Purple-eyed Double Pupil Bird

# Chapter 6: Purple-eyed Double Pupil Bird

"Isn't that Li Tianming?"

"That degenerate is still alive?"

"Haven't you heard? Just last night, the city lord divorced his mother and stripped him of his heir position. In a few days, when the city lord remarries, a new heir will be appointed."

"That mother and son are nothing but burdens—old, weak, and sick. They really are a stain on the city lord. By the way, who's the new heir?"

"What a question! Li Zifeng, of course! He's no worse than Li Tianming was three years ago, and some say he's even surpassed him."

To some people in Lihuo City, Li Tianming had lost even the one identity that made them wary. So they spoke loudly, with no need to hide their words.

Three years. Mu Qingqing had destroyed his reputation and everything he had. Even in Lihuo City, where he had grown up, he was treated like a rat in the streets. By now, he had long grown numb to the coldness of human hearts.

His mother had said that grievances and humiliations would all be answered in time. A truly strong heart would not be defeated by gossip and slander.

These three years, everything about him had withered—except his heart, which had never been stronger. He could even thank these three years for showing him so many things clearly.

He arrived at the Star Commerce Association.

Three years ago, he had been a distinguished guest whom even the association's president would personally welcome. Now, he couldn't even enter the building. He could only queue at the outermost window, standing under the scorching sun for an hour before his turn came.

"With these fifty Fire Jades, I can attempt the fourth stage tonight." Taking the Fire Jades, Li Tianming hurried back. Wherever he went now, he became the focus of the entire city.

Those contemptuous, pitying, mocking gazes all came from the common folk who had once held him in high regard. The ups and downs of life were truly this merciless.

As he was quickly making his way back, a sharp, piercing bird cry suddenly rang out from the sky above the bustling street!

Whoosh!

Following the cry, a wave of scorching heat surged from behind, slamming into Li Tianming's back. He was unharmed, but the stalls around him were blown away, sending people and goods tumbling.

Boom!

The sound of a massive beast landing. Li Tianming turned to see a giant purple bird standing in the middle of the street. Its wingspan reached over three meters, and its enormous body could carry many people. Most striking were its eyes—each one had two pupils, four in total. This was the legendary double pupil.

Li Tianming had known what it was the moment he heard the cry. It was a fifth-grade Flame-type Flying Beast famous in Lihuo City, called the Purple-eyed Double Pupil Bird. The Double Pupil Bird was a sacred creature of Lihuo City, and this one was on the same level as Jin Yu. Its master was Li Tianming's half-brother, the son of Li Yanfeng's other wife—Li Zifeng.

"Ah!"

"Mom, it hurts! Waaah!"

Li Tianming turned back. When the massive Purple-eyed Double Pupil Bird landed, it paid no heed to the crowded street. Its huge, burning body crashed down, sending a group of playing children flying. Three of them slammed into a wall, their heads bloodied. One little girl's leg was bent at an unnatural angle—her shin must have been broken.

All around, children wailed in misery. They were too young to have endured such pain. That little girl might be crippled for life.

But the suffering of the weak was nothing more than a trivial footnote to those who stood high above. When the group jumped down from the Purple-eyed Double Pupil Bird, they didn't spare a single glance at the crying, broken-legged child.

The children's parents saw who it was and swallowed all their rage, quickly dragging their kids away. Only the little girl with the broken leg had no parents nearby. She curled up in a corner, trembling, her mind hazy with pain, her body convulsing like a stray dog.

"Brother, I told you you're a jinx. You just had to walk this way, and now you've hurt these kids." A purple-robed youth appeared before Li Tianming. He was strikingly handsome, with delicate features and a pair of exquisite dark-purple eyes—clearly a cut above the rest.

This was Li Zifeng. Three years ago, when Li Tianming had left for Yanhuang Academy, he had been just thirteen, still a playful child. They hadn't seen much of each other these past three years, and Li Tianming hadn't expected him to have grown so much.

Behind him were four or five people Li Tianming recognized—all Li Zifeng's cronies. Back then, they had been a bunch of little brats following him around, begging for his protection.

Zhao Qing, son of the city guard commander. Gao Luan, son of a Lihuo Academy master. Chen Qiong, son of a commerce ministry civil official... The parents of these youths made up Lihuo City's upper echelons.

"Isn't this your doing?" Surrounded by onlookers, Li Tianming's expression remained calm. Only when he glanced at the broken-legged child did a flicker of fierceness cross his brow.

"Brother Tianming, don't shift the blame. If you hadn't been loitering around here where I could see you, would I have landed to greet you and caused this kid to get hurt?" Li Zifeng said with a smile.

Behind him, the youths burst into laughter, their eyes full of mockery.

"Zifeng, you're about to become the heir. You can't keep running wild and ignoring lives like this. A person with a crooked heart can't govern a city properly." Li Tianming shook his head. He had actually looked after this brother quite a bit in the past. When Li Zifeng was little and got beaten by his mother, Lady Mo, for being naughty, Li Tianming had even pleaded for him.

