Chapter 14: The Softest Place

What's the situation? The gaunt young man's mind was momentarily confused, unable to distinguish who exactly was the assassin.

But feeling the immense force pressing on his throat, he sobered up, looking at the little boy in front of him with fear.

What kind of monster is this? Not even seven years old, yet possessing such terrifying brute strength. Even if it were a Tenth Level Perfected Tongli Realm cultivator, combined with that Marquis's God Blood awakening, it shouldn't be this exaggerated, right? "Who sent you to assassinate me?" Li Hao stared at the opponent and asked, while various pieces of information surfaced in his mind. Playing chess was a means to approach him, indicating that the opponent's purpose in coming to the Divine General's Mansion was very simple—to assassinate him.

The gaunt young man was somewhat silent. The various things the child in front of him displayed, whether it was strength or the intellect shown, were not like those of an ordinary six-year-old child.

He had originally thought he was coming to deal with a useless little thing, not expecting to uncover such terrifying information.

"You are not a Martial Dao trash, hiding your strength. Is this your own idea, or your father's arrangement?" The gaunt young man narrowed his eyes slightly and asked.

At this moment, the assassination had failed, and feeling the immense force on his throat that could be unleashed at any time, he knew he had no way to live, so he calmed down instead.

Assassinating a direct bloodline from the Divine General's Mansion was a life-and-death matter from the start, but it was a pity that the mission could not be completed.

"You know my father?" Li Hao's eyes moved slightly.

"You're joking."

The gaunt young man said coldly: "Who in the world doesn't know the Marquis of General Xing Wu? Now he is stationed at the border, and a few months ago, he was still gathering Jianghu martial artists in Yanbei to assist in suppressing demons. With one call, there were a hundred responses; his reputation is extremely high."

Assist in suppressing demons? Li Hao frowned. Could it be that the situation in Yanbei was already so difficult that they even had to borrow the power of Jianghu martial artists?

"Were you sent by my Second Mother?" Li Hao asked.

The gaunt young man was slightly stunned, then suddenly realized, a trace of mockery flashing in his eyes, and said: "You've been assassinated before? I didn't expect that the iron-blooded Divine General's Mansion would have such decay inside. No wonder you would disguise yourself as trash. But speaking of which, I really didn't see you cultivate. How many hours do you practice every day?"

I have been cultivating with you…… Li Hao looked straight into his eyes calmly and said: "You answer mine first, then I will answer yours. This is called an exchange."

The gaunt young man raised his eyebrows slightly and couldn't help but laugh. This child was indeed very interesting.

"Anyway, it's certain death. You made my mission fail and caused my family to be ruined. Why should I tell you?" The gaunt young man sneered lightly.

Li Hao said: "Because I can see that you don't want to die, and you are also afraid of death. And there are many ways to die; I can give you a quick way to die."

The gaunt young man's smile disappeared. He was slightly silent, then slowly opened his mouth: "The one who sent me is……"

Suddenly, his arm vibrated, and he smashed a fist toward Li Hao's head.

Li Hao tilted his head slightly, dodging easily, and did not counterattack, just watching him coldly.

The gaunt young man felt his heart sink to the bottom, and a chill arose. The gap was actually this large? He, a dignified Zhou Tian Realm expert, actually seemed to have swapped identities with this child. In front of him, he was like a child, completely seen through.

The latter's contempt made him dejectedly withdraw his hand: "You really are a monster."

"Let's talk." Li Hao said coldly: "You should know that our Li Clan is a family of generals. We have captured countless prisoners and interrogated countless criminals. The torture methods used are beyond your imagination. You will wish for death but not be able to. If possible, I can give you a quick end."

The corner of the gaunt young man's eye twitched slightly. He naturally understood that the child in front of him was not lying, and he also felt some fear in his heart.

"If I tell you, can you let me go?" The gaunt young man asked with a hint of hope, pinning his hopes on the child in front of him still having a pure nature.

"Yes." Li Hao answered.

Pfft…… The gaunt young man almost vomited blood. Do you have to be so straightforward? It's simply too fake to be true. Are you treating me like a child?

He smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, it doesn't matter if I tell you. Anyway, the assassination failed, and my family won't be able to live either. I came from Yanbei. The one who wanted me to kill you is 'Master Bai Shen'."

"Master Bai Shen?"

"That's right, one of the three gods of Yanbei demons. His strength is terrifying, and he is also your father's old rival."

The gaunt young man's eyes were complex: "Your father is a genius at using troops, and the Li Clan army is brave and fearless. Yanbei should have fallen long ago. Now the frontal battlefield is in a stalemate. Master Bai Shen sent me to assassinate you just to let the news of your death spread out of the Divine General's Mansion and reach the Yanbei border, causing your father's army's morale to be in chaos. If he leaves the battlefield and comes back, Yanbei could be conquered."

Speaking of this, he stared at Li Hao in front of him.

No one knew that this child was actually an important weight affecting the life and death of the people in dozens of cities in Yanbei.

Li Hao was stunned. So it was because of Yanbei.

The war situation there had actually spread to the Divine General's Mansion, which was tens of thousands of miles away.

"Your father is stationed in Yanbei. They have been through many battles and have no flaws on their bodies, impeccable. And you are their only weakness, the softest place."

The gaunt young man said: "Only by starting with you can we defeat your parents, let the Yanbei border be broken, and the demon army enter directly."

Li Hao was silent, digesting the opponent's words. After a while, he slowly said: "You are a human, why do you work for demons?"

