Heretic Apothecary Genius - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Who Is Punishing the Other Person

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

Ren Qiancheng was stunned by that blow to his face. His face was flaming. Even though Ren Jie did not cause any actual damage, what was more important was that he felt utterly humiliated.

He was the third elder’s nephew and was related to him by blood. Since the third elder gained power in the elders’ union, he had gained prestige within the Ren family. He had received admiration especially after he was promoted from a manager to the assistant butler. Although Ren Jie was the family head, he saw the elders reprimand him on countless occasions and saw how he pestered the elders for his allowance. Ren Jie was even easy-going around him.

Gradually, he did not take that family head seriously. Furthermore, he thought that he did not do anything unacceptable.

Ren Qiancheng covered his face, bulged his eyes wide open and stared at Ren Jie. “Fam… Family Head, I’m representing the third elder when conveying the message. You… what do you mean by this?”

“What do I mean? Ha…” Ren Jie let out a laugh after hearing his question. He looked at Ren Qiancheng and said, “I, the family head, have slapped you because you are in the wrong. What do you mean when you refuse to repent but instead chose to question me? Tie Ta, drag him here.”

Ren Jie had a solemn look on his face. He felt that the two slaps earlier were not satisfying enough and was prepared for a rough fight.

“Yes.” Although Tie Ta was only at the ninth level of the Body Refinement Realm, he did not hesitate at all when he heard Ren Jie’s orders and stepped forward. No matter what was ahead of him, may it be a mountain of knives, a sea of flames, a massive iceberg or any desperate situation, he would not hesitate at all. Within two steps, he was already standing in front of Ren Qiancheng. He lifted his arms and grabbed Ren Qiancheng, as though he was a demonic beast in human form.

“How dare a little rascal who is only at the Body Refinement Realm touch the assistant butler. You think too highly of yourself.

“Scram aside.”

Ren Qiancheng was at the fifth level of the True Qi Realm. Although he lacked battle experience, cultivators on the True Qi Realm were much stronger than those in the Body Refinement Realm. The differences between them were innate. When he saw Tie Ta barging towards him, he activated the pure energy in his body suddenly. In a split second, the pure energy in his body had gathered and formed a vague protective layer around his body. That was a move only those who had reached the sixth level of the True Qi Realm could do. Ren Qiancheng had executed that with all of his might in a hurry.

The four sidekicks who were standing behind him habitually rushed forwards and were prepared to fight when they saw Tie Ta rush forward. They were around the ninth level and the perfection level of the Body Refinement Realm. At their age, if they did not receive any rewards, it would be very hard for them to enter the True Qi Realm. However, they were often involved in fights, especially when they bullied others under the protection of powerful people such as Ren Qiancheng.

“Ha…” The four were not weaker than him. The two of them surrounding him were stronger than him. However, Tie Ta did not falter at all. As he was approaching Ren Qiancheng, the four had come near him. All of a sudden, Tie Ta’s chest heaved up and he let out roar similar to that of a demon-slaying king kong.

The four were jerked back from the impact. The qi energy and blood in their bodies boiled and they coughed out blood. Ren Qiancheng was standing directly in front of Tie Ta. Even though he had no knowledge or experience in battling, he was many times stronger than Tie Ta. However, stars had circled in his eyes and he was stupefied from the impact.

Right at that moment, Tie Ta’s hand, which was as large as a cattail leaf fan, had reached behind Ren Qiancheng’s neck.

“Do you think you rascal who is only at the Body Refinement Realm could capture me? Go to hell…” Although Ren Qiancheng had been dazed and knocked a step back from Tie Ta’s sudden attack, he was ultimately still at the fifth level of the True Qi Realm. He regained his composure, treated his finger as a sword and stabbed his finger towards Tie Ta’s left eye at a speed that was much quicker than Tie Ta. If his attack was successful, Tie Ta would definitely turn blind in one eye.

However, Tie Ta did not falter from that either. Even though he was naive, he had plentiful battle experiences. When he was just a child, he used to slaughter robbers alongside the soldiers. Dozens of lives had been ended in his hands. He was highly aware that he was a cultivation realm behind Ren Qiancheng. His opponent was at the fifth level of the True Qi Realm and was a step away from being able to gather pure energy to form a protective layer around his body. His sudden attack did not give Ren Qiancheng enough time to form the pure energy protective layer. That was his only chance. If he missed the opportunity, it would be highly unlikely for him to capture Ren Qiancheng.

