Star Trace Gate

Night fell, past midnight, inside the Li Family Ancestral Hall.

Uncle Li sat before the ancestral tablets, his face stern and grim, and demanded, "Where are Big Shrimp and Second Crab?"

"I don't know," Li Xiaopang replied, kneeling on the ground and sniffling.

"Stop talking nonsense! They went out with you!" Uncle Li Er shouted, barely containing his anger. "Where did you put them?!"

"I didn't know they were following me," Li Xiaopang said innocently, feigning ignorance. "By the way, why were they following me?"

Uncle Li gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger, and replied, "Fine, let's not talk about the two of them anymore, let's talk about you. I ordered you not to leave home for a while, but you went out twice in one day. Do you think I'm just talking nonsense?"

"You can interpret it however you want," Li Xiaopang replied nonchalantly, somewhat resigned to his fate.

"I...you...I can understand it however I want?!" Uncle Li was truly enraged. He slammed his hand on the table, grabbed the ruler from the wooden stand of the altar, and roared, "I've really spoiled you rotten! If I don't beat your legs until they're split today, I'll change my surname to yours!"

He had always doted on Little Fatty. In all his years, aside from a few playful kicks as a warning, he had almost never laid a serious hand on him. But today was different. So many major events had recently occurred in Xuwang Village, and they all seemed to be related to him. He had warned Little Fatty many times, but the boy remained unruly and unrepentant…

If he isn't disciplined soon, the Li family will be ruined sooner or later.

"Get over here! Get over here right now and bend over!" Uncle Li Er was holding a ruler and had already rolled up his sleeves.

"Wait a minute." Li Xiaopang knelt on the ground and waved his hand like a stubborn mule: "Let me finish speaking first, then it's not too late to hit me."

"Fine, fine, I'll let you talk. I'm going to beat you up today, and make sure it's all clear, legal and justified," Uncle Li replied reasonably.

Knowing he was in for a beating, Li Xiaopang didn't even bother kneeling. He simply collapsed to the ground, arrogantly raising his head and saying, "Let's not talk nonsense today, and there's no need for us to test each other. I'm laying my cards on the table. I'm not pretending anymore. I am the staunch mole your clan has been searching for. To put it simply, I was the mastermind behind helping the 79 death row inmates escape... I also stole the guide talisman from the Divine Tomb; I also stimulated Zhou Taozhi at least 70% of his sudden illness... A few days ago, during the battle at the Divine Tomb, I was an indispensable main force, and I even used my sixth grandfather's Heavenly Dragon Four Directions Mirror to try and enter the Divine Tomb Immortal Palace. However... we were very unlucky and failed."

"Let me put it this way, I have committed almost all of the most serious capital offenses recorded in the laws of the Illusion Village."

He spoke fluently and frankly, his words flowing freely.

"...!"

After hearing these words, Uncle Li was completely stunned. He was so dumbfounded that he stood there blankly, not knowing how to respond.

In fact, on the night Little Fatty stole the Heavenly Dragon Four Directions Mirror, he had already suspected that the other party might be one of the key members of the gang that had been committing crimes recently. However, he couldn't bring himself to reveal this. Little Fatty was always stubborn, and even if he asked, the other party wouldn't tell the truth. Besides, if this matter were brought up, he would be the one who would suffer. As one of the heads of the Clan Hall and a permanent director, he was obligated to send his own nephew to the Three Great Halls to turn himself in, otherwise it would be considered knowing about it but not reporting it, and deliberately protecting him. Moreover, if the matter escalated and more people knew about it, not only would Little Fatty suffer a terrible fate, but the Li family would also be implicated.

Most importantly, the fact that the chubby boy was involved in the case also violated Uncle Li's beliefs. He has always supported and respected the extreme rules of the Illusionary Village, so he was in a very contradictory and difficult situation between absolute family affection and upholding the law impartially.

Therefore, the best course of action is to pretend that we know nothing, secretly protect and confine Little Fatty, and then, once the case is settled, bring it up at the appropriate time and punish the other party.

But he didn't expect that Little Fatty would suddenly come clean with him today and stop pretending... This caught him off guard.

After being dumbfounded for a long time, Uncle Li Er picked up the ruler with trembling hands and shouted angrily, "You son of a bitch, are you out of your mind? What nonsense are you talking about?!"

"I'm not talking nonsense, I am the mole! A die-hard mole!"

"Shut up!" Uncle Li glared at him. "Stand up straight!"

"Second Uncle, you already know I'm the mole, right? Otherwise, why would you have Big Shrimp and Second Crab spying on me?" Li Xiaopang glared at him, his voice trembling with excitement. "You know everything, you just love to pretend!"

"Stop talking."

"No, I'm going to tell you." Li Xiaopang retorted, "Huang is my accomplice. We rescued Number 79 together! We went to the Peach Blossom Courtyard together, which provoked Zhou Taozhi...!"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Li hesitated to lower the ruler he had raised high, looking at him with a completely broken and helpless expression. He asked wearily, "What the hell are you trying to do? I just can't figure you out."

“In the Tomb of the Gods, I left first, and then death row inmate number 79 fell into the Netherworld.” Li Xiaopang sat on the ground with a straight face and said urgently, “But at the critical moment, the Sun family arrived at the Tomb of the Gods and rescued Huang Xiaozi and Aunt Tianwei.”

"Hmm, that's somewhat unexpected..." Upon hearing the other party's account, Uncle Li immediately raised his hand and closed the two doors of the ancestral hall, then asked in a low voice, "Why did the Sun family rescue Huang boy and his aunt?"

“At first I didn’t know either, but now I understand. This Sun Michen may have also become greedy for Huang Xiaozi’s original inheritance and the three thousand secret treasures…!” Li Xiaopang truthfully recounted the investigation results of the entire incident, as well as all the details analyzed with the storyteller.

