pain.

The pain was transmitted to his numb senses.

The little boy opened his mouth again, trying to call Jiang Ai's name. But the warm blood rushed to his throat, drowning out all the words he wanted to say.

His eyes widened. Blood seeped from his pale lips and trickled down his delicate jawline.

He staggered backward.

His uncle also let go, and in a daze, he retreated in sync with him.

They seemed to be standing on opposite sides of the same mirror, performing the same actions.

But the knife was still stuck in the little boy's chest.

The wound was blocked by the blade, and the broken blood could only escape from other holes in his body.

The little boy raised his hand to touch his chest, then touched the corner of his mouth.

He could feel liquid flowing from the corner of his mouth, but his mind was becoming sluggish and he was unable to think due to excessive blood loss.

He simply stood there, like a beautiful fountain of human blood.

The male clan chief whispered, "No, I didn't want to kill you... I'm your uncle, how could I possibly kill you..." He spoke faster, his voice filled with unwavering resolve, "But if you want to be the clan chief, then you must die..."

“No one can take the position of patriarch from me…” he said in a low voice.

The male chieftain's eyes, which had just regained their bloodshot color, reddened again. He gritted his teeth, staring at the little boy standing before him, and said, "You—you traitor! You damned traitor!"

The little boy was no longer able to argue. Blood filled his mouth, and if he opened it, it would flow uncontrollably.

He simply kept his mouth shut and calmly looked at his uncle.

His thoughts felt like they were trapped in cotton. He wanted to think about something, but what did he want? His mind was being slowly eroded until he closed his eyes.

He fell stiffly to the ground.

He could no longer keep his mouth shut, and the blood and organ fragments that had been trapped inside his mouth began to gush out uncontrollably.

He became a blooming flower.

The women watching gasped softly. This confrontation was exactly what the Jiang women had envisioned, and the women who felt no sense of belonging to the Ji tribe were happy to watch this spectacle.

Ai Cao stepped forward. She gently helped the little boy who had fallen to the ground up and said, "He is a man from the Jiang tribe."

The male clan chief's eyes reddened: "So what! I'm his uncle! I own his life! I can do this!"

“No, you don’t,” Ai Cao said slowly and deliberately.

She gently pinched the little boy's cheek: "Ever since you transferred him to the Jiang tribe, he has been a man of the Jiang tribe."

Artemisia thought for a moment.

Although she wouldn't mind posthumously honoring the little boy as "her man" after his death, the identity of "the man of the Jiang clan" would suffice.

She didn't need to add any new titles for him.

She stood up and calmly let the little boy lie back down. Blood seeped beneath him, evaporating in the hot summer air with a metallic smell.

Ai Cao met the male clan chief's eyes again. The man's face was deathly pale, with an unnatural flush on his cheeks.

I don't know if it's because he just killed someone.

But the mugwort will pull him down from his euphoric state.

Ai Cao repeated impatiently, "He's a man from the Jiang tribe." She drew the knife from her waist and calmly pointed it at the male chieftain. "What about compensation?"

"No compensation!" the male chieftain shouted in despair. He lifted his outer robe again to search, but there was only an empty scabbard. He tried to remove the scabbard, but the feathers on his waist were numerous and tangled, tightly binding the scabbard.

He stepped forward again, bewildered, and tried to close the door.

But Chi You, standing by the door, kicked it, splitting the dilapidated wooden door in two. Now that the two sides had already turned hostile, she naturally didn't need to hold back anymore.

The male chieftain stared blankly at the fallen door. He shouted and ran into the ancestral house. The women, who had already circled the house once and knew it had only one main entrance, watched him run.

Some women remained at the door, while Ai Cao and Chi You strode into the clan house.

In the center of the clan house was a huge courtyard filled with light. Chi You stood curiously under the courtyard and looked up, temporarily ignoring the male clan chief.

The male clan chief hurriedly ran from one side of the clan house to the other, turning the house upside down.

What is he looking for?

He wanted to find another knife.

It can protect his own knife.

—Should we go to the door and pull his knife out of his nephew's body?

The male clan chief's feverish mind calmed down a little. He looked towards the doorway, his gaze passing over the burly women and landing on the boy lying quietly.

His knife was stuck there.

But he couldn't take it. If he got close to the women, they'd definitely hang him up and beat him up...

His mind went blank again. He glanced at Ai Cao and Chi You, who were slowly approaching him, and then hid in a corner of the clan house. But the clan house was only so big, and with each step Ai Cao and Chi You took toward the male clan leader, his space to escape decreased.

He was trapped in a corner by two women.

He tried to squeeze himself into that narrow corner, but behind him was only a hard stone wall that had been passed down through generations of patriarchs.

Chi You grew tired of his ugly appearance, reached out and grabbed him by the collar of his inner garment, lifting him up.

He was frantically lifted into the air, struggling wildly. His struggles were too weak, and after being slapped twice by Chi You, his arms and legs went limp.

Ai Cao glanced at him and said, "Let's go out."

They led the male clan chief out of the clan house.

Now there are even more people at the entrance of the clan house—the men of the Ji clan have also come here.

The men gathered outside the women's quarters, staring nervously at the little boy's body lying at the entrance of the clan house.

Artemisia gestured to Chi You to lift the male clan chief higher.

Ai Cao said, "I am the next chieftain of the Jiang clan." She raised the knife at her waist and said, "I have come to the Ji clan today to return the little boy we exchanged before."

The women's whispers subsided. They cast curious and envious glances at Ai Cao—she was the next chieftain of the Jiang clan. Although she was young, she already had a group of women who supported her.

Which woman wouldn't want that?

They have companions they can trust, as well as power and a future.

The women of the Ji tribe exchanged information in hushed tones.

The women among them who were friendly with the Jiang tribe shared the story of Jiang Ai with the others, which drew envious glances from many other women towards the mugwort.

Ai Cao paused for a moment, and seeing that the onlookers didn't react, she continued.

“But the chieftain of the Ji clan killed him.” She turned her blade, pointing it at the little boy’s silent corpse. Her tone suddenly became impassioned: “This is an insult to the Mother Goddess! We will make him pay with his blood!”

"Blood for blood!" the women of the Jiang clan shouted.

The male clan chief, being held by Chi You, said hoarsely, "...I am the clan chief of the Ji clan." His voice was weak, "You cannot kill me."

Ai Cao laughed loudly: "If I can't kill you—then let the Ji clan suffer for you!"