Chapter 16: Ill-Fated Relationship Part 1

Li Changhu watched as the young man pushed aside the animal hide, revealing a glint of cold steel. The young man’s eyes, sharp and cruel like those of a wild beast, stared fixedly at Li Changhu, full of grim satisfaction and ferocity.

The cold glint flashed like lightning, darting straight for Li Changhu's throat. In his terror, Li Changhu only managed to step back once, quickly raising a hand to block.

It was too fast!

This single thrust had been practiced for twenty-two years, having torn through countless haystacks and suppressed nights of hatred.

Though the cold glint was a bright silver flash, it deftly dodged Li Changhu's outstretched hand like a swimming fish, piercing directly into his throat.

Li Changhu could only let out a few blood-curdling gurgles before collapsing heavily to the ground. His eyes blurred, and he vaguely heard screams and angry shouts around him.

"Beast!" Tian Shoushui, who had been standing right behind Li Changhu, let out a heart-wrenching roar. Being shorter than Li Changhu, he had been completely obscured, only realizing what had happened when Li Changhu fell.

His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his forehead as he reached out to grab the young man.

Having successfully landed the strike, the young man abandoned the dagger. Taking advantage of the crowd rushing to help Li Changhu, he rolled on the ground, evading Tian Shoushui's grasp. Like an agile musk deer, he darted into the throng of refugees.

Tian Shoushui lunged forward in pursuit. The refugees scattered like a disturbed hornet's nest, and he only managed to see the young man disappear into the reeds by the village, then dash away into the distance.

"Damn it all."

Without looking back, Tian Shoushui followed the trail into the reeds, leaving the panicked refugees huddling together behind him.

"Plague-ridden scoundrel! You son of a bitch!" The crowd reacted, and the middle-aged man was pinned tightly against the wall by the villagers, wailing and cursing: "It really wasn't me! I don't know that young man, he just blended in on the road!"

"Shut up!" Liu Linfeng cursed, his face ashen. Gritting his teeth, he supported the fallen Li Changhu, casting a furious glare at the middle-aged man. For a moment, he lost his composure.

Seeing his nephew spitting blood and clearly no longer alive, his mind was a chaotic mess: How was he going to explain this to his sister? How would he tell Li Mutian? His nephew had died in front of him for nothing!

Ren Ping'an, meanwhile, sat stunned on the ground. His daughter, Miss Ren, had only recently married Li Changhu and become pregnant, and now Li Changhu was dead. The child he had watched grow up was gone, just like that!

The crowd was in a state of panic. On the ground, Li Changhu lay with his eyes open, gazing at the sky, feeling the hot blood gushing from his chest as his consciousness slowly faded.

"I'm just sorry for Xiang Ping, his celebration will now be a funeral."

Li Changhu's fading consciousness dimly thought, before pain and suffocation finally plunged him into endless darkness.

In the midst of the chaos, unseen by anyone, a silver gleam quietly rose from his dantian. Trailing a wisp of light like a young swallow flying to its nest, it soared into the sky, circled once, and then sped towards the Li family's backyard.

Not far away, Old Man Xu stood hunched over, trembling. He had watched the young man plunge the knife into Li Changhu's neck, the tip even protruding slightly from the back. He felt a rush of blood to his head, his vision blurring, nearly causing him to faint.

"Such ill fate!" Old Man Xu cried, tears streaming down his weathered face. He clutched tightly to the string of grasshoppers he had intended to give Li Changhu, painfully pressing a hand to his chest.

"Beast…" Old Man Xu took a deep, ragged breath, wiped the tears from his face, and began to run towards the back mountain, muttering incessantly: "This old man has outlived his wife, witnessed the downfall of his master's house, and seen more people than a wild wolf has shat. Just you wait! Just you wait! This old man will deal with you!"

***

**The Li Family.**

Lu Jiangxian, in the ancestral hall, silently sighed. He had awakened when Li Changhu was assassinated, but the village entrance was simply too far, and he was powerless, forced to watch everything unfold.

He watched the silver gleam hovering by the mirror like a butterfly. With a mere thought, this talisman seed could transform into pure essence to nourish his spirit.

However, since Li Changhu had not cultivated to the Xuanjing stage, the benefit from the talisman seed would be minimal. Sighing, Lu Jiangxian reversed his magical incantation, using the Mysterious Pearl Spirit Offering Art to activate the spiritual consciousness within the talisman seed. Streams of extracted spiritual energy appeared in the courtyard, extending towards the Li family members within.

Li Mutian had only fallen into a drowsy sleep after more than an hour when he saw moonlight pouring in through the windows and door cracks like water. Outside the window, it was bright as day, and his eldest son, Li Changhu, stood by his bed, quietly gazing at him.

"What's happened?" Li Mutian asked his eldest son in a hoarse voice.

Li Changhu pressed his lips together, remaining silent, carefully staring at Li Mutian's face as if to commit it to memory.

"Cough, cough, cough." Li Mutian coughed forcefully a few times, then frowned and asked, "Changhu, what's wrong?"

Instead, Li Changhu bowed respectfully to his father and said, choked with emotion, "Father, please take care…"

No sooner had he spoken than Li Changhu's figure dispersed like sand in the wind. The moonlight, like water, slowly dimmed, and the courtyard, once as bright as day, grew dark.

Li Mutian grew extremely agitated. He reached out to grasp, calling out repeatedly, "Son, speak! Changhu! Li Changhu!"

He suddenly awoke from his sleep, staring blankly out the window.

***

**Side Room.**

"Do cultivators dream too?" In the side room, Li Chijing opened his eyes, his face streaked with tears. He got up and walked out, seeing Li Tongya sitting at a wooden table.

Seeing his younger brother emerge, Li Tongya quickly wiped the tears from his face, forced a smile, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Chijing, however, simply stared blankly at his elder brother, then looked up and asked, "Where's Eldest Brother?"

"Eldest Brother was called out by a tenant early this morning. Probably something about the fields," Li Tongya replied with a smile.

Just then, the room door creaked open, and Li Mutian stood at the doorway, calling out anxiously, "Tongya! Go fetch your Eldest Brother back… No, never mind, I'll go myself."

Li Mutian hastily put on his shoes, walked to the front courtyard, and pushed open the gate, only to freeze. Outside the gate, a large circle of villagers stood gathered, all holding torches and weeping. At the foot of the stone steps, three people knelt beside an object covered with a white cloth.

Seeing the ashamed and sorrowful expressions of Tian Shoushui and Ren Ping'an, Li Mutian's uneasiness reached its peak. With trembling hands, he descended the steps, gently pushed away Liu Linfeng, who was crying and reaching out to support him, and slowly lifted the white cloth.

Li Mutian's vision went black, and he nearly fainted. The brothers who had followed him out also looked distressed. Li Chijing, after peering closer, dropped to his knees with a thud, crying out in grief, "Brother!"

He threw himself onto Li Changhu, checking for breath. Then, Li Chijing suddenly looked up, sobbing and tearfully gazing at the surrounding villagers, and roared, "Who! Who was it?! Who dared?!"

His fierce roar was like a tiger's growl, startling everyone into taking several steps back, staring at him fearfully.