Chapter 74

Li Tongya had no carriage driver, and coming from a farming background, he didn't know how to ride a horse. He could drive an ox cart, but he had to return alone. After walking on the Ancient Li Road for an hour, he couldn't help but cover his nose.

"Such a strong stench of corpses."

It had rained just yesterday, and the accumulated corpses on the side of the road had swollen and bloated due to the rain, turning a blue-black color with large air bubbles bulging on their skin. The flesh inside was festering, and the stench was suffocating. After being exposed to the sun for a morning, the smell was extremely intense.

"Truly a sin."

Li Tongya had to stop from time to time to move the accumulated corpses on the road while driving. The ox cart was also hard to drive, often veering off the road because of the hands and feet piled up on it. Finally, the ox refused to work because of the smell, so Li Tongya had to abandon the ox cart and return on foot.

Covering his mouth and nose, he had to stop from time to time to wipe away the tears caused by the irritation of the smell. He was filled with inexplicable and intense emotions, having not eaten for a day and a night, walking alone among many corpses.

"How will the Qingchi Sect record this?"

This thought suddenly popped into Li Tongya's mind. He mimicked the tone and sneered:

He moved the overlapping corpses and sat for a while on a blue stone stained with blood, then laughed coldly.

Li Tongya had seen living people. These village soldiers who crawled out of the piles of corpses seemed unable to speak anymore. When two met, they would hug their heads and cry, and after crying, they would continue to search for something to eat in the ruins.

Li Tongya's clothes were still tidy, he held a long knife in his hand, and there were no bloodstains on him. He looked like a merchant passing through the Mushroom Forest. Soon, three or five children followed behind him, mostly five or six years old, looking at him pitifully.

Li Tongya walked silently along the mountain road, hunted a wild boar or wolf, threw it to the children behind him, and let them roast it half-cooked to eat. After a bumpy journey, he finally reached the Wan family's territory.

The few villages of the Wan family were now empty, neither inhabited nor guarded, still covered in blood and rotting corpses.

"Xuanfeng?!"

Just as Li Tongya was walking, he saw a small figure walking back and forth among a large pile of corpses. Looking closely, it was actually Li Xiangping's eldest son, Li Xuanfeng, disheveled and digging through the corpses, his body covered in dried blood.

"What's going on?! Where is your father? Why are you digging around in this pile of dead people! What if you catch a disease?"

Li Tongya frowned, his heart skipped a beat. He picked up the child and looked at his cracked, grey-white lips, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Li Xuanfeng pouted and kicked a severed hand on the ground, saying in a low voice:

"I'm looking for my father!"

"Xiangping... your father hasn't returned home?"

Li Tongya had a bad premonition and asked softly.

"Brother Xuan didn't tell me, but Father must have gone to support the Wan family. I don't know where he is right now."

Hearing Li Xuanfeng's answer, Li Tongya pondered for a few breaths and said in a deep voice:

"Come home with me first."

"Oh..."

Li Xuanfeng responded and said in a low voice:

"This Ji family is truly fierce. All five villages of the Wan family were wiped out. What was the point?"

"People were killed by the Tangjin Gate and the Qingchi Sect."

Li Tongya blurted out a sentence without rhyme or reason. Hearing this, Li Xuanfeng was stunned and secretly muttered to himself in his heart:

"This Tangjin Gate and that damn Young Master of the Tangjin Gate are truly not things. When I grow up, I will definitely kill all of the Tangjin Gate and shoot down that Young Master's head to use as a ball!"

————

Li Xuanxuan had a splitting headache. Li Xuanfeng had just been granted the talisman seed and had disappeared as soon as he went down the mountain. He kept asking to find Li Xiangping, so Li Xuanxuan had to find ways to coax him.

As the eldest direct descendant of the Li family, Li Xuanxuan naturally couldn't be as willful as Li Xuanfeng and rush into the Ji family's territory to find someone. Although he was anxious, Li Xuanxuan still had to smile and deal with the managers in the village on the surface, trying his best to stabilize the situation before Li Tongya returned. It was naturally not easy.

"Young Master!"

Just as Li Xuanxuan was deep in thought, there were footsteps outside the courtyard. Li Yesheng entered the courtyard with a smile and said sternly:

"The Immortal Master is back!"

Li Xuanxuan was stunned, suddenly feeling the burden on his shoulders lighten. He was overjoyed and smiled as he went to greet him down the mountain.

Li Tongya arranged for the children who had followed him all the way, and climbed the mountain covered in dust. He met Li Yesheng and Li Xuanxuan head-on, but his face showed no expression. He patted Li Xuanfeng's shoulder and whispered:

"Go take a good bath and have a good sleep."

Seeing Li Xuanfeng nod and go down, Li Tongya entered the courtyard with Li Xuanxuan, waved away Li Yesheng, and said softly:

"Tell me, what's going on?"

"Have you explored the situation in the Wan family's territory?"

Li Xuanxuan shook his head and whispered:

"This nephew only ordered the people at Li Daokou not to leak our whereabouts to the east and did not send anyone across the border."

Li Tongya sneered and said softly:

"The Wan family has been destroyed for over a month, yet you don't even know that Huaqian Mountain is empty. Your uncle has been missing for over a month, yet you are still dealing with those few managers! You haven't investigated any news, and you even let Feng'er slip into the Ji family's territory alone!"

"Li Xuanxuan! You've truly done a good job!"

Li Xuanxuan felt as if he had been struck by lightning, kneeling straight in the courtyard. His eyes felt sour, and he opened his mouth but couldn't speak.

"What is there to be afraid of!"

Li Tongya shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"Even if Xiangping had an accident, I, your second uncle, am outside, and your third uncle is still cultivating in the sect. Who would dare to have any crooked thoughts about you? If your uncle doesn't return overnight, immediately dispatch clan soldiers to patrol the forest, send Li Qiuyang to guard Li Daokou, and hold the weapons in your hands—who would dare to look down on you? Even if a few guess that Li Xiangping had an accident, who would dare to squeak?"

Sighing lightly, Li Tongya said in a low voice:

"Don't bother testing those few managers. They are just a few dogs of my Li family. If you are in a good mood, reward them with a few bones. If they dare to dawdle with you, kill them with one stroke!"

"The power of my Li family comes from weapons and cultivation. You must be decisive, ruthless, and dare to kill! My Li family doesn't need a master who holds onto the status quo; we need a wolf-tiger monarch who advances!" ===== CHAPTER 75 =====