The Invincible Dragon Emperor
Chapter 90: Heartless

Lu Li stayed conscious the whole time. He was just so badly injured that he could not move.

Actually, he saw what happened later through the hole in the wall. He watched Lu Ling burnt to death without being able to do anything. At that moment, he almost passed out. After Ghost Snake Granny landed on the ground, he somehow summoned up the courage to hold out.

Later on, he wanted to crawl out. However, the qi and energy of Ghost Snake Granny was so powerful that he could not even move. Only after Ghost Snake Granny left with Lu Ling did he mobilize some Xuan Energy and crash out through the wall with great efforts.

That being said…

He was still too late. The Iron-armored Ship already disappeared into the southern sky. He did not know where his beloved sister was brought to.

"Poof…"

His shouts hurt his wounds. Lu Li spat out some blood, blacked out and collapsed to the ground.

"Squeak, squeak~"

Little White rushed out of the stone fort. Seeing that Lu Li passed out, it screamed anxiously and circled around him.

"Swish!"

Liu Yi, who was standing in the alley, finally regained her mind. She rushed over and fed Lu Li a healing pellet without paying any attention to Little White.

Lu Li could not die now. That horrible old lady had said that Lu Ling’s brother was to be treated nicely, otherwise, the entire Liu Family would be wiped out.

"What~"

A huge commotion swept through the south yard. The Liu Family did not have many warriors left now, and all of them had wounds and injuries. All the warriors of the Soul Pond Realm were dead, and many External Clan warriors left. Only 21 warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm and less than 300 warriors of the Xuan Wu Realm were left.

These people were unclear of what was happening. Why were all the powerful warriors of the four families killed, with not even one left?

Why did Yu Hen, Lord Yu’s domestic servant, was killed? How come Lord Yu fled in terror? Who was that terrible old lady? What was that shocking means she just employed? How come she wanted to help the Liu Family?

"West yard!"

When that old lady got off from the Iron-armored Ship, she went directly to the west yard and then carried away a burnt person in her hands. Yu Feijia went to the west yard as well, so did Zhao Gui. All these indicated that—if things were to be figured out, what happened at the west yard must be made clear.

The most powerful warrior of the Liu Family left, Patriarch Seven, kept silent for a moment and then rushed towards the west yard. He could not wait to get to the bottom of things so he could know what to do next.

He brought two patriarchs with him and soon they found Liu Yi. When he saw that Liu Yi carried Lu Li in her arms, he asked with his eyebrows knitted, "Yi, what just happened? Who was that powerful warrior? Why did she help us?"

Liu Yi witnessed the whole thing. She was extremely intelligent so she straightened out her thoughts about many things. Liu Yi explained, "That person is an important figure of the Palace of Goddess from the Cyan Plains. She helped us out because of him!"

"Lu Li?"

Seeing that Liu Yi pointed to Lu Li, Patriarch Seven and the rest were shocked. Lu Li had not left a good impression on Patriarch Seven. Once, he even gave out orders to go against Lu Li.

Lu Li was just some nobody coming from the Di Long Tribe. How on earth could he have something to do with an important figure of the Palace of Goddess? Patriarch Seven and the rest found it hard to take in.

Liu Yi looked at Lu Li with complicated expressions. All sorts of feelings welled up in her mind. She had given up on Lu Li before. Little did she know that it was Lu Li and his sister who would become the savior of the Liu Family.

She paused for a bit and told everything she had seen. After hearing that, Patriarch Seven and the other two Patriarchs still found it hard to believe, as if it was a story of the Arabian Nights.

Patriarch Seven asked, "You mean… Lu Li had killed many people, captured Zhao Rui and then Zhao Gui came here and was burnt to death by his sister? Then… his sister came back to life which caught the attention of the important person of the Palace of Goddess. In the end, that person from the Palace of Goddess helped to kill powerful warriors of the four Families for the sake of Lu Li’s sister?"

If Liu Yi hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she would find it unimaginably queer as well. However, that was the fact that she deduced. She nodded and replied, "Yes. You didn’t hear what that important person from the Palace of Goddess said? She told us to be nice to Lu Li, otherwise, she would wipe us out."

"Burnt to death and then came back to life?"

