The Family and Me

As it turned out, the Chopra family had no manners whatsoever. Ji Jue had done them such a huge favor, yet Boggio hadn't even said thank you. Instead, he had flown into a rage—several rages, in fact. Looking at it from his perspective, it was understandable. Stepping out of a meeting only to find your friends and family sprawled across the floor, whether dead or alive, was something almost anyone would find hard to stomach. The fact that he hadn't drawn his blade on the spot as Ji Jue had hoped was already proof of astonishing self-restraint. For a split second, it looked as if he was ready to bring everything crashing down in mutual destruction, but his fury vanished just as quickly. After giving Ji Jue a cold look, he let out a soft sigh. "Mr. Ji really has spared no effort or scheme to seize the foundation of the Chopra family, hasn't he?" "You flatter me." Ji Jue shook his head solemnly, correcting him, "Seize by guile? There was really no need. Plunder by force? It hardly even came to that—it wasn't that difficult, nor was it that troublesome." He didn't bother hiding his intentions in the slightest, not even caring to offer polite pretenses. His predatory ambition was laid bare for all to see. Yet it was precisely that brazen honesty in his schemes that left Boggio briefly struck dumb. What else was there to say? Things had reached this point; words were useless, and in the end, strength would decide everything. Only, for a fleeting instant, he felt an unexpected flicker of jealousy toward Minkler, a useless fool he had never once taken seriously. *Why him?* He suddenly wanted to ask Ji Jue, *why Minkler?* *I could negotiate too. We signed contracts, we shook hands, we took photos together. Is there anything you want that I couldn't give you?* Asking such questions was pointless. The moment a choice was made, both sides had become enemies. Even if Ji Jue might represent the Federation, Boggio would never yield this family without a fight. After casting a deep, lingering glance at Ji Jue, he turned and walked away. He left behind absolute bedlam. "What's going on?!" "What on earth happened—someone! Guards, get in here!" "Beat this bastard out with clubs!" "Inhuman! Utter madness!" "Sixth Uncle, Sixth Uncle, say something, sob, sob..." Cries, shouts, curses, and furious reproaches echoed endlessly. Once the rare moment of quiet was broken, only the chaotic squawking of frantic ducks remained. Too bad that aside from futile wailing, none of it helped. From beginning to end, Ji Jue remained completely deaf to it all, calmly sipping his tea. "Quite the grand spectacle." Lou Feng, arriving late, glanced around. Seeing the pile of discarded rubbish, his brows twitched slightly. "Doesn't look like your usual style." Ji Jue was amused. "Did you actually think I was some sort of pious, vegetarian monk in your heart?" "If you're a good person, then what am I? A living Buddha?" Lou Feng scoffed. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen Ji Jue's ruthless methods before, nor had he witnessed any shortage of Ji Jue killing and burning. The times Haian Industries' security force had openly helped people erase their existences out in the wilderness were hardly few and far between. This bastard was underhanded, savage, and venomous. On the surface, he looked gentle, kind, and harmless, but of those who had truly crossed him, how many were still breathing? Only this time... "It's rare for you to do things out in the open like this," Lou Feng said. "Truly uncommon." "Time was too short, demands were too high, and with the situation as it was, efficiency had to come first," Ji Jue remarked with a sigh. "Otherwise, who wouldn't want to cast a long line and reel in the big fish?" Fishing was so delightful. Squat down, toss in some chum, and an endless stream of materials would deliver themselves to your doorstep. Wasn't that vastly superior to exhausting oneself pumping out water, dredging silt, and hauling nets? Unfortunately, the cards in his hand were too few, and he lacked the luxury of time to lurk in the shadows and wait for the right moment. Just testing the water's temperature and depth had already kicked up huge waves. Fishing simply wasn't viable. Not that it mattered. Blasting the fish out of the water worked just as well. Sure enough, now that his weight and scale were different from before, he had far more choices available, and the risks and pressures he could shoulder were correspondingly greater. Before he had even finished warming up, a rabble of useless dogs had already fallen