“Duang——”
It was the sound of a giant hammer crashing down.
Su Weisheng roared aggressively, “That’s for secretly tearing up the talisman paper at night and refusing to enter the dream!”
His great-grandson let out a miserable wail. “Great-grandfather, I was wrong! Please don’t hit me—don’t hit me…”
“Duang——”
“That’s for slacking off in class and trying to outsmart me! You even dared to underestimate my little jade hammer?”
The great-grandson clutched his head with both hands, tears welling up in his eyes as he looked at the so-called “little jade hammer,” which was at least twice the size of his own head. His voice choked with emotion. “How could I possibly dare to underestimate your almighty sky-piercing hammer?!”
“Duang——”
“That’s for acting in that trashy drama and embarrassing me!”
The great-grandson struggled desperately in his final moments. “I won’t act anymore! I swear, I quit! I’ve kicked the acting addiction—isn’t that enough…”
“Duang——” But the merciless hammer came crashing down once more.
“That’s for failing to even master a simple swordsmanship and always giving up halfway! How do you even resemble a descendant of mine?!”
The great-grandson broke down completely. “Didn’t you say you’d only hit me three times? At this rate, it’s about to be thirty already!”
The great-grandfather spoke in an indifferent tone, “Consider the extra ones a bonus.” As he spoke, his slender wrist rotated skillfully, lifting the massive hammer for another swing. “That’s for talking back!”
Su Ran was on the verge of collapse, practically coughing up blood. With his last breath, he gasped, “I’m starting to suspect… the catastrophe that led to the end of our bloodline… was actually you beating me to death…”
“That won’t happen,” the man replied calmly. “The jade hammer is inscribed with special runes. It can shrink or expand at will, and it ensures that both your physical body and spirit feel pain—without causing any actual injuries.”
Su Weisheng had long been displeased with his great-grandson’s disgraceful behavior, especially after all the tricks he pulled to escape lessons. But he hadn’t rushed to discipline him. Instead, he had taken his time crafting this little hammer.
And now, after giving his great-grandson a well-deserved beating, he felt utterly satisfied. He pressed a mechanism to shrink the hammer, then twirled it in his hand with admiration. “I must say, this is an exceptionally effective descendant education hammer.”
The educated great-grandson: “……”
The surrounding onlookers, terrified of becoming the next target, all took a synchronized step back.
Fortunately, Su Weisheng was in a good mood and had no intention of taking out his anger on anyone else.
As expected, when dealing with hardheaded troublemakers who never learn their lesson, brute force was the most effective solution. Whether it was Su Laijin back in the day or Su Ran now—the treatment remained the same.
Using virtue to convince others is useless. From now on, he will use his hammer to do the talking.
Su Weisheng casually headed to the restroom to wash his hands, feeling refreshed. Along the way, he straightened his slightly disheveled collar.
The moment he left, the suffocating pressure vanished. Finally, a long sigh of relief was heard.
“Brother Ran, are you okay?” Bai Songyin hurried over, helping Su Ran up while curiously assessing the top star’s condition. Then, with a tone of amazement, he said, “Brother Ran, aside from your handsome face turning into a pig’s head, you don’t seem to have any broken bones or serious injuries. Great-grandfather really knows how to control his strength!”
Su Ran grimaced in pain. Upon hearing this, his blood boiled even more, and he wished he could kick Bai Songyin away on the spot. He snapped irritably, “Get lost, get lost, get lost…! When I was getting beaten up, you didn’t even dare to let out a fart, and now you’re here spouting nonsense? I swear I’ll dock all your pay!”
Bai Songyin secretly muttered to himself, What’s there to be scared of? Great-grandfather even pays me separately. But to avoid agitating Su Ran further, he chose to placate him nicely, “Brother Ran, if you ask me, you should just learn your lesson and listen to great-grandfather. Stop going against him. Think about it—has there ever been a time when your resistance didn’t end with you being beaten into submission?”
The best actor couple beside them nodded in deep agreement.
Who could deny it? It wasn’t just his Su Ran—everyone was the same. Anyone who dared to oppose Su Weisheng would always end up paying a miserable price.
