Chapter 167 Disobedience "Does the Li family intend to be an enemy of Tianque?"

"Open the door!"

The young master of the Li family gave the orders arrogantly, but none of the servants present made any move.

"What, you're not even listening to me anymore?"

Li Mengbai's cold gaze swept over the servants present, his invisible pressure heavy, but even so, no one made way for him, simply because Steward Feng had instructed that no one inside should be released, and Steward Feng's meaning was the head of the family's wish.

In the Li family, everyone knows whose orders to listen to.

"Heh!" Li Mengbai sneered, "Very well, you're truly good dogs of the Li family." His eyes narrowed dangerously, and he formed a talisman in his hand. "Then die for your master."

Golden threads shot from his fingertips, instantly piercing the heart of a servant facing him. A burst of blood mist exploded on the man's body, killing him almost instantly.

Seeing how ruthless the young master was, the servants couldn't help but feel fear. However, they couldn't bear the consequences of disobeying the patriarch's orders. Faced with two evils, they could only stand guard at the entrance of the main hall.

Li Mengbai was in a bad mood, and his attacks became increasingly ruthless. These servants were not weak in cultivation, and could withstand a few blows if they were on guard, but it was only a matter of whether they died sooner or later. This young master, who had mastered the art of talismans to perfection, was losing patience.

"Young Master, please calm down! We were just following orders, please spare our lives!" Seeing that he was about to kill everyone, a servant began to beg for mercy, "Young Master, killing us won't do any good. The key to Zheyu Palace is not on us. Even if we don't stop you, you still can't get in."

"Then get out of my way!" Li Mengbai kicked the servant. "I, this young master, will do it myself! You obstruction!"

A single lock is nothing special, but the lock outside the Zheyu Palace is reinforced with a restriction.

Li Mengbai knew in her heart that the old man had guessed he would come to take her away, and was deliberately making things difficult for him.

But the old man ultimately underestimated his mastery of talismans and incantations. There was no restriction in the world that he couldn't break; he just needed some time.

Li Mengbai quickly tried to find a way to lift the restriction, appearing calm on the surface but inwardly extremely anxious. He knew very well what the Zheyu Palace was for; ordinary people could enter without incident, but Jiang Yuhuo was a different story.

In the secret chamber beneath the Heavenly Palace Spirit-Suppressing Array, although he didn't hear many of Situ Xin and Jiang Yuhuo's conversation, he did catch some key words.

Jiang Yuhuo may be related to the Feathered People.

In the Zheyu Palace, if this relationship were to become too close, it could even cost her her life.

For every moment he lingered outside, Jiang Yuhuo suffered an extra moment of torment inside.

He wanted to take her out.

It was so close.

"You unfilial son! How dare you openly disobey orders?"

Just as the last incantation was about to be drawn, Li Mengbai's hand was opened by a suddenly appearing blade of light, followed by a slap carrying the pressure of the family head, which sent him tumbling down the steps.

Li Mengbai raised his head from the ground and saw Li Shichuan's solemn face in front of the palace gate.

He reprimanded him like this, yet there wasn't a trace of anger in his expression, as if he were facing someone he had no feelings for. But, ironically, this person was his son.

"Release her." Li Mengbai stood up from the ground and approached Zheyu Palace step by step again. "If you want to punish someone, come at me. Release her. It has nothing to do with her."

Li Shichuan's gaze was cold. "It's none of her business? She trespassed into Zheyu Palace, so what if I confined her for a few days? She's going to marry into the Li family, so she should know the rules of the Li family. I was just teaching her beforehand." He stepped down the stairs. "As for you, you just came out of Wuliang Hall, and you've already forgotten the pain?"

"Men, take the young master to Wuliang Hall." Li Shichuan ordered expressionlessly, and several servants immediately stepped forward to grab Li Mengbai.

Runes shifted between Li Mengbai's fingers, his sinister gaze turning bloodshot as he slowly swept his eyes across the guard's face. "Let's see who dares!"

"What are you waiting for? Make your move!"

