"Forget it. He's my brother after all, and his talent is better than mine anyway. I never had any intention of fighting him for the position of family head."
"The Li Family still needs him to hold it together. I forgive him." Li Xiang said with a bitter smile.
"That's your decision to make." Seeing that Li Xiang had already made up his mind, Chu Feng didn't press the matter further. Instead, he said, "Do me a favor."
"What favor?" Li Xiang asked.
"After we leave here, help me look after Xiao Ming. This kid has decent potential, but he's still too young and needs someone to protect him," Chu Feng said.
"Don't worry. Even if you hadn't asked, I was planning on doing exactly that."
"I've already thought it through. After leaving here, I won't be going back to the Li Family. I'll wander the world together with Xiao Ming."
Li Xiang forced a smile, then turned to Xiao Ming and said, "Xiao Ming, from now on, it's just you and me against the world."
"Heh, being with Senior Brother Li Xiang is definitely going to be way more fun than things are now." Xiao Ming grinned as well, then actually stood up and walked toward Senior Brother Shao.
"Xiao Ming, I was wrong. Please forgive me." When he saw Xiao Ming approaching, Senior Brother Shao's face was full of remorse. At this moment, tears were already streaming down his aged face, making him look utterly pitiful.
"To you, I was never really family. You were just lonely and bored, and having me around made you feel a bit better."
"But regardless, thank you for taking care of me these past few years. Here are some Martial Beads — consider it my way of repaying you. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other."
Xiao Ming pulled ten Martial Beads from the Universe Bag Chu Feng had given him, tossed them to Senior Brother Shao, then turned and walked back toward Chu Feng without looking back.
Chu Feng nodded approvingly at Xiao Ming's actions. As Xiao Ming had said, Senior Brother Shao had never truly regarded Xiao Ming as family.
At such a young age, Xiao Ming had been able to sense this, and rather than waver, he had decisively cut ties. It was a wise move.
"Junior Brother Chu Feng, when do we leave?" Li Xiang asked.
"We can leave anytime. But since we're going, we can't just slip away quietly."
"Although I wasn't able to meet Senior Hong Qiang on this trip, I'd like to repay the kindness he showed me."
"The Wasteland Bamboo Grove has been silent for too long. Everyone looks down on this place. I want to help Senior Hong Qiang give the Wasteland Bamboo Grove a moment of dignity," Chu Feng said.
"What do you mean?" Li Xiang's brows furrowed slightly. He sensed something was off and realized Chu Feng might be planning to do something dangerous.
"I'm going to make a scene here in the Fallen Leaves Bamboo Grove — and the place I'll be making that scene is this Wasteland Bamboo Grove." Chu Feng said with a smile.
Before coming to the Fallen Leaves Bamboo Grove, Chu Feng had wanted to keep a low profile. But now that he was about to leave, his thoughts had shifted to making a grand exit.
This decision wasn't born of a moment of recklessness. In truth, Chu Feng had thought it over carefully.
The Wasteland Bamboo Grove contained a treasure of heaven and earth, making this place a hidden gem — yet not even the people of the Fallen Leaves Bamboo Grove knew it was a treasure trove.
Otherwise, the Wasteland Bamboo Grove would never have fallen to its current state. Quite the opposite — it should have been thriving.
But Chu Feng believed that within the Fallen Leaves Bamboo Grove, there was actually one person who knew this place was a treasure.
That person was the one who had used the Barrier Technique to seal off the cavern hiding the treasure of heaven and earth, the one Chu Feng hadn't been able to get past.
And Chu Feng felt that this person was very likely the one he most wanted to meet — the so-called useless elder in everyone else's eyes, but in reality, the unfathomable person in charge of the Wasteland Bamboo Grove: Hong Qiang.