Sowing Discord

Li Feng braced himself as the burly man's palm came swinging down, squeezing his eyes shut and cursing his luck.

Who told him to be the one on duty at Shenghe Hall today? This beating was unavoidable.

Feeling the gust of wind bearing down, Li Feng had already resigned himself to losing a mouthful of teeth.

But the expected slap never landed.

Opening his eyes, he saw Han Zheng standing beside him, gripping the man's wrist in his hand.

The burly man snarled, "Where'd you pop out from, you little brat? Meddling in my business—you must be tired of living!"

With that, he threw a punch straight at Han Zheng, and its force wasn't half bad—seemed like Early Acquired Stage, with one or two Meridians opened.

Han Zheng suddenly twisted the man's wrist, flinging him clean into the air with a single motion.

Then he kicked out hard, sending the burly man flying like a soccer ball.

The man crashed to the ground with a thud, not even letting out a groan before passing out cold.

"Scram!"

The thugs behind him instinctively moved to charge, but froze mid-step.

Their boss had been sent flying with one kick—if they rushed in, wouldn't their heads get caved in too?

Without so much as a harsh word, they slunk away, carrying the unconscious man.

Li Feng straightened his clothes and looked at Han Zheng with deep gratitude: "If it weren't for you, Young Master Han, I'd have taken a vicious beating just now.

Speaking of which, your cultivation must have advanced again, right? That guy was probably Early Acquired Stage, but he couldn't even last one move against you."

In public, Han Zheng made sure to suppress his aura below the Innate Realm. Li Feng wasn't a martial artist and hadn't taken his pulse, so he couldn't sense Han Zheng's true strength.

"I owe it to your medicinal bath, Pharmacist Li. The effects have been excellent."

"Of course—we're on the same side. I made sure to pack the bath with a full dose."

When Li Feng had first befriended Han Zheng, this was exactly the day he'd been banking on.

Pharmacists at Shenghe Hall might seem high-status, but in truth, they were just bookish types with no physical strength.

When they ran into unreasonable people who resorted to force, they had no way to fight back.

So they did their best to befriend martial artists, hoping to call in favors when trouble came.

That was why Chen Baiqing had once cultivated a bond with Li Jingzhong, and why Li Feng was now doing the same with Han Zheng.

Han Zheng looked in the direction the thugs had fled and asked, puzzled, "Who were those guys? How dare they start a fight right outside Shenghe Hall?"

Shenghe Hall was, after all, the biggest pharmacy in Black Stone County, and Chen Baiqing had plenty of connections. Anyone bold enough to cause trouble here couldn't be ordinary street thugs.

Li Feng invited Han Zheng inside Shenghe Hall, had a shop assistant serve tea, and then sighed bitterly: "Ah, I've really hit a streak of bad luck.

Those men were under Gao Kaiyuan of the Three Harmonies Gang. They came demanding Spiritual Medicine."

Hearing they were Gao Kaiyuan's men, Han Zheng's mind stirred. He asked, "Is the Three Harmonies Gang that arrogant? Are they collecting protection fees in Spiritual Medicine now?"

Li Feng shook his head: "It's not protection fees. The gang had placed an order for Spiritual Medicine with Shenghe Hall earlier.

The Spiritual Medicine we brought back from the Estate last time has mostly been delivered to the major powers in Black Stone County. Only the Three Harmonies Gang is still a point of contention.

They paid a deposit, and they'll settle the balance once they receive the medicine.

Yesterday, Cao Rui, son of First Gang Leader Cao Bin, told me to send the medicine to him. But today, Second Gang Leader Gao Kaiyuan's men also told me to deliver it to them. So who am I supposed to give it to?

No matter who I choose, I'll offend the other. And who do I ask for the remaining payment?

Some of the Spiritual Medicine from the last Estate batch requires special processing.

The Head Shopkeeper has been busy preparing those medicines these past few days, so we Senior Pharmacists are taking turns watching over Shenghe Hall, three days each.

And wouldn't you know it—this mess lands on my shift. I'm really cursed.

If you two want to fight among yourselves, fine—but why drag me into it?

The Head Shopkeeper is in seclusion right now. If I disturb his work on the Spiritual Medicine, that whole batch might be ruined.

I've still got one more day to get through. How am I supposed to survive this?"

Li Feng's face was a mix of helplessness and grievance as he let out a long sigh.

Han Zheng spun the teacup in his hand, his thoughts turning, and said, "I do have an idea that could get you out of this."

"Oh? What is it?"

Li Feng asked eagerly.

"The root of this problem is the conflict between Cao Bin and Gao Kaiyuan. You're just caught in the middle over who gets the Spiritual Medicine.

Bullies pick on the weak. Since they haven't openly clashed, you're the soft target they squeeze.

So instead of being the punching bag between them, why not bring everything into the open?

Right now, send your shop assistants to the Three Harmonies Gang and contact both Cao Rui and Gao Kaiyuan's men. Tell them you'll hand over the Spiritual Medicine tomorrow.

But since Shenghe Hall doesn't have enough staff, they'll have to come pick it up themselves.

Then just set the Spiritual Medicine out in front of Shenghe Hall and let them sort it out among themselves. Why should Shenghe Hall get dragged into the middle of it?"

Li Feng hesitated. "But won't that make both sides resent Shenghe Hall as well?"

Han Zheng smiled. "Don't worry. This whole thing stems from the conflict between them. Once they meet, they'll definitely fight over it. They won't have enough hatred left for each other, let alone time to hate Shenghe Hall."

