Tianhai City.
Li Feng’s departure from Tianhai City had only stirred a few people, while others continued their lives as usual. However, some could notice that in recent days, more and more people were arriving in Tianhai City. These newcomers drew the attention of various forces in the city.
At this moment, Zhong Shuhui, the leader of Li Feng’s Hawkeye, stared at a piece of intelligence with a grim expression.
It was a report about attacks on Tianya Pavilion. Since Li Feng left Tianhai City, Tianya Pavilion had been targeted multiple times. In just a few days, it had been attacked several times. While the losses were minimal, the disruptions had significantly affected Tianya Pavilion’s normal operations, causing major trouble for its business.
Aside from the Fengyuan Group, Li Feng’s forces in Tianhai City consisted only of the Black Hawk Team, and the training base in the suburbs was merely a training ground. Tianya Pavilion was a key stronghold for the Black Hawk Team in the city.
The attacks on Tianya Pavilion meant someone was provoking Li Feng.
From the first attack, Zhong Shuhui had started investigating and discovered that the attackers were remnants of the Black Stone Gang. This finding shocked her, her first thought being that Master Wen was planning a comeback.
But soon she realised the one directing these remnants was Hu Meng, Sun Xipeng’s lackey.
Could Hu Meng be seeking revenge for his master, Sun Xipeng?
However, after some thought, Zhong Shuhui felt something was off. She had investigated Hu Meng thoroughly. He was a coward who bullied the weak and feared the strong. After being disciplined by Li Feng last time, he had been submissive. How could someone like him rally the Black Stone Gang’s remnants to attack Tianya Pavilion? Was he not afraid for his life?
Zhong Shuhui’s first instinct was that someone was backing Hu Meng. She immediately launched an investigation, but whether due to Hawkeye’s short existence or the cunning of Hu Meng’s backer, she couldn’t uncover who was behind him.
Of course, having followed Mu Chunfeng for years and weathered many storms, Zhong Shuhui wasn’t intimidated by a mere Hu Meng. Before leaving Tianhai City, Li Feng had given her command of the Black Hawk Team. Eliminating Hu Meng and his group would be easy.
But Zhong Shuhui’s real concerns lay elsewhere, which was why she had tolerated Hu Meng’s actions repeatedly. She hadn’t expected her restraint to embolden them further.
Bang!
The office door was pushed open, and Dark Tiger’s towering figure appeared before Zhong Shuhui.
“Commander Zhong, Hu Meng and his group are back. What should we do?” Dark Tiger said coldly, standing in front of her.
Before leaving, Li Feng had entrusted Zhong Shuhui with command of the Black Hawk Team. Though Dark Tiger was dissatisfied with a woman outranking him, he had to follow Li Feng’s orders. This time, with Hu Meng leading the remnants to attack Tianya Pavilion, Zhong Shuhui’s orders were to defend and not strike back, which infuriated Dark Tiger, making him increasingly curt with her.
“Just drive them off,” Zhong Shuhui replied without hesitation.
“Commander Zhong, Hu Meng and his lot are going too far. Are we just going to let them walk all over us? You may tolerate it, but the brothers of the Black Hawk Team can’t,” Dark Tiger said, unable to hold back his sarcasm.
“Dark Tiger, are you questioning my decisions?” Zhong Shuhui looked at him coldly. She knew that Dark Tiger and the other Black Hawk Team members didn’t respect her, believing she wasn’t qualified to lead Hawkeye.
“I wouldn’t dare,” Dark Tiger said, but his eyes betrayed his true feelings. He couldn’t understand why Zhong Shuhui was so timid. Couldn’t the Black Hawk Team handle the Black Stone Gang’s remnants? If it were him, he’d have already wiped out Hu Meng and his group. To him, they were overreaching and courting death.
“Wouldn’t dare?” Zhong Shuhui sneered, opened a drawer, and tossed a file in front of Dark Tiger. “Take a look at this first.”
Dark Tiger glanced at her skeptically, picked up the file, and began reading.
As his expression shifted, Zhong Shuhui spoke. “Hu Meng and those Black Stone Gang remnants are just a minor nuisance. Apart from disrupting Tianya Pavilion’s operations, they pose no real threat. But these are our real problems. Do you think I’d ignore the bigger picture over something as trivial as Hu Meng?”
“But are we just going to let Hu Meng harass us time and again?” After reading the file, Dark Tiger understood what Zhong Shuhui was wary of, but he was still unwilling to accept it because Hu Meng’s group was too brazen.
