Chapter 5: Chaos Unleashed, Madness Descends!

[Excellent, this is the commanding presence a minister should have.]

The system was quite pleased this time, speaking with pride.

[Hear my decree.]

The system's voice suddenly grew solemn and expectant.

[Treachery! Now is the time! Use the "Sovereign’s Authority" I’ve bestowed upon you to intimidate everyone.]

“Hm? System, what skill do you have now?”

But the situation was already hopeless; all eyes around her pierced like needles.

No retreat, no escape!

She would fight to the end!

If she was going to go mad, then she would go mad completely!

Jiang Tan steeled herself, abruptly lifting her head to glare fiercely at everyone present.

Following that inexplicable command, she concentrated all her spirit, every ounce of anger and despair, into her eyes.

Come on!

The aura of dominance!

The majesty of an emperor!

Whatever it is, subdue them for me!

One second, two seconds.

The anticipated overwhelming aura that would send them fleeing did not appear.

Jiang Tan felt a twitch in her eyelids, then the muscles around her eyes seemed to have a mind of their own, completely beyond her control. They began moving in a rhythm both familiar and strange.

“For the revolution, protect your eyesight; prevent myopia. Eye exercises begin now. First section: rub the Tianying acupoint...”

What? Eye exercises again?

A melody buried deep in her elementary school memories echoed in her mind, as her eye muscles twitched uncontrollably.

The worst part was, she couldn’t stop it even if she wanted to.

“...Am I having a stroke?” Jiang Tan was utterly bewildered.

She wanted to stop, wanted to close her eyes, but her eyes seemed grasped by invisible hands, stubbornly squeezing, relaxing, and rotating rhythmically.

Then something even stranger happened.

Facing her, Wang Feifei’s smiling face suddenly froze.

Her finger, still extended and pointing at Ye Qingyan’s plump hand, paused midair; her expression shifted from anger to confusion, then to blankness.

She looked like a robot, utterly unable to stop.

Under Jiang Tan’s terrified gaze, her eyes also began to twitch.

The next moment, Wang Feifei, like a puppet controlled by strings, slowly lifted her plump hands and pressed her thumbs firmly and precisely to her temples, beginning to rub in circles.

The entire world seemed to mute itself. Jiang Rou’s fake smile froze; the old matriarch’s face was filled with astonishment.

But this was only the beginning.

An invisible, bizarre “Sovereign’s Authority” radiated silently from Jiang Tan like ripples on water.

Jiang Rou, closest to her, instantly adopted the same vacant expression as Li San.

Her wine glass clattered to the floor with a crisp sound.

She paid no attention, instead raising her hand in a perfectly practiced manner, pressing the Jingming acupoint between her eyebrows.

Next was Ye Chengzong; his facial muscles twitched uncontrollably, his hands lifted on their own to scrape around his eye sockets.

Then came the guests at their table, then the neighboring table... one, two, ten, a hundred...

Like a silent plague, it quickly swept through the entire birthday banquet hall.

A place that moments ago was filled with clinking glasses and elegant company was now, within seconds, transformed into a large, silent, and eerily synchronized eye exercise session.

The musicians maintained their poised positions with bow and flute, faces blank, fingers mechanically pressing acupoints around their eyes.

The servants carrying trays froze in place, one hand holding the tray, the other rubbing their eyes.

The noble ladies and young masters who had just been scrutinizing Jiang Tan with amused eyes now displayed dull expressions, each performing the same set of movements with eerie uniformity.

“First section: rub the Tianying acupoint...”

“Second section: press the Jingming acupoint...”

“Third section: rub the Sibai acupoint...”

“Fourth section: scrape around the eye sockets...”

Though silent, the familiar rhythm seemed etched deep into everyone’s souls.

Only the faint sounds of knuckles pressing flesh and occasional clattering of cups and plates filled the room.

Wang Feifei squeezed her nose with a scissors gesture while internally screaming madly, “What’s going on? My hands! My eyes! Why can’t I stop? What kind of sorcery is this?”

She wanted to call for help, to struggle, but her body felt like a rusted machine, stubbornly executing these bizarre motions, unable even to open her mouth.

Terror exploded inside her but could not be expressed through any expression.

Amidst this eerie silence and synchronized strange movements, only one person remained lucid.

The Jiang family matriarch, seated at the head of the hall, was fortunate to be untouched by this “Sovereign’s Authority” due to her distance and the layers of screens separating her.

She held her teacup paused at her lips, her murky yet sharp eyes fixed on the absurd spectacle before her.

She saw her most cherished daughter-in-law Wang Feifei, her beloved granddaughter Jiang Rou, and all the dignitaries present, all seemingly bewitched, performing a strange and unfamiliar routine.

The matriarch’s lips parted slightly; her teacup tilted, hot tea spilling onto her precious birthday robe, but she was oblivious.

Her gaze finally settled on the eye of the storm—the granddaughter dressed in simple white, the most inconspicuous and pitiable figure in the room, Jiang Tan.

At that moment, Jiang Tan felt the tightness in her eye muscles suddenly release; the controlling force vanished.

She gasped for breath, tears streaming from her eyes due to the overexertion.

She blinked, her vision clearing again.

Then, she took in the scene before her.

The entire hall—hundreds of guests—all wore a solemn, almost holy dazed expression, meticulously performing eye exercises.

The culprit, Li San, was at the final section, scraping his eye sockets like windshield wipers with his thumbs, diligently at work.

[Hmph, traitor, do you see now? This is my “Sovereign’s Authority”! To conquer without battle—how can mere swords and blades compare?]

In her mind, the tyrant system boasted triumphantly.

Jiang Tan: “Uh…” She had no time to pay attention to this lunatic system right now.

This was utterly insane!

Her mind raced.

Opportunity! A once-in-a-lifetime chance!

She looked at the bewitched guests, at Li San scraping his eyes in a daze, and a perfect plan formed instantly.

She stepped back, deliberately tripped over a chair leg, and fell to the ground awkwardly.

Then, she gathered all her shock, fear, and just the right amount of grievance into a sharp scream.

The sound was piercing and fragmented, tinged with sobs, filled with the pure terror of one frightened by demons and monsters.

“There’s a monster! There’s a monster! Catch it quickly!”