Chapter 997 – We’re Even Now

Li Guanqi looked up at the young man, who stared back with narrowed eyes. Violent vital force churned around the young man. He was clearly a cultivator in the mid Illusory Refinement Realm.

“Speak! Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering, Li Guanqi asked hoarsely, “Why are you here? What’s the point?”

The young man slowly drew a longsword, its blade gleaming coldly. “That’s none of your concern! Since you won’t talk, I’ll take you back and force the answers out of you!”

Li Guanqi altered his aura to match the mid Illusory Refinement Realm, then bent down and picked up a dead branch.

Boom!

The young man’s expression hardened. He lunged forward, thrusting his sword directly toward Li Guanqi’s throat.

Li Guanqi tapped the flat of the incoming sword with his three-chi branch.

Clang!

The blow deflected the sword. The young man pivoted into a horizontal slash, his blade flashing with cold light. To Li Guanqi, his swordwork was as clumsy as a child’s and his movements were painfully slow. He took an unhurried step back and thrust the branch three times in quick succession.

The branch left flickering afterimages as it pierced the young man’s wrist and shoulder. The third thrust pierced his shoulder blade, stopping short of his heart.

The young man stood frozen with his back to Li Guanqi. The branch quivered with each powerful beat of the young man’s heart. A jade-green bamboo flute was tucked into his waistband, and the back of his white robes was soaked in blood.

Li Guanqi stepped in front of the young man and slowly pulled back his hood.

Blood dripped steadily from the sword in the young man’s right hand, trailing down the blade. His lips trembled, his eyes welling up with tears. He swallowed hard, and his voice came out rough. “It’s been... a long time.”

A sharp gleam flickered in Li Guanqi’s eyes. He replied softly, “It’s been a long time.”

The young man was He Yuning, the young sect master of the Great Profound Sword Sect. Years ago, Cang Lu’s scheme had led to him being stabbed through the heart, and He Yuanting had tried to kill Li Guanqi without so much as hearing him out. The affair had ended when Chu Jingze, master of the Heavenly Intelligence Pavilion in Taiqing Territory, arrived with the Heart of the Ancient Cave. Before his arrival, Ye Feng had stormed the execution grounds, and Li Guanqi had reunited with Meng Wanshu after their long separation.

He Yuning’s emotions were a tangled mess. He’d imagined countless versions of their reunion, but never one like this. Guilt. Regret. Helplessness. These feelings and more flooded his heart all at once.

Suddenly, He Yuning gritted his teeth and threw himself backward.

Li Guanqi frowned and yanked the branch free. “What are you doing?!”

A flicker of disappointment passed through He Yuning’s eyes. He turned to face Li Guanqi. Familiar as he was, he also seemed like a stranger. “Why didn’t you just kill me?”

“Why would I kill you?” Li Guanqi asked with a frown. “Your father is your father. You’re you. This isn’t your debt to pay.”

He Yuning’s head snapped up. He looked at Li Guanqi solemnly and asked in all earnestness, “Then will you take revenge on my father?”

The question had long tormented him. He’d followed every rumor about Li Guanqi and knew how much stronger he had become. Li Guanqi could kill He Yuanting as easily as he could crush an ant.

Li Guanqi studied He Yuning for a moment before answering softly. “If your father comes looking for me, I’ll kill him. But you and I once shared drinks as friends. I’d rather not kill your father.”

He Yuning’s eyes brightened. “Then are we still friends?”

Li Guanqi shook his head and turned away. “No. It’s not that I refuse to acknowledge you. We simply stopped being friends the moment you asked whether I’d kill your father.”

He Yuning’s shoulders slumped. He opened his mouth and raised a hand, but no words came. Every reunion he had dreamed of shattered in that instant.

Li Guanqi raised his hand and obliterated what remained of the Yao family estate. With that, he put his black robes back on. “The road ahead is long. We’re unlikely to meet again. Take care.”

He left He Yuning standing alone in the pale moonlight, too dazed to move.

Li Guanqi slowly exhaled and took a jug of strong liquor from his storage ring. Tilting his head back, he took a long drink. His frustration felt trapped in his chest, a knot that left him struggling for breath but refused to come out.

The longer the feeling lingered, the harder it was to shake off his anger. He Yuning had once been gentle and refined, a gentleman in every sense. Now, everything had changed. Neither of them had imagined they would meet again like this.

Li Guanqi had thought they would laugh it off and put the grudge behind them. He Yuanting was the one who had wronged him. If the man had been willing to bow his head and apologize, that would have settled it. Li Guanqi wouldn’t have pursued the matter.

But He Yuning had been waiting here out of fear that Li Guanqi would take revenge on his father. Somewhere along the way, his father’s safety had become more important to him than the friendship Li Guanqi valued so much, even though his father was the one in the wrong. They had met again after all these years, yet He Yuning hadn’t offered so much as an apology.

Buzz!!!

Within the He family’s domain, He Yuanting went rigid in his study. The room had been sealed with overwhelming spatial force.

He turned and saw a man shrouded in black robes sitting in his chair. Beneath the black-robed figure’s terrifying pressure, a crushing sense of dread and helplessness filled his chest.

Li Guanqi slowly pulled back his hood and fixed He Yuanting with an icy stare.

Thud!

He Yuanting’s legs buckled, and he collapsed to the floor.

Li Guanqi let out a cold laugh. “So you do remember me, He Yuanting.”

He Yuanting sank weakly to his knees, his body trembling and his eyes full of terror. He swallowed hard. “I... was wrong. If you wish to kill me, Young Friend Li, I won’t complain. Just... please don’t take your anger out on my son or my family.”

With that, he lowered his defenses completely and closed his eyes as if bracing for the end.

Clang!

The sight only fueled Li Guanqi’s fury. He shot to his feet, and a four-chi lightning sword pierced He Yuanting’s throat, pinning him to the bookshelf behind him. Li Guanqi stepped closer. “You think I’ll spare you just because you’ve stopped resisting?”

Blood poured from He Yuanting’s mouth. He used vital force to speak through voice transmission, his tone bitter. “You won’t. I know. For years, I trembled whenever I heard news of you. I’ve lived in fear, knowing you would come one day. What happened back then was my fault. I was desperate to save my son. But looking back, I can only say it was as though I’d gone mad. All I could think about was killing you.”

Li Guanqi’s snarl faltered. No, something’s wrong. Was He Yuanting being controlled by whoever was behind Cang Lu? What else could explain why he’d been so intent on killing me?

Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes and clamped his left hand onto He Yuanting’s skull. “Soul Search!”

Buzz!

Moments later, a look of understanding appeared in Li Guanqi’s eyes. He Yuanting’s memories from that time were jumbled. There were no signs of tampering, but Li Guanqi sensed a familiar presence.

A faith parasite!

That explained the behavior that had baffled so many people back then. No one had understood why He Yuanting was so determined to kill Li Guanqi.

Li Guanqi sighed and raised a hand, severing He Yuanting’s right arm before dissolving the lightning sword.

He Yuanting crumpled beside the bookshelf. Li Guanqi placed the arm on the desk and turned to leave. As he walked through the doorway, he said quietly, “The He family and I are even now.”