Those people had already been terrified by Li Tan, and had completely lost their will to fight.
Li Tan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, walked toward the head of the Liu family, and beheaded him with one sword stroke.
The head of the Liu family rolled away like a ball.
Thus, the matter involving the Liu family was finally settled.
“As for what comes next, I’ll leave it to you. We can talk about anything else later.”
With this calm remark, Li Tan swiftly left the martial arts arena and headed toward the entrance to find Li Yang and the others.
At this time, Li Yang and the rest appeared to be in trouble, locked in a bitter struggle.
There were only two people from the Liu family, a man and a woman, both extremely arrogant in expression, and their strength was formidable. Supported by five or six members of the Liu family, they were holding their ground against more than ten of Li Yang’s people, even finding time to mock them.
“Give up already! With a cripple, an immature little girl, and a bunch of clueless fools, you’re no match for us at all!”
The man at the front said, forcing Li Hantian to retreat step by step.
The other woman, with a seductive air, was locked in battle with Li Yang. Her experience was also very seasoned. Taking advantage of Li Yang’s impaired mobility, she kept changing positions to attack him relentlessly. Li Yang was clearly outmatched, his face filled with anger and helplessness. Worse still, he had to protect Li Jiaying, leaving him completely at a loss.
“Surrender! Even if you escape now, where can you go?
Uncle, you can run but you can’t hide forever. The head of our family will soon come with people to destroy your home. No matter how vast the world is, there will be no place for you to hide. If you surrender now, I might spare the little girl’s life. How about making her my personal servant?”
The woman, seemingly skilled in a certain footwork technique, dodged Li Yang’s attacks effortlessly while continuing to taunt him.
Li Yang was physically and mentally exhausted, but every time he thought of Li Tan, he found the courage to resist once again.
However, courage aside, the gap in strength was insurmountable.
The woman seized an opening in Li Yang’s defense, thrusting her sword forward. However, just before it reached Li Yang’s chest, she smirked and, instead, feigned an attempt to abduct Li Jiaying.
She didn’t want to kill Li Yang too easily. She wanted to torment him, to make him die in endless regret, satisfying her twisted psyche.
“Uncle, your precious daughter is in my hands now. If you don’t willingly destroy your cultivation, I might get scared and lose control of my hands,” the woman giggled happily.
Li Jiaying’s mouth was covered, struggling and writhing her body helplessly, making muffled sounds.
“Ying’er! You evil woman! Have some courage and come after me! What kind of feat is it to bully a little girl!”
Li Yang saw this and felt anxious and helpless.
“Oh my, I’m so scared,” the woman mocked with a laugh and cruelly pinched Li Jiaying’s neck hard.
Li Jiaying wore a pained expression, clearly in great discomfort.
“Stop! I’ll do whatever you say!”
Li Yang’s heart was bleeding. He suppressed his immense fury and slowly raised his hand toward his dantian.
Li Jiaying shook her head desperately—if she could speak, she would definitely say not to worry about her.
But Li Yang could never ignore her.
Li Jiaying was his life.
“Hurry up, hurry up!”
The woman cruelly grinned.
Just as Li Yang was about to destroy his dantian, a figure flashed past and appeared behind the woman.
Puchi! A rusty iron sword pierced through the woman’s heart.
“I made it in time.” Li Tan pulled out the sword as the woman fell to the ground.
He picked up Li Jiaying, gently stroking her back, and softly, tenderly comforted her: “It’s okay now. Everything’s okay.”
Wah! Li Jiaying, tears streaming down her face, threw herself into his chest, instantly releasing all her pressure.
Soon, the other man and all the Liu family members were subdued, and the news from the martial arts arena spread out.
When Li Hantian heard the news, he even doubted whether his ears were malfunctioning. He repeatedly asked for confirmation many times before finally standing there, stunned and motionless.
Lin Cui didn’t know what expression to wear, the regret in her heart growing even stronger.
At an inn near the Dan Pavilion in Linjiang, Li Tan and Tang Leyin were brewing tea.
“The black-robed men had placed two sacrificial pawns within the Liu family. Presumably, in desperation, they took advantage of the martial arts competition to have the Liu family find an excuse to kill the leaders of the other two major families. Their plan was indeed quite clever, but it’s already been resolved without serious consequences.”
“They were betting that you wouldn’t go there.”
“Yes, normally, I should have been acting with you. The martial arts competition was indeed a minor matter; even if I paid attention, I wouldn’t have spent time watching it.”
As Li Tan said this, he actually felt a bit fearful.
If he hadn’t gone to participate in the Frost Festival competition because of his concern for Li Jiaying, he would have already lost sight of Li Zhen and the others.
“What was the result?”
“The two black-robed men were killed, the head of the Liu family was killed, and I didn’t deal with anything else. What about you?”
“The traitor at the city lord’s mansion was the apprentice of the family physician. Perhaps he had received help from the black-robed men, secretly replacing the medicine his master had prepared without anyone noticing. I’ve already destroyed his cultivation and handed him over to Ming Gongzi for disposal. Then I had him send false information to lure out the leader of the black-robed men.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No, but he committed suicide.”
Li Tan took a sip of tea, set the cup down, and recalling everything before his rebirth, couldn’t help but feel a pang of bitterness.
“Le yin, what are your plans next?”
“Me?” Tang Leyin thought for a moment, then smiled lightly: “I’ll continue wandering. Being a wandering swordsman is quite good. Occasionally, I’ll go to the independent cultivator guild to take on some missions.”
Thinking of the reasons why Li Jiaying had wandered, Li Tan’s heart ached slightly, and he said, “How about coming with me?”
Tang Leyin looked at Li Tan somewhat unexpectedly. Obviously, that sentence was a bit too intimate.
But she didn’t show any unhappiness either. However, as if thinking of something, her expression dimmed slightly: “Being with me might bring unnecessary trouble to the young master. It’s better not to.”
“I…” Li Tan was about to say he didn’t mind, but he didn’t get the words out.
Because the trouble Tang Leyin referred to was something he couldn’t handle at all in his current state.
If those people came looking for him, not only would he be unable to protect Tang Leyin, but he himself might also meet a tragic end.
That would make his rebirth meaningless.
Silence, silence, silence.
After a long while, Li Tan helplessly uttered two words from his mouth: “Take care.”
“Mm.”
Tang Leyin nodded, “You too, young master. Then, until we meet again.”
Tang Leyin smiled at Li Tan, a bright smile like a spring garden, refreshing and pleasing to the heart.
Then, she picked up her luggage and left.
Li Tan stood by the window, gazing at her somewhat lonely figure in the distance, silently vowing in his heart: “We will meet again. Next time, I will never let you go again, and no one will be able to take you away from me!”
Thus, all matters in Linjiang came to a close.
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