He might never understand.
This is the power of example.
Li Tiannan's entire body was trembling, partly from fear, partly from anger.
"You pack of traitors, without me you're just common soldiers! You must be loyal to me," Li Tiannan roared, his face a mask of discontent.
The soldiers' expressions grew sterner, their gazes more resolute.
One soldier spoke with a clear voice, "Cang Long, please cooperate with our mission, don't make things difficult for us."
Li Tiannan was about to lose his mind.
His loyal subordinates had staged a betrayal, leading to Li Tiannan's complete ruin!
But—
He had already killed his own brother, forced his grandfather to yield. If he couldn't kill Chen Jin Chao, he would become a laughingstock!
A notorious laughingstock throughout history!
Li Tiannan roared to the sky, "Chen Jin Chao deserves to die, and all of you deserve to die! Today, I will kill every last one of you!"
Since these people were not loyal to him, he would kill them all!
He would kill his way to a bright and clear future!
At worst, he would reassemble a loyal guard force later.
"Stop!"
Chen Jin Chao's cold shout drew everyone's attention to him.
He stood before Li Tiannan and said earnestly, "Li Tiannan, the sea of suffering is boundless, turn back now. Let go of your butcher's knife."
"Shut up!" Li Tiannan's eyes were bloodshot, his demeanor like a madman.
"Don't play the saint in front of me. If I hadn't believed your poisonous words, how could I have attacked my brother and grandfather? You've ruined me, making me neither human nor ghost, and now you tell me to put down my butcher's knife. Don't you think that's ridiculous?"
Ridiculous?
Perhaps.
Chen Jin Chao no longer cared.
"The fact that you can be swayed by my few words shows you already had such thoughts. I was merely a catalyst, not the deciding factor," Chen Jin Chao said calmly.
Li Tiannan would naturally not admit his own fault.
He would only attribute everything to Chen Jin Chao.
He roared, "Enough! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have done this. You are responsible for all of this, and I will kill you."
Li Tiannan's mental state had collapsed.
In such a state, how could he unleash his full strength?
The next moment.
Li Tiannan attacked ferociously, swinging his saber at Chen Jin Chao.
Chen Jin Chao wielded Tai Sui to defend himself.
The soldiers stood around, not intervening in the duel.
Chen Jin Chao viewed this as his final battle, exerting one hundred and twenty percent of his strength. Li Tiannan, his mental state shattered, could not bring his full power to bear, leading to Chen Jin Chao's victory with overwhelming force.
Li Tiannan was forced back step by step by Chen Jin Chao, finally falling to the ground severely wounded, completely unable to fight back.
Chen Jin Chao looked down at his former comrade and said softly, "Li Tiannan, you have fallen into demonhood. I hope you can truly awaken and avoid sinking into the abyss of depravity without realizing it."
Li Tiannan lay on the ground.
He did not heed Chen Jin Chao's words, merely staring blankly at the sky.
Where had he lost?
After much thought.
Li Tiannan finally arrived at an answer: he hadn't lost to Chen Jin Chao's deceptive words, but to Chen Jin Chao's personal charisma.
Otherwise, Chen Jin Chao couldn't have defeated him.
However, personal charisma was also a part of strength. Li Tiannan had lost utterly and completely.
"Hahaha!"
"Chen Jin Chao, so what if you flatten the Li family? Can you get past the Qin family? After the Li family falls, the Qin family will consider you their prime enemy. Furthermore, you used force to disrupt the established order, so the Qin family will undoubtedly spare no effort to eliminate you!" Li Tiannan roared to the sky, as if he could already see Chen Jin Chao's defeat.
Chen Jin Chao's expression grew solemn.
A soldier stepped forward; this was another deputy captain of Cang Long, Xi Feng Zhou.
Xi Feng Zhou ordered Li Tiannan to be restrained.
Li Tiannan cursed loudly.
Even so, Xi Feng Zhou did not change his mind. He stood beside Chen Jin Chao and said, "General Chen, we have apprehended Bai Zhen and other remnants. How do you wish to deal with them?"
Chen Jin Chao pondered for a moment and then asked, "Where are they?"
Xi Feng Zhou replied truthfully, "In the backyard, disarmed and awaiting your orders, General Chen."
Chen Jin Chao nodded.
He opened his mouth, then suddenly thought of something, "Never mind, I'll do it myself."
Initially, Chen Jin Chao had intended to use these people to kill Bai Zhen. However, after some thought, he decided to act himself, as he did not have long to live anyway.
These dirty deeds would be his responsibility.
Xi Feng Zhou hesitated to speak. Chen Jin Chao raised his hand and said, "No need to persuade me further, my mind is made up. You guard Li Tiannan and bring him to the assembly hall to await me."
"Understood!"
Xi Feng Zhou led his men to escort Li Tiannan to the assembly hall, while Chen Jin Chao headed to the backyard.
Li Bu Yan saw Li Tiannan again. His previously bewildered eyes suddenly blazed with a piercing light. When he saw the wounds on Li Tiannan, his expression turned to disbelief. Li Bu Yan stood up, frowning, "How did you end up like this?"
Logically speaking, Li Tiannan should have succeeded by now.
What had happened?
Li Tiannan lay on the ground, crying and laughing, which deeply puzzled Li Bu Yan.
"What were you people doing? Why did you target Li Tiannan?" Li Bu Yan reprimanded Xi Feng Zhou. Xi Feng Zhou replied with a blank expression, "Li Tiannan attempted to instigate civil war and is a usurper. We have detained him under General Chen's orders."
General Chen?
Li Bu Yan thought for a moment and understood everything.
It could only be Chen Jin Chao!
"What's going on?" Li Bu Yan looked at Li Tiannan again, his face filled with disappointment.
Since Li Tiannan was going to do it, he should have done it brilliantly. Now that he had failed to Chen Jin Chao, it was hard for Li Bu Yan not to be disappointed.
Li Tiannan did not respond; he was completely numb.
Li Bu Yan took a deep breath and looked at Xi Feng Zhou again, "Where is Li Tian Ce? Where is he?"
"He is dead, killed by Li Tiannan," Xi Feng Zhou replied.
Li Bu Yan stood frozen, then after a long while, he chuckled, "So close, yet so far! Even heaven wants my Li family to perish!"
Bang bang bang!
Consecutive gunshots came from the backyard.
A flicker of anger flashed in Li Tiannan's numb eyes. He knew that Bai Zhen and others were likely being executed by Chen Jin Chao. However, after a brief moment of anger, Li Tiannan sank back into despair.
At this point.
What else could he do?
It was at this moment.
Dense engine roars suddenly sounded from above the Li family mansion, causing Li Bu Yan's face to light up with wild joy. "Li Tiannan, get up! Our reinforcements might have arrived!"
As long as Li Bu Yan could establish contact with the outside world, suppressing Chen Jin Chao would be a simple matter.
The Li family was saved!