The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 469: Chaos

Chapter 469: Chaos

Children, who moments ago had watched the scene unfold with wide-eyed awe, now sobbed uncontrollably, their innocent hearts gripped by the sudden terror that enveloped their world.

.

.

.

Well, innocence, was always a matter of perspective.

Sure, they were young, but that didn’t mean they were incapable of understanding or participating in the chaos around them. Children had a remarkable capacity to absorb and mimic the behaviors of their elders, for better or for worse.

They could either grow up to emulate their parents’ virtues or inherit their flaws. Yet, there was always a glimmer of hope, a chance for a rebellious spirit to emerge— a child who rejected the injustices and toxicity they witnessed, forging their own path toward a better future.

There was a higher chance of being like one’s parent— children imitate their adults, and often these learned behaviors become ingrained habit that are hard to stray from— but there was also the ability to learn what not to do from their parents.

Even in a backward continent, a world steeped in tradition and ancient mindsets, revolutionaries were a rare breed, but they existed.

Revolutionaries were present in every era, generation, world, and plane.

Whether any of these children harbored such revolutionary potential remained to be seen. For now, Bai Mo and Xu Hu Zhe couldn’t help but notice the rottenness that seemed to cover the young inhabitants of Sun Village.

The children here mostly seemed to be selfish little crotch goblins.

Even as chaos reigned, the children, who should have been closest to Xu Zeng, regarded him with disdain, casting him as the scapegoat for their troubles. Their tears mingled with accusatory glares, blaming their "brother" for the turmoil that now engulfed them.

In the same scenario, when their mother (Xu Zeng’s stepmother) was getting whiplashed, they moved stealthily away from her. And now that chaos had descended, they cried the hardest.

As for the adults, the bucket of gold that resurfaced out of nowhere was now a very distant memory.

Xu Zeng, the only silver-haired giant they knew of— and likely the only silver-haired person in all of Donghua (not counting our Xu Feng)— had returned. And he’d returned with a more polished appearance like his dad had in the past. This was a money bank ready to be smashed.

In only a few moments, a god of wealth had turned into a god of disaster.

Gone were the days of coveting a piece of silver from the Xu Clan’s newfound wealth, Xu Zeng. Now, survival became the sole concern, as each villager fully came to terms with the ominous shadow of potential retribution looming over them.

The Xu Clan, once a respected and prosperous family in Sun Village, now stood on the edge of ruin. Their fate hung in the balance as they faced the looming specter of justice from the yamen and the magistrate.

The Xu Clan would need to pay for knowingly removing Xu Zeng from the clan registry without reason. How would they even begin to defend themselves to those from the law or the... magistrate himself!?

THE MAGISTRATE!

Seeing a high-ranking official of a town was already a big event for a villager. The magistrate was beyond their imaginations. The mere presence of a high-ranking official like the magistrate was a rarity in the humble village, let alone the prospect of facing his scrutiny and judgment.

This was no cause for celebration or honor; instead, it marked the beginning of a bad ordeal for the Xu Clan—a trial that would determine their lives. The Xu Clan were going to lose their lives and the rest of the village would lose their honor!

Who knew if they, too, would face the wrath of justice for their association with the disgraced Xu Clan? Would the entire village be beheaded?

Those who married into the Xu Clan seemed to be the most freighted—other than the Xu Clan members themselves—as they wailed and lamented, some clutching their children.

Would they be able to escape this situation if they returned to their original households? Those who married from outside the village were contemplating returning immediately.

No one seemed to be bothered about the harvest anymore. Food was life, but life was also life. Even the village head was swept up in the confusion, his lofty stance was broken. The man was now sitting on the ground open-mouthed as his son argued with another villager to his side.

The chaos in the village had reached a fever pitch, with emotions running high and tempers flaring. Unrelated arguments and old feuds weren’t off the table. This was a free for all.

A woman who had a grudge against Xu Zeng’s stepmother charged at the troublemaker, they cause of this situation. In an instant the two women were rolling on the floor, pulling hair, and cursing at each other.

"You unlucky star! I knew you were a bad thing from the moment you married the second Xu son!"

"Unlucky star? You barren witch!!"

As they rolled on the ground, their screams echoed through the chaos, each word dripping with venom and resentment. The air crackled with the intensity of their anger, and the once-tight bonds of kinship— more like shared greed— shattered like fragile glass.

"Just because you birth sons doesn’t make you better than the wife before you!"

"I’ll show you I’m better than a barren cow!"

Who cared about face? They would all lose their lives, and they hadn’t gained anything from Xu Zeng being sold.

It made no sense for anyone to break up the fight... except maybe their husbands. The barren woman had long been divorced by her husband, but the second Xu son in question, Xu Zeng’s nominal father in Sun Village, didn’t make a move to protect his wife. He was too shocked as the men of his clan berated him, some asking him to beg his "son," Xu Zeng, for forgiveness.

Though he bore the title of father, he remained paralyzed by indecision, torn between his loyalty to his clan and his fear of retribution from Xu Zeng, the neglected ger who had returned to wreak havoc upon their lives.

There was still filial piety, wasn’t there? He was still Xu Zeng’s father! Even if the ger married well, he wouldn’t allow his new husband to behead their clan... right? These were his elders and his juniors in the clan...

Although more than one person had words of righteousness and filial piety on their tongues, no one had even tried to find Xu Zeng to speak to him, and they gave the two well dressed foreigners a wide birth.

Thoughts of marriage were now distant mirages.

At the very least, they were smart enough not to stoke the fire and irritate the ger they had all ignored and abused for at least five years.

Not everyone is smart though. This is unfortunately an inevitability. Some people’s self-preservation skills are too strong, and others are not strong enough.

In the middle of the chaos and confusion, one figure stood out from the crowd, her desperation festering as she spotted a light in the darkness.

As soon as Old Hua laid eyes on Xu Zeng, she ran up to the ger in desperation, clutching his sleeves, almost jolting the memorial tablet he had in his hand to the ground.

"Please Xu Zeng have mercy on this old woman!!! Please! This one found you a good marriage, didn’t I? I didn’t sell you to a brothel like that witch wanted. I made a good sale and the poison didn’t kill you! That was my doing, the woman gave you too much, but I fed you some preventative medicine."

Xu Zeng was momentarily shocked, then disgust overwhelmed him. Her words were tinged with guilt and regret, but...

Old Hua was too close to his dad’s memorial tablet. She had never visited him before, what right did she have to touch his memorial tablet now?

Thoughts of sales, poison, and marriages, were distant thoughts. It wasn’t because it was false, or unworthy of his attention, in fact, he should have been angered to death. These were atrocities Xu Zeng had to deal with... well, he dealt with them partially.

It was Xu Feng who dealt with most of the listed grievances. Xu Zeng hadn’t forgotten this, nor did he feel too holy to forsake retribution in his late brother’s honor.

Xu Zeng found himself unable to focus on the details of her words, his mind clouded by a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.

Even before Xu Zeng could dislodge Old Hua, a booming voice rang out.

Xu Zeng felt another burst of energy as Old Hua recoiled like she’d been physically struck. The woman’s face paled even more as her fear mounted. The wealthy never seemed so scary before.

"You dare touch what’s mine!" Bai Mo was furious... actually, his fury had never subsided.

These people liked to touch too much. If they wanted to touch each other, that was fine. But why were they always touching Xu Zeng?