Chapter 37 Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Chapter 37

1

"Dead before thirty"—these words left Lin Chenxin staring blankly ahead.

Her heart went hollow as she continued reading, her eyes unfocused.

The scroll didn't get into specifics about how the itinerant sorcerer cast the curse, maybe because the process was too messed up, even for fate, or maybe because the Chen family feared this scroll might end up in the wrong hands and be seen by prying eyes.

Anyway, from then on, the Chen family shot up in the world, making bank even during the chaos.

By the later years of peace, the Chen family was on top of the world.

A prosperous and flourishing family had crazy influence.

Especially one under such protection—by the mid-period, the Chen family had indeed risen to a position right under the emperor, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were basically their own kingdom.

If their bloodline hadn't been tainted, maybe...

Lin Chenxin couldn't help glancing up at the two dragon-and-phoenix pillars.

Clearly, all that money had spoiled the later descendants of the Chen family.

Money and power went to their heads, and they'd probably long forgotten the itinerant sorcerer's words, as well as the ancestral teachings.

The protection of the Scourge Lord made them feel invincible, making them think they could take over the whole world.

One outrageous claim after another made Lin Chenxin's eye twitch.

She felt that the earliest ancestors of the Chen family probably just couldn't stand to see their family wiped out. They had remembered the itinerant sorcerer's words, did good deeds, and stayed in their lane.

The early passages still had a serious, warning tone, written on this scroll to warn future generations not to lose sight of why they started.

But by the mid-period, the tone shifted.

Every single "epic win" showed how full of themselves they were.

They even had the nerve to talk smack about the court, badmouth everyone, and trash the family rules, treating the Scourge Lord like dirt.

What was worse, the tragedy of "dead before thirty" got turned into a punchline in the writer's words—"When water is full, it overflows; when a vessel breaks, it shatters"—basically calling the Scourge Lord a container, not even seeing him as human anymore.

The further she read, the more her heart pounded at all the treasonous talk.

Thinking about how Chen Gujun is now, she frowned and flipped ahead fast, but the paper was folded so tight she could barely read it by the dim candlelight.

She rubbed her eyes and finally spotted the Chen family starting to tank.

First, the Scourge Lord's hair went white.

The Chen family's luck started to run out, and some family members ended up in jail.

Then, bright red marks showed up on the Scourge Lord's body.

The family head's kid died way too young.

It was only then that Lin Chenxin realized the first Scourge Lords looked totally normal.

But as more and more sins bounced back on him, he couldn't take the weight anymore, and his life got cut short.

She tightened her grip on the scroll, a cold glint in her eyes.

In the end, the Chen family brought this on themselves.

She took a deep breath and continued reading.

One disaster after another scared the Chen family shitless.

What really sealed the deal was that, by the end, the family head only had one kid left.

That matched the page in the family tree.

The Chen family regretted their actions, scared their centuries-old legacy would go up in smoke. They scrambled to find folk sorcerers, dropping a fortune in gold to save the family's fate.

Then, a hunchbacked old man appeared.

Their gender was unknown, only described as having sparse hair, a hoarse voice, skin like tree bark, and a pair of sharp, gleaming triangular eyes.

This hunchbacked old man demanded half of the Chen family's wealth before agreeing to solve their predicament.

It was the first time the Chen family had encountered such an outrageous demand, and they were furious, ready to drive the old man away as a fraud.

But the hunchbacked old man said they were using a forbidden art to defy fate, and if this hurdle wasn't overcome, within three days, the Chen family would be wiped out, with no descendants left.

These words shook the Chen family to their core.

With the mindset of trying anything as a last resort, they agreed.

The hunchbacked old man's method was to use another sacrifice to nourish the weakened Scourge Lord.

The method was exactly what Lin Chenxin had experienced.

First, a young woman was made to drink the Scourge Lord's blood. An ordinary body couldn't withstand the potent cursed blood and would die instantly. Only those who survived were deemed qualified sacrifices. Then, at the end of each month, she would feed her own flesh and blood back to the Scourge Lord.

Following the hunchbacked old man's instructions, they tried nine women, and the last one succeeded. They were overjoyed.

Reading this, Lin Chenxin felt a chill run through her entire body.

The text didn't specify where those women came from, nor did it mention the Scourge Lord's thoughts.

There was only a brief conclusion, yet it felt like cannibalism.

As the hunchbacked old man left, he cackled, "This curse cannot be reversed, and the Scourge Lord's body cannot be restored. I hope you'll do more good deeds. If not, heh heh..."

From then on, every new rune that appeared on the Scourge Lord represented another sin he couldn't bear.

The Scourge Lord began to mutate, becoming neither human nor ghost, and under extreme backlash, gained supernatural powers.

The Chen family grew afraid again.

Fearful that the empowered Scourge Lord would retaliate, they shackled his feet from birth and made him guard the ancestral hall from a young age, intending for him to feel the family's honor and understand his responsibilities and mission.

The truth was likely far crueler than those few words described.

A newborn Scourge Lord was just an ordinary baby. They had to endure the shackles, the repeated breaking and regrowing of bones, and the torment of being confined to the gloomy ancestral hall for training and oppression from childhood.

It was both physical and mental torture.

No wonder... no wonder Chen Gujun was the way he was.

Lin Chenxin’s eyes turned fierce, and she wanted to smash the scroll on the ground, but raised it and stopped herself.

