The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 576 - 327: Why the Rush to Slaughter Each Other_2

Chapter 576: Chapter 327: Why the Rush to Slaughter Each Other_2

People who die become yin souls, consumed mostly by unyielding grievances, gathering yin evil qi, caring little for blood ties or affection.

"You unfilial son, you’ve finally come back!"

At that moment, a large group of people surged from the side courtyard.

Leading them were two elders, one tall and one short, one fat and one thin, wearing mourning clothes that were haphazardly put on, their splendid garments visible underneath.

Unlike Shen Jinghong, these two elders clearly had martial arts training. Despite their old age, they walked briskly and with imposing momentum.

Behind them followed five or six young men who, upon seeing Shen Jinghong, promptly rolled up their sleeves, seemingly ready to beat him up!

"What are you trying to do?!"

Before Shen Jinghong could speak, a white-bearded elder ran from the back courtyard, his eyes wide in anger as he exclaimed,

"What are you trying to do?"

The short, fat elder glared, "My brother and Jingyu died tragically, while this boy has been loafing around in Wuchang."

"Don’t you see that my brother died with his eyes open? Surely it was from anger at this boy’s lack of filial piety. As his third uncle, I’m here today to teach him a lesson!"

The white-beared elder angrily retorted, "Nonsense, you’re distorting the truth! The old master passed away unexpectedly, and the second young master is now the head of the family. Where do you get the courage..."

"Shut up!"

The tall, thin elder coldly stated, "The elder brother left no will, and we haven’t even spoken yet. How dare this boy assume control?"

"And you, a mere servant, are completely out of line!"

Saying this, he looked up at the swordsmen and said commandingly, "Black Cloud Guards, take this unfilial son down!"

The white-bearded elder, who was the Shen Mansion’s steward, scoffed at this and said, "The Black Cloud Guards were trained personally by the old master, it’s not up to..."

Before he could finish, his eyes widened in shock.

The stern-faced leader of the swordsmen stepped forward and bowed, "Yes, second master."

With that, he reached out to grab Shen Jinghong.

This move was unexpected to everyone.

Not just Shen Jinghong and the old steward were unbelievingly taken aback, even the other swordsmen looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what to do.

Li Yan hadn’t expected that this seemingly loyal and reticent leader of the swordsmen would betray his own family directly.

He shook his head slightly, flashed to Shen Jinghong’s side, and raised his hand to block the swordsman leader.

"Humph!"

The swordsman leader let out a cold grunt as the hidden energy in his hand suddenly erupted, his veins bulging and his palm turning slightly black, reaching downward.

It was clearly some form of iron palm technique.

Li Yan didn’t even look, his palm suddenly flipped, catching the back of the opponent’s hand and using the move "Golden Thread Wraps the Wrist," twisting the man’s hand backwards.

Red Fist was expert in tricky strikes, and their grappling technique was unrivaled.

The swordsman leader was ruthless. Seeing this, he suddenly raised his foot, aiming a kick at Li Yan’s groin.

Li Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly. Without dodging, he shook his arm that was gripping the wrist and executed a Reverse Wheel Force.

Crack!

The swordsman leader’s arm was immediately broken, bending at an odd angle. The force caused him to stagger and fall to the ground.

He was stubborn, clutching his fractured arm, cold sweat dripping, yet he bit his teeth together and made no sound.

"Who are you?"

The tall, thin elder’s pupils constricted as he asked coldly.

He was not uninformed; the swordsman leader was at the peak of Hidden Energy, a top expert in the Shen family, yet he couldn’t withstand a single move from Li Yan.

This young man was young but probably already mastered Force Transformation.

All of them together would not be his match.

Li Yan glanced indifferently and responded, "I am here under Young Master Shen’s request to assist in handling the funeral. All unrelated parties should leave at once."

Sha Lifei said with a smirk while crossing his arms, "Oh, this is an eye-opener. Seems there are still men in the family; consuming one’s own flesh isn’t quite the way."

At these words, the two elders’ faces turned ashen.

"You son of a..."

A young man behind them started to curse but was immediately silenced by a glare from the tall, thin elder, who then coldly said, "This is a matter of the Shen family; it’s not your place to interfere."

"You’ve injured someone; I’m going to report this to the authorities!"

He made as if to leave, but the old steward from Shen Mansion, his voice trembling, called out, "The old lady is coming!"

From the other side of the courtyard corridor, several servants carefully carried a bamboo chair forward.

Seated on the chair was an elderly woman, richly dressed yet visibly decrepit, her hair white and her skin loose, eyes slightly squinted, leaning back in her chair as if she could barely sit upright.

