The Lullaby and the Killing Intent

When Han Li saw the cold sweat dripping down Sun Er Gou's face, he knew the psychological pressure had reached the right level. His own expression softened slightly as he prepared to offer something in return.

"Alright. Continue being the great leader of the Four Peace Gang. Unless something special comes up, I won't seek you out. But after today, I don't know when we'll meet again. So keep this well. If you ever leave descendants, they can use this to identify themselves to me. As long as your offspring are willing to serve me, I will guarantee them a lifetime of wealth and honor."

As he spoke, Han Li produced an ordinary blank talisman paper. With a crisp shiiiing sound, he tore it cleanly in half. He handed one piece to Sun Er Gou and kept the other for himself.

Sun Er Gou's face first registered shock, then broke into a flood of ecstasy. Trembling with emotion, he dropped to his knees before Han Li and thudded three solid kowtows. When he raised his head, his expression was utterly serious:

"Thank you, young master, for this great kindness! Please rest assured—I, Sun Er Gou, and all the members of my Sun clan will from this day forward serve you as our eternal master, generation after generation, and will never go back on this oath. If I do, may my entire clan be wiped out and destroyed!"

Having spoken, Sun Er Gou delivered another kowtow before rising to his feet with reverent respect.

Han Li was momentarily taken aback by this display.

His original intention had been to secure Sun Er Gou's loyalty, but he hadn't expected that a mere promise would move the man to such depths of gratitude.

After a brief moment of thought, Han Li understood.

In the mortal world, what common men valued most were carrying on the family line and the rise and fall of their clan. Han Li's words guaranteed several generations of prosperity and honor for the Sun family. Naturally, Sun Er Gou would genuinely wish to remain bound to him.

Moreover, over the years, Han Li had never issued any excessive commands to Sun Er Gou, which made the man feel that continuing his descendants' loyalty to Han Li was the best choice.

Having worked this out, Han Li felt somewhat pleased. A subordinate who truly served him would naturally produce far better results than one who merely went through the motions.

"Good. Since you are now genuinely pledging yourself to me, I will leave you additional benefits. Take these two bottles of medicine. One treats all manner of internal and external injuries—as long as a breath of life remains, it can bring a person back. The other is the detoxification pill I gave you before, capable of neutralizing a hundred poisons. Keep it for your own protection as well."

With a flip of his hand, two small, delicate porcelain bottles appeared in Han Li's palm. He tossed them to Sun Er Gou with a calm expression.

Sun Er Gou, of course, was overwhelmed with gratitude, convinced he had made the right choice.

Han Li then gave Sun Er Gou a few more instructions before drifting away from the Four Peace Gang headquarters under the man's respectful send-off.

This backup path—keep it. Who knows when it might prove useful again? Han Li thought to himself.

Standing on the street outside, he looked up. The sky was now fully dark—just the right time to visit the Li Estate.

With a flicker of his form, Han Li flew away on his magic tool. In a few moments, he was hovering above the Li Estate.

Taking advantage of the pitch-black night, Han Li descended from the air with ease. One after another, he cast several concealment techniques, and his figure vanished soundlessly into the Li compound.

Drawing on his experience infiltrating the Xin Estate, Han Li skillfully subdued a high-level martial guard using a Spirit-Fixing Talisman, then employed the Soul-Control Technique to interrogate him about the Five Colors Sect Leader's whereabouts.

The result delighted Han Li: the Five Colors Sect Leader was not in the heavily guarded inner residence, but had gone to a side courtyard where his second son lived, apparently to discuss some matters.

Having confirmed the location, Han Li unceremoniously reduced the guard to ashes with a fireball.

Since this man heard my voice and words, it's better not to leave loose ends out of softness.

Han Li then evaded layer upon layer of visible and hidden sentries until he arrived before a moderately sized courtyard.

To his surprise, four white-robed men stood motionless before the tightly closed courtyard gate. The bulging temples and piercing light in their eyes marked them as martial experts of considerable skill.

Han Li frowned. These must be the Sect Leader's personal guards. If they're all outside, then the Five Colors Sect Leader is really inside.

He cast a cold glance at the four guards, considered briefly, then abruptly appeared before them with a flicker of movement.

The four white-robed men started in alarm and tried to react, but Han Li's form flickered again, splitting into four afterimages simultaneously. Each afterimage swept a palm lightly toward its target.

