Tianhai City, National Security Bureau branch.
“Chief, it’s kicked off! It’s kicked off!” A young man burst into Fu Zhu’s room and jolted him awake.
“What’s kicked off?” Fu Zhu yawned, rubbed his eyes, and said with some displeasure, “It’s the middle of the night. Don’t you know I was sleeping?”
“Chief, it’s an emergency. I had no choice. Just now, Fengyuan Group’s president Hu Yuanyuan was attacked at the Binhe Road crossroads. Right now…” The youth hurriedly relayed the intelligence he had received.
“What?” Fu Zhu’s expression changed. He sat bolt upright in bed, a sharp glint flashing across his eyes. “You’re saying Hu Yuanyuan has been attacked?”
“Yes. Ten minutes ago. It’s a bloodbath on Binhe Road right now,” the youth nodded.
“Do we know who these attackers are?” Fu Zhu asked gravely.
“It’s only been a short time. We haven’t identified them yet,” the youth shook his head.
“What about Li Feng? Has Li Feng shown up?” Fu Zhu asked quickly.
“Not yet.” The information the youth had was from the moment Hu Yuanyuan’s group was forced into the convenience store and the black-clothed men began their assault.
“Li Feng still hasn’t appeared.” A flicker passed through Fu Zhu’s eyes.
“Chief, what do we do? They’re fighting on Binhe Road. Lots of people have already called the police. The criminal investigation team and armed police unit are fully geared up and ready to move,” the youth said.
“No.” Fu Zhu immediately told the youth, “Phone the criminal investigation team right now. Tell He Zhiwu that the criminal police are to go to Binhe Road one hour from now.”
“Huh?” The youth’s face changed. He had not expected Fu Zhu to issue such an order.
“Go, now,” Fu Zhu said coldly. He believed this attack on Hu Yuanyuan was an opportunity. He did not know who was behind it, but he saw a chance to drive Li Feng to despair, to make him realise that only by joining National Security would tragedies like this stop happening in future. Once Li Feng joined, they could control him.
A fight in downtown Tianhai City would have a huge impact, but as long as it was contained within limits, it could be managed.
“Go tell He Zhiwu to spread the word that the Binhe Road area is under military exercise so the public needn’t worry,” Fu Zhu said in a low voice.
“Yes, sir.” Although the youth did not understand why Fu Zhu was doing this, he knew there must be a reason, so he said nothing more and left the room.
After watching the youth leave, Fu Zhu took out his phone and rang the armed police unit. “Armed police? This is Fu Zhu from National Security. You don’t need to get involved in what’s happening on Binhe Road tonight. National Security is hunting spies. Help? No need, we can handle it ourselves.”
He hung up, gave a cold laugh, and muttered to himself, “Li Feng, Li Feng, you brought this on yourself. You refused my invitation. If Hu Yuanyuan dies tonight, you have only yourself to blame.”
Thinking of how Li Feng had rejected him repeatedly and how every scheme to trouble him had failed, Fu Zhu was already seething. Now the attack on Hu Yuanyuan had reminded him that forcing Li Feng out of the Li family and into National Security did not necessarily require targeting Li Feng directly. Attacking the people around him would work just as well.
Fu Zhu knew his actions might get Hu Yuanyuan killed, but as long as his goal was achieved, whether she lived or died was irrelevant. People died all the time.
The only complication was Hu Yuanyuan’s identity. She was the daughter of Hu Wenhai, the Tiger of the Northwest. Her death could draw Hu Wenhai’s intervention, but that could be dealt with if he covered his tracks properly.
Besides, Fu Zhu saw this as a chance to probe Hu Wenhai as well. He knew a certain amount about the man. If Hu Yuanyuan’s death revealed anything useful, that would be perfect. He was confident his superiors would support his decision once they learned of it.
Of course, if Hu Yuanyuan survived tonight, that would be even better. He had plenty of other ways to deal with the situation.
Tianhai City government compound.
In a brightly lit study, a middle-aged man sat on a sofa and asked the black-uniformed military figure standing before him, “Has the information been confirmed?”
“Replying to Fourth Master, it has been triple-checked,” the man in military attire answered.
This Fourth Master was not the deceased Fourth Master of Tianyan. This middle-aged man was Li Zhengxiang, Li Feng’s fourth uncle and the mayor of Tianhai City.
