Defeat

Yanbei border, Yuan Yue City.

Inside the city, gloom hung bleak and heavy. Outside the city, the ground was a scene of devastation, pitted and scarred. In a range of peaks and forest a hundred li away, enormous figures of all shapes lurked there, demonic shadows layered upon shadows. There were also some slender figures with human appearances, sitting cross-legged atop the peaks.

On the ground here, blood lay in mottled stains, bones were scattered like a forest of kindling, and bloody skin, like torn rags, drooped casually over branches and stones.

At that moment, a beautiful young married woman was holding an arm covered in military armor, gnawing on its fingers. Crimson blood stained her lips and cheeks, but she did not care in the slightest.

Suddenly, a small black speck came racing across the horizon. Only when it drew near could one see that it was actually a three-clawed black bird more than ten meters long.

It shrank its body, and by the time it landed, it had transformed into the figure of a graceful youth. Wearing a black kerchief on his head, he walked lightly toward the few people seated around, then came before the young man dressed in white, with a long zither laid across his knees.

The young man's fingers gently plucked the zither strings, sending out lingering waves of sound, but his gaze quietly looked into the distance, at that city like a stinking stone.

There, one could still faintly see the dense black clouds gathering above the city, as well as the blurry figures standing thick upon the city walls.

"White God Lord."

The black-kerchiefed youth cupped his fist slightly, respect showing on his face, and said to the white-robed young man, "We just received news. That useless flesh seed we sent earlier failed, and even alerted the Divine General Residence. The entire residence is on guard now. I hear there are experts secretly protecting that child."

"It could fail even at this? Useless trash!"

Beside them, a burly, massive-built strongman's face darkened. His mouth parted slightly, faintly revealing sharp teeth that did not seem human.

"Wasn't it said that it had already infiltrated to that child's side?" The beautiful woman gnawing on the arm frowned and stopped chewing as well, looking at the black-kerchiefed youth.

"It's already been half a month. Its identity definitely wasn't exposed. After so long, it still couldn't find a chance to make a move?"

Nearby, a young man with yellow eyebrows frowned and said, "To guard against errors in the Divine General Residence's intelligence, and to account for Xingwu Marquis deliberately concealing the child's true situation, we specially sent that flesh seed of the Circulation Realm over. If it violently killed him with one punch at close range, even someone at the tenth level of the Power Through Realm couldn't possibly dodge it. Even if an expert was watching over him from the side, they shouldn't have been able to react, right?"

The black-kerchiefed youth sighed and said, "There's no way to know the exact process. Who knew that thing would be so useless?"

"Hmph, it failed and even alerted the Divine General Residence. Once this news falls into Li Tiangang's ears, he'll definitely send more people over to protect him. Damned thing!" the burly strongman snorted angrily again.

The black-kerchiefed youth nodded slightly. "If we want to assassinate him next, I'm afraid it'll be even harder. Speaking of which, since that flesh seed failed, there's no need to keep its family alive. Let the little fellows below enjoy them."

"They ate them all long ago."

The beautiful woman bit off another finger and spoke while chewing.

The black-kerchiefed youth said no more. Instead, he looked toward the white-robed young man who had stopped playing the zither, a faint reverence showing in his eyes. "White God Lord, what should we do next? Launch a frontal assault?"

The others all looked at him as well, waiting for his orders.

White God Lord's emotions did not seem to fluctuate much. Gazing at the distant Yuan Yue City, he said softly and gently, "This Li family truly is a hard bone to gnaw. If we launch a frontal assault, our losses will be too great."

"Exactly. Those fellows refuse to put in any effort, too. Damn bastards," the burly strongman said in dissatisfaction.

"Then do we continue the assassination?" the black-kerchiefed youth asked.

White God Lord turned his head and looked at him. "What do you think?"

After Li Hao was attacked, security in the Divine General Residence became even stricter.

He Jianlan transferred the experts of the inner courtyard to hold down the front courtyard, and screened every servant who had entered the residence within the past three years one by one.

The commotion caused by this matter was extremely great, but every courtyard actively cooperated. After all, this assassination had truly been too dangerous, and no one wanted it to happen to their own child.

Through the Li family's intelligence network tracing it back, the assassination was actually connected to the demons over in Yanbei.

Li Hao found First Madam and wanted her to conceal the news of this assassination, not letting it spread to Yanbei, and not letting it reach the ears of that couple, lest it disturb the battle situation on the front lines.

Hearing Li Hao say this, He Jianlan froze for a moment. As she looked at Li Hao's little face, she vaguely felt as though something had clenched around her heart.

This child had nearly been assassinated and killed because of the war in Yanbei, yet he was actually still worried about affecting things over there. He was so sensible it made one's heart ache.

However, the news of the assassination had caused too great a stir. Concealing it was impossible.

The Yanbei border soon received the news.

Xingwu Marquis, who was in the military camp pondering arrangements and deployment, flew into a rage. Ji Qingqing was also furious beyond measure. They immediately saw through the demons' intentions: they wanted to use Li Hao's death to shake the army's morale and make them temporarily leave the Yanbei battlefront.

Once they left with one foot barely gone, this side was bound to be met with a thunderous, ten-thousand-jun assault.

Xingwu Marquis could not possibly abandon the battlefield here. Furious, he sent a trusted aide by his side back to the residence that very day to protect Li Hao personally.

News came from the residence, saying that the assassination had been resolved by someone secretly watching over Li Hao.

But Xingwu Marquis knew that he had not sent anyone to secretly guard Li Hao.

Mountains and Rivers Courtyard had guards, and it was also located inside the Divine General Residence. He simply had never imagined that someone would go assassinate a child.