The gaunt young man was slightly stunned, paused for a moment, and then looked at Li Hao gloomily, his eyes carrying jealousy and hatred: "Not everyone has a good life like you. Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."

"Is that so?"

Li Hao looked at him calmly: "Since birth, my parents have left my side, and I have been framed by my relatives. Now, because of my parents' reasons, I have suffered an assassination. Do you say I have a good life?"

The gaunt young man opened his mouth slightly, stunned, wanting to speak but stopping, unable to say anything anymore.

Li Hao didn't say anything more, just said: "I promised you, I will let you die quickly."

"Heh, you're actually quite a good person." The gaunt young man came back to his senses and forced a smile with a hint of mockery.

No matter what is said, in the end, death is inevitable. There was some fear in the bottom of his eyes. He didn't want to die, and he was afraid of death, otherwise, how would he have fallen to the point of working for demons? Li Hao seemed not to understand the mockery and said: "Actually, I don't want to kill you."

"Oh?" A sneer appeared in the gaunt young man's eyes, clearly not believing it. "Because your chess skills are not bad." Li Hao said seriously.

The gaunt young man was stunned.

After a long while, he came back to his senses, a bitter smile appearing on his face: "But the regret is, I have never won against you."

"Next life."

Li Hao's palm began to exert force: "In the next life, don't practice martial arts. Just play chess honestly. At least you will live longer and be more relaxed."

The gaunt young man wanted to struggle, but seeing Li Hao's cold and calm eyes, only despair remained in his heart, and he said bitterly: "You really are a strange child."

Finally, Li Hao still pinched him to death.

When he was about to suffocate, the gaunt young man struggled violently again, but it had no effect.

After solving the assassin, Li Hao remembered that he still didn't know the opponent's real name.

And the servant name the opponent used to sneak in was also granted by the Li Clan.

However.

It doesn't matter.

……

……

The assassin died, and Li Hao called the servants, scaring them half to death.

That night, the entire Divine General's Mansion was shaken.

The lights in all the courtyards were lit, and the ladies of each courtyard who had already fallen asleep put on their clothes and rushed over. When they saw the assassin's corpse lying in front of the chess table, they were all extremely shocked.

What kind of place is the Divine General's Mansion? How could an assassin sneak in? The dignified and calm temperament on He Jianlan's body also disappeared, and she hugged Li Hao nervously, feeling and looking him up and down: "Are you okay?"

"Eldest Lady, I'm fine." Li Hao comforted her.

He Jianlan waited until she checked that Li Hao was indeed uninjured before feeling relieved. Afterward, she asked carefully, and Li Hao also stated the excuse he had already thought of.

The assassin launched a sneak attack, and at the critical moment, an old grandfather appeared and killed him.

Afterward, the old grandfather disappeared.

Li Hao thought to himself, since an assassin could sneak into the Divine General's Mansion, it shouldn't be a problem for him to make up an old grandfather, right?

Anyway, you don't even know about the assassin, so it's normal not to know about other experts, right?

After listening to Li Hao's words, He Jianlan's heart was shaken, and some guesses immediately surfaced. Could it be a military expert secretly sent by the Marquis of General Xing Wu?

Or…… that clan elder? She suppressed the guess in her heart and did not doubt Li Hao's words.

After all, no matter how precocious Li Hao was, he was only a child not yet seven years old.

And he hadn't stepped into the Martial Dao. If there was no expert secretly protecting him, he would definitely be dead without a doubt.

Afterward, He Jianlan let Xuejian take Li Hao and the little girl Bian Ruxue to Changchun Courtyard to rest first, to calm the children down.

And she sat in the main hall of Shanhe Courtyard, called the servant who had accompanied Li Hao to play chess, as well as the first servant who was alarmed by Li Hao's shout, and interrogated them carefully in this courtyard.

At the same time, she also called experts from the mansion to examine the assassin's corpse.

Not long after, she learned the whole process of the matter from the servants.

When the assassin entered the mansion, how he revealed his chess talent, how he performed in front of the servants in Shanhe Courtyard, and how he tried to get close, etc.

Clearly, the opponent had investigated Li Hao's intelligence and deliberately approached him by playing chess; everything had traces to follow.

In the second half of the night, the examination results of the corpse also came out. This assassin was actually a Zhou Tian Realm cultivator, about the third or fourth level.

This realm, if thrown outside, could be considered a ranger level with decent cultivation, and could also act chivalrously in the Jianghu and make a small name for himself. But if thrown into the Divine General's Mansion, where experts were as numerous as clouds, it was definitely an extremely ordinary existence.

However, to kill a six-year-old child, this cultivation was more than enough, and it was even using a sledgehammer to kill a mosquito, very exaggerated.

Moreover, the opponent had taken a certain special elixir, sealing his own Qi sense, which was why no one noticed.

Hearing this result, the ladies of each courtyard had lingering fears. If the one assassinated today was not Li Hao, but their own children, that would definitely be certain death!

A Zhou Tian Realm killer suddenly erupting beside a child was simply too terrifying.

When Liu Yuerong heard this autopsy result, the suspicion she had been harboring in her heart also slowly faded.

Even if Li Hao's God Blood had not been abolished, it was impossible for him to kill this assassin by himself.

It seems that although that couple was at the border, they had made full preparations for their child.

Thinking of this, she felt secretly afraid. Her act of poisoning should have been unnoticed. After all, she had received the order to take action in Water Flower Courtyard at that time, and there were also experts in her courtyard.

(End of chapter)