Chapter 074
This Is My Explanation!
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“No! Absolutely not!” At this moment, Li Youran had actually let out a calm smile. “I would rather have the Li Residence burnt to the ground than mobilize you!”
His smile contained a peculiar mix of tenderness and chilling ruthlessness. “As long as our people still lives, the Li Family will also remain. But if you were to show yourself, what the masked men in black does no longer matter. One thing I can be certain of, we will end up attracting the attention of countless eyes! Once your identities are exposed, or even if your identities do not become exposed, the Li Family would end up in hot soup! In addition, the rumours that the Xuan Core is in the hands of the Li Family would spread out in all directions. When that happens…”
“Senior brother, please remain in this secret chamber for now and not come out! Once this matter settles, I will immediately arrange for someone to send you out of the city! If there are any other matters that require your help, I will immediately notify master and fellow seniors,” Li Youran laughed lightly. “This time, not only am I not going to stop him, I will even send some more people for him to kill! I am curious to see what would happen to this Old Duke in the end!”
“His heinous actions are no different from the crime of rebellion. Even if the royal court is somehow willing to overlook it, would the Emperor tolerate it?” A rare sneer appeared on Li Youran’s face.
“Very well. If that is the case, I won’t say anything else. I will follow your wishes,” The white robed man’s face expressed dissatisfaction, but he nodded helplessly. “Junior Brother, if you have the time for it; you should go visit master. Master has been… worried about you.”
“Senior brother can be assured, I will definitely do so,” Li Youran smiled faintly and walked out.
Just then, an aerial signalling firework exploded in the skies with a “boom” sound. Its explosion created an array of colours in the sky, beautiful to the extreme.
After the firework was set off, all the masked men in black retreated immediately, just like the receding tide. They disengaged from their battles and retreated, some leaping across the walls while others rushed out through the doors. Within the matter of a few blinks, they have all disappeared into the vast expanse of the night…
Soon, the thunderous sounds of hooves resounded as thousands of cavalry reacted. In an orderly manner, the cavalry units of the military rode towards the Li Residence at best speed! In just moments, they had all arrived before the door of the Grand Preceptor Li’s Residence. A series of commands rang out and the mounted soldiers urged their horses to move, surrounding the Li Residence!
The main gate was smashed open with a “boom” and Grandpa Jun Zhantian stepped inside, his body exuding killing intent!
His body was covered with a sky blue glow, a result of channelling the Sky Xuan qi within his body. Although it was likely that the Li Family would not dare to do anything against him due to his identity, he must place considerations on ‘what if’s. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry.
On either side, two teams of elite soldiers entered the area in two rows, their swords flashing.
“All members of the Li Family, get out here! Assassins have appeared within the city and I am now conducting a search on the entire city!” Grandpa Jun roared loudly, his voice shaking the entire residence.
“Hehe, it turned out that Old Brother Jun had personally come. You honour my humble abode with your presence,” The Grand Preceptor Li Shang’s face was all smiles as he stepped out from the main hall. Step by step, he showed the eager demeanour of someone who had just been reunited with a long lost twin brother.
Jun Zhantian’s face remained passive. “Grand Preceptor Li, please keep your underlings and relatives in check. Princess Ling Meng had just suffered from an assassination attempt. Thus, I am now performing my duties in searching and capturing the assassins. If anyone here gets injured due to interfering with my military duties, I will not be responsible!” After saying that, he waved his hand. “Search!”
“Hold!” Li Shang stepped forward, his white beard flowing lightly. The gentle look on his face flickered momentarily before he said in a loud voice. “Senior Duke Jun, you are the Grand Marshall of the kingdom’s military forces, a Duke of the kingdom, a person of great authority and weight in the royal court. However, I am the Grand Preceptor, another person of great authority in the court, and also a Duke! Without His Majesty’s decree, who would dare to be presumptuous within my Li Residence?”
Jun Zhantian sneered, his eyes revealing traces of emotions. “Grand Preceptor, are you trying to imply that any high ranking official within the royal court have the right to harbour assassins within their homes? Go search! Anyone who dares obstruct, kill them without mercy!”
Suddenly, hundreds of soldiers marched in from behind, heading towards the Li Residence’s inner areas with the intention of searching. Li Shang’s body trembled in anger and he shouted. “Jun Zhantian, you are acting brazenly, overstepping the bounds of your office! Are you planning to rebel?”
