Li Xianzhe's mouth twitched.
He put an arm around Li Bao'er's shoulder.
"My dear daughter, how about this: I'm not asking you to get your grandfather to agree, just to deliver this message to him, okay?"
Li Bao'er shook her head, glancing at the small courtyard in the distance, "I can sense my grandfather's saber qi. If you don't leave soon, he might just hit you! You wouldn't want my friend to see you get beaten, would you?"
Hearing his daughter say this, Li Xianzhe looked at the small courtyard in the distance, one arm around his daughter, the other on his hip. His phone vibrated again.
He looked at the caller ID, and Li Xianzhe seemed to make up his mind, yelling at the top of his lungs towards the distant courtyard.
"Dad! Master Puhui from Xuankong Temple has traveled thousands of miles to visit you. I've delivered the message; whether you see him or not is up to you!"
Unexpectedly, no sooner had he finished speaking than Li Xianzhe's body flew backward. A yellowish glow emanated from him, protecting him, but even so, Li Xianzhe was sent tumbling and rolling a long distance.
"You son of a bitch! Get lost!"
A furious roar came from the small courtyard in the distance.
Li Xianzhe got up clumsily, a smile still on his face. He casually brushed off the dirt and limped into his car.
Before leaving, he smiled at Fang Xin again, "Classmate Fang Xin, have Bao'er bring you to my house to play later!"
"Okay, Uncle!"
Li Xianzhe smiled at Li Bao'er, "Daughter, take your friend home later. Dad will make you something delicious!"
After speaking, he hurriedly got into the car and sped off into the distance.
Fang Xin watched the car drive away. Before coming, he had done some research. Li Bao'er's family was considered to have immense influence in Nanyu City. Her father was a well-known local entrepreneur, philanthropist, educator, calligrapher, and so on. He had many titles.
When he turned around, Fang Xin suddenly noticed an old man standing on the bridgehead, he didn't know when.
The old man was wearing a Tang suit, with short white hair, and looked energetic. Just by his appearance, one could tell he was a very capable old man.
Fang Xin's perception ability had also reached Level Five, allowing him to clearly sense every rustle and stir around him. However, he had no idea when the old man appeared there. Firstly, Fang Xin was indeed weak at the moment, and secondly, the old man was indeed strong.
He didn't even need to guess to know that the old man in front of him was Li Bao'er's grandfather.
Li Tai'an.
The old man had his hands behind his back, looking over with a chuckle.
"Grandpa!" Li Bao'er, who was usually quiet and simple-minded, immediately ran over when she saw the old man, becoming much more lively.
Fang Xin also walked towards the old man, carrying the wine he had bought earlier, and bowed respectfully.
"Greetings, Elder!"
Li Tai'an gently patted Fang Xin's shoulder, "Good! Good! Full of spirit! Come on! Let's go inside and chat!"
As he spoke, he put an arm around Fang Xin's shoulder and walked towards the courtyard.
After only a few steps, Li Tai'an stopped and turned to look at Li Zongye.
"Zongye, go back and tell that good-for-nothing to keep that bald donkey waiting. If that bald donkey can be patient enough to wait for three days, then I'll see him! In the meantime, keep an eye on that old bald donkey!"
Li Zongye extinguished his cigarette and immediately nodded to go take care of it.
Fang Xin always felt that the Xuankong Temple mentioned by Li Xianzhe sounded familiar. After a careful thought, wasn't it the temple where Little Monk Miao Neng resided?
He wondered why Little Monk's direct superior was here.
Li Tai'an, with his hands behind his back, chuckled at Fang Xin, "Come on! Let's go in, I've stir-fried two small dishes! We can eat and chat!"
The aroma of food wafted from the small courtyard.
Fang Xin couldn't help but sniff.
Li Bao'er turned around and laughed, "Xin Guo, my grandpa's cooking is delicious!"
"I can smell it!"
The small courtyard was very elegant, with a stone table engraved with a chessboard, a jujube tree, two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a study.
Li Bao'er skipped into the kitchen and brought out the dishes. While at the academy, Li Bao'er always seemed half-asleep, but she became much more lively after returning home.
"Sit!" Li Taibai sat down and gestured for Fang Xin to take a seat.
Fang Xin placed the wine he had bought on the table. Li Tai'an picked it up and sniffed, "You're quite generous, kid. These are all good wines, must have cost a pretty penny!"
"You helped me out before, and I heard from Bao'er that you like to drink. I don't know much about wine, so I figured more expensive might be better, and picked a few bottles," Fang Xin said truthfully.
Before coming, Li Bao'er had told Fang Xin that her grandfather was a straightforward person who didn't like flattery or sycophancy, and told Fang Xin to speak his mind.
Li Tai'an put down the wine bottle, "That's thoughtful!"
"Your grandfather is Fang Qingdi, isn't he?"
Li Tai'an suddenly said this, catching Fang Xin off guard.
Seeing his reaction, Li Tai'an chuckled, "Don't be nervous. Your grandfather and I are old acquaintances. I was also a member of the Reformists back then!"
Fang Xin was stunned, his eyes widening.
He hadn't expected to be connected to the Reformists again after all this.
Seeing Fang Xin's expression, Li Tai'an laughed, "The person behind the Ninth Division you are currently in is one of the leaders of the Reformists back then. Your grandfather was one of the initiators of the Reformists. This means that from the moment you were born, you were already caught in this vortex!"
Fang Xin hadn't expected the old man to cut straight to the chase without any pleasantries or transition.
"Then which part were you from before?"
Li Tai'an chuckled, "Do you know the Taiping Group?"
Fang Xin paused, no wonder the people from the Church called this old man the Vice Leader, "The Taiping Group? I haven't heard of it. Please allow me to check!"
Li Tai'an smiled and waved his hand, "Those guys caused many historical periods to become fragmented, so you won't find anything. The Taiping Group has been silent for many years, leaving only this old man and a few old brothers from back then barely surviving."
Fang Xin was startled, thinking of the many organizations from back then, like Taishuxiong's White Robe Army, all of which were purged due to the internal power struggle within the Church and their whereabouts are still unknown.
"Elder, can you tell me the specifics of that internal struggle within the Church back then?"
Li Taibai opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a bowl, "Details, huh!"
He took a sip of wine, looked into the air, his expression reminiscent, and took another sip.
"Details, huh. During the great war with the Eternal Night Army, the Church always put on airs, bossing everyone around. They did the least work, but all the credit was painted as theirs! Later, their power grew too great, and they oppressed everyone else. Everyone couldn't swallow their pride, and eventually, everyone's anger reached its peak. The eighteen warlords jointly attacked the Church, beating them so badly they cried for their parents!"
Fang Xin was stunned again upon hearing this, "Since they fought so fiercely, why did they ultimately lose?"
Li Tai'an glanced at Fang Xin, slowly took a sip of wine, and chuckled.
"Because your grandfather defected at a critical moment!"