The Li family residence was brightly lit.
The old family steward, Mister Huang Xiujin, was blowing on his whiskers and glaring, directing the maids and servants who were so busy they were spinning in circles.
On this night, the Li family residence seemed less like an Immortal Clan and more like a rowdy tavern in a marketplace. Even Divinity Transformation experts would find the world spinning if they drank too much of Li Yaoqing's immortal wine.
All who had come to the Li family for the war council were cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or higher, and every last one of these bastards was now running wild.
"Steward, an old senior who looks like a dried-up corpse, just dove headfirst into Master Yaotie's forging furnace!"
"Then what are you standing there gawking for? Pull him out!"
"He won't come out! He says it's warm in there and told me to get lost, or he'll kill me."
"Fine. Let him die, then."
"Steward, Steward! A bunch of zombies jumped out of the Master's coffin! Young Master Yaotie peed on it, and now they want to cripple him!"
"What's the use of telling me? Go find the Master!"
"Help us, Steward! Miss Yaoqing grabbed the snake off the Old Tree and is using it as a whip to chase Young Master Yaotie!"
"What?!"
Huang Xiujin's expression changed drastically. This immortal wine is a menace, he thought to himself as he rushed over.
It didn't matter if Young Master Yaotie got whipped, but if Old Flood Dragon was broken from being thrashed about, that would be a tragedy beyond tears.
Only after he had rescued Old Flood Dragon—who had been flung around—and seen the Flood Dragon with snot and tears streaming down its face, Li Yaotie trussed up against the Old Tree, and Li Yaoqing, being protected by the tree's radiant light, did Huang Xiujin finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The Li family members were running wild, and their guests were running wild right along with them.
They were no different from commoners in a marketplace; no one could have imagined that these powerful figures could be so utterly unrestrained.
The initial chaos of the banquet gradually gave way to the tranquility of the night in the family residence.
Huang Xiujin listened to the chirping of insects, watching as the cultivators, one by one, found a spot wherever they pleased and fell peacefully asleep. His expression was complex.
He knew.
The Li family was facing a great war, as were these cultivators from Azure Cloud and the strangers who had arrived in recent days.
For the Li family, with a newborn about to come home, they had to eradicate any and all threats that drew near. At the same time, they were fighting to secure a thousand years of peace for the Eternal Sun Prefecture in this age of great chaos.
And for the cultivators of Azure Cloud Region, they, the older generation, knew they had to be a part of this great war.
Otherwise, when the grand army of the Duravia Trade Prefecture bore down on their borders, they too would be unable to escape unscathed.
Azure Cloud Region had been through many years of war; this older generation would do everything in their power to buy enough time for the younger generation to grow and develop.
He was not familiar with the members of Skynet, but he had heard that they, too, were fighting for an old friend.
Huu.
Huang Xiujin let out a long breath. Seeing everyone enjoying this last moment of peace before the war, he looked up at the spirit ark still floating above the Inner City, his expression complex.
Then, he went back to directing the Li family's servants and managing the household's affairs.
He paused for a moment when he reached the outside of Qingyu's chambers.
Inside, he could see Qingyu still sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion. And before her was the spirit tablet of Li Kuangtu.
"Without even realizing it, I've formed so many attachments to this Li family. Qingyu, Chang'an, Xingchen... and now Xingchen is bringing home a child. I suppose this is what life is all about."
Huang Xiujin smiled faintly and lingered there, standing in the quiet darkness. For all of this, he would do anything.
But there was something Huang Xiujin didn't see.
A pair of luminous eyes was gazing at him from the night sky.
Li Yaowen's dark brows were tightly furrowed.
Li Yunbing was beside her, his voice deep and resonant.
"Fourth Aunt, on the day we sent the God of War away, he was already far beyond reach. Even a Void Refining expert wouldn't dare barge into the Eternal Sun Prefecture. Could Prince Qian really have guessed our intentions and captured him? Not unless someone leaked the information…"
"If the God of War didn't die, it would be impossible for the members of Skynet to serve our family wholeheartedly."
Li Yaowen's expression was complex. "After his death, even just by returning his corpse to Duskwild Prefecture, Prince Yu would owe us a great personal favor. The only people in our family who would think to do such a thing are you, me, Kuangren, and Changsheng."
"I didn't do it."
Li Yunbing took a deep breath. "But I admit I've had such ideas before, and I even asked the Old Ancestor about it. The Old Ancestor said that if my father ever found out I was using such methods, he'd tan my hide. I also asked Grandfather, and he just gave me a sound beating."
Li Yaowen said, "Kuangren wouldn't have done it either, because he asked me. Our family has been operating for many years; we know there are some things one can do, and some things that must not be done. This is the wisdom we've accumulated from our experience. As for Changsheng, with his cautious nature, he has even less time for such schemes these days."
"Then… Mister Huang…" Li Yunbing let out a long breath.
"The master of the Cloudsea Pavilion," Li Yaowen replied. "He received Yu Xian's inheritance and is an expert in the arts of calculation and deduction. He would do such a thing cleanly and efficiently, without leaving a single trace for anyone to find, and he would make it all seem perfectly logical."
Li Yaowen stared at Huang Xiujin's retreating back for a long time.
"He did it for Kuangtu's lineage, and for the eternal future of our family. Mister Huang waited for us for two hundred years; he has served with both merit and toil. Yunbing, let this secret die with us. Never speak of it again. Send your people to investigate and see if there are any loose ends. We absolutely cannot leave a single trace."
With that, Li Yaowen's figure faded into the darkness. She let out a long sigh. If she had known someone in the family was going to do this, she would have done it herself and borne the sin.
Huu.
Li Yunbing also departed like the wind, shaking his head and sighing.
In recent years, the Li family had obtained the post of Prefecture Lord, a truly glamorous and noble status.
Everyone in the family now had a respectable identity, and the amount of dirty work they did behind the scenes grew less and less.
But while they had become clean, Mister Huang, a benevolent man his entire life, had ended up shouldering all the filth for the family's sake—a stain he would never be able to wash away.
Li Yunbing knew the consequences of harming people, especially one of your own. It led to a lifetime of guilt and a constant, gnawing anxiety from which there was no escape.
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