“Damn it.”
Wild Leopard’s face was ashen. He never imagined that, despite personally taking action, not only did he fail to take down Li Feng, but he lost an arm to him.
Rushing to the window, he saw Li Feng cut down two more Du Clan members and vanish into the woods behind the villa. His expression shifted, and he prepared to leap after him.
“Big Brother!” Wild Cat caught up, grabbing Wild Leopard before he could pursue. “Big Brother, in Kunyang Town, this kid can’t escape. You can’t lose your cool now. He’s strong. Chasing him recklessly won’t end well. We need to plan carefully.”
Wild Cat was genuinely worried. In the blink of an eye, Wild Leopard had lost an arm.
Who was Wild Leopard? The head of the Du Clan’s Four Great Diamonds, the top expert under Old Master Du. Yet this intruder had severed his arm. How strong was he?
If Wild Leopard chased him again, it wouldn’t just be an arm—he could die.
Wild Leopard couldn’t die now. With Old Master Du’s cultivation at a critical stage, his death could throw the Du Clan into chaos.
That couldn’t happen.
“Huff…”
Wild Leopard panted heavily, staring at the woods outside the villa, slowly calming down.
He might seem reckless, but his mind was sharp.
Otherwise, Old Master Du wouldn’t have entrusted him with managing the Du Clan during his seclusion, nor would he be the head of the Four Great Diamonds.
Once calm, he understood Wild Cat’s concerns.
He wanted to rush out and kill Li Feng himself, but he knew it was impossible. In their earlier clash, he’d held nothing back. Even against Old Master Du, he’d never been so humiliated, yet Li Feng not only survived but took his arm. If he chased again, he’d be the one to die.
Wild Leopard didn’t want to die—not now.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “Immediately lock down the entire villa complex. Conduct a carpet search.”
This was the Du Clan’s headquarters, with hundreds of elite members. Could the intruder really escape? No matter how skilled, he couldn’t fight so many. Wild Leopard didn’t believe he could slip away.
He had to be stopped.
If the intruder spread word of the Blood Refining Array, it would ruin their plans.
“Who is this guy?”
A question gnawed at Wild Leopard. Someone this skilled, able to infiltrate their headquarters, couldn’t be ordinary.
The National Security Bureau? The Zheng family? Li Feng? Or the Song family?
He quickly ruled out the National Security Bureau. In a small place like Kunyang Town, they wouldn’t send such a formidable expert without any prior intel.
Next, he dismissed Li Feng.
Li Feng was spotted in the south of Kunyang Town half an hour ago. How could he infiltrate here so quickly? Were the town and headquarters defenses that weak?
In fact, Wild Leopard hoped it was Li Feng. In three days, the Blood Refining Array would activate. As long as Li Feng was in Kunyang Town, he was a dead man.
That left the Zheng family and the Song family.
Though the Zheng family was under Du Clan surveillance, Wild Leopard knew their members were skilled, making monitoring difficult. They claimed to be here to kill Li Feng, but was that true?
Then there was the Song family, the top clan based in Yongzhou. The Du Clan had always been wary of them, especially after rejecting their olive branches multiple times due to differing methods.
“Big Brother, it’s Li Feng,” Wild Cat suddenly said.
“Hm?” Wild Leopard looked at him skeptically. With Wild Cat’s intelligence, how could he make such a mistake? He’d never seen Li Feng—how could he be sure?
“Big Brother, whether it’s Li Feng or not, we’ll say it’s Li Feng,” Wild Cat said seriously.
“You mean…” Wild Leopard began to grasp his intent.
“Exactly. This is an opportunity to test the Zheng family. Old Master’s plan needs three more days, and the Zheng family’s presence in Kunyang Town is a risk. We don’t know their true intentions. But now…” Wild Cat paused, glancing at the woods. “This is our chance to test them. A chance to use them as a tool. We tell them Li Feng infiltrated our headquarters and killed our men, asking for their help to hunt him. With their skilled fighters, catching this thief will be easier. If they clash and both sides suffer, even better.”
“As long as the Zheng family fights this thief, regardless of who he is, they’ll become enemies. That’s very advantageous for us. If he’s from the Song family, it’s a godsend. The Zheng family is a major clan in Zhongyuan Province, but let’s see how they fare against the top-tier Song family.”
“And if it’s someone from the Zheng family?” Wild Leopard asked.
“That’s even better. If they hold back while hunting this thief, it likely means he’s one of theirs. That confirms the Zheng family is targeting us, and we can gauge their strength in Kunyang Town.”
Wild Cat’s lips curled into a cold smile. “Besides, we control Kunyang Town’s communication systems. In three days, Old Master’s plan will activate. If we block all messages, they won’t get word out.”
Wild Leopard nodded. Whether it was the thief or the Zheng family, in three days, anyone in Kunyang Town would be dead. Identifying the thief and the Zheng family’s intentions was just to prepare for vengeance after Old Master’s divine skill was complete.
Tap, tap, tap…
Urgent footsteps approached. Wild Leopard turned to see Wild Wolf and Wild Fox rushing over with their men.
“Big Brother, who’s so bold as to infiltrate our Du Clan?” Wild Fox, ever brash, shouted before arriving.
Having made his decision, Wild Leopard said, “It’s Li Feng.”
“What? Li Feng? How could he be here? How dare he?” Wild Fox’s face changed, incredulous. He’d rushed here after hearing of Li Feng’s killings, ordering heightened defenses. How could Li Feng reach the headquarters so fast? Was Kunyang Town that easy to breach?
“Indeed, it’s Li Feng.” Wild Leopard’s eyes flashed with killing intent. “Lock down Kunyang Town. Station heavy guards around the villa complex. I want a dragnet to catch Li Feng.”
