The fla bead landed on Huamu Ran's forehead.
There was a sound like dry kindling being touched by a torch.
WHOOMPH.
The patriarch's entire body ignited in an instant. Not with normal fire, not with sothing that could be smothered, but with the infamous Blood Fla that only disciples of the Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect could wield.
His scream lasted barely three seconds before the fla consud his lungs.
His body collapsed into a smoldering, blackened husk.
Madam Shu shrieked and fainted. Two elders vomited while several stewards clutched their heads and wailed.
Those who recognized the Blood Fla collapsed into silent terror.
"So," Han Yu said lightly, dusting his fingers as if he had flicked away a speck of dirt rather than killed the patriarch. "As I was saying. I will spare people. But only those who are useful."
A tremor passed through the room.
"Only those who are not part of the clan's bloodline can be considered," Han Yu continued. "I do not need your family politics contaminating my work."
Several elders gasped and several stewards looked hopeful. But the younger clansn looked like their souls were leaving their bodies.
Han Yu smiled coldly.
"And only those who know exactly where all the clan's wealth is kept may remain alive."
The mont he said that, a hysteria of shouting broke out.
"I know where the gold and silver are stored!"
"I handle the jade vault!"
"I know all the property locations!"
"I manage the business contracts!"
"I keep the external ledgers!"
"I know the secret safe behind the treasury wall!"
"I know where the clan head kept his private accounts!"
One elder, sweating and shaking, pounded the floor with his forehead."I handle the internal ledgers! I can show you everything!"
Han Yu turned slightly and flicked more Blood Fla across the room.
A spray of glowing embers shot forth from the burnt patriarch's corpse and scattered across the elder's body.
The elder had ti for one strangled gasp before the Blood Fla wrapped around him. He burned away in seconds, body collapsing into black dust.
Han Yu let the room absorb the aning.
"You," he said, looking around slowly, "are part of the bloodline. Do not pretend otherwise."
Several more people collapsed to their knees, begging incoherently.
Han Yu ignored them.
He began choosing with the indifference of a butcher selecting animals for slaughter and sale.
"That one," he said, pointing to a steward who had managed the outer warehouses.
"And that one," indicating a steward who knew the security layouts and where the safes were hidden.
"And him," pointing at an account manager who oversaw the external financial networks.
Everyone else froze in place, breath caught in their throats.
"So. Three will be spared," Han Yu said. "For now."
The chosen three fell flat, sobbing in relief. Those not chosen stared in horror, pleading without words.
Han Yu clapped once.
The sound echoed through the hall like a death knell.
"All right," he said. "Ti to finish my work."
He gestured lazily again.
The black dust from the two burnt corpses rose as if lifted by invisible hands. The cinders gathered into fiery motes and scattered across the hall.
Wherever a spark landed, it erupted into crimson flas.
Within seconds, the entire hall was filled with shrieks as Blood Fla caught on clothing, hair, and skin. Bodies ignited one after another, burning like torches.
The chosen three were untouched.Deliberately untouched.
They stared, shaking violently, as their clan burned around them.
One steward collapsed forward, pressing his forehead to the floor as he hyperventilated."I will obey! I swear on my life, honored disciple!"
The account manager did not even have the strength to speak. His mouth opened and closed like a dying fish as he stared at the hell unfolding inches away.
Han Yu turned and walked to the patriarch's elevated seat.
He sat down comfortably, resting one arm on the carved wooden armrest and drumming his fingers on the desk.
His expression was calm.Almost relaxed.
Like a man enjoying the final monts of a perfectly cooked al.
"You three," he said without looking at them, "bring everything you ntioned. The deeds. The gold. The accounts. All of it."
The three scrambled away as if their lives depended on every step they took.
Because they did.
Han Yu leaned back in the patriarch's seat, inhaled slowly, and exhaled with quiet satisfaction.
The Birch Leaf rchant Clan had been turned from a flourishing power into a pile of ash in under an hour.
Han Yu tapped the desk with lazy amusent.
Everything was going exactly as he wanted.
Han Yu leaned back in the patriarch's chair, one leg crossed over the other, swirling the deep red wine in the ornate cup he had taken from Huamu Ran's personal collection. It had a fragrant, fruity aroma that spoke of decades of aging in so private cellar.
A pity its owner had not lived long enough to enjoy another sip.
He took a slow drink.
"Acceptable."
It was pleasant, but not extraordinary. Honestly, he had expected more from a so called wealthy rchant clan.
His gaze drifted across the floor where piles of black ash and burnt corpses still smoked faintly. The Blood Fla had cooled, leaving behind only charred remains and scorched stone. The hall looked like a burial ground where the corpses had already turned to dust.
Han Yu waited.
He knew the stewards would take their ti gathering the wealth, deeds, docunts, keys, and whatever else he had demanded. Realistically, it should take half an hour at minimum. An hour if they were clumsy.
He was fully prepared to wait.
He was enjoying himself anyway.
He poured another half cup of wine just as footsteps echoed from down the hall. One of the selected stewards stumbled through the doorway, pale as bone, his hair drenched in sweat.
Han Yu closed the wine bottle and asked casually, "What is it?"
He wondered if they had really finished the work so fast.
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