Chapter 45 — An Eye for an Eye • Ten Thousand-fold Retaliation
“I am sorry, Jingxuan. It is your father who is useless—I failed to protect the two children for you.”
Standing to one side, Ling Chenglong’s face was filled with shame. Ling Jingxuan lifted his head and glanced at him. Seeing the dried blood congealed on his father’s forehead, his gaze grew colder still. Turning to look at his mother—her face likewise streaked with blood—Ling Jingxuan suddenly smiled.
Holding the big bun in his arms, he rose to his feet. Upon his lean and handsome face bloomed a radiant smile. He had underestimated these people. Since they refused to let him live in peace, then none of them would live peacefully either.
“Daddy…?” Ling Wu, clutching Yan Shengrui’s thigh, pursed his lips as silent tears streamed down his face. From time to time his small body trembled with a stifled sob, pitiful beyond words. Ling Jingxuan stepped toward them. After sweeping Yan Shengrui with a glance, he crouched and set Ling Wen down.
“Who struck your elder brother?”
His son—he himself could scarcely bear to lay a finger on him. Since when had it become someone else’s turn? Whoever it was, he had no intention of letting her off today.
“I—it was…” Ling Wu’s trembling gaze wavered toward Madam Ling Jiang, who stood beside the Old Madam. His body shrank uncontrollably, squeezing himself between Ling Jingxuan and Yan Shengrui. Following the child’s line of sight, both men fixed upon the same target.
“Do not be afraid. With such people, one must return tooth for tooth—repay them a thousandfold, ten thousandfold.”
Turning back, Ling Jingxuan gently rubbed the heads of both children. Then he rose and looked at Yan Shengrui, his brows knitting faintly.
“My thanks for protecting my children.”
Some matters required no explanation; the scene alone spoke clearly enough. The wounds on Yan Shengrui’s body were not grave, but the injury to his head could not have healed in mere day or two. No matter how strong his constitution, how high his martial skill—even though Ling Jingxuan had been boiling medicine for him daily with water from the Crescent Spring—it was impossible for him to rise only three or four days after being injured and defend the children.
The fact that he had done so was proof enough of formidable willpower.
For that, setting aside the entanglements between him and the body’s former owner, Ling Jingxuan’s impression of him improved somewhat.
“They are my children as well.”
Yan Shengrui frowned reflexively in rebuttal. Ling Jingxuan did not argue. This was hardly the time for such disputes.
He could still recall—when he and Jingpeng had been hurrying back, laughing and chatting along the way, each carrying baskets of wild grapes—how, upon reaching the foot of the mountain, they heard the sound of quarrelling drifted from the direction of their home. Anxiety had seized his heart. Though his body was thin and frail, he had forced himself to run swiftly, burden and all, racing back alongside Jingpeng.
To see the son whose injuries had only just healed beaten once more; to see his parents’ faces bloodied; to see their home thrown into chaos—
the heart that had only recently known peace boiled over in an instant. Killing intent surged through him like a raging river, roaring through his veins.
At such a moment, even if Yan Shengrui had declared him his lawfully wedded wife before all under Heaven, he would have had no heart to argue. There was only one thing he wished to do:
To avenge wrong with wrong, hatred with hatred.
Repay them a thousandfold.
“Keep an eye on them for me.”
Leaving behind those ambiguous words, his slender form turned sharply and shot forward like a charging warhorse.
Smack—! Smack—!
“Ah!” The next second, before anyone could react, Ling Jingxuan rushed to Ling Jiang-shi, grabbed her collar with one hand, and swiftly slapped her several times across the face with the other. Ling Jiang-shi cried out in pain. Hearing the crisp slaps and screams, everyone present, including the Old Madam beside them, widened their eyes. He really hit her? Ling Jiang-shi was, after all, his third aunt. In this era where filial piety was paramount, wasn’t he afraid of being drowned in a pig cage?
Everyone was starting to doubt if they were dreaming. Was that cold-faced man who had slapped their own aunt so hard really the Ling Jingxuan they knew?
“Ah! Help!”
The slaps continued, and Ling Jiang-shi’s face was swollen like a pig’s head. The faint cries for help finally woke up the people nearby, and the three of them rushed over at the same time. “What are you doing? Let her go right now, you bitch!”
