Chapter 2082: How to Tame the Rebellious Youth 31

The day before the showdown with Ji Siyao, Ji Laizhi vividly felt what it meant to play with a killer move.

As the truth of that year became increasingly clear, including Ji Yuanshan and Shan Bo, hardly any of the elders, hall masters, and dharma protectors of the Azure Cloud Sword Manor were innocent.

They coveted the Shadowless Bolt Technique and inherited arts of Cold Moon Manor, and envied Shen Liuyue for rising to the rank of Number One in the Jianghu as a woman.

Thus they used a trap in the name of love, trapping Shen Liuyue and all her subordinates inside the Azure Cloud Sword Manor; once she left, the toxin would flare up, making her seem mad, until her last trace of internal energy was siphoned away.

And when Ji Laizhi was young, some of them often posed as uncles and aunts, hoping to raise him into a second blood bag for the Azure Cloud Sword Manor to advance further, cultivating a puppet for Ji Siyao with no power to resist.

Each and every charge, spoken from the mouth of the cleaner, corresponded to every Azure Cloud Sword Manor captive dragged to the small square and forced to kneel on the ground.

At this moment, Ji Laizhi sat in Jin Chen's embrace, hearing everything grow ever more silent.

"All right." Jin Chen raised his hand, letting the cleaner step aside first.

"Except for Ji Yuanshan, everyone who took part in that year's affair is here. Your maternal grandfather doesn't want to see them; he only says to deal with them as you see fit, and give your mother an explanation."

Ji Laizhi glanced at the bound uncles and aunts on the ground, and the confusion that had lasted over ten years finally cleared up at this moment.

"When I was little, I always felt I wasn't obedient enough, not hardworking enough." Ji Laizhi tilted his head to rest on Jin Chen's shoulder, his gaze drifting to a point in the void, as if looking across the years at his former self.

"Otherwise, why would my father, and so many masters and uncles, dislike me and only favor Ji Siyao?"

Those intentional neglect and suppression full of malice, the open praise and covert belittling before outsiders, almost left an indelible wound in the young Ji Laizhi's heart.

"It's their fault." Jin Chen's serene brows lowered, his gentle gaze fixed on the youth in his arms, forehead touching his, "You are excellent, better than Ji Siyao, better than anyone."

Ji Laizhi lowered his eyes, wrapped his arms around Jin Chen's neck and rubbed a little; only the tight embrace dispelled the cold that had accumulated over the years.

"I will kill them, to avenge my mother and the deceased disciples of Cold Moon Manor."

He had never been one to show mercy or hesitation.

In the midst of Shan Bo and his companions' eyes wide with terror and frantic head-shaking, trying to provoke Ji Laizhi's soft-hearted fear, every one of them was pierced through by the sword blade.

He did not kill in a blood‑rage, nor was he driven mad by hatred.

Ji Laizhi calmly identified each person, called out a name, and killed that person.

Jin Chen constantly monitored Ji Laizhi's state, instructing: "Send all these corpses before Ji Siyao, so he may see these elders off on their final journey."

"Yes." Mohei clasped his fists in response, gesturing for the cleaner to come lift the bodies.

"Master, Ji Yuanshan is still hiding in Liu Yun and Zhu Yue's residence; are they dead set on opposing you?"

"Probably," Jin Chen replied in a cold tone, "it won't stir any waves."

He still thought those two old immortals, after fifty years in seclusion, must have become incredibly formidable.

Yet upon emerging, they came solely for the arts of the Formless Office.

A total of sixteen people had been captured.

When Ji Laizhi had killed the tenth, his mood settled into utter calm, stirring no ripple, and even the overly strong scent of blood made him feel slightly nauseous.

He gave his sword to the cleaner, "The rest are yours to take."

The cleaner who was summoned glanced at Jin Chen, respectfully took the sword Ji Laizhi handed over, and with one thrust sealed the throat, slaying all the remaining people.

