"W-was there no other way?" Wang Xiangru asked from her seat below, her face pale.
Her husband, Li Fenghua, had also led his troops back from Cang Province. He had nearly fallen in the earlier battle to defend Qing Prefecture, and his grave injuries had yet to heal. He looked wan and listless.
Li Xiaoran gave her a cold glance and ignored her, fixing his gaze on Li Tiangang instead.
Li Tiangang's expression was grim. He had never imagined that in little more than a month, the Li Family would be driven into such desperate straits.
"I'll go request the Ancestral Blood Sacrifice at once!"
Li Tiangang clenched his back teeth slightly and rose to his feet.
He glanced at Li Xiaoran, wanting to say something to his fourth uncle, but the man's eyes were bitterly cold. He looked at him as though he were a stranger, sending a stab of pain through his heart.
He knew why.
When he had brought his wife, Ji Qingqing, back, he had also told everyone the truth about Li Hao. He had failed to bring Li Hao home, and Li Hao had died because of him.
The news had stunned Li Muxiu, Li Xiaoran, and the others. That day, furious roars had erupted within the Divine General Residence. Several rooms in the Mountains and Rivers Courtyard had been smashed apart, leaving only the room where the boy had once lived untouched.
After that night, Li Muxiu seemed to have aged more than a decade. He had never said another word to Li Tiangang. Whenever Li Xiaoran saw Li Tiangang, his eyes were cold, as though he were looking at an outsider. It pained Li Tiangang deeply.
Li Tiangang walked forward. Li Xiaoran merely shifted aside to let him pass. Neither spoke.
Everyone else