“Let go of my mother.
“You bastard, you heartless scum!”
The three women ostensibly wanted to rescue Ling Jiang-shi, but in reality, they were attacking him together. Ling Jingxuan’s eyes darkened, and a murderous aura emanated from him. He shoved Ling Jiang-shi, whom he was holding onto Ling Chenghua, grabbed Ling Xiaoying’s sharp claws, and used a clever trick to throw her away. Finally, he kicked the Old Madam over hard. In the blink of an eye, he swiftly and decisively dealt with several malicious old women, leaving Ling Chenglong and his wife, as well as Ling Jingpeng, who were about to help, feeling ashamed. When did their Jingxuan become so arrogant?
“Oh my god! Murder! The grandson killed his own grandmother! You shameless bastard, you monster who deserves to be struck by lightning?!”
“Mother”
“Grandmother”
The Old Madam sprawled on the ground, then twisted herself upright, slapping her thighs and making a scene, flaunting her tantrums. Seeing that matters had truly escalated—Ling Jingxuan not only dared to drive people away, but actually dared to strike someone—she grew even more frantic. Not long ago, the ferocious Ling Xiaotong and her companions had pounced to her side; the four women now wailed and tore at the air in despair, completely abandoning any semblance of dignity of a scholarly, upright family.
“Rest assured,” Ling Jingxuan said, his voice cold and unwavering, “before the heavens strike me with lightning, I will take you down with me!”
Ignoring their cries, he slyly flicked out his tongue to wet his lips, the aura of murderous evil radiating from him like a dark beast awakening from slumber, ready at any moment to lunge and sever the throats of anyone in its path.
“You wretched son of a dog! You even dare to strike your own grandmother, you… you… you??”
The few who had been making a ruckus froze in terror. Ling Xiaoying and the others couldn’t even meet Ling Jingxuan’s gaze. Only the Old Madam, relying on her age and status, continued to thrash about, insisting on asserting her authority.
After all, it was his own mother and sister, Ling Chenglong instinctively moved to step forward, but someone grabbed the hem of his robe, holding him back. Turning, he saw Ling Wang-shi gesturing toward a certain direction. Curious, he looked—and then he saw Ling Jingxuan’s face: cold, lethal, terrifying. Ling Chenglong was no fool—he was straightforward and disliked playing tricks—but even he understood the danger. He immediately withdrew his foot. At this moment, if he had stepped forward, given his son’s temperament, it was likely he would never be acknowledged by him again.
A man who had been honest and filial all his life, finally exhausted by his mother’s relentless provocations, decisively abandoned the lifelong practice of filial piety to protect his own small family.
“Stop crying. I, Ling Jingxuan, am solitary in this household—what grandmother are you speaking of? Today, you trespassed, assaulted, and attempted robbery—these are the acts of bandits. Go home and tell your Old Master: if you do not accept this, we shall meet in court! Now, leave!”
He fixed his icy gaze on the women throwing their tantrums. His deliberately raised voice was not only meant for them, but also to warn the villagers who had gathered to watch: he was no longer the man he once was. Anyone who doubted this was welcome to challenge him; he would repay tenfold, sparing no one—not even to his own kin.
“You dare?! You wretch who strikes your own grandmother! You’ll be struck by lightning!”
The Old Madam suddenly rolled to her feet, pointing at Ling Jingxuan and cursing him without restraint. By contrast, the other three were far more subdued. They were truly afraid. For some reason, an instinct warned them that if they caused any more trouble, Ling Jingxuan would indeed strike again. So, even though their hearts ached with rage, they dared not sow discord in front of him.
“Hmph! If my memory serves me right, it was five years ago that you were the one kicking up the fiercest tantrums, screaming yourself hoarse that I had sullied the honor of the old Ling household, insisting I be dragged to the pond to be drowned! What, then? Because a grandmother can kill her grandson, the grandson is supposed to deserve it? Not even allowed to resist? And let me give you one last warning, Old Madam: your grandson, Ling Jingxuan, died the moment you cast him out of the family. The man standing before you now has nothing to do with you or your household. Stop clinging to family ties where none exist. Are you afraid my tarnished reputation will soil the ‘noble’ standing of the Old Ling Clan? I’m not worried that anyone will say I’m currying favor with you. So spare me your accusations of filial impiety. Today, whether it is you, an old woman of the inner courtyard, or even your patriarch and the village elders themselves, I will not yield. I refuse to believe there is no place in this world where reason can prevail.”