The more Li Feng thought about it, the more sense Han Zheng's words made. He instructed his assistant to carry out Han Zheng's plan.

After chatting with Li Feng for a bit, Han Zheng went outside the Three Harmonies Gang's Hall, found a teahouse, and sat down.

As he sipped his tea, Han Zheng quietly observed the Gang Members coming and going from the Hall.

Of the three gang leaders, Cao Bin spent almost all day inside the Hall and rarely came out.

His son Cao Rui acted rather ostentatiously, always entering and leaving with over a dozen gang members following him, looking very impressive.

Gao Kaiyuan, on the other hand, was on the opposite side of the Hall, north and south from Cao Bin. The entire Three Harmonies Gang was clearly divided.

Only the Third Gang Leader, Jiang Tai, acted like a rich young master. In the morning, he'd go out carrying a big rooster to gamble on cockfights and dog races. By noon, he'd come back drunk, with an arm around a brothel girl.

Han Zheng looked at Jiang Tai, a faint, knowing smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Of the Three Harmonies Gang's three leaders, Cao Bin and Gao Kaiyuan were both very famous in Black Stone County.

Only Jiang Tai had an extremely low profile. Aside from eating, drinking, and having fun all day, he didn't seem to bother much with the gang's affairs.

But was that really the case? Was Jiang Tai really that useless?

After all, back when the three of them had sworn brotherhood and founded the Three Harmonies Gang, they had carved out their own territory in Black Stone County.

Jiang Tai had already stepped into the Innate Realm when he was just over twenty. In a small county like Black Stone, that was enough to be considered a young talent.

Now he was only in his thirties. Could he really be content with his current situation?

Han Zheng certainly didn't believe it.

Seeing that it was getting dark and the crowd around the teahouse was thinning out, Han Zheng left with the others to avoid being noticed and arousing suspicion.

The next day, Li Feng followed Han Zheng's instructions. He placed all the Spiritual Medicine ordered by the Three Harmonies Gang in front of Shenghe Hall and sent people to notify both Cao Rui's and Gao Kaiyuan's trusted subordinates at the same time.

Cao Rui was just over twenty. Although he acted arrogantly and domineeringly, his talent was quite good—he had already reached the Peak Acquired Stage.

Cao Bin wanted his son to take over, but if Cao Rui were truly useless, he wouldn't have risked such strong opposition to force him into the position of gang leader.

The person who came from Gao Kaiyuan's side was his trusted subordinate, Deng Bao, the Hall Master of the War Tiger Hall. He was also at the Peak Acquired Stage.

The Three Harmonies Gang had three war halls: Tiger, Leopard, and Wolf. Each hall had fewer than a hundred members, but they were all elites, not the kind of petty thugs who bullied others by pretending to be powerful.

Cao Bin controlled two war halls, while Gao Kaiyuan's War Tiger Hall was the strongest of the three. That was the foundation of his confidence to challenge Cao Bin.

Cao Rui brought over a dozen men, and Deng Bao also brought over a dozen elites from the War Tiger Hall. The two sides locked eyes, and sparks practically flew.

Li Feng cupped his hands with a smile. "Everyone from the Three Harmonies Gang, the Spiritual Medicine you ordered is all here. Each package has been prepared according to the medicinal bath standard.

You may take them away at any time now. The final payment can be settled whenever you like—I trust the Three Harmonies Gang's reputation.

Today, Shenghe Hall needs to process some Spiritual Medicine, so we're temporarily closing. Please take these Spiritual Medicines back to the Three Harmonies Gang yourselves."

With that, Li Feng waved his hand, and the assistant of Shenghe Hall lowered the shutters, sealing the entire hall tightly.

Anyway, the Spiritual Medicine had been handed over to the Three Harmonies Gang. As for who took it back, that was their own problem.

And just as Han Zheng had said, no one paid any attention to Li Feng.

Cao Rui gave Deng Bao a fake smile. "Hall Master Deng, the brothers of your War Hall seem to have a lot of free time.

Instead of using it to fight for territory against the Sky Eagle Gang and the Black Tiger Gang, you're here playing porter?"

Deng Bao was a tall, fierce-looking man with a full, bushy beard.

He grinned, showing his teeth. "Young Master Cao, if you've got nothing to do, go find a girl at the Drunken Flower Pavilion. What does internal gang business have to do with you?

Sure, you're the First Gang Leader's son, but you don't hold any position in the gang.

The Three Harmonies Gang isn't the Cao family's one-man show. You haven't even become gang leader yet, and you're already throwing your weight around.

When you actually do become gang leader, are we brothers all supposed to be eating the north wind?"

Despite his rough appearance, Deng Bao had a sharp tongue, full of sarcasm and innuendo.

Cao Rui was naturally arrogant and hot-tempered. How could he stand for this?

Besides, he had already clashed with Deng Bao before. Now that they were face to face, their hatred burned even brighter.

"How dare you! Deng Bao, who do you think you are, daring to insult me like this? Attack!"

Deng Bao's expression also darkened.

"The foundation of the Three Harmonies Gang was built by us brothers, fighting and bleeding against the Sky Eagle Gang and the Black Tiger Gang. You tell me who I am?

The Three Harmonies Gang won't be yours to run in the future, and it sure as hell isn't yours to boss around now!

Go! Take back all the Spiritual Medicine! Don't leave a single package for them!"

The moment the words fell, the two factions from the same gang erupted into a chaotic brawl on the main street.

Happy 520, everyone! Love others, but love yourselves even more! (^▽^)