Chapter 218: Putting someone in one’s own place.

Chapter 218: 218: Putting someone in one’s own place.

Lin Xuan left the courtyard with the servant following closely behind.

"Tell me everything that happened," he said as they walked.

The servant hesitated before answering.

"Patriarch, I was only informed that Elder Shushu was found dead. The other elders have already gathered, and his family is demanding an explanation. They are saying that Elder Shushu was killed by someone from the younger generation."

Lin Xuan’s footsteps slowed slightly.

"Someone from the younger generation?"

"Yes, Patriarch."

Lin Xuan already knew who was responsible, but there was another matter that concerned him more.

He wanted to know how much the incident had already spread throughout the family and what version of the story people had heard.

"Did anyone tell you how Elder Shushu died?" he asked casually.

The servant hesitated before answering.

"No, Patriarch. They only said that his death was related to the confrontation with the young ladies."

Lin Xuan nodded quietly.

That was all he needed to hear.

He sighed inwardly.

So the matter has already spread throughout the family.

When he arrived at the main hall, he immediately saw a large group of people gathered inside.

The remaining elders stood on one side, while several members of Lin Shushu’s family stood on the other.

Their expressions were filled with anger and grief.

The moment Lin Xuan entered, the hall became quiet.

One of the elders immediately stepped forward and said, "Patriarch, Elder Shushu has died under mysterious circumstances. The Elder Council demands an explanation."

Another elder followed and said, "His family also demands justice. Elder Shushu served the Lin Family for decades. He cannot simply be killed and forgotten."

Lin Xuan looked at the two elders calmly before asking, "Then tell me what happened."

The elders exchanged glances, but nobody stepped forward to give an answer.

Lin Xuan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, "You are demanding justice from me, yet you cannot even tell me what happened?"

The elder who had spoken earlier gritted his teeth before saying, "Patriarch, Elder Shushu was killed shortly after confronting the younger generation. Everyone knows who was responsible."

"Everyone knows?" Lin Xuan repeated calmly before asking, "Then I suppose you will not mind telling me exactly what happened."

The elder’s expression stiffened.

Lin Xuan walked toward the center of the hall and stopped in front of them before saying, "I will not punish someone simply because a group of elders points a finger at them."

Truthfully, Lin Xuan found this entire back-and-forth incredibly stupid and a complete waste of his time.

If he had been a little more authoritative from the beginning, these fools would never have dared to pull a stunt like this.

After all, they were merely cultivators who had not even entered the Golden Core Realm, while he had already crossed the Golden Core Realm and entered the Nascent Soul Realm.

Honestly, it is about damn time these elders learn to shut up and follow my arrangements.

Lin Xuan let out a quiet sigh before looking at them.

"I’m tired. I have entertained all of you for far too long."

His voice remained gentle, almost as though he were simply speaking to a group of troublesome juniors.

"Was I too kind that you all forgot I am already in the Nascent Soul Realm?"

The words were spoken kindly, but the threat hidden within his voice could not be mistaken.

The entire hall fell silent.

Several elders lowered their heads as a heavy pressure seemed to settle over the room.

For the first time, they were reminded of the difference between their positions and the person standing before them.

Amid the tense silence, the family of the deceased finally stepped forward.

Elder Shushu’s wife stood at the front with their two children beside her, her eyes red from crying.

"Patriarch," she pleaded through her sobs. "Why did my husband have to die?"

Lin Xuan looked at the three of them for a moment before gently raising his hand.

Spiritual qi wrapped around the woman and her two children, lifting them from where they stood and carrying them toward him.

The three of them were lowered gently onto the ground before Lin Xuan.

He then took his seat and looked at them calmly.

"Elder Shushu was a remarkable person. He served the Lin Family for many years and carried out his duties remarkably well."

"Then why?" his wife immediately asked through her tears.

Lin Xuan’s expression remained calm.

