Chapter 687 - 688: Nine Deaths and One Life

Chapter 687: Chapter 688: Nine Deaths and One Life

Hua Dingzong had arrived in a horse-drawn carriage.

He had planned to ride back to the city in the carriage with Li Ji.

But Li Ji didn’t even glance at the carriage. He swung himself onto his horse with a fluid, graceful motion.

Hua Dingzong stared, taken aback.

He pointed at the carriage, wanting to ask but not daring to.

Holding the reins with one hand, Li Ji glanced down at Hua Dingzong from his perch on the horse and said coolly,

"What are you dawdling for?"

That one look made Hua Dingzong’s heart tremble, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

Intimidated by the man’s fearsome reputation, Hua Dingzong resentfully shut his mouth, not daring to say more. But he couldn’t rest easy letting Li Ji ride alone. ’What if he just rides off and escapes halfway there?’

Left with no choice, Hua Dingzong had to be the one to back down.

He abandoned the spacious, comfortable carriage and chose to ride a horse instead.

Just as the two were about to leave the camp, a loud shout suddenly rang out.

"Wait!"

A small figure suddenly rushed out.

When Hua Dingzong saw who it was, his face lit up with joy. ’Isn’t this my grandson, whom I haven’t seen in so long!’

He immediately called out, "Xun’er!"

But Li Xun didn’t even spare him a glance, his two dark eyes fixed on Li Ji.

"Are you going back to the Celestial Capital? Take me with you!"

Li Xun spread his arms, blocking Li Ji’s horse.

Princess Rouwan and Yue Niang chased after him, trying to pull Li Xun away and get him back into his tent.

Despite Li Xun’s young age, he was surprisingly strong.

The two women struggled, but for all their effort, they couldn’t drag Li Xun away.

After the long journey, Li Xun looked much thinner than before, but he had also grown taller. His skin was tanned a healthy wheat color, and he was dressed in the plainest coarse-cloth clothes, but his eyes were astonishingly bright.

He stared intently at the man on the horse and declared loudly, enunciating every word.

"I’m going with you to save Mother!"

His mother had been trapped in the palace while trying to save him, and it was still unknown if she was alive or dead.

He was consumed by guilt and self-blame over it.

He hated how useless he was. Not only could he not protect his mother, but he had dragged her into danger.

For days, he hadn’t been able to eat or sleep well, tormented by a heavy heart.

When he heard earlier that the Dog Emperor had sent Elder Zhong’an to negotiate, Li Xun knew this was his chance. If he could return to the Capital City with Elder Zhong’an, he might get to see his mother again.

Li Ji looked down at him, his expression impassive as he replied,

"Move."

Li Xun retorted, "If you don’t take me with you, I’m not moving!"

Faced with his son’s threat, Li Ji had no intention of wasting his breath arguing. He simply called out for Wang Bei.

He pointed at his son blocking the way and said in a low voice, "Take this boy away and lock him up."

Chen Wangbei immediately stepped forward. "My apologies, Young Master."

With that, he yanked Li Xun up and tucked him under his arm like a piece of cargo.

Li Xun struggled with all his might. "Put me down! Father, take me with you! I can help you save Mother! Don’t leave me behind!"

By the end, his eyes had turned red, and his voice was choked with sobs.

At that moment, he was forced to understand a hard truth—

He was truly too weak.

Whether facing Li Qiong, who had already ascended the throne as Emperor, or facing his own father, the Regent King.

He was always the weaker one.

He could bicker and argue with his father on normal days only because his father didn’t want to stoop to a child’s level.

But the moment his father got serious, he didn’t stand a chance.

To his father, his childish threats were nothing more than a toddler’s tantrum, utterly devoid of any real power.

Seeing his father ride further and further away, Li Xun could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

"Take me with you! I’m begging you!"

It was the first time since he was old enough to understand things that he had ever shown such weakness to his father.

Li Ji’s back stiffened.

Hearing the crying and pleading behind him, he couldn’t help but remember the battle at Ghost Wind Castle.

In that battle, Duke Zhen, Li Liao, had been attacked from both front and rear. His army of one hundred thousand was trapped in a desperate situation. At the last moment, he devised a way to draw the enemy’s attention, giving his trusted aides a chance to break through the encirclement with Li Ji.

Li Ji had only been eight years old then, and he had cried and begged his father not to send him away.

Now, Li Xun was also eight years old, and he too was crying, begging his father not to abandon him.

History was repeating itself.

Li Ji had never understood Duke Zhen’s actions back then, but at this moment, he finally did.

And so he made the same choice Duke Zhen had.

He did not look back. He rode away, resolute.

When the backs of the Regent King and Elder Zhong’an finally disappeared from view, Li Xun seemed to lose all his strength. He stopped shouting, but tears continued to stream down his face.

Li Liao took him and wiped away his tears.

"Don’t cry. Your father isn’t taking you with him because he doesn’t want you to be in danger."

Li Xun sobbed, "I know. I’m just... I’m just scared."

’I’m scared that my father and mother won’t come back.’

’I’m scared I’ll become a stinking, unwanted child.’

...

「The two rode straight for the Celestial Capital.」

The City Defense Camp had received word of the approaching army and had already closed the city gates. The capital was under high alert, both inside and out.

The top of the city walls was lined with fully armed soldiers.

As Li Ji approached the gates on his horse, the soldiers all drew their bowstrings, aiming their arrows at him, ready to fire.

With a single command, Li Ji would be shot into a porcupine on the spot.

The sight terrified Hua Dingzong so much that his legs trembled, and he nearly tumbled from his horse.

His palms, clenched around the reins, were slick with cold sweat. He subconsciously glanced at the Regent King beside him.

Li Ji merely gave the top of the walls a cool glance before looking away, his expression unchanged.

His composure was truly astonishing.

Hua Dingzong mustered his courage and asked haltingly,

"Aren’t you afraid?"

Li Ji countered, "Afraid of what?"

Hua Dingzong said, "Of dying, of course."

Before them was a fully armed enemy force, while Li Ji was all alone.

No matter how skilled his martial arts were, there was no way he could escape unscathed from an army of thousands, right?

For him to go in there meant almost certain death.

Li Ji didn’t answer.

In the past, he truly hadn’t been afraid of death.

Back then, he had no attachments, and he felt that death would be more peaceful than life.

He had only gritted his teeth and carried on so he could avenge his father.

Now, he was terrified of death.

Because he now had someone to care for. For her, he couldn’t bear to die.

And also for her, he would risk everything.

After confirming that no one else was with Li Ji, the defending general ordered the gates to be opened.

The heavy city gates opened slowly, letting out a teeth-grinding CREAK.

The gates stopped once they were open just wide enough for one man and his horse to pass through.

Without waiting for a signal, Li Ji moved first.

He rode his horse forward.

Man and horse passed through the gate and entered the city.

Inside, hundreds of soldiers were already waiting in formation, all clad in armor and holding weapons, their gazes fixed nervously on the man who entered.