From the very first glance at Chen Haotian, Li Feng had known that peaceful coexistence between them was impossible. Even though Zhu Yuanyang had fanned the flames from behind the scenes, the moment he decided to attend this banquet at the villa, the outcome had already been sealed.
What he had not expected was that Chen Haotian would turn out to be the young master of Hongmen. Li Feng could not help but admire Zhu Yuanyang’s scheming. With effortless ease she had manoeuvred him into offending a formidable enemy. Yet whether it was the young master of Hongmen or the scion of some other family, it made no difference to him. He had never feared Qin Feng or Fu Yanxiong, who were hardly less powerful than Chen Haotian. So what if Chen Haotian was Hongmen’s young master?
Still, when he realised Xu Shaohua had led him out of the villa, Li Feng’s brows furrowed. “Xu Shaohua, where are you taking me? Where is Chen Haotian?”
Xu Shaohua pointed ahead. “Young Master Feng, Young Master Chen is waiting for you by the rockery up there.”
“The rockery?” Li Feng followed the direction of his finger. About five hundred metres away stood a rockery, but in the pitch darkness he could see no one. A quiet thought stirred in his mind: surely Chen Haotian had not set an ambush behind the rockery?
“Yes, Young Master Chen is right there. Young Master Feng, will you go over by yourself, or shall I take you?” Xu Shaohua nodded.
“I do not know exactly where he is. You had better lead me.” A glint flashed through Li Feng’s eyes as he spoke gravely.
Soon, under Xu Shaohua’s guidance, they reached the front of the rockery. Yet the area was completely deserted. Not even a ghost was in sight.
“Xu Shaohua, where is Chen Haotian? You are not playing tricks on me, are you?” Li Feng looked at Xu Shaohua, a cold light flickering in his eyes. He assumed this was Xu Shaohua’s petty revenge for the lesson he had received at the Empire Hotel.
“Young Master Feng, how could I deceive you? Young Master Chen said he would be here. He definitely is. Please wait a moment. I will go and check.” Xu Shaohua himself was startled. Chen Haotian waiting here had been part of their plan. Why had he vanished now that Li Feng had arrived?
With doubt in his heart, Xu Shaohua walked towards the back of the rockery.
“Ah…”
A sharp scream immediately rang out. “Young Master Feng! Young Master Feng, come quickly! Young Master Chen, he…”
Li Feng froze for an instant, then strode over.
“This…”
Li Feng stared in disbelief at the scene before him. Chen Haotian lay in a pool of blood, unmistakably dead. Xu Shaohua stood to one side, looking utterly lost and equally incredulous.
“Chen Haotian is dead? How is that possible?”
Li Feng could scarcely believe it. A perfectly healthy Chen Haotian, dead? He had anticipated retaliation, even an ambush, but never that Chen Haotian would simply be killed and the crime pinned on him.
“Xu Shaohua, what on earth is going on?” Li Feng fixed him with an icy stare. He was certain Chen Haotian’s death was connected to Xu Shaohua. After all, Xu Shaohua had brought him here. Only Xu Shaohua knew Chen Haotian was waiting in this spot.
Yet what puzzled Li Feng was how the young master of Hongmen, surely protected by elite guards, could have died without apparent reason.
“I… I do not know…” Xu Shaohua’s face was ashen. He knew full well who Chen Haotian was. The young master of Hongmen. To die here for no reason would bring catastrophic consequences.
“You do not know? You cannot possibly not know. Did you bring me here just to look at a corpse?” Li Feng snorted coldly. A very bad premonition rose in his heart.
“I… I…”
Before Xu Shaohua could finish, two startled shouts rang out. “Young Master! Young Master, what happened to you?”
Li Feng turned to see two black-clothed men rushing over from a distance. The moment he sensed their aura, his pupils contracted. Both radiated the unmistakable strength of Postnatal Fifth Layer.
These were the bodyguards Hongmen had assigned to Chen Haotian? Their level seemed far too low.
“Young Master…” Seeing Chen Haotian lying in his own blood, the two men paled. They knelt to examine him, confirmed he was thoroughly dead, and flew into a towering rage. They looked up, staring icily at Xu Shaohua and Li Feng. “You killed our young master?”
“No, it was not…” Xu Shaohua hurriedly shook his head. Kill the young master of Hongmen? He would not dare even if he had ten lives.
“It was not?” One of the men snorted. “If it was not you, why are you here? And what about the blood on your hands?”
“I… I… I only touched him by accident just now.” When Xu Shaohua had arrived, Chen Haotian was already lying in the blood. He had pushed the body, staining his hands.
“By accident? I think you accidentally murdered our young master.” The man gave a cold laugh and struck out with his palm towards Xu Shaohua.
Bang!
