This woman was indeed Li Jingtian and Chen Donghe's daughter, Li Qingxiao. Li Chengliao had seen her return once in his childhood, but it had been so long that his memory of her had faded. Now, as the head of Mount Yu under the Xiao Family, she carried herself with natural authority.
Li Chengliao led her into the mountain. However, as they descended onto Mount Qingdu, Li Qingxiao's eyes showed a hint of confusion. Looking around, she said in a strained voice, "It has been many years... The household has completely changed."
She walked a few steps along the stone path before the air crackled with the sound of thunder. A bolt of purple lightning fell from the sky, revealing a woman clad in jade armor and white boots. With a long spear in hand, she landed with the tip pointed to the ground. Her almond-shaped eyes were wide with astonishment as she cried out, "Little sister!"
Li Qingxiao quickly looked up, her hair ornaments jingling softly. The two pairs of eyes, faintly similar, met. Li Qingxiao's gaze carried a hint of complexity as she said gently, "Decades have passed, yet elder sister has not changed at all."
Li Qinghong lowered her gaze and remained silent. The Li Qingxiao before her was nothing like the girl in her memories. Instead, she now resembled their late mother, Madam Dou, with an air of power and prestige.
Descending swiftly, Li Qinghong grasped her younger sister's hand. Li Qingxiao glanced at the purple lightning surrounding her elder sister, her eyes filled with admiration as she said, "Congratulations, elder sister, on achieving the Foundation Establishment Realm."
Li Xizhi, carrying the subdued demon, gave Li Chengliao a meaningful look. The group quickly dispersed, leaving the two sisters to walk alone in the mountains. Li Qinghong, being slightly taller, walked ahead, while Li Qingxiao looked up at her. Both seemed at a loss for words, and silence hung heavily between them.
They didn't speak much, yet the absence of their childhood camaraderie in the mountain air was palpable. Each had walked their own path so far that it seemed they had little left to say.
Li Qingxiao finally broke the silence, "While I was in seclusion recently, I missed some news..."
She hesitated for a moment, then said with sadness, "Both of our elder brothers have passed, leaving just us two sisters."
This struck a chord deep within Li Qinghong. Growing up with her sister, she had envisioned many futures—some solemn, some peaceful—but she had always assumed she would die pursuing the Dao. Never had she imagined it would be just the two of them left.
Li Qinghong was about to speak when the formation outside lit up again, and a hoarse voice called out, "Liu Changdie... requests an audience!"
Li Qinghong sighed softly. Seeing someone go out to receive the guest, she remained still but calculated quietly. It seemed all of Li Yuanjiao's remaining friends and kin had now come. She said gently to her sister, "Let me take you to visit our elder brother's resting place. Let this come to an end..."
The two sisters headed toward the tomb. Outside the formation, Liu Changdie was greeted personally by Li Xuanxuan. Liu Changdie looked distraught, standing dazed in the rain, his face full of disbelief.
Li Xuanxuan called to him several times, noting that Liu Changdie's cultivation had surprisingly reached the Foundation Establishment Realm—an impressive feat. But Liu Changdie remained motionless, and after several breaths, he finally stammered, "Senior, please do not deceive me. Is Yuanjiao really dead, or is he faking it?"
"What kind of talk is that..." Li Xuanxuan's expression left no doubt.
Liu Changdie's heart felt like it was collapsing under a landslide. Hot tears streamed down his face as he muttered, grief-stricken and disoriented, "How could this be..."
More words swirled chaotically in his mind, words he dared not say aloud, How is this possible! Since my rebirth, everything has changed so much... there has been no siege by Master Monks, Li Qinghong hasn't sacrificed herself, Senior Tongya even decapitated a Maha, Li Xuanfeng is renowned in the southern borders, and Li Xuanxuan hasn't descended into madness. Yet... yet I somehow caused Brother Jiao's death!
How could this happen! Liu Changdie staggered forward, unable to hear Li Xuanxuan's words beside him. His thoughts were a storm of contradictions, Is this better or worse? Yes, the Li Family has prospered, but Brother Jiao entered a grotto heaven only to lose his life. I... I've disrupted everything. I caused his death!
