C46 I'll Teach You a Lesson!

Chu Yan's words couldn't have been truer.

Though he was the one residing here, the courtyard and everything within it belonged to the Lin family.

The group had gleefully smashed things to bits, not realizing they were destroying their own family's property.

For a moment, the faces of the Lin family members were a kaleidoscope of emotions—regret, fear, anger, and shame all came flooding in simultaneously.

Witnessing Chu Yan's arms folded and his mocking sneer, the head of the Lin family members snapped out of it, his embarrassment turning to rage. "Chu Yan! Don't get too smug! I've got something to tell you, and it's going to scare the daylights out of you!"

"Oh?" Chu Yan quirked an eyebrow. "Go ahead, spill it. After you're done, I've got a little tidbit that'll make you wet your pants too."

"You... jerk!" This Lin family member had already experienced Chu Yan's sharp tongue on the day of the fight with Ye Chen. Glaring, he cursed and then said, "We're here to tell you something—you need to hightail it to the council hall right now! The clan leader and the others are there, plotting to throw you out of the Lin family!"

Having said his piece, he seemed to exhale the frustration of having just smashed his own belongings, taking a long, deep breath.

The others looked on at Chu Yan with schadenfreude.

"Chu Yan, I never thought you'd have the guts to actually hit Lin Liqiang."

"Look at you now! You're done for. The Deputy Chief and the elders have banded together to kick you out!"

"Don't think you can run amok just because the Old Master and the clan leader have your back. This is the Lin family, not the Chu's!"

"What are you blabbering about? If he had the Chu family to fall back on, why would he need to marry into ours? Looks like he's getting the boot before he's even wed! Hahaha!"

The Lin family members laughed heartily, as if they could already see Chu Yan being chased out like a dog without a home, their laughter so intense that tears streamed down their faces.

Chu Yan stroked his chin, a contemplative expression on his face. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Come on, snap out of it and face reality!" The head of the Lin family members said, hands on hips and oozing arrogance.

"So, you're saying I'm completely cut off from the Lin family now?" The smile on Chu Yan's lips faded, and the surrounding air grew heavy with tension.

The Lin family members, who had been laughing wildly just moments before, suddenly sensed danger and eyed Chu Yan warily.

"Chu Yan, what... what are you planning to do?"

"Since I'm being thrown out, why should I care about how the Lin family treats me?" Chu Yan's expression turned stern as he shouted, "You smashed up my courtyard, causing me great embarrassment. It's only right that I teach you all a lesson!"

"You wouldn't dare!" The leader of the Lin family members shrieked.

In an instant, a fierce wind was upon him.

Caught off guard, the Lin family member was struck to the ground with a resounding slap from Chu Yan.

Chu Yan had held back his strength, but the Lin family member's head still felt as if it had been brutally hammered.

A buzzing filled his head, and the next moment, a thick mist of blood sprayed from his nose and mouth as he collapsed, his head embedding into the earth.

"You... you actually hit me!" Another Lin family member pointed at Chu Yan, his voice pitching with terror.

Chu Yan's gaze was icy. "Feeling like you might wet your pants?"

Before his words even settled, Chu Yan moved with blinding speed. The Lin family members couldn't track his motion as he landed a solid kick to the abdomen of one of their own.

The sound echoed like a drum as the man's body arched and flew like a shrimp, crashing into a wall and creating a dent. A horrific burst of blood followed before he slowly slid to the ground.

The remaining Lin family members were ashen-faced and shaking. As they looked at Chu Yan, their teeth chattered uncontrollably.

With each step Chu Yan took forward, they retreated one step back.

Chu Yan advanced another step, prompting them to kneel in unison.

"Enough," Chu Yan scoffed, "there's no satisfaction in disciplining you lackeys. Hand over any valuables you've got!"

"I—I have Spirit Money!" A member of the Lin Family, as if granted a reprieve, quickly produced a pouch from within his robes and offered it up to Chu Yan with reverence.

Chu Yan accepted the pouch, weighing it in his hand—it contained roughly a hundred Spirit Money, not an insignificant sum.

His gaze sweeping over them, Chu Yan demanded icily, "And your blades?"

At his words, the Lin Family member's complexion shifted from pale to ashen. Not all Lin Family members were privileged to carry blades—ordinary clanspeople, especially non-warriors, were restricted to common metal weapons.

Yet under Chu Yan's intimidating presence, the man, despite his reluctance, unbuckled the short sword from his waist and handed it over, teeth clenched. "This fine blade was a gift from Young Master Lin Yun."

No sooner had he spoken than Chu Yan's slap sent the man flying, teeth scattering, blood spurting from his mouth as if it cost him nothing.

"Dare to threaten me after destroying my home?" Chu Yan sneered, attaching the short sword to his belt.

The other two kneeling Lin Family members, under Chu Yan's piercing stare, didn't utter a sound, hastily surrendering their Spirit Money.

They, however, had no blades to offer.

Chu Yan didn't overlook the two he had initially knocked unconscious either. He instructed one of the Lin Family members to strip them of their Spirit Money and weapons.

The weapons he confiscated—both first-rate short swords—weren't particularly valuable in Spirit Money, but the collective sum from all five individuals was close to six hundred.

Chu Yan had previously exhausted his earnings from selling inscriptions on a meal of savage beast blood and inscription materials, but now his funds were replenished.

"I'm heading to the council chamber now. I expect this courtyard spotless by the time I return. If I come back to find you've slacked off, the consequences will be far worse than today's," Chu Yan warned them with a stern look. "You might think I'll soon be driven out and see no point in cleaning. But I'm willing to bet that once I emerge from the council chamber, those clan leaders and elders so eager to expel me will be devising every possible scheme to keep me here. Believe it or not?"

The Lin family members present were naturally skeptical of Chu Yan's words, yet none dared to let their disbelief show on their faces.

"You'll see in due time," Chu Yan said with a cold laugh. "Of course, you're free to trust in yourselves and try to provoke me again."

With that, Chu Yan strode out the door and away.

The remaining Lin family members exchanged glances, their faces etched with bitterness. After a moment's hesitation, one of them took off down a shortcut toward the council chamber in a rush, while the others, fighting back tears, began to tidy up the small courtyard.