In the northern border of Yan, there is a city called Yuanyue.
Inside the city, the atmosphere is heavy with sorrow, while outside, the ground is a mess, full of pits and scars. A hundred miles away, in a mountain forest, there are large and strange figures hiding, shadows of demons loom, and some slender figures that look human are sitting cross-legged on the mountain peaks.
The ground here is stained with blood, and bones are scattered like firewood, with bloody rags hanging limply from branches and rocks.
At this moment, a beautiful young woman is holding a blood-covered arm in her hand, chewing on a finger, with fresh blood staining her lips and cheeks, but she seems completely unconcerned.
Suddenly, a small black dot rushes across the sky, and as it gets closer, it turns out to be a black bird over ten meters long with three claws.
It shrinks in size and, when it lands, transforms into a graceful young man wearing a black scarf. He walks lightly towards a group of people sitting together, stopping in front of a young man dressed in white, who has a long zither resting on his knees.
The young man gently plucks the strings of the zither, producing soft sound waves, while his gaze is fixed on the distance, staring at a city that looks like a rotten stone.
In the distance, dark clouds seem to gather above the city, and there are blurry figures standing on the city walls.
"White God Lord."
The young man in the black scarf slightly bows his hands and shows a respectful expression, saying to the young man in white, "I just received news that the useless meat puppet we sent before has failed and even alerted the Divine General's Mansion. Now the whole mansion is on high alert. It’s said that there are experts secretly protecting that child."
"How could this fail? Useless trash!"
A burly man beside him frowned, his face darkening as he slightly revealed sharp teeth that didn’t look human.
"Weren't we told that he had already infiltrated the child's side?" The beautiful woman, still chewing on the arm, frowned and stopped eating, looking at the young man in the black scarf.
"It’s been half a month; his identity must not have been exposed. How could he not find an opportunity to strike after all this time?"
A young man with yellow eyebrows frowned and said, "To prevent the Divine General's Mansion from having incorrect information, the Marquis of Criminal Justice deliberately concealed the child's true situation. We specially sent this meat puppet from the Zhou Tian realm. If he strikes with a single punch, even someone at the tenth level of the Unity realm wouldn’t be able to dodge it. Even if there are experts nearby, they wouldn’t react in time, right?"
The young man in the black scarf sighed and said, "I have no way of knowing the specific process. Who knew that thing would be so useless."
"Hmph, not only did it fail but it also alerted the Divine General's Mansion. If this news reaches Li Tiangang, he will definitely send more people to protect the child. Damn it!" The burly man snorted angrily again.
The young man in the black scarf nodded slightly, "If we want to assassinate next, it will probably be even harder. By the way, since that meat puppet has failed, there's no need to keep his family alive. Let the little ones below enjoy them."
"They've already eaten them all."
The beautiful woman bit off another finger, chewing as she spoke.
The young man in the black scarf didn’t say anything else but looked at the white-clothed young man, his eyes revealing a hint of reverence, "White God Lord, what should we do next? Should we launch a direct attack?"
The others also looked at each other, waiting for his orders.
The White God Lord seemed calm, staring at the distant Yuanyue City, and softly said, "The Li family is truly a tough nut to crack. If we launch a direct attack, our losses will be too great."
"Yeah, those guys refuse to help. They are really bastards." The burly man said with dissatisfaction.
"Then should we still go for the assassination?" the young man in the black scarf asked.
The White God Lord turned to look at him and said, "What do you think?"
After Li Hao was attacked, the defenses of the Divine General's Mansion became even stricter.
He Jianlan dispatched powerful people from the inner courtyard to guard the front courtyard and screened all the servants who had entered the mansion in the past three years one by one.
This caused quite a stir, but all the courtyards cooperated actively. After all, this assassination attempt was too dangerous, and everyone feared it would happen to their own child.
Through the intelligence network of the Li family, it was discovered that the assassination was related to the demons in the northern Yan.
Li Hao found his aunt and wanted her to hide the news of this assassination, not to let it reach Yanbei, and not to let that couple hear about it, so as not to disrupt the situation on the front lines.
Hearing Li Hao say this, He Jianlan was momentarily stunned, looking at Li Hao's small face, feeling as if something was tugging at her heart.
This child had almost been killed due to the war in Yanbei, yet he was still worried about the situation there. It was truly heart-wrenching how sensible he was.
However, the news of the assassination was too big, and it was impossible to hide it.
Soon, news reached the northern border.
In the military camp, the Marquis of Criminal Justice was furious, and Ji Qingqing was also enraged. They immediately realized the demons' intentions to use Li Hao's death to shake the morale of the army and make them leave the battlefield in Yanbei.
Once they left, a thunderous attack would surely follow.
The Marquis of Criminal Justice could not abandon the battlefield here. Angrily, he sent his trusted aides back to the mansion that same day to protect Li Hao closely.
News came from the mansion that the assassination had been thwarted by the person secretly guarding Li Hao.
But the Marquis of Criminal Justice knew that he hadn’t sent anyone to guard Li Hao.
The Shanhai Courtyard had guards and was located within the Divine General's Mansion. He could hardly imagine that someone would try to assassinate a child.
