Chapter 414: You’re Quite the Two-Faced Girl
The shout had an immediate effect. The crowd, who had been at each other’s throats and ready for mutual destruction, abruptly stopped arguing and turned in unison to look toward Caspian Rhodes and his family.
The Rhodes family members, who had suddenly become the center of everyone’s attention: "..."
As everyone could see, Caspian Rhodes’s family had successfully placed their incense in the burner while everyone else was still reeling from the first mishap. By now, it had been burning for quite some time.
"Your incense is... fine?"
The five members of Caspian Rhodes’s family exchanged glances. They knew the situation was turning ugly, but they still answered truthfully, "Yes, it’s fine."
The elders who had handled the incense moments before immediately crowded around, staring at the sticks inside the burner for a long moment.
A clan uncle was the first to speak. "The incense you used—did you bring your own?"
At these words, First Uncle’s face darkened. ’That old bastard still hasn’t given up!’
Fortunately, the words from Caspian’s father completely shattered the clan uncle’s last shred of hope. "No, we used the same incense as everyone else, all of it just received from the ancestral hall."
The clan uncle pursed his lips, still unwilling to concede. He shot a meaningful glance at one of the younger family members.
The young man understood the signal and quickly stepped forward to inspect the remaining half-pack of incense Caspian’s family had. He confirmed that from the packaging to the contents, it was identical to their own packs in every way.
Just then, Guinevere Rhodes, who had been quiet and hiding in the back of the crowd, spoke up in a low, needling voice, "How could it be such a coincidence? Everyone else’s incense had a problem, but not the pack from Caspian’s family. Don’t tell me that out of all us descendants, only Cousin Caspian has won the unique favor of our ancestors?"
Her words were clearly meant to stir up resentment, not to mention they hinted that Caspian’s family had tampered with the incense to bolster his own reputation.
Caspian Rhodes keenly felt the gazes of all the young people in the crowd instantly converge on him, sharp as knives, as if they wanted to flay him alive.
’We’re all descendants of the same ancestors, so what makes you so special that you get their approval?’ Whether or not it was true didn’t matter; even if it were, they would never admit it!
A few of the elders, who felt they had utterly lost face earlier, thought it over, then simply took the half-pack of incense from Caspian’s family. They lit it and tried to make their offerings again, but predictably, they couldn’t escape the same fate—the incense sticks all broke at once.
𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
"This..." Seeing this, the few elders who were already somewhat superstitious became genuinely frightened.
’Could it be? Are the ancestors really making their presence known from the underworld? Are they displeased with us, their descendants?’
"What are we going to do? Are the ancestors displeased with us? Or did one of you do something to offend them, making them so angry they refuse to even acknowledge us or accept our offerings?"
Who would dare take the blame for that? Incurring the ancestors’ wrath, causing a supernatural omen, and making a spectacle of themselves during the family-wide ancestral rites.
The accusation was too grave. Once it stuck, they’d never be able to clear their name. If word got out, who would dare do business with them? This was tantamount to cutting off their livelihood—a death sentence!
For a moment, everyone fell silent, shrinking like frightened quails.
After some time, that familiar voice piped up from the crowd again. "If the ancestors are this restless in the afterlife, perhaps something unfortunate has happened to them. Shouldn’t we find someone to take a look, just to put everyone’s minds at ease?"
The moment that voice spoke out, everyone’s gaze immediately focused on its source.
’Well, well, if it isn’t you again! Hiding in the back and quietly watching the show is one thing, but you just have to pop out at the most critical moments to fan the flames. You really just want to see the world burn, don’t you? The Rhodes family is so lucky to have you.’
Caspian Rhodes’s heart skipped a beat. He turned his head and, sure enough, saw that Arabella Donovan and her companions had moved closer at some point. They were standing in a line behind the crowd, each holding a handful of sunflower seeds, casually cracking them open.
Caspian Rhodes: "..." ’So they’re really just treating my family’s drama like a free show, huh?’
Guinevere Rhodes’s words served as a reminder to the panic-stricken elders. "Yes, yes! The ancestors must be trying to tell us something, which is why they resorted to such a drastic method! We have to find a master to take a look as soon as possible. That’s the only way to know what they want to tell us."
Most of those present agreed with this, but where to find a master at such short notice was another thorny issue.
Right at that moment, however, someone else chimed in. "Why is this even a headache? Didn’t Cousin Caspian bring a master here today? Said she was going to check the feng shui of our ancestral graves, right? If she’s a truly skilled master, capable enough to read feng shui, then I’m sure she can figure out the cause of this little mishap we’re having, don’t you think?"
Caspian Rhodes’s heart dropped. The elder Mr. Rhodes and the others also instantly realized something was amiss. Their gazes toward Guinevere Rhodes and her brother grew sharp and probing.
Arabella Donovan’s seed-cracking hand froze. She never imagined that being a spectator could get her hit by a stray bullet.
’Help me! How on earth did the topic suddenly turn to me?’
Hearing this, the Rhodes family elders were also taken aback. They turned to look at Caspian’s family, and the suspicions they had just managed to suppress began to bubble up again.
"Mr. Rhodes," one of the elders asked, "Is what that young man from the third branch said true? Did you really hire a master to check the feng shui of the ancestral graves?"
The elder Mr. Rhodes didn’t speak. Instead, Mrs. Rhodes chuckled and said, "She’s the child of a relative who grew up in a Sacred Temple and learned a few esoteric skills. She just happened to be free and came along with us for the trip. If you really want to get to the bottom of what happened today, it would be safer to find an established master. This girl is too young; I’m afraid she can’t live up to such high expectations."
Mrs. Rhodes saw the situation clearly. Their family being the only one whose worship went smoothly had already made them a target. Pushing Arabella Donovan into the spotlight now would be bad for both their family and Arabella herself.
If this wasn’t handled carefully, all the blame could end up on Arabella’s shoulders. So, her first instinct was to refuse.
Unfortunately, Guinevere Rhodes and her brother weren’t willing to let them off the hook so easily. They were dead set on forcing Arabella Donovan into the spotlight.
"Oh, Grandmother, you’re being too modest," Guinevere said. "This Miss Donovan is a famous internet master. A single clip from her livestream got tens of millions of views, and she gained a million followers in just a few days. She’s a real, bona fide master, you know."
Guinevere’s tone was, as usual, dripping with sarcasm. The expressions of Caspian and his family darkened. Just as they were about to retort, they heard a small stir from Arabella Donovan’s direction.
’Hmm?’
’Tens of millions of views and a million followers? How come I, the person in question, know nothing about this? Don’t tell me someone’s impersonating me online?’
Everyone was speechless. "..." ’Are your priorities a little skewed?’
’And I wonder who it was that was so passive-aggressively mocking me before, both to my face and behind my back, for being young, inexperienced, and unskilled, saying I only knew a few flashy tricks to fool the public. How much time has passed for me to suddenly become a ’real master’? Well, I’ll be. This girl really is two-faced, isn’t she?’