Chapter 254: Severing Family Ties

Why be so polite? This mother and son are truly scum.

The entire An Yuan Marquis family finally understood that one should not be too kind; kindness breeds a white-eyed wolf. To return the misfortune to the Second Branch, they didn't need to beat Second Aunt to death; as long as all the misfortune returned to her, that was enough.

Her misfortune, she must bear herself.

To be safe, the An Yuan Marquis said to the An Yuan Marquis Heir: "Stay by the Half Immortal's side; you are not needed here. With me, your mother, and your siblings, we will beat her so badly her own parents won't recognize her. Not a single good person remains in her natal family."

The An Yuan Marquis Heir went to Qin Lang's side. Qin Lang stared at the sky, terrified. Qin Yan protected his cousins.

By now, Jiang Shi's legs were so weak she could not stand: "I should never have come."

Lin Shi fainted outright. Qin Xun supported her, his gaze fixed on the cloud mass in the sky. The An Yuan Marquis family needed no guards to strike; the illegitimate son stomped on the heads of Second Aunt and her son, while the illegitimate daughter kicked their legs.

Second Aunt, the shrew, kicked back.

The illegitimate son grabbed a stone and broke her leg. The sound of flesh and bone separating was heard. Second Aunt immediately cried for her parents and screamed like a pig being slaughtered: "The Marquis Fu is beating an orphan and a widow to death..."

With such a commotion at the An Yuan Marquis Fu, nearby families and people on the street rushed over in a hurry.

The entire Marquis Fu was stunned into silence. Only the An Yuan Marquis family held their breath, unafraid, beating the Second Branch mother and son with all their might. Many onlookers ran from the front courtyard of the Marquis Fu.

Some neighbors knew the Marquis Fu usually looked after the Second Branch. Upon entering and seeing the scene, they all froze.

That stunned look lasted less than a second. The black mist in the sky made a final struggle, opening a bloody maw and squealing as it clung desperately to the cloud mass, unwilling to leave. The onlookers' eyes widened even more.

"Oh, Mother!" A woman fainted.

"What devilish thing is this?" Part of the crowd, faces filled with horror, retreated. Not seeing the people behind them, they tripped and crawled out: "Evil thing, harmful, run quickly."

The gossipy auntie saw her chance. With so many people, she could slip away in the chaos. This auntie called her sister-in-law and niece, dodging and weaving as they headed for the gate.

It wasn't just the women who were afraid; the men had never seen such vicious things before. They were terrifying and frightening.

Both the bold and the timid regretted coming to watch the spectacle, worried about catching the bad luck. Before the crowd could even leave, Second Aunt's heart-wrenching screams rang out; the illegitimate son of the Marquis Fu had knocked out several of her teeth.

Second Aunt was in such pain she nearly died. Her eye was blackened. She squinted, picked up her teeth, and pressed them back in, begging for mercy nonstop: "I won't do it again, I dare not do it again, stop beating, you'll kill someone..."

Begging for mercy was useless. When she was harming others, had she ever thought someone would beat her to death?

The crowd glanced curiously, hesitating for just that instant. Suddenly, the misfortune in the sky weakened, unable to cling to the cloud mass anymore. The misfortune detached, flew down, and sought someone to attach its bad luck to.

"Oh my God!" The crowd was terrified, panicking and scattering in all directions.

Those on the verge of fainting dared not faint now. This evil thing was attacking people; who would dare to faint? Damn it, if they were going to faint, it wouldn't be now. The crowd regretted it endlessly; they should never have run over to watch the show and break up the fight.

Look, the Second Branch was never good. The black mist was spilling out from that shrew. No wonder she was being beaten. Beating her to death was what she deserved; she should be beaten to death.

The gossipy auntie hadn't managed to run out of the mansion. She screamed and hid, not forgetting to curse the poisonous shrew of the Second Branch: "You wicked thing, you've killed me. Why don't you go die?"

The black mist lunged at Second Aunt. The illegitimate son and daughter hurriedly ran away. The An Yuan Marquis also pulled the An Yuan Marquis Lady far away. The Second Branch cousin, terrified, tried to grab his mother.

As a result, this woman, somehow finding strength, crawled out even with her broken leg, waving her hands and crying for her parents: "Go away, go away, this misfortune isn't mine, go find someone else..."

Those words enraged everyone. The gossipy auntie, though afraid, couldn't control her explosive temper. She pointed at the Second Branch shrew and cursed: "Damn your misfortune, who do you want it to find? Go die."

Everyone glared at her, wishing to beat this woman to death.

The cousin was bewildered and tried to pull his mother. Second Aunt recognized no kin: "Get out, get out..."

She was still worried others would give her the misfortune. Clearly, she was the most vicious person here; no one present was worse than her. Yet she guarded against everyone, looking at the black mist and trembling with fear.

Unfortunately, her misfortune could not be driven away. What was hers was hers. The misfortune circled around and dove onto Second Aunt, merging with her. Second Aunt screamed in terror and struck herself hard, trying to beat it out of her body.

When the dust settled, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Those who had been holding on without fainting suddenly collapsed. Others slumped to the ground: "Oh, Mother!"

The An Yuan Marquis family was still furious, looking as if they were ready to beat the Second Branch mother and son again. The crowd did not rush to leave; confused, they curiously asked what was happening.

Lu Xin and his brothers recounted what had happened. An elder frowned: "What a vicious woman. Her thoughts are evil."

The crowd that hadn't left pointed and whispered at the Second Branch shrew. Second Aunt couldn't care less about them. She screamed and searched her body, trying to get the misfortune off, willing to give it to anyone, just not her.

A woman saw her intention, walked over angrily, and kicked her: "Spit! You wicked thing with no good intentions. I've always thought you looked like a brute, not a good person."

The Second Branch mother and son were beaten by the crowd. Only when the Third Branch and the Lu clan arrived did it finally stop.

The clan members didn't want to believe in such evil things, but so many people had seen it and spoke with certainty. They sent people to take the Second Branch mother and son away. The An Yuan Marquis asked Qin Bi and Qin Lang, then proposed expelling the Second Branch from the clan.

"Expel from the clan?" The clan elder said, "No."

The An Yuan Marquis was decisive this time. Seeing the elder would not yield, he proposed: "Then the An Yuan Marquis Fu will sever ties with the family. We will open a separate genealogy. From now on, we are completely cut off."

The clan elder was startled. He tried to persuade him with kind words, but the An Yuan Marquis was determined. The elder sighed heavily.

An elder whispered to the An Yuan Marquis: "For your own good, sever the ties quickly."

Normally, no one would advise severing ties. Seeing the Second Branch had misfortune, the neighbors all thought severing ties was good.

The clan elder wanted to drag things out, but the An Yuan Marquis immediately summoned other elders to sever the ties at once, cutting them off cleanly. With the matter resolved, Qin Yan, Qin Bi, and others told the An Yuan Marquis Heir and left.

The others also walked out of the Marquis Fu. The gossipy auntie let out a long breath: "Oh, my mother, I won't meddle in other people's business again."

It wasn't just her; everyone felt the same. They didn't say it aloud, but they were all still shaken by the misfortune, thinking they shouldn't go home yet. They should go elsewhere to wander and dispel the bad luck.

The An Yuan Marquis Fu, relieved of its burden, found Tao Zhi to cleanse the entire house.

With the ties severed, all the misfortune returned to Second Aunt. The An Yuan Marquis Heir immediately felt refreshed and his mood improved. The An Yuan Marquis couple and the illegitimate children saw this and finally felt at ease.