Chapter 15

Yanbei Border, Yuanyue City.

Inside the city, the atmosphere was gloomy and desolate; outside the city, the ground was scarred and riddled with pits. In a mountain forest a hundred miles away, massive figures of various shapes lurked, dark shadows looming, along with some slender, human-like figures sitting cross-legged on the mountain peaks.

The ground here was stained with blood, bones piled like a forest of firewood, and skin scraps like tattered rags, hanging carelessly from tree branches and rocks.

At this moment, a beautiful young woman was holding an arm covered in military armor, gnawing on the fingers. Her lips and cheeks were stained with bright red blood, but she didn't care in the least.

Suddenly, a small black dot streaked across the horizon. Only upon closer inspection did it reveal itself to be a three-clawed black bird over ten meters long.

It retracted its form, and upon landing, it transformed into a graceful youth wearing a black headscarf. He walked with a light gait toward the group sitting in a circle, then arrived before the young man in white robes who had a long zither resting horizontally across his knees.

The young man's fingers plucked the strings lightly, emitting a lingering sound wave, yet his gaze remained fixed quietly on the distance, staring at that city which looked like a foul rock.

There, one could seemingly still faintly see the oppressive black clouds gathering above the city, and the blurred figures standing atop the city walls.

"Master Bai Shen."

The youth in the black headscarf bowed slightly, his face showing respect, and said to the young man in white: "Just received news, the useless meat-seed sent previously failed, and it even alerted the Divine General Mansion. Now the entire mansion is on high alert; I hear that child has experts secretly protecting him."

"It failed even with that? Useless thing!"

Beside him, a burly man with a massive physique sank his face, baring his teeth slightly to reveal sharp, inhuman fangs.

"Wasn't it said that he had already infiltrated the child's side?" The beautiful woman gnawing on the arm frowned, stopped chewing, and looked toward the youth in the black headscarf.

"Half a month has passed, his identity surely wasn't exposed, yet after so long, he couldn't find an opportunity to strike?"

Nearby, a youth with yellow eyebrows frowned and said: "To prevent the Divine General Mansion's intelligence from being wrong, that Marquis Xing Wu deliberately concealed the child's true situation. We specifically sent this Zhou Tian Realm meat-seed over; if he had struck with a full-force punch at close range, even a Level Ten Tongli Realm cultivator couldn't have dodged it. Even with experts watching nearby, they shouldn't have been able to react, right?"

The youth in the black headscarf sighed and said: "The specific process is unknown; who knew that thing was so useless."

"Hmph, not only did it fail, but it also alerted the Divine General Mansion. Once this news reaches the ears of Li Tiangang, he will definitely send more men to protect him. Damn thing!" The burly man snorted angrily again.

The youth in the black headscarf nodded slightly: "If we are to assassinate him next, I'm afraid it will be even harder. Speaking of which, since that meat-seed failed, there's no need to keep his family alive. Let the little ones below enjoy them."

"I already let them eat them all."

The beautiful woman bit off another finger and said while chewing.

The youth in the black headscarf didn't speak again, but instead looked at the young man in white who had stopped playing the zither, his eyes revealing faint awe: "Master Bai Shen, what should we do next? Should we launch a frontal assault?"

The others also looked at him, waiting for his orders.

Master Bai Shen's emotions seemed not to fluctuate much. Gazing at Yuanyue City in the distance, he said in a soft, gentle voice: "This Li Clan is truly a hard bone to chew. If we launch a frontal assault, our losses will be too great."

"Indeed, those guys refuse to put in any effort; they are truly bastards." The burly man said with dissatisfaction.

"Then should we still assassinate him?" The youth in the black headscarf asked.

Master Bai Shen turned his head to look at him and said: "What do you think?"

……

……

Since Li Hao was attacked, the security of the Divine General Mansion had become even more rigorous.

He Jianlan dispatched experts from the inner academy to garrison the front courtyard and screened every retainer who had entered the mansion within the last three years.

This matter caused a great stir, but every courtyard cooperated actively; after all, this assassination attempt was truly too dangerous, and everyone feared it happening to their own children.

Through the Li Clan's intelligence network, it was traced back that the assassination was related to the demons on the Yanbei side.

Li Hao found his eldest aunt and wanted her to conceal the news of this assassination, not to let it spread to Yanbei, and not to let it reach the ears of that couple, so as not to disrupt the battle situation on the front line.

Hearing Li Hao say this, He Jianlan was stunned, and as she looked at Li Hao's small face, her heart felt as if it were being tugged by something.

This child, having nearly been assassinated to death because of the war in Yanbei, was actually still worried about affecting the situation there; he was simply so sensible that it made one's heart ache.

However, the news of the assassination had caused too much of a stir; it was impossible to conceal it.

The Yanbei border soon received the news.

Marquis Xing Wu, who was contemplating the layout in the military camp, was furious, and Ji Qingqing was also incensed. They immediately perceived the demons' intentions: to use Li Hao's death to shake the morale of the army and force them to leave the Yanbei battle situation.

Once they left, this side would inevitably face a thunderous attack.

Marquis Xing Wu could not abandon the battlefield here. While furious, he sent his trusted aides from his side back to the mansion that very day to protect Li Hao personally.

News came from the mansion that the assassination had been thwarted by someone secretly guarding Li Hao.

But Marquis Xing Wu knew that he had not sent anyone to guard Li Hao secretly.

The Shanhe Courtyard had guards and was located within the Divine General Mansion; he never imagined that anyone would go to assassinate a child.

