Free Web NovelChapter 269: Chapter 121: Invitations from All Sides, Personally Delivering the Stakes
"Exactly!" someone nearby immediately agreed. "He won, fine, but did he have to be so deceitful? It’s a disgrace to all Huajin Powerhouses! If we’d known he was this strong, we never would have agreed to the duel!"
The other Li Family disciples around them also muttered indignantly amongst themselves.
"Enough!"
A sharp command cut through their chatter.
Li Chong walked in the middle of the group, his brow furrowed, but his gaze was clear. "Who made the rule that you have to announce it to the world when you break through to Huajin? Didn’t Meng Chao also keep it quiet when he reached Half-Step Huajin?"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, his voice heavy. "A loss is a loss. We were outmatched, and making excuses is useless. Yang Jing held back and didn’t cripple us, which was him sparing our dignity. Stop spouting nonsense and making us a laughingstock."
Hearing this, the surrounding Li Family disciples fell silent.
Li Chong had a point. Li Mengchao had hidden his own Half-Step Huajin status first; what right did they have to criticize Yang Jing?
Besides, Li Chong was a disciple from the main family line and at the Peak of Dark Energy. He held considerable prestige within the family, so no one dared to openly contradict him.
At the front of the procession.
A lavishly decorated carriage moved slowly, its wheels making a dull rumble as they rolled over the stone-paved road.
Inside the carriage, calming sandalwood incense was burning, and the faint aroma of tea filled the air, but it couldn’t dispel the heavy tension between the two men.
The Li Family’s Grand Elder sat on a soft cushion. His hair and beard were completely white and his face was lined with wrinkles, but his eyes were still sharp.
He was nearly thirty years older than Li Haitao. Before Li Haitao broke through to Huajin, the Grand Elder had been the stabilizing pillar of the family. At this moment, he was holding a teacup, his gaze fixed on Li Haitao opposite him.
Li Haitao’s face was thunderous, his hands clenched into tight fists.
The thought of the prize—worth eighty thousand taels of silver—and the Li Family’s honor being trampled in the duel made him physically ill. His chest felt as if it were being crushed by a boulder, and he could barely breathe.
"Patriarch," the Grand Elder said, gently setting down his teacup and breaking the silence. His voice was calm. "How are you feeling now?" freeweɓnovel.cøm
Li Haitao’s brow furrowed sharply. He looked up at the Grand Elder, his eyes full of confusion.
’How could I possibly feel good? We were utterly humiliated, lost all face, and have to pay an astronomical prize.’
Li Haitao said in a low voice, "After such a humiliating loss, how could I possibly feel good now?"
The Grand Elder looked at Li Haitao’s tense profile and spoke slowly. "When I first heard the result, my heart was heavy as well. But what’s done is done. Regret and resentment are useless. The most urgent task now is to adjust our mindset and figure out how to minimize the family’s losses."
He lifted his teacup and gently blew on the foam. "The Li Family has a history of over a hundred years. Haven’t we weathered storms far greater than this? Remember when we fought the Xiao Family for control of the docks? We lost nine Dark Energy masters. Thirty years ago, we were hit by a Qi Eating Realm bandit, and our vaults were nearly emptied... Weren’t those losses far more devastating than this duel? Yet the Li Family remains one of the six great families of Yuhe County, our foundation unshaken."
Li Haitao listened in silence. The Grand Elder’s voice was calm and steady, carrying a certain power that soothed the heart.
He recalled the difficult times in the family’s history, remembering how their ancestors had held their ground in desperate situations. The anxiety and frustration in his heart actually began to slowly subside.
He looked at the Grand Elder, whose face remained serene, as if this defeat were nothing more than a trivial matter.
Li Haitao was secretly ashamed. ’I’ve led the family for years, yet my temperament is still so volatile, far less composed than the Grand Elder.’
"Patriarch," the Grand Elder’s tone shifted, his gaze sharpening. "At this point, what are your true thoughts on Sun’s Martial Arts Hall, and on that Yang Jing?"
Li Haitao was taken aback. He thought for a moment before voicing his true feelings. "I’m resentful. Furious. I won’t forget this. The Li Family hasn’t suffered such a huge loss in a very long time!"
The thought of the treasures and silver he would soon have to hand over made his heart ache as if pierced by a needle.
"Foolish!" The Grand Elder set down his teacup, his brow knitting tightly. "That is not the attitude of someone trying to cut their losses."
He looked at Li Haitao, his tone growing heavier. "The wager was set in front of the County Magistrate and the entire city. We lost, and we must accept it. Not a single coin can be held back. Since this wealth is destined for Sun’s Martial Arts Hall, why create two powerful enemies in Sun Yong and Yang Jing out of a moment of pique?"
Li Haitao froze. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Your current state of mind has strayed from our original intention." The Grand Elder sighed. "The whole reason we proposed the duel in the first place was to use it as a way to give Sun Yong an out and quell his anger, wasn’t it? We may have lost, but that objective hasn’t changed."
He paused, his gaze profound. "What’s more, Sun’s Martial Arts Hall is not the same as it once was. With a newly ascended Huajin Powerhouse like Yang Jing, their influence has more than doubled. Yuhe County is only so big. We’re bound to run into each other. What good would it do the Li Family to force such a power into opposition?"
The carriage rolled slowly around a street corner. Sunlight filtered through the window, casting mottled patterns of light and shadow inside the carriage. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Li Haitao leaned back against his seat, his brow deeply furrowed. The Grand Elder’s words struck his heart like a hammer, forcing him to re-evaluate the situation.
’He’s right. We’ve already lost. Dragging this out will only lead to greater losses for the Li Family.’
’But to just swallow this insult...’ He couldn’t quite stomach it.
Li Haitao’s fingers tapped unconsciously on his knee. The carriage fell silent once more, leaving only the sound of the rolling wheels.
The silence in the carriage stretched on. The rumbling of the wheels over the stone slabs seemed to magnify, pounding in Li Haitao’s heart.
