Fury

"What happened?" Xiao Yan stood up and asked.

He had a vague foreboding that something bad had happened.

"Put your clothes on first." Xiao Yu blushed when she saw Xiao Yan stand up and turned her head away.

"Clothes?" Only then did Xiao Yan remember that his clothes had been burned to ashes by the residual energy and flames.

A gentle breeze blew past, and his cock swayed lightly with it.

"It's not like you never saw it when we were little. What are you embarrassed about?" Xiao Yan took out a set of clothes and put them on as he spoke.

"You were a little pervert back then, and now you're an even bigger one."

Xiao Yu shot him a fierce glare before remembering what had happened. "It's Xiao Jiande," she said coldly. "He knew he couldn't get revenge on you, so he simply switched targets."

"Switched targets?" Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed. "Xiao Niu, Xiao Ma, and the others?"

"That's right. Xiao Jiande knew he couldn't do anything to us, so he arranged for people to go after Xiao Niu and Xiao Ma. He even sent a few younger clansmen over here to stir up trouble.

"The two sides have already clashed several times, and people on both sides have been injured. But they're all clan children, after all. At worst, they've only taken a beating. The Descendant village where Xiao Niu and Xiao Ma live, though... people could die there."

Xiao Yan's face darkened at her words.

A nameless fury burned within him.

He had broken Xiao Jiande's leg, so it was only natural that the children of the Xiao Lu branch would come looking for trouble. If his followers were beaten in a fight, he would naturally compensate them, or even lead them back to settle the score.

But what about Xiao Niu and Xiao Ma? They were merely Descendants, people who clawed their way upward every day, risking everything for a slightly better life. Now, simply because some spoiled heir wanted revenge, an undeserved calamity had fallen upon them.

"Xiao Jiande, you deserve to die!" Xiao Yan's gaze was icy as he turned to Xiao Yu. "Take me to Xiao Niu and Xiao Ma's Descendant village first."

"All right." Xiao Yu nodded slightly. With a beat of her Dou Qi Wings, she streaked away in a trail of light. Xiao Yan followed behind her, his thoughts unreadable.

After crossing several mountain ranges, the two arrived at a small basin nestled among the mountains.

Seven Spirit Village lay within the Seven Spirit Basin, named for the high-quality seven spirit alfalfa that grew abundantly there. This spiritual herb was ideal for feeding magical beasts.

Because so much seven spirit alfalfa grew there, a Dou Zun expert had leased the entire area and converted it into a ranch.

Most of the Descendants in Seven Spirit Village made their living tending that Dou Zun expert's magical beasts.

The most numerous beasts raised on the ranch were third-rank magical beasts called White Brocade Rainbow Cloud Cows.

These third-rank magical beasts were strong and sturdy. Eating their meat strengthened the body, and their magic cores and bones could be used in pill refinement. Most importantly, they were relatively docile, making them a highly economical breed of livestock.

But the night before, more than ten thousand White Brocade Rainbow Cloud Cows on the ranch had suddenly charged toward Seven Spirit Village as though they had gone mad. The small village had been razed to the ground in mere moments.

Fortunately, although it was a Descendant village, it still had several Dou Wang experts and a village chief who was a Dou Emperor. Their efforts had greatly reduced the casualties.

Even so, two people had died, and nearly ten had been gravely injured.

"Village Chief, we can't shirk our responsibility for this." Xiao Niu and Xiao Ma stood beside the village ruins, covered in dust and grime. A trace of numbness and sorrow lay deep within their weathered eyes.

The brothers had worked for nearly thirty years before breaking through to become Dou Wangs.

When they had broken through and their names had been entered into the clan genealogy, how proudly they had held their heads high.

They were their parents' pride and the future of Seven Spirit Village.

But only after leaving Seven Spirit Village had they learned what it meant for there to always be someone greater, another heaven beyond the heavens.