The small square was filled with the smell of blood, and corpses were carried away one after another.

【Detected Villain Blackening Value -10, total 47!】

"Laizhi, come over."

Jin Chen called softly from behind him.

Ji Laizhi took a deep breath, turned and hurried a few steps to throw himself into Jin Chen's embrace, hitting a bit hard, his forehead knocking against Jin Chen's collarbone.

Ji Laizhi was dazed, lifted his head to glance timidly at Jin Chen, then lowered his head and bumped again, very lightly.

"You little pup." Jin Chen hissed a low reprimand, rubbing Ji Laizhi's forehead, "Does it hurt?"

Ji Laizhi pressed his lips together, yet laughed, burying himself in Jin Chen's arms and rubbing all over.

"It doesn't hurt, not at all."

"Really, it doesn't hurt."

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow, leaned back slightly and sighed softly, then lightly brushed his lips and whispered, "I'm hurt, what to do."

Ji Laizhi pondered a moment, truly thinking he had hurt him, and with Jin Chen's somewhat teasing gaze, he lowered his head, brushing his nose against the collarbone and planting a kiss.

Suddenly, Ji Laizhi pressed his ear to Jin Chen's chest, heard the steady heartbeat, and ceased his fussing, staying obediently in the embrace.

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value +10, total 78!】

Here, affection lingered, soft words coquettishly spoken; on the other side of Vast Prefecture City, someone was frightened to the point of nearly fainting.

——

Grass‑mat‑wrapped long objects rolled one by one into the courtyard, the burial cloths lifted halfway by the wind.

Still weak, Ji Siyao heard the commotion, leaned on his cane and came out, seeing the ground covered with wrapped corpses, he glanced blankly and uneasily at Ji Yuanshan.

"Dad..."

Ji Yuanshan had a suspicion; his whole person seemed aged by decades, worn out yet unwilling.

Zhu Yue stepped forward in the courtyard and lifted the white cloth from the most recent corpse.

Seeing Fourth Uncle's bluish‑gray jaw, Ji Siyao pinched the corner of his garment until his fingertips turned white, crouched to lift the white cloth from the second corpse, and beheld Third Uncle's body, his throat still bleeding.

"Third Uncle... Seventh Great-uncle..."

Ji Siyao clenched his back teeth until they clicked, the endless fear and shock robbing him of the ability to think.

A blood‑stained rope suddenly scraped his pant leg and flew over; two cleaners were dragging the sixteenth corpse across the threshold, that man's purplish‑swollen face thrust into Ji Siyao's sight.

It was Shan Bo, who had guarded him since childhood.

Ji Siyao's cane clanged against the blue bricks, his breathing grew ragged, and he could barely blink.

Liu Yun stepped forward angrily, "What crime has the Azure Cloud Sword Manor committed! Or is Jin Chen, for the sake of his precious disciple, disregarding the rules of the Formless Office!"

The cleaner flung out a sheet of charges, which Liu Yun caught in mid‑air, and Zhu Yue leaned in to look.

After a while, Liu Yun and Zhu Yue: "……"

Liuyun threw the accusation at Jiyuanshan, incoherent, "You… you…"

Even if he considered himself not a good person, he had never seen such shamelessness.

Jiyuanshan didn't even look, crumpling the accusation into a ball, "Seniors, don't rush."

He clung to his last breath of unwilling resentment, his face Distorted, said: "We are now in the same boat; Jin Chen may not let you go."

After the Taoist priest left, a middle-aged man covered head to toe in black cloth appeared in the courtyard.

He extended his purplish hand, picked up the fallen cane, his voice hoarse, "Jisiyao, did you practice your skill today?"

Jisiyao's fear in his eyes gradually turned numb, leaving only the hatred to kill Jilaizhi.

Unable to cultivate inner strength and swordsmanship any longer, he would personally kill Jilaizhi by another means.