"It’s alright, Ah Wen," Master Duan wiped his lips and then threw the napkin on his lap on the table. "There is no need for you to get angry over something so pathetic."
"But daddy——"
"Like I said, you are the heiress of the Duan family. You should be polite and calm," Master Duan huffed as he turned to look at his daughter who was enraged.
With his neatly permed grey hair and eyes, the mer said to his daughter, "Such matters should be left to me as I am the master of this house. You on the other hand should go to the company and deal with professional matters."
Duan Wen pursed her lips. She also agreed with her daddy, such petty matters were not hers to deal with as she was the head of the house.
Not to mention, she was a B-class hunter. Compared to this mer who was not even awakened, she was better in many ways.
What was the point of getting angry at someone like him?
"I understand Daddy," Duan Wen glared at Duan Jia Xu before taking her leave. She was quite upset over the fact that the first meal of the day was ruined like this because of her half-brother’s foolishness.
Master Duan watched his daughter leave, only then did he rise from the chair on which he was sitting.
He extended his hand and a servant habitually handed him a crop whip.
"Da…daddy Lei——"
"Insolent fool!" Master Duan raised his voice and flung the crop whip at Duan Jia Xu. "Who are you calling daddy? Do you think that with that dirty blood in your veins, you have the right to call me daddy!?"
"If not for the fact that your daddy stole my wife from me, do you think that you would be living such a prosperous life?"
As he spoke, he lashed the whip against Duan Jia Xu who cowered under the hits that were aimed at him.
"Patriarch! Patriarch, please let me off. I will not dare…I will not dare to say anything," Duan Jia Xu begged for mercy, he had gotten hit just a few days ago. If he was hit once more then he would not be able to get up from bed, as his injuries were not treated.
In case he fell sick then his little brother, Duan Jingli would be asked to work around the house as a slave.
Duan Jingli was still young and could not withstand such heavy punishments.
"Stop bullying my brother!" A childish voice roared in the living hall. It caught the attention of Master Duan and Duan Jia Xu.
A second later a small mer came to stand between Duan Jia Xu and Master Duan. He said to Master Duan, "Don’t bully my brother, you bad mer!"
While Master Duan looked enraged upon hearing Duan Jingli’s words, Duan Jia Xu was scared out of his wits.
"Good, very good!" Master Duan glowered at Duan Jia Xu. "You are really good, Duan Jia Xu. You actually taught this little bastard to disrespect me like this. However it is not a surprise, your daddy was an insolent little thing. No wonder he died so soon. He deserved it!"
As he spoke, he raised his hand to whip Duan Jingli.
"NO!" Duan Jia Xu screamed as he buried his brothers into his arms and turned his injured back to Master Duan who whipped him with the crop whip ruthlessly.
"Brother," when Duan Jingli saw that his brother was getting beaten up even more harshly than before his eyes turned red. All he wanted was to protect his brother, why did the situation turn even more serious?
"I am fine," Duan Jia Xu smiled at his brother. Even though he could feel a layer of his skin being peeled off, as blood seeped from his wounds, Duan Jia Xu smiled at his brother.
He could not let his brother feel hurt or guilty because of him. It was his fault for not being able to awaken after all, if he had awakened properly then he would have become a perfect shield to protect his brother.
But he was so useless that he couldn’t do anything.
Duan Jingli knew that his brother was not alright, the sound of hits was so harsh. How could his brother be alright!?
But Duan Jingli was sensible enough to not cry at that moment because he knew that the second he cried —— his brother would be beaten even more severely.
One of his friends who played with him told him that it was because Old Master Duan was a bad mer and he would feel happy if he cried.
This was why DuanJingli, despite being young, learned not to cry.
He buried his face in the neck of his elder brother and refrained from crying while Duan Jia Xu coaxed him silently.
No one knew how long the beating continued before Old Master Duan ordered, "Drag these two useless bastards in the attic. The elder one cannot awaken while the younger one is an idiot, they are eating and drinking my precious money and yet they dare to go against me humph!"
"Don’t give them any medicines or food for the next five days! Let them starve! Even water is forbidden. If I see anyone showing any mercy to them," Old Master Duan smacked the crop whip on his palm and threatened, "Just remember useless F-class hunters can be sold off and killed without any consequences!"
His threats scared off the servants and no one dared to even think about going against Old Master Duan’s orders.
They were small F-class hunters and the value of F-class hunters without a family background, in this world was less than a cat or dog.
They could be sold off as slaves or they could be killed or sent to dungeons.
Neither of them wanted such a thing to happen to them, thus they all lowered their heads and complied with the orders that were given to them.
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