Li clan members in the dungeon. At night, lead your men to re-screen every person in the camp—find every single Li clan member, leave none unaccounted for."

"Understood, Head Leader!"

Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao, hearing this, clearly grasped the implication; his expression sharpened as he bowed quickly.

All present were Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level; Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao understood instantly. Others, combining Xia Hong's words with Li Li Li Li Tiancheng's earlier remarks, might not grasp it fully—but they could guess with near certainty.

On the ground, Li Li Li Xuanping and the others turned pale with terror; as Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao's men dragged them out of the hall, each one shouted toward Li Li Li Li Tiancheng and Li Li Ying Xuan Ling.

"Father, what bet did you make with Head Leader Xia?"

"Grandfather, I'm your own grandson—save me, Grandfather!"

"Second Uncle, what bet did you make with Head Leader Xia?"

"Li Ying Xuan Ling, we're family—you must beg the Head Leader for mercy, Li Ying Xuan Ling, save me, save me!"

………………

Li Li Li Li Tiancheng closed his eyes tightly, face twisted in pain, ignoring his descendants' cries.

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling, meanwhile, pretended not to hear—she bit down on Xia Hong's tiger's mouth, refusing to let go.

Seeing neither her father nor Li Li Ying Xuan Ling respond, Li Li Li Xuanping, desperate, turned to Xia Hong: "Head Leader Xia, after Li Ying Xuan Ling marries you, we'll be family—why must you turn on your own? We sincerely wish to join Does Da Xia—only ask you to spare our lives…"

"Spare your lives?"

Xia Hong cut him off with a mocking question, then his eyes filled with murderous intent as he said coldly: "Whose blood will pay for Huang Yong, Zhu Ling, Ying Ying Xuan? For the three thousand souls in the Hive? For the Yunjiao soldiers who died storming Longshan?"

He then gave Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao a hand signal.

Brother Brother Director Yu Wen Tao and the others understood instantly—they gagged Li Li Li Xuanping and the others, threaded iron hooks through their shoulder blades, and swiftly dragged the twenty-plus away.

But soon, Liu Liu Liu Yuan returned from outside.

"Head Leader, Meng Ying, Lord Lord Jiang Ping, Sun Yan, and eight other non-Li Longshan Longshan Longshan Yuhan-level cultivators from Longshan are outside, requesting an audience."

"Take them to meet their families in the main building first. I'll receive them after nightfall."

"Yes, Head Leader!"

Hearing of Meng Ying and the eleven others' request, Xia Hong showed no surprise; after instructing Liu Liu Liu Yuan to take them to meet their families, he looked down at Li Li Ying Xuan Ling, still biting his hand, and sneered: "Let me tell you this—the basement in the north zone? Your second uncle told me long ago. You're not completely stupid—you only brought the Li clan tonight. Had you brought Meng Ying and the eleven others too, you'd have doomed them."

Hearing this, Li Li Ying Xuan Ling finally understood: Xia Hong's severe injury the previous night had been an act, designed to lure her in.

My uncle must have known Xia Hong wasn't seriously wounded, which is why he voluntarily told him about the northern district's basement. If that's the case, why didn't my uncle simply urge me to lead the Li clan's disciples in surrender? Why gamble at all—betting that I wouldn't come to assassinate him?

Though puzzled, Li Li Ying Xuan Ling still refused to speak, only shifting her eyes toward Li Li Li Li Tiancheng, her face filled with confusion.

"Don't look at your uncle. Whether I gamble or not is my decision—he has no say!"

"I told him: if you came to surrender with your men, I won't kill a single Li disciple, and I'll let your family keep a patch of land in Longyou to develop as you wish; if you came to assassinate me, then apart from the four of you, not a single Li disciple in Longshan will be left alive."

Not a single Li disciple will be left alive…………

Hearing those last eight words, Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's body trembled, and hatred surged in her heart—she bit down harder.

Xia Hong ignored her, instead pointing at Li Li Ying Xuan Yan and Li Xuandu on the ground, gesturing to Li Li Li Li Tiancheng:

"Enough. Take these two out. I'll speak with her alone."

Li Li Li Li Tiancheng wanted to say more, but seeing Xia Hong raise his hand to dismiss him, he sighed softly, stepped forward, lifted Li Li Ying Xuan Yan and Li Xuandu from the ground, and slowly withdrew from the great hall.

"Let go!"

Xia Hong took a deep breath. Seeing Li Li Ying Xuan Ling still refused to yield, anger flared in his eyes—he raised his hand and struck her beautiful face again.

Slap…

"Do you think your face is worth so much? If not for the sake of integrating these hundred thousand people of Longshan into Great Xia sooner, you'd be no different from the rest of the Li clan in my eyes."

Slap…

"You lost. You should've been prepared before you attempted the assassination. You should be grateful that some in Longshan still remain loyal to your Li family—otherwise, I wouldn't have spared the lives of you three siblings."

Slap…

"I want to see how tough you really are. Still won't yield, huh!"

Rip…

Li Li Ying Xuan Ling's defiance and resilience stoked Xia Hong's fury. As a strange sound echoed, the woman who had refused to speak suddenly gasped aloud.

Then, the sounds inside the great hall grew strangely altered.

………………

(End of Chapter)