Unfortunately, the Su Ran never seemed to learn.
Su Ran glared at him and said, “Do you think I want to go against great-grandfather? What the hell do you know? Who the fuck could actually survive that kind of training—” He abruptly cut himself off. Su Weisheng was back.
Su Weisheng walked out while wiping his hands with a facial towel. Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating his slender, well-proportioned fingers, which were even whiter and smoother than porcelain. A small white jade hammer was elegantly secured at his lean, soft waist, and as he moved, the hammer gently struck the silver chain it was attached to, producing a crisp, melodious ding-ding sound. It looked like a simple yet luxurious accessory, subtly enhancing the aura of authority that naturally surrounded him.
But when everyone’s gaze landed on the white jade hammer, a chill ran down their spines. No matter how elegant and exquisite the ornament seemed, no one could forget the terrifying sight of the large hammer swinging down on people.
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
Su Weisheng looked at Su Ran and asked, “So you’ve made up your mind? You don’t plan on acting anymore?”
The great-grandson mumbled hesitantly, “Something like that.”
“What do you mean by ‘something like that’?” Su Weisheng cast him a calm glance. His indifferent gaze made Su Ran feel as if he had been laid completely bare, like a sheet of blank paper with no secrets left unseen.
Su Weisheng said, “It’s not that you don’t want to act anymore—you just don’t think acting requires such rigorous training. You think I put you into the dream just to punish you.”
Xie Wei couldn’t help but interject, “Your acting skills have improved so much overnight, which shows how amazing your teacher must be. How could this possibly be just to discipline you? For most actors, even burning incense for a lifetime wouldn’t grant them such a profound opportunity to improve their acting skills. You got this chance but don’t cherish it!”
Su Ran glared at him, “What do you know? Do you know what kind of class it is? It’s easy for you to stand there and talk!”
“I don’t know because I never had the chance to know. If I got this opportunity, I’d be content even if I died!” Xie Wei retorted without backing down.
Su Ran sneered, “You said it.” Provoked by Xie Wei, his anger surged. He turned to Su Weisheng and proposed through gritted teeth, “Great-grandfather, let him attend the classes with me. If he can persist, I can too!”
Hearing this, Xie Wei was dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe there was such a good opportunity and exclaimed in surprise, “Is there such a good thing? Su Ran, are you really this kind-hearted? I misjudged you!” Ignoring the top star’s livid face, he turned to Su Weisheng and stammered, “Great-grandfather, can I… can I attend the classes too?”
Su Weisheng looked at his angry great-grandson, then at Xie Wei, who was overwhelmed with joy. Comparing their reactions, his expression gradually became subtle. Interesting, he didn’t expect these two to have such an intriguing chemistry.
It seems that educating children requires not only strict discipline but also tailored teaching.
“Yes.” He smiled and decided, “From today on, you two will attend the classes together.”
Seeing the two energetic young ones, Su Weisheng suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment. ‘Not bad,’ he thought, ‘it turns out that educating the younger generation is quite interesting. I can try new teaching methods in the future, but no matter which method, it must be combined with the descendant education hammer.’
After dealing with his great-grandson, Su Weisheng returned to the second floor and took a bath. He changed into a comfortable bathrobe and walked into the study. He flipped through his belongings and finally found the Su family’s genealogy at the bottom of his suitcase. Perhaps because he had just experienced the joy of educating children, it evoked memories of the past.
The genealogy was very old, but thanks to special preservation methods, the yellowed pages were still relatively clear.
Su Weisheng aimlessly flipped through the genealogy as he walked to the bedroom. He lazily sat cross-legged at the head of the bed, and the gentle breeze from the window happened to blow open a page. Seeing the handwriting on it, he felt a bit dazed.
He vaguely remembered that back then, he was also holding this genealogy to pass it on to the next generation.
【Old Calendar Year 950, Su Family Residence, High Priest’s Study.
Su Weisheng lazily leaned on the couch like an unkempt cat, with the genealogy rolled in his hand, and waved to his son, “Laijin, looking at you, I don’t think you have much hope of becoming the next High Priest. Forget it, being the clan leader is good enough. Come here, I’m giving you this genealogy in advance.”