If Li Hao had shown remarkable martial talent, he would have been concerned and sent someone to watch over him, to prevent the future genius of the Li family from dying in the cradle.
But a child without any martial talent posed no threat. Even so, he had almost been killed.
And all of this was due to the damned stalemate at hand.
Days later, on the battlefield of Yanbei, the Li family’s army launched a thunderous attack, clearing out a nest of demons overnight. The news spread, making all the demons feel the Li family's wrath.
Eventually, life slowly returned to calm.
Half a year passed, and Li Hao was now seven years old.
The news of the assassination was already half a year old, and no one in the mansion mentioned it anymore.
The strong person sent back from the army by the Marquis of Criminal Justice had been following Li Hao closely for the past six months. He was a tall middle-aged man, serious and meticulous, named Li Fu.
It is said that Li Fu was an abandoned baby years ago, taken in by the Li family. Some said that although this child's fate was tragic, being at the door of the Divine General's Mansion was still a stroke of good fortune, so he took the Li surname and was named Fu.
In his early years, Li Fu grew up alongside the Marquis of Criminal Justice in the Shanhai Courtyard.
He was seven to eight years older than the Marquis of Criminal Justice, usually treating him like an older brother, but in the army, they had a superior-subordinate relationship.
At the same time, Li Fu was one of the Marquis of Criminal Justice's most trusted aides.
"Uncle Fu, you lost again."
In a pavilion, after a game of chess ended, Li Hao said with a big smile.
Li Fu's serious face couldn’t help but show a hint of helplessness, "I’m of the same generation as your father; you should call me uncle."
"But calling you Uncle Fu sounds like I’m admitting defeat." Li Hao pouted, "I just want to win at chess; I don’t like losing."
Li Fu was at a loss for words. Because of this silly pun, he found himself being called a generation lower.
"You can also call me Uncle Li."
"But this is the Li family, and there are too many people with the surname Li. If you call me Uncle Li, I’m afraid you won’t be able to tell who’s who," Li Hao said.
Li Fu was once again helpless.
"I think you shouldn’t have been named Fu. Since they say you are fortunate... you should be called Li You."
Li Hao said seriously, "Look, Li You sounds nice. You have, you have, everything is yours, and it corresponds to being complete!"
Li Fu felt like he wanted to tap Li Hao on the head. Unlike the serious nature of the Marquis of Criminal Justice, this son was quite cheeky.
"Stop talking nonsense. If your father were here, he would definitely give you a beating for being so disrespectful," Li Fu scolded with a stern face.
"But he’s not here," Li Hao said casually.
Li Fu was just about to teach him a lesson to prevent him from becoming increasingly unruly, but hearing this nonchalant remark, his heart trembled slightly.
When the Marquis of Criminal Justice went to battle, he had followed him, and naturally knew that this year Li Hao was seven years old, while the Marquis had been in Yanbei for seven years.
The situation in Yanbei made it difficult for Ji Qingqing, who originally planned to return quickly, to come back, as she couldn’t disregard her husband’s safety.
This child, having been without his parents for seven years, must be feeling very lonely, right?
Li Fu felt a pang of heartache and softened, sighing, "Your father has his difficulties too; don’t blame him."
"I’ve never blamed him," Li Hao said earnestly.
Li Fu looked at his eyes, feeling a warmth in his heart, and said, "You’re very sensible."
Sensible? Li Hao smiled slightly.
At that moment, a figure of a young girl returned to the Shanhai Courtyard.
Li Hao turned to look and saw that it was Bian Ruxue, who had been practicing in the martial arts field.
Now, the little girl had turned into a young lady, and her tender face couldn’t hide her beauty.
"Why are you back so early today? Are you hungry?" Li Hao waved and smiled.
Seeing Li Hao, Bian Ruxue walked over with her sword, looking a bit unhappy, and said, "I’m not hungry."
"What’s wrong? Did someone upset you?" Li Hao teased.
Bian Ruxue gritted her teeth slightly, turning her little face away without saying a word.
Li Hao had asked casually, but seeing her reaction, he raised an eyebrow, "Tell me what happened?"
"It’s nothing." Bian Ruxue stood up, holding her sword, and ran off to her usual practice spot.
Li Hao thought for a moment and called over the maid who accompanied her during practice, asking, "What’s wrong with Ruxue?"
"Reporting to Young Master, Miss Ruxue was defeated in a sword duel at the martial arts field," the maid said respectfully, even though she knew this young master was not talented in martial arts.
"Just this little thing?"
Li Hao felt relieved, saying, "It’s just a loss. For a martial artist, winning or losing is common. She can just win next time. What? She can’t take a loss?"
The maid hesitated for a moment and lowered her head, "It’s not that, Young Master. The person who defeated the Miss was quite despicable and belittled you in front of her, so… that’s why she’s so upset."
"Ah?" Li Hao didn’t expect this to involve him. So, this little girl was standing up for him?
He glanced at the young girl who was practicing her sword in the distance, looking furious.
His eyes flickered slightly, and he said to the maid, "I understand. You can go now."
(End of this chapter)