“Big Brother, your arm?” Wild Wolf, following Wild Fox, noticed Wild Leopard’s missing arm and gasped.
“What happened, Big Brother? Who injured you?” Wild Fox, prompted by Wild Wolf, looked at Wild Leopard, his face paling. In his mind, Wild Leopard was formidable. Wild Fox considered himself skilled, but far below Wild Leopard. For someone to sever his arm was more shocking than losing his own.
“It was Li Feng,” Wild Leopard growled through gritted teeth. He wasn’t sure it was Li Feng, but everything was tied to him. If Li Feng hadn’t come to Kunyang Town, there wouldn’t be this trouble, and he wouldn’t have lost an arm.
“Li Feng? Him?” Wild Wolf and Wild Fox’s faces changed. They didn’t doubt Wild Leopard, but they hadn’t expected Li Feng to be so strong that even Wild Leopard wasn’t his match.
“Li Feng, he’s dead!” Wild Fox’s eyes burned with murderous intent. An orphan, he saw Wild Leopard as his brother. Li Feng daring to cut off his arm was unforgivable.
“Big Brother, I’ll take men to hunt him now. I’ll kill him!” Wild Fox turned to leave.
“Wild Fox, come back,” Wild Leopard called.
“Big Brother?” Wild Fox looked puzzled. To him, the priority was killing Li Feng. Why was Wild Leopard hesitating?
“I have a plan for Li Feng. He can’t escape now,” Wild Leopard said, a cold glint in his eyes. He turned to Wild Wolf and Wild Fox. “Now, I need you to do something…”
“He’s really strong.”
Li Feng leaned against a tree, panting. His clash with Wild Leopard had left his blood surging. Though uninjured, he wasn’t unscathed.
He hadn’t expected such a formidable expert in the Du Clan. If Wild Leopard was this strong, what about Du Wu? Even if Du Wu was gravely injured by Du Wen decades ago, after all these years, his strength couldn’t be weak. Otherwise, how could he command such loyalty from Wild Leopard and the others?
Moreover, running the Du Clan to this scale showed Du Wu was no ordinary man. Even without personal strength, he likely had other means. Such a cunning figure always had hidden cards.
Like Old Man Wen of the Black Stone Gang, with his elite Shadow Hall and a skilled martial artist butler, plus his own prowess.
Du Wu was likely similar, with hidden forces beyond what was visible. Without uncovering these, dealing with them would be tough.
But Li Feng was determined to kill Du Wu—not just for Du Wen, but because of Du Wu’s insane plan to use the Blood Refining Array to sacrifice thousands in Kunyang Town. If he hadn’t known, he could’ve ignored it. But now that he did, he couldn’t stand by and let thousands die.
He knew he couldn’t take on the Du Clan head-on with his current strength. His only option was to outsmart them.
Time was short. Three days until the Blood Refining Array activated, dooming Kunyang Town.
No, he had less than three days. He needed to resolve this in two, as he’d promised Hu Yuanyuan to attend Tianhai City’s business networking event—a major gathering of the city’s elite, including the Emperor’s Pavilion. He couldn’t miss it.
Glancing at the Du Clan members conducting a carpet search nearby, Li Feng’s eyes flashed coldly.
They likely didn’t know Wild Leopard and the others were ready to sacrifice them. But he also knew he couldn’t stay here. The search would find him soon. Though he didn’t fear them, he had no time to waste.
With a leap, he approached a Du Clan member from behind, covered his mouth, snapped his neck, and dragged the body into the woods. He swapped clothes and strode out confidently.
“Hey, what are you doing? This isn’t the time to slack off!” An angry voice rang out as Li Feng emerged. Instead of anger, he turned with a smile. “Brother, it’s me.”
“You?” The speaker was none other than the burly man who’d spoken to Li Feng outside the villa. He stared, then laughed. “What’s with you, kid? Took you forever to take a leak. I thought you ran off.”
“Couldn’t find a toilet. This place is so fancy, I was worried Lord Wild Fox would chew me out if I just went anywhere,” Li Feng said with a grin, approaching the burly man.
“Fair point. I should’ve told you where the toilet was,” the burly man said, realisation dawning.
“Brother, what’s going on? Looks like everyone’s searching for someone,” Li Feng asked, feigning ignorance.
“It’s that Li Feng,” the burly man said bitterly. “He had the guts to storm our Du Clan headquarters and even cut off Lord Wild Leopard’s arm. Now Lord Wild Leopard and the others are furious, swearing to kill him.”
So his name is Wild Leopard.
Wild Leopard, Wild Wolf, Wild Fox, Wild Cat—what bizarre names. Are all the Du Clan’s leaders named after beasts?
“Li Feng’s that strong? Even Lord Wild Leopard’s no match? If we find him, we’re probably no match either. Are they sending us to die?” Li Feng said, feigning anger.
“Kid, watch your mouth. If the lords hear that, you’re done,” the burly man said, pulling Li Feng closer.
“But it’s true! Are our lives worth nothing?” Li Feng pressed.
“Don’t worry, brother. We just need to find Li Feng. We don’t have to fight him. The lords and the Zheng family’s experts will handle him,” the burly man said.
“Zheng family experts?” Li Feng was stunned. Were Wild Leopard and the others really bringing in the Zheng family? They’d clearly planned to refine even the Zheng family in the Blood Refining Array.
“Right, the Zheng family experts. Lord Wild Wolf has already gone to fetch them. Once we find Li Feng, with the lords and the Zheng family, he’s got no chance,” the burly man said.
Li Feng sneered inwardly. Wild Leopard was clever, planning to use the Zheng family against him. If they succeeded, he’d be in serious trouble.
Wild Leopard, you want to use the Zheng family? I’ll make you regret it.
