“Please speak, Young Master Feng.”
Situ Lei’s heart skipped a beat. As a seasoned and cunning man, how could he not understand Li Feng’s intention now? However, he had already spoken those words earlier. It was impossible to take them back.
“Uncle Lei, I want you to help me investigate a person.” A sharp glint flashed in Li Feng’s eyes. He valued the Situ family’s intelligence network precisely because the Situ family, having once controlled Hongmen for decades, likely matched or surpassed any intelligence organisation in the world in this regard.
“Who?”
Li Feng smiled, dipped his finger in the wine, and wrote a name on the table.
“Him?” Situ Lei and Situ Qiang exchanged glances upon seeing the name Li Feng wrote. They had not expected the person Li Feng wanted investigated to be him. This differed from what they had imagined.
Especially Situ Lei. At this moment, he felt as though Li Feng had schemed against him. Investigating that person, even with the Situ family’s influence in China, might not yield clear results.
“Yes, exactly him. Uncle Lei, I hope you can provide me with satisfactory intelligence.” Li Feng smiled. Situ Lei had offered himself up. It would be foolish not to take advantage.
“Young Master Feng, what clever calculation.” Situ Lei sighed.
“Each to his own.” Li Feng smiled.
Half an hour later, having eaten and drunk his fill, Li Feng left the private room.
“Uncle Lei, are we really going to investigate him?” Situ Qiang asked Situ Lei with a grave expression. Although he knew little about the man, from Situ Lei’s reaction, he understood that this was no simple figure.
“Young Master, this Li Feng probably knew long ago that you had come to Tianhai City. This is his way of warning us.” A sharp glint flashed in Situ Lei’s eyes.
“Li Feng knows I came to Tianhai City?” Situ Qiang was stunned, clearly surprised. He looked at Situ Lei in confusion and asked, “Uncle Lei, why do you say that?”
“Young Master, when Li Feng entered earlier, he showed no surprise at your identity. That is the first point. After all, your invitation did not specify who you were.” Situ Lei explained.
Situ Qiang’s expression changed slightly. “And the rest?”
“Furthermore, you said you sneaked out, yet upon arriving in Tianhai City, you immediately met Li Feng. That defies common sense. After all, you and Li Feng are not acquainted. Yet Li Feng did not voice any doubts about this. Clearly, he considered your meeting him to be within his expectations.” Situ Lei continued.
Situ Qiang’s face turned ashen. He had never imagined that Li Feng knew he had arrived in Tianhai City much earlier. Moreover, Li Feng had played the fool in front of him.
“Moreover, how long has it been since the Master returned to the United States? How could he have told you so much about Li Feng? Young Master, by saying that, you only drew more attention to yourself. With Li Feng’s intelligence, how could he not realise you were deceiving him?” Situ Lei sighed. Although Situ Qiang was clever and quick-witted, he lacked experience. His earlier words had only exposed himself. How could Li Feng not have noticed?
Anger flickered in Situ Qiang’s eyes. He had just been smug about his eloquence, only to realise his words were full of holes. Thinking that Li Feng might have been mocking him inwardly earlier, his rage had nowhere to vent.
“Young Master, there is no need to be angry. Even if Li Feng knows you arrived in Tianhai City earlier, so what? What he needs to deal with now is Blood Shadow, not you.” Situ Lei consoled him.
“Uncle Lei, was this what they call being too clever for one’s own good?” Situ Qiang took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
“How could that be said of you, Young Master? This was merely a slight oversight on your part. It is no big deal. Young Master, to achieve great things, one must be magnanimous. While you scheme against others, others scheme against you in return. If you quibble over every detail, you will never accomplish anything major. Moreover, what harm is there in Li Feng knowing? This only demonstrates the sincerity of our Situ family.” Situ Lei smiled as he spoke.
“Uncle Lei is right. Situ Qiang will remember this.” A sharp glint flashed in Situ Qiang’s eyes upon hearing this. Then he asked, “Uncle Lei, what do you think Li Feng means by asking us to investigate this person? At this time, instead of focusing entirely on dealing with Blood Shadow, why have us investigate him?”
“This Li Feng has strength and ability, but his ambition is too great.” Situ Lei shook his head.
“Ambition too great? Uncle Lei, are you saying Li Feng wants to…” Situ Qiang thought of a possibility, and his expression changed involuntarily.
“I believe so. However, Young Master, we need not concern ourselves with what Li Feng wants to do. Since he wants us to help investigate, we will investigate. This is far better than having us directly confront Blood Shadow.” Situ Lei smiled.
Situ Qiang nodded and then said, “Uncle Lei, I want to use this incident with Blood Shadow to bring the Hongmen forces in the Yangtze River Delta under our control.”
“Young Master, I fear that will be difficult. The Yangtze River Delta region is a rich prize. Many covet it, but none of the five great families of Hongmen can swallow it alone. We can only share the benefits equally.” Situ Lei shook his head.
“In normal times, it would be impossible, but now is different.” A sharp glint flashed in Situ Qiang’s eyes.
