USA, Hongmen Headquarters.
Bang!
Chen Junyi slammed his palm down and shattered the coffee table. Fury blazed in his eyes. “Li Feng, you deserve to die.”
Chen Junyi was in his seventies and had fathered Chen Haotian late in life, so he had always doted on his son. Whatever Chen Haotian wanted, he did his utmost to provide. At the same time, he secretly built up forces loyal to Chen Haotian within Hongmen, hoping one day his son would succeed him as the Dragon Head.
To that end, he had even lowered himself to arrange a marriage alliance with the Zhu family of China in order to gain their backing.
This time, Chen Haotian’s trip to China had been partly to meet Zhu Yuanyang, aside from the people Chen Junyi had assigned to protect him.
Chen Junyi had never imagined that the trip would become a permanent farewell.
He had never considered the possibility that someone could kill his son. For Chen Haotian’s safety, besides the bodyguards at his side, Chen Junyi had secretly assigned ten Black Flag Guards.
The Black Flag Guards were Hongmen’s elite. Assigning ten of them to his son was pure nepotism; even as the Dragon Head’s son, Chen Haotian would not normally be entitled to so many.
Yet, under the eyes of all those protectors, Chen Haotian had still been murdered. Chen Junyi could scarcely believe it, but he had no choice but to accept the truth.
When the news first reached him last night, he had refused to believe it. Only when Situ Ming, freshly returned from the USA, presented a series of evidence did he finally accept reality.
“Situ Ming, I want to know why Li Feng killed Haotian.” Chen Junyi’s gaze bored into Situ Ming. A terrifying pressure instantly descended upon the man.
A trace of gravity flashed deep in Situ Ming’s eyes. He had always known Chen Junyi was formidable, but only now did he truly feel the man’s overwhelming power.
Moments later, Situ Ming’s expression returned to normal. He met Chen Junyi’s gaze and answered, “Because of Zhu Yuanyang. Li Feng fancied Zhu Yuanyang, so he clashed with the Young Master.”
“Is that really the case?” Chen Junyi asked coldly.
“Yes. At Zhu Yuanyang’s villa that day, many people witnessed Li Feng and the Young Master arguing over her.” Situ Ming nodded. Although he possessed plenty of “evidence” that Li Feng had killed Chen Haotian, what he said now was the truth. Only by mixing truth with falsehood could he make Chen Junyi believe the fabricated proof.
“Dragon Head, this is the order the Young Master gave me after his conflict with Li Feng.” Situ Ming produced a voice recorder, pressed play, and the recording of Chen Haotian ordering him to mobilise the Black Flag Guards filled the room.
When it ended, Situ Ming continued, “After giving me that order, the Young Master went to find Li Feng. Before the Black Flag Guards could arrive, Li Feng had already killed him.”
Murderous intent glinted in Chen Junyi’s eyes. “What about the bodyguards at Haotian’s side? Are they all dead?”
“Yes. The two bodyguards closest to the Young Master were found dead not far from his body. Their corpses were only discovered yesterday,” Situ Ming replied.
“Dragon Head, the reason the Young Master died at Li Feng’s hands is simply that Li Feng is far too strong. Although he is the eldest young master of the top-tier Li family in China, he is nothing like the useless playboy rumour suggests. On the contrary, he hides his strength well. His martial skill is extraordinary. In Tianhai City he single-handedly destroyed the Blackstone Gang, one of the three major underground organisations. Recently, whenever he has crossed paths with direct descendants of China’s top families such as Qin Feng or Fu Yanxiong, he has always come out on top.”
Situ Ming produced a dossier. “Dragon Head, this contains detailed information on Li Feng’s activities in Tianhai City. In short, he is powerful and extremely difficult to deal with.”
“Powerful and difficult?”
Chen Junyi’s lips curved into a disdainful smirk. “No matter how powerful or difficult, no matter his background, he killed Haotian. He must die. Not only him, everyone close to him must die, including his parents.”
“Dragon Head, Li Feng’s parents are Li Chuanwei and Mu Chunfeng. Their status is extraordinary. Especially Li Chuanwei. He is not only China’s Number Three, he is also the current head of the Li family. Killing them would be…” Situ Ming’s pupils contracted. He had known Chen Junyi would seek revenge for his son, but he had not expected such madness. Killing Li Feng was one thing, but targeting his parents as well? Leaving aside Li Chuanwei’s official position, his identity as head of the Li family alone made him almost untouchable.
Although Hongmen was a global power, the Li family, one of China’s top-tier clans, was not to be underestimated.
“Hmph.”
Chen Junyi merely gave a cold snort, his eyes filled with thick contempt.
