Li Muxiu’s body trembled slightly, but he just stood there, silent.
Li Xiaoran struggled with his arm but failed to break free. He glanced at his second brother and saw the utmost sorrow beneath those eyes. His heart shook, and he sobered up a bit.
Seeing the weakening breath and the blood-covered Li Tian Gang lying beneath him, he was stunned, and finally, he embraced his head in a pitiful and painful manner.
He knew that his big brother would never come back.
All those years guarding the Mo River, all the failed attempts to pass through, what was it for?
Wasn’t it to hope to bring big brother back home?
But now, there’s no going back…
“Aaah!!”
Li Xiaoran let out a heaven-shaking roar, tears of blood streaming down.
Li Muxiu remained silent, standing still like a statue as the winds from beyond the border swirled around the three men before drifting away lightly.
For a long time, a very long time…
Li Muxiu looked at Li Tian Gang who was still lying in the deep pit, his face covered with blood, and said, “Do you just plan to lie here for a lifetime? If you are not dead, then stand up.”
Li Tian Gang’s body shook, but he slowly sat up, wiping the blood and tears from his face.
He looked at Li Xiaoran, who sat collapsed like a stone next to him, and at Li Muxiu, whose face was now expressionless. Grief welled up from his heart, but he endured it; he knew he was still the Li Family’s True Dragon.
Since he was the True Dragon, he had to persevere. Everyone could fall, but the True Dragon could not—that’s the responsibility the True Dragon had to bear.
“I need to find Hao Er.”
Li Tian Gang got up from the ground, swaying a bit just after standing up, almost losing his balance, but soon he channeled his true energy to heal his body.
He took a deep breath, his teeth clenched, “I must bring Hao Er back, then pass the True Dragon legacy onto him. The prosperous era that Father wanted to see—I, Li Tian Gang, am incapable, I’m afraid I cannot fulfill Father’s lifelong wish. It can only be left to Hao Er.”
Li Xiaoran watched numbly into the distance, his gaze unchanging, as if he hadn’t heard anything.
Li Muxiu, expressionless, said, “Now that the fourth one has come out, it’s a good opportunity to counterattack the Demon forces of the Mo River beyond our border. Don’t you plan to go and take command?”
Li Tian Gang looked at him, unable to discern his inner thoughts from his unchanging eyes, and laughed mockingly, “It won’t make a difference without me. With the fifth brother there to command, as well as two princes, and you lurking in the shadows… Father was right, if I could bend the rules for Qingqing before, then for Hao Er, I can do it as well!”
“I’m his father. What’s wrong with breaking the rules for him once?”
Li Muxiu’s gaze slowly shifted, fixing on him, as a coldness began to build in his eyes: “If you had this mindset from the beginning, why would we be in this situation today?”
Li Tian Gang felt a pang in his heart and murmured softly, “Second Uncle, I was rash and arrogant before, I hurt Hao Er’s heart, and I hurt yours too. Please give me a chance to make amends, okay?”
Li Muxiu looked at him, now humbly pleading, the previously emotionless gaze in his eyes now showing waves of sorrow and pain:
“Your father died here. Can you make amends for that?”
A light sentence, yet it struck Li Tian Gang’s heart heavily, like a hammer blow, making his blood seem to freeze.
When the heroic soul perishes, like the scattering of soul and spirit, how can one make amends?
He understood the meaning behind Li Muxiu’s words: death cannot be mended, but what about a broken heart, how can that be made whole again?
At that thought, his body began to tremble. He had never been timid in over a decade of battles in Northern Yan, but now he felt fear and dread.
Could it be that the mistakes he had caused were irreparable?
“No, that can’t be. Hao Er is my son, and although I hit him, my father also hit me, but I have never resented him. We are father and son; he will surely forgive me…”
Li Tian Gang murmured.
“Your big brother hit you because he loved you, because you made a mistake, because he had high hopes for you. Occasionally punishing you, his other brothers would secretly take care of you.”
Li Muxiu’s eyes could hardly conceal his sorrow: “But what about Hao Er? Was he at fault when he was poisoned? Have you truly cared for him, understood him? Do you know what food he likes, which streets in the city he enjoys visiting? Do you?”
“You only want him to bear the Li Family’s burden. Don’t you realize how heavy that is? When your father chose, designating the ninth as the True Dragon, do you know how helpless and pained he was for the little ninth, that he couldn’t sleep well for months!!”
Li Tian Gang was stunned… was his father pained over the ninth inheriting the True Dragon?
“If you had true affection for Hao Er, why would he leave? That child remembers even the tiniest bit of kindness deep in his heart!”
“He has seen through you long ago, that child is far smarter than you think. You treat him like a child, but Hao Er far surpasses other children in excellence. I’ve treated him as an old friend, how could you underestimate him, treat him with such stubbornness!”
Hearing Li Muxiu’s indignant words, Li Tian Gang’s heart trembled, increasingly feeling an indescribable emotion surge, like a fearful hand gripping his heart.
If this had been earlier, he might have thought Li Muxiu was being biased toward the child, but now, after experiencing various things, having saved Liangzhou, with the banner of Haotian flying everywhere, and learning the young man’s reputation from the Demons’ mouths—a reputation no less than those of the generals who had been battling for years, perhaps even greater!
At fifteen, to have reached such heights, even his proudest youngest brother was utterly overshadowed by Li Hao’s talent.
Now, even his father who had fallen in battle favored the child so much that he was willing to pass on his power to him, insisting on bringing Li Hao back. This realization suddenly awakened him, and the layer of prejudice that clouded his vision was torn away by that slap.