Chapter Seven: The Great Fatherly Love

  That night, Li Xiao and Lao Yuan went to bed early. Until the middle of the night, before dawn, Lao Yuan got up quietly, put on his clothes stealthily, and went out.

  Li Xiao also had a sleepless night and after hearing the noise, he looked out at the dark sky and fearing danger, followed Old Yuan out.

  In the pitch-black night, there was no light, Old Yuan held a torch and moved forward in the darkness.

  Although it was already summer, the nights were still cold. Li Xiao had been training for half a year and his body had become much stronger, but Lao Yuan couldn't take it, constantly tightening his clothes, which made Li Xiao feel extremely worried.

  In Li Xiao's mind, he had already completely regarded this kind and gentle middle-aged man as his own father.

  After walking for a long time, the sky had already lightened up a bit.

  Lao Yuan didn't notice and tripped over a tree root beside him, twisting his foot.

  The intense pain made the man frown, he found a stone, sat down gently, took off his shoes, and rubbed his twisted foot. Then he looked up at the east, stood up, and continued to move forward with some discomfort.

  Li Xiao really wanted to rush over and support this respectable man, but he bit his teeth and didn't go up.

  He was well aware of his father's temperament. If he knew that it was late at night, he would follow him and obviously get scolded severely.

  Although Erdou was deeply loved by his father when he was young, he was strict at times. For example, when Erdou made mistakes as a child, Old Yuan never went easy on him and would really hit him with a stick!

  In Er Gou's memory, this middle-aged father was always stern and eccentric. If he found Li Xiao following him, he wouldn't let Li Xiao return home to behave himself, Old Yuan would definitely not enter the city.

  So Li Xiao had to endure it, and fortunately, after Old Yuan swallowed the blood of the Nian beast, his body did indeed improve a lot. However, after about half an hour or so, Old Yuan returned to normal again, as if he hadn't been injured at all.

  The sky is gradually brightening at this moment, the small road around is covered with dewy grass, tall trees stand upright, and lush leaves block the summer sunlight.

  It's the perfect time to hit the road, and on a summer morning, you can't feel even a hint of chill. The bright sunshine filters through the trees, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

  Taking advantage of the shade of the trees, Li Xiao followed behind Old Yuan, walking at a steady pace.

  About two and a half hours later, the sun was getting fiercer, Li Xiao wiped his sweat and finally saw the city in the distance.

  Lao Yuan stopped and rubbed his sore legs, resting for a moment before continuing on his journey.

  Li Xiao was also entering the city for the first time. Here, it was much more prosperous than in the village. Far away, he could see people coming and going, cars and horses galloping, countless villagers entering and exiting, carrying goods, pushing carts, and undergoing inspections at the city gate.

  Lao Yuan first walked to the front of the city gate. Li Xiao, in order to avoid being discovered by him, lined up far behind.

  The routine inspection was a team of armored soldiers, mainly checking each person's body and goods for contraband. When it was Li Xiao's turn, the inspector took a look up and down before letting him pass directly.

  After all, Li Xiao's hemp garment was full of patches and didn't have a single pocket.

  After Li Xiao entered the city, he found that Lao Yuan had disappeared without a trace. He felt anxious in his heart and quickly ran little by little.

  "Oh no—"

  A cry of surprise, Li Xiao exclaimed "Oh no!", and hastily apologized:

  "Sorry, sorry, I was looking for someone and accidentally bumped into you, really sorry."

  Li Xiao looked up and saw that it was a man in his early twenties, wearing clothes that were not luxurious but much better than Li Xiao's.

  The man who was originally calm and peaceful suddenly gained courage when he saw Li Xiao's clothes.

  "You good-for-nothing, have you eaten leopard's gall or something? How dare you crash into me?"

  The man grabbed Li Xiao's clothes with one hand and scolded him loudly.

  Li Xiao was anxious to find Lao Yuan and didn't want to get entangled with him:

  "Sorry, I didn't mean to, I'm looking for someone."

  Li Xiao looked left and right, this behavior obviously enraged the man in front of him, who thought Li Xiao was looking down on him.

  "You little scamp, if I, Old Master Wang, don't teach you a lesson today, I won't be called Wang Fuan!"

  The man grabbed Li Xiao's clothes and slapped him with a loud slap!

  Li Xiao did not expect that this person would be so unreasonable, having already apologized, but instead of letting go, he was about to slap him, just like the group of people who collected taxes the other day!

  Recalling the encounter on New Year's Eve, Li Xiao was enraged and slapped Wang Fan with one hand, grasping it like an iron hoop, unable to move at all.

  "You're really a scourge on society. I just accidentally bumped into you and apologized, but you actually want to hit me? Don't you have any sense of reason?"

  Wang Fan's right hand suddenly hurt, and he was tightly grasped by Li Xiao, unable to help but let out a painful hum.

  "Hey, you poor wretch! I'm a member of the Wang family. You dare to touch me? Be careful or I'll wipe out your entire poor nest!"

  "What! Which royal family did you say?"

  Li Xiao's anger surged, his strength increased by threefold, and instantly caused Wang Fan's forehead to be covered in cold sweat.

  "Damn it, let me go! Is there another Wang family in the entire Luoyang City? I am a member of the Wang family, hurry up and release me!"

  Li Xiao did not expect that after arguing with someone, he would coincidentally run into his arch-nemesis, the Wang family.

  "Alright, alright, so people from the royal family think they are above the law? This is a country for its citizens, not just for your royal family. Get out!"

  Li Xiao kicked Wang Fan and sent him flying out, instantly making the opponent roll on the ground clutching his stomach. Li Xiao didn't intend to kill anyone in the city, a small lesson was enough for him.

