Chapter 44: Things Remain, People Change

The mountaintop where the Xue family mansion stood was bathed in bright lights, the sounds of merriment and laughter rising to the heavens. Chen Hongxu stood upon the clouds like a celestial being, peering down at the boisterous celebration below.

He recalled that when Xue Baishu was alive, this summit had been the residence of the Xue family’s main branch; typically, collateral descendants were not permitted to ascend without a summons.

How things had changed!

"Drink, keep drinking!" In the study where Xue Baishu once pondered his affairs, a collateral descendant of the Xue family held a bottle of wine, tilting it continuously into the mouth of a woman beneath him.

The woman had to endure the physical onslaught while keeping her crimson lips parted to receive the wine flowing from above. Her flushed face made it impossible to tell if she felt pleasure or pain. She kept her eyes closed, but suddenly, she felt the weight upon her vanish, and the flow of wine ceased. While internally cursing the man for his incompetence, she opened her eyes in a flirtatious manner, only to find an additional man in the room.

The man did not look like much. He seemed just like the high schooler living next door, an entirely ordinary person. Nothing about his attire suggested he belonged to a wealthy family. If not for the fact that this newcomer was currently stepping on the head of the powerful figure she was meant to serve, she would have mistaken him for a servant.

Chen Hongxu noticed her gaze. His eyes were cold, yet he offered a faint smile. "At a time like this, shouldn't you be running out to scream for help? Remember my face. Tell the people outside, and then it would be best for you to leave. I fear I might harm the innocent in a moment."

Compelled by some strange force, the woman obeyed. She grabbed her clothes to cover herself and ran out, screaming for help at the top of her lungs. Yet, her mind was fixated on how white his teeth were; he was far more handsome than the silly boy next door who only knew how to peek at her.

Once she was gone, Chen Hongxu leaned down, wiped the footprint off the face of the Xue descendant—who had been hollowed out by wine and lust—and chuckled, "When the tiger is away, the monkeys play king? Tell me, what interesting things have happened while I was gone?"

His tone was gentle and his movements cordial, as if he were chatting with an old friend. In truth, Chen Hongxu had forgotten the man's name.

The man on the floor snapped back to reality. Seeing Chen Hongxu’s sudden shift in attitude, he assumed the intruder was afraid. He angrily swiped Chen Hongxu’s hand away, pushed himself up to a sitting position, and sneered, "Who do you think you are? What right do you have to interfere in the Xue family's affairs? You’re just a dog raised by my sister, understand? Now that my sister is getting married, you loser, do you dare go to the Lan family to snatch her back? Loser, loser..."

"The Lan family." Chen Hongxu narrowed his eyes, revealing his white teeth. He patted the man’s head and said, "Thank you."

With a single strike, the man’s head was sent flying, the expression of smug satisfaction still lingering on his face. Chen Hongxu stood up, shook the blood from his hand, and walked out the door toward the floor below.

He had let the woman remember him and scream for help specifically so that the Xue family would concentrate all their forces to confront him.

...

Inside the courtyard of the Fan family in Beijing, Fan the Buffoon knelt on the ground, head buried, teeth gritted. "Grandfather, I don't understand."

"The Fan family is not yet strong enough to stand against the entire world." The old man stood with his hands behind his back and sighed. "You have grown up. You should make your own decisions about certain things. Paths are forged by those who walk them. Do as you think best; you owe no one in this household anything, so you need not have any reservations."

"Grandfather!" Fan the Buffoon wept, kowtowing heavily three times before rising and dashing away.

As if he had long known his grandson would make this choice, the old man began to chuckle softly to himself shortly after the boy left. Outside the courtyard, a middle-aged woman covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face, yet one could discern a glimmer of gratification in her eyes.

...

Chen Hongxu reached the first-floor hall and saw that everyone—acquaintances and strangers alike—was looking at him as if he were a mortal enemy.

"Chen Hongxu, what do you take the Xue family for? Coming and going as you please, do you really think this is your home?"

"Exactly, you shameless thing. I’ve never seen anyone so thick-skinned."

"If you ask me, he’s just coveting the Xue family's wealth. There is a reason for marrying within one's social status; at the very least, you can help one another. Unlike this pauper, who does nothing but cause trouble."

The barrages of insults from the gossiping women came thick and fast. They likely only remembered Chen Hongxu standing behind Xue Xi. Chen Hongxu shook his head with a bitter smile; he found these women's verbal attacks far more lethal than the cold steel of firearms gleaming under the lights.

Seeing that Chen Hongxu remained indifferent, lacking even the courage to retort, the gossips became emboldened, growing more excited by the second.

"Enough." Chen Hongxu glared, his voice ringing out in a furious shout.

These women had overstepped, dragging Xue Xi into their insults. Even if Xue Xi were blind to have fallen for him, it was not for these gossips to judge.

The Xue family members were stunned by his shout, not understanding where this youth found his courage. But it didn't matter; it was understandable for someone to vent before dying. They all knew of Chen Hongxu’s martial prowess, so no one wanted to play the fool and engage in hand-to-hand combat. But what did high martial arts matter? A kitchen knife could kill, let alone a gun.

A man who bore a seventy-percent resemblance to Xue Baishu sneered and waved his hand. The gunmen hiding among the crowd opened fire, unleashing a hail of bullets.

Chen Hongxu narrowed his eyes and traced a circle in the air with his hand. The dense, impenetrable rain of steel froze in mid-air. With another wave of his hand, the bullets flew back, and the gunmen hidden in every corner fell silently to the ground.

"Is that it?" Chen Hongxu asked calmly, showing no pride in his shocking display. "You are marrying into the Lan family—didn't they send a few dogs to help you hold the fort?"

"Ghost!" Someone screamed, unable to bear the terror, and turned to bolt toward the exit.

Chen Hongxu frowned. He stepped to a table of cutlery, didn't even glance at it, grabbed a steel fork, and flicked it.

*Thud!* With a dull sound and a faint vibration, the fork pierced the throat of the woman leading the flight, pinning her to the door. Everyone watched as the dying woman clawed at the fork, trying in vain to pull it out, before she finally breathed her last.

Horrified, the crowd finally realized that Chen Hongxu had the power to kill and the audacity to do so; no one dared to run again.

Chen Hongxu watched a Western-style dinner knife spin on his fingertip and smiled. "I ask, you answer. Those whose answers satisfy me may leave. As for those who don't..."

He flicked the knife, and a young man who was reaching for his phone in his pocket was instantly reduced to a pulp. Blood splattered everywhere, but with the precedent set, no one dared to forget the bloody reality before them. Looking at Chen Hongxu, who held a finger to his lips, no one dared to make a sound; even their breathing was suppressed to the lowest possible volume.

"How did Xue Baishu die?" Chen Hongxu’s tone was calm, betraying no grief or joy.

"I'll say it, I'll say it!" The crowd was clearly terrified. These pampered people, seeing that even guns could not kill Chen Hongxu, were completely broken. People who value profit over loyalty always have a tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong.

Chen Hongxu nodded slightly, signaling the cousin who had previously tried to invite him out for a night of revelry to speak.

The cousin looked delighted. He glanced around triumphantly and said, "It was Uncle De who killed him."

"Uncle De?" Chen Hongxu’s eyes hardened, and another fork appeared in his hand.

"It's true, everyone knows this!" The cousin, seeing this, was so terrified he wet himself, a foul odor emanating from him.

"This is getting more and more interesting!" Chen Hongxu laughed heartily. The Xue family members looked at each other, none daring to harbor thoughts of escape.