If Li Hao had displayed astonishing martial arts talent, he would have had some misgivings and secretly sent people to watch over him, to avoid the Li family's future heaven's pride dying prematurely in the cradle.

But a person with no martial arts talent posed no threat at all, and even so, he had nearly been harmed.

And all of this was because of the damned deadlock before them.

Several days later, on the Yanbei Battlefield, the Li Family Army struck like thunder, wiping out a nest of demons overnight. When the news spread, it made every demon feel the Li family's fury.

The days, in the end, slowly calmed down again.

Half a year passed, and Li Hao was seven years old.

The news of the assassination was already half a year old, and now no one in the residence mentioned it anymore.

The expert Xingwu Marquis had sent back from the army had followed by Li Hao's side at all times over the past half year. He was a tall, straight-backed middle-aged man, unsmiling, cautious and meticulous in handling affairs. His name was Li Fu.

It was said that many years ago, Li Fu had been an abandoned infant and had been taken in by the Li family. At the time, someone said that although the child's fate was tragic, being able to end up at the gate of the Divine General Residence meant he also had a fate of fortune. Thus, he followed the Li surname and was given a single name: Fu.

In the early years in this Mountains and Rivers Courtyard, Li Fu had accompanied Xingwu Marquis as they grew up together.

He was seven or eight years older than Xingwu Marquis. In ordinary times, he treated Xingwu Marquis with the care of an elder brother, but in the army, the two of them had a superior-subordinate relationship.

At the same time, Li Fu was also Xingwu Marquis's right-hand man, one of the people he trusted most.

"Uncle Fu, you lost again."

In the pavilion, a game of chess ended, and Li Hao said it with a beaming grin.

A trace of helplessness could not help appearing on Li Fu's stern face. "I'm of the same generation as your father. You should call me uncle."

"But calling you Uncle Fu sounds a bit like saying I admit defeat." Li Hao curled his lip. "When I play chess, I only want to win. I don't like admitting defeat."

Li Fu could not help being left speechless. Just because of this boring homophone, he had been forcibly promoted by an entire generation.

"You can also call me Uncle Li."

"But this is the Li family. There are too many people surnamed Li. If I call you Uncle Li, I'm afraid you won't know I mean you," Li Hao said.

Li Fu was helpless once more.

"If you ask me, Uncle Fu, you shouldn't have been named Fu. Since they all said you had good fortune... you should've been called Li You."

Li Hao said with a perfectly serious face, "Look, what a nice name Li You is. You have, you have—everything is something you have. The one it corresponds to is flawless!"

Li Fu somewhat wanted to rap his little head. Unlike Xingwu Marquis's rigid and methodical temperament, this son of his was terribly glib-tongued.

"Don't talk nonsense. If your father were here, he would definitely give you a beating. No respect for your elders," Li Fu scolded with a stern face.

"The problem is that he isn't here," Li Hao said casually.

Li Fu was just about to discipline him a little, lest he become more and more lawless, but when he heard those careless words, his heart seemed to tremble.

Back when Xingwu Marquis set out on campaign, he had also followed at his side. Naturally, he knew that Li Hao was seven this year, and the Marquis had also stayed in Yanbei for seven years.

The situation in Yanbei had made it difficult even for Ji Qingqing, who had originally accompanied him over there intending to end the war quickly, to extricate herself and return. She could not ignore her husband in danger.

The child before him had gone seven years without his parents at his side. He must be very sad, right? Li Fu felt somewhat pained for him, and his heart softened. He sighed and said, "Your father has his own difficulties too. Don't blame him."

"I've never blamed him," Li Hao said earnestly.

Li Fu looked into his eyes, and warmth rose faintly in his heart. He felt somewhat comforted and said, "You're very sensible."

Sensible? Li Hao grinned.

Just then, a half-grown figure returned to Mountains and Rivers Courtyard.

Li Hao turned his head to look and saw that Bian Ruxue, who had been training at the Martial Arts Arena, had returned.

Now the little girl had already grown into a young girl, and her childish face could not conceal her beauty.

"Why are you back so early today? Is your belly hungry?" Li Hao smiled and beckoned.

Bian Ruxue saw Li Hao and walked over holding her sword, her expression looking somewhat sullen. She only said, "I'm not hungry."

"What, did someone make you unhappy?" Li Hao teased.

Bian Ruxue bit her teeth slightly, turned her little face away stiffly, and did not speak.

Li Hao had originally only asked casually. Seeing this, he raised his brows slightly and said, "Tell me, what happened?"

"It's nothing." Bian Ruxue got up, held her sword, and ran off to the place where she usually practiced swordsmanship.

Li Hao thought for a moment, called over the maid who accompanied her in sword practice, and asked, "What happened to Xue'er?"

"Reporting to Young Master, Miss Xue'er competed in swordsmanship with someone at the Martial Arts Arena and was defeated." With Li Fu at the side, although the maid knew that this little young master was martial trash, her attitude was still respectful.

"Just that little thing?"

Li Hao relaxed and said, "Wasn't it just losing once? For martial artists, victory and defeat are a soldier's common lot. She can just win it back later. What, she can't afford to lose?"

The maid hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head and said, "That isn't it, Young Master. The fellow who defeated Miss was rather hateful. He criticized Young Master to Miss's face, so... that's why Miss was so angry."

"Ah?" Li Hao had not expected himself to be involved in this. In that case, the little one was speaking up for him out of indignation? Li Hao glanced into the distance. The young girl had already begun practicing her sword there, but she looked quite furious.

His eyes flickered slightly, and he said to the maid, "I understand. You may go."