The Name of Eternals

Chapter 218: Don't Let Me Die with Regrets

Li Tiangang couldn't believe it. His father had just slapped him.

Moments ago, his father had looked at him with warmth and love. Now, his face was filled with anger and pain, and his eyes were full of disappointment... disappointment? Li Tiangang's face turned pale. He knew he was inadequate, that he hadn't taken good care of the General's Manor or his brothers, but his father had not shown disappointment in him for those things. Instead, he had comforted him with kindness.

But now, regarding the matter with Li Hao, his father showed nothing but pain and disappointment.

The burning pain on his face made Li Tiangang's mind hazy. It wasn't that the slap was particularly heavy, but suddenly, a scene from that courtyard flashed in his mind.

The slap he had thrown in anger.

The look in that young man's eyes, seemingly also filled with disbelief.

Li Tiangang suddenly felt his heart constrict, a difficult-to-describe emotion spreading through him, perhaps even fear?

"Elder Brother..."

Li Xiaoran wanted to say something but stopped. He sighed deeply.

He had not wanted their elder brother to know about this, but now it was too late to stop it.

Moreover, he also found it hard to understand how Li Tiangang had handled the situation with Li Hao. The boy's talent was not to be spoken of, but his disposition didn't match the family's rumors about him being unruly and undisciplined.

At most, he could only be described as carefree.

Li Muxiu stood coldly by without saying a word, even feeling that the slap was too light.

"No wonder the boy looked at me with that strange look. The truth was here all along. He left the Li family a long time ago. He didn't even want to acknowledge me as his grandfather..."

Li Tianzong's eyes moistened, but during their journey back, the boy had still called him grandfather affectionately.

Was it because he knew that he was about to completely disappear and didn't want him to worry?

Although he had no physical body, Li Tianzong felt a stabbing pain in his heart.

The boy was so understanding! Why did this happen? Why did things turn out this way?

"You, you tell me exactly what happened. I want to know everything!"

Li Tianzong gritted his teeth, glaring at Li Tiangang with anger and pain.

Li Xiaoran's face changed, and he quickly said, "Elder Brother, this will take too much time..."

"It doesn't matter!"

Li Tianzong gritted his teeth: "If I don't find out, I will die with regrets!"

Hearing this, both Li Muxiu and Li Tiangang's faces changed. Li Muxiu quickly said, "Elder Brother, don't get angry. I will tell you slowly."

"Father, please don't get angry. You can hit me if you want, but please don't get angry." Li Tiangang said urgently, his expression tense, fearing that something might happen to Li Tianzong.

"Speak, right here and now!"

Li Tianzong roared through gritted teeth.

Li Tiangang hadn't expected his father to be so furious. Since his father's passing, no one had disciplined him. At this moment, the feeling of being disciplined as a child resurfaced, like when he had made mistakes in the martial arts training ground and was too scared to return to the courtyard.

His face changed color, and he bowed his head, saying, "Father, please don't get angry. I'll tell you everything. It was my fault. I was too impulsive..."

He began to narrate the events.

Nearby, Li Xiaoran's face was extremely ugly, feeling that every second was torture.

He knew his elder brother was using his remaining time to address this issue.

"...and then he decided to leave the General's Manor."

When Li Tiangang finished speaking, Li Tianzong's face was dark. He turned to Li Muxiu and asked, "Is this true?"

Li Muxiu sneered slightly, noticing the look from his fourth brother but didn't think much of it, saying: "He told it from his perspective. In his eyes, he returned from a bitter battle in Yanbei only to find Hao'er frivolous and idle, not practicing properly. But did he ever consider that Hao'er reached the Fifteen Li Realm at fourteen, breaking the records of the Great Yu Divine Dynasty!"

Saying this, he added some details, filling in the gaps in Li Tiangang's perspective.

The same event, narrated by different people, yields different outcomes. Even if a wise person tries to be objective, absolute objectivity is hard to guarantee.

After listening to both of them and combining it with what he had seen and heard in the River of Death, Li Tianzong roughly understood the cause.

He was trembling with rage, finding it hard to imagine how much injustice the boy had endured.

"You actually let him leave the Li family like this. Don't you know how much hatred the Li family attracts from demons and monsters?"

"How could you be so foolish!"

Li Tianzong raised his fist and pounded it against Li Tiangang's chest, causing him to stagger back a few steps.

He conjured a whip made of divine energy and lashed it at Li Tiangang, shouting, "When you were young, I rarely hit you, but now you make such a huge mistake. You deserve this!"

Li Tiangang's face was pained, but he didn't make a sound or evade the blows.

"Elder Brother, please don't exhaust yourself too much."

Li Xiaoran couldn't help but say, "Let me do it instead?"

Li Muxiu glanced at him, surprised that the fourth brother was even more eager than himself?

"Don't worry about it!"

Li Tianzong continued to lash out, glaring at Li Tiangang, "Do you know where you went wrong?"

Li Tiangang raised his head, filled with sorrow, looking at him with pity, "Father, please don't be angry. I know I was wrong."

