As soon as the door opened, a woman had already entered.

She looked to be around thirty, wearing cheap rouge, and greeted them in a shrill voice. Behind her were several honest-looking middle-aged men.

“These people…”

Samuel Bennett frowned.

These people all seemed to be relatives of his family, but it had been many years since they’d had any contact.

For them to show up now…

“Why are you all here?”

After a sleepless night, Mrs. Bennett’s face didn’t look good.

“Auntie, the clan already knows about Second Uncle. We’ve come today to help arrange his funeral.”

The woman sighed, “Second Uncle never enjoyed much in life. Now that he’s gone, at least let him have a grand send-off, don’t you think?”

“Fu… funeral.”

Mrs. Bennett’s face turned pale, her body swaying: “Your Second Uncle is only missing, he… he’ll come back, he’ll come back.”

By the end, her voice had grown faint.

“Auntie!”

The woman stepped forward and took Mrs. Bennett’s hand: “Don’t you know how the yamen works? That Liu with the three-foot beard would never give Second Uncle any compensation!”

“That’s right, Auntie. It’s been days already, we can’t delay any longer.”

The men all chimed in.

“This…”

Mrs. Bennett was at a loss, helpless.

“Auntie, what are you hesitating for? Just nod, and your niece-in-law will handle everything perfectly. You won’t have to worry about a thing!”

Seeing that Mrs. Bennett seemed persuaded, the woman’s tone grew even gentler, though her shrill voice was still grating to the ear.

“This isn’t just something that needs to be done—it needs to be done in a big way!”

At that moment, someone else echoed her.

“That’s right, that’s right!”

The middle-aged woman nodded, then grew wary, glancing around—only to see a pale-faced youth leaning against the door, staring at her coldly.

Watching these “relatives” in the courtyard with cold eyes, Samuel Bennett felt a fire burning in his chest.

Having lived two lives, he was no mere country boy—how could he not know what these people were after?

Picking a house clean!

He’d heard of it before: whenever the man of a family died, the clan would come and take everything of value, not even sparing the pots and pans.

They’d even use the funeral as an excuse to come every day, forcing the family to host banquets, making everyone come to eat, until the household was picked clean—utterly emptied!

Until the house and land were all handed over, forcing the women to leave, or even hang themselves!

It was said that the famous courtesan Liu Rushi was driven to hang herself at home by such treatment, and even after her death, her family’s property was still taken!

Samuel Bennett never imagined that one day he’d face such a thing himself.

“This must be little Yu, right?”

The woman’s face stiffened, but she quickly forced a smile: “Haven’t seen you in a year, and you’re already a grown man.”

“Little Yu.”

Mrs. Bennett breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly pulling her hand free from the woman’s grasp and stepping back a few paces.

“Grandma.”

Samuel Bennett glanced at the people in the courtyard, then looked at the old woman, speaking gently: “Pick a suitable day and arrange Grandpa’s funeral.”

“But…”

Mrs. Bennett hesitated, but seeing the determination in Samuel Bennett’s eyes, she could only nod in agreement.

“Little Yu is absolutely right!”

The woman had thought there’d be more trouble, but seeing things settled, her face lit up with joy:

“What’s the point of picking a day? Today is the perfect day!”

“Not today!”

Samuel Bennett shook his head. Seeing the woman’s displeasure, he added, “At the very least, we should wait for the yamen’s compensation.”

He paused, then added:

“Constable Harris promised me this.”

“Constable Harris?”

The woman was taken aback, her eyes darting as she hesitated: “But the yamen always drags things out. What if it takes a year or more?”

‘They really can’t wait.’

Samuel Bennett’s eyes turned cold, and he gritted his teeth to suppress his anger: “In three days, the compensation will come. Even if it doesn’t, Grandpa’s funeral will still be held then.”

“Well…”

The woman hesitated for a moment, but seeing the men had no objections, she finally nodded in agreement.

“Sigh.”

After sending them off, Mrs. Bennett let out a long sigh, looking even more haggard: “Little Yu, what are we going to do…”

Having lived most of her life, how could she not know what these people wanted?

But what could she do about it?

The family’s fields and even the house were all registered with the clan. Even if they went to the authorities, they couldn’t win.

“Grandma, give me the land deeds and house deeds.”

Slamming the door shut, Samuel Bennett was still fuming.

For a moment, he’d wanted to draw his knife and kill them all.

But even if he killed these people, there would be others, and if he got caught, Grandma would truly have no hope left.

“You want to sell the land? That won’t work. The deeds are all registered with the clan—no one will buy them…”

The old woman shook her head repeatedly.

Samuel Bennett gritted his teeth, but smiled:

“Sell to them, of course they won’t want it. But what if we give it to them?!”

Chapter Four: The Ghost-Headed Broadsword