She closed her eyes and continued reading.

In later years, the Chen family weathered the changing times, going through all kinds of ups and downs before settling down. They started toeing the line, keeping themselves in check, passing things down through renewal, generation after generation.

But Lin Chenxin only saw a family rotting—souls gone, just numb shells left.

Nowhere in the whole text did Lin Chenxin find any record of the Eclipsed Lord’s mother.

They were countless women who went unrecorded, leaving behind nothing but empty spirit tablets.

And the Eclipsed Lord’s “wife” didn’t even get a spirit tablet.

But even weirder, the Eclipsed Lord himself had no name or title.

Later on, they stopped treating the Eclipsed Lord like a person, acting all arrogant and dismissive. But early on, the Eclipsed Lord was like the family’s guardian god, yet he still had no name.

That just didn’t make any sense.

Lin Chenxin’s head was spinning, her chest so tight she could barely breathe.

She rubbed her forehead and suddenly noticed a page she’d missed earlier.

She unfolded the tucked-in page, and in the flickering candlelight, she first saw the words at the bottom.

It said the itinerant sorcerer was found dead out in the wild a few days later, his good flesh chewed clean off by wild dogs, not even a full skeleton left, just a set of bloody, ragged clothes.

The Chen family was shocked and heartbroken, so they buried the sorcerer’s bloody clothes and whatever bones were left.

But after just one night, the lonely grave was dug up, and the last bits of bone were eaten clean.

Seeing that, the Chen family only dared to gather the clothes and bury them deep, not even putting up a wooden marker.

That land later turned into a public road, trampled by thousands of feet.

Lin Chenxin took a deep breath and started reading from the top.

The curse was done. The woman looked at the itinerant sorcerer and said just one thing.

“Since he’s given himself up, he’s no longer a Chen family descendant. Please, immortal, give him a name.”

The woman’s look at her young son was both sad and determined.

The itinerant sorcerer, white-haired and gaunt, said cruelly, “Call him Chen Gujun.”

Lin Chenxin’s mind went boom.

The words after that started to warp and twist.

It said the itinerant sorcerer left behind an eternal lamp and a seed, saying in a raspy voice, “As long as the seed lives, the Chen family won’t fall; as long as the lamp burns, the Chen family won’t die out.”

With that, the itinerant sorcerer staggered off into the distance.

But Lin Chenxin didn’t remember any of that—just the name “Chen Gujun” echoing in her head.

She lifted her head stiffly, staring at the spirit tablets above. Her chest heaved like the air was being sucked out of her.

Her eyes went blurry as she looked at the eternal lamp on the altar, then back at the tablets above.

Finally, her eyes landed on the two rows of red cloth.

She gasped like she was about to die, her hands and feet weak as she tried to get up, only to fall back onto her knees with a thud. Her fingers touched the lit candle, and the candlestick tipped over, spilling a pool of oil that burned right up to the edge of the scroll before stopping.

The pain snapped her back for a second. Her eyes lit up like sparks as she crawled frantically to the prayer mat, propped herself up on the altar, and stared hard at the tablets above.

She’d noticed that creepy red cloth a long time ago.

But she didn’t dare look, didn’t dare think.

She stumbled forward and yanked off the red cloth.

The three big characters “Chen Gujun” stared back at her.

Her whole body was freezing cold, teeth chattering, shaking like a leaf.

But her eyes were bright—brighter than the fire burning below.

One by one, she tore off the red cloths.

—Chen Gujun.

—Chen Gujun.

—Chen Gujun.

—Chen Gujun…

All those Chen Gujuns made Lin Chenxin dizzy.

She fell with a thud, gripping the spirit tablet so hard her nails scraped against it with a screech until they broke and bled.

“Chen Gujun.”

Her eyes were wide with rage as she forced the words out, like her throat was full of blood.

No wonder one name in the family tree was blacked out.

No wonder the later Family Head’s first wife had no kids listed under her name.

No wonder, no wonder…

The book never spelled out the curse, but every word of it was a curse!

“Chen Gujun” was that curse.

Lin Chenxin felt a bone-chilling cold.

She couldn’t stop trembling.

Looking at the gilded spirit tablets, she grabbed one and smashed it hard to the ground.

These people—these killers, these monsters!

She remembered, this generation’s Family Head was arrogant and domineering!

With a crash, the spirit tablet hit the ground with a thunderous sound.

She remembered, this generation’s Family Head was tyrannical and overbearing!

Another gilded memorial tablet slammed hard onto the ground.

She remembered, the current Family Head was selfish, shameless, and insatiably greedy!

The tablet cracked at one corner upon hitting the floor.

The eternal lamps on the altar flickered without any wind, their faint flames leaping violently.

Standing in front of the painting, Mr. Chen felt a chill creep up his back.

He spun around abruptly, pushed open the door, and strode out of the Nameless Courtyard.

Outside, dark clouds pressed down like a siege, rolling layers rumbling with thunder that coiled above the Chen residence as if a fivefold lightning strike was about to hit—a catastrophe like doom.

Panicked footsteps echoed across the estate. The Second Miss kept glancing toward the door, restless and uneasy.

Meanwhile, Ms. Liang remained composed, focused solely on watching over the young master by his bedside, though her eyes seemed to conceal a deeply brewing storm.