Beside her, there was an old woman, around her fifties, clad in mourning clothes, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

Upon seeing the old woman being carried over, two elderly men, one fat and one thin, hurriedly stepped forward and cautiously bowed their hands, "Mother, why have you come?"

As they spoke, they glared fiercely at the woman, "Madam Jia, mother is in poor health, how dare you disturb her..."

At that moment, the old woman slowly opened her eyes and said weakly, "If I didn’t come, would I watch you tear this family apart?"

"How can you say such things, mother?"

The two old men lowered their heads, their faces filled with disdain.

"Ah~"

The old woman sighed, "Carry me over there."

Upon hearing this, the thin old man promptly advised, "Mother, you mustn’t, your health is not good, lest you provoke the yin qi..."

"She is my son, my grandson!"

The old woman finally grew angry, frightening the two men into silence.

The servants carried the old woman in front of the ancestral hall.

"Grandma..."

Shen Jinghong’s face was filled with sorrow as he bowed deeply.

The old woman seemed not to hear him, just staring blankly at the half-seated elder whose eyes were not closed in death. After a long moment, she finally sighed, "Back when the Shen Family’s fortunes declined, you clamored for dividing the inheritance. After asking the eldest, I agreed to it."

"The result is that you two good-for-nothing things squandered everything in no time. Seeing the eldest’s business picking up, you hurried to come back."

"Unable to withstand your pleas, I forced the eldest to agree, but to think that today, you would do such a thing..."

The thin old man became anxious, "Mother, you can’t talk about it like this. Over the years, we have worked hard for the business too; it’s not solely the eldest’s credit..."

"Shut your mouth!"

The old woman was furious enough to tremble. It took her a moment to regain her composure before she looked at the two old men again, "With all your capabilities, tell me, now that the Shen Family is facing calamity again, how should we get through it?"

The thin old man quickly bowed and said, "We should deal with the goods at hand quickly, lest the merchants of Wuchang Prefecture hear the news and force down our prices."

"With the money, we can re-recruit artisans to start up the kiln factory. If we can just get through this year, next year we can make a turnaround."

The old woman’s expression remained unchanged as she looked to the side, "Jinghong, what do you think?"

Shen Jinghong was about to propose a plan, but suddenly recalling the image of Doggy and what he had seen in the village, he spoke in a low voice, "Nowadays, every household in the village is conducting funerals. The Shen Family must first dispense silver for relief, then help them settle the aftermath..."

"Bullshit!"

The thin old man immediately became agitated, "The skilled artisans of the kiln factory are all dead. Why waste money on those poor devils? Are you trying to drag the Shen Family down with you?"

Shen Jinghong stood firm and said resolutely, "Uncle, my father used to say that we should never disband people’s hearts. The Shen Family’s rise depended entirely on the support from the villagers."

"The kiln factories around Liangzi Lake, eight out of ten belong to the Miao people. Do you think they would let you interfere and recruit artisans... Humph!"

"As long as those old people in the village are still there, teaching hand by hand, as long as people’s hearts are not scattered, our Shen Family will not fall!"

"Young master is wise!"

The twenty-some swordsman all bowed simultaneously in unison.

They were all from Shen Family Dam, and initially hesitated seeing their leader rebel, for this Second Young Master was famously weak.

But now, they had not a single doubt in their hearts.

Seeing the situation unfavorable, the thin old man resorted to shamelessness, shouting angrily, "I don’t agree with this anyway! Mother, being just a woman, you have no right to drive us away!"

After saying this, he hurried back to the courtyard with a group of people.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

Sha Lifei shook his head and said, "He’s truly shameless. Old lady, it’s not me, Old Sha, being talkative. In the pugilistic world, such things are seen often."

"Old people always try to keep things even, helping out the weaker side, which might seem fair but in reality, it’s all a source of trouble..."

The old woman sighed softly, her cloudy eyes full of sorrow.

"Enough, let’s not talk about it!"

Li Yan waved his hand to interrupt Sha Lifei’s words, then said to Shen Jinghong, "Let the old lady lie down first. Sitting like this isn’t good; don’t let a single grievance lead to disaster."

"Yes, yes."

Shen Jinghong hastily stood up, "Please Young Hero Li, perform your technique."

Li Yan, having no clue, immediately stepped back, "Master Wang, this matter requires your intervention."

Master Wang Daoxuan, without any fuss, walked forward and observed for a moment. After lighting a talisman paper and examining it, he finally spoke, "Come, lend me a hand, Young Master Shen, you must take part as well."

After he spoke, he directed the people to lift the corpse of Old Master Shen out, placing it on a stool, then pressing down on his arms slowly and folding his legs into a lotus position.

Unnoticed,

they had arranged the corpse into an "Ascension" posture...