“I don’t want to either, but until the Young Master returns to Tianhai City, we have to endure,” Zhong Shuhui said gravely. She had a feeling that Hu Meng’s backer was no ordinary figure, and with the events about to unfold in Tianhai City, she didn’t want her decisions to cause trouble for Li Feng.
“But…” Dark Tiger was unwilling. When had he ever been so humiliated?
“No buts, Dark Tiger. All I can tell you is that the coming days in Tianhai City will be turbulent. The Black Hawk Team may face a life-or-death battle. Instead of wasting time here, you’d be better off training and improving your strength,” Zhong Shuhui said coldly.
“I don’t need your reminders,” Dark Tiger snorted and turned to leave.
Zhong Shuhui sighed. She was well aware of Dark Tiger’s resentment toward her. Only Li Feng could rein in the proud and fierce members of the Black Hawk Team. While she was confident she could defeat any one of them, earning their obedience was impossible.
Thinking of this, Zhong Shuhui couldn’t help but admire Li Feng. Building the Black Hawk Team in such a short time was no small feat.
Recalling her earlier assessment of Li Feng, she gave a wry smile. If Mu Chunfeng gave her the impression of being in complete control, Li Feng felt unfathomably deep. No one could have predicted how well-hidden Li Feng’s true abilities were.
Zhong Shuhui knew that, because Li Feng was once considered a failure, Li Chuanwei and Mu Chunfeng had no intention of making him the Li family’s heir. They only wanted to use their influence to ensure he lived a safe, stable life. But scărcit But now, even if Li Chuanwei and Mu Chunfeng still held that plan, would Li Feng be content with a quiet life? That was clearly impossible.
Li Feng was cunning and ambitious. The creation of the Black Hawk Team showed he was no ordinary man. Zhong Shuhui could foresee a fierce power struggle within the Li family in the future.
Of course, that was for later. For now, Tianhai City was facing many events: the scramble for the Nine Dragons Jade, the upcoming business association meeting. Li Feng’s presence would introduce many variables.
Fu Yanxiong of the Fu family, Song Zhiyuan of the Song family, Qin Feng of the Qin family, and the soon-to-arrive Li Wu of the Li family were all formidable figures. Except for Song Zhiyuan, each had conflicts or grudges with Li Feng. It was easy to imagine they would do everything to target him in the coming days. Then there was the Emperor’s Pavilion, a highly mysterious force in Tianhai City. Even the Li family’s intelligence network couldn’t uncover its origins.
Zhong Shuhui suspected that Hu Meng’s attacks on Tianya Pavilion were linked to one of these forces, but with Hawkeye’s limited intelligence network, she couldn’t identify the mastermind behind Hu Meng. This weighed heavily on her.
She gave a wry smile. She had been tasked by Mu Chunfeng to protect Li Feng, thinking it would be a simple job. How wrong she had been.
But now she was on Li Feng’s ship, and there was no turning back.
Ring, ring, ring!
The phone rang, and Zhong Shuhui picked it up.
“Miss Zhong, the list Young Master Feng asked me to prepare is ready. When can you come pick it up?” Liu Shichao’s voice came through.
“Bring it to Tianya Pavilion,” Zhong Shuhui said calmly. She knew Li Feng had instructed Liu Shichao to obtain a list of participants for the business association meeting and pass it to her.
“I’m under house arrest by my family. I can’t get to Tianya Pavilion. Can you come pick it up?” Liu Shichao said.
“Where?” Zhong Shuhui asked.
“Kaiyuan Community. I’m at Kaiyuan Community now,” Liu Shichao replied.
“Alright, I’ll come to Kaiyuan Community tomorrow,” Zhong Shuhui said after a moment’s thought.
“I’ll be waiting, Miss Zhong.”
Zhong Shuhui hung up, a flicker of doubt in her eyes.
She wasn’t entirely clear on the relationship between Li Feng and Liu Shichao. Before leaving, Li Feng had told her about the list and that Liu Shichao would deliver it to her.
It made sense for Liu Shichao to ask her to pick it up, but something felt off.
“Could Liu Shichao be up to something?” A sharp glint flashed in Zhong Shuhui’s eyes.
At that moment, in a villa in Kaiyuan Community, Liu Shichao hung up the phone and looked at an old man in front of him. “I’ve done as you asked. When will you let me go?”
“Heh, no rush,” the old man sneered. “Young Master Liu, we still need your cooperation. If you don’t comply, don’t blame me for being unkind.”
“Whatunofficial “What more do you want?” Liu Shichao’s face changed, his voice trembling. “I, I…”
“Don’t worry, Young Master Liu. Do as I say, and you’ll get your answers,” the old man said coldly, his eyes glinting with menace.