"Because he tried to manipulate this old man into doing his bidding and when he was called out for it, he became enraged instead of admitting his mistake."

Lin Xuan leaned back slightly in his seat.

"He chose to attack someone stronger than himself, and the consequences of that decision cost him his life."

The woman wiped away her tears, but they continued to fall as she looked at Lin Xuan.

"Couldn’t you have simply crippled him instead?"

Lin Xuan remained silent as she continued, her voice trembling with grief.

"I had heard that you spared the ignorant by only crippling them, especially when they had contributed to the family’s work. I thought you would have done the same for my husband."

Lin Xuan watched as the woman’s two children clung tightly to her clothes. After a moment, he quietly used his spiritual qi to block the children’s hearing.

Then he looked back at the woman.

"To become an elder of the Lin Family, one only needs to have reached the Qi Refinement Realm. That is the standard we established when the elder council was formed.

Among the handful of elders who knew little about what they were supposed to do, your husband stood out because he actually performed his duties remarkably well.

He was somewhat arrogant at times, but despite that, he did what he was told and always followed the rules."

Lin Xuan’s expression gradually became colder.

"That is why I was so deeply disappointed when I discovered that he had led a group of elders in an attempt to pressure me into making a choice.

He had become a scheming elder while I was not watching."

As he said those words, Lin Xuan slowly turned his gaze toward the other elders who had stood beside Shushu earlier.

He wanted to ask them what Shushu had done before his death and why his daughter had been forced to kill him. However, when he saw the grief in the woman’s eyes, he stopped himself.

Instead, he spoke gently.

"It is an unfortunate event. My daughter could have indeed crippled him instead."

Lin Xuan paused for a moment before continuing.

"Regardless of what you decide, we will support you and your children."

"Thank you", she said, but she did not even know what she was thanking him for.

Does she not hate the man standing before her?

She hated him, hated the fact that it was not him who judged her husband but someone else.

She hated his daughter for killing her husband despite learning that her husband had attacked first.

Why could you not show a shred of kindness and cripple him instead?

The question lingered in her mind, even though she already knew the answer.

Perhaps it was safer to ask herself that question than to acknowledge what her husband had actually done.

But worst of all, she hated the elders who came forward to support her and her child.

From beginning to end, none of those elders had truly worried about her family or cared about what would happen to them.

They had simply seen a grieving family that could be used to pressure the Patriarch, and they had taken advantage of the opportunity.

The elders of the Lin Family were corrupt. She knew that much, her own husband had shown her that himself.

Yet, for the sake of her children, she bit her lip and lowered her head.

"Thank you."

Lin Xuan watched the woman lower her head, but he could still see the resentment hidden behind her lowered gaze.

He did not blame her for it.

If someone had killed one of his family members, he doubted he would be able to calmly accept their explanation either.

He leaned back in his chair and glanced toward the other elders.

They remained silent and none of them dared to meet his eyes.

Lin Xuan almost laughed.

A moment ago, they had been demanding justice and insisting that Shushu’s death could not simply be ignored.

Yet now that Lin Xuan had made it clear that he was a Nascent Soul expert, not someone who could be pushed around by a group of mere Qi Refinement elders, they suddenly seemed eager to let the matter of Shushu’s death disappear.

It was almost as though they had forgotten that they were the ones who had brought the matter before him.

"Since everyone is here, there is something I want to make clear."

His voice remained calm, but the spiritual pressure surrounding him became slightly heavier.

"If you believe that being an elder gives you the right to challenge my authority whenever you dislike my decisions, then you have misunderstood what your position means."

The elders lowered their heads even further.

Lin Xuan looked at them for several breaths before withdrawing his pressure.

"I appointed you as elders because I expected you to help manage the family.

I did not appoint you so that you could gather together whenever you disliked one of my decisions and pressure me into doing what you wanted."

He paused before adding, "If you cannot understand that distinction, then perhaps the Lin Family has no need for your positions anymore."