The seventeen-year-old boy cheerfully sat down beside Su Weisheng and said, “Dad, I knew you loved me the most. You’re even giving me the position of clan leader instead of Laiyin!”
Without even lifting his eyelids, Su Weisheng ruthlessly exposed the truth, “Because your brother likes men, he will never have descendants in this lifetime, so it has to be given to you.”
“Ha, he’s a broken sleeve who won’t even have children. Doesn’t this just prove that Dad likes me the most?” Su Laijin proudly lifted his head. “Besides, I’m gold and he’s silver. In terms of value, you should love me more.”
Su Weisheng thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, “Indeed, you are worth more than your brother.” He took out the genealogy and explained nonchalantly, “According to the Su family’s tradition, each generation’s clan leader has their own genealogy page to personally write their autobiography. It’s generally used to boast about their great achievements for future generations to see. You’ll have to write yours in the future, too.”
Looking at the heavy genealogy representing the Su family’s history, Su Laijin’s eyes were filled with admiration. “Dad, your page of the autobiography must be about leading the Su family out of the mountains to quell the chaos, making the Su family famous and loved by the people, right? Unfortunately, I am incompetent and will never reach your heights in this lifetime.”
Tch, little sycophant.
Su Weisheng knocked on his forehead, but his lips curled up, feeling quite pleased.
“Quelling the chaos? No, of course, I wrote about more important things.” He proudly opened his genealogy page, which was densely packed with records of the treasures he had acquired on various days and months, filling an entire page. It looked more like a dragon’s hoard inventory than an autobiography.
Su Laijin was silent.
A moment later, he sighed softly, “This is indeed Dad’s style.”
For Su Weisheng, who had a severe hoarding habit, the amount of things he collected was his greatest achievement. It’s not an exaggeration to say he was a human packrat.】
Su Weisheng separated himself from his memories and couldn’t help but sigh. Time was indeed cruel. When he fell into a deep sleep, Su Laijin was still a child, but now he had long turned to dust. Although his own life was endless, his descendants, friends, and followers would be consumed by time. Eventually, even he would forget their existence.
He shook his head and shifted his attention to the genealogy to distract himself.
Su Weisheng looked at the densely written long page recording all the collected treasures and examined it carefully. He suddenly realized that the items on the list had long been emptied, leaving nothing behind.
Damn, the Su family’s unfilial descendants had been stealing things and selling them off based on his inventory!
In an instant, the melancholy disappeared, and the nostalgia for his son vanished as well. Su Weisheng’s blood pressure began to rise.
He picked up a small white jade hammer and lit a piece of talisman paper.
In the underworld, at the Su family’s old house.
Su Laijin and his three companions were playing mahjong with their neighbor, Old Jiang.
“Bingo!” Su Laijin slapped the mahjong tiles on the table with a triumphant expression. “I can’t believe my luck, winning three hands in a row! From unlucky to lucky, just like that.”
Su Yinian chuckled and stroked his beard, saying, “It’s all thanks to my father’s exceptional mahjong skills, not just luck.”
Su Cheng gave a thumbs-up, “Grandpa, you’re amazing!”
Old Jiang, looking at the three of them winning his money, grumbled, “You’ve had rotten luck for a hundred years, and suddenly winning three hands today? Be careful, you might run out of luck and get into trouble!”
“Pfft! Don’t curse me!” Su Laijin glared at him, “It’s rare that my father is busy and doesn’t have time to stream lately. He even has an assistant to help him. We finally have the chance to play mahjong again, and you’re cursing us? Be careful, we all might get unlucky!”
Su Cheng: “Exactly! Except for not entering my son’s dreams recently, everything else has been great. I don’t find playing mahjong in the underworld boring at all anymore. As long as the great-grandfather doesn’t summon us…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Su Laijin and the other two suddenly found themselves in a different place. As they opened their eyes, they saw the expressionless face of their ancestor.
Oh no—! The thing we feared the most has happened! And the Great Demon King’s mood looks terrible!
“Father?” Su Laijin called out nervously, trying to get closer. The next second, he saw his father slowly raising the giant white jade hammer.
