Chapter 905: Crunch

Chapter 905: Crunch

“W-Workshop Master!”

“Grandfather”

The moment passed, the silence and immobility were broken as the workshop went into an uproar at the old man kowtowing.

However, a silent pressure from the old man caused everyone to shut up and back away, as he didn’t wish for anyone to disturb this moment.

“May I know your name?”, old man spoke in a raspy voice that showed his age a bit.

“Wu Long”

“Master Wu, please forgive this little one for the arrogance to challenge your wisdom and not recognize your greatness. I have eyes, but-…”

“Khm!”, Wu Long cleared his throat, “It’s fine, I told you that you did not need to kowtow, nor call me that”

“Yes, I am not backing out on my promise. Please accept this little one’s desire to work for you”

“Worksho-…!”

“Grandfa-…!”

“Silence!”, the old man cut through the new noise from the crowd around him, silencing all opposition.

Seeing that, Ri Luhai, standing in the background, also fell to his knees and kowtowed, “Please accept me as well. I hope you haven’t rescinded your earlier offer… I will work hard!”

“P-please accept me as well!”, one of the Forging Masters working for the old man, fell to his knees as well, causing a tidal wave of those working under the old man to start falling to their knees and pleading with Wu Long to accept them.

At this point, the Family Head stared daggers at Wu Long, no longer caring about his big purchase.

He knew, that with his Grandfather around, he couldn’t do anything, but he still couldn’t stop himself from at least making that gaze, which meant absolutely nothing to Wu Long.

Lin Ganwen, on the other hand, seemed too shocked and disoriented by the whole situation, not completely comprehending what was happening as he stood in a daze.

“I will accept those who I gave the offer to, and won’t refuse some of those who wish to follow, but not all”, Wu Long lightly said, “Now stand up”

The craftsmen stood up, as did the old man and Ri Luhai.

There was a feeling of unease among the craftsmen as it was revealed Wu Long wasn’t going to take all of them in unconditionally.

“G-grandfather…”, meanwhile the Family Head tried to plead again.

“It’s a done deal, Bodai. You know I don’t go back on my words”, the old man shook his head, not even correcting how the grandson addressed him, which solidified the fact he was no longer the Workshop Master. He then added, “I have done my share for the Family, it’s time for you all to pull your own weight”

The Family Head fell to his knees.

“Ah, that reminds me”, Wu Long nodded, “I do need you to meddle in one Family affair as you leave them, since a certain young lady from your house is involved in the situation with Ri Luhai, although that situation is unclear and we need confirmation from the lady”

“Of course, Master Wu”, the old man nodded, cupping his fist toward Wu Long “This Ci Han will do as you say”

“Wha-…?! G-grandfather! Y-you cannot say you don’t care about family matters, decide to leave, and then turn around and meddle! This is too one-sided”, Ci Bodai protested, as everything was unraveling around him in a chain reaction.

“You should have thought of that when you used that as a pretext to meddle in the affairs of the workshop”, Ci Han spoke, narrowing his eyes.

“B-but s-she’s already in marriage talks with Lin Ganwen! You even put forth a condition for him to start working up the ladder in the shop and he’s been diligently working for a few months already…”, Ci Bodai turned to Lin Ganwen, but the latter already had a dark expression on his face.

“Not anymore”, Lin Ganwen spoke, “Screw this and your Ci Family! I’m done with this mess!”

He turned on the spot, and leaving a glare toward Ri Luhai, and then Wu Long, stormed out of the workshop, followed by a lost gaze of Ci Bodai’s widened eyes.

“Heh! You get it now?! Why I didn’t like that brat?”, Ci Han chuckled, and then shook his head, “It was obvious he was trying to gobble up our Ci Family to gain merits in his own Lin Family, since he’s just a collateral family kid with no real standing”

Another shock hit Ci Bodai, who turned his eyes to his grandfather.

Ci Han then spoke more solemnly, “We were his offering to his Lin Family, and you were too blinded by a potential marital alliance with them to see that. Tsk tsk tsk, talk about chasing the deer, forgetting the hunter”

Wu Long could feel the two beauties behind him smile without looking, as they knew what expression he made without having him turn around as well.

The following process of figuring out who to accept out of the craftsmen was fairly simple, as after a short conversation, with Gong Liwei and Nie Xiwang standing by Wu Long’s sides, the latter either rejected or accepted them.