“Young Master means Blood Shadow?” Situ Lei was taken aback, somewhat failing to grasp Situ Qiang’s meaning.
“Yes. Last night, Blood Shadow’s forces were almost completely wiped out. The Chen family’s strength in Tianhai City is nearly finished. If Blood Shadow still wants to deal with Li Feng, he will certainly find ways to mobilise manpower from surrounding areas. At that time, we can use Blood Shadow’s hand to draw out the forces of other families, then use Li Feng to eliminate them.” A sharp glint flashed in Situ Qiang’s eyes. Li Feng had single-handedly built a foundation in Tianhai City. He would outperform Li Feng. He would not only restore the Situ family’s glory but also monopolise Hongmen, making it a force solely under the Situ family.
Situ Lei drew in a sharp breath. He was shocked by Situ Qiang’s ambition. Even when Situ Ming was in Tianhai City, he had never contemplated such a thing. Hongmen in the Yangtze River Delta region had over ten thousand members from various factions. Unifying them was easier said than done.
However, upon careful thought, this was indeed an opportunity. Blood Shadow was currently representing Chen Junyi in dealing with Li Feng and held the authority to mobilise Hongmen forces. If they could use Li Feng as a blade to eliminate members of other factions, integrating Hongmen forces in the Yangtze River Delta under the Situ family was not impossible.
“Li Feng wants to use us to investigate that person. We also need to use him to purge dissidents. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We cannot let it pass.” Situ Qiang said gravely.
“Young Master, the only concern now is that after failing last night, Blood Shadow might directly go to kill Li Feng.” Situ Lei pondered and said.
“Impossible. When I came here, I heard Grandfather say that Chen Junyi wants Blood Shadow to kill everyone around Li Feng before killing Li Feng himself. If not for Li Feng’s parents, Li Chuanwei and Mu Chunfeng, being in Yanjing, Chen Junyi might even want Blood Shadow to kill them first. Therefore, before Hu Yuanyuan dies, Blood Shadow will not make a direct move against Li Feng. Moreover, if Blood Shadow wanted to act, last night was the best opportunity. Last night, Li Feng had no fighting strength left. With Blood Shadow’s power, killing Li Feng would take less than a minute without fear of discovery. Yet he did not. Clearly, Blood Shadow does not yet want to kill Li Feng.” Situ Qiang said without hesitation.
Situ Lei thought about it and agreed. Given Blood Shadow’s personality, if he truly wanted to kill Li Feng, he would not hesitate over other concerns.
However…
“Young Master, last night Li Feng suffered heavy losses. Does he have the ability to withstand Blood Shadow’s next attack?” Situ Lei asked with concern.
“If Li Feng is unprepared, he does not. But what if Li Feng is prepared?”
Situ Qiang smiled and said, “We only need to inform Li Feng of Blood Shadow’s plans. Then Li Feng will become an excellent blade for us to purge dissidents. Uncle Lei, do not forget Li Feng’s identity. He is the eldest young master of the Li family. If he feels he cannot deal with Blood Shadow, he will seek help from the Li family.”
A sharp glint flashed in Situ Lei’s eyes. “Young Master is right. In China, the Li family’s strength is still considerable. If Li Feng knows Blood Shadow’s plans in advance, they might end up mutually wounded.”
“Then our opportunity will come. If Li Feng kills Blood Shadow, we can seize the chance to bring the Hongmen forces in the Yangtze River Delta under our control. If Li Feng and Blood Shadow fight to mutual injury, we can play the oriole behind the mantis stalking the cicada, eliminating both Blood Shadow and Li Feng. Then our Situ family can not only gain the Hongmen forces in the Yangtze River Delta but also swallow Li Feng’s forces in Tianhai City. Li Feng’s Fengyuan Group’s Intelligent One would be of great use to our Situ family.” A sharp glint flashed in Situ Qiang’s eyes as he spoke gravely.
Situ Lei nodded and said, “Young Master, your plan is good, but I think we need to add a little more fuel. We only need to do this and that…”
Situ Qiang let out a sinister laugh upon hearing this.
Li Feng left the resort hotel with a relaxed expression. This meeting with Situ Qiang had yielded what he wanted. Although Situ Qiang appeared cunning and harbouring ulterior motives despite his youth, so what? As long as he was useful to him now, his motives did not matter.
Checking the time, it was already one in the afternoon. Li Feng thought for a moment and decided to visit the hospital. Hu Yuanyuan and the others had gone there yesterday, and he had not yet checked on them.
Screech!
At that moment, a car stopped beside Li Feng. “Eldest Young Master, Fourth Master wishes to see you.”
“Fourth Master? Which Fourth Master?” Li Feng was taken aback, his gaze falling on the man leaning out from the car.
“Fourth Master is the Eldest Young Master’s fourth uncle. Surely the Eldest Young Master has not forgotten?” The man was none other than the black-clad military figure beside Li Zhengxiang.
“Fourth uncle?” A sharp glint flashed in Li Feng’s eyes. He had not expected Li Zhengxiang to want to see him. Without hesitation, Li Feng said to the man, “Good. I also want to see Fourth Uncle. Lead the way.”