flat. Once, Ji Jue could only bide his time. Now, relying solely on himself, he could stir up winds and clouds across the Seven Cities. And that was still under the condition of keeping things presentable—destroying the Seven Cities was vastly easier than taking them over. "Why are they all things that can't see the light of day?" After making a round, Lou Feng furrowed his brows, unable to suppress his contempt. Whatever else it might be, the Federation was still the Federation. Even in a frontier region like Haizhou, there was no room for Great Sin thralls like Wulou Temple to show their faces in public. Yet here in the Thousand Islands, these foul, shadow-dwelling creatures could become honored guests in the halls of a city lord. Looking at how Minkler's relatives were weeping and wailing, they had clearly partied together quite often and shared deep affections. Except, in terms of numbers... They were far fewer than anticipated. Given the Chopra family's scale, the flies they attracted seemed a bit sparse. No matter how small the fish pond, it was still a pool, yet dragging a net through it had only yielded a dozen or so fingerlings. Not even a single big fish? "It means the pond is larger than we thought, and the water is deeper than we expected." Ji Jue looked toward the palaces stretching into the mountains and gave a soft sigh. "Chances are, the fiercest monster hasn't even shown itself yet." Lou Feng fell silent for a moment, then turned to leave. "I'll go prepare first." The entire Chopra household descended into chaos and frantic activity. On one hand, surviving guests were taking their leave in terror; on the other, deceased guests had to be hauled off to the morgue posthaste. On top of that, the duties originally scheduled were already heavy enough. Every servant in sight hurried by with rapid steps, overwhelmed with work, their expressions taut with anxiety for fear of making a mistake. Preparing for the ancestral sacrifice, conducting the ritual... No matter how urgent or expedited it had become, the required honors and procedures could not be cut short. Not only could they not be cut, but even more offerings, sacrifices, and theatrical devotion were demanded to prove the filial piety and reverence of the descendants. "They're preparing to sacrifice to the House God already?" Ji Jue looked at Minkler, who had just returned, unable to conceal his surprise. He had initially expected that muddying the waters would be the best possible outcome, never imagining Minkler could achieve his goal in a single leap. Unfortunately, Minkler showed no trace of joy or pride; his expression was grim. "I haven't even exerted any effort yet." His face fell. "It was Boggio. He went to great lengths to push the House God's selection ahead of schedule—still expecting me to act as cannon fodder outside to draw attention away from him." Realizing Minkler's threat, Boggio had intended to make a quick resolution. Yet he never expected Minkler to be even faster. Absurdly fast. It was as if someone had hit the fast-forward button. He showed his face at noon yesterday, wiped out the Venom Fleet in the afternoon, neutralized the Sukarno family's retaliation and backlash by nightfall, and marched right to the doorstep the very next day. Had he been a day later—no, even half a day, just a few hours later—Boggio might have already bypassed Minkler entirely, completed the House God's selection, assumed the mantle of the new family head, and broadcast it to the Seven Cities. By then, the dust would have settled, legitimacy secured, and the situation completely overturned. Next, the one condemned by the Seven Cities and marked for execution across the Thousand Islands would be Minkler, branded as a traitor who colluded with outsiders. Only... Where had Boggio gotten such confidence? Ji Jue pondered, recalling the way Boggio looked as he walked away. For a brief moment, it felt as though he had seen something trailing behind Boggio. Someone was following him. Step for step. "Put away the Holy Oil and the ledgers, all of it." Inside his private reception room, Boggio looked at his assistant before him. "Once the ceremony concludes, unless I contact you, do not show your face." "Young Master..." The assistant froze in disbelief. It was not shock at the difficulty of the task, but dread over Boggio's behavior and the possibility it implied. Could they... truly lose? "Rest assured, this is merely a precaution against the worst-case scenario." Boggio puffed on his cigar, his face expressionless. "As the Federation's military strategy