Chapter 418: They Won’t Really Take Your Lives

Chapter 418: Chapter 418: They Won’t Really Take Your Lives

"Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Dad, forget about them for now. Our family’s grave isn’t exactly problem-free either."

Caspian Rhodes’s reminder jolted everyone into remembering that their family’s grave was also emitting smoke. But unlike the others, theirs was a wisp of green smoke.

"This..."

Before Mr. Rhodes could finish, the wisp of green smoke drifting gracefully above the tombstone suddenly stirred, shooting straight toward them.

The Rhodess: "!!!"

"Watch out!" Caspian Rhodes immediately moved to shield his grandparents and parents.

His uncle quickly pulled his wife and daughter behind him, and the other families reacted similarly.

However, to everyone’s surprise, this wisp of green smoke didn’t lash out at them like the black smoke from the other grave mounds. Instead, it leisurely drifted past them, bringing with it a faint warmth that made them feel instantly refreshed.

Mr. Rhodes instinctively reached out to grab it, but the green smoke swept past everyone without pausing, making a beeline for Arabella Donovan.

The Rhodess: "???" ’What’s going on? Ancestor, have you got the wrong person? She’s not one of our own, you can’t just go and touch her!’

Unfortunately, the green smoke didn’t seem to hear their pleas. It stubbornly did its own thing, excitedly floating over to Arabella Donovan. It didn’t touch her, just circled around her playfully. Finally, as if delighted, it swept up the nearby tin foil ingots and created a shower of them just for her.

The Rhodess: "!!!"

Arabella Donovan, dazed from being pelted by the tin foil ingots: "???" ’What is happening?’

Caspian Rhodes didn’t know the backstory, but Hector Donovan, who was standing guard nearby, almost immediately recalled the terrible news he’d learned not long ago. He stormed forward, furiously trying to physically bat the green smoke away.

"Shoo, shoo! Serena is a Donovan; she hasn’t got a single thing to do with you Rhodess. Go find your own family’s kids and stop pestering my sister!"

The scene made Caspian Rhodes rather awkward. He tentatively called out, "He’s right, Great-Grandfather. Come back. Serena really isn’t one of us Rhodess. Please don’t scare her."

Their words seemed to have some effect. The green smoke finally stopped bothering Arabella Donovan and floated over to Caspian Rhodes instead.

Caspian Rhodes’s heart leaped into his throat. Just as he was about to say something, he felt a sharp kick to his butt.

"???"

As if one kick wasn’t satisfying enough, the green smoke delivered another before anyone could react, and then it drifted away.

Caspian Rhodes, who had just been kicked twice for no apparent reason: "???" ’So, you went through all the trouble of manifesting just to kick me twice? What’s with the deep-seated grudge?’

Caspian Rhodes felt he’d been wronged, but then he glanced over at his other relatives running around in utter chaos and suddenly felt his own ancestor had actually gone easy on him. ℯℯ𝑙.

The whole farce lasted for an hour before finally subsiding. By then, everyone was a disheveled, dusty mess with their hair in wild disarray—everyone, that is, except for Caspian Rhodes’s immediate family, a few friendly relatives with clear consciences, and Arabella Donovan and her group.

Even Ian Jennings, who had only tagged along with Guinevere Rhodes to make an appearance, was caught in the crossfire. He took a few beatings and was trampled by several panicked youths, leaving his white suit covered in footprints. It was a comical sight, to say the least.

The younger generation members who had received "special attention" from the ancestors were bruised and battered, looking utterly wretched. What happened to the glamorous and elegant propriety they’d displayed upon arriving for the ancestral rites?

As the first to challenge Arabella Donovan, Ian Rhodes had also received some "special treatment" from his ancestors. Every inch of his body ached, and though still shaken by the ordeal, he directed all his anger at Arabella, the "prime culprit."

Seeing that the black smoke had completely dissipated, he suddenly felt bold again. Trembling, he pointed a finger at Arabella Donovan and shrieked, "You enchantress! You’re an enchantress! This all happened because of you! You ruined our ancestral rites! You have to answer for this!"

The others remained silent, but the looks they shot Arabella Donovan were icy. It was clear they, like Ian Rhodes, blamed her for everything that had just happened.

The expressions of Hector Donovan and the others in his group darkened, and they instinctively wanted to step forward and give them a beating.

In contrast to their simmering anger, Arabella Donovan was far calmer.

She gave them a peculiar look, truly unable to comprehend their logic.

"You still want an explanation from me? At first, you questioned my words and demanded I give you one. I did, and you all saw with your own eyes what was happening at your ancestral graves. You even got to have the ’precious experience’ of being chased by your ancestors’ resentment. Now that the resentment has dissipated, you’re demanding another explanation? Are you not at all afraid they’ll come back for you?"

As soon as Arabella Donovan said this, the group, who had been tormented for the past hour, shivered involuntarily.

"Y-You... stop trying to scare us with that alarmist nonsense! The black smoke is gone, how could they possibly come back?"

"The black smoke is gone, yes, but that doesn’t mean your ancestors’ resentment has vanished along with it. What just happened was merely an appetizer. If you continue to refuse to see reason, they’ll come for you again, sooner or later. As for when... that might just depend on their mood. It could be a month from now, a week, or perhaps even tonight. It all comes down to your luck."

This was no idle threat from Arabella Donovan. The display of black smoke had been large and intimidating, but in reality, it was merely the resentment of the deceased bubbling to the surface.

The souls of the dead—regardless of whether they had reincarnated—cannot simply appear in the world of the living at will.

But after today’s events, these ancestors had surely realized that while they couldn’t appear before their descendants in the flesh, it didn’t mean they couldn’t use a medium—like the manifested black smoke—to teach their unfilial progeny a lesson.

Visiting them in their dreams, for example, was one of the most efficient methods with the fewest lingering consequences.

Arabella Donovan’s gaze swept over Ian Rhodes and the other young people behind him one by one. The mix of inquiry and pity in her eyes made the hair on their arms stand up.

"Y-You... stop trying to scare us with this nonsense! We’ll never believe you."

"Believe it or not, it’s no loss to me."

"You!"

"Enough!"

Ian Rhodes wanted to keep arguing, but Mr. Rhodes cut him off impatiently. "Miss Donovan is an honored guest we specifically invited. She’s not some stray you can offend whenever you please. This ends now. Go and see if you can offer the incense."

"If you succeed, all the better. If you can’t, don’t force it. Go home and find some masters to assess the situation for yourselves. At the end of the day, they’re your own elders. I doubt they’d actually kill you. Just... be careful from now on."

The crowd: "..." ’Not kill them? After the display they just put on, that wasn’t a sure thing at all!’