The Li family? A top-tier clan of China?
In Chen Junyi’s view, compared to Hongmen, the Li family was less than nothing.
“Situ Ming, you may leave,” Chen Junyi said gravely.
“Yes, sir.” Situ Ming bowed and left the study.
Once he was gone, Chen Junyi called out, “Blood Shadow.”
“Master.” A figure in black appeared in the study as though from thin air.
“Go to China. Bring me Li Feng’s head.” Killing intent flashed in Chen Junyi’s eyes.
“Yes.” Blood Shadow acknowledged and turned to leave.
“Wait.”
Chen Junyi stopped him, thought for a moment, then said, “When you reach China, find this person. He will arrange how you are to kill Li Feng.” He handed over a slip of paper.
“Rest assured, Master. Blood Shadow will not fail.” The man took the paper and vanished from the study.
Meanwhile, Situ Ming arrived by car at an enormous castle. This was the headquarters of the Situ family.
“The eldest young master has returned.”
The servants hurried to open the castle gates the moment they saw him.
“Is Father in?” Situ Ming asked.
“The master is in his study.”
Situ Ming nodded and entered the castle.
The castle was vast. After entering, he switched to a horse-drawn carriage. Five minutes later he arrived before a huge villa.
He dismounted, handed the horse to a servant, and walked inside.
“Father.”
“Father.”
A teenage boy and girl greeted him warmly. They were his children. Situ Ming smiled, spoke briefly with them, then proceeded to the study.
Inside sat an old man in a Zhongshan suit. Though over seventy, he was vigorous and his eyes shone brightly. This was Situ Ming’s father, head of the Situ family and second-in-command of Hongmen, Situ Kuang.
“Father.” Situ Ming approached respectfully.
Situ Kuang looked up. “What exactly happened with Chen Haotian?”
Situ Ming recounted the entire affair and his own plan, then said, “Father, I believe this is an opportunity for our Situ family, therefore…”
“So you don’t actually know who killed Chen Haotian?” A sharp light burst from Situ Kuang’s eyes.
“No,” Situ Ming admitted with a nod.
Situ Kuang pondered, then said, “You have done well, but this is not enough. If we want Li Feng to weaken the Chen family’s power, merely feeding him intelligence is far from sufficient.”
“What do you mean, Father?” Situ Ming asked, puzzled.
“I intend to send Situ Qiang to China,” Situ Kuang said gravely.
“What? Father, that…” Situ Ming’s expression changed. Situ Qiang was his son, only eighteen years old.
“Situ Qiang is no longer a child. It is time he gained experience. Besides, look at this.” Situ Kuang stood, took a document from a drawer, and handed it over.
“This… how is this possible…” Situ Ming glanced at it, shock filling his eyes.
China, Tianhai City.
Night fell. Stars glittered in the sky.
Li Feng walked toward Tianya Pavilion, his face clouded with worry.
In the afternoon, inside the resort hotel’s private room, he had finally taken Xu Qing. He had claimed the first woman of this world. Though it had been half-coerced, he had to admit that having a woman felt entirely different.
Yet now he had to face the trouble that would follow. He had left Xu Qing unable to get out of bed, so she had not gone to the office that afternoon. He had no idea how to explain this to Hu Yuanyuan.
He knew he could not conceal it. Hu Yuanyuan was too perceptive. He and Xu Qing had attended the lunch together, then vanished for the entire afternoon, alone as man and woman. Anyone would guess what had happened.
But if he confessed, he had no idea how Hu Yuanyuan would react. Their relationship had only just been confirmed. If she turned against him now, all his previous efforts would have been wasted.
Beep beep…
A car horn jolted him from his thoughts. He turned and saw a car pull up beside him. Song Zhiyuan’s head poked out of the window.
“Young Master Song? What brings you here?” Li Feng was surprised. Running into Song Zhiyuan on the street felt too much of a coincidence.
“I’m heading to New Century. Peak, are you going there too?” Song Zhiyuan asked.
“New Century?” The name meant nothing to Li Feng. He looked at Song Zhiyuan. “What sort of place is New Century?”
“Peak, stop teasing. How could you not know New Century?” Song Zhiyuan laughed. “Get in. There’s an event at New Century tonight. Let’s go together.”
Li Feng had no idea what New Century was, but after a moment’s thought he nodded. Going back to Tianya Pavilion now would only force him to face Hu Yuanyuan without an explanation. He might as well follow Song Zhiyuan and see what this New Century was about.
In a hidden corner, a pair of cold eyes watched Li Feng climb into Song Zhiyuan’s car. A text message was swiftly sent from a phone.
