The Li Clan's Fate!

Outside Spirit Hall, the atmosphere had reached its boiling point.

The onlookers whispered among themselves, most still inclined to uphold Spirit Hall's dignity. "His Holiness the Pope has always been fair. There must be some hidden reason behind this."

"Exactly. A hero like Protector Li—how could Pope Palace mistreat his clan?"

Meanwhile, when the Li Clan members kneeling on the ground saw the guards appear again with a scroll in hand, their faces immediately lit up with joy.

The leaders exchanged glances, unable to suppress their upturned lips. They thought Qian Xunji felt guilty and was preparing to compromise and negotiate.

They had even begun calculating how they could make outrageous demands and extort Spirit Hall for a hefty sum.

However, in the next moment, the guard's voice, cold as iron, pierced all their fantasies like a blade of judgment.

Standing high atop the steps, the guard unfurled the scroll. His gaze was sharp, and his booming voice carried clearly to every corner of the square.

"Members of the Li Clan, listen up! Following an investigation, it has been confirmed that you have used your status as Protector Li's relatives to embezzle funds, break the law, bully merchants and commoners, seize women by force, and commit every manner of evil. The evidence is conclusive!"

That opening statement was like cold water splashed into a pan of boiling oil, instantly setting off the crowd.

Before the guard had even finished speaking, he continued in a ringing voice, "Everyone knows that Protector Li, Li Yuntian, is loyal and righteous. There was once a Li Clan that prospered under his protection."

"But those causing trouble here today are not relatives acknowledged by Protector Li. They are merely a rabble gathered together by blood ties!"

"When Protector Li and his wife suffered misfortune and fled into exile, these so-called 'clansmen' avoided them like the plague. They even kicked them while they were down! They were the ones who leaked Protector Li's whereabouts, aided the enemy, and led them to his door, nearly getting Protector Li killed!"

"Later, after Protector Li achieved fame and success, he remembered their shared bloodline and forgave past grievances, granting you fine clothes and rich food in hopes that you would turn over a new leaf."

"Who would have thought that not only would you refuse to repent, you would grow even worse? Greed had seeped into your bones, and you completely betrayed Protector Li's trust!"

With every sentence, the Li Clan members' faces grew a shade paler. When the words "betrayed his whereabouts" and "led the enemy to his door" rang through the square, the watching crowd instantly erupted.

"So they're a bunch of ungrateful wretches!"

"Pah! They rose to power by relying on a hero, then turned around and sold him out. What kind of beasts do that?"

"No wonder Protector Li refuses to acknowledge them. If it were me, I'd cough up blood from rage too!"

Anger burned in the onlookers' eyes. The commoners who had once received Li Yuntian's kindness were especially enraged, shouting, "Arrest them! Scum like this doesn't deserve to live!"

The Li Clan members felt as if they had fallen into an ice pit. They slumped to the ground, trembling from head to toe.

They wanted to refute it. They wanted to scream that "Li Yuntian is also of Li Clan blood," but with those ugly masks stripped away one by one, even breathing became difficult.

Before crimes backed by irrefutable evidence, any argument was futile.

The guard snorted coldly and waved a hand. "Men, throw all these cockroaches who caused trouble and tarnished the Li Family's name into prison! Tell the warden to take good 'care' of them. Don't let them die too easily!"

The Silver Armor Guards pounced like wolves and tigers, dragging away these Li Clan members who had once lorded over others as though they were dead dogs.

Before leaving, the guard cast them a disgusted glance and spat. His voice was not loud, but it was enough for everyone nearby to hear.

"Tch. I thought they were Protector Li's closest blood relatives. Turns out they're just parasites who suck blood and repay kindness with betrayal! What bad luck. They're practically wasting air!"

As the Li Clan members were taken away, the crowd gradually dispersed, leaving behind only contempt and the eternal solemnity before Spirit Hall's gates.

The farce had been easily resolved.

One day later, outside the Li Family residence.

The old Li Clan chief bent his hunched body and led the remaining twenty-odd members of the Li Clan in kneeling there for an entire day.

Their clothes were ragged and their faces haggard. The clan's former pride had long since vanished, leaving behind only the last shred of hope amid despair.

"Yuntian... Yuntian! For the sake of our shared bloodline, save them!"

The old chief's voice was hoarse. With every cry, he slammed his head heavily against the ground.

The dull thuds of his forehead striking the bluestone pavement sounded especially piercing on the empty street.

Just one day earlier, when he had hurried to the Spirit Hall square with his men, all he had seen was the mess on the ground and the backs of several dozen clansmen being escorted into prison by patrol guards.

There was nothing he could do. He could only watch helplessly as those familiar faces disappeared before his eyes.

In the end, he could only shamelessly come here to beg Li Yuntian for help.

At the same time, within Li Mansion, an entirely different scene unfolded in the luxurious main hall.

A delicate fragrance of tea drifted upward as amber-colored tea poured from an exquisite purple clay teapot.

Yang Wanqing sat beside Li Yuntian, her brows slightly furrowed as she listened to a shadow guard quietly report the situation outside. The teacup in her hand swayed gently, spilling several drops of warm tea.

"Aren't you going to see them? No matter what, they are still your clansmen. If they all perish in Spirit Hall's prison, then the Li Clan's bloodline..."

Yang Wanqing turned her head, her eyes filled with worry.

Li Yuntian set down his teacup with a crisp clink.

A cold curve touched his lips before softening into the gentleness he reserved only for his wife.

"Wanqing, your heart is simply too soft."

He reached out, took hold of the back of his wife's slightly cool hand, and gently stroked it.

"From the moment they joined outsiders in trying to murder you and me, the so-called 'clansmen' became nothing more than an empty name."

"If those blades had truly come down, they would not have dulled just because we shared the same blood."

Yang Wanqing bit her lower lip, still wanting to speak. "But..."

"No buts." Li Yuntian interrupted her, his gaze deep and unwavering.

"You don't need to wrong yourself just to earn their approval."

His voice softened, carrying a trace of reminiscence. "If my parents were still alive, they would be so delighted to see such a cultured, gentle, and virtuous daughter-in-law as you that they would never stop smiling."

"As for those people outside... whatever they cannot give you, I will give you twice as much."

Yang Wanqing's body trembled slightly, and the struggle in her eyes gradually gave way to warmth as soft as water.

That was right. Her parents-in-law had passed away early, and the affection from elders that she longed for was ultimately beyond her reach.

Since her husband cherished her so deeply, why should she cling to that illusory sense of belonging to the clan?

After a long while, the gates of the Li Family residence finally creaked open a crack.

A guard stepped out, his face openly filled with contempt.

He looked down at the kneeling old clan chief as though he were looking at a beggar begging for alms.

"Old man, our master has an order—"

The guard's voice carried coldness and disdain as it drifted far on the wind. "He severed all familial ties with the Li Clan long ago. He does not know who you people are."

"You have one incense stick's worth of time to get out of this street. Otherwise, don't blame me for being rude!"

The old chief swayed, nearly collapsing. He raised his head, his clouded old eyes fixed desperately on that narrow crack in the gate, hoping to glimpse even the faintest trace of Li Yuntian's figure. Yet it was ultimately futile.

"Clan Chief, let's fight them!" A young clansman behind him could no longer restrain himself. He suddenly rose to his feet, Soul Power surging around him as two yellow Soul Rings appeared—he possessed the strength of a Soul Grandmaster.

However, in the next instant, an aged hand firmly pressed down on his shoulder.