"Who are you…?"

Two young men clad in white tunics and matching headbands looked at Li Xiaotian in confusion.

"Brother, don't waste your breath on him," the young man called Li Tong urged, a Miao Knife in his hand and hatred on his face. "This man must be a reinforcement brought by the High Priest. Kill them!"

Just as he was about to move, a cold laugh echoed from the woods behind them. "Hahaha, Li Zhou, Li Tong! Let's see where you two can run now!"

Immediately, seven or eight armed men rushed out. The leader was a young man in a black tunic and matching headband. He wore a nose ring and glared coldly at the Li brothers.

"Sang Kui!" Li Zhou's expression changed drastically as he tightened his grip on his knife.

The brothers had been on the run for some time and were seriously injured. Now faced with such overwhelming numbers, it seemed escape was impossible.

"Brother, we have to fight for our lives!" Li Zhou whispered, wiping the sweat from his face. "I'll hold them off. You run and make sure to get the message out!"

"Brother!" Li Tong cried out, about to protest.

"I'm your older brother, listen to me!" Li Zhou said sternly. "The lives of hundreds of our people in Bai Miao Village are in your hands!"

"I..." Li Tong held back his tears. "Alright! I'll come back as fast as I can to save our people!"

"Good brother!" Li Zhou roared and charged forward.

"Go!"

Li Tong retreated rapidly, trying to escape in another direction.

"Trying to run? Not so easy," Sang Kui sneered. "Kill them!"

At his command, his men immediately fanned out, completely cutting off Li Tong's escape route.

"Li Zhou, I told you that you wouldn't escape," Sang Kui laughed, stepping forward and kicking Li Zhou, sending him flying.

BANG!

Li Zhou was sent flying, crashing down in front of Lin Mu and Li Xiaotian. But Li Zhou was ruthless. Even as he fell, he slashed upwards with his Miao Knife, aiming for Lin Mu's stomach. He moved with incredible speed, clearly making a desperate, final gambit.

"If I can't live, neither can you!"

Lin Mu's eyebrow twitched, ready to act.

"Master, don't kill him!" Li Xiaotian's face changed. He lunged forward, grabbing the back of the blade. With a deft twist, he disarmed Li Zhou, sending the knife clattering to the ground.

"Li Zhou, it's me!" Li Xiaotian said, looking at him with a complex expression, his eyes filled with guilt.

"Brother!" From a distance, Li Tong saw his brother captured and cried out, preparing to charge forward. But Sang Kui's men blocked his path.

Sang Kui laughed heartily. "Thanks for your help. From now on, you are friends of my Heimiao Village." Knife in hand, he advanced, ready to end Li Zhou's life.

"Heimiao Village?" Li Xiaotian's expression turned frigid as he gritted his teeth. "It seems Li Xiaofeng has truly split our Li Clan in two!"

"You… who are you? How do you know the High Priest's name?" Sang Kui's face changed, and he hastily took two steps back.

"Who am I?" Li Xiaotian sneered coldly. "Li Xiaofeng will tell you in due time!"

With a flick of his wrist, the Heavenly Punishment Blade left its sheath.

CLANG!

A crisp ring echoed as a crimson flash of blade energy shot out.

SLICE!

Sang Kui stood frozen. A line of blood appeared, running from between his eyebrows down to his abdomen.

CRUMPLE!

To everyone's horror, Sang Kui's body split vertically in two.

HISS!

The scene not only terrified Sang Kui's men but also stunned the Li brothers.

"You're not with the High Priest?" Li Zhou asked.

"We'll talk later," Li Xiaotian said, advancing with his blade.

Seeing this, Sang Kui's men turned pale and began to retreat frantically, but there was nowhere for them to run. In the blink of an eye, Li Xiaotian cut them all down. Every single one was bisected with a single slash.

Seeing the murderous intent radiating from Li Xiaotian, Lin Mu was uncharacteristically silent.

"Regardless of who you are, thank you for saving me," Li Zhou said, slowly getting to his feet. "If you're just visiting, please leave quickly. A battle is about to break out."

This one-armed elder is too dangerous, Li Zhou thought. He killed Sang Kui, a warrior of the Heimiao Village, with a single strike. Since they're not enemies, I should urge them to leave. Otherwise, given the High Priest's ruthlessness, he'll definitely have them killed to silence them. As for asking them for help… I don't dare. If these two were deliberately sent by the Heimiao Village, I would become a traitor to the Li Clan.

"You've killed people from my Heimiao Village and now you think you can leave? You'll have to ask for my permission first."

As the voice faded, a figure sped in from the distance. After a few swift leaps, he landed before the group. The newcomer was an old man dressed in black, with a large, coiled Big Flower Snake on his arm, which was flicking its forked tongue at everyone.

"The Second Elder of the Heimiao Village!" Seeing the old man, Li Zhou's face paled, his eyes filled with despair. He never expected the Second Elder of the Heimiao Village to come after them personally. It seemed the Heimiao Village was truly determined to wipe out the Bai Miao Village.

The elder glanced at the corpses on the ground before his gaze finally settled on Li Xiaotian, his expression freezing. "You are…" He looked vaguely familiar.

"Li Yin. It's been a long time," Li Xiaotian said, the killing intent on his face completely undisguised.

"It's you… Li Xiaotian!" Li Yin cried out in disbelief. "You're still alive?"

"The Clan Leader?!" Hearing Li Yin's exclamation, the Li brothers stared in disbelief, thinking they had misheard.

"Thanks to you, I'm not dead yet," Li Xiaotian said, pointing at Li Yin with lethal intent. "But today, you most certainly are!"

Back then, Li Xiaofeng had led several Elders in a rebellion. They first killed his parents, then killed or captured anyone who resisted, forcing the remaining clan members to flee for their lives. And Li Yin was the one who had led several experts to hunt him down. If not for his incredible luck, he would have died long ago.

Li Yin's expression shifted erratically before he finally let out a cold sneer. "Li Xiaotian, you shouldn't have come back. Under the High Priest's leadership, the Li Clan will be unified and restored to its former glory. This is a grand undertaking for our clan! You should not have returned at a time like this!" The moment Li Xiaotian returns, the Bai Miao Village will resist to the death, Li Yin thought. Even the dissenting voices that have risen within the Heimiao Village in recent years will erupt completely.

"Bullshit!" Before Li Xiaotian could respond, Li Zhou pointed at Li Yin, his eyes bloodshot with rage. "If you and the High Priest hadn't colluded to murder so many of our Li Clan's elders, would we have fallen to this state?"

Li Zhou was now slowly recalling the clan elders speaking of a Clan Leader who was wandering abroad but would one day return. That person was Li Xiaotian, standing right before them. The brothers had even seen him when they were children, but it had been so long that their memories were hazy.

"Clan Leader, Li Yin and the High Priest, those two old beasts, have killed so many of our people! And now they've even allied with several great families like the Xiao Long, Yang, and Zhao to completely annihilate our Bai Miao Village! They are traitors to our Li Clan! They are criminals!" Li Zhou shouted, his voice thick with emotion and his eyes brimming with tears.

"Hmph, criminals?" Li Yin sneered. "What do you know? This is the irresistible tide of history." He looked at Li Xiaotian and licked his lips. "Li Xiaotian. Because I let you escape back then, the High Priest nearly threw me into the Dragon Lair. This time, as long as I kill you, Bai Miao Village will crumble without a fight."

"You want to kill me? I'm afraid you lack the ability!"

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