The four men crumpled to the ground in utter silence. An ice crystal dagger was lodged in each of their hearts, and a layer of white frost covered their corpses.

Expressionless, Han Li dissolved the bodies with fireballs, then pushed open the wooden gate and strode leisurely into the courtyard.

On his way here, he had already swept the entire Li Estate with his divine sense. There wasn't a single cultivator on the premises. This put his mind at ease and stoked his killing intent.

It seems this Five Colors Sect Leader really was fated to die by my hand.

Han Li had already decided: the moment he entered the courtyard, he would annihilate everyone inside.

If any witness escapes and the Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator traces it back to me... that would not be a joke.

With these thoughts and a face full of murderous intent, Han Li stepped into the courtyard. But the scene before him made him freeze.

A young woman sat in the courtyard, cradling a toddler girl of about two or three in her arms. She was softly humming a lullaby, trying to coax the child to sleep. Though her face was bowed and her features were unclear, her voice was gentle and brimming with love. Even Han Li, an outsider who had just stepped in, could clearly sense the depth of her affection for the child.

This sight was entirely unexpected. It drained the killing intent from his chest—more than half of it, at least—leaving him in a state of irresolution, as though he could neither advance nor retreat.

This woman must be the young mistress of the household. But why didn't Sun Er Gou tell me they had a child?

Because Han Li had made no effort to conceal his approach, the young woman, though her head was still bowed, knew someone had entered.

She stopped humming her lullaby and spoke with some displeasure:

"Didn't I say to wait outside and not come in casually? You'll wake my Ying Ning."

With these words, she lifted her head coldly to look.

She had mistaken Han Li for one of the four guards outside.

When the young woman and Han Li saw each other's faces clearly, they both let out a startled cry.

"It's you?"

"What are you doing here?"

...

The young woman's expression shifted unpredictably. Her stunningly beautiful face darkened with a shadow of panic and helplessness—like someone caught red-handed in an affair. It was almost comical.

But there was no trace of a smile on Han Li's face. His expression was extremely unpleasant.

After a long moment, Han Li let out a quiet breath of stale air and spoke frostily:

"Should I call you Senior Apprentice Sister Mo, or should I address you as Madam Li? Senior Apprentice Sister Mo Yuzhu!"

This young woman was none other than the eldest of the three Mo sisters—the peerless beauty who had once driven the young masters of Jiayuan City to distraction, leaving them lovelorn and unable to eat or sleep.

Though she was now dressed as a married woman, her breathtaking beauty had not diminished in the slightest. On the contrary, she exuded a charm that drove men wild.

Mo Yuzhu, hearing Han Li's words, turned deathly pale. Her body swayed, and she nearly collapsed to the ground together with the child in her arms.

"Yuzhu! I heard an outsider's voice. Who are you talking to?"

A somewhat familiar voice came from inside the house. The person inside seemed to have noticed something unusual.

The door opened, and an old man with pure white hair stepped out, followed by a young man of about thirty.

The young man was the same Li whom Han Li had briefly encountered at the Xiang Family Restaurant during the day. The white-haired elder had a snow-white beard, a ruddy face, and a kindly, benevolent air—though he cast a strange look at Han Li.

So this is the Five Colors Sect Leader?

Han Li shot the old man a cold glance and asked Mo Yuzhu bluntly.

But Mo Yuzhu was in no state to speak. She clutched the little girl tightly to her chest and stared fixedly at Han Li, her expression saying she would not open her mouth.

"Who are you? What have you done to my wife?" The young man was stunned to see a strange youth standing in the courtyard. When he heard Han Li call Mo Yuzhu by her maiden name, rage flared in him. He shifted his weight, ready to teach the intruder a lesson.

But before he could take a single step, the Five Colors Sect Leader beside him grabbed his arm and said with extreme calm:

"You're a grown man—why so impulsive? This person slipped past Li Da and the others without a sound. He's clearly no ordinary opponent. Don't fall for such a crude provocation."

As expected, the older, the more seasoned. Just from this cautious and meticulous mindset, it was clear the Five Colors Sect Leader was no ordinary man.

If he had been a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Han Li would have grown extremely wary and treated him as a formidable enemy. But unfortunately, he was only a mortal. No matter how deep his schemes, in the face of absolute power, he was beneath Han Li's notice.