12dz Chapter 16 The Li family is rotten to the core.
Chapter 16 The Li family is rotten to the core.
"What...what are you doing...ah!"
Li Mingsheng, whose wrist had been grabbed, was still all smiles, thinking that he had completely subdued this young man with no experience in the ways of the world with just a few words.
But suddenly, he felt the power within his body rushing rapidly toward the hand that had been grabbed.
The feeling of his internal energy draining away made him instantly realize that something was wrong.
Soon, Li Mingsheng was completely stunned on the spot, and his whole body went limp on the ground. The excruciating pain from his crippled right hand made him grimace and could hardly bear it. He couldn't muster any strength at all.
"Li Xiuyuan, you..."
"You swear on your life I'll be alright? But I'd rather just take your life!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiuyuan stood up, took a deep breath, and with his strength fully restored, swung his sword.
Li Mingsheng's terrified, trembling voice abruptly stopped!
"Thump"...
"Young Master Xiuyuan, spare my life!"
"We were just following orders, young master, please spare our lives..."
Seeing this, the guards whose hands and feet had been crippled by Li Xiuyuan were completely dumbfounded.
The sight of Li Mingsheng lying in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open and dying with unseeing eyes, made them instantly realize that this young master, who had such a low profile in the Li family, was far more terrifying than they had imagined!
"Spare you?"
Li Xiuyuan swung his sword, flicking the bloodstains off the blade onto the ground.
"Yes... Young Master Xiuyuan, I can tell you many things you don't know yet."
"Yes, Young Master Xiuyuan, you may not know, but Fourth Master's body is currently in the woodshed, and... and tomorrow, it will be hung at the city gate!"
Ok?
Upon hearing this, Li Xiuyuan's gaze sharpened.
"Young Master Xiuyuan, it's absolutely true. I don't think I would lie to you. Moreover, the head of the family said that as long as Young Master Xiuyuan doesn't show up, Fourth Master's body will remain hanging at the gate of Yuanguang City."
"court death!"
A surge of anger and resentment welled up within him, causing Li Xiuyuan to grip his longsword tightly, his eyes turning icy cold.
"Young Master Xiuyuan, you must not return to Yuanguang City. Lin Shuang has had City Lord Shen lay a trap in Yuanguang City, just waiting for you to show yourself."
"Huh? Really! So Lin Shuang is still at the Li family's house?"
Li Xiuyuan asked coldly.
One of the Li family guards, whose tendons in both hands had been severed by Li Xiuyuan, nodded hurriedly.
Then he spoke:
"He's still here, but I heard that Lin Shuang said that if the Li family can't capture Young Master Xiuyuan by tomorrow, he'll be returning to Yunzhou City."
"By the way... Lin Shuang has been quite the womanizer in the Li family these past few days. I heard that last night, Miss Ying'er was forcibly sent to Lin Shuang's room by the Second Master."
Li Xiuyuan stood there, and almost without him asking, the guards, in order to save their lives, told him everything they knew and had heard.
Li Xiuyuan felt very complicated upon hearing this.
"So, Young Master Xiuyuan, you'd better get away as soon as possible and never come back."
"We...we were forced into this. Young Master Xiu Yuan, please spare us. Don't worry, we promise we won't reveal a single word about your whereabouts."
Standing there, Li Xiuyuan let out a cold laugh.
"Indeed, you were forced into it... but you are the Li family's guards, and you were also involved in the attack on Father a few days ago, weren't you?"
Upon hearing this, Li Xiuyuan did not hesitate at all. He took a step forward and grabbed the Li family guard who had just begged for mercy.
"what……"
"My internal energy...you!"
*Pfft!*
Li Xiuyuan didn't even look; a flash of sword light passed by, and the man's words came to an abrupt halt.
Li Xiuyuan quickly ignored the pleas for mercy, curses, and threats from the people in front of him.
He absorbed the power of each of them and then killed them.
