What’s going on?
The skinny young man felt a bit dazed for a moment, unable to tell who the assassin was. But as he felt the immense pressure on his throat, he snapped back to reality and looked fearfully at the little boy in front of him.
What kind of monster is this? He’s not even seven years old, yet he possesses such terrifying strength. Even someone at the peak of the tenth level of martial arts, combined with that lord’s divine blood revival, shouldn’t be this exaggerated, right?
“Who sent you to assassinate me?” Li Hao stared at him and asked, while various thoughts flashed through his mind. The game of chess was just a way to get close, indicating that the other party's purpose for coming to the Divine General’s Mansion was straightforward—just to kill him.
The skinny young man fell silent. The child in front of him showed strength and intelligence that didn’t resemble an ordinary six-year-old. He had thought he was dealing with a useless little thing, but he didn’t expect to uncover such terrifying information.
“You’re not a martial arts waste. Is hiding your strength your idea, or is it your father’s arrangement?” the skinny young man asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.
At that moment, realizing the assassination had failed and feeling the immense pressure on his throat, he knew he had no way out, which made him calmer. Attempting to assassinate a direct bloodline from the Divine General’s Mansion was already a life-or-death situation, but unfortunately, the mission could not be completed.
“You know my father?” Li Hao’s eyes flickered.
“Are you joking?”
The skinny young man replied coldly, “Who in the world doesn’t know about the Martial Law Marquis? He’s stationed at the border and just a few months ago gathered martial artists from the rivers and lakes to help deal with the demons. He’s highly respected.”
Help deal with the demons? Li Hao frowned. Could it be that the situation in the North was so dire that they needed the help of martial artists?
“Were you sent by my second mother?” Li Hao asked.
The skinny young man was slightly taken aback, then suddenly realized, his eyes flashing with a hint of mockery. “You’ve been assassinated before? I didn’t expect that the iron-willed Divine General’s Mansion would have such decay within. No wonder you pretend to be useless. But I have to say, I didn’t see you practicing. How many hours do you train each day?”
I’ve been training with you… Li Hao looked straight into his eyes and said, “You answer my question first, then I’ll answer yours. That’s called a trade.”
The skinny young man raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help but laugh. This kid was indeed interesting.
“Since we’re both doomed, why should I tell you after you made me fail my mission and ruin my family?” the skinny young man scoffed lightly.
Li Hao replied, “Because I can see you don’t want to die. You’re afraid of death, and there are many ways to die. I can give you a quick way to die.”
The skinny young man’s smile vanished. He fell silent for a moment and slowly said, “The one who sent me is…”
Suddenly, his arm moved, and he threw a punch at Li Hao’s head.
Li Hao tilted his head slightly and easily dodged it, not retaliating, just watching him coldly.
The skinny young man felt a chill in his heart, realizing the gap between them was so vast. He was a strong practitioner, yet it felt like he had switched places with the child, appearing like a child himself, completely seen through by Li Hao.
The latter’s disdain made him withdraw his hand in despair. “You’re really a monster.”
“Speak,” Li Hao said coldly. “You should know that our Li family is a family of generals. We’ve captured countless prisoners and interrogated many criminals. Our methods of torture are unimaginable. If you beg for death, I can give you a quick one.”
The skinny young man’s eyes twitched slightly. He understood that the child in front of him wasn’t lying, and fear began to creep into his heart.
“If I tell you, will you let me go?” the skinny young man asked hopefully, wishing that the child still had a pure heart.
“I will,” Li Hao answered.
The skinny young man nearly spat blood. Was he being this straightforward? It felt too fake, as if he was being treated like a child.
He forced a bitter smile and said, “Actually, it doesn’t hurt to tell you. Since the assassination failed, my family can’t survive anyway. I came from the North, and the one who sent me to kill you is the ‘White Divine Lord.’”
“White Divine Lord?”
“Exactly. He’s one of the three demon gods in the North, terrifyingly powerful, and also your father’s old rival.”
The skinny young man’s eyes were complicated. “Your father is a brilliant military strategist, and the Li family army is fearless. The North should have fallen long ago, but now the front lines are at a stalemate. The White Divine Lord sent me to kill you to spread the news of your death from the Divine General’s Mansion to the Northern border, causing chaos in your father’s army. If he leaves the battlefield to come back, the North can be conquered.”
At this point, he gazed intently at Li Hao.
No one knew that this child was actually a crucial pawn affecting the lives of thousands in the North.
Li Hao was stunned. So it was because of the North.
The situation there had actually reached as far as the Divine General’s Mansion, thousands of miles away.
“Your father is stationed in the North. They’ve been through many battles, without any flaws, and you are their only weakness—the softest spot.”
The skinny young man continued, “Only by targeting you can they defeat your parents and break through the Northern border, allowing the demon army to invade.”
Li Hao fell silent, processing the other’s words. After a moment, he slowly said, “You’re a human. Why are you working for the demons?”
The skinny young man was slightly taken aback, paused, and then looked at Li Hao with envy and hatred in his eyes. “Not everyone is as lucky as you. You wouldn’t understand if I told you.”
