"Yun'er? What are you doing here?"
His mother stared, taken aback by the approaching figure.
"Hm? Nie Yun? That waste?"
"Who said he's a waste? He actually said something sensible for once. Good. Hand over the Pengxin Snow Lotus. When our Nie Zhang Branch gets promoted to the Inner Sect, we'll be in a good mood. It's not impossible that we might toss you eight or ten taels."
The members of the Nie Zhang Branch found Nie Yun's sudden appearance odd, but when they heard him trying to persuade his mother, they all broke into gleeful, sinister smiles.
Rumor had it that the future heir of the Nie Tian Branch was a good-for-nothing who had been beaten unconscious by Nie Chao for several days and didn't even dare to make a peep afterward. They had thought the rumors were false, but seeing his cowardly appearance now, they knew it had to be true!
To see his mother being bullied and not only refuse to help but actively tell her to surrender... It would have been better not to have such a son at all!
At this thought, their gazes toward Nie Yun filled with contempt.
"Mother, hurry up. The Pengxin Snow Lotus is useless to us. Since they want it, just give it to them!" In Nie Yun's eyes, these people were already dead men, so he paid their scorn no mind. Seeing his mother standing motionless by the cliff's edge, he spoke again.
"Give it to them?"
Hearing her son actually say such a thing, his mother sighed inwardly, her eyes brimming with deep disappointment.
'When my son woke up, he injured Nie Chao and the others. He was so decisive and full of spirit, just like Xiaotian in his prime. I thought he had finally grown up and could stand on his own. It was only then that I could set aside my burdens and find a way to heal my husband, Nie Xiaotian. That's why I let Madam Shen Gui persuade me to come here to gather herbs. But to think that after all this, he's completely ignoring my anger and telling me to give in!'
'He used to be withdrawn, but at least he had some backbone and would never accept charity given with contempt. I thought he would have become even more motivated after waking up, but I never expected this!'
"Haha! A wise man knows when to yield. Nie Ling, I never thought you'd be less perceptive than your own son!" Madam Shen Gui roared with laughter.
Nie Ling was his mother's name. She was also a member of the Nie Family, though she had no blood relation to Nie Xiaotian.
"Yun'er, this Pengxin Snow Lotus can heal your father's damaged Qi Sea. I'm giving it to you now. Whether you give it to them or not is your decision! No matter what you choose, I won't blame you."
Though her heart ached, his mother still held onto a sliver of hope. With a flick of her wrist, the jade box in her palm shot straight toward Nie Yun.
As the jade box flew toward him, Nie Yun watched the people surrounding his mother begin to walk in his direction. Only then did he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Kid, bring the Pengxin Snow Lotus over here. Once our Nie Zhang Branch enters the Inner Sect, I'll take good care of you!"
"Hehe, hand over the Snow Lotus, and we'll let you and your mother go today. Otherwise, it won't be just five days in bed for you. You'll probably be spending the rest of your life there!"
They all stretched out their hands at once.
In their eyes, the boy had already yielded. Now, all it would take was a little intimidation, and he would surely soften up and obediently hand over the item.
"You all want the Pengxin Snow Lotus? Hmm, which one of you should I give it to? How about this? I'll throw it into the air, and whoever catches it gets to keep it!"
Nie Yun chuckled and casually tossed the jade box into the sky.
WHOOSH!
The jade box tumbled through the air in a graceful arc.
"It's mine!"
"Mine..."
Although Madam Shen Gui and the others were from the same branch, they were hardly united. Shouting, they all leaped into the air at the same time.
"Heh."
With a cold laugh, Nie Yun, who had been standing there with a lazy posture, suddenly moved!
He was like a tiger pouncing on its prey. Immovable one moment, the next he transformed into a streaking rainbow, charging straight into the group.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
Suspended in mid-air, they were unable to dodge. With their attention focused on the jade box, they never imagined the seemingly weak boy could move so fast. Before they could react, they each felt a sweet taste in their throats as their vision went black. One by one, they fell from the sky, landing on the ground as stiff corpses.
"Ah... You dare to kill your own clansmen! Nie Yun, how audacious!"
As the strongest among them, Madam Shen Gui had narrowly dodged the attack. Seeing the corpses before her, her face turned pale with fright, and she let out a piercing shriek.
Even though she was the mastermind behind this affair, she was, after all, a sheltered woman who had never seen a dead body. She was on the verge of madness.
The sheep who had been so weak and easily bullied just moments ago had transformed into a merciless, bloodthirsty wolf in the blink of an eye. She simply couldn't accept such a change.
"Kill my clansmen? Heh, this is the deep wilderness. Who's going to know I killed you? I'd say you were all looking for the Pengxin Snow Lotus, accidentally slipped off the cliff, and fell to your deaths!"
With another cold laugh, Nie Yun extended his palm and slapped it toward Madam Shen Gui's forehead!
The palm strike looked artless, yet it gave off an inescapable feeling. Before Madam Shen Gui could fully recover from her terror, her skull—CRACK!—shattered like glass. Brains and blood splattered across the ground.
Only after he had killed everyone did the jade box, thrown high into the air, finally fall back down. Nie Yun caught it effortlessly in his palm.
"You... you killed them all..."
Staring at the corpses littering the ground, his mother Nie Ling's eyes went wide with disbelief.
When she saw her son toss the jade box to the crowd, she had closed her eyes in disappointment. She never expected that in the blink of an eye, all the members of the Nie Zhang Branch would be turned into corpses. The reversal was too much for her to accept.
'Didn't he surrender to them? Why would he suddenly attack? And he's only at the Early-Stage Qi Nourishing Realm. How could he possibly kill so many people stronger than him in one go, including Madam Shen Gui, who was at the Early-Stage True Qi Realm...'
'What in the world is going on? Am I seeing things?'
"Heh, Mother, you're not seeing things. I only said that to lower their guard and make it easier to strike." Seeing his mother's expression, Nie Yun gave a wry smile. He then casually picked up the corpses on the ground and tossed them off the cliff, one by one.
'My current strength isn't enough to contend with the entire family. I have to dispose of these bodies without a trace.'
"To lower their guard and make it easier to strike?" His mother was an intelligent woman. She instantly snapped out of her shock. Thinking back on her son's earlier actions, she realized it was true. 'How ridiculous. To think I believed he was being a coward... I worried for so long over nothing!'
'It seems my son really has changed. Not only is he more outgoing, but when faced with trouble, he no longer acts rashly like before. Instead, he uses his wits!'
"This is the Spiritual Medicine you worked so hard to find, Mother. How could I ever give it to scum like them!"
With a smile, Nie Yun finished disposing of the bodies and cleaning up the scene. Only then did he turn to his mother. "Mother, let's head back. It's getting dark. If we don't return soon, I'm afraid our branch will be in an uproar!"
With that, he took the lead and started walking down the mountain.
P.S. We're falling further and further down the rankings. Is there really nothing we can do? Recommendation votes, adds to your library—brothers, we can't give up!!