If Li Hao had shown amazing martial arts talent, he would have had concerns and sent people to guard him secretly to prevent the Li Clan's future prodigy from dying in the cradle.

But a person without martial arts talent, posing no threat—even so, he had nearly been harmed.

And all of this was because of the damn stalemate before them.

A few days later, on the Yanbei battlefield, the Li Clan army launched a thunderous attack, clearing out a nest of demons overnight. The news spread, making all the demons feel the Li Clan's fury.

…………

Life, in the end, slowly calmed down.

Half a year passed, and Li Hao was seven years old.

The news of the assassination attempt was already half a year old, and now no one in the mansion mentioned it anymore.

The expert sent back from the army by Marquis Xing Wu had been following Li Hao every moment for the past half year. He was a tall, middle-aged man who was stern, humorless, and cautious in his dealings, named Li Fu.

It was said that Li Fu was an abandoned baby many years ago, adopted by the Li Clan. At the time, some said that although the child's fate was tragic, being able to land at the door of the Divine General Mansion could be considered a stroke of good fortune, so he took the Li surname and was given a single name: Fu.

In his early years in this Shanhe Courtyard, Li Fu grew up accompanying Marquis Xing Wu.

His age was seven or eight years older than Marquis Xing Wu's. In daily life, he cared for Marquis Xing Wu like an elder brother, but in the army, the two had a superior-subordinate relationship.

At the same time, Li Fu was also Marquis Xing Wu's right-hand man, one of the people he trusted most.

"Uncle Fu, you lost again."

In the pavilion, a game of chess ended, and Li Hao said with a grin.

A trace of helplessness couldn't help but appear on Li Fu's stern face: "I am considered of the same generation as your father; you should call me Uncle."

"But calling you Uncle Fu sounds a bit like saying 'admit defeat'." Li Hao pouted: "When I play chess, I only want to win; I don't like admitting defeat."

Li Fu couldn't help but be speechless; just because of this boring homophone, he had been promoted a generation.

"You can also call me Uncle Li."

"But this is the Li Clan; there are too many people surnamed Li. If I call you Uncle Li, I'm afraid you won't be able to tell who is who." Li Hao said.

Li Fu was helpless again.

"If you ask me, Uncle Fu, you shouldn't have been named Fu. Since everyone says you have good fortune... you should be called Li You."

Li Hao said solemnly: "Look, the name Li You sounds so good. You have, you have, everything is 'you have', corresponding to 'Wuque'!"

Li Fu wanted to tap his little head. Unlike Marquis Xing Wu's rigid personality, this son of his was very glib.

"Don't talk nonsense. If your father were here, he would definitely beat you up for being disrespectful." Li Fu scolded with a straight face.

"The problem is he isn't here." Li Hao said casually.

Li Fu was just about to discipline him to prevent him from becoming increasingly lawless, but upon hearing these indifferent words, his heart trembled.

When Marquis Xing Wu went on an expedition years ago, he had accompanied him, so naturally, he knew that Li Hao was seven years old this year, and the Marquis had also been in Yanbei for seven years.

The situation in Yanbei made it difficult for Ji Qingqing, who had originally accompanied him intending a quick victory, to pull herself away and return, unable to leave her husband in danger.

The child before him, having had no parents by his side for seven years, must be very sad, right? Li Fu felt a bit of heartache and softened his heart, sighing: "Your father has his own difficulties; don't blame him."

"I never blamed him." Li Hao said earnestly.

Li Fu looked at his eyes, feeling a slight warmth in his heart and a sense of relief, saying: "You are very sensible."

Sensible? Li Hao grinned.

Just then, a half-grown figure returned to the Shanhe Courtyard.

Li Hao turned his head to look and saw that it was Bian Ruxue, who had been practicing in the martial arts arena, returning.

Now the little girl had turned into a young girl, her delicate little face unable to hide her beauty.

"Why are you back so early today? Are you hungry?" Li Hao smiled and waved.

Bian Ruxue saw Li Hao, walked over holding her sword, her expression looking somewhat unhappy, only saying: "I'm not hungry."

"What's wrong? Did someone make you unhappy?" Li Hao teased.

Bian Ruxue gritted her teeth slightly, turned her head away with a straight face, and didn't speak.

Li Hao had asked casually, but seeing this, he raised his eyebrows slightly and said: "Tell me, what's going on?"

"Nothing." Bian Ruxue got up, hugged her sword, and ran away, running to the place where she usually practiced sword.

Li Hao thought for a moment, called over the maid who accompanied her to practice sword, and asked: "What's wrong with Xue'er?"

"Replying to Young Master, Miss Xue'er had a sword duel with someone in the martial arts arena and was defeated." With Li Fu nearby, although the maid knew this young master was a martial arts failure, she still maintained a respectful attitude.

"Just this little thing?"

Li Hao felt relieved and said: "Isn't it just losing once? For a martial artist, victory and defeat are common occurrences; just go back and win next time. Why, can't she afford to lose?"

The maid hesitated for a moment, lowered her head, and said: "It's not that, Young Master. The guy who defeated the Miss is quite hateful; he badmouthed the Young Master in front of the Miss, so... that's why the Miss is so angry."

"Ah?" Li Hao didn't expect that he was involved in this. So, the little one was standing up for him? Li Hao glanced into the distance; the young girl was already practicing sword there, but she looked angry.

His eyes flickered slightly, and he said to the maid: "I know, you go down first."

(End of chapter)