Though Xu Shaohua possessed decent skill against ordinary people, against a Postnatal Fifth Layer expert he had no power to resist. The palm struck his chest, sending him flying backwards to crash heavily against the rockery. He died instantly.
“Hmph.” The man snorted, then turned his gaze to Li Feng. “Are you also going to claim our young master was not killed by you?”
“If I said that, would you believe me?” Li Feng laughed coldly, his expression grim. At this moment, how could he not understand he had been framed? All along he had thought offending Chen Haotian would merely provoke personal revenge over a woman. Instead, the real killing move was here.
If earlier it had been a mere lovers’ quarrel, now Chen Haotian’s death pinned on him meant offending the entire Hongmen. The two offences were worlds apart in consequence.
What a clever Zhu Yuanyang.
Murderous intent flashed through Li Feng’s eyes. If this affair had nothing to do with Zhu Yuanyang, he would never believe it. Known as the second Empress Wu Zetian, she truly lived up to the name: ruthless, cunning, impossible to guard against. To deal with him she had actually murdered her own fiancé.
Though he had not witnessed her people carrying out the deed, in this place the only person who knew Chen Haotian’s identity and dared to kill him was Zhu Yuanyang. Ying Suoyan and Fu Yanxiong might have the motive, but the risk was far too great, making it highly unlikely. Zhu Yuanyang was different. As Chen Haotian’s fiancée, no matter how much she secretly loathed him, as long as she had never shown it publicly, no one would ever suspect her.
Another possibility was one of Chen Haotian’s own enemies striking for revenge, but Li Feng considered that far too coincidental.
Glancing at the now-dead Xu Shaohua, Li Feng realised the man had probably been Zhu Yuanyang’s discarded pawn. He was the only one who could have proved Li Feng’s innocence, yet now he was dead, leaving no witness.
Li Feng hated Zhu Yuanyang, yet he could not help but admire her thoroughness. She had calculated everything, including how Chen Haotian’s two guards would react, predicting they would kill Xu Shaohua. With Xu Shaohua dead, not only was there no witness, even Li Feng’s explanations were useless. He could never wash himself clean.
Since things had reached this point, Li Feng knew further explanations were pointless. If that was the case, he would not bother explaining. So what if he offended Hongmen? Was Li Feng supposed to be afraid?
“Hmph. Murder demands a life. You killed our young master, so prepare to die.” One of the black-clothed men snorted and struck out with the same palm towards Li Feng.
As Black Flag Guards, their paramount duty was to protect key figures of Hongmen. Chen Haotian, the young master and possible future leader, had been under their protection. Tonight he had attended Zhu Yuanyang’s banquet without them at his side, so they had waited nearby. Moments ago they had received orders from Situ Ming and rushed over, only to find their young master dead.
If word of Chen Haotian’s death reached Hongmen, it would send shockwaves through the organisation, and the two of them would face unprecedented punishment. Right now their hearts burned with nothing but hatred. They only wanted to kill Li Feng and Xu Shaohua to avenge their young master.
“Die!” The man’s face twisted ferociously as a massive palm blast formed and slammed towards Li Feng’s chest.
“Overestimating yourselves.”
Hearing the rush of air, Li Feng did not even blink. He threw a fierce punch straight forward.
Seeing Li Feng resist, the man revealed a savage grin. “Boy, if you had accepted death quietly I might have left you a whole corpse. Since you resist, I will make sure you do not even have a grave.”
“Hmph. Just the two of you trash.” Li Feng snorted. The instant the words left his mouth, his entire aura changed. He became like a towering mountain rising from the earth, sharp and unyielding, his energy surging. A fist blast formed before his knuckles, emitting a piercing sonic boom that seemed capable of shattering the void.
“Not good.”
The man’s expression changed drastically, but it was already too late.
Carrying overwhelming force, Li Feng’s punch shattered the man’s palm blast. The black-clothed guard could not withstand the ferocious power. He spat blood and was hurled backwards.
Boom!
He crashed into the ground, carving out a large crater, blood spilling from his mouth as he lay in a sorry state.
“You want to kill me? It will not be that easy. If you have time to waste causing trouble for me, you would be better off investigating the real cause of Chen Haotian’s death.” Li Feng said with a cold laugh.
That punch had used only ten percent of his strength. Otherwise it would have torn the man to pieces. After all, the gap between Postnatal Fifth Layer and Li Feng’s true power was simply too vast.
Of course, Li Feng had held back because he did not wish to kill the guard. Although he was prepared to offend Hongmen, if there was still a way to resolve the situation differently, he preferred that.
“Investigate? Hmph. The only one who killed our young master is you. You murdered him and still dare resist. You are courting death.” The injured man slapped the ground and leapt up. Exchanging a glance with his companion, both charged at Li Feng together.