Tie Ta bulged his eyes to the size of a bull’s. He did not attempt to avoid the attack or defend himself, but rather maintained his original action to capture Ren Qiancheng.

“Tong Qiang!” All of that happened in a split second. Ren Jie knew that Ren Qiancheng would resist. Not only was he at the True Qi Realm, but he was also arrogant, outrageous and had shown no respect to him, the family head of the Ren family. However, Ren Jie had not expected Tie Ta to be so fierce when fighting.

Almost simultaneously, when Ren Jie shouted, Tong Qiang made a move by pointing at the air using his finger. A golden beam of light appeared instantaneously. Although he made his move later than Ren Qiancheng, his attack landed earlier than his.

“Kaching… Ah…” A sharp sound resonated in the air, followed by Ren Qiancheng’s agonized scream. His finger which was pointing towards Tie Ta’s eye was instantaneously broken. It was awkwardly bent at an angle of more than a hundred degrees. At the same time, Tie Ta’s huge hand, which was the size of a cattail leaf fan, had latched onto his spinal cord at the back of his neck.

Only those at the ninth level of the True Qi Realm could direct pure energy out of their body. Hence, even though Ren Qiancheng was at the True Qi Realm, it was difficult for him to resist when his vital point was controlled at such a short distance. Moreover, Ren Qiancheng had no prior battle experience.

Although Tie Ta was fearless and ferocious, he nodded at Tong Qiang in appreciation after he had captured and controlled Ren Qiancheng. Then, he picked Ren Qiancheng up and headed back to the spiritual beast carriage.

“Ah… My hand! Tong Qiang, you bastard! How… How dare you break my hand. I am definitely not letting this pass that easily. My uncle is the third elder. I am the inner gate assistant butler…” Ren Qiancheng was about 1.7 meters tall. However, he was picked up by Tie Ta as though he was a little chick. Furthermore, he was whining incessantly due to the pain in his fractured finger. That made him lose his composure and did not think through what he was shouting.

“Bam… Assistant butler? You are the one I’m hitting. After this slap, you are no longer the assistant butler anymore.” Ren Jie had swung his arm and slapped him in the face again.

“Bam…” Ren Qiancheng’s face swung to one side due to the slap. Ren Jie gave another blow to the other side of his face and said, “You have no right to insult my brother.

“Bam… I am the head of the family. Who are you to berate me?

“Bam… Who are you to meddle in the remunerations of my personal guards? Who are those who are upset about that? Give me their names. I will whip them to death.

“Bam… Who are you to order Uncle Beast around?

“Bam… How dare you put up a fight when I wanted to capture you? Are you revolting and betraying the family clan?”

Although it had been a while since Ren Jie came into this universe, he was unhappy from the start. The moment he woke up, there was a bunch of elders wanting to teach him a lesson as though he was their grandson. What was even more frustrating was that people outside of the family clan completely disregarded him. F*ck. Now even an assistant butler dared to behave so arrogantly. That showed how they perceived the status of the family head.

Ren Jie had been bottling up his anger. He alternated the direction of each slap and started giving Ren Qiancheng a beating. With every slap, he spewed out an issue that bothered him.

They had yet to step foot into the Ren family abode. There were many passers-by shuffling to and fro a distance away from them, forming a crowd at the entrance of the Ren family abode. Ren Qiancheng was the third elder’s nephew and the assistant butler of the inner gate. He had gained influence over the past year. So they were all shocked to see him being beaten up.

Both sides of Ren Qiancheng’s face swelled quickly. Blood was gushing out from his nostrils and some pieces of teeth had fallen out of his mouth. Although he was at the True Qi Realm, his power had been suppressed by Tie Ta, who was holding him by his vital point. Hence, he could not utilize his power to free himself unless he did it forcefully. However, that would be a battle of life and death. He could even sense Tong Qiang staring at him from the side.

Ren Qiancheng’s behavior was out of habit. He was used to telling Ren Jie and the others off whenever he saw them, just like what the third elder did. It gave him satisfaction when doing so. That gained him respect and fear from his subordinates. They would find it impressive for the assistant butler to have the guts to berate Tong Qiang, who had followed the previous family head, and even the new family head.

Never had it crossed his mind that what he did would make him so miserable this time around. He did not even have the opportunity to beg for forgiveness. There was no way he could speak due to the beating.

“What’s happening? The assistant butler is the third elder’s nephew. Isn’t what the family head did equivalent to humiliating the third elder?”

“This is way too harsh. Who said the family head was weak and soft? Look at how fierce he is with his slaps. He might beat him to death if this goes on.”

“This is way too horrible. Did you guys see it? His teeth flew out of his mouth.”

“He deserves it for how arrogant he usually is.”

“The family head is way too savage. He beat him personally right in front of the entrance of the family clan abode. This will shock the entire Jade Capital.”

There were people from the Ren family watching from afar. They were in utter disbelief. Was that truly the new family head who had succeeded in the position for more than a year but was never involved in managing the matters within the family clan?

Because the incident had happened at the entrance of the Ren family abode, many people were observing the situation from a distance away. They were more shocked and could not believe what was happening.

“F*ck. That’s really interesting. I have never seen a family head that is as fierce as him.”

“The family head is slapping him personally. Are they executing the punishment based on the family clan rules?”

“That’s really f*cking awesome. A little kid at the Body Refinement Realm is hitting a guy at the True Qi Realm. It’s so impressive what those with authority can do.”

“That’s the family head. He is equivalent to the king of the family clan. Merely beating him is nothing. Those family heads who possess real authority can kill someone way stronger than them with just a sentence.”

“Are you referring to Ren Tianxing? This rascal is not that impressive. He was subdued by force. Just watch on. The action is beginning to heat up.”

“That’s the Ren family head’s carriage. What is the Ren family head planning on doing?”

“He is probably throwing the book at someone to set an example. Maybe there will be some internal fights within the Ren family later on. Let us just watch on. This is definitely going to get interesting.”

While others were watching from the sidelines, Gao Ren, Tong Qiang and the personal guards who were standing beside Ren Jie were experiencing different emotions. When Ren Jie started bashing Ren Qiancheng, he said something with every strike. He was fierce when he landed the blows, but the words that he said made their hearts race. Ren Jie was not merely finding excuses or reasons to hit him. They could experience Ren Jie’s anger from his words.

No one should be able to order his personal guards around. No one should be able to humiliate his friends. No one should be able to berate Uncle Beast. No one should be able to hurt his personal guards…

“Stop what you are doing…” Just when Ren Jie was exhausted from the bashing, an angry bellow sounded from afar. A shadow had rushed there quickly, as though he was riding the wind. That was the third elder Ren Hanlin. Behind him were the second elder Ren Junyang and the fourth elder Ren Wenxu who had followed him there.

It was such a huge commotion. It was expected that they would be notified soon. After hearing the news, they could not have possibly waited to berate Ren Jie at the conference hall. Therefore, they had rushed there immediately.

“Great… Great…” When Ren Hanlin saw Ren Qiancheng, who looked worse than a pig head and was hardly recognizable, he could not suppress his anger at all. “The family head is becoming increasingly impressive. After bashing someone in front of the imperial palace, you are now bashing your own clan member at the entrance of our house.”

“This is really unacceptable. Do you really think that you can do anything as the family head?” Ren Wenxu said angrily too. They were completely embarrassed when they were chased away in front of the imperial palace. They held their pride and ordered Ren Qiancheng to wait for Ren Jie at the entrance. They had wanted to talk about that issue in the conference hall. However, they had not expected such a situation to occur before they should tell Ren Jie off for the previous incident.

“The family head is young and immature. Are the lot of you still young?” Ren Junyang’s eyes burned with anger. He looked at Tong Qiang solemnly and said, “You guys followed the previous family head for dozens of years. Did you really think that it’s good for the family head to act so foolishly? The previous family head established the Elders’ Union to restrict the young and immature family head from doing anything foolish. Tong Qiang, you guys head back immediately to receive your punishments. The others stop looking on here. This is the entrance of the Ren family and not a place for monkey business. Bring the family head back to the ancestral shrine immediately.”

“Boom…” When Ren Junyang mentioned the ancestral shrine, a commotion was stirred amongst those people watching from afar. Something big is about to happen. Looks like the elders are finally angry. Even the family head can be punished in the ancestral shrine when he is in the wrong. Looks like they are planning to punish the family head!

Tong Qiang was stoned for a while. Disdain flashed his eyes. He seemed as though he had recalled something. Suppressing his disdain forcefully, he waved his hand to order the personal guards to go back.

“Stand there.” All of a sudden, Ren Jie bellowed. “Are you my personal guards or the elders’ personal guards? Who allowed you to leave without my orders? I want this to be etched in your minds from today onwards. The responsibility of the family head personal guards is to protect my safety. I am feeling extremely unsafe right now. F*ck. These b*stards outside are finding trouble for me. Those within the family clan are causing me distress too. Tong Qiang, do you hear me? Let me ask you a question. Who do you f*cking listen to?”