dictates, before planning for victory, one must first plan for defeat. Minkler's sudden spine is unnatural; precautions are necessary. "If we truly lose, and neither the Holy Oil nor the ledgers are handed over, I'd like to see how he manages to act as family head without the ability to command the House God or control the family assets!" "Understood." The assistant nodded, not daring to ask further. Hurriedly packing the items into a case, he pushed the door open and left. Listening to the receding footsteps, an eerie, wizened face materialized within the cigar smoke, letting out a spectral sigh. "You child, you're still overly cautious. With preparations so thorough, how could anything go wrong? When the time comes, even Dharma King Shanzhu, far away in the Lower Cloister, will support you. "There is no need to worry about that old broad from the Tianxin Society; someone will handle her. As for Minkler, once the ritual begins, there will be plenty of opportunities to strike." "Then I must trouble Grandfather." Boggio bowed his head respectfully. "Establishing a legacy in the Thousand Islands is no easy task. Moving forward, the Chopra family will still need the protection of the Masters from Wulou Temple." A faint laugh echoed and dispersed. The face vanished along with the smoke. Following intense, feverish preparations, the Chopra family's ancestral sacrifice commenced in the afternoon. Just like all grand rituals, it was exhaustingly meticulous. Every detail was scrutinized to perfection, and no error was permitted at any stage, however meaningless it might be. Especially now that things were no longer being simplified or rushed, the process grew even more cumbersome. For ordinary households, ancestral worship meant little more than gathering the family before memorial portraits to burn incense, bow, or kowtow. But the Chopra family's grand spectacle was no longer satisfied with tormenting only themselves; the entire city of Xiangzhou had to be dragged into it. Across the vast city, ports were sealed, and traffic ground to a halt. Silence was mandated everywhere. No music was permitted, no drinking or revelry allowed, all entertainment venues shuttered. When required, every citizen was expected to stand and bow toward the mountaintop in unison with the radio broadcast. The reason kowtowing was not demanded was simply that the vast majority lacked the status to even prostrate themselves. Now Ji Jue finally understood why Tyrants loved the Thousand Islands so much. Who wouldn't love this? Behind closed doors, one could do whatever one pleased; under absolute authority, every whim was unimpeded. A local warlord was still an emperor—and an even more absolute emperor at that. The entire ceremony was protracted and tedious. Members of the Chopra family gathered in dense throngs before the ancestral shrine atop the mountain peak, ranked by bloodline and status, offering sacrifices to their forebears according to a patchwork of bizarre rites and customs. As for the layout and style of this ancestral shrine... It could only be described as an ingenious monstrosity. Half of it resembled the ancestral hall of a great Federation clan, half looked like a sanctuary of some Imperial cult, and the rest was plastered with dense Thousand Islands motifs—a pure chimera. It was either intensely insular and ignorant, or radically open and stitched together. Even the concept of a House God, as a product of the Ascension path, originated from the synthesis of the Empire's House Fire faith and the Federation's ancestor worship. Mixed further with a slew of bizarre Thousand Islands traditions and rituals, it had grown wild and unconstrained into its present form. Through sacrifice, ancestors were transformed into deities. Yet these so-called deities were no different from ravenous ghosts—in fact, their appetites were far more voracious than any demon's! In the deepest part of the ancestral shrine, the flame that had burned for centuries shone brilliantly. Its pure white hue appeared unimaginably sacred, while a sensory veil partitioned two completely separate worlds. Ordinary people could not hear the ravenous calls, hisses, and venomous roars emanating from within, nor could they see the endless soul fragments and spiritus being fed into it. Times were advancing and everything was changing; even the House God lived much better now. Decades or centuries ago, massive quantities of livestock had to be slaughtered in advance for every sacrifice, alongside numerous live human offerings. Now, after the Seven Cities formed their alliance and