Reincarnating as Itachi in a cultivation world!

Shen Feng swallowed nervously before speaking. "Brother, it was like this… Xiao Chen walked into the bar and sat at our table. He started drinking our wine—wine that we paid for! Knowing the relationship between our families, I politely told him to stay away."

Without taking a single break Shen Feng continued, "But then… then he started taunting me! He called our Shen Clan useless bastards who only climbed to the top by bullying everyone around us, and he wouldn't stop bringing up Mo Qingyun and how I wasn't worthy of looking at her and I should break my friendship with her, and despite him being a cripple, he was better than me as he was getting married to her!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Did he, now?"

Itachi was pretty sure that there must've been something else going on after all his brother wasn't the polite kind either, but knowing his brother's personality and his attitude towards him, despite his side of the story, being slightly exaggerated, he was sure that Xiao Chen was clearly the one provoking him.

Is this the story of a reincarnated protagonist or is he some old monster dead and reborn into the body of this brat. Seems like I wouldn't be resting anytime soon. Itachi thought to himself as he asked Shen Feng, "And tell me, Feng—do you like this Qingyun?"

Shen Feng's face turned red. "W-What? No- I mean yes but no..."

He nervously spouted a bunch of yes and no before he took a deep breath, "We are just friends. And like everyone else, I am an admirer of her talents and beauty! But I've never even thought about courting her!"

"At least you know your place!" Before Itachi could respond, Xiao Chen let out a scoff. "A frog wanting to eat swan's meat," he muttered under his breath.

"You bastard!" Shen Feng shouted, nearly lunging at Xiao Chen before Itachi grabbed the back of his robes, yanking him backward like a misbehaving dog.

"Control yourself," Itachi said, his voice cold as ice. "And you Xiao Chen, don't escalate things!"

Itachi turned towards Xiao Lian, hoping she would get his hint and control her brother. For a moment it seemed like she got it only to leave him speechless in the next.

"Little Chen, please watch your words!" Xiao Lian interjected, reprimanding her brother, though her tone carried a softness that bordered on indulgence. She hugged him ever tightly than before, looking lovingly in his eyes as if nothing else mattered in this world than her brother.

The dynamic between the two siblings was starting to grate on Itachi. Despite Xiao Lian's scolding, the pair of them acted like he could plunge a dagger into someone's throat and follow it up with, "Oops, my brother didn't mean it."

Itachi's annoyance bubbled just beneath the surface, but his smile remained intact. He turned to Xiao Chen, his voice low and dangerously calm. "And you, Xiao Chen—do you agree that's what happened? If not please tell me your side of the story."

Xiao Chen, his defiant glare never wavering, snorted. "Agree or not, does it even matter? Can anyone stand against the Shen Clan? You're all the same—ruffians, drunk on your power. Even if I spoke the truth, it would mean nothing against your family's arrogance."

"I promise on the name of my clan, that if there has been and injustice towards you. I'll be sure to serve punishment due diligently even if the perpetrator is my own brother." Itachi said his lips starting to twitch.

"Your clan? Your brother?" Xiao Chen smirked with a mocking tone, "Didn't they pick you up from the streets. I am sure your words don't mean squat within the Shen Clan."

"You..." Shen Feng had enough as he pulled out his sword, he had had it with this trash and his filthy mouth. Insulting his brother when he was trying to mediate the situation. "You must have lost it, right?"

"Your broken cultivation might've just spread to your head." Shen Feng moved forward ready to strike, "Death is the only fix for you!"

Shen Feng lauched a strike but before it could reach him, Itachi caught his sword by the blade stopping it in its track.

"Feng, please stay back!" Itachi muttered.

Shen Feng was about to retaliate but when he saw his brothers expression he couldn't help but shiver. This fucker had really done it. The only time I saw my brother this angry was the day he left the clan, after he caused 'that'.

The crowd may have left, but the tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a blade. Itachi let out a long, slow breath, carefully reigning in his rising anger. This brat… He could feel the layers of hatred and resentment rolling off Xiao Chen like waves. Every word he spoke dripped with venom, and his gaze held nothing but scorn for Itachi, Shen Feng, and their entire clan.

As far as I can recall, Xiao clan and Shen Clan had always have amicable relationship. Especially after what I had done, their clan has no reason to fight at all. So this hatred, I really don't understand it. Itachi could feel clearly that something was wrong, that unfounded confidence made him wonder if it was just a bluff or the brat had some thing up his sleeve.

Itachi smiled faintly, but inwardly, he was seething. Is this what all those so-called villains feel when dealing with protagonists? No wonder they spout those cringy lines. These little bastards are infuriating.

Taking a step forward, Itachi grabbed Xiao Chen by the collar with one hand and effortlessly lifted him off the ground. Xiao Chen struggled, but his broken dantian left him as powerless as a child in Itachi's grip. Although stronger than what he looked like, Itachi could tell this kid had no cultivation at the moment.

