Luo Feng led the special forces team members to form an advance party and headed directly to the Li family.
As Qian Deshui had secretly contacted Xu Jinsong and Wu Gang earlier, the two had already gone south overnight and parachuted into the Lingnan Military Region to stabilize morale, so as to prevent Li Erzhou from going completely rogue and engaging in a fight to the death with Chen Jinzhao. The vast territory must not fall into turmoil.
After Luo Feng left, Chen Jinzhao returned to Li Taihao.
Li Taihao’s face was ashen, and he kept begging Chen Jinzhao to kill him. He did not want to betray the Li family.
This would make him a sinner of the Li family!
Chen Jinzhao said lightly, "You are not a sinner of the Li family, but rather a contributor to the Li family. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know how to get the Li family back on the right track. If the Li family makes one mistake after another, they might be wiped out."
Li Taihao’s face turned pale again, and he was speechless.
"Let's go."
"Let's go to the Li family mansion and see what your father has arranged," Chen Jinzhao said. All the strength in Li Taihao's body seemed to have been drained, and he needed two special forces members to support him to leave.
Li Taihao was thrown into the car, completely stripped of his freedom.
Watching the car leave the international port and head towards the Li family mansion, Li Taihao shed tears of regret. If it weren't for the two special forces members watching him, he would have shot himself by now.
Meanwhile.
At the foot of the mountain in the 5A-rated scenic area, the Li family mansion remained peaceful.
Except for Li Erzhou and Chi Hu, no one knew that disaster was imminent. They only knew that after tonight, the sun would rise as usual tomorrow. This was because only the three most core members of the Li family knew about this plan; others were not privy to such classified information.
In the study.
Li Erzhou and Chi Hu could not contact Li Taihao, which made them restless.
Li Erzhou paced back and forth in the study with his hands behind his back, frequently asking Chi Hu about the progress on the front lines. Chi Hu's palms were sweating with nervousness. "I still can't contact the people at the port, but I've planted informants nearby. According to them, there was indeed an explosion at the port, and the casualty situation is still unknown."
"It's already ignited?" Li Erzhou was stunned.
Thinking that his son might have been buried in the sea of flames, Li Erzhou looked remorseful. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't touched Tao Qiyue back then, I wouldn't have brought trouble to the Li family, and I wouldn't have to put him in danger now. I've wronged him, and my heart is uneasy!"
Chi Hu pursed his lips and comforted the old man to be more optimistic.
Everyone dies eventually; some deaths are as light as a feather, while others are as heavy as Mount Tai.
Li Taihao's death was as heavy as Mount Tai for the Li family, the most valuable, and all members of the Li family would remember his name.
Ring ring!
The telephone on the desk rang. Li Erzhou picked up the phone directly and said, "Speak, what is it?"
Chi Hu looked at Li Erzhou.
Li Erzhou's face turned ugly at a visible speed, his complexion gradually fading, replaced by a paper-like paleness.
Clatter!
The phone in Li Erzhou's hand fell to the floor, his eyes becoming vacant and lifeless.
"Great-Grandfather, what happened?" Chi Hu lunged forward and asked for details.
Seeing Li Erzhou remain silent, Chi Hu picked up the phone and tried to ask the person on the other end, but they had already hung up, leaving Chi Hu bewildered.
"Great-Grandfather, you are..."
Chi Hu was burning with anxiety.
Li Erzhou supported himself with one hand on the desk and slowly sat down in the chair.
"It's over, our Li family is finished..." These words came out of his mouth, and Chi Hu's heart sank. He quickly asked, "Great-Grandfather, say something!"
Li Erzhou's gaze refocused, looking at Chi Hu's young face, and said bitterly, "Good child, hurry and leave the Li family mansion and go seek refuge with the Wu family. With your talent, you will surely be cultivated by the Wu family. Don't hesitate any longer, leave immediately!"
With that.
The old man even pushed Chi Hu.
Chi Hu's mind went blank, realizing that something catastrophic might have happened.
Under his repeated questioning, Li Erzhou finally said, "Your grandfather's operation has failed, and Chen Jinzhao is unharmed! Xu Jinsong and Wu Gang have parachuted into the Lingnan Military Region and taken command! If nothing unexpected happens, Chen Jinzhao should be on his way. The Li family is on the verge of collapse. A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall. Leave quickly!"
"What?!" Chi Hu's face suddenly changed.
This was devastating news for him. He muttered, "How could Chen Jinzhao not be dead? The explosive power we designed was close to that of a small nuclear weapon. How could he, a mere Shackled Realm cultivator, survive an explosion of this magnitude?"
No matter what, Chi Hu couldn't believe this.
"Then there is only one possibility: our plan was long foreseen by Chen Jinzhao, so he was able to sabotage it from the source," Li Erzhou sighed bitterly. Only now did he realize that Chen Jinzhao was not a brainless brute; on the contrary, Chen Jinzhao was sometimes terrifyingly meticulous.
Even he, an elder who had seen great storms, felt inferior.
Seeing that Chi Hu still wanted to say something, Li Erzhou waved his hand and interrupted him, "What we need to do now is not to review the failure, but to protect ourselves in the coming storm. You are the Qilin son of our Li family, so hurry and leave, and grow under the cultivation of the Wu family!"
The underlying meaning of these words was to one day avenge the Li family!
Chi Hu immediately shook his head, saying he couldn't leave and had to stay by the old man's side. At this moment, he could not be a coward, otherwise, he would live with this failure for the rest of his life.
Just as they were arguing, a middle-aged man ran over in a panic and knocked on the study door, informing them that the Li family mansion had been surrounded. Li Erzhou's expression turned dejected, and Chi Hu also sighed, "I can't leave even if I wanted to now. It seems even the heavens want me to stay. This is my destiny."
Li Erzhou made a decisive move and ordered all members of the Li family to gather in the conference hall.
In addition, Chi Hu ordered his subordinates to defend the gates of the Li family to the death, not to retreat half a step unless the last man fell!
The entire Li family was shrouded in gloom, and everyone's hearts were heavy with foreboding.
Li Erzhou straightened his spirits and sat on the main seat, looking around. Li Xiaoning, Li Taihang, and Li Taicheng in the crowd had different thoughts, as they had guessed what was about to happen. All they had to do now was wait quietly.
"Tonight is a life-or-death moment for the Li family. If we cannot overcome this challenge, the Li family will fall apart and cease to exist," Li Erzhou said with startling words, causing many Li family disciples' faces to change drastically and show expressions of shock.
"With the enemy at our gates, what our Li family needs to do is unite and face the enemy together. Yet, there is a traitor among us! Before we fight the enemy to the death, I will cleanse the Li family before the ancestors of the Li family, scraping the bones to remove the poison!"
"Li Xiaoning, get out here!"