Chapter 11651 — The Road of the Prince of Qi's Estate

But now that things had come to this, much of what had previously been baffling became clear at a glance.

The Prince of Qi's Estate had originally had far better ways of handling its relationship with Wei Zhao. Yet under a whole string of her reckless maneuvers, both sides had been forced into a situation where they had no choice but to fight to the death.

None of this was because the Prince of Qi had lost his mind—it was because Li Hongshou's starting point had been a single-minded determination to drive the Prince of Qi's Estate to utter ruin.

Wei Zhao remarked, "Your insistence on throwing Young Master Qi out of the house earlier was to keep him from getting dragged into this mess, wasn't it? Not bad—for a mother, you're not entirely devoid of humanity."

Whatever else might be said, she was Young Master Qi's own mother.

Li Hongshou was silent for a moment, then said, "The road of the Prince of Qi's Estate ends today. Young Master Qi still has his own road to walk—what a pity that none of us will live to see it."

Everyone's expression shifted slightly.

Those words plainly carried the will to die. This woman intended to drag the Prince of Qi's Estate down with her.

The Third Ancestor of the Prince of Qi's Estate gave a cold snort. "Naive, foolish woman. Now that we have seen through all your schemes and plots, do you really think we will obediently follow your script from here on?"

The tall elder immediately turned to Wei Zhao and proposed, "You know the situation now. I suggest we call a truce for the moment, lest this wretch have her way. What say you?"

Before Wei Zhao could answer, Li Hongshou had already begun to laugh.

"Who is it that's really naive? Since I dared to speak of these things, I naturally have absolute confidence in them!"

As she spoke, Li Hongshou picked up the last few ancestral tablets again and said softly, "All the ancestral will of the Prince of Qi's Estate is here. The moment you stop, they will disperse where they stand. Can you truly afford to gamble on that?"

That single sentence left everyone choked into silence.

To speak truthfully, at this moment, bolstered by the many ancestral wills, the Third Ancestor of the Prince of Qi's Estate had already faintly regained the upper hand in their contest with Wei Zhao.

Normally, without any other interference, their taking down Wei Zhao would have been a near certainty.

On this one point alone, Li Hongshou had given them a helping hand.

Only, the price of that help was far too great. Even if they won today, the Prince of Qi's Estate, having lost all the ancestral will, would from then on lose its inherited foundation entirely.

It was no exaggeration to say that even if things ended here and Li Hongshou did nothing further, the Prince of Qi's Estate would essentially already be finished.

Her goal had been achieved.

But Li Hongshou clearly did not intend to stop there.

Just as she reached for the ancestral tablets once more, Qi Zhuiyun moved in front of her, his aura icy and sharp.

"Do you take me for a dead man?"

Though Qi Zhuiyun's current condition was poor, he was still a top-tier royal authority expert of the hallmark kind; his strength was far beyond anything a mere Li Hongshou could match.

Even if the Third Ancestor of the Prince of Qi's Estate was locked in a war of attrition with Wei Zhao and could spare no hand, Qi Zhuiyun had more than enough to finish off a Li Hongshou.

Yet Li Hongshou showed not the slightest sign of panic.

"Master, it's time for you to make your entrance."

With a faint sigh, an old man in Daoist robes silently materialized before everyone.

Every eye twitched in unison.

Judging by the manner of his appearance, he had been inside the ancestral shrine from the very beginning—yet even the three Ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate, who held every home-field advantage, had not sensed his presence in the least.

"This poor Daoist is Zhang Tailing. Greetings to you all."

The old man in Daoist robes cupped his hands in salute and sighed softly. "To meet you all in such a manner, over the affair of my unworthy disciple—this poor Daoist has been most discourteous."

Wei Zhao glanced at him. From his aura alone, he judged the man to be a cut above Wei Baizhan and the others.

A peak early-stage Heaven Rank Venerable.

In this present age, when old monsters gathered like clouds, such strength was hardly outstanding—but in earlier times, it would have been solidly unattainable top-tier combat power, a transcendent existence whose single stomp could make the entire Inner Royal Court tremble.

The three Ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate could not help but feel their hearts sink.

A single Li Hongshou was one thing, but now there was also Zhang Tailing, a peak early-stage Heaven Rank Venerable—that was an entirely different matter.

Sure enough, Zhang Tailing merely lifted a finger, and Qi Zhuiyun was sent flying.

Their strengths were simply not on the same order of magnitude.

In that case, unless the three Ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate truly called a halt with Wei Zhao in time, everything on the scene would be at the mercy of this master-and-disciple pair, Zhang Tailing and Li Hongshou.

The crux was that this clash between the three Ancestors and Wei Zhao truly was not something that could be stopped just because one wished it.

A clash that touched upon the most fundamental layers of perception had always been exceedingly perilous.

Even if both sides decided to stop, they would need extraordinary mutual understanding; otherwise, the slightest discrepancy in the process could immediately trigger catastrophic consequences.

At bottom, whether the three Ancestors or Wei Zhao, neither trusted the other, and each had every reason to believe the other would seize the chance to dig a pit for him and bury him in it.

It was a classic, insoluble prisoner's dilemma.

At least with Zhang Tailing and Li Hongshou standing there watching, there was no way this matter could be resolved.

Even knowing full well that continuing would only make things worse and worse, both sides could do nothing but keep grinding it out to the bitter end, until one of them could hold out no longer.

Wei Zhao, for his part, had no objection.

He was using the other side to grind levels anyway; now that they had the blessing of their ancestral will, the leveling value was all the greater, and he could not have asked for more.

As for whether Zhang Tailing might launch a sneak attack midway, he was not much worried about that either.

If Zhang Tailing were to make a move against them, the likeliest outcome was that Zhang Tailing himself would be dragged into it as well, and then they would all end up grinding each other down together—leaving Wei Zhao with one more target to farm for experience. A fine turn of events.

The three ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate, by contrast, were now well and truly caught in a bind.

True enough, Zhang Tailing most likely would not risk striking at them directly.

But the trouble was this: while they were locked in a war of attrition with Wei Zhao, Zhang Tailing would have more than enough time to tear down the entire ancestral shrine—or even the whole Prince of Qi's Estate.

With Qi Zhuiyun no longer there to stop her, Li Hongshou at once flung the last batch of ancestral tablets in, not a single one left out.

All at once, the ancestral will upon the heads of the three ancestors of the Prince of Qi's Estate surged to its peak, and immediately bore down on Wei Zhao.

Yet the faces of all three were those of mourners at a funeral.

Watching this, Zhang Tailing gave a long, soft sigh and said to Li Hongshou, "That should be about enough. The Prince of Qi's Estate has had its roots severed, and Xiaonan has been avenged. Let us go."

"No. I want the entire Prince of Qi's Estate to be buried with my junior brother!"

Li Hongshou's expression was deranged.