Chapter 342: The Li Family Orphan
Upon hearing this secret, not only the others, but even Li Mu’s eyes widened in shock.
He only knew that his son had died unexpectedly, but he didn’t realize that Li Cheng had offended a major power and was killed for it. Upon hearing this today, he felt that the situation was much deeper and more complicated.
“How did you come to know such a hidden matter?”
Zhou Tong fixed his gaze on the Senior Leader, not missing any expression on his face.
“My Lord, what you don’t know is that more than twenty years ago, our treasure-seeking group had two extraordinary talents.”
“One had eyes like lightning, able to see thousands of miles away and keenly observe even the slightest details, while the other had ears as sharp as divine beings, capable of hearing the sound of a feather falling from a thousand miles away.”
“With these two individuals, as long as we wanted to investigate, there were almost no secrets that could be hidden from us.”
“It was precisely because they knew about this that they were silenced, and before dying, they recorded this matter, which was how I came to know.”
After understanding the origins of the situation, Zhou Tong nodded, signaling the other to continue.
The Senior Leader continued, “Just as Madam Li was about to give birth, Qin Xiong and Luo Zhen began to conspire about the future…”
At that moment, Qin Xiong said to Luo Zhen, “Your brother is dead. Why do you still live without seeking revenge?”
Luo Zhen replied, “I am waiting for this child to be born. If it’s a girl, it means the Li family has no heirs, and I will immediately go die. If it’s a boy, I will wait a while longer before I die!”
Qin Xiong fell silent for a moment and then said, “If it’s a boy, raising him to adulthood will be difficult, or is it harder to go die immediately?”
“Dying is so easy. Protecting this child to adulthood is the real challenge!”
Upon hearing this, Qin Xiong smiled and said, “In life, your relationship with Li Cheng was the closest. Since that’s the case, let me handle the easy task of dying, and you can take on the harder task of raising the boy.”
Not long after, Madam Li gave birth to a baby boy and soon died from exhaustion.
On that very day, Qin Xiong quickly arrived at the scene, bringing with him two infants.
The three babies were mixed together, and aside from Qin Xiong, no one knew which one was the true descendant of the Li family.
So he handed one child to Li Mu for adoption, kept another for himself, and entrusted the true descendant of the Li family to Luo Zhen.
Soon after, Qin Xiong also met an untimely death along with that infant.
Even more unfortunately, four years later, the child adopted by Li Mu also died in the Refining Gu project, and to outsiders, it appeared that Li Mu’s lineage had completely been severed.
However, even so, the mastermind behind it did not give up, searching repeatedly and unearthing clues from that year, ultimately focusing their attention on Luo Zhen.
To protect the child, Luo Zhen entrusted him to Li Congxin and used herself as bait to escape into the deep mountains, never to be heard from again!
As for what happened afterward, everyone already knew!
Hearing this hidden story, the people around were moved, and Li Mu was particularly overcome with emotion, tears streaming down his face.
How could such friendship exist in the world, willing to die for a friend, truly a moving testament!
Zhou Tong’s expression darkened significantly; he believed in repaying kindness and exacting revenge. Luo Cheng and Qin Xiong could be considered his reborn parents, and whoever harmed them would not escape his wrath!
As for Li Congxin and the others, they were merely accomplices, and their fates had long been sealed!
“Who is the mastermind behind it?!”
Zhou Tong’s voice was filled with bloodlust, sharp as a knife, making Li Congxin and the others feel as if a thousand swords were piercing them, their faces pale as paper.
“I don’t know. I truly don’t know!”
“Then what else do you know?”
Upon hearing this, the other’s eyes flickered, obviously guilty.
“I know nothing…”
“Boom!!!”
In the skies above, thunder rumbled abruptly, lightning cracked, as if a divine being was watching, poised to descend punishment!
“No! Don’t judge me! I will say everything!”
This scene terrified Li Congxin, causing him to tremble and kneel on the ground, quickly changing his words.
This spectacle deepened the disdain in Zhou Tong’s eyes.
The earlier thunder was summoned by him, and until now, the Heavenly Dao had not reacted to Li Congxin’s lies, indicating that the Heavenly Dao might truly be asleep, waiting for the revival of the Golden Great Era.
Now, the power of judgment had fallen into the hands of the Human Path.
“Speak quickly!”
Zhou Tong pressed, crushing the last of his mental defenses.
“I say… when I took the child from Luo Zhen, I sincerely wanted to protect him, because our child had also died in the Refining Gu plan, so I regarded him as my own.”
“I knew someone was chasing after this child, so I hid him away, but one day, a group of Hei Yi Ren came to find me…”
“Who were they?!” Zhou Tong pressed, but only received a shake of the head in response.
“I don’t know their origins, but I know they were incredibly powerful. At the time, I was fully prepared to fight to the death, yet before they even moved against me, I was offered a deal!”
“That group of Hei Yi Ren promised me that as long as I handed over that child, I could become the master of the Li family!”
“So you agreed!”
Li Mu exclaimed excitedly, “You fear death yet willingly become someone else’s dog for power. Don’t you think that’s absurd!”
“Bah! Old fool, what do you understand?”
Li Congxin said somewhat maniacally, “At that time, I was a loser, with nothing to my name, nothing to show for myself, the only thing worth boasting about was my loyalty to my brothers.”
“If I died directly, I would become a praised hero. Rather than living a pathetic life, I would rather die. But… but those Hei Yi Ren made me find joy in living, yes, that is power!”
“As long as I have a high position, I can live happily. With power, why would I want to die? What is brotherhood worth? I can discard that without a second thought!”
The more Li Congxin spoke, the more manic he became, as if he wanted to give up everything and spill all his innermost secrets.
He continued, “I not only want to live high up but also with a good reputation!”
“Thus, I staged a grand play, making those Hei Yi Ren chase us as a couple, and ultimately lost that child out of desperation. This way, no one would blame me!”
“Beast!”
Someone quietly cursed.
“Indeed, I am a beast, but I live much better than you all, hahaha… what can you do to me?”
Zhou Tong took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the killing intent in his heart.
He then turned his gaze back to Li Xiang and asked, “Did you take in this wretched child to continue the act, or to assuage your guilt?”
“Neither!”
Li Congxin shook his head, “This child was forcibly shoved onto us by those Hei Yi Ren, making us raise him as our own, or else they would hold us accountable!”
Upon hearing this, the crowd stared wide-eyed, never expecting that the clue to the mastermind was right by their side!