"Wrong about what?"

Li Tianzong roared.

"I shouldn't have been so impulsive. I was wrong. I will bring Hao'er back and treat him well." Li Tiangang said immediately.

Li Tianzong raised the whip again, but seeing the sorrow in his eyes, he couldn't bring it down again.

"You have truly disappointed me..."

His expression was filled with sadness, and the whip in his hand dissipated. He said bitterly, "It's all my fault for dying early, not educating you properly, not setting a good example as a father..."

"Father, you have done enough!" Li Tiangang's face changed, and he quickly said.

Li Tianzong looked up, finding it both laughable and saddening. He said:

"Our family has such a venomous woman, and it happens to be the wife of the second brother. When the Liu family married in, she was obedient, treated your mother and me with respect, and didn't show any ill intentions."

"When the second brother died, she harbored such thoughts. How could such a sad thing happen to our family?"

He looked down, bitterly staring at Li Tiangang, "What good is hitting you? Tiangang, you should know that some mistakes can never be made. Once made, no matter how much you regret it, they can never be undone!"

Li Tiangang said urgently, "Father, please don't be angry. I will go and bring Hao'er back. There's still time. There's still time!"

Li Tianzong looked at his anxious and frightened expression, feeling a deep sadness.

He knew this child was very filial, which made his anger and lashing all the more painful for him.

Angry at his failures, hating his foolishness, yet pitying his obedience and filial piety, Li Tianzong's emotions were extremely complex. He sighed deeply and said in a low voice:

"I had hoped to return home, but now, it seems there isn't enough time."

Li Xiaoran's body trembled, seeing Li Tianzong's form growing fainter, he couldn't help but call out, "Elder Brother!"

Li Tiangang and Li Muxiu were both stunned. Hearing Li Xiaoran's sorrowful cry, they felt their blood freeze.

It was as if their blood had reversed and frozen in their brains, a chill making them shiver involuntarily.

"Elder Brother?"

Li Muxiu suddenly noticed that his elder brother's form was much fainter than before.

He felt a tremor in his heart and said, "Elder Brother, what do you mean by this? Can't you return to the family?"

He suddenly realized something and looked sharply at Li Xiaoran, asking urgently, "Fourth Brother, what is going on? Tell me, what is going on?!"

"Father?"

Li Tiangang stared blankly at Li Tianzong, dazed.

He wasn't stupid. That short sentence, combined with Li Xiaoran's reaction and Li Tianzong's faint form, filled him with a sense of fear.

"Elder Brother was trapped in the River of Death for too many years, deeply eroded by it. Now, even though he has escaped, he can only barely make it home."

Li Xiaoran said sorrowfully, "But now, Elder Brother... can't go back!"

The years of persistence in the River of Death were now about to dissipate here. He felt a heart-wrenching pain.

Li Muxiu and Li Tiangang, hearing his words, stood there as if struck by lightning.

They had thought that Li Tianzong had been freed and could return to the ancestral hall, be nurtured at the memorial tablet, and be seen regularly in the future...

But now, this is really the last time? "Elder Brother…" Li Muxiu trembled, staring blankly at Li Tianzong, feeling as though his blood had drained, his body losing warmth, his hands and feet cold.

"Father!"

Li Tiangang's pupils contracted, his mind buzzing with a sense of spinning dizziness. At the funeral, he had cried until his eyes were red in front of his father's half body, and now, he had to watch his father disappear before his eyes?!

Was it because of what had just happened? He felt his heart beating, convulsing, a tearing pain spreading through it.

"Don't be sad."

Seeing their sorrowful expressions, Li Tianzong's demeanor calmed, though his face still held a hint of bitterness:

"I didn't expect this to happen. So be it. Second Brother, remember to go and greet your sister-in-law for me later. Tell her I went ahead, and she should take care of herself. If she misses me, she can go to the mountain where we often sat. The cicadas she hears will be my greeting…"

Li Tianzong's eyes were full of age and sadness as he began to arrange his final matters.

His words caused Li Muxiu to tremble, overflowing with sadness, unable to say a word.

"Father, it's all my fault. I made you angry. It's my fault, my fault…"

Li Tiangang suddenly knelt before him, raising his hand and slapping his own face hard.

He slapped himself repeatedly, using flame energy on his palms, making his face bleed.

After several slaps, he looked at Li Tianzong, his eyes filled with tears:

"Tell me, what can I do to bring you back?"

Seeing his appearance, Li Tianzong sighed and said, "It's not me you need to bring back, it's your son. You don't need to be sad. With my current power, I could still make it home, but... it's unnecessary."

He took a deep breath and said, "I originally planned to transfer my power to Hao'er, but he refused. Now, I will transfer it to you. You must bring Hao'er back, at all costs, no matter what happens!"

"If anything happens to him, I will die with regrets!"

His hand fell on Li Tiangang, his eyes extraordinarily serious, staring at him: "Did you hear me?"

