The small town wasn’t far from Wu Miao, and naturally, it wasn’t too distant from Xue Miao either.
Yu Jin, with his exceptional skills and outstanding stamina, ran the distance without even breaking a sweat.
He stood outside the stockade with his arms crossed, his eyes as dark as the night itself.
For the Xue Miao, who regularly bred venomous insects, their defense against outsiders wasn’t high walls or patrols, but those spine-chilling insects and snakes.
Yu Jin circled, chose a slightly lower spot to climb, and entered the stockade.
With the sachet Jiang Si had given him, the lurking venomous creatures stayed put, none daring to cause trouble. Yu Jin easily made his way to the Xue Miao Clan Leader’s residence.
Among the many buildings, the Clan Leader’s dwelling was the most imposing.
Confident he hadn’t mistaken the place, Yu Jin snuck in and saw a room still lit.
Still awake at this hour?
Yu Jin thought for a moment and understood why.
Having sent someone to assassinate him, the Xue Miao Clan Leader surely couldn’t sleep until he received word from his subordinate.
Reaching the window, Yu Jin shook his head.
Unable to sleep over such a small matter – the Xue Miao Clan Leader was truly incompetent.
His psychological advantage multiplied, Yu Jin decided against entering through the window and instead went to knock on the door.
As the knocking sounded, the door was suddenly flung open. The Xue Miao Clan Leader inside looked eager.
Seeing his intended target appear before him, the Clan Leader was shocked. Just as he was about to shout, Yu Jin covered his mouth and pushed him inside.
Yu Jin hooked the door closed with his foot, making only a slight sound.
In the bright lamplight, the Xue Miao Clan Leader could see the contempt on the intruder’s face.
Yu Jin pinched the Clan Leader’s cheeks and stuffed a handkerchief into his mouth before sneering, “Screaming like a woman at a little fright? Aren’t you ashamed to call yourself a clan leader?”
The Xue Miao Clan Leader was stunned. Unable to speak, he could only blink frantically in anger and urgency.
When had he screamed like a woman?
Alright, discovering that the person knocking wasn’t one of his own but the man he’d planned to kill had startled him into an instinctive cry. But he hadn’t even managed to make a sound before his mouth was covered, not even a muffled noise. How could this young man spout such nonsense?
Yu Jin easily restrained the Xue Miao Clan Leader and sat down casually in a chair, looking disdainful. “What are you glaring at? No matter how much you glare, those beady eyes of yours won’t suddenly bloom into flowers.”
The Xue Miao Clan Leader’s eyes widened even further.
Beady eyes? What was this man talking about?
Yu Jin frowned in disgust. “Good thing the handkerchief is long enough to stuff that toad-mouth of yours. Let me tell you, if you’re this ugly, you shouldn’t go out scaring people. Can’t you just stay in your clan and be the leader?”
The stunningly handsome Seventh Prince scrutinized the Xue Miao Clan Leader with a critical eye and nodded again in confirmation: “You are too ugly.”
The Xue Miao Clan Leader’s expression changed from initial fear to bewilderment.
Was this young man the Seventh Prince of Da Zhou?
Those Wu Miao wretches were masters of disguise. Could this be a Wu Miao impersonator?
No, that wasn’t right either. The Wu Miao might be detestable, but they were sane. Who would attack someone by fixating on their ugliness?
Realizing this, the Xue Miao Clan Leader was stunned, wanting to slap himself.
How was he ugly? He’d been led astray by this deranged young man!
Yu Jin clenched his fist, his tone utterly cold: “Originally, you sending some fool to assassinate me wasn’t worth my attention. But for someone as ugly as you to catch my wife’s notice – that’s worthy of death.”
“Mmph mmph mmph!” The Xue Miao Clan Leader tried desperately to shout, though only muffled sounds escaped his throat. His agitation was evident.
Or rather, his rage.
The Xue Miao Clan Leader couldn’t help but be enraged.
He… he would fight this brat to the death!
He could accept retaliation for the assassination attempt, but why did this brat keep calling him ugly?
Assassination was a serious matter. This bastard was insulting him. If he had the guts, he should clearly state their grievances!
Having vented most of his jealousy, Yu Jin felt much better. He smiled and said, “Don’t be upset. It’s not your fault you’re ugly. It’s mainly because you lacked skill in choosing your reincarnation. No matter, with this lesson, you’ll surely have more experience next time…”
Hearing these words, the color drained from the Xue Miao Clan Leader’s face as he stared at Yu Jin in terror.
Yu Jin narrowed his eyes. “What? Don’t tell me you thought you could send people to assassinate me, but I couldn’t come knocking with a blade? Who gave you such confidence? Let me tell you, that’s not confidence – it’s stupidity. And stupidity gets people killed, understand?”
The Xue Miao Clan Leader, either confused by Yu Jin’s barrage of insults or panicked by the threat of death, unconsciously nodded.
Yu Jin sneered, “If you’d shown such good sense earlier, things wouldn’t have come to this. You just had to court death.”
Satisfied with thoroughly crushing his utterly unworthy “love rival,” Yu Jin nodded contentedly and smiled. “Now that you recognize your fatal mistake, let’s get down to business.”
At this moment, the enraged Xue Miao Clan Leader felt a sense of relief.
Talking business was good. As long as he had a chance to speak, he could find a way to turn the tables. Then he’d make this foul-mouthed bastard wish he were dead.
But just as this thought flashed through his mind, he saw his opponent raise his hand, expressionless, and chop at his neck.
Weren’t we going to talk business? This brat lied – this was the Xue Miao Clan Leader’s last thought before losing consciousness.
The Xue Miao Clan Leader passed out with intense resentment and anger, while Yu Jin’s mood was much lighter.
Looking down at the Xue Miao Clan Leader, he shook his head slightly. “Of course, the real business is killing you. How stupid of you to think I’d chat with you? Wouldn’t I rather spend that time embracing my wife?”
He dragged the Xue Miao Clan Leader to the desk and positioned him as if he had fallen asleep while working. He then poured lamp oil over him and let the flames spread.
Soon, the fire licked at the Xue Miao Clan Leader’s clothes.
Before the fire blazed too brightly, Yu Jin left the room but didn’t rush away. Instead, he hid nearby to watch.
He had to make sure the Xue Miao Clan Leader was truly dead before leaving. He didn’t want the embarrassment of his intended victim coming back to life.
The Xue Miao clan members discovered the fire even later than Yu Jin had anticipated.
“Fire! Fire!”
The sound of a gong rang out. People from every household came out with buckets and basins to fight the fire. When they realized it had started at the Clan Leader’s residence, chaos erupted, with countless cries and wails.
The Xue Miao Clan Leader was the backbone of these people. His demise would be earth-shattering for them.
Yu Jin even saw several people rush into the burning building, disregarding the flames, followed by screams of agony.
After some time, someone emerged, engulfed in flames, dragging out the Xue Miao Clan Leader. The others who had gone in were never seen again.
Glancing at the charred toad’s mouth, Yu Jin was finally satisfied and slipped away into the chaos.