CHAPTER 852: CHAPTER 852: RANKING OF THE EIGHT GREAT FAMILIES

Mo Qingkuang said nothing, but upon closer inspection, his hands were trembling slightly.

Having lived for hundreds of years, his self-restraint was naturally excellent. But no matter how poised he was, being called brain-dead by a great-great-grandson to his face was something he couldn’t possibly ignore.

Hundreds of years, hundreds of years, he really hadn’t been this furious before.

He’s angry, the ancestor is angry! Mo Gaoyi noticed Mo Qingkuang’s trembling hands, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest, fearing that the old ancestor would, in anger, slap his treasured son to death.

He wanted to say something, but seeing the way the old ancestor’s eyebrows twitched, he found himself speechless.

"This son of yours is well-taught." It took Mo Qingkuang a lot to resist the urge to slap Mo Yanhong to death, suppressing his anger, he coldly said to Mo Gaoyi, stood up, and left.

Mo Gaoli was terrified by Mo Yanhong’s "audacity," and quickly followed behind Mo Qingkuang. However, before leaving, he didn’t forget to bow deeply to Han Yan, though knowing the old ancestor was in a foul mood, he dared not say much.

"Old ancestor, why are you leaving? Let me help you." Seeing Mo Qingkuang leaving, Mo Yanhong didn’t bother with Han Yan anymore and hurried to assist Mo Qingkuang.

"Scram!" Mo Qingkuang held it in and held it in, but eventually couldn’t anymore, shouting in anger.

Mo Yanhong was startled, standing there foolishly staring at the old ancestor, puzzled as to why he suddenly got angry.

"Are you wondering why I’m angry? Because... I’m brain-dead." Mo Qingkuang said through gritted teeth. He initially didn’t want to speak, but he had to vent a bit to relieve his anger.

Even a clay Buddha has a bit of earth’s nature, let alone a human being. Even if he’s an old monster who lived for hundreds of years, he is still human.

"Uh..." Mo Yanhong was completely stunned. The ancestor said he was brain-dead, what does that mean? Mo Yanhong vaguely realized he might have said something wrong.

Mo Qingkuang didn’t even glance at Mo Gaoyi and Mo Yanhong, disappeared instantly.

After a long while, everyone heard a long cry from a distant mountain peak, it seemed, the Mo Family ancestor was quite angry.

The room was silent, although Mo Qingkuang had left, the invisible pressure seemed to linger, even Huayue and the others resisted the urge to burst into laughter.

"Dad, what exactly happened, did I say something wrong?" The atmosphere was too eerie, Mo Yanhong couldn’t help but ask.

"I’ll beat you, you bastard, for your big mouth, for your bragging, you are the brain-dead one." Mo Gaoyi slapped Mo Yanhong to the ground, then rushed up and started beating him.

Soon, people heard Mo Yanhong’s wailing and sobbing.

...

"Hahahaha, I’m dying of laughter." Only when Mo Gaoyi dragged the badly battered Mo Yanhong out like a dead dog, did Jiang Yuzhe burst out laughing.

"Calling his ancestor brain-dead, utterly rebellious, absolutely rebellious." The usually stoic Huayue also smiled, sighing.

Even Zirong, who was depressed about Yu Qingwan, couldn’t help but show a hint of a smile.

"Indeed, the younger wave overtakes the old, this Mo Yanhong, truly the upstart, truly the upstart." Ji Gaoxian and others also said with smiles.

"I used to hear people talk about being ’father-pit,’ and I didn’t understand, but now I’ve finally witnessed it. I guess with this son, Mo Gaoyi’s position as the family head is in jeopardy." Jiang Yuzhe said gleefully.

Han Yan smiled but said nothing, thinking high of Mo Gaoyi, but he was actually despicable and unloving, ruthless to even his own brother. Although the Mo Family’s matters had nothing to do with her, she still felt some indignation at the thought of such cunning being rewarded with the Mo Family head’s position.

"Not necessarily." Weng Yixiao shook his head and said, "Mo Gaoyi may have poor character, but as a family head, he has some skills. The Mo Family maintaining its position among the Eight Great Families these years is partly due to the old ancestor’s reputation and partly due to Mo Gaoyi’s methods.

Over the years, Mo Gaoyi has been the sole ruler in the Mo Family, with other Mo Family members having no chance to rise. Truly disposing of Mo Gaoyi would leave the Mo Family leaderless, turning them into a scattered group.

So no matter how angry the old ancestor is, he won’t easily remove him from the family head position."

Han Yan agreed with Weng Yixiao’s words. Being the head of the family is not akin to being a saint; without a bit of cunning and strategy, it’s impossible. With the current state of the Mo Family, unless there’s a better candidate, Mo Qingkuang would never remove Mo Gaoyi from his position.

Although it felt somewhat regretful, this was one of the reasons the family had survived to the present.

"Moreover, now the Capital is in uncertainty, with the Mu Family and Yan Family at odds, the Qu Family rising strongly, other families like the Song, He, and Fang are also ready to move, and the Mo Family ranks last among the Eight Great Families, any misstep could push them out of the list. In such a situation, the Mo Family ancestor would not act rashly." Shen Moce pondered and said.

"So how does the Mu Family and the other families rank?" Curious, Han Yan asked, as she had been in Heishi City for long and only traveled for cultivation in past lives, not knowing about the Capital’s Eight Great Families’ ranking.

"You don’t know?" Shen Moce looked at Han Yan in surprise. As a Mu Family disciple and the grandson of the family head, she didn’t even know her own family matters?

However, he quickly realized that Han Yan had been in Heishi City and had just returned for a few days, reportedly having poor relations with the Zong Family’s disciples, thus wouldn’t be aware of the Capital families’ inside stories.

"According to the last ranking, the Eight Great Families in the Capital are Yan, Mu, Qu, Changsun, Song, He, Fang, and Mo. However, strengths have shifted over the years, with outsiders seeing the Yan and Changsun families as the strongest, followed by the Mu and Qu families, with the Song, He, Fang, and Mo families behind.

Of course, this is just outsiders’ speculation, the true strength would only be known when a new ranking is determined." Shen Moce continued.

Han Yan then realized the Mu Family’s strength within the Eight Great Families was neither the strongest nor the weakest, ranking third or fourth, its former glory as one of the Capital’s leading families a thing of the past.

"So how is this ranking determined?" Han Yan asked curiously.

"Every three hundred years, the Eight Great Families hold a competition; several other wealthy families also participate. Calculating it, the next competition should be next year. Old Master Mu summoning you back to the Zong Family is likely for this, did he not tell you?" Shen Moce explained.