As soon as Li Shichuan gave the order, the hesitant attendants could no longer care about their lives and immediately rushed towards Li Mengbai.

Li Mengbai neither dodged nor retreated, but stood there with a cold smile, his fingertips twirling...

Suddenly, a circle of light appeared on the ground. Before the servant could dodge, he heard the person inside the circle say a single word.

"break!"

All the servants who stepped through the circle of light instantly exploded into blood flowers, their bodies scattered all over the ground.

Li Shichuan frowned. His son in the halo had transformed into a grotesque form he had never seen before. Golden runes spread along Li Mengbai's neck to his eyes, which were bloodshot and inhuman.

Those beast-like eyes were fixed on him. "Li Shichuan, open the door for me!"

Li Shichuan wasn't unaware of the murderous intent in his eyes, but he wasn't afraid, much less would he compromise under his son's coercion. He simply frowned and scrutinized Li Mengbai, "What kind of evil magic do you practice?"

Li Mengbai narrowed his eyes, and a golden thread suddenly shot out, aiming straight for Li Shichuan's forehead. But before the golden thread reached Li Shichuan's face, it deflected. Li Mengbai collapsed to his knees in agony, the crimson in his eyes gradually fading.

Li Shichuan coldly watched him struggle on the ground, his grip on Linghai tightening inch by inch.

"Want to kill me? Hmph, I told you long ago, as long as you're still a member of the Li family, you'll never be able to resist me."

Another group came up to take him away, but Li Mengbai clung tightly to the floor tiles. He couldn't leave; if he left, no one could rescue Jiang Yuhuo. No, he couldn't leave alone; he had to take Li Shichuan with him.

He mentally summoned the voice he had deliberately disconnected from for a while.

"are u there?"

The voice quickly responded with a soft chuckle, "Ready to serve at any time. But are you sure you want me to go and save her?"

I can't worry about that anymore.

"Let go!" Li Mengbai endured the excruciating pain, forcefully using his spiritual power to shake off the servants holding him. He struggled to his feet, glaring at Li Shichuan on the steps. "You just hate me, so come at me! Hit me, scold me, reprimand me, kill me—just do it all to me! What did she do wrong? She's only engaged to me, and you're dragging her into this hatred. Aren't there many people who enter Zheyu Palace? It's just a dilapidated palace; she's in, so what? Even if it's demolished, so what? You keep talking about setting rules for her, but have you ever set any rules for those bitches like Li Yanluo and Wen Yizhan?!"

Li Shichuan's brows furrowed with barely suppressed anger, and he tightened his grip, saying, "I think you don't want to live anymore."

Li Mengbai felt like his head was about to explode from the pain, but he still refused to shut up. "You hate me. No, you hate Gongsun Chan, you hate her for driving away your lover and ruining your beloved. But even though you hate her so much, why can't you control yourself and still sleep with her, letting her give birth to this bastard child? It's all your fault, Li Shichuan, you are the biggest madman in the Li family!"

With a "pfft," blood spurted from Li Mengbai's mouth. He could feel a crack appear in his spiritual sea, and his vision went black. Even so, he could feel Li Shichuan's surging killing intent.

Li Mengbai laughed.

He succeeded. Li Shichuan will not let him off the hook. Although he has never let him off the hook, at least now, Li Shichuan doesn't have time to punish Jiang Yuhuo.

Li Mengbai no longer lingered and turned to flee.

Li Shichuan chased after him closely, "You beast, you only realize you need to run now? Don't you think it's too late?"

Li Mengbai wasn't angry when he heard the cursing; he had already achieved his goal. But the next moment, he stopped in his tracks; he hadn't expected to suddenly encounter this person here.

The merman clan leader of Tianque.

His white robes and silver tassels fluttered in the wind as he descended from the sky. As he landed, his flowing robes and hair gradually settled back down, his aloof and noble demeanor making him look like a statue that had stepped out of a temple.

