Chapter 4: That's Why You Want To Kill Me

Words : 1740 Updated : Mar 7th, 2024

Benjamin could have seen it coming, but he chose not to. He didn't want to face the ugly truth. He still clung to a glimmer of hope. But now, that very thing he dreaded was playing out right before his eyes. As the car rolled forward, it wasn't long before they arrived at the back mountain of the Shaw family villa. This area, about two kilometers from where the Su family lived, served as the final resting place for their ancestors. After parking outside the Shaw family cemetery, Jasper silently led Benjamin toward the graves. Inside the cemetery, a new tomb had appeared, one that hadn't been there when Benjamin had left. The tomb of Henry Shaw, the old patriarch of the Shaw family. Henry Shaw. Benjamin's grandfather. "Benjamin, the year you disappeared, the entire family searched everywhere for you. They combed all of Jatonville, mobilized every possible resource, and even offered two-thirds of our family's wealth as a reward throughout the Han Empire for any clue about your whereabouts. One day, Grandpa got a call. They claimed to have news about you. He and Dad rushed to the designated spot, but then..." Jasper paused, his eyes reddening slightly. "Grandpa was killed, and Dad went missing. When Mom heard the news, her hair turned white overnight. She swore to find the real culprit and sent me out to investigate." Benjamin remained silent, waiting for Jasper to continue. "I didn't let them down. I found some clues. But these clues pointed directly to the Thornton family of Jatonville. You know as well as I do, the Thornton family is one of the six great families in Jatonville, and we Shaws can't afford to provoke them. But Mom was adamant about revenge, and Yelena agreed with her. The problem is, the clues I found were just that—clues, not solid evidence. If we acted on them, it would've been suicide..." "So, you didn't agree?" Benjamin asked, though he already knew the answer. As Jasper had mentioned, despite the Shaw family's roots in Jatonville, they were leagues behind the Thornton family. Four years ago, the Thornton family was already several times more powerful than the Shaws. If the Shaw family had gone up against them, there was no way they could have survived, let alone grown to their current strength. "That's right." As expected, Jasper nodded and continued, "I promised Mom I'd avenge Grandpa within ten years, but she didn't want to wait. She and Yelena still led people to the Thornton family to demand justice. You can imagine how that turned out... If I hadn't arrived in time, both of them would've been dead!" "So, they're okay? Where are they now?" Benjamin asked. "Benjamin, let me finish." "Rescuing Mom and Yelena from the Thornton family wasn't easy. They led over a hundred people there, and only the two of them came back. The price we paid..." Jasper hesitated, as if recalling something painful. After a pause, he continued, "The condition was that the Shaw family would become the Thornton family's lackeys, and I would serve them personally. I also had to drive Mom and Yelena out of the Shaw family." "So... you agreed?" Benjamin narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp as a blade as he stared at Jasper. "What would you have done?" Jasper stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Henry's tomb. "It doesn't matter what I would've done. What matters is... you brought me back here just to kill me, didn't you?" Benjamin's eyes gleamed with a fierce light as he stared intently at Jasper. "Hmm?" Jasper frowned slightly. "Benjamin, what are you talking about?" "Don't play dumb. If you didn't want to kill me, why are four warriors closing in on us right now?" Benjamin sneered. In the Han Empire, warriors were plentiful, and almost every noble family had them. Their presence was different from ordinary people, and even without consciously sensing it, Benjamin could easily detect anyone within 500 meters. Moreover, these four carried killing intent. Jasper looked surprised, staring at Benjamin for a long moment before suddenly laughing. "My foolish little brother, I didn't expect that after four years, you'd gotten sharper." "Swish!" "Swish!" "Swish!" "Swish!" As soon as Jasper spoke, four figures leaped out, surrounding Benjamin. All four were top-tier yellow-rank warriors. Warriors were ranked from heaven, earth, black, and yellow, with each rank having nine levels. Becoming a warrior wasn't easy, and reaching the peak of the yellow rank was even rarer. Yet here were four of them at once, showing just how determined Jasper was to eliminate Benjamin. Jasper didn't know Benjamin's true strength, so he probably still saw him as an ordinary person. Yet he deployed four peak yellow-rank warriors. Clearly, he wanted to leave no room for escape. "You vanished for four years. Why couldn't you just stay gone, Benjamin? Why did you have to come back and force me to act?" At this moment, Jasper seemed like a completely different person—a roaring beast, his face twisted with rage. He was no longer the brother Benjamin remembered. "Do you have any idea how much effort it took to bring the Shaw family to where it is today? But your foolish father was willing to give up two-thirds of our wealth to find you? Your idiot mother went against the Thornton family for you? She even slapped me and made me kneel for three days and nights, just because you're their real son, and I was adopted?" All his pent-up grievances, Jasper directed at Benjamin. Benjamin looked at Jasper with a mix of disappointment and sadness. "If it had been you who disappeared, I believe Grandpa and Dad would've done the same to find you." Benjamin wasn't just saying that. When he was fourteen, Grandpa and Dad had sat him down for a conversation. They told him that if they both retired, he would only inherit a third of the family wealth. The rest would go to his sister Yelena, and another portion would be given to Jasper. They even planned to put Jasper, the older brother, in charge of most of the family's businesses, emphasizing that Benjamin should always respect his elder brother and take care of his younger sister, Yelena. Those words echoed in his mind as if they had been spoken just yesterday. Yet four years later, here they were, facing each other as enemies. "There's one thing I don't get. Jasper, did you bring me to Grandpa's tomb just to stall for time until they arrived?" Benjamin glanced at the four warriors and asked. "Stalling for time is part of it," Jasper replied. "But there are two other reasons. First, I wanted to show you the Shaw family's current strength under my leadership. Summoning four warriors at will—this was something your dad and grandpa could never achieve. Under my guidance, the Shaw family will only rise higher and go further." "Second, we've been brothers for over ten years. If I'm going to kill you, I want you to die knowing why. I want you to die in peace, right here in the Shaw family cemetery. Isn't that right, my dear little brother?"

Chapter 4: That's Why You Want To Kill Me

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