“Why does Song Zhiyuan wish to enter this King of Fighters Championship, and what purpose or special nature does it hold?”
Watching Song Zhiyuan depart, Li Feng’s face was full of bafflement. After all, for the Song family’s second young master to take interest, it could scarcely be a trifling matter; perhaps deeper implications lay beneath.
With that thought, Li Feng promptly left the Horizon Pavilion, returning to the training base.
This time when Song Zhiyuan came to Tianhai City, Tian Lang had shadowed him; perhaps Tian Lang knew Song’s aims.
“Peak Young Master, this time Song Zhiyuan came to Tianhai City for the King of Fighters Championship, seemingly for its prize.” After hearing Li Feng’s question, Tian Lang pondered briefly before replying.
“The prize of the King of Fighters Championship?” Li Feng paused, stunned; the second young master of the Southern Ridge Song family, lacking for nothing, would covet a championship prize?
“Do you know what this King of Fighters Championship’s prize is?” Li Feng pressed.
“Seems like a jade pendant.” Tian Lang answered.
“A jade pendant?”
Li Feng was even more stunned; how could it be a jade pendant? Did Song Zhiyuan lack for one? Recalling how Song had offered fifty million for the invitation mere moments ago, all for the prize, a jade pendant, it was clear this pendant was no ordinary trinket; otherwise, fifty million would buy the finest jade imaginable.
Looking at Tian Lang, Li Feng asked: “What else do you know?”
“Peak Young Master, these are but scraps I overheard from Song Zhiyuan and his lot; the details elude me.” Tian Lang shook his head and said.
Li Feng could not help thinking of Zong Yanshan and the others who had come with Song; perhaps they knew Song’s true target. Yet he understood Zong and the rest shared close ties with Song; extracting aught from them would prove exceedingly difficult.
“It seems I must uncover the truth of this King of Fighters Championship.” A sharp glint flashed in Li Feng’s eyes.
…
In a private room of a wellness centre in Tianhai City, Song Zhiyuan raged with ashen face. As the Song family’s second young master, he had always sailed smooth waters, be it in Yan capital or Southern Ridge; when had he ever been bested before others?
Yet upon arriving in Tianhai City, in mere days, Song Zhiyuan had suffered repeated humiliations at Li Feng’s hands. Were it another clan scion, he might not seethe so, but this was Li Feng, the one he had bullied since youth, like an ant one could crush at will, suddenly crawling atop one’s head to defecate. The sensation was utterly loathsome.
“Li Feng, one day I shall kill you.”
Murder glinted in Song Zhiyuan’s eyes as he roared savagely.
“Young Master Song, curb your killing intent.” A middle-aged man entered the room.
“Uncle Ning, Li Feng has gone too far; slaying him is the only balm for my hatred.” Seeing the middle-aged man, Song Zhiyuan’s fury eased somewhat.
“Young Master Song, mind not the petty and lose the greater.” Uncle Ning approached Song Zhiyuan, saying: “What is more, Li Feng has now taken root in Tianhai City; this is no time to move against him. Forget not the Black Stone Gang’s fate as caution.”
Song Zhiyuan’s face shifted; days prior, upon learning Li Feng had crushed the Black Stone Gang, his first reaction was disbelief, deeming it a false report from inept subordinates. After all, the Black Stone Gang was Tianhai’s premier underworld force, base though it was; no upstart like Li Feng could topple it.
Yet when myriad reports piled before him, Song Zhiyuan believed: Li Feng had indeed destroyed the Black Stone Gang. With their fall, Tianhai’s underworld balance shattered, reshaping its power dynamics, and Li Feng emerged as a nascent force.
Song Zhiyuan simply could not fathom how this wastrel Li Feng had felled the Black Stone Gang. In his memories, Li Feng had ever been the bullied; discovering now this perennial victim so potent left him profoundly uneasy.
Frowning, Song Zhiyuan said unwillingly: “Shall we let it lie, then? Uncle Ning, that King of Fighters Championship invitation is vital to us, determining if we claim the Nine Dragon Jade; you know its role is…”
“Young Master Song, endure the small to achieve the grand; what is more, Li Feng’s wings are full-fledged now. To strike him might slay a thousand foes at cost of eight hundred to self, a poor bargain.” Uncle Ning said calmly.
“Then what means you, Uncle Ning?” Song Zhiyuan was displeased; recalling his repeated setbacks before Li Feng since arriving in Tianhai, unable to punish him, his ire swelled ever greater within.
“Young Master Song, your priority now is obtaining the Nine Dragon Jade; the rest, after we secure it.”
Here, Uncle Ning glanced at Song Zhiyuan before saying: “Forget not the Nine Dragon Jade’s function, Young Master Song; it is the first step in fulfilling your family task. Without it, that item remains beyond reach.”
“Young Master Song, that item is crucial not only to our Song family, but to you; whether you become family heir hinges on claiming it this time. Else, on the eldest young master’s side, I fear…”
Song Zhiyuan’s face changed; he knew full well the purpose of this Tianhai journey, a hard-won chance wrested from his elder brother, pivotal to his bid for family heirship.
Becoming heir was Song Zhiyuan’s goal these past years. Though he deemed himself versed in civil and martial arts, exceptional in talent, he bore a fatal flaw in the Song family: as second young master, an elder brother loomed above. With him there, Song could never claim the seat.
In childhood, Song Zhiyuan grasped not the weight of heirship, even viewing it fortunate that family duties fell to his brother. But from the incident that changed all, he understood what heirship signified, and from then, ambition to seize it stirred within.
Now for Song Zhiyuan, naught mattered more than becoming heir. Though wroth at Li Feng’s deeds, Li Feng posed no bar to that; to pursue vengeance at cost of the family task, forfeiting heir qualification, would be loss beyond gain.
Yet recalling his repeated humiliations before Li Feng, he chafed still.
“Uncle Ning, the invitation remains in Li Feng’s hands; without it, how enter the King of Fighters Championship?” Song Zhiyuan said.
“Young Master Song, the championship invitations are not solely the Black Stone Gang’s; since Li Feng yields not, we seek other paths.” Uncle Ning said calmly.
“But…” Song Zhiyuan was unwilling.
“Young Master Song, think you if the invitation fell to Li Feng, he would give it to you? The Nine Dragon Jade is vital not only to you, but to Li Feng as well; he is the Li family young master, their decreed first heir candidate, backed by the Li family. That item is crucial not merely to our Song family, but to the Lis too; deem you Li Feng ignorant of it? Perhaps this Li Feng eyes that item from the first. What is more, the Nine Dragon Jade’s import to that item is known not only to our Song family, but the Lis as well; think you Li Feng knows not what the invitation signifies?” Uncle Ning said calmly.
“Damn.” Song Zhiyuan cursed inwardly; recalling Li Feng’s feigned innocence at the Horizon Pavilion earlier, he felt himself the fool for not foreseeing this.
“Young Master Song, though we cannot slay Li Feng now and invite the Li family’s mad reprisal, if you wish to teach him a lesson, means exist.” Uncle Ning pondered before saying: “After all, this Li Feng may be your rival, Young Master Song; should he retreat in difficulty, you lose one competitor.”
Song Zhiyuan’s eyes lit upon hearing this. To him, slaying Li Feng mattered not; a lesson to vent his spleen sufficed.
“Uncle Ning, what fine method have you?” Song Zhiyuan asked eagerly.
Uncle Ning uttered four words: “Borrow a knife to kill.”