Immediately, the screams and pleas for mercy began.
“Ow——Father, father, father, please spare me——!”
“Grandpa! Grandpa, stop hitting me… Ow!”
Ten minutes later, the three spirits, beaten black and blue, curled up in a corner, trembling. Su Weisheng stretched his muscles and bones, feeling refreshed. He wrote down a list of burial items that had been “squandered” by the three spirits and reminded them without looking up: “You better work hard and earn money in the underworld and pay off the debt to me as soon as possible.”
The saying “a person’s debt disappears upon death” might apply to ordinary people, but not to an ancestor who can chase you down to the underworld.
The burial items that had been sold to fulfill dreams back then now had to be returned even in death.
The three spirits sobbed: “We’ll repay, we’ll definitely repay!”
Su Weisheng nodded in satisfaction and continued to flip through the family genealogy. When he came to the page about Su Laijin, he frowned and brought up an old matter: “I remember you said before that you wrote in your autobiography that I had a confidant named Le’er. Is it Yuan Le who told you to write that?”
Su Laijin’s mind worked quickly, and he immediately shifted the blame: “Yes! Father, you don’t know, Yuan Le is simply insane! When he heard that you had fallen into a deep sleep, he wanted to dig up your coffin and take you away. I and the elders fought desperately to protect your coffin and prevented him from succeeding. Later, he was still not satisfied and insisted that I record his name in your family genealogy, saying that you two were betrothed and that even if you were asleep, he should become the High Priest’s husband!”
“Bah!” Su Laijin exclaimed, filled with righteous indignation. “Do I not know my father’s temperament? My father is not a homosexual, and he is homophobic. How could he possibly agree to give him a title? I was furious at the time, but I didn’t dare to offend him openly, so I reluctantly wrote his name in the genealogy. After he left, I immediately added a few strokes to the genealogy to change his name into a girl’s!”
Saying this, he proudly raised his chin and looked at Su Weisheng with a flattering gaze: “Father, did I do the right thing?”
The High Priest, Su Weisheng, who had deceived the previous emperor’s affection and was now considered homophobic by his son, felt a bit guilty under Su Laijin’s innocent gaze. He cleared his throat, shifted his gaze nonchalantly, and replied calmly: “Not bad, well done. Go back, and remember to continue teaching your great-grandson so he can succeed early.”
“Yes, I guarantee to complete the task!” The three indebted spirits of the Su family quickly slipped away, not staying a second longer.
After they left, Su Weisheng flipped through the genealogy again and noticed an extra detail. Since his time, the descendants of the Su family had continued with great difficulty. Each generation could only have children at the age of forty or fifty. Even if some left offspring at a young age, it was difficult for the children to survive.
The Su family had thus barely continued to Su Ran’s generation.
Su Ran…
Su Weisheng thought of the disaster of the bloodline’s severance and his expression gradually became subtle.
Hmm, it seems that the direct line might indeed end with this great-grandson.
Late at night, after the live broadcast ended, the great-grandson who was on his ancestor’s mind was lying on a neighbor’s sofa, resting. Bai Songyin carefully used a towel to apply a warm compress and improve blood circulation for him.
Little drama queen Song, full of curiosity, poked his head around, “Yikes… great-grandfather really hits hard. It looks painful.”
Su Ran glanced at him and complained indistinctly, “Isn’t that an understatement? Don’t just enjoy the show. If you really go to class, your husband will get the same treatment.”
But… does he really need to go to class? He was still hesitating.
Is it worth continuing to risk his life just to spite Xie Wei? It didn’t seem worth it.
Thinking about the talismans in the bedroom, Su Ran felt a headache and really didn’t have the courage to dream again.
Seeing Su Ran’s hesitant expression, Bai Songyin immediately understood his thoughts, “Brother Ran, are you having second thoughts again? With great-grandfather in charge, it’s impossible not to go to class under his watch.”
Yes, under Su Weisheng’s watch, there was no room to struggle.
——So the great-grandson wanted to run away.
“Hiss…”
He endured the pain of his swollen face and got up, “Bai Song, go back and pack my luggage for me. I’ll wait for you in the car…”
Bai Songyin widened his eyes, “Brother Ran, you really want to run away?!”
