Chapter 236: Reckless Ruffians

The branch line on the plateau is the one nearest Xishan Village; they are both in Yunan, and by ox cart it takes less than half a day to get there.

The Chen elders likely placed the branch there to help it.

But the ancestors ultimately miscalculated.

The plateau branch has rebelled so thoroughly that it's almost ready to change its name and surname, no longer considering itself part of the Chen family.

Among the several branches that abandoned the Chen clan to become vassals of other families, they are the most thoroughgoing.

Chen Bushi apparently visited them one by one following the principle of proximity, without bothering to check what state these branches are in now.

Chen Wuji found it rather amusing.

These people have been tossed about by Chen Bushi, yet they honestly came running to Xishan Village and dare to cause a ruckus in the ancestral hall.

What do they mean?

When there's no one left in the clan, they just want to cause a scene and vent the anger from being dealt with by Chen Bushi?

Chen Wuji summoned more than ten young and strong villagers, and rushed to the ancestral hall.

In front of the modest ancestral hall, crowds packed tightly; those in front wept while lodging complaints against the ancestors, those behind made a noisy din, shouting all sorts of things.

I don't know what they're after, but each of them is highly agitated, as if collectively embodying ultra-masculinity.

"Who is the person in charge?"

Chen Wuji stepped his foot onto a useless stone that had been placed here at some unknown time, his gaze contemptuous, his voice like thunder.

The people of the plateau branch turned their heads in unison; after a moment of blankness, their eyes instantly turned fierce.

They seemed to have found the target they wanted to tear apart.

"You hairless brat, who are you? We're here to accuse you lot of fratricide before the ancestors—get out of my way!" A red‑faced, small‑built but spirited old man rushed up to Chen Wuji and spat a torrent of insults.

No sooner had the old man finished speaking than someone else in the crowd shouted, "Patriarch, what do you mean 'get out'? They hit our people, so we hit theirs; we smashed their houses and looted their belongings."

His words stirred the crowd, who responded excitedly, "Right—an eye for an eye, blood for blood!"

"An eye for an eye, blood for blood!"

"An eye for an eye, blood for blood!"

……

Chen Wuji scratched his ear.

Their hearts are surprisingly united; their shouting is grand, showing a hint of shared hatred for a common enemy.

"Old man, are you the clan chief?" Chen Wuji asked offhandedly.

"So what if I am?"

"I am the family head—why don't you, old man, pay me respect?"

"Family head? Just you?"

Suddenly, a burst of loud laughter erupted from the crowd; the few in front laughed so hard their sides felt like they'd cramp.

Chen Wuji smiled at the scene, as if he didn't feel they were laughing at him.

Suddenly, a knife slipped from his sleeve, which he grabbed in his hand.

At the same moment, knives slipped from the sleeves of Chen Li and the others.

With knives in hand, the dozen or so men's aura shifted sharply; their honest gazes turned into the stare of a hawk eyeing its prey.

The unrestrained laughter gradually faded until it fell completely silent.

"Laugh, it's fine—laugh all you want. You outnumber us, so you'd have the advantage in a fight; don't be afraid!" Chen Wuji advised gently.

The branch chief's eyes flashed with a show of fierce bravado as he shouted, "You couldn't possibly kill us, could you?"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't—with so many of you, I could at most kill… about half." Chen Wuji said with a light smile.

"You brat, you dare! Do you think the court's laws are just for show?"

Chen Wuji shook his head repeatedly, "I don't dare, I don't dare—I just—wanted to try. Yes, just to try; how could I oppose the court's laws?"

Meeting Chen Wuji's especially sinister smile, the branch chief felt an inexplicable chill down his back.

He instinctively felt that this kid really dared!

A man shoved out from behind the chief, rammed his head into Chen Wuji, and shouted, "You claim you'd dare kill half of us—go on, try killing me! Come on, my head's right here; kill me, you bastard, let me see you kill one."

Behind Chen Wuji, the slight figure of Yuan Jinshi stepped forward, the knife he'd hidden behind his back flashing out as he thrust it without hesitation into the man's chest.

One stab, two stabs, three stabs…

He stared expressionlessly at the chief before him, repeatedly thrusting and pulling back his knife.

Until the knife hilt was soaked in blood and his grip grew unsteady, he finally stopped.

The aged chief, horrified, turned ashen and, supported by those around him, kept stepping back.

Those who had just been shouting wildly now turned pallid, one greener than the next; nobody dared to be reckless any longer.

Chen Wuji spread his hands and smiled, "Isn't this guy strange? I hadn't even planned to act yet, and he rushed over to throw his life away—what a good fellow!"

"But he might have misunderstood—I actually don't like taking lives; it's ugly."

Nobody spoke.

On their faces there was no anger at their kin being killed, only panic and tension; some turned deathly pale, and a few could barely stand.

Chen Wuji furrowed his brows, "When do you plan to attack? Have you worked it out? Hurry up—I've got other things to do."

No one spoke.

The branch clansmen, with that spirited old chief, retreated a few more steps, trying to distance themselves from Chen Wuji and his group.

Chen Wuji's contemptuous gaze swept over them; he lowered the right foot he'd been resting on the stone, knife in hand, and walked toward them step by step.

"Speak!!!"

A sudden roar made most of the men flinch, their eyes instantly turning like those of a startled lamb.

"You bunch of good‑for‑nothings!" Chen Wuji snapped, "You said you'd hack us down, eye for an eye, blood for blood—so why don't you attack?"

「Attack!! 」

At this moment, the clan chief still wore a smile uglier than crying, stammering as he said: "Actually, we were just bullied; we went to tell the ancestors, right, just to tell them, no other meaning."

Chen Wuji snorted, "Just 'telling them'?"

"Yes... yes!" the old clan chief locked eyes with Chen Wuji, causing him to momentarily recall the scene from his youth when he herded sheep and encountered a wolf pack.

That was the moment in his life when he was closest to the gates of death; he even saw his own soul fly away.

At this moment, facing Chen Wuji's eyes, the memory of those years surged upon him; those eyes were exactly like the eyes of that wolf back then.

Ferocious, merciless, only contempt for life and death!

"Right? You still think it's right? What do you want to say? Abandoning the ancestors, you don't even deserve to stand here and speak to them? You should go find your newly recognized fathers, and on top of that, tear down our ancestral hall!" Chen Wuji pointed at the old clan chief's nose, shouting in his face.

"We..." the old clan chief's mouth went dry, his inner fear like maggots clinging to his bones crawling all over his body, a cold sweat soaked his back, dripping down his waist.

"Forget the 'us' and 'you'—an eye for an eye, blood for blood! Come on! Don't say I didn't give you lot a chance! Come on!" Chen Wuji roared angrily.