None of these guards from the Li family are innocent!
The reason he didn't kill them outright before was because Li Xiuyuan wanted to absorb their power one by one.
Unexpectedly, the guards started talking all at once about quite a few things concerning the Li family.
Li Xiuyuan was also eager to know this information, which would save him the time of inquiring.
However, I never expected that the Shen family, the city lords, would also be involved.
In his memory, Heishui County in Yunzhou, where Li Xiuyuan lived, was under the jurisdiction of the Dali Dynasty.
The city lord of Yuanguang City was appointed by officials from Yunzhou through a series of appointments, and the city lord's mansion was guarded by city guards.
These city guards are all at least ninth-rank officials.
If I were to launch a high-profile attack back to Yuanguang City, I would be discovered immediately!
But isn't this also an opportunity for me to break through to the eighth rank...?
The Li family alone has at least a dozen ninth-rank officials and two or three eighth-rank officials.
If the city lord's mansion and the city guards are included, Li Xiuyuan doesn't know the exact number.
Although it's very risky, it's also an opportunity to become stronger!
Having reached the maximum level in several techniques one after another, Li Xiuyuan was eager to unleash his full potential.
In the three days since he transmigrated, he has either been being chased or on his way to be chased.
Even a clay figure has three fires; before, he had to run into the mountains to escape because he wasn't strong enough, but now...
woohoo hoo...
With a "hum" of vibration, sonic booms began to emanate from the body's internal energy.
Li Xiuyuan slowly opened his eyes.
Peak of the Eighth Rank, achieved!
Qi and blood have filled the whole body, and the meridians and dantian have expanded and grown again as several martial arts techniques have reached their maximum level.
With a long exhale, Li Xiuyuan vanished from his spot in a flash.
Not long after, in the Cangyun Mountains, about ten miles from Yuanguang City.
Li Xiuyuan stood on a large, leafy tree and reached out to take down the two packages that had been hanging on the dense branches.
One of them was already completely covered in bright red blood, wet and somewhat eerie.
Looking at the Yuan Guang City that had already been lit up, Li Xiuyuan took a step forward, and his figure turned into a black shadow and disappeared from the spot.
It got dark quickly.
Yuanguang City, the Li family residence.
A man and a woman stood in front of a cart, on which was a quilt covered with blood.
"Hurry up, Second Master told us we have to deal with this tonight."
Here's the silver. Remember, don't ask any questions. Bury it anywhere after you leave the city!
The maid-like woman spoke softly, then took out a silver ingot and handed it to the middle-aged man dressed in coarse cloth.
The man quickly took the silver, nodded happily, and unconsciously quickened his pace as he pushed the cart.
Just as the two were hurrying around the backyard, preparing to leave through the small gate...
But then they saw a person standing by the small gate in the backyard.
Two other people lay on the ground next to that man.
"Who are you……"
puff puff!
The woman dressed as a maid had just spoken when Li Xiuyuan looked up, a flash of sword light appeared, and the two of them fell to the ground.
He approached the cart and used his sword to lift the blankets.
Under the cold moonlight.
The girl's body, covered in bloody wounds, was revealed.
Especially that face.
Damn memories assaulted Li Xiuyuan. He recognized the woman who had been tortured to death as his cousin, who had probably treated him well in the Li family.
Li Ying.
What Li Xiuyuan didn't expect was that he only heard about Li Ying from the Li family guards before dark.
He felt a surge of emotion at the time.
Because my cousin, like me, had blocked meridians, making it difficult for her to cultivate martial arts, she has always studied music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and thus possesses the qualities of a talented woman.
When Li Xiuyuan heard that Li Ying had been forcibly given to Lin Shuang by Li Cangyun and abused, he remembered this incident.
But to my surprise, we were still a step too late!
Looking at the still-wet blood on the corpse, Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but shake his head.
The Li family is truly rotten to the core!
Why keep such a family around for the New Year if they're not wiped out?