the council pushed aggressively for modernization, Xiangzhou had hospitals, public cemeteries, nursing homes, orphanages, and slums, making things far more convenient. It merely took the deaths of a few old folk, vagrants, and urchins. Sooner or later they were going to die anyway, so why not make their deaths a little more useful? Besides, they didn't even die on the spot. It didn't even require bloodshed. "What a grand sight." At this moment, as a guest observing the ceremony, Ji Jue looked back beyond the shrine. Down in the city below the mountain, wisps of white mist rose like a tide, ascending toward the heavens. Throughout the ritual, the higher and fiercer the House Fire burned, the darker the sky became. As though a torrential tempest was about to break. Above the overcast sky, in the deepest darkness of the clouds, a colossal and bizarre hollow face, seemingly large enough to blot out the entire city, flickered in and out of view. Summoned by the calls, it gradually took shape, opening its maw to swallow the spiritus offered up by hundreds of thousands of living beings across the city, growing increasingly famished. Greedily sucking it in. With every inhalation, the flickering glimmers of life in the hospitals and slums grew dimmer. With every exhalation, the candles flickering in the wind suffered another brutal gust. Gradually, dazzling flames matching the House Fire flickered to life within those hollow pupils. The House God was awakening. Throughout the entire ancestral shrine, everyone felt terrifying power surging forth from the House Fire. In the past, Minkler would have been relegated to standing among the servants. But times had changed; through his own efforts, his birth father's betrayal, and his godfather's loving care, he had finally arrived at the very forefront of everyone. He even had a chair to sit on. Enjoying the earnest pleas and entreaties from his family members. "...It's not too late to give up now, Minkler," Boggio whispered solemnly. "Federation people are insatiably greedy, and that man surnamed Ji has zero credibility. If you fall into his clutches, you'll gain nothing and lose everything. "You are literally bargaining with a tiger for its hide!" Throughout it all, Minkler stared at the House Fire, his expression calm—calmer even than he had imagined. He let Boggio's earnest warnings, promises, and entreaties wash over him, entirely unmoved. "How strange, Boggio," he asked, puzzled. "The tiger you speak of saved my life, stood by my side, and helped me survive to this day. "While the family you speak of wished for nothing more than my swift death, regretting that I had ever been born... "If you were me, who would you trust?" "A family is a family, Minkler! Every one of us must make sacrifices! "The past was different from the present, but no matter what, we are still family. "If you don't trust me, I can even sign a life-sharing blood pact with you! As long as I live, you will be the general of this family, the rising star of the Seven Cities!" "Save your promises for your so-called family, Boggio." Minkler shook his head. "Your family never included me, nor did I ever have such an honor." At that, Boggio fell silent. His expression grew icy, killing intent rising. It was not anger born of humiliation, but the realization that finally dawned on him in that instant: why Ji Jue had chosen Minkler, and why this bastard Minkler was raving mad to such an extent! "Minkler, do you really hate this family so much?!" "What are you talking about, Fourth Brother?" Minkler finally looked back at him, offering a smiling assurance. "Of course I love my family. I love it from the bottom of my heart, more than anyone else!" "Then why—" "It's just that until a few days ago, I finally realized that my family had ceased to exist long ago." Within those dark eyes, bloodshot veins from sleepless nights spread like savage flames, silent and consuming. Not a shred of warmth remained. "Decades ago," he said, "my family was drowned in the pond with your own hands." *Boom!* A roar erupted from within the House Fire. Pale fire gushed from the firewood like a roaring cascade. Amidst the flames, an eerily shifting silhouette gradually materialized. Responding to the summons of its descendants, countless disordered souls overlapped into one at this moment, coalescing into a muddled, rabid entity. In the darkness behind that savage flame, a colossal behemoth like a mountain ridge slowly rose. Its mere appearance unleashed a tempest across all of Xiangzhou! It opened its eyes. The House God had descended!