Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

face.

“Let’s go to the front.” The young man noticed the expression on her face, so he took her soft hand in his and squeezed through the crowd.

After they finally managed to get themselves right in front of the crowd, Fang Rou only threw him a grateful glance without even saying thank you out loud.
She looked through the slats of the hall’s panels and saw the haggard Li Yu in the middle of the hall, his body covered in bloodstains.

“Brother Li Yu…” Fang Rou stopped herself in time before calling out to him.
Seeing the sheer number of wounds all over him made her feel an excruciating pain in her heart.
Her thin lips were so tightly pursed that they had begun to bleed, but she didn’t feel it at all.

“Li Yu, you walked out on this family three years ago and ruined the Li family’s reputation, and now, you almost brought disaster upon us.
What do you have to say for yourself?” said an old man seated on the chair reserved for the oldest person in the family in a steady voice after clearing his throat.
His face was covered in deep wrinkles and his all white hair looked like the aerial roots of a very old tree.

Li Yu scoffed and spat out some blood in his mouth before responding in a hateful voice, “Humph! That stupid bitch insulted me first that day.
How is it my fault now? I left home because I was the one who couldn’t hold my anger in.
Didn’t that give the family a way out of the situation without falling out with her family? It’s just too bad that I have the worst luck.
I came back with great treasures but ran into robbers.
The plans I had didn’t work out and some unforeseen circumstances came my way.
That’s how I got to this point.
All of you have already come to a decision, haven’t you? What’s the point in talking?”

“Humph! How dare you argue back? What an obstinate child,” said the old man with a loud snort as his eyebrows furrowed deeply in anger.
He glared frostily at the young man in front of him who continued to keep his head raised and refused to kneel.

“Since things have come to this, just announce the decision made by the elders of the family,” said another old man with a long sigh as he glanced at Li Yu and stroked his gray beard.

Li Xingjian watched everything unfold with no expression on his face, but he wasn’t feeling good inside.
After all, the young man in the middle of the hall was his own flesh and blood, yet he had been the one who had pushed his son into a corner.
His emotions were conflicted for that moment, but after the moment had passed, he slowly hid away the sadness and bitterness he felt.

He took a deep breath and his face tensed up as he said, “The head of the family and the elders have come to a unanimous decision on the punishment that Li Yu must face for the multiple wrongdoings he has committed.
One, he shall be chased out of the family and cannot receive any financial aid from any member of this family.
Two, he shall be removed from the Li family genealogy.
Three, his dantian shall be destroyed and his meridian channels shattered.
The main tendon of his hands and feet shall be severed…”

“Stop!” Fang Rou couldn’t take it anymore.
She forced her way into the hall and stood in front of Li Yu, then looked pleadingly at the esteemed elders of the Li family before falling to her knees with a loud thud.
Her voice cracked as she said, “I beg you, please, let Brother Li Yu off.
He cannot cultivate to begin with and it will be hard enough to survive if he leaves the family without any money.
If you also severe his tendons and destroy his dantian and meridian channels, he wouldn’t even be able to learn the sort of martial arts that ordinary folk learn, which would leave him with no way to survive!!”

As she spoke, she hit her fair forehead against the hard and cold stone floor again and again.
Tears poured down her cheeks, turning into colorful pearls before shattering as they hit the floor.

“Rou’er…” The faces of Li Xingjian and the rest instinctively relaxed when they saw who it was.
This young lady was the daughter of a concubine, but she was born with much talent and had already hit Beginner Foundation Establishment even at this young age.
She was destined to become one whom the family would rely on in the future.
The elders on the brink of death were usually a lot more forgiving toward the younger generation with potential to become great.

But the person whom Li Yu had offended this time was an Origin Core cultivator whom nobody knew anything about.
Even if they let Li Yu off this time, they would definitely look like they were merely trying to protect one of their own.

Someone at Origin Core wasn’t anybody that great in Fengyang, but that depended on who you were talking to.
The Li family lived in a more secluded part of the city and was depending on a business that was started by their ancestors.
It was getting more and more difficult to keep the family going and the family was declining day by day.
They didn’t even have an Origin Core cultivator in the family right now.
The only ones holding the fort were these elderly members who were still stuck at Peak Foundation Establishment and they couldn’t hold up much longer either.

If they became enemies with an Origin Core cultivator at this point in time, they would be completely destroyed.

“I…I’m willing to take the punishment for Brother Li Yu.” Fang Rou wasn’t a young child who didn’t understand the consequences of her actions.
She knew exactly what was going on.
She wasn’t hoping that Li Yu could be let off completely either.
She just hoped to share the burden with him, even if she could only share a little of it.

“Rou’er, don’t plead with them! I’d rather die than accept their pity! Moreover, this is pity at the expense of yourself!” Li Yu pulled Fang Rou to her feet and pulled her behind him to protect her as he glared angrily at the rest of his family.

“I think…that’s possible.” To everyone’s surprise, the young man who was walking to the hall with Fang Rou earlier suddenly took a step forward and spoke thoughtfully, “My esteemed elders, Rou’er’s giftedness is an extraordinary one.
She’s only cultivated for a few years and she’s already made it to Foundation Establishment.
If we could use that to get on good terms with that Origin Core cultivator, that would do the Li family much good…”

He didn’t go on, but nobody in the hall was stupid.
They immediately realized what the young man was driving at.
Their eyes lit up and the gears in their heads began to turn quickly.

TL/N: HUMPHH EXCUSE ME ↩️