"You are stepping out of line." Itachi's voice was quiet, but there was no mistaking the steel behind it. He stared into Xiao Chen's eyes, his own gaze sharp enough to pierce through the boy's bravado. "If you think, I won't raise a hand against you for the sake of your clan or pity you because of your cultivation, you're sorely mistaken."

Xiao Chen opened his mouth to retort, but before he could speak, Xiao Lian dropped to her knees, her head bowed low.

"Brother Itachi, please forgive him!" she pleaded, her voice trembling with urgency. "Xiao Chen has a sharp tongue, but he doesn't mean what he says. He's been through so much, and his anger clouds his judgment. Please for my sake… don't hold this against him!"

Itachi blinked, momentarily caught off guard. He looked down at Xiao Lian, who seemed ready to grovel if it meant protecting her brother. While her loyalty was admirable, there was something almost unsettling about the depth of her devotion.

It wasn't like this before I left. The Xiao Lian, I knew would've long smacked the kid into oblivion for saying something that could cause a rift between our two clans.

His sharp gaze flicked back to Xiao Chen. The boy, even in his current position, was still glaring daggers at him.

"I beg you..."" Xiao Lian urged, turning to her brother. "Apologize, Xiao Chen. Brother Itachi isn't someone you can antagonize like this! Your behaviour was quite foolish, my brother."

"Sister, stop bowing to these bastards!" Xiao Chen hissed, his voice filled with rage. "They only know how to throw their weight around and act like gods when they are barely ants! You shouldn't lower yourself for them!"

Xiao Lian froze, her lips pressing into a thin line as she looked at her brother with a mix of frustration and helplessness.

Itachi sighed, letting go of Xiao Chen and allowing him to drop to the ground unceremoniously. Xiao Chen grunted as he landed, but Xiao Lian was quick to catch him, holding him as if he'd been mortally wounded.

What in the Alabama shit is this? The sight made Itachi's skin crawl. What kind of sibling love is this? He shivered slightly at the almost creepy level of coddling.

Next to him, Shen Feng's jaw dropped in awe. Although he hated Xiao Chen to the point where he would kill him, he still couldn't help but appreciate the siblings love for each other, making him remember his own love and appreciation for his brother. He turned towards Itachi with a smile only to be let down immediately.

Itachi shot him a withering glare, and Shen Feng immediately straightened, swallowing nervously. His eyes threatening him, 'If you even think about doing anything remotely like that, I'll end you myself.'

Itachi turned back to Xiao Lian and Xiao Chen, his patience wearing thin. "Since neither of you seem to respect me or my clan, there's no need to call me 'Brother' anymore and what relation the two clans had shall be severed as of today. The next time... I hope there won't be a next time." His tone was sharp, and for the first time, his calm demeanor gave way to a hint of genuine annoyance.

Xiao Lian flinched slightly at his words but quickly turned her focus back to her brother, who was still fuming. Xiao Chen's hatred was practically suffocating, radiating off him in waves that might have scared a weaker cultivator.

Itachi, however, merely raised an eyebrow. Did the whole Xiao clan go insane?

"If this were anyone else, war between clans would've already broken out," Itachi muttered to himself as he walked away. "But I'd rather not stain the streets with blood today. One mess at a time."

But the current problem was just the brat. Itachi didn't know if it was a protagonist side-effect, or something else. But with even Xiao Lian, acting weird, he knew there was something deeper than what it looks like on the surface.

Right before Xiao Lian dropped on the floor begging for her brother's sake, he noticed she was heading towards her dagger first and out of nowhere dropped on the floor. 

It was as if someone told her to not do it. But the mere fact that someone bright like Xiao Lian wouldn't consider her actions before acting out, he just couldn't understand that.

He needed to find the cause before he ends up ending this brat just for that tongue of his.

Without another word, Itachi turned on his heel, grabbing Shen Feng by the collar and dragging him along. Shen Feng didn't even resist, knowing better than to argue at this point.

As he and Shen Feng disappeared into the distance, Xiao Lian knelt beside her brother, whispering words of comfort. But the hatred in Xiao Chen's eyes burned brighter than ever.

"Sister, do you not love me?" Xiao Chen turned to Xiao Lian placing his hands on her cheeks.

"Of course, I love you." She said without a flicker of hesitation.

"Then act that way you bitch!" Xiao Chen's attitude flipped a complete 180 as he grabbed her throat and before Xiao Lian could resist, a dark miasma spread from his palms onto Xiao Lian's throat seeping into her skin and then onto her veins as she sat frozen with a dazed look in her eyes.

"Brother Itachi, it's been sooo long!!" He said mockingly, his expression crudely not matching that of a young man "Is he the one you dream about? Just you fucking wait! You're the woman, that I, the Demon of Thousand Desires, have chosen."

"To think both Mo Qingyun and you would be falling over this Shen clan brats." He sneered, "Once I kill that man in front of you and break your heart, I'll seep my seeds into you and take over your cultivation and vitality completely." He sneered letting go of his chokehold as Xiao Lian's vision began to return.

"Little Chen. Let's go back to our home." She said absentmindedly as Xiao Chen nodded grabbing her hands and walking away.