Bitterness and guilt consumed him. Since his rebirth, he had been consumed by the pursuit of spirit treasures and power. Each step forward brought a new wave of fear as he discovered the world's conspiracies and machinations.
And in all his efforts, he had lost the closest friend of his past life, even feeling responsible for his demise. Liu Changdie's head swam, and he fell to his knees before the gravestone, weeping softly.
The Li Family members present couldn't understand his profound sorrow and exchanged puzzled glances. Liu Changdie's grief was so raw and heartfelt that even Li Xuanxuan began to suspect, Could it be... that Yuanjiao and this man were truly close in life?
Liu Changdie, consumed by grief, was also overcome with a creeping dread. In his past life, he had been naive and ignorant, always relying on this old friend's guidance. Yuanjiao had always arranged his affairs flawlessly, and Liu Changdie owed him countless unrepaid kindnesses.
Now, with foreknowledge and the advantage of rebirth, Liu Changdie had never sought Yuanjiao's advice, never spoken to him at length. Yet Yuanjiao had still met a premature death. As the years wore on, the advantages of his rebirth diminished, and the weight of his ignorance in his previous life became clearer. His regret grew heavier with every passing moment.
He cried for a long time, until even Li Xuanxuan, unable to bear it, stepped forward to comfort him. Liu Changdie finally stood, his face streaked with tears, and choked out, "Brother Jiao!"
————
Yuan Fuyao had stayed at the Li Family estate for several months, dispatching his people to inquire about the dowry arrangements, only for them to return with blank faces and no answers.
His men first approached the Jade Court Guards. They intercepted one in the street, pulling him into an empty alley under the pretext of delivering a message, while attempting to slip something into his hand.
However, the Jade Court Guard, skeptical but curious, followed them into the alley. When the bribe of spirit stones was pressed into his hand, he reacted as if he had touched a burning coal, leaping backward in alarm and scattering the stones onto the ground with a loud clatter.
"I have done nothing to offend Young Master Fuyao! Why are you trying to implicate me?" the guard shouted.
The two Yuan Family men were unceremoniously chased out of the alley, stumbling and bewildered. Frustrated, they blamed their bad luck for running into such a fool and decided to seek out two Li Family soldiers instead.
Logic dictated that common soldiers would have no insight into something as significant as the dowry, but they thought at least these soldiers could serve as informants. To their dismay, the two soldiers ended up red-faced and on the verge of coming to blows with each other during their questioning.
The Yuan Family men returned in utter disarray. Yuan Fuyao, having failed in his attempts to bribe the Li Family servants himself, sat in a daze. He had been met with polite but firm refusals, his gestures of goodwill rebuffed at every turn.
"This Li Family... how strict and unyielding they are! Their laws are harsh, and even the military and civilians alike are fearful of stepping out of line!" he muttered, his face darkening with regret.
Turning to his attendants, he said with frustration, "Now that the bribes have failed, they will undoubtedly use this incident to curry favor with the Li Family and make me look foolish!"
The attendants exchanged uneasy glances, silently lamenting, The ancestor warned you repeatedly to maintain a humble demeanor—now look at the mess you've made!
Yuan Fuyao, as if sitting on pins and needles, noticed the confusion on his attendants' faces. He bit his lip and said through gritted teeth, "What would you know? My father only told me to follow orders, but I am not entirely clueless. Trouble is brewing in our family! I must find out how this dowry was arranged and where it is headed. Only then will I have a bargaining chip—whether to retreat or to stay, I need a path forward."
Yuan Fuyao continued, "If I truly marry into the Li Family, I will lose both my freedom and my support. No one will bother to look out for me! And if something happens to our family, I will be cast aside like a discarded pawn."
Hearing this, the two attendants were convinced by the reasoning and softened their attitudes, now trying to come up with ideas. Yuan Fuyao, still restless, added anxiously, "My father kept such a major matter from me and did not even tell me the details of the dowry arrangements before heading off to the Eastern Sea. What is his plan?"
One of the attendants, uncertain of how to console him, could only reply cautiously, "The ancestor likely has his reasons for such arrangements."