After listening, Uncle Li muttered under his breath, "Sun Michen, that hypocrite, has finally shown his true colors...!"

"You also think he's a hypocrite?" Li Xiaopang asked.

"Ha, we've lived together in this illusory village for hundreds of years. Do you think I don't know what kind of person he is?" Uncle Li sneered. "He's much better at pretending than I am."

"Right... that fat Sun doesn't look like a good person at all," Li Xiaopang chimed in indignantly.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Li suddenly realized that he had unwittingly become a scapegoat who knew the inside story. He then sternly scolded, "Stop talking nonsense! Now, bend over!"

"I'm not your aunt, why are you making me pout?! I haven't finished speaking yet." Li Xiaopang started to argue.

"You son of a bitch...!"

"Second Uncle, the reason I'm coming to you with this is because I have only one request." Li Xiaopang scrambled to his feet, knelt down again with perfect posture, and then pleaded with pleading eyes and sincere words: "Number 79 and I have deduced that Huang Xiaozi and Aunt Tianwei are being held captive by the Sun family. So... I want to ask Second Uncle to help Huang Xiaozi escape."

"What did you say?!" Uncle Li was utterly shocked, craning his neck in a daze, as if he hadn't heard what the other person said.

"I said, please help the Huang family aunt and niece!"

"Did you forget to drain the amniotic fluid from your brain?!" Uncle Li said angrily, his face turning purple. "You... you followed along without thinking, and now you want me to get involved too? What are you thinking? Does your whole family want to die?!"

"Second Uncle, if it weren't for Huang's righteousness, I wouldn't be able to stay out of this situation at all." Li Xiaopang said solemnly, "I was the one who went to steal things from the array's core chamber, and I was the one who wanted to enter the Divine Tomb! But at the crucial moment, Huang gave me the only chance to escape! I can't forget this kindness. Didn't you also say that a true man living between heaven and earth must keep his promises, be trustworthy, and repay kindness?"

“You don’t know anything! He’s only letting you go because it wouldn’t change anything even if you stayed, so he’s just doing you a favor, do you understand?” Uncle Li frowned and retorted, “The way you think about things is really too naive.”

Li Xiaopang knelt on the ground, his gaze sincere and emotional, and said, "There are countless ways to view and interpret a single event. As the clan leader, you naturally have many thoughts, but I am willing to believe in the most beautiful one... I firmly believe that his reaction of pulling me up the mountain at that moment was definitely not an act, but that he genuinely wanted me to leave!"

"…!" Uncle Li was speechless for a long time: "Since he has already let you go and given you a way out, why do you still go against his wishes? Can't you just live a good life?"

“It’s different. I thought everything would be over after I escaped the Tomb of the Gods. The storyteller would die, and the Huang family aunt and nephew would be sentenced to death for treason by the clan hall. But to my surprise, they survived and were even placed under house arrest by the Sun family… In that case, I have to save them.” Li Xiaopang said firmly, “But I can’t do it myself, so I can only beg you…!”

"You've fucking lost your mind. This is impossible, don't even think about it anymore." Uncle Li Er refused righteously and firmly, "I'm not going to risk the lives of the entire clan to mess around with you! If what you're saying is true, do you know how deep the water is in this matter? The Zhao family is involved, the Sun family is involved... then every action we take could bring annihilation to the clan, do you understand!"

Seeing his second uncle's resolute attitude, Li Xiaopang gritted his teeth and replied, "I'll ask you one more time, are you absolutely not going to lend a hand?!"

"No!" Uncle Li shook his head: "Not only will I not take action, but you will also never be able to step out of the Li family's gate again."

"brush!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaopang said nothing more, but instead lifted the corner of his clothes, knelt down, and kowtowed very solemnly, performing a deep bow.

Uncle Li looked surprised and remained silent.

"I am so grateful to my second uncle for all the years of care and upbringing I have received. Although I have never met my biological father since birth, your kindness in raising me is even greater than that of my own father." Li Xiaopang kowtowed repeatedly, tears streaming down his face, and said, "Forgive me for being unfilial, as I will not be able to stay by your side in the future, nor will I be able to care for you in your old age and see you off in your final days. If there is an afterlife, I will repay your great kindness..."

"I hope you take good care of yourself, Second Uncle, and that the rest of your life will be smooth sailing!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his bruised forehead, stood up straight, and resolutely walked out of the ancestral hall.

Uncle Li was completely baffled by him and shouted angrily, "What are you doing?!"

"If you're wrong, admit it; if you're going to be punished, stand up straight." Li Xiaopang replied without turning his head, "I've made up my mind. I'm going to commit suicide, go to the clan hall to turn myself in, frankly admit that I'm the traitor... and accept all punishment. I will never bring shame to my Li family!"

"Snapped!"

Uncle Li couldn't hold back any longer. He jumped up, swung the ruler, and struck the back of the boy's head hard: "Don't even think about killing yourself! I'll fucking kill you right now! You little brat, you dare threaten me?!"

"I'm not a threat," Li Xiaopang cried, clutching his head and running around frantically. "It's kindness and justice that's been urging me to turn myself in every night!"

"I'll skin you alive."

"Clap!"

The second uncle's right arm swung so hard it left afterimages as he frantically slapped the chubby boy.

Li Xiaopang had been beaten so badly that he had fled to the huge altar, his face covered in blood, looking extremely miserable and disheveled.

But he was quick-witted. He immediately picked up the memorial tablet of an ancestor with both hands, held it to his head, and shouted, "Li Taishan, the ancestor is here, how dare you lay a hand on him?! Come on, if you're so capable, you can smash even the ancestor's memorial tablet!"