Su Ran glared at him coldly, “What, do you want to snitch? Bai Songyin, if you dare to snitch, don’t follow me anymore. Usually, it’s fine, but at critical moments, I don’t want a traitor.”
Bai Songyin sighed, “Brother Ran, of course I can keep quiet. But the problem is, can you escape?”
“As long as I don’t bring the talisman, I won’t dream. If I don’t dream, I don’t need to attend the class. Why can’t I escape?” Su Ran said irritably, standing up.
The best actor had just changed his clothes and came out, eager to attend the class with the top star. Seeing Su Ran about to run away again, he became anxious: “Are you backing out again? Su Ran, don’t let me look down on you!”
“You don’t understand anything. I’m running away to save your life. Don’t be ungrateful—Ow!!!” Su Ran suddenly felt a burning heat on his ear, it was the white jade earring. He reached up to take it off, only to find in horror that the earring, having recognized its owner with a drop of blood, was firmly fixed and impossible to remove.
The next second, a thunderous roar exploded in Su Ran’s ear: “You unfilial son——!”
“You unfilial grandson!”
“You unfilial great-grandson, you still want to run? No way, attend the class obediently, you can’t escape!”
Su Ran’s vision went black.
Damn it, is this the special function of the white jade earring that great-grandfather mentioned? Through the earring, ghosts from the underworld can contact him anytime, day or night, wherever he is????
Why did such absurd things happen!
He had no time to resist and felt his mind go blank for a moment. The next thing he knew, he had been pulled into a dream, with Xie Wei beside him, looking utterly confused and at a loss.
“What… what’s going on?” Xie Wei was dumbfounded. One moment he was at home, and the next, he found himself on a battlefield with shouts and cries.
The key thing was that the soldiers on the other side were staring at them fiercely, but they remained motionless, as if frozen. What was this? Was this the legendary acting class arranged by great-grandfather, known for making Su Ran’s acting skills improve by leaps and bounds?
Before he could figure out what was happening, the first round of practical acting lessons had already ended. Since it involved twirling swords, which they had never learned before, they didn’t perform well.
Three old men approached them, speaking very politely: “Grandson, you didn’t get into character just now. To urge your improvement, I have to give you a slap.”
“Mr. Xie, as a talented actor, how could you perform so poorly? To motivate you, I have to give you two slaps.”
Before Xie Wei could understand what was going on, a big slap landed on the top of his head.
“Pia——”
“Pia——”
Very polite words, very ruthless slaps.
“What the…?” Best Actor Xie was completely stunned by the slap and had no time to resist before another round of practical lessons began.
The enemy soldiers, full of murderous intent, had already charged at them.
Xie Wei and Su Ran scrambled to grab their long swords and fight back. But without any combat skills, they were defeated within a minute.
The practical lesson failed again.
“Pia——”
“Pia——”
“Pia——”
The slaps always arrived as expected.
After countless rounds, the numerous slaps had left the two of them dazed and confused. When the final round ended, Best Actor Xie lay on the ground, foaming at the mouth, and incredulously asked Su Ran, “Is this… the reason your acting skills improved so quickly?”
Su Ran, barely alive, replied, “I… told… you… not to attend… the class… run away… my only act of kindness towards you… and you didn’t take it… you’re an idiot, aren’t you…?”
The three teachers were furious: “Stop talking nonsense and answer this—did you learn the basic sword techniques or not? Didn’t you! You learned it in less than one night! Is there any faster, higher-quality teaching than this?”
The two students forced to improve: “…”
The next day, Su Weisheng was downstairs having breakfast when a WeChat message popped up on his phone.
Jiang Jinbao: Wow, Grandpa, you’re amazing! The website I was working for is about to go bankrupt after the new owner took over…
Su Weisheng was just about to reply when he heard a commotion upstairs. He turned his head and vaguely saw two people walking in a crooked manner, looking like odd creatures from a movie.
What is that?
Upon closer inspection, he realized—oh, it’s the best actor and the top star. What a pair of deeply bonded brothers in misfortune!