Seeing his face, Li Mengbai couldn't help but feel a surge of resentment. Of course, he knew what this merman thought of Jiang Yuhuo, even before he knew his own feelings, and he also knew that Jiang Yuhuo had no feelings for him, but that didn't stop Li Mengbai from seeing him as a threat.

What is he doing here?

Li Shichuan asked faster than Li Mengbai, "Your Highness, what brings you here uninvited?"

Jia Yue nodded slightly and bowed, "Master, I am here on the orders of the Elders' Council to investigate something that Tianque has lost. I apologize for disturbing you."

Despite saying that, the newcomer bypassed the father and son and headed straight for the Zheyu Hall. Several Tianque disciples followed closely behind him, not taking the two of them seriously.

The person from Tianque stopped at the door and turned his head slightly. "Please open the door, Master."

His manners were polite and courteous, yet his tone left no room for refusal.

At the same time, everyone felt a sudden chill and saw a layer of ice form under the feet of the sect leader, which quickly spread towards the Zheyu Hall. The ice climbed up the hall door, squeezed through the cracks, and invaded the hall, seemingly trying to envelop the entire hall in ice.

What does this mean? Are we going to force our way in?

A chill ran through him as Li Shichuan looked at the merman from afar. "This is the Li family. It seems the patriarch doesn't know where he is?"

Jia Yue turned around and smiled politely at Li Shichuan. "It seems the Patriarch still doesn't understand my purpose. Tianque has lost something very important." He glanced at Li Mengbai and said calmly, "And the person closely connected to the lost item is inside. I have been ordered to investigate this person. Does the Li family intend to become enemies with Tianque?"

The heavy ebony door separated the inside and outside of the Zheyu Hall into two worlds. No one outside could hear what was happening inside, and Jiang Yuhuo naturally couldn't hear anything from the outside either.

After lifting the wooden screen painting that was remarkably similar to her original self, she finally managed to climb down to the bottom, wanting to see the person in the painting clearly. But the moment her hand touched the hem of the winged girl's clothes, many lines glowing red appeared in the dark corner of the hall. Those lines were as red as blood, and like snakes, they crawled towards her.

She finally understood. These were the things suppressing her. They were cursed seals forged from the blood of cultivators, trapping their prey while continuously absorbing its blood. So vicious, so ruthless, and their prey was someone with the blood of the Feathered Clan.

She severed many of the blood threads and cut her wrist, letting a lot of blood flow from the golden chrysanthemum. Since these blood threads were so eager to devour her blood, then so be it. Sure enough, the blood threads swarmed towards her. Jiang Yuhuo licked the remaining blood from her wrist, and the wound healed quickly. She then raised her Dingchun Sword and slashed at it.

Her spiritual power was suppressed, but Dingchun was an unparalleled spiritual sword.

The blood threads were annihilated by the Dingchun Sword, seemingly causing the cursed seals here to hesitate. In the end, even though Jiang Yuhuo had no strength left to struggle, no blood threads dared to come forward to bind her. They could only suppress her, but could no longer take away her power.

Jiang Yuhuo sat weakly against the wooden screen, holding a bloodstained sword in her hand. Whether it was because of her blood or some other reason, the silver bracelet on her wrist had lit up at some point.

In the darkness, she heard a distant voice, "My people, have you finally discovered that I have been abandoned here? Release my seal and take me out."

Jiang Yuhuo was astonished. Although she was exhausted, she still asked, "Where are you?"

No one answered her for a long time; the voice seemed like a hallucination to her.

Jiang Yuhuo forced herself to stay awake and waited for the voice to answer; every moment here was unbearable.

She didn't know how much time had passed when a chill crept in through the crack in the door. She felt a cool sensation, and then ice covered her entire body. The pain from the fire element burning her body finally subsided.

She vaguely realized that someone might be coming to rescue her.

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Author's Note: We've reached 600,000 words! As usual, let's do a giveaway! [Laughing]

Sigh, I accidentally went over the limit. I thought I could finish it in 600,000 words, but...

I'm setting a goal: I hope to finish the story at 700,000 words. Please, it can't go any longer! [Please!]