Walking along the settlement wall, Zhao Yao saw both his past residence and current residence.
"There is our house, Merry." Zhao didn't know Merps can be this obedient following him without much resistance. He walked with this Merp of his like how people walked their dog.
The two-room house he lives now paled in comparison to the gigantic North Mansion.
The original Zhao Yao lived his early childhood in the palace like North Mansion till the death of his father, Zhao Tong.
It was a custom in the Zhao clan to reserve the North Mansion to the successor of the clan leader, and his father lived there for more than a decade.
Even after Zhao Guang, his father's younger brother, was announced to be the next clan leader after Zhao Yao's mother fiasco, they didn't push his father to move out of North Mansion.
Thus, Zhao Yao grew up in the mansion, but after his father's death, he was kicked out. Fortunately, his father bought a small house near the Mansion years before, and he inherited it. He didn't know why his father bought it, but it ended up sheltering him. The problem was, it was too near the North Mansion.
Zhao Yao's uncle became the clan leader within months. And he made his son, Zhao Ping, move into the North Mansion, thereby announcing him as his successor.
This damn cousin of Zhao Yao loved to bully him.
Now thinking about the events, he could figure out a lot of things that original Zhao Yao didn't realize.
The shed they put him was on the Eastside, isolated and away from the housing area. He also figured out the reason behind Zhao Ping's sudden trap.
"Finally." Zhao Yao arrived at his house.
It was quite dirty to look from outside. The exterior wasn't maintained well, and green algae-covered it's stone walls. It's roof looked like it will collapse anytime.
'This doesn't even look like a habitable house.' Zhao shook his head and then turned to observe the North Mansion.
'Hmm.'
He was away for only a day, but the North Mansion had some glaring changes. It was completely decorated with red ornaments and lamps. This made him wonder.
What's the reason for the celebration?
'Don't tell me that Zhao Ping jackass was celebrating because he thought I died?'
On second thought, Zhao Yao discarded that thought. He didn't believe Zhao Ping wanted him to die, rather the cousin of his preferred to see him rot in suffering. Otherwise, he wouldn't do the Merp trap.
'What's that sound?'
Zhao Yao felt like he heard some sounds, and they were coming from inside his house.
The original Zhao Yao lived alone, and there was no reason to hear sounds from inside unless someone broke into his house.
Slowly with caution, Zhao Yao stepped towards the door.
Listening closely, he confirmed his suspicions.
'There was definitely someone inside. More than one.'
According to his memories, Zhao Yao didn't have anything with a high value inside his house. He was dirt poor for a direct descendent. The original Zhao Yao was clever enough to hide the valuables secretly.
So, he wasn't even afraid to leave the door open.
Gathering his courage, Zhao Yao yelled from outside.
"Who is inside my house?"
"Zhao Yao, you are back." Someone called from inside.
'Who?' Zhao Yao didn't get time to question again as the door opened with a creak revealing a figure he was familiar with, Zhao Ji.
Zhao Ji was another one of Zhao Ping's henchmen, but he was older and had similar strength as his young master. Not breaking into the Core Establishment realm at his age showed his mediocrity.
As someone with no cultivation, Zhao Ping knew he couldn't even criticize the lowest cultivator scums. Especially after realizing the tall and muscle infested dude was more dangerous than the smug face he encountered.
Unlike Zhao Bo, who shadowed Zhao Ping, this Zhao Ji was more of a follower doing his own work while obeying his boss's wishes. He and father took care of a portion of the clan's Merps.
"So, what brings you here?" Zhao Yao asked nonchalantly. "And why are you inside my house."
"Where have you been?" Zhao Ji walked inside the house with a smile. "We were looking for you since yesterday and had to wait since you were nowhere to be seen. I just heard the news that you came back, so we came here to your house to wait for you."
"We?" Zhao Yao looked behind Zhao Ji, trying to see who the other person was.
"Hi, Zhao Yao." A meek voice came from inside.
"Zhao Wei?" Zhao recognized him too. In fact, they grew up together in the North Mansion. He was the son of North Mansion's Stewart, Zhao Weishui.
But when he got kicked out, and Zhao Ping moved in, Zhao Wei also made new allegiances and purposefully forgot his childhood friend.
