"What about that trash Feng Shen?" Feng Yuanyun's brow raised with slight curiosity. No one ever spoke of his second son.
He was simply a ghost to everyone on the property.
Moreover, he despised hearing about his failure of a second son. It wounded his pride, not only as a father, but as a man.
'Why can't he just kill himself?'
Feng Yuanyun loathed the fact that his second son carried the same blood as him. Sharing the superior genes and proud lineage of the Feng family, only to turn out as a coward, was beyond a sin in his eyes.
They were a family of warriors, after all. The backbone of the Crane Empire's military, which led the Upper Realm in terms of strength and dominance.
To have Feng Shen, such a disgrace among them, was an insult.
Seeing the Patriarch grow angrier, lost in his own thoughts, Xiǎo Bāo quickly pulled him out of his spiraling rage with her words:
"The Second Young Master... He... killed a maidservant and injured three others!"
This news hit Feng Yuanyun like a splash of cold water. He was beyond disbelief, so much so that his anger evaporated, replaced by sheer shock.
"You... You're lying…" he muttered under his breath. "That's impossible. Feng Shen? That coward? Killed someone and injured others?"
For Feng Yuanyun, the idea itself was too absurd to comprehend.
His second son, who couldn't bring himself to kill a chicken, once letting the bird peck at him, attacking him to the ground, rather than harm it.
'That brat, doing such things?' Feng Yuanyun thought… then he suddenly pictured it inside his head.
'impossible…' He waved away the small cloud above his head that conjured an image of his second son behaving cruelly toward the maidservants.
The idea seemed so ridiculous that even his mind refused to accept it.
"I'm not lying! I swear on my life, Patriarch!" Xiǎo Bāo exclaimed, bowing her head even lower and clasping her hands more tightly.
She knew this was hard to believe; in fact, she herself wouldn't have believed someone if they had told her the same thing.
"Bring me to him," Feng Yuanyun demanded, as he wanted to see this with his own eyes.
Xiǎo Bāo got out of her respectful stance, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "I'm sorry if this sounds disrespectful, Patriarch, but could I grab him some alcohol from the kitchen...?"
She knew she was crossing a line by asking the Patriarch to wait, but the fear of returning empty-handed overwhelmed her.
Feng Yuanyun was on the verge of backhanding her, which would've broken her neck, when he suddenly noticed the fear in her eyes. Her pupils were wide and trembling, and he could tell she was traumatized.
Although he wanted to deny her request, it suddenly struck him that Xiǎo Bāo had likely been ordered by his second son to fetch the alcohol, which was even more unusual.
Feng Yuanyun knew that his second son had always preferred water, never once indulging in the devil's drink. It was something he couldn't even fathom, as he himself only drank alcohol infused with special herbs.
"Hurry up!" he roared, impatience in his voice. He didn't want to wait too long, but curiosity gnawed at him.
Why would his second son ask for such a thing? Was it for drinking, or was there another purpose behind it?
"At once, Patriarch!" Xiǎo Bāo nodded her head vigorously like a chicken as she began to speed-walk, nearly tripping multiple times in her haste.
5 minutes later, she came rushing back, clutching a bottle of wine.
The most precious and expensive one they had in stock. Xiǎo Bāo had even had to wrestle with the kitchen staff to get her hands on it.
"Sorry for the wait, Patriarch..." she panted, breathless. "The kitchen servants were being difficult."
"Lead me to Feng Shen, now." Feng Yuanyun's impatience was wearing thin. He had never had to wait like this before, and although he allowed it, he was still a hothead at heart, unable to shake off his temper.
Though, he did catch Xiǎo Bāo's words about the kitchen servants being difficult and wasting time, and so he made a mental note to take out his anger on them later.
Feng Yuanyun now felt morally justified in beating the living daylights out of his servants.
"Please follow me, Patriarch!" Xiǎo Bāo didn't want to waste another second as she hurried back toward the outer area of the estate, where the Second Young Master should still be.
Although she "forgot" about the healing herbs and pills, she couldn't care less at that moment. She didn't want to waste another second of the patriarch's time.
All Xiǎo Bāo could do was pray internally that the young maidservants were still breathing.
'Hopefully they're still alive…'
▬▬ι═══════ﺤ
Arriving in front of the Second Young Master's room, Xiǎo Bāo raised her hand to knock, but before she could make contact…
Feng Yuanyun kicked down the door and strode in, "Why am I hearing that you—…" But as he spoke, his words faltered, and his mouth snapped shut, eyes widening in shock.
"What's wrong, Patri—?" Xiǎo Bāo questioned hesitantly as she stepped inside right behind him, but then she suddenly saw it, and her words trailed off into silence.
In front of both of them was Feng Shen, face cleaned, wearing a black robe with golden dragon patterns, humming a small tune under his breath.
He was sitting on the floor, methodically peeling off the skin of the maidservants, one by one, before pouring hot soup into the exposed flesh.
Despite them being long dead, he continued, a wide, crazed smile plastered across his face. Until he noticed the stares directed at him.
Feng Shen had a tendency to lose focus in the midst of torturing, a bad habit he could never quite shake off.
He lifted his head, his expression brightening as he stood up. "Oh, my! How embarrassing! I'm so sorry that you two had to witness that!"
"…" Xiǎo Bāo and Feng Yuanyun were both speechless.
Feng Shen stepped forward, pointing at his personal maidservant. "Worm, why did you take so long? You know I don't like waiting."
Xiǎo Bāo shuddered under his empty gaze and the smile he wore, sweating a little as she stepped forward. "Forgive me, Second Young Master, I had trouble finding the finest alcohol for you."
'Lie.' Feng Shen thought, recognizing it. He could tell by her body posture and the way her eyes averted from his that she was not being truthful.
His eyes flicked over to his father as he fought the urge to facepalm; it was clear that his personal maidservant had gone running to him.
'Does she think I'm dumb?'