Leaving the Li Residence

"By the way, keep this handkerchief safe; it might come in very handy to you someday," Li Yunfan said earnestly as he handed the handkerchief to Han Li.

Han Li took the handkerchief with a strange expression and examined it carefully. Apart from the unfamiliar map drawn on it, there was nothing special about it. But since Li Yunfan had said so, he kept it in mind and carefully put it into the corner of his storage bag.

"Let's go, it's time to find Senior Brother Liu and the others."

When the two of them returned to the entrance of the Cold Palace, Liu Jing, Chen Qiaoqian, and the others had already finished looting and told them some bad news.

The missing sixth senior brother, Wu Xuan, was actually captured by the leader of the Black Fiend Sect, who then used his life essence to perform a blood sacrifice and drain his life force before he died.

Li Yunfan had anticipated this, and upon hearing the news, he could only sigh. Han Li, on the other hand, was taken aback, but then immediately gave a bitter smile.

He originally thought that losing only one Foundation Establishment cultivator in this battle would be acceptable when he returned to his sect, but now even one of his fellow disciples had died. He really didn't know what kind of face Li Huayuan would give him when he found out.

After all, this whole thing started because of him.

As for Li Yunfan, there's no comparison between him and Li Huayuan. He's Li Huayuan's only personal disciple, so how could he possibly be so heartless as to punish him?

Feeling frustrated, he decided not to stay any longer. After handing over the cleanup work to others, he made an excuse to return to the Qin residence early.

Li Yunfan originally wanted to leave as well, but Chen Qiaoqian stopped him, saying she had something to say to him, so he could only let Han Li go back alone first.

Then Chen Qiaoqian led Li Yunfan to a corner outside the Cold Palace, and whispered something to him.

After listening in silence for a moment, Li Yunfan also responded with a few words.

The conversation between the two did not take too long. By the time they returned together, Liu Jing and the others had just finished dealing with the remaining matters, and then everyone left the palace by flying on their magical artifacts.

Although no one knew what Li Yunfan and Chen Qiaoqian had talked about, Chen Qiaoqian's rosy face and the smile that unconsciously appeared on her lips when she returned made the others secretly speculate.

Upon returning to the Qin residence, Zhong Weiniang pulled Chen Qiaoqian back to her room, seemingly very curious about their conversation.

Seeing this, Liu Jing, an experienced man, smiled and patted Li Yunfan on the shoulder with a meaningful look in his eyes before turning around and returning to his room.

Song Meng, a martial arts fanatic, knew about matters between men and women, but he wasn't particularly interested in them, so he wasn't observant enough to notice the situation between Li Yunfan and Song Meng.

Xuehong and Chen Qiaoqian's senior brother, one had just lost his Daoist partner and the other was not familiar with Li Yunfan, so they only glanced at Li Yunfan before returning to their rooms with their own thoughts.

Li Yunfan could only shake his head helplessly and turned to walk towards the room. However, he deviated from the intended path and ended up going to Han Li's room, where he stayed for more than an hour before leaving.

……

The next morning, everyone sat in the living room, discussing their departure from Yuejing City.

By this time, Han Li had already informed everyone of the notes issued by the sect and the upcoming decisive battle with the demonic path two months later.

Of course, he didn't take out the jade slip that Li Huayuan had also sent, which explained that the demonic path had canceled its mission to enter the mortal world. That was just a private mission for him and Li Yunfan, and there was no need to tell others.

"I need to go back to my family first, and then go to the camp to participate in the great battle, so I won't be traveling with you all," Chen Qiaoqian said softly.

"Alright, Junior Sister Chen, please feel free to do as you please." Liu Jing nodded, then spoke again to Li Yunfan and the others.

"Then the others will come with me to the camp to prepare for the final battle against the demonic forces."

"Great! This way, I can spar with Junior Brother Li and Junior Brother Han on the road!" Song Meng had no objection to this; on the contrary, he was quite excited about having someone to spar with on the road.

Li Yunfan and Han Li exchanged a glance, both showing a hint of apology.

"Senior Brother Liu, I'm afraid Junior Brother Han and I can't travel together. We also have some personal matters to attend to, so it may take a little longer before we can head to the camp to meet up," Li Yunfan said, cupping his hands in greeting.

Upon hearing this, Song Meng's face immediately fell, while Liu Jing looked at Li Yunfan and Han Li with some surprise and asked in confusion.

"Do you both have private matters to attend to?"

"Senior Brother Liu, you probably don't know this, but Senior Brother Li and I actually knew each other and had a friendship before we joined Huangfeng Valley. This matter is something we left over from our time in the mortal world, and it hasn't been fully resolved yet," Han Li explained with a slight smile.

Now, everyone else looked at them in surprise, not expecting that the two had such a connection.

"That's right. We can take advantage of this time being in the mortal world to resolve these matters at once, completely sever these worldly ties, and from now on focus on exploring the Great Dao!" Li Yunfan nodded and delivered his prepared speech.

Upon hearing this, Liu Jing did not press the matter further. He simply told the two of them the importance of this great battle to the seven factions and urged them to resolve the matter as soon as possible and rush to participate in the war.

"Yes! Don't worry, senior brother, we both know the implications," Li Yunfan said, cupping his hands in greeting.

And so, everyone agreed that the next morning, they would go their separate ways and then return to their rooms to rest.

Li Yunfan and Han Li found Qin Yan and informed him that they were safe. Amidst Qin Yan's great joy, Li Yunfan said that he would take his leave the next day.

Upon hearing this, Qin Yan quickly tried to persuade them to stay, but the two politely declined with smiles, leaving them with no choice but to give up.

……

In Jiayuan City, a window seat on the second floor of the long-established restaurant "Xiangjia Restaurant".

Two young men of similar age but with different appearances were sitting in chairs chatting.

These two were Li Yunfan and Han Li, who had traveled for five days after leaving the Qin residence to reach this place.

"Second brother, is this the Mo family mansion from back then?" Li Yunfan picked up a piece of side dish, put it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed it before looking across the street at a large mansion with a plaque that read "Li family mansion" and asked.

Han Li frowned slightly as he looked at the Li family's plaque, which gleamed in the sunlight. He found it quite irritating, not nearly as pleasing to the eye as the plaque of the Mo family's residence.

"Yes, but it's been converted into the Li residence now."

Han Li said calmly, but in his heart he remembered that the former leader of the Five Colors Sect was surnamed Li. The current Li family must be the result of them usurping the throne.