Zhao Yao couldn't blame him as, since childhood, Zhao Wei was a cowardly boy. At least, he didn't join in bullying Zhao Yao.
The short and thin Zhao Wei and tall and stout Zhao Ji made a contrasting team.
"What brings you here? It will be great if you say that fast and leave because I need some privacy here." Zhao Yao looked at them and waited for their response. His intuition told him that they weren't here with peace in mind. These two Zhao idiots blocked him from entering his 'own' house and didn't even answer his questions properly.
"Is this how you treat your friends? We heard you got married and came to congratulate you. Zhao Wei, look at the bride. Isn't she a beauty."
Zhao Ji pointed towards Merry and mocked.
"Muaaaahh." Merry screeched like she was afraid of Zhao Ji.
Zhao Yao found this strange, but he decided to ignore it for now.
"You came to congratulate me without any gifts. What kind of useless friends are you?"
Zhao Ji didn't expect this counter, and his smile disappeared while Zhao Wei remained quiet.
"Elder Zhao Jiang wanted to collect the Merp's value from you." Zhao Wei meekly said.
"What?" Zhao got surprised. He didn't expect this to happen.
"Since you took a Merp, which was a clan property, you have to pay for it." Zhao Ji sneered.
This made him understand what he saw moments before.
'So, it was you.' Zhao Yao looked at Zhao Ji and pushed him on to his 'Tier A' for revenge. He realized it was this bastard in front of him who provided Merry for the trap.
That was why Merry reacted like she was scared of him. When he and his father took care of the clan's Merps, it wasn't difficult for him to take one out for Zhao Ping. And he didn't even show up during his shaming, making it appear like Zhao Yao stole the Merp without his knowledge.
'Well played, you Zhao bastards. Well played.' Zhao Yao mentally applauded the hands behind the trap.
"Zhao Ji, you raised this Merp?"
"You dare to steal a Merp my father raised and have the guts to ask whether we raised it?" Zhao Ji used the usual defensive argument.
Zhao Yao expected it, but it also confirmed his doubts.
He looked at Zhao Wei and asked. "You are a member of North Mansion. Why are you here, Zhao Wei?"
"Why shouldn't he be here?" Zhao Ji retorted.
"Young Master Zhao Ping paid the clan for the Merp. So, it's the North Mansion that you have to pay back." Zhao Wei answered regardless of Zhao Ji's defiance.
And Zhao Ji took from there.
"We are here to get the money. We waited a long time for you to come back. If you weren't here and we collected the debt, then who knows what we will do if you decide to complain about this as stealing."
Zhao Yao instantly understood their plan. If the clan was in charge of this payment collection, then things will be different. If he can't pay, they will take the money from his monthly clan allowance. Only if the payment required was big, that cannot be retrieved from monthly allowance, can they seize his property.
That little cousin of his paid the money and gained the right to collect this Merp's value from him directly. This enables Zhao Ping and his cronies to seize anything valuable from his house, even if they are above the Merp's actual value.
If he didn't have anything to pay off the debt instantly, they can keep harassing him later for this reason.
For what? Just to f***ing harass him.
'Was he addicted to torturing him?'
Zhao Yao fumed in anger.
He also understood why Zhao Ji and Zhao Wei waited for him. Because it will be much more fun for them to take his things in front of him.
'This is bullsh*t. I was always against dowry, and these Zhao clowns want to make me pay Bride Price.'
"Zhao Yao, you owe 100 silvers." Zhao Wei said.
"100 silvers? That's a freaking Gold coin." Zhao Yao gnashed his teeth and barged inside his house. This price was an overkill. He could buy at least 10 young Merps with that amount.
"You have a grown Merp which can give you revenue. Also, Elder Jiang wants to charge you extra for the atrocity you committed." Zhao Wei continued.
But Zhao Yao wasn't listening, he was dumbfounded by what he saw inside.
Every nook and corner was thoroughly searched and anything with value was packed. Parts of his walls were broken, and the floor was dug here and there.
"What the hell did you do here?"
"We searched for anything valuable." Zhao Ji sneered.