The selection process caused confusion as there did not seem to be a clear standard for skill as some apprentices were accepted while some of the more veteran craftsmen were not.

The young lady of the Ci Family was indeed partial to Ri Luhai. It was fairly obvious to Wu Long from the amount of hatred Lin Ganwen held for the aspiring Forging Dao Master.

After all, even if Lin Ganwen had an ambition for the Ci Family, he wasn’t completely unattracted to the young lady either. Rather, it was very likely he was fond of her.

However, his attraction to her alone did not weigh so much as to jump through so many hoops for her, fulfilling the Ci Family’s conditions, as doing so was beneath his pride and status.

He was only willing to do it because he thought this would allow him to eventually have the Ci Family in his grasp as well.

Now that the Ci Family was losing their Grand Master, the Workshop Master who was respected by everyone, including his own Lin Family Branch in the Feilin Continent, they lost their value to him as a stepping stone to rise within the ranks of his family.

He could also see the writing on the wall as soon as Ci Han agreed to meddle in the matter with the young lady.

Not to mention, it looked like the workshop was massively losing its personnel, and the Ci Family would struggle to maintain their position on the market, and their prestige would go down even further than just from losing Ci Han.

Most of the craftsmen in the workshop were only here because of Ci Han’s reputation and respect he commanded. There was nothing that held them here other than that.

Even Ri Luhai originally came here because of his admiration for the old Forging Dao Master, and remained despite the treatment he got, partially because of that as well.

Eventually, Wu Long had gained Ci Han, Ri Luhai, who was followed by the Ci Family’s young lady who turned out to be an aspiring Wood Carving Dao Master, and 24 new Forging Dao Masters, as well as 53 apprentices and staff.

No amount of protests and pleading from Ci Bodai could stop this outcome, as ultimately no one in the Ci Family could go against Ci Han’s words or decisions.

“It is a little heartbreaking to see… these people will struggle from now”, Gong Liwei sighed, not objecting but still not able to completely cut off her empathy, as they were quite literally destroying the Ci Family for their own gain.

“You don’t have to feel bad for them. It is a result of them riding on the coattails of that elder and becoming complacent”, Nie Xiwang shook her head, “If they did not place all of their hopes and dreams on his shoulders while they only reaped the rewards, this would not have been the outcome”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right…”, Gong Liwei nodded with an introspective look, and then asked, “But wouldn’t the elder leaving suddenly like this impact them regardless?”

Nie Xiwang nodded as well, “Sure, they would have taken a hit with the elder departing from them, but he would still have been gone someday, and they did not seem to be thinking of what would they do when that happened. Rather, they made no effort to stand on their own at all. Everything was hinging on him continuing to not care about anything but his work. They just hung their feet and let the cart carry them”

The dark gray eyes with a sprinkle of gold in them of the Blade Empress turned to the Ci Family’s workshop and store, already a bit in the distance, “The Eternal Duality Valley has to not make that mistake… even if Wu Long is not going to leave them, they cannot be something he has to carry on his shoulders. They have to carry their own weight so that they don’t slow him down. And when he is busy, and has to be away, they have to be able to fend for themselves”

Gong Liwei stopped as well, turning to Nie Xiwang with a slightly widening eyes, and then eased into a smile, nodding in agreement.

—

“Tsk! What a load of bullshit!”, Lin Ganwen cursed as he bit on the nail of his thumb, flying away from the city and toward the distant mountains where the Medicine God’s Pavilion stood.

The Lin Family did have a large mansion in the city, which he was using while working for the Ci Family, but it was mostly empty, as most of the family preferred to reside in the territory.

“This doesn’t even make any sense! Some random nobody farting out some stupid, useless, mindless, and utterly unintelligible crap about end, masterpieces, pinnacles, and Grand Dao over just a fucking pot, got that stubborn old fuck kowtowing while he was clicking his tongue at me and berating me every chance he got?! That’s all it took?!”

He was enraged beyond words, mumbling his words with a more and more darkening expression.

The whole time he worked for the Ci Family in order to please Ci Han as a potential marriage partner for their Family’s main line descendant flashed before his eyes.

All the ‘demeaning’ and ‘utterly humiliating’ experiences he had to ‘suffer’ through.

And all of it was crushed by some random guy who came out of nowhere.