Patriarch Seven’s eyes flickered as if he had thought of something. He shouted in shock, "Can it be that Lu Li’s sister is of a Fire Phoenix Birth? Is that what caught the attention of the powerhouse of the Palace of Goddess? Yes, it must be. If she were not of a Fire Phoenix Birth, how could she be burnt to death and then come back to life?"

Even though there were many things that did not make any sense, Patriarch Seven bought Liu Yi’s words. Nothing else could explain the queer thing that had just happened.

"Grandpa Seven!"

Liu Yi had no idea of the situation at the south yard. She asked, "How is our family doing? How many people died? I thought I heard my grandpa’s voice."

Patriarch Seven and the other two’s faces looked awful on mentioning this. Patriarch Seven closed his eyes in pain and sighed. "Your grandpa, your first and second grandpas all fought to their death. This time, we have suffered great casualty. Many had run away as well. I think we only have less than 20 Patriarchs and three or four hundred disciples left this time."

"Grandpa!"

Liu Yi almost blacked out. Her body became weak all of a sudden and she nearly passed out. Since Liu Rufeng had been in a coma, she couldn’t believe that it was his voice she just heard. Now, she knew that Liu Rufeng was dead…

Seeing Liu Yi bursting into tears, Patriarch Seven was sad. Yet he knew clearly that this was not the time for sorrow.

The Liu Family was yet to be out of the woods. The person from the Palace of Goddess killed and left. Lord Yu ran away, but he could come back at any moment now and with his own warriors.

The rest of the patriarchs were also clear about this. One of them kept silent for a bit and asked, "Brother Seven, what to do now? I don’t think we can stay in the Wu Ling County for long now."

Previously, when the four Families attacked ferociously, the Liu Family intended to defend the Wu Ling County till their last breaths. Now, almost all the powerful warriors of the four Families were killed, and the Liu Family managed to survive. However, they did not dare to stay any more.

After this war, the Liu Family’s power was greatly undermined. All their warriors of the Soul Pond Realm had fought to their deaths. Not many warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm were let. The Liu Family, as of this moment, was degraded to a Second-rank Family since their power couldn’t be a match for the former Lu [1] or He Family.

Based on Liu Family’s power now, they could not take control of the Wu Ling County. Even if Lord Yu were not to return with his warriors, maybe other families would come and seek command of the Wu Ling County. Staying at the Wu Ling County now was out of the question. Otherwise, the Liu Family would only have a complete annihilation waiting for them.

Maybe the Liu Family had a slight chance of maintaining their position of the Wu Ling County. Now, even that slightest chance was gone. The three Patriarchs had to have a serious thought about the future of the Liu Family. They intended to endure present hardships to revive and slowly figure everything out.

"Leave!"

All the powerful warriors of the Liu Family being dead made Patriarch Seven the most powerful and prestigious man in the Liu Family. He thought for the time it took for merely half an incense stick to burn and said with determination, "Leave now. Brother Nine, Brother Thirteen, you go and give my orders. All the disciples of our Family must gather together now. Pack their stuff and leave the Wu Ling County this very night."

The two Patriarchs nodded and then left to make arrangements. Liu Yi looked up to Patriarch Seven in confusion and asked, "Leave, where can we go now? Lord Yu will send someone to kill us. The Northern Desert is large for sure, but there is no place for us to go."

"Yes, there is!"

Patriarch Seven looked to the south and said, "As long as we can make it into the Thousand-island Lake before the pursuing forces catch up with us, we will have a chance to live on."

"Thousand-island Lake?"

Spirits rekindled in Liu Yi’s eyes. But on second thoughts, Liu Yi’s smile turned bitter and she said, "Grandpa Seven, we have so many women and children relocated to the valleys. When we get all of them out and bring them to the Thousand-island Lake, it will take at least two months. Lord Yu can give us so much time?"

"We will leave them behind!"

Patriarch Seven’s eyes showed determination. He said firmly and resolutely, "We will go first. If we are fast, we can get there in half a month. If we bring them along, no one can live."

"Ah?"

Liu Yi’s body trembled. She did not expect Patriarch Seven to be so heartless as to leave all the children and women and other family members behind. They could all be killed or enslaved…

…

[1] This Lu Family, 鲁家, is one of the Families in the Wu Ling County.