After hearing the report, a glint flashed in Li Zhengxiang’s eyes. “I never expected something like this. Still, the Li family’s eldest young mistress has been attacked. We cannot simply stand by. Very well. In half an hour, take men to rescue the Li family’s eldest young mistress.”
“Yes, sir.” A trace of doubt flickered in the uniformed man’s eyes. Half an hour? Given the attackers’ strength, in half an hour Hu Yuanyuan might already be a corpse. What rescue would there be then?
A sudden thought made his heart skip. He finally understood Li Zhengxiang’s true meaning. The mayor did not actually want him to save Hu Yuanyuan. He wanted her dead. Sending a rescue team was merely for appearances.
As Li Zhengxiang’s trusted confidant, he naturally understood the mayor’s position within the Li family and the deeper implications of this order.
The uniformed man left the study at once.
“Li Feng, Li Feng, can you save Hu Yuanyuan this time?” A cold light flashed in Li Zhengxiang’s eyes. He had originally been mayor of a prefecture-level city and was due for promotion by the end of the year, but because of Li Feng he had been transferred to Tianhai City. Yes, Tianhai was an international metropolis, but it was still a step down for him.
He hated Li Feng with a passion for it.
Li Zhengxiang knew perfectly well why the family council of elders had sent him to Tianhai. It was because Li Feng had torn up their orders and shown them no respect. They wanted to use his hand to discipline Li Feng.
Of course, his posting to Tianhai also had another purpose: to help Li Wu seize Li Feng’s Fengyuan Group. That was why, upon arriving and seeing official pressure being applied to the company, he had quietly fanned the flames.
He had assumed that under government suppression Li Feng would eventually buckle, come begging, and hand Fengyuan Group over on a platter. Yet after waiting all this time, there had been no movement from Li Feng’s side.
Li Zhengxiang refused to believe Li Feng was unaware of his presence. The only explanation was that Li Feng did not take him seriously at all. That infuriated him.
Now that Hu Yuanyuan was under attack, Li Zhengxiang saw a perfect chance to teach Li Feng a lesson about the consequences of disrespecting his elders.
As for whether Hu Yuanyuan lived or died, that was of no concern to him. In fact, he would prefer her dead. If she died, Hu Wenhai would not let matters rest. The first person he would target was Li Chuanwei. That would be excellent for both Li Zhengxiang and Li Xiangyang. If Hu Wenhai turned against Li Chuanwei, Li Chuanwei would lose the Hu family’s support and be severely weakened.
Still, Li Zhengxiang knew he could not be too obvious. So he would send his trusted subordinate on a “rescue” mission, but delayed by half an hour. A lot could happen in thirty minutes. If Hu Yuanyuan died, his plan succeeded. If she survived, it only meant the attackers were useless, and he would find another way.
For more than twenty years he had regarded Li Feng as trash, so Li Feng’s sudden transformation had thrown him off balance and was hard to accept. Yet after repeated confirmation, like Li Wu, he concluded that Li Feng had never been worthless. He had simply been a hidden ace kept secret by Li Chuanwei.
Now Li Feng had established himself in Tianhai City and built a power second only to the city’s four great families. Li Zhengxiang had plenty of intelligence on the Black Eagle team and so forth, but he still had no idea how strong Li Feng’s forces truly were.
Therefore, this attack on Hu Yuanyuan was a golden opportunity to test Li Feng’s real strength in Tianhai City. He could then formulate future plans accordingly.
No matter the outcome, it would benefit him and cost him nothing.
Binhe Road, crossroads.
“You all have to die…”
Li Feng’s icy voice rang out. A blade beam carrying terrifying energy slashed from the broadsword in his hand, streaking like lightning towards the black-clothed men.
Pfft!
The blade beam flashed past, and two heads flew into the air.
“What?”
Whether it was the black-clothed men or Huang Xiaolin’s group, everyone froze. Huang Xiaolin and his two remaining men especially. They knew how formidable these black-clothed killers were. Although they were elite ex-soldiers, they had been utterly overwhelmed. Less than thirty seconds into the fight they were already on the back foot, and within a minute they had taken several cuts.
They had thought another minute would see them dead, yet at this critical moment Li Feng had appeared and killed two black-clothed men with a single strike. How could they not be stunned?
The black-clothed men and Huang Xiaolin’s group stood dumbfounded, but Li Feng did not pause. Murderous intent blazed in his eyes as he fixed on the seven remaining black-clothed men like a starving wolf. He swung his broadsword fiercely, and in an instant countless blade beams erupted, crashing down like a tidal wave!