“Really?”
Li Hao looked at him calmly. “From the moment I was born, my parents left me, and I was betrayed by my relatives. Now I’m being assassinated because of my parents. Do you think I’m lucky?”
The skinny young man opened his mouth slightly, stunned, wanting to say something but unable to find the words.
Li Hao didn’t say more, just added, “I promised you I would give you a quick death.”
“Ha, you’re quite nice,” the skinny young man snapped back to reality and forced a sarcastic smile.
No matter how many words he exchanged, death was inevitable. Fear flickered in his eyes. He didn’t want to die and was afraid of death. Otherwise, how could he have fallen to the point of working for the demons?
Li Hao seemed not to understand the sarcasm and said, “Actually, I don’t want to kill you.”
“Oh?” The skinny young man’s eyes showed a cold smile, clearly not believing him.
“Because you’re good at chess,” Li Hao said seriously.
The skinny young man was taken aback.
After a moment, he regained his composure and smiled bitterly. “But unfortunately, I’ve never beaten you.”
“Maybe next life.”
Li Hao began to apply pressure with his hand. “In the next life, don’t practice martial arts. Just play chess honestly. At least you’ll live longer and easier.”
The skinny young man wanted to struggle, but seeing Li Hao’s cold and calm eyes, despair filled his heart. He bitterly said, “You’re really a strange child.”
In the end, Li Hao still crushed him to death.
As the life faded from the skinny young man, he struggled violently once more, but it was of no use.
Once he dealt with the assassin, Li Hao suddenly realized he didn’t even know the other’s real name. The name he used to infiltrate was also given by the Li family.
But that was fine.
…
The assassin was dead, and Li Hao called a servant, scaring the servant half to death.
That night, the entire Divine General’s Mansion was shaken.
Lights in all the courtyards were lit, and the ladies who had already fallen asleep hurriedly put on their clothes and rushed over. When they saw the assassin’s body lying on the chess table, they were all shocked.
What kind of place is the Divine General’s Mansion that an assassin could sneak in?
He Jianlan, who usually exuded grace and composure, lost her calmness and anxiously hugged Li Hao, checking him up and down. “Are you alright?”
“Aunt, I’m fine,” Li Hao reassured her.
He Jianlan checked Li Hao and confirmed he was unharmed before feeling relieved. Then she asked him carefully, and Li Hao recounted the story he had prepared in advance.
The assassin had attacked, and in a moment of crisis, an old man stepped in and killed him.
Then the old man disappeared.
Li Hao thought, since an assassin could sneak into the Divine General’s Mansion, it shouldn’t be a problem to make up a story about an old man, right?
After all, if they didn’t even know about the assassin, it was normal not to know about other experts.
After hearing Li Hao’s words, He Jianlan’s heart sank, and some guesses arose in her mind. Could it be that the Martial Law Marquis secretly sent a military expert?
Or perhaps… that clan elder?
She suppressed her thoughts and didn’t doubt Li Hao’s words.
After all, no matter how mature Li Hao was, he was still just a child under seven.
And he hadn’t even stepped into martial arts yet. If there wasn’t a hidden expert protecting him, he would surely be dead.
Afterward, He Jianlan had Xue Jian take Li Hao and the little girl Bian Ruxue to Changchun Courtyard to rest and calm down.
Meanwhile, she sat in the main hall of Shanhua Courtyard, calling in the servant who had accompanied Li Hao to play chess and the first servant who had been alerted by Li Hao’s call, and began to interrogate them carefully.
At the same time, she summoned the experts in the mansion to examine the assassin’s body.
Before long, she learned the entire story from the servants.
When the assassin entered the mansion, how he displayed his chess skills in front of the servants of Shanhua Courtyard, how he got close, and so on.
Clearly, he had gathered information about Li Hao and approached him under the pretense of playing chess; everything had a trace to follow.
In the early hours of the morning, the results of the body examination came out. The assassin was actually a practitioner at the Zhou Tian level, around the third to fourth level.
In the outside world, this level would be considered quite good for a wandering hero, able to make a name for himself, but in the Divine General’s Mansion, filled with strong practitioners, he was just an ordinary presence.
However, to kill a six-year-old child, this level was more than enough; it was even like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, which was quite exaggerated.
Moreover, the assassin had taken some special pill that sealed his own aura, which was why no one detected him.
Upon hearing this result, the ladies in the various courtyards felt a wave of fear. If the target of the assassination had not been Li Hao but their own children, they would have surely been doomed!
An assassin suddenly appearing next to a child was simply terrifying.
When Liu Yueren heard the result of the autopsy, her suspicions slowly faded away.
Even if Li Hao’s divine blood hadn’t been wasted, he couldn’t have killed this assassin by himself.
It seemed that although the couple was stationed at the border, they had made ample preparations for their child.
Thinking of this, she felt a wave of fear. The matter of her drugging him should have gone unnoticed, as she had acted in the Water Flower Courtyard, and there were also strong practitioners in her courtyard.
(End of Chapter)