Expelled

After washing away the dirt and grime from his body, Ye Chen stood in front of a cracked mirror, his reflection distorted by the uneven surface.

His skin was covered in faint bruises, and he felt the soreness in his limbs, but surprisingly, he wasn't as injured as he had expected.

His fingers brushed over the herbs in his ring, and a bitter smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Third-grade herbs… back then, this would have been nothing more than garbage. Damn it, the original owner was a fool! There's no savings or fortune, nothing like what a typical protagonist would have."

He closed the ring, his hands moving with a surprising steadiness.

Even without much left in his spatial ring, he wasn't too concerned.

Just as he finished bandaging his wounds, an elder from the Ye family stepped into the courtyard.

His face was stern, and the disgust in his eyes was impossible to miss.

"Ye Chen...the patriarch has summoned you. Don't make him wait."

Ye Chen glanced up, meeting the elder's disdainful gaze. He could already guess what this was about.

"Here we go again, that relentless aura of undying hatred before the rise,"

Ye Chen thought. He wasn't a stranger to such plots, having been an avid reader in his previous life.

Though he couldn't recall which novel he was in, the theoretical experience from all those transmigration and reincarnation stories came in handy.

Even if this was the real world, he didn't care about being mocked.

Without a word, he stood up, ignoring the ache in his bones, and followed the elder.

Soon..Ye Chen entered the main hall, the atmosphere shifted.

There was no warmth, no acknowledgment of the boy who had once been the clan's shining star.

Now, the gazes that met him were cold, filled with contempt.

At the head of the hall sat the patriarch, a man with a commanding presence.

His eyes narrowed as they fell on Ye Chen, lips curling into a sneer.

To his sides, the other elders watched, some whispering to each other, their voices carrying across the room.

"Look at him. Disgusting."

"He has the nerve to show his face here after everything?"

"He's lucky we haven't thrown him out yet. A rapist doesn't belong in our family."

Ye Chen ignored their words, his face expressionless.

He had heard worse already.

The patriarch cleared his throat, silencing the whispers.

"Ye Chen... You've tarnished the name of our ancestors. Being a waste is one thing, but you dared to defile Young Master Long's woman, forcing us to face the wrath of an immortal clan. Do you even understand what you've done? Even if I killed you a thousand times, it wouldn't be enough to atone for such a sin. Out of respect for your parents, who have done the Ye Clan a great favor in the past, I won't make things too difficult for you. But now, it's time for you to hand over the family token."

Patriarch Ye Shaodu spoke, his voice booming as the mighty aura of a Gold Core realm expert surged around him. The air rippled with his endless majesty, pressing down on everyone in the vicinity.

A few elders chuckled at the patriarch's words, their scornful gazes never leaving Ye Chen.

"It's a wonder he hasn't already been kicked out,The entire city saw what he did."

"Offending the Long Clan and disgracing us all in the process… He should have known better than to interfere."

Hearing this...

The Young man reached into his robe and pulled out the family token, Without a word, he stepped forward and handed it to the patriarch.

The patriarch sneered as he accepted it, holding it up for all to see.

"As of today, you are no longer the member of the Ye family. You are expelled."

The moment the words left the patriarch's mouth, the elders erupted into laughter, their mockery echoing through the hall.

"So, it's finally done! The Ye family is free of this disgrace!"

"Good riddance. We can't have someone like him dragging us down any further."

Young man stood still, his face unreadable.

Their words bounced off him like wind against a mountain. His focus was elsewhere.

'Now that I'm free, should I jump off a cliff or head to the Evil Forest? As the son of fortune, soon enough I'll grasp the heavens, opportunities after opportunities.'

'No, before that, I should wait for my fiancée and shout at her, 'Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west... Classic Protagonist move, haha!'

'No, that's cringe—forget it,'

The Young Man thought, finding the idea amusing. But shortly after, Ye Chen realized how deep he was in trouble.

The original Ye Chen had seen Young Master Long assaulting a woman.

Even without cultivation, he had tried to stop it, but it was all a setup.

The woman was just Young Master Long's bitch.

As soon as Ye Chen intervened, she had cried out, accusing him of being the rapist.

The woman was also from a powerful family in Xiaglan City.

With Ye Chen's bad luck and the way the protagonist's misfortunes attracted ridicule, the scandal spread, and he became known rapist throughout the city.

Even though the Ye Clan knew he was innocent, who would take stand for a waste like him?