“How dare they! How dare they all! To do that to me! ME!!! The descendant of the Lin Family!”, his voice started rising from uncontrollable fury as everyone present at that scene, and some who were not even there now became targets of a deep grudge.

“They will pay, all of them! As soon as I find another way to gain power within the Family, they will all know!”, he spoke with spite, his words dripping with murderous intent.

“And that stupid girl! Instead of jumping from happiness that I… I!!! …found her pretty, she turned her nose up while favoring some lowlife from the streets! Those two babes that random guy brought in are a 100 times better, and even they couldn’t take their eyes off of me!”

He stopped midair, as he got to that part, turning his gaze back to the city.

“Shit, I should’ve made a move on them… I got too angry at the whole mess… with that guy being only in Mortal Transcendence Realm they’re clearly far above his level, and they’re longing for a real man to give them a good time…”

A lustful smile appeared on his lips at the thoughts,

“No matter… it’s never too late… I’ll deal with them too after the Ci Family… it’s that stupid girl’s loss… she could’ve become my wife, now she’s going to become my toy after I slaughter all of her family… and then, those two babes… too bad they’re used goods but oh well…”

But then his expression darkened again.

“Tsk… if only that old fart wasn’t with him now I could first get to that part without postponing…”, he clicked his tongue, “I can just imagine crushing that guy’s scull under my feet… like a pest… and showing those two juicy sluts who’s the real deal…”

With his cultivation in Essence Gathering Realm, as well as superior talent of a Heaven’s Chosen which gave him ambitions even if his status within the Lin Family wasn’t high, he had no problem picturing trampling on the rich guy and claiming his wealth and women.

“I better ask someone within the family to do a background check on that guy…”, Lin Ganwen then turned to fly away from the city again, a new greed lighting up in his eyes “…there’s bound to be time when he would be away from that old fart’s protectio-…”

He stopped, blinking a few times to see if his eyes weren’t deceiving him, as the sound of thunder rang out all around amid bright day, which wasn’t that unusual for the continent’s climate.

“Hah! Haha… hahaha! Hahahahaha!!!”, Lin Ganwen couldn’t control a laughter that came out as he looked at the rich customer from just before, leisurely floating in the air ahead.

“You are the real masterpiece here! Hahaha! All of that high-handed sounding bullshit and you pull the stupidest move you possibly can! Ahahaha!” Lin Ganwen spoke amid laughter, feeling elated as he was about to relieve at least some frustration from before.

“I don’t like leaving trouble brewing”, Wu Long spoke, shrugging his shoulders.

“Pfft! Tss-kekeke! You’re funny! Is this another one of your bullshit monologues?! Hahaha! Ah~ Heavens are truly kind to me! The Heavenly Daos truly favor me!”, Lin Ganwen laughed loudly, savoring this moment, “The only pity is that those two se-…”

Lin Ganwen felt a ringing his his ears along with seeing a blinding flash of light in his eyes from the pain atop his head as he realized he was plummeting down. No, he only belatedly realized he already hit the ground, kicking up a dust cloud.

A foot landed on his head as he was trying to get up, and pinned him down.

“I can leave some trouble to brew if I can’t help it for the moment, or if it serves some purpose…”, Wu Long continued, in the same tone, as Lin Ganwen struggled to get up with his whole body moving except his head.

The ground became much harder beneath him, or rather, it was now one solid stone that continued to grow in density and hardness, not allowing him to break through it to escape, as his limbs were moving in desperate attempts to do something.

“There’s no such reasons for you, however. But even if you were useful… you said some things you shouldn’t have, and got on my nerves”, Wu Long’s words reached Lin Ganwen even in that confused and panicked state, “In other words, you’re a pest”

“Aaargh! W-Wait… my Lin Fam-.. Aaaaaaargh!”, Lin Ganwen began feeling the pressure from the foot intensify, screaming out in pain, and shouting amid those to try and intimidate with his family.

“And what happens with pests? You seem to know about that”, these words caused the real fear, horror of realization, and primal desperate panic to finally set in for Lin Ganwen whose struggles intensified, but his body’s responses were growing number instead.

His time perception rose to its limits, as his mind accelerated to try and find a way out of this, which gave him extra time as Wu Long was moving at a normal pace of a Mortal. He was also taking his time, not really rushing anywhere. And then…

“Correct. They get crushed”

*crunch*

I hope you are all doing great, my dear readers!

Thank you for reading and your incredible support!