  A crowd of onlookers had already gathered around, and when Li Hao saw this scene, he was afraid that something unexpected would happen, so he hastily ran away.

  This matter has not had much of an impact.

  The entire city is very large and is called Luoyang City, it got its name because it is located on the west side of the whole country.

  Everywhere in the city was filled with hawkers' cries, and there were many people coming and going. Although those who looked like big shots dressed in luxurious clothes did not see a single one, every person here was neat and tidy, simple and unadorned. Only those beggars on the side of the road wore such tattered hemp clothes like Li Xiao.

  With the experience of his past life, Li Xiao didn't pay much attention to these things. He didn't know how long he had been walking, but the scorching sun made him feel unbearable. He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, and was both hungry and thirsty. Seeing the food in the hotel, Li Xiao couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

  There's no way, in the village, whether you can eat your fill is a problem, where would there be extra food to exchange for money? So from young to old, Er Gou and his family have never even seen money, let alone buy things, they all relied on bartering.

  Lethargic and somewhat dizzy, Li Xiao didn't know where he had turned to.

  Suddenly, Li Xiao was startled and came back to his senses, looking at the figure in the distance.

  It's Old Yuan! No mistake, it's him!

  Similarly, Lao Yuan, who had not eaten or drunk water, had improved his physical condition, but compared to Li Xiao, he was still a bit worse off. At this moment, he was actually kneeling on the ground, suffering from the scorching sun!

  "Please, let me see the young master..."

  Lao Yuan's voice was somewhat hoarse.

  "No way! You're just a beggar like that, where did you come from? Get out of here and don't dirty the gate of my royal mansion, hurry up and get lost!"

  The ruffian at the door kicked the kneeling old Yuan away with one foot and said disdainfully.

  Li Xiao saw this and was furious in his heart. He looked up and saw that the sign above the gate clearly read: Wang Fu!

  Old Yuan struggled to get up, his mouth corners cracked in the scorching sun.

  "Please, I'm begging you, help me tell Young Master just one sentence. Our family's Second Dog is very capable, and we hope Young Master can give him a chance to follow Young Master to the Imperial Academy and become his servant."

  Lao Yuan's body swayed slightly, but he still knelt firmly, and this scene made Li Xiao's eyes a little blurry.

  He wanted to rush out and pull away Old Yuan, but at this moment his legs felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. This was the sacrifice a father made for his child, the greatness of paternal love could no longer be described in words. He wasn't Second Dog, did he have the right to stop him from doing so?

  Li Xiao slapped himself hard, what's the difference between such a father and a biological one? In his eyes, you're just a second-rate dog! He is your father after all!

  Although Li Xiao told himself so, deep down in his heart, there was still a barrier that kept reminding him that he wasn't his father, that he loved Er Gou, and that he and Er Gou were the real parent and child, with no relation to him whatsoever!

  "Hum! Old beggar, can your illegitimate child be worthy of being a servant to the young master? A child of an old beggar, just a little beggar, useless thing, daring to serve the young master and even thinking of entering the Imperial Academy, Bah!"

  The robust man spat a mouthful of saliva onto Old Yuan's body, but unexpectedly, the seemingly shaky Old Yuan suddenly stood up, with an unknown source of strength, and his body rushed towards the robust man, squeezing him against the gate!

  "My child is not trash, nor a beggar, did you hear me?!"

  Lao Yuan let out a loud roar of anger, and even the strong man was frightened into silence.

  He nodded blankly, and the strong man also didn't expect himself to have such an expression.

  Lao Yuan was like a fleeting reflection of light, his body swaying weakly before falling to the ground.

  "You old thing, how dare you grab my clothes, are you looking for death?!"

  Zhuang Han finally reacted, realizing that his previous behavior had made him extremely ashamed and angry. He was actually intimidated by a weak and powerless beggar, especially since there was another companion guarding the gate. If this got out, where would he put his face?

  The muscular man picked up the gate-keeping stick, and in his rage, he wouldn't show any mercy. With one strike of the stick, Old Yuan's head was cracked open, and fresh red blood flowed out.

  The strong man still felt unsatisfied and raised his stick again, wanting to hit him once more.

  "Hands off me!"

  Li Xiao angrily roared and ran over from a distance. Under the astonished gaze of the strong man, he hugged Old Yuan's body tightly.

  "Dad, you are really my own dad. I won't cultivate anymore. I'll just stay with you and farm the land. Please don't get into any trouble!"

  Li Xiao's tears fell down, he felt that he was not even as good as a beast, such a father, and he still wanted to pick on him, what a waste of being a human son!

  Witnessing Li Xiao's astonishing speed and thunder-like roar, even the strongest and most robust men felt a chill run down their spines.

  "Hmm... this, you're his son, right? Your father actually dared to yell and scold in the palace, he should..."

  Dahan wanted to say another sentence of scene words, but touched Li Xiao's crazy eyes and was suddenly frightened, and quickly shut up.

  "You... all of you hurry up and leave, I won't pursue this matter in the palace."

  Another big man also felt that something was wrong and hurriedly spoke out.

  Li Xiao tore off a piece of hemp cloth and wrapped it around Old Yuan's bleeding head, then hoisted Old Yuan onto his back, ready to leave without looking back.

  But just at this moment, a figure returned from the doorway and saw Li Xiao, suddenly shouting in a shrill voice.

  "Alright, so it's you! Brothers, take him away, don't let this beggar get away from me!"

  Only then did Wang Fan appear in front of Li Xiao, not far away, staring fiercely at the father and son.