Jun Zhantian laughed out loudly. “Grand Preceptor sure knows how to joke! This senior official is simply trying to root out the assassins who tried to assassinate the Imperial Princess. How is this action of mine overstepping the bounds of my office? How could this be considered brazen? How am I planning to rebel? Grand Preceptor, you have been trying to stop me from searching your residence for quite a while now. Could it be that there is a connection between you and the assassins?” After saying that, Grandpa Jun ignored him and waved his hand, signalling for the soldiers to speed up their searching speed.
It was at this moment that a white robed youngster stepped forth; it was none other than Li Youran. He gave a ceremonious salute of respect to Jun Zhantian before speaking up. “Since Senior Duke Jun wishes to conduct a search, our Li Family’s underlings would certainly not oppose you. However, without His Majesty’s decree, Senior Duke Jun’s action today would be tantamount to a wanton act of trespassing into the home of a high ranked court official. Hehe, even if Senior Duke Jun is not fearful of the consequences, our Li Family still needs to uphold some of our reputation. If this matter were to be spread out, then both our reputation would end up being smeared!”
Jun Zhantian coldly stared at the refined looking youngster standing before him. He could not help but recall his grandson, Moxie. His grandson could have ended up being even more powerful than Li Youran, but had ended up suffering from a sinister attack! When he thought about that, his fury burst out and he coldly asked. “What are you suggesting?”
“This junior only have a simple question to ask of Senior Duke Jun. Senior Duke Jun keeps reiterating that you wanted to conduct a search of my family’s residence to find assassins. It does not matter from where or how Senior Duke received the information that our Li Family is harbouring assassins. However, what will Senior Duke do if you are unable to find the assassins within my family’s residence?” Li Youran gently smiled and took another step forward. “Should that happen, Senior Duke Jun will have to give our Li Family an explanation!”
Grandpa Jun laughed out loudly. Suddenly, he took a step forward and threw out a vicious slap at Li Youran’s face. A “pa” sound rang out, followed by a kick from Grandpa Jun directed at Li Youran’s stomach. After kicking Li Youran to the ground, Grandpa Jun spoke out in anger. “This senior is in the process of searching for assassins! Not even your grandfather dared to fart in front of me, but you? What are you? You dare come out to start a debate and find faults with this senior? You want an explanation? This is my explanation!”
“Pooh!” Jun Zhantian spat out. “What a joke! If we could not find the assassins, that would naturally mean that your Li Family is innocent! If we cannot capture the assassins, then we will obviously have to continue searching! What else is there? I am more interested in asking you this. Your Li Family, from the seniors down to the juniors have been desperately trying to stop me from conducting a search for the assassins. What are you planning? Could it be that your Li Family is planning to rebel? Are you the mastermind behind the Imperial Princess’ assassination attempt? If the assassins were to successfully escape due to your actions of delaying my duties, do your Li Family have enough heads to bear this responsibility?”
These words were directed at Li Shang. Clearly, Grandpa Jun did not view Li Youran as someone with the qualifications to even talk to him.
Even in a confrontation between military forces, rank must be considered. If a bunch of rookie soldiers with no qualification were to be sent to the battlefield, they would only end up being suppressed and massacred. Naturally, Li Youran understood this logic. However, he could not stand the sight of his grandfather being humiliated so. In addition, there were indeed some people that must not be found staying inside their hidden chambers. If those people were to be found, that would be akin to having yellow mud smeared onto their underwear. Even if it is not poop, everyone will still think it is poop. Even if the Li Family is not guilty, everyone will still think the Li Family is guilty! Left with no choice, he had to step forward and hope that Jun Zhantian would consider his status as the number one person within the military forces and let this go.
How could he have guessed that the current Jun Zhantian no longer cared about his status or reputation? A slap and a kick, executed in a flash! Li Youran may be a genius, but his experience is limited. His current level of cultivation is only at the Gold Xuan, a difference of Heaven and Earth compared to Grandpa Jun’s Sky Xuan. In addition, he was caught off-guard; and thus had to endure a slap to the face and a kick to his stomach. All he could feel was his mind ringing and stars spinning before his eyes!
Even though Grandpa Jun did not utilize any xuan qi in his attacks, they were both done before the eyes of thousands. For Li Youran, this slap of his was akin to a strike to his heart!