In just three years without guidance, he had changed completely.

"Brother, you sure know how to joke. You drugged and assaulted someone, and you have the nerve to call me crooked?" Li Zifeng laughed in disbelief. His cronies slung their arms around each other's shoulders, clutching their stomachs with laughter.

It had been three years since they'd really interacted. These little brats had grown wings. Li Tianming could barely remember them tagging along behind him, bouncing with every step.

Times had changed.

"Anything else?" Li Tianming didn't want to deal with them right now. Some debts could be settled at the Yanhuang Academy selection. After all, this brother would be his biggest competitor then.

"No, just get out of the way." Li Zifeng, tired of laughing, waved his hand.

Li Tianming turned to see what was behind him—the Jadeite Tower. This was Lihuo City's most famous pleasure house, filled with women renowned throughout the city.

He understood now. This group hadn't come down because of him at all. They were just here to enter the Jadeite Tower.

Li Tianming stepped aside to let them pass.

"These little bastards sure know how to enjoy themselves. I've never even been inside the Jadeite Tower," Li Tianming muttered. Back then, he had been devoted to cultivation, and both Li Yanfeng and his mother had strict requirements, so he had been disciplined.

Now Li Yanfeng didn't even care about Li Zifeng's character. What right did he have to demand so much from him back then?

The girls of the Jadeite Tower had already come out to greet them, a flock of seductively dressed, graceful women clustering around Li Zifeng and his group as they entered. Surrounded by flowers, Li Zifeng looked even more dashing and carefree.

"Wait." Li Zifeng turned back to look at Li Tianming one last time, looking down on him. "For the sake of how you used to protect me and took plenty of beatings from Father for it, I'll call you 'brother' one last time and give you a piece of advice."

"Spit it out," Li Tianming said.

Facing a brother like this, his feelings were complicated. There was no mortal hatred, but perhaps a lesson was necessary.

"Just listen. My advice is: get the hell out of Lihuo City. Everywhere you go, you're a laughingstock for our family, a laughingstock for the whole city. Right now, you're nothing but a stinking stray dog. Do you understand?"

Li Zifeng finished saying this very seriously.

"So you're saying our whole family is a pack of wild dogs? Li Yanfeng is the biggest one?" Li Tianming laughed.

The kid who used to look up to him with admiration had grown up and now had his own thoughts.

"Anyway, just disappear. It'll be better for everyone." Li Zifeng didn't want to say more. With a girl on each arm, he turned and swaggered into the Jadeite Tower, where the laughter of women lingered endlessly. Inside, the feasting, drinking, and revelry were all the pleasures of the mortal world.

After they left, only Li Tianming remained standing there.

A crowd had already gathered to watch, all casting pitying glances his way. They truly thought Li Tianming was pitiable now, but after their sympathy, they always added a sigh: "The pitiable person must have something hateful about them!"

Heh.

"Li Tianming's character seems better than Li Zifeng's, but judging from what happened at Yanhuang Academy, he's a hypocrite, even more detestable than Li Zifeng," people concluded.

"He really should get out of Lihuo City. Even watching him is embarrassing."

Li Tianming paid them no heed. After all, the day of the Yanhuang Academy final selection was just around the corner. A smart person chooses the right moment to speak to the world through his actions, showing them who he truly is.

He walked over to the girl with the broken leg. Her father had already arrived. This thin, dark man's tears had nearly run dry, but from start to finish, he hadn't given Li Zifeng a single hateful look, because he was afraid.

Instead, when Li Tianming came, he glared at him viciously and said, "This is all your fault, Li Tianming. Get lost!"

He looked ferocious, as if he wanted to tear Li Tianming apart, but he didn't seem to have the guts.

Li Tianming ignored him. He crouched down and gently touched the child's head. She had lost a lot of blood and was nearly unconscious.

"Little girl, you know who really hurt you, don't you?" Li Tianming said softly.

In the haze of her pain, she nodded. Adults are always blind, but a child's eyes are clear.

For Li Tianming, that was enough. He took out ten Fire Jades—an absolute fortune for an ordinary person—and placed them in the girl's father's hand. "Use this to heal her. Fix her leg."

The girl's father was stunned. This wealth could indeed give his daughter a second chance at life, instead of a miserable existence.

"You think I'll be grateful to you?!" He pocketed the Fire Jades and snarled at Li Tianming, but when he looked up, Li Tianming was gone.

"Where is he! Fled out of guilt?" the girl's father blustered.

The onlookers were also astonished. In the blink of an eye, Li Tianming had vanished.

Only a very strong beastmaster could pull off such footwork.

"What the hell!" everyone said.

Only the girl clenched her fists and shed tears.

[New Book Event, Round One] Question: What is Li Zifeng's mother's surname?

PS: Update schedule: 12 PM and 8 PM. Next Monday, the 22nd, at 8 PM, the second round of the new book event will be held, giving away 2000 yuan in prizes.