With a cold, mocking snort, Ling Jingxuan severed all ties with them. They say one should marry a virtuous wife—but thankfully, old Master Ling never succeeded in the imperial exams. Had this shrew of a matriarch become an official’s wife, who knows how many people she would have offended? One day, she might have dragged the entire household down with her recklessness. In those times, collective punishment was taken very seriously. So for his own peace of mind, and for the future of his two little ones, he could not afford even the slightest connection with them.
“You… you… you?? This is the good son you’ve raised? Worthless! Have all those books you studied gone straight into a dog’s belly? Your mother is about to be beaten to death, and you just stand by watching—do you still have any heart for your old mother?”
The Old Madam trembled with fury, pointing at Ling Jingxuan in rage. Her vicious gaze then swept over Ling Chenglong and his wife, and without hesitation, she vented all her anger on them.
Ling Chenglong closed his eyes in pain. This was the mother to whom he had been filial his entire life. Even now, all she thought about was how to manipulate and oppress them. She never asked about the wound on his forehead, never considered the anguish in his heart. She was his own mother—how could she be so heartless?
It was a chill to the heart. In the scorching heat of June, Ling Chenglong felt as if he had fallen into an icy pit, his body chilled through.
“Brother Long,”
Feeling her husband tense and suffering, Lady Wang-shi gently moved aside the hand of their youngest son and took his arm in hers, silently offering warmth and comfort. She understood his pain. Having married into the Ling family for many years, she had always treated the matriarch as her own mother—but how had she been treated in return? To put it plainly, even a stone pressed to one’s chest would be warm, yet this woman, a living person, had the heart to crush them. It was not that they were unfilial—it was that she forced them into a state where they could not be filial.
“Grandmother, can you speak to father and mother like that? Over all these years, have they ever shown the slightest disrespect? Tens of acres of fields—who has worked tirelessly to manage them? The chores of the household—who bears them alone, again and again? And the eldest uncle, third uncle, their wives, and the younger sisters—always neatly dressed, wandering and joking—while father and mother toil endlessly. Look at the eldest uncle compared to my father: his older by many years, yet appearing far younger. Forgive me, grandson speaks plainly, but your judgment is terribly biased.”
Seeing their parents wronged yet unable to resist, the hot-blooded Ling Jingpeng stepped forward to stand in their defense, his amber eyes fearless as they met the Old Madam’s venomous gaze. He had long reached his limit. Why must his parents work themselves to exhaustion yet receive no respect, while uncles who do nothing live carefree? And his elder brother—what crimes had he committed that the Old Madam must barge in repeatedly to punish them?
“You?? I’ll beat you, you disobedient and unfilial child! How dare you slander your own grandmother at such a tender age?!”
The Old Madam, enraged beyond measure, raised her hand to strike. Ling Jingpeng, unlike Ling Jingxuan, did not retaliate. He stood tall and proud, neck stiff, letting her strike and curse, showing no sign of guilt, unyielding and defiant.
“Stop hitting him, mother! If you must, then hit me—please?!”
“Mother, please calm down, son begs you?!”
Seeing their sons struck, Ling Chenglong and his wife, long indifferent, cried out as they rushed forward, each taking hold of the matriarch, pleading desperately.
“Let go of me! Today I’ll beat this unworthy son of yours to death?!”
Though she had four generations under her roof, the Old Madam was only in her fifties or sixties, wiry and vigorous. Despite their efforts, she continued to struggle, extending her feet to kick at Ling Jingpeng.
For a time, the four were entangled in a chaotic brawl, cursing, and crying. Ling Jingxuan, however, remained with hands clasped behind his back, observing coldly. It was not that he did not care for his parents or younger brother—it was that he needed this moment. Only by seeing the Old Madam wound his honest father’s heart over and over could he truly resolve to propose the separation of the family. Only then could his parents and brothers finally live a life of genuine peace.
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Translator: LazyHermitGal
Author: LazyHermitGal
A Lazy Hermit Gal. A little support goes a long way! If you’d like to help me keep creating, you can do so at https://ko-fi.com/lazyhermitgal