It turned out that the Dou Wang experts whom everyone in the village revered and admired were nothing in the Xiao Clan's true hierarchy!

Many young people did not need to work hard at all. With nothing more than the power of their bloodlines and the resources provided by their fathers and grandfathers, they could easily become Dou Wangs-and their futures would not stop there.

Worse still, people like Xiao Jiande needed only the slightest malicious impulse to wipe out their years of effort in an instant. Merely to vent his anger, he could destroy their home.

"Say no more." The old village chief sat on a large rock, his aged face covered in wrinkles and his hair mottled gray. No one knew what thoughts lay behind his clouded old eyes.

"If anyone is to blame, it's ourselves for being too weak. Heh... weakness truly is a sin." At that thought, a trace of sorrow flashed through the old village chief's eyes.

To the many Descendants, he was Seven Spirit Village's strongest, oldest, and wisest elder. But only he knew how feeble he was before the Xiao Clan's truly powerful figures.

"But... what wrong did we ever commit, to be made so weak? To be born only to be bullied and scorned?" The old village chief turned toward the villagers, all covered in dust and grime.

On the ground lay a mangled body, trampled beyond recognition by the White Brocade Rainbow Cloud Cows. It was his childhood friend.

Though his friend had possessed the cultivation of a Dou Ling, his vitality had long since withered with age. After being knocked down by a cow king, he had never risen again, trampled into a heap of bloody pulp amid the chaos.

The village chief then looked toward a pale-faced little girl nearby.

This innocent child had already become a Dou Zhe at ten years old. She was the village's most promising talent.

Perhaps one day she might have had a chance to reach the Dou Zong realm, something he had spent his entire life longing for but could never attain. Yet in last night's chaos, the child had lost her right arm.

That single blow had cast her straight into an abyss. Perhaps even becoming a Dou Wang would now remain beyond her reach for the rest of her life.

Sorrow lingered over the ruins of Seven Spirit Village, and despair spread through the villagers' hearts.

Whoosh! A sudden gust swept past, and everyone looked up. In the sky, a black-clad youth was beating his Dou Qi Wings as he flew toward them like a meteor.

"This is the place," Xiao Yu said, pointing at the village ruins in the basin.

The instant he saw those ruins, Xiao Yan felt his blood pressure surge uncontrollably, sending blood rushing to his head.

"Young Master Xiao Yan." As Xiao Yan landed, Xiao Niu and Xiao Ma suppressed their dejection and bowed slightly to him.

"Young Master Xiao Yan." The old village chief also rose slowly and bowed slightly to Xiao Yan. As a Dou Huang expert, his body should still have been robust despite his advanced age.

Yet now he stood slightly stooped, his bent back seeming to bear the weight of a mountain. His graying hair carried an air of desolation.

"Was this Xiao Jiande's doing?" Xiao Yan's voice was ice-cold.

"Young Master Xiao Yan, we have no conclusive evidence." A hint of exhaustion seeped into the old village chief's aged voice.

"Evidence!" Xiao Yan stared coldly at the ruins before him.

This move of Xiao Jiande's was like disgust's mother opening the door for disgust itself.

If he were still merely Xiao Lin's grandson, finding evidence would indeed have been difficult. Even if he found it, Xiao Jiande would receive only some minor punishment at most.

To truly achieve an outcome that satisfied him, he would probably have had to wait until he reached Dou Sheng, then rely on his own strength to act personally.

Fortunately, however, he was no longer merely a talented youth. He was the Xiao Clan's Emperor's Son!

He was one of those whose authority in the Xiao Clan stood second only to the clan ancestor, Xiao Xuan. Even if his current strength did not match that status, and many supreme elders still paid him little heed.

But when it came to dealing with a mere spoiled heir like Xiao Jiande...

"Since you're so fond of using your power and backing to crush people, I'll let you savor what it feels like to be crushed by power yourself..." A cruel, cold smile curled Xiao Yan's lips.