Chapter 937: Shifting Political Climate (I)
Mount Qingdu.
Cold rain fell steadily. The newly budding lotuses by the lakeshore were hit by frost, drooping feebly and plunging into the water to turn muddied and gray.
Li Qinghong cradled a jade box as she ascended Mount Qingdu. She noticed the stone steps had grown increasingly mossy, but a clean path remained because Li Xuanxuan came here every few days. After walking a dozen steps, she saw rows of green stone steles standing tall.
Li Ximing was still nowhere in sight; she knew he wouldn’t be able to come for a while. Only Li Xuanxuan was there, dressed in a gray-blue robe with his sleeves rolled up, holding a stele as he squinted and carved.
When he saw Li Qinghong approaching, the old man asked, "Have the arrangements at the foot of the mountain been settled?"
"Yes. Xijun never married or had children, so there are no troublesome matters," replied Li Qinghong.
Li Xuanxuan blew the stone dust from his hand. The woman stood beside him and softly said, "Perhaps he felt guilty and forbade himself from taking a wife."
The old man turned the stele and set down the stone chisel in his hand, replying, "I’m getting on in years, so let me speak a little more. Qinghong, hear me out."
He sighed and continued, "Among the four Xi’s, Xijun was closest to me, and also the most ruthless. Killing the Meng Family was something he could do... He didn’t care if he bore guilt, or if he was harshly judged. He was willing to eliminate even himself for anything that hindered Ximing from attaining divine power.
"If he hadn’t been born into our family, he surely would have become a cunning and unpredictable figure of the Devil Dao."