Follow the path of Dao from infancy

Inside Listening Rain Tower, the guards at the door immediately bowed in greeting upon seeing Li Tiangang.

Li Tiangang went straight to the seventh floor; his gaze swept the area but did not catch sight of his second uncle, which only fueled his anger.

He turned back downstairs and asked, "Where is the old man?"

"The old Marquis seems to have gone fishing."

"Where is he fishing?"

"This servant does not know."

Li Tiangang was furious. Since childhood, he had heard that this second uncle was loose in discipline, not getting along with his father's brothers, and it was indeed the case.

The man's duty was to guard Listening Rain Tower, yet he was nowhere to be seen, and even when intending to find him, he couldn't be located.

Seeing his angry face, the guard became frightened and, as if thinking of something, hastily said, "My lord, this lowly one thinks he knows a place the old Marquis might go to."

"What place?"

"The young master mentioned it once, Blackwater Demon Lake, about two thousand li east of the city," the guard said respectfully.

Li Tiangang determined to set out at once, but suddenly, he furrowed his brows and said, "Why did that child mention this place to you?"

"The young master mentioned it casually. He often sends pastries to the old Marquis, and since the journey is long, the young master worries that the food container won't keep warm..."

Li Tiangang's expression immediately darkened: "Instead of properly cultivating, he sweet-talks and flatters others; no wonder the second uncle shields him so!"

With a sweep of his sleeves, he soared into the skies and in the blink of an eye, he was flying out of Qingzhou City.

Before long.

Li Tiangang arrived at the edge of Blackwater Demon Lake; the vast expanse of the lake was boundless, with black waves crashing incessantly.

He surveyed the area and after a moment, he found a figure at one part of the lakeshore.

Li Tiangang flew straight toward it and descended.

The figure at the lake heard the noise and subconsciously turned around, "Hao..."

The smile had just appeared on his face when he saw Li Tiangang's stern expression and immediately snapped back to reality, his eyes dimming.

"Second uncle."

Despite the anger in his heart, Li Tiangang still bowed first upon landing, then approached and glanced at the lake, asking, "Are you here to fish?"

Fishing... Li Muxiu's face regained its cold detachment, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly; he was merely sitting here in silence.

"How did you know of this place, and what do you want from me?" Li Muxiu asked indifferently.

Seeing this, Li Tiangang also dispensed with the niceties and directly said, "Second uncle, I know you care about that child, but don't you realize you are harming him this way?"

Li Muxiu turned his head to look at him and said, "How am I harming your son?"

"You let your friend watch over Hao Er and protect him in secret; is this not the same as forcing me to truly sever ties with him?" Li Tiangang's voice contained anger.

Li Muxiu was slightly taken aback before it dawned on him.

When Li Hao left that day, he had noticed Feng Boping lurking in the shadows, who also communicated briefly with him about escorting Li Hao away.

Beyond expressing his gratitude, his feelings were extremely complex.

Without Feng Boping's support, perhaps the child might never have stepped through that threshold.

But, Feng Boping's willingness to support might be due to his inability to watch Hao Er suffer in front of his father.

When even outsiders could not bear to see it, what a failure it was.

Contemplating these things, Li Muxiu looked at the anger in Li Tiangang's eyes and could not help but let out a snort of laughter, saying:

"Now you are afraid, afraid of losing Hao Er? When you returned, I heard you even slapped Hao Er; why weren't you afraid then?"

"And after inquiring about the details these past days, wasn't it because that little girl was arrogant due to being spoiled and insulted Qingqing that Hao Er slapped her?"

"Is Hao Er wrong for defending his mother?!"

As he spoke, the calmness in him surged with emotion again, anger flashing in his eyes.

Li Tiangang's face changed slightly, at a loss for words.

He had also looked into this matter later; Li Mingguang, Li Wushuang, and others were present, corroborating this point.

Indeed, it was his eighth brother's daughter Li Rumeng who first brought up Qingqing with disrespectful remarks.

Regarding this, the eighth brother himself had slapped his own daughter, had a major argument with his wife that day, and since then, turmoil reigned in his household.

Li Tiangang could no longer blame or chastise anyone, and he felt some regret for that slap.

"Second uncle, I know I am not a competent father, but my goal is only to teach him well. I already regret not having kept him by my side to raise and care for these years," Li Tiangang continued, "But the child's temper, as you have seen, is like stone. If you allow your old friend to continue protecting him, he will never experience the harshness and hardships of the outside world."

Li Muxiu looked at him coldly, saying:

"He is your son, not your enemy; why do you insist on making him experience the hardships of the world?"

Li Tiangang was taken aback.

"I have no children of my own; if I did, I would wish to hold them and dote on them every day!" Li Muxiu said coldly, "Having children is not about making them endure the harshness and cruelty of the world, but about them feeling their parents' love. I couldn't do this in the past, which is why I never married or had children, as I didn't trust myself to be a good father.

But looking at it now, you are far less worthy!"

Li Tiangang fell silent for a moment, then said, "Second uncle, you've never been a father; you don't understand my good intentions. I, too, want to treat him well, to make up for those years he spent alone, but there must be a limit to kindness!"

"How many sons of the battlefield are longed for by their mothers and wives, yet they lay buried on the field. He's lucky enough to have seen me return alive! But I will inevitably die one day, and if he does not grow up, how can he shoulder the responsibility of carrying forward the Li Family? Can he bear the legacy of our ancestors?"

Li Muxiu sneered and said, "How do you know he can't handle it if you don't try? Hao Er is not as weak as you think. You don't understand him at all; you have never truly cared about him!"