The Jialie Clan's End

The clamor of the auction would eventually fade.

But the waves it had stirred began reshaping Wutan City's landscape in a far more ruthless way.

A steady stream of customers poured into the Aoba Clan's pill market.

The rich scent of medicine mingled with the hubbub of voices, nearly lifting the rooftops of the entire street.

"Steward Wang! Give me ten bottles of Qi-Recovery Powder! Same as always—your highest quality!"

A burly mercenary captain slapped a heavy purse onto the counter, his voice booming.

The man they called Steward Wang was a senior manager of the Aoba Clan. His face was ruddy with success, and he stood ramrod straight as he swiftly collected the money and called back loudly.

"Coming right up! Don't worry, Commander Chen! The Aoba Clan's pills are the best in the whole city!"

"Of course they are! Ever since you switched to that new flame, the pills you refine have been at least twenty percent more potent! Only a fool would buy from anywhere else!"

The customers around them chimed in, their words full of praise for the Aoba Clan's pills.

This bustling scene had lasted for half a month now.

Ever since they had connected with the mysterious Mr. Su and secured a steady, exclusive supply of high-quality Rock Fire Seeds, the Aoba Clan's pill workshop had taken flight.

Their success rate had soared.

Their pills' quality crushed every competitor in the city.

The market share that had once belonged to the Jialie Clan was being devoured by them in an unstoppable tide.

* * *

In stark contrast to the Aoba Clan's bustling business, the Jialie Clan's market was deserted.

It was the same street, less than a hundred meters away.

Yet this place was as quiet as a graveyard.

The gilded signboards that had once hung high were now coated in a layer of gray dust. Inside the shops, a few clerks listlessly slumped over the counters, their eyes vacant. The occasional old customer would come by, sigh, buy the cheapest healing medicine, then hurry away.

Jialie Bi stood by a second-floor window in the market, his face livid as he watched the Aoba Clan's thriving business across the street.

His fists were clenched so tightly that every knuckle had turned white.

A mere half month.

Only half a month!

His Jialie Clan, a behemoth that had stood in Wutan City for decades, had been driven to such a desperate state!

"Useless! Every last one of you is useless!"

Jialie Bi whirled around and kicked over the expensive purplewood table beside him.

The tea set shattered across the floor with a piercing crash.

In the council hall, more than a dozen core members and managers of the Jialie Clan stood frozen in fear. Every head was bowed low, and no one dared even breathe too loudly.

"That old fox from the Aoba Clan is shitting on our heads!"

"And you! Every one of you has eaten my Jialie Clan's rice, yet now you can't even say a damn thing!"

Jialie Bi's roar echoed through the empty hall like that of a wounded beast.

His chest heaved, his eyes bloodshot.

Ever since the auction had dealt them a crippling blow, he had tried every measure he could think of.

He had tried spending a fortune to buy better Beast Flame from other sources. But compared with the mysterious flame used by the Aoba Clan, the stuff on the market was like a firefly next to the bright moon. It couldn't begin to make up for the huge gap in pill quality.

He had also tried offering three times the going rate to poach the Aoba Clan's alchemists.

But every one of them seemed iron-set in their resolve. They wouldn't even agree to meet him.

Nobody was a fool.

With the Aoba Clan, they could earn higher salaries and gain access to that miraculous flame, which would greatly benefit their alchemy skills.

Who would willingly jump ship to the Jialie Clan, a wreck already sinking beneath the waves?

"C-Clan Leader..."

A white-haired old man stepped forward, trembling. He was the clan's chief accountant and had worked for the Jialie Clan his entire life.

"Our... our funds are nearly... nearly depleted..."

The old man's voice was dry and despairing.

"The extravagance at last month's auction drained most of our liquid assets. Business is dismal now, and our daily losses keep mounting. Several mines outside the city are on the verge of shutting down because we can't pay the guards..."

"If this goes on, in less than ten days, we... we won't even be able to pay the clerks!"

His words struck everyone in the hall like a heavy hammer.

Jialie Bi's body lurched.

