With this, Huang Shi finally saw a chance, and he sure as hell wouldn't let it go as he instantly rushed towards her, his body flickering with crimson lightning as he then extended both of his hands and took her into his arms.
The moment Li Mei felt his touch, all of the emotions that had taken control of her mind—all of the pain, anger, and sorrow at the sudden revelation of the truth of her sister's death—erupted as she started bawling, her tears soaking his robes.
"WHY?! WHY DID SHE HAVE TO DIE?! WHY HER?! EVEN THOUGH YOUR FATHER WAS A PIECE OF SHIT, MY SISTER AT LEAST TREATED HIM WITH RESPECT BEFITTING THE SO-CALLED FATHER OF HER CHILD, BUT WHY DID THAT SCUM HAVE TO KILL HER!"
He felt his heart ache as he tightened the hug he gave her, choosing not to say anything for now as he just let her tears fall and allowed her to vent all of her negative emotions by softly rubbing her back and letting her feel that she wasn't alone.
Huang Li, who had already approached the two of them, extended his arms and took both of them into his embrace, as tears also flowed down his cheeks, his voice choked up with emotion.
"I'm sorry Mei'er, I… I was just scared that if I told you the truth… that I would lose you as well… If I lose both of my daughters… I don't think I would be able to continue living in this world…"
Li Mei, her eyes already red from all the crying, nodded her head softly as she replied, "I know… I understand… it's just… I'm just so angry… I know you meant well… I'm sorry, Father…"
Huang Shi also felt like tears were about to drop from his eyes, but he stopped himself; he knew that as the person with the most distant relationship with his birth mother, he needed to be the one to be strong for the both of them. After talking with them for a bit, he stepped back and tried gave them space to talk.
"Grandfather, Mei'er…. You guys probably have a lot to talk about… I'll go back into the estate for a while… just come find me when the both of you are done, okay?"
Huang Li and Li Mei both looked at him, their faces showing reluctance as they both didn't want him to leave. In fact, it was Li Mei, the moment she felt him pull away from them, who extended her hand first, pulling him back into their embrace.
"No! You stay here… you are family… so stay…"
Huang Li nodded his head as he forced himself to dry his tears with his arms while he tightened the hug that embraced the two of them.
"That's right… we are all family.. we are the only ones we have left in this world.. so we should always be supporting each other…"
With these words, Huang Shi finally felt a few tears stain his cheeks as his heart felt an unspeakable amount of warmth, and he nodded his head.
"Okay.. then let's stay like this for a while, and we can talk about the more important stuff later…"
Li Mei gave a smile as she nodded her head, as the raging emotions she previously felt slowly started to calm down.
After around an hour of them just bonding with each other, talking and expressing their feelings about the situation to each other, and generally spending time together on this rainy night, all of them now sat across a small table next to each other, as now he and his grandfather no longer needed to keep their plans secret from Li Mei.
"Alright, let's just recap the plan. First, for us to be able to take down my father, Huang Dao, who is the Sect Master of the Azure Dragon Sect and the powerful Disciplinary Hall, we need to take care of three things."
Li Mei listened with intent, her fists clenching under the table as her eyes grew fierce. Even Huang Li listened attentively, even though he knew most of this plan by heart at this point.
"First, we need to gather allies—people who also have a dislike or hatred for the Disciplinary Hall—and garner their support."
"Our most likely ally in this regard is the Medicine Hall led by Qiao Qinghe. From what my grandfather told me, the reason why Qiao Qinghe and her granddaughter, Qiao Fenyi, grew so estranged is because of the death of Fenyi's mother during the purge. This means it is likely we will be able to get support from them if we do this right."
Li Mei nodded her head, her eyes serious as the rain from the outside made the lounge area feel cold.
"Next, we need fame! We need to show the people of the Azure Dragon Sect that we are not just ordinary individuals—that we have talent and that we are meant to be supported. If we are able to do this, we will garner a large amount of support from the ordinary disciples within the sect. This will prevent them from rebelling against us or supporting the Sect Master when we make our move!"
This time it was Huang Li who nodded his head in agreement, as this was the idea that he had suggested to him a few weeks back.
"Finally, we need personal power! Worst comes to worst, we will be fighting at least three different halls loyal to the Sect Master on the day of our revenge. We must make sure that we are as strong as possible to ensure that even if things go wrong, we will still emerge victorious in the end because of the absolute strength of our cultivation base. With this as insurance, we can ensure our victory in this war!"
Li Mei extended her hand and wrapped it around his, rubbing her thumb across his palm; her expression basically said that she would go through hell and high water to ensure that this plan was a success.