Outside the villa, Li Zhonglou's car drove directly to the entrance.
Before it had even stopped, he had already leaped out of the car window. Seeing Xu Lie sitting on the ground, his eyes unfocused, Li Zhonglou's eyes turned bloodshot, and he was furious.
His body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, reaching Xu Lie's side.
He cradled Xu Lie in his arms.
"Brother Xu, hold on, you won't die. I have the Qingyan Shi... I have medicine!" Li Zhonglou's voice was distorted, his hand trembling as he fumbled in his pocket for the half Qingyan Shi.
However, Xu Lie's breath had already completely vanished.
By the time he pulled out the half Qingyan Shi and tried to put it into Xu Lie's mouth, he couldn't pry it open.
His heart had stopped beating entirely, and the internal true qi, like a burst balloon, was rapidly dissipating.
The man was dead, his meridians severed.
Xu Lie was a martial artist; unlike ordinary people who might feign death, if he had shown any sign of life, his true qi would not have scattered.
At this moment, Li Zhonglou's tears poured down like a breached dam.
He roared at the sky, "I was too late, I was too late! Oh, God, I should be the one to die! Damn it all!"
The usually refined and reserved Li Zhonglou was now like a cornered lion.
His voice was no less than the rumble of distant thunder.
The half Qingyan Shi in his hand rolled onto the ground.
This item could save the living but could not revive the dead.
At this moment, Li Zhonglou had never felt so powerless.
In an instant, scenes of meeting, befriending, and accompanying Xu Lie, from his past life and present, flashed before his eyes.
Xu Lie had saved him from countless dire situations, protecting him with his life. Without Xu Lie, he would have long since been shattered and left with no intact corpse.
Now, he thought he had changed everyone's fate. He thought by having Xu Lie learn the Lin family's cultivation techniques, he would live a long life.
He regretted it...
He regretted letting Xu Lie stay in Qin Prefecture to protect his family. He regretted running to Yong'an to find the Bichen Bead to exchange for something, wanting his master to divine the heavens.
He should have realized long ago that Tian Shan would personally take action.
If he had arrived just two minutes earlier, Xu Lie would not have died.
All of this was because he was too careless, too arrogant.
The one who should die was him!
But every time, it was Xu Lie who took the brunt of the disaster for him.
At this moment, the villa door opened from the inside. Jiang Yuxin appeared at the doorway, her face filled with shock. Seeing Xu Lie, who was already lifeless in Li Zhonglou's arms, tears immediately streamed from her beautiful eyes.
"Li Zhonglou, I want your entire family to pay for this eye!" Seeing Jiang Yuxin, Tian Shan covered his profusely bleeding eye, his voice as sharp as a bone-scraping knife, hysterical.
He hadn't expected Xu Lie, this fierce tiger, to be so reckless.
He had shattered his own heart and lungs to heavily injure his eye.
He had calculated and schemed, but he hadn't accounted for this.
Li Zhonglou had destroyed everything he had, destroyed Xingzhi Group, and now his eyeballs.
Now, only boundless resentment remained in his heart.
He wanted Jiang Yuxin to pay the price for his blind eye.
Li Zhonglou heard this, gently placed down Xu Lie's corpse, his gums bleeding from exerting too much force.
His voice choked with grief, "Brother Xu, I will personally kill Tian Shan and avenge you. Wait for me!"
Having said that, he turned his head to look at Tian Shan, his bloodshot eyes filled with an iron-like killing intent that shook the soul.
"Die!"
With a furious roar, Li Zhonglou lunged at Tian Shan like a cannonball.
Without any defensive posture, he attacked with all his might, leaving no room for hesitation.
"You are seeking death, I shall grant it." A cruel glint flashed in Tian Shan's single eye as he raised his palm to meet the attack.
He intended to replicate his previous move and pierce Li Zhonglou's heart and lungs.
Li Zhonglou's gaze was as firm as iron, showing no sign of evasion. It was a life-for-a-life gamble, completely mirroring Xu Lie's fighting style.
But his combat experience was nowhere near Xu Lie's.
Moreover, Tian Shan had already suffered a loss once; how could he risk his only eye again?
This palm strike was enough to shatter Li Zhonglou's internal organs, allowing him to retreat unharmed.
At this critical moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind, "Tian Shan, I didn't expect me to be here, did I?"
Hearing this voice, Tian Shan trembled.
Just as his palm was about to strike Li Zhonglou's chest, he hastily withdrew his hand and turned.
*Bang!*
He took Li Zhonglou's palm strike directly on his shoulder.
His body stumbled, and using that momentum, he flew backward.
His steps were swift, and he instantly fled nearly ten meters away.
"Trying to escape?" Li Zhonglou reacted immediately. Seeing Tian Shan about to flee, he leaped forward to pursue.
*Slap!*
However, Shen Yishou grabbed his clothes and pulled him back.
"What are you doing?" Li Zhonglou was furious.
Shen Yishou looked at Tian Shan, who had disappeared without a trace after a few turns, and asked, "Are you tired of living?"
"With your strength, you think you can chase Tian Shan?"
"Even with only one eye and one hand, he can still kill you easily!"
"Your death doesn't concern me much, but can Lin Zhendong let me go?"
Li Zhonglou was stunned. He desperately suppressed his tears and asked through gritted teeth, "Why didn't you stop him?"
He couldn't remember how many years it had been since he last cried. He had once thought he had lost the ability to cry, but now, watching Xu Lie die before his eyes, his heart felt like it was being torn apart.
A man only sheds tears when his heart is truly broken.
His brother died because of him.
And he was powerless.
This was fate's greatest punishment upon him!
"I would have to be able to stop him, wouldn't I? Look at my leg, can I catch up?" Shen Yishou patted his lame leg, rolling his eyes.
He hadn't expected Tian Shan to be so quick to flee upon hearing his voice. Without a moment's hesitation, he had bolted.
If he had anticipated this, he would have stopped him, but now the opportunity was gone.
With his strength and Li Zhonglou's combined, and with Tian Shan having lost an eye, if he hadn't chosen to run, they might have stood a chance.
But if he was determined to escape, no one could catch him.
After all, that was the man known as the Thousand-Faced Phantom. Even state agencies couldn't catch him. There were fewer than five people in this world who could subdue him.
At this moment, Liu Zhiru, supporting Zheng Xiumei, walked to the doorway.
Seeing Xu Lie on the ground and the two people in tears, she asked with a trembling voice, "Zhonglou, Xu Lie he..."
"Mom, Brother Xu is tired, he's just sleeping." Li Zhonglou's voice was choked. He forced down his grief and walked back to Xu Lie's side.
He held his body, which had not yet completely cooled, in his arms.
He didn't know how to tell his mother. His mother had already regarded Xu Lie as an adopted son.
During those days, Xu Lie had stood guard at the door every day, protecting her safety. They had already become like family.
Her heart condition had not yet recovered, and she could not bear this blow.
"Mom, take Mom inside... You all go back, we will handle things here ourselves." Jiang Yuxin also forced back her tears, urging her mother.
Seeing this, Liu Zhiru dared not speak and supported Zheng Xiumei back into the living room.
*Thump!*
The moment Jiang Yuxin closed the door, Li Zhonglou knelt on the ground.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Xu, we were brothers in this life, and we will be brothers again in the next life to repay your great kindness."
"In this life, I will live well, you can rest assured. I will treat Qianqian as my own sister and will never let her suffer any grievances."
"I swear with my life, I will personally take Tian Shan's head to offer to you. If I break this oath, I shall not be human!"