He could see the boy flinch after hearing him shout with a hateful gaze but instead of speaking, the boy quietly left.
...
The funeral happened the next day. Nobody except for Ye Mochen had lost his life in the recent battle.
Ye Wuchen and Ye Zhenyu stood side by side. The rest of the clan members paid their respects before leaving but the five men whose lives Ye Mochen had saved, stayed.
They were filled with guilt for being unable to bring Ye Mochen back to the clan a few minutes early. If they did then they could have save their benefactors life.
Ye Zhenyu ignored the five men and looked at his grandson. "That boy Ye Yaming. He has an ominous aura, his whole lineage, his mother, his grandfather, everyone of them had caused us losses. Do not be together with him."
Ye Wuchen blinked, caught off guard. He had not expected his grandfather to drop a truth bomb like this. A curse? And not only one guy but his whole lineage?
His father had just died and his grandfather was more focused on who to avoid??
"Even during your father’s death, he was around. Your father had been alive when he was brought here but couldn’t survive a few more minutes until the doctors of the clan arrived." Ye Zhenyu explained as glanced at the five men for acknowledgement.
The five of them were not there when Ye Mochen had died but they had seen Ye Yaming before leaving to call for other elders and doctors. They nodded in acknowledgement, the boy had indeed been there when they had arrived.
They were unsure if the boy was really ominous, though.
"Elder.. that boy.." One of the five wanted to ask questions about Ye Yaming. He was aware that the boy was from the lineage of the previous clan leader.
"Dismissed. You can take my warning to your heart or ignore it. Since Mochen did his best to save your life, I decided to give you a warning." Ye Zhenyu was not in the mood to explain himself. He just warned them because they had waited for him and his grandson unlike the rest.
"What you do is up to you." He added. They could choose to believe him or ignore him like the other elders did. He had nothing else to lose, his grandson was filial and wouldn’t go against his instructions, anyway.
The five of them nodded sincerely before and left after bowing down.
...
"Did you hear? The fragile looking boy, he is really ominous." The rumours about Ye Yaming had spread in the city. The men in the tavern were sitting and talking about the recent incident.
"The clan elder’s son was alive when he reached the clan but just being around the boy caused his death!" One of them had managed to get the insider gossip and bragged about it to everyone.
The commoners were excited to talk about a supernatural topic. Especially when the targets were someone they had seen around.
"Really? I heard that the boy was born with a curse. That’s why his body remains so weak." One of the men sitting around, commented. He had seen Ye Yaming and could confirm that the boy looked weak.
"Who knows? The boy’s mother died trying to cure him. It could be true." Another one softly added. There were rumours about the boy’s mother dying due to him but they had been suppressed earlier.
Unfortunately, the recent rumours uncovered the stories and gossip from back then.
"It’s good that my children don’t play with him. The only ones who played with that boy were Ye Wuchen and Ye Ziyang. Ye Wuchen’s father is dead now." One of them commented, relieved.
"I heard from someone that he tried to take those two kids out of the clan, wanting to go somewhere but one of the adults stopped him." Another man added about the incident of Ye Yaming leading the two inner clan boys out with him carelessly.
"Who knows what runs in that boy’s head? Let’s be careful." Finally, the conversation ended.
...
"The rumours have been spread.." Ye Yaming, seated in his room, muttered. Not even a week had passed since the day of the funeral and the word had spread like wildfire.
He was aware of the rumours. How could he not when people literally talked behind his back when he went out and avoided him like plague?
One of the rumours was true. He was the reason behind Ye Mochen’s death. But why was Ye Zhenyu suspecting him? "But how did he know? He probably doesn’t."
He had not even smiled or showed some signs. Could the old man really sense something wrong with him?
"He said the whole lineage." He muttered as he recalled the exact words. The whole lineage part hinted that it was not really the specific incident.
"But what next? The clansmen are turning against me. I have to get my meal on my own, regularly." Leaving the topic of whether that old man suspected him or not, his normal life was being affected.
Even the meals that he only occasionally had to get for himself had become a regular chore now. The servants were the most superstitious and the Ye clan’s Raven bloodline just added to that fear.
No one from the servant quarter was willing to come to his courtyard to deliver his meals. They were willingly accepting punishments but not the chore.
He had even tried smiling at the easygoing Ye Ziyang but even that guy seemed fidgety and ignored him for some reason. Not to mention Ye Wuchen himself, the boy who always mocked him, looked confused but instead of talking he seemed to ignore Ye Yaming completely.
"It is partly my fault. I will do a favor to your son as an apology." Ye Yaming sighed as he made a promise to the dead Ye Mochen.
He was the reason behind that man’s painful death. So, he would pay him back by doing a favour to his only child.
If Ye Wuchen gets into some trouble, Ye Yaming would go out of his way to help that boy and then it would be over between them.
He would consider the debt settled!
...