The rage and ferocity drained from his face like a receding tide, replaced by a bone-deep chill and terror.

Their funds were running dry!

He knew better than anyone what that meant for a powerful clan.

It meant the beginning of the end.

"Father!"

Just then, Jialie Ao rushed in from outside, his face pallid with panic.

"B-Bad news!"

"People from the Miteer Auction House are here! They said we owe a month's rent on three shops. They're demanding we pay it all today, or... or they'll seize the shops by force!"

Boom!

Those final words became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Jialie Bi's mind went blank.

The Miteer Auction House!

He remembered now.

Before the auction, he had been rich and arrogant. He really had squeezed some of Mittel's businesses, even deliberately withholding rent on several shops to pressure that woman, Ya Fei.

Back then, he had been so full of himself.

But now, retribution had come.

So soon, and so ruthlessly!

The Miteer Auction House, the true giant of Wutan City, had merely moved a finger—and it had clamped down on the Jialie Clan's last lifeline.

"Father... what do we do?"

Jialie Ao's voice trembled with tears.

He was utterly terrified.

Jialie Bi did not answer.

The once-mighty tyrant who had dominated Wutan City now seemed to have aged twenty years in an instant.

Slowly, despondently, he sank into the clan leader's throne behind him.

The chair that symbolized his power felt like a block of ice beneath him.

He had lost.

He had lost utterly.

He did not even know who his enemy was, or what they looked like.

All he knew was that it was an unseen hand.

With nothing but business tactics, that miraculous flame, and cooperation with Mittel and the Aoba Clan, it had sent his entire Jialie Clan plunging into an abyss of eternal ruin, all while it laughed and talked.

* * *

Three days later.

On Wutan City's busiest central street.

A large market that had once belonged to the Jialie Clan had a new signboard hanging over it that day.

The sign was brand-new.

Two bold characters were carved across it in sweeping strokes.

Aoba.

Firecrackers and drums thundered through the sky.

Dressed in a brand-new brocade robe, Aoba Pa stood at the shop entrance, greeting the guests who had come to offer their congratulations, brimming with confidence.

Nobody in the crowd mentioned the Jialie Clan anymore.

The clan that had once been one of Wutan City's three great families had become a thing of the past.

Beyond the bustle, at the mouth of a quiet alley, a desolate figure stood motionless.

It was Jialie Bi.

He wore old clothes washed pale with wear, and his hair had turned mostly white at some point.

His cloudy eyes were fixed on the glaring "Aoba" signboard. He watched as everything that had once belonged to him became someone else's glory.

His body trembled slightly.

A rush of blood surged into his throat.

"Pffft—"

He spat a mouthful of blood onto the cold wall. It stood out starkly against the stone.

His strength finally gave out, and he slowly slid down the wall to the ground.

The lion of old was now nothing but a broken-backed stray dog.

He could no longer threaten anyone.

* * *

In the dilapidated courtyard in the south of the city.

Su Chen sat quietly by the window.

A cup of tea sat on the table, steam curling from its surface.

The courtyard gate opened gently beneath a slender, jade-white hand.

Ya Fei entered, bringing with her an intoxicating fragrance.

She looked at the lean figure seated by the window, as though cut off from the world, and her red lips curved into a captivating smile.

"The Jialie Clan has fallen."

Her voice was gentle and calm, as if she were discussing some trivial matter.

"We took back their largest market and leased it to the Aoba Clan. They're frantically selling off their remaining assets, just to scrape by a little longer."

"From now on, there's no Jialie Clan left in Wutan City."

Su Chen did not turn around.

He simply lifted the teacup from the table and took a small sip.

The warm tea slid down his throat.

From beginning to end, he had not laid a finger on the Jialie Clan.

He had not even seen Jialie Bi and his son again.

Yet the enemy who had once wanted him dead had already been completely swallowed up, silently, by the commercial tide he had unleashed.

This was the power he wanted.

A power that could control everything without shedding a drop of blood.

"Mm."

A calm response came from beneath the shadow of his bamboo hat.

"Understood."