The Terrible Consequences

Since Zhang Hupan had said he would teach these guys a proper lesson, Chen Jiaying naturally held nothing back. Although the four great families were immensely powerful, they were still not on the same level as Wudang!

The four great families had always been bound together, sharing a common fate. Seeing Chen Jiaying make such a declaration, Lin Qiming finally realized how serious the situation was and hurried over to mediate. He was also worried that Chen Jiaying might go too far with his words. After all, matters in the secular world had always been decided by Song Feng and the others on Wudang's behalf!

"Brother Chen, please calm down. There's no need to make things so serious, is there? As the saying goes, you don't truly know someone until you've fought them! It's understandable that these young people didn't recognize their Wudang seniors!" Chen Jiaying, however, seemed completely unmoved by Lin Qiming's words. He merely stared coldly at Wang Hong, who was already drenched in cold sweat. Lin Qiming was the head of a family, and his status was unquestionably far above that of Chen Jiaying, who was merely from the Hao generation. Seeing Chen Jiaying show him no respect, Lin Qiming inevitably grew angry. Relying on his relationship with Song Feng, he said with barely concealed displeasure, "I think you'd better call Hero Song. You don't seem to have the authority to make decisions for Wudang, do you?"

Chen Jiaying naturally couldn't make decisions for Wudang. But who was standing before him? The highest leader of Wudang. Forget the Wang family—even if it were the entire martial world, if this grandmaster gave an order, Wudang's disciples would have no choice but to obey, unless they were prepared to stop being Wudang disciples. As for Song Feng, if he heard that someone had insulted his grandmaster, he would probably be even harsher than Chen Jiaying. It definitely wouldn't end with merely cutting off their cooperation; a total blockade was very likely. