“Where are my other two nephews?”
Li Xuan rubbed Li Liangyu’s dry, brittle hair. The child was as thin as a stick.
Without water, crops couldn’t survive. If the family hadn’t had some leftover grain, they would have starved to death long ago. But that was merely enough to avoid starvation; to eat and drink their fill was utterly impossible.
“Second… Second Uncle, Second Brother and Third Brother said they were going to kill those people’s whole families, and I couldn’t stop them…”
Li Liangyu stammered, trembling. Li Xuan had left home when Li Liangyu was five, so his impression of him was already vague. Now, seeing his Second Uncle with bloodied hands and a fearsome face, he was terrified.
Li Xuan frowned at the words.
“Father!”
Li Ping threw the long saber, full of nicks, to Li Xuan, “You go ahead!”
Li Xuan didn’t waste words, grabbed the saber, and left.
“Since my two nephews have already said it, if they don’t follow through, wouldn’t the villagers look down on our Sun Family!”
Li Ping looked at Li Xuan’s receding back, lost in thought.
“Liangyu!”
“Grandpa…”
“You must abandon your kindness. When your Second Uncle returns, have him take you to kill your father’s murderer!”
“Grandpa…” Li Liangyu mumbled, his face full of hesitation and distress.
“Sigh~ Sigh~” Li Ping sighed twice. A life of toiling in the fields, how could one be so weak and kind? He should have listened to his second son back then and not sent him to the master’s house in town…
Although five springs had passed, the layout of the houses in the village hadn’t changed much.
Li Xuan traveled through, saber in hand!
Every household he passed had their doors and windows shut, and not a single person was visible in the entire village, fearing that Li Xuan would break in.
Li Xuan felt the gazes from various households and sneered incessantly.
“I’ll settle accounts with you all sooner or later!”
Li Xuan didn’t know which household his two nephews had gone to, so he could only search each of the thirteen households one by one.
In the Wang family’s courtyard.
This was the home of Wang Erniu, whom Li Xuan had just killed.
Wang Erniu was an outsider but didn’t associate with the small Alliance formed by their Sun Family. Instead, he curried favor with the Sun Family.
“You little beast, how dare you!”
“When my father comes back, he will definitely chop you all up!”
In the courtyard lay a stout woman, blood flowing like a stream from her waist, deader than dead.
Another woman was slumped on the ground, clutching her wound and panting heavily.
Only two young boys, about the same age as Li Ling, held pitchforks, shielding the injured woman behind them.
Li Xi narrowed his eyes and gave a look to his Third Brother beside him.
The two changed positions, and Li Ling ran to the side to pick up stones and throw them.
The pitchforks were too long, and they had no long weapons in their hands, so they could only slowly wear them down like this.
The two young boys winced from the blows, yet dared not move away. Li Xi and Li Ling were too ruthless; as soon as they entered, they immediately stabbed the two women without a word.
Rural women had rough hands and feet, and their strength was not much less than men’s. Not dealing with them made it a pipe dream to kill the entire Wang family.
“Third Brother, hurry up!”
The two Wang children could no longer hold back and rushed over, trying to fork Li Xi.
“Third Brother!”
As the two children moved, Li Ling, who had been throwing stones, quickly circled behind Li Xi, pulled out a sharpened iron rod, and plunged it fiercely into the woman’s neck!
“Mother!”
“I’ll kill you!”
Li Xi flashed out the door and slammed the wooden courtyard gate shut.
The Wang child couldn’t break it open for a moment and quickly turned back to look for Li Ling.
But in the courtyard, apart from two corpses, there was no trace of Li Ling.
Boom!
A burning torch landed on the thatched roof!
Li Ling emerged from behind Li Xi, carrying an arm-thick staff on his shoulder.
The two brothers together propped it against the inside of the wooden door.
“Third Brother! Let’s go!”
“Second Brother, they’re not dead yet!”
Li Xi stopped explaining, pulled Li Ling’s hand, and turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, a tall figure stood behind them.
“You!”
Li Ling was startled and was about to pull out his iron rod, but Li Xi held his hand tightly.
“Uncle, we were just passing by…”
Li Xi shielded his brother behind him, speaking while slowly retreating in the direction of departure.
Li Xuan looked at the two children with joy, and seeing Li Xi’s demeanor made him even happier.
“Good children! Good children!”
He strode forward, about to pat Li Xi’s head.
With a swish, Li Xuan easily and comfortably caught the iron rod thrusting towards his waist.
“Your timing is good, and your mindset is stable enough, but your speed is insufficient, and your strength is also insufficient!”
Li Xi looked up.
“Do you still remember me! I am your Second Uncle!!”
Li Xuan patted the two boys’ heads, walked over, and kicked open the door.
The two Wang family boys, who were clinging to the door, had their necks twisted before they could react and were thrown into the fire.
“Go! Home!”
When the Wang family’s house caught fire, their neighbors nearby surely knew, but even so, no one dared to stand out and say a word.
It wasn’t until Li Xuan and his group had gone far that the few households close to the burning house ran over to tear down the fence and corner eaves to prevent the fire from spreading to their own homes.
Li Xuan had killed three people in his own courtyard; not one of these three households could be left alive. If even one person escaped, it might lead to a great disaster in the future!
Li Xuan hurried with the two boys to the other two households.
Without a word, he kicked open the door and thrust a saber through their hearts!
Sun Youcai’s house.
Li Xuan killed this household, searched the house several times, and packed all the food and valuables to take away.
This time, he didn’t set fire. Sun Youcai’s house was surrounded by many other houses, and one of them belonged to an outsider who had just ‘helped’ his family.
“Still haven’t found him?”
Li Xuan asked loudly.
“Second Uncle, that little brat is too slippery; we haven’t seen a trace of him!”
“Then let’s go! He’s just a little kid, what big waves can he make!”
......
A stick of incense later, in the well behind the courtyard, a small boy of eight or nine years old cautiously crawled out.
This well was dug by his father himself, but unfortunately, it yielded no water.
“Father, Mother!”
“Your child will definitely avenge you! Definitely!”
“One day, your child will bring all the heads of the Sun Family to offer sacrifices to you!”
The little boy wept, choking out his vow.
“Oh~”
“All the heads of the Sun Family?”
“I’m afraid you won’t get that chance…”
Li Xuan’s playful laughter came from behind, and the little boy froze.
With a squelch.
The saber light flashed, a head flew, and the little boy’s frightened expression instantly froze.
Even in death, he couldn’t understand why such a fierce person would use such a deceptive and despicable method.
“If I were you, I would have hidden in this well for at least a day and a night…”
......
On the way back, the three men—one big, two small—were all silent.
Li Ling was someone who couldn’t keep things to himself. Among the three brothers, he was the youngest, but his temper was the most impatient and irritable!
“You… are you really our Second Uncle?”
“No.”
Li Ling gasped, quickly jumped away, pulled out an iron awl, and was full of vigilance.
Li Xi looked at his Third Brother’s stunned expression and couldn’t help but shake his head.
Li Xuan laughed heartily, “Ling’er, you must remember, some things you can ask, but some things you can only distinguish and recognize on your own!”
“Like, who exactly am I?”
“Before you can make up your mind, who I am doesn’t matter. You only need to distinguish one thing: Am I an enemy? Or a friend?”
“If a friend, then stay calm and wait for the truth!”
“If an enemy?” Li Xuan dragged his saber with his left hand and carried a large wooden bucket of rice on his right shoulder, looking at Li Xi.
Li Xi: “If an enemy… then stay wary, and then kill him at all costs!”
Li Xuan laughed: “Truly worthy of being my Sun Family’s Qilin!”