Chapter 144: I Love Beatings Scumbags Like You The Most!

The Xie family’s funeral was kept low-profile, with the news deliberately suppressed and guests notified strictly in private.
Xie Donglin stood at the head of the procession, with Xie Tingting by his side.
His appearance was now aged by more than a decade compared to a month ago. His hair was completely white, his vitality and spirit had faded away, and he looked immensely old.
As soon as Fu Yuantu recovered, he immediately set about reclaiming his power and, with the backing of a certain someone, systematically dismantled Xie Donglin.
Now in a state of semi-suspension from his duties, the Xie family had plummeted into irreversible decline, and his mother had passed away just days prior due to the sudden cutoff of her organ supply.
Misfortunes truly never came singly.
Yet, upon second thought, all these calamities stemmed entirely from that bastard surnamed Qin!
If it hadn't been for that Qin fellow's meddling, Xie Donglin would still be riding high on success. His mother would not have been worried to death, and Fu Yuantu might well have been sent down to meet the King of Hell by now.
"Vice-Director Xie, Madame Xie suffered from such a strange illness yet managed to hold on for years—it is already a miracle. You must restrain your grief and accept the loss."
A robust man stepped forward, patted Xie Donglin on the shoulder, and offered words of comfort.
"Yuan Xu, how is Mr. Yuan doing lately?" Xie Donglin naturally recognized the man and immediately spoke.
The existence of Qin Mu had already spread throughout the entire Jiang Alliance.
The alliance had convened no fewer than dozens of meetings specifically concerning him, desperately scouring for intelligence and discussing countermeasures.
In the end, most of their hopes had fallen upon the Yuan family.
After all, they were the most formidable of the top three elite families, further bolstered by the presence of Yuan Qingtian, whose martial arts prowess reached the heavens.
"My uncle's momentum has been surging lately, so he is in seclusion and unable to attend. He sent me to represent him at the funeral instead, and I hope you'll forgive his absence."
"Important matters take precedence. But judging by your surging vitality, it seems you have made a breakthrough yourself?" Xie Donglin raised an eyebrow.
"Vice-Director Xie's discernment is truly sharp. With the family's full support, I have made successive breakthroughs in recent years." Yuan Xu made no attempt to hide it, his arrogance boundless. Right there at the funeral, completely disregarding the occasion, he unleashed his inner qi.
"Then today's proceedings will rely heavily on your presence to keep the peace," Xie Donglin said, cupping his fists.
Yuan Xu nodded proudly, patting his chest as he declared, "If that good-for-nothing dares to show his face here, I'll turn him into a cripple with a single punch!"
In his early thirties, Yuan Xu was intensely arrogant. He threw a few punches into empty air, producing loud sonic cracks.
"Afterwards, I will seize everyone connected to him. The men will be dragged to brothels as servants, and all the women will be sent to my Yuan household!"
"I hear there are quite a few beauties by his side—it suits my tastes perfectly!"
"I will make him wish he were dead!"
"With your words, I can finally rest easy," Xie Donglin fawned.
After waiting for about ten minutes, the guests who had come to mourn Zhang Shuhua had mostly arrived.
As the designated time was approaching, Xie Donglin stood up, preparing to instruct the others to proceed with the burial.
Yet at that exact moment, a sudden, heavy silence fell over the outer perimeter, broken only by the rhythmic sound of heavy military boots treading across the floor.
Xie Donglin's eyes instantly widened, his limbs turning as cold as ice, a freezing chill running straight down his spine.
Xie Tingting slumped rigidly in her chair, utterly paralyzed in front of this Grim Reaper who took lives at a whim.
A young man walked into view, clad in a pristine white suit, wearing white gloves as if untainted by a single speck of dust.
"Qin Mu!"
Xie Donglin knew it. No matter how meticulously he tried to conceal it, he could never escape Qin Mu’s eerily terrifying intelligence-gathering channels.
Not just Xie Donglin, but many present recognized Qin Mu instantly. Their eyes split with rage, burning with the desire to tear him into pieces.
It was this very fellow who kept these members of the Jiang Alliance from sleeping in peace, leaving them constantly terrified day and night.
"I've come to see her off on her final journey."
Qin Mu said nothing more. He accepted a handful of incense sticks and, following the proper rituals, paid his respects to Zhang Shuhua.
Only then did he turn around, gaze at the casket crafted from top-tier fine wood, and ask softly,
"Where is the coffin I ordered you to prepare?"
The moment these words fell, Xie Donglin trembled violently, taking half a step back with a panicked expression.
Though Qin Mu had left behind strict instructions before departing, how could he possibly use that piece of rotten wood for a coffin?
Especially when that rotten wood had the words "infamous for a millennium" carved directly into it!
"If it's not here, then don't bother with the burial at all."
Qin Mu flicked his fingers to signal his intent.
"You! You dare!" Hearing this, Xie Donglin’s face flushed crimson with fury. He wanted to completely ignore him and order the proceedings to continue anyway.
Yet Qin Mu happened to be blocking the path; unless he stepped aside, the funeral could not possibly move forward.
For a moment, the atmosphere froze in a tense deadlock.
"Young man, isn't this going a bit too far?"
An elder well past fifty stepped forward, pointing a finger and lecturing Qin Mu with a self-righteous tone.
"Even if Madame Xie committed wrongs during her lifetime, she is dead now, and everything has returned to dust. As a junior, do you lack even the basic decency to respect the dead?"
"How were you raised by the elders in your family? Are you some bastard born of a father but never taught by a mother?"
The elder's words sounded impeccably justified both publicly and privately. Capitalizing on his seniority, the surrounding guests nodded in agreement, casting sneering looks at Qin Mu.
Yet Qin Mu merely raised his gaze coldly, looking down upon the crowd before letting his eyes settle on the elder.
"When she died, which one of you in the Jiang Alliance showed her any respect?"
As soon as these words dropped, the elder’s confident expression instantly collapsed, and his heart skipped several erratic beats.
"Or perhaps the 'respect' from you old hounds consists of heaping endless insults upon her after her death?"
"Stop talking nonsense here—"
The elder tried to struggle a few more words out, but Qin Mu cut him off with a sweep of his hand, his voice pressing forward without pause.
"Not content with slandering her endlessly, you even rallied the entire city of Jiang to mock her for getting what she deserved?"
"And then, without missing a beat, you carved up and divided all of her assets?"
"And on top of that, you deliberately delayed her burial for a month after her passing?"