Li Tiangang's body trembled, his eyes red: "I can't take your power. Go back and see Mother; she misses you too…"

"As a son, don't be so sentimental."

Li Tianzong waved his hand, cutting him off, "Stop sticking to those rules. Back then, for Qingqing, you opposed the entire family, even broke military rules and family law. Now, for Hao'er, who is your own son, you should fulfill your true responsibility as a father!"

"Remember, you are first a son, then a husband, then a father, and only then a subject, a general, and a citizen!"

Li Tiangang's heart shook as he looked at Li Tianzong's serious face. He realized that he might indeed have been wrong.

His father's words were never wrong. He felt immense sorrow and said, "Father, your son understands now. Please stop talking. I don't want your power. Just go back and have a look, I beg you!"

"As long as you can bring Hao'er back, our Li family will surely prosper, and the Great Yu Divine Dynasty will return to its former glory. I have seen that glory…"

Li Tianzong's eyes shimmered with faint golden light and reminiscence, as if seeing that distant scene: "If you want me to truly see home again, then find Hao'er. Even if you have to apologize to him, as a father, if you're wrong, you should bow your head. It's your own child, what are you afraid of?"

Li Tiangang's sorrow surged like a spring, nodding repeatedly: "Your son has heard it all. Father, please stop talking. Just go back and have a look!"

Li Tianzong raised his hand to wipe away his tears, smiled slightly, then said: "You also need to live well, child…"

At this moment, he was not just a grandfather but also a father.

As he spoke, his entire body suddenly shone brightly, like a blazing white light, enveloping Li Tiangang.

"Father!"

Li Tiangang shouted in panic.

But Li Tianzong's figure was already hidden in the white light, no longer visible.

Li Muxiu and Li Xiaoran rushed forward, calling out, but only Li Tianzong's voice echoed in the void:

"Second Brother, Fourth Brother, the family depends on you now. In the next life, let's be brothers again... though I might not have a next life. You must live well, live for me."

"Tiangang, open your heart and mind. Don't waste my power!"

Li Tiangang was heartbroken, but he could only grit his teeth and open his mind and heart.

An immense power poured in, enveloping him entirely.

"You must... bring Hao'er back…"

"Or I will die... with regrets…"

Li Tianzong's voice faded in Li Tiangang's ears.

A vast and majestic power suddenly spread out, forming a golden pillar of light that enveloped Li Tiangang.

The pillar of light lasted for a long time, slowly shrinking, and finally turned into a vertical golden light, completely disappearing.

"Elder Brother!!"

Li Xiaoran roared in grief and anger, his voice like a wounded beast, hoarse and echoing through the heavens and earth.

Li Muxiu wanted to call out but couldn't make a sound, feeling as if his throat was being squeezed. He stood there in a daze, his wrinkled eyes moist with tears.

The only sound in the world was the howling wind, blowing incessantly.

After a long time, Li Tiangang's body trembled slightly as he awoke from the inheritance.

He immediately looked around but didn't see Li Tianzong. He clutched his chest in pain, feeling the same pain as when his wife Ji Qingqing left his side in Yanbei.

Like at the funeral, witnessing his other brothers being buried.

The pain was suffocating.

He cried out in grief but received no response.

The hand that had just patted his shoulder gently had completely disappeared.

"Father, Tiangang was wrong. Come out, come out and hit me!"

Li Tiangang shouted in sorrow.

But the surroundings were empty, with no response.

Li Xiaoran, seemingly provoked by Li Tiangang's words, suddenly looked at him, then rushed over, kicking him in the chest.

With a loud bang, the violent force sent Li Tiangang's body crashing into a distant mountain.

Before he could get up from the dust, Li Xiaoran pounced on him, punching his face and smashing his head into the rubble.

"It's all your fault, all your fault! Why did you treat Hao'er like that? Why did you let Elder Brother die here?!"

He swung his fists like a madman, each punch landing on Li Tiangang's face, his fists covered in blood.

"Do you know how much Elder Brother wanted to go home? Do you know? Do you know?!"

"That was his dying wish! Do you know what a dying wish is? It's the last thing you want to do before you die!"

"Elder Brother had made it out, he had made it out, so why, why?!"

Li Xiaoran's furious roars were like the cries of a madman, his fists swinging wildly.

Li Tiangang was beaten, his skin split open, his immortal body fractured, blood flowing heavily.

He wanted to fight back, but hearing Li Xiaoran's furious roars, those words pierced his heart like sharp knives. He stopped resisting, letting Li Xiaoran's fists and feet rain down on him.

The rocks collapsed, the ground caved in, and Li Xiaoran beat Li Tiangang into a deep pit dozens of meters below, the ground cracking all around.

"That's enough, Fourth Brother."

Suddenly, Li Muxiu appeared, grabbing Li Xiaoran's raised arm.

Li Xiaoran, disheveled like a madman, looked up, tears streaming down his face as he said hoarsely, "Second Brother, Elder Brother's soul is gone…"

"He has no chance of reincarnation…"

His voice was not a shout but a wail of sorrow and despair.