"By ripping apart my house?" Zhao Yao didn't understand. Are they looking for some secret treasure that his father left behind? That's a cliche setup. But why sent some NPC level fodders to do the job?
"We found 21 silver coins and miscellaneous materials worth 15 silvers. You can add the furniture you own as collateral." Zhao Wei told him while looking at the bag he packed.
Zhao Yao didn't have much furniture other than a chair and a wooden bed.
"Take them." Zhao Yao didn't bother. He wanted them to leave him alone fast. Also, he wasn't going to live in the house after he cleared the Ancestral Palace.
"This chair is bad. It's not even worth anything." Zhao Ji said as he carried the chair and threw it outside.
"As for the bed..."
Zhao Yao didn't let him finish and interjected. "It's worth at least 20 silvers."
"20 silvers. Haha. You don't even need a bed." Zhao Ji laughed loudly as he looked at Zhao Yao and Merry. "You 'wife' like it when you stand. So you have no use with this bed."
Zhao Yao couldn't deny him even though his joke was horrible.
"So 20 silvers Zhao Wei?"
Before he replied, Zhao Ji, pulled the bed making a screeching sound.
"This is trouble to carry." Zhao Ji with an evil grin stomped on the bed, splitting it into 3 pieces.
He used a Martial skill which Zhao Yao didn't recognize.
'This bastard,' Zhao Yao felt like his head will explode soon.
"This is some good wood. How much is this worth? 5 silver?"
Zhao Wei nodded.
"Ok, Zhao Yao. You are in luck, we will take this broken bed and the chair for 5 silver." Zhao Ji said as he smirked.
He knew that he couldn't fight them off. He may be able to beat Zhao Wei, but Zhao Ji could destroy him.
He didn't want to use his Master this early either.
Zhao Yao was filled with anger. He wanted to start cultivating already, but his master asked him to wait. If he was powerful, he didn't have to patiently listen to this Zhao Ji's annoyance and could just beat him up. This was frustrating, being weak was frustrating, and he finally understood what the original Zhao Yao went through.
"That will be 41 silvers. You owe 59 silvers more." Zhao Wei said.
"59 silvers more. Is there anything valuable here?" Zhao Ji looked around, trying to find anything of value.
"There." Zhao Ji moved towards a big rectangular black box in the corner. "Is that the box you said you can't open?"
Zhao Yao recognized it. It was the box that had his father, Zhao Tong's, clothes and other belongings. It also had the Zhao clan's low-tier basic cultivation manual.
"My father's clothes are in there." Zhao Yao managed to say even while fuming in anger.
"Boom."
Zhao Ji punched the box cracking opening it.
The clothes inside were revealed. Still colorful after all these years, those clothes proclaimed the richness Zhao Yao's father once had.
"Woah. Nice dress. This could count for some silvers." Zhao Ji ruffled with the clothes.
Zhao Yao felt like something inside him snapped. He couldn't take it anymore.
Grabbing a kitchen knife, he roared.
"You f***ing son of a b****. Don't you dare dirty my father's clothes with your hands."
The sudden shout startled them, but unlike Zhao Wei, Zhao Ji recovered quickly.
"Oh..ho. What are you going to do? Attack me? Come." Zhao Ji stood up and walked closer step by step.
Zhao Yao knew he couldn't win. There was no point in fighting a pointless battle.
But, who said a weak person isn't strong? He was always weak, but he stood up to the strong on Earth.
Eye to eye.
Shoulder to shoulder.
Blood to blood.
"Who said a weak can't win?
The weak have their own ways to win.
"Zhao Yao..." Zhao Wei tried to talk.
"SHUT UP."
"Do you think you can touch me with that knife." Zhao Ji walked closer showing his confidence of a high-level Qi Gathering cultivator.
Zhao Yao's smile widened like a crazy beast.
"This isn't for you." Zhao Yao turned the knife and pointed it towards his right chest.
"You are going to kill yourself?" Zhao Ji smirked. "Go ahead."
"Zhao Ji, what do you think will happen to you for killing a Direct descendent of the Ancient Zhao clan?"
Both Zhao Wei's and Zhao Ji's expression changed.
"You two. Do you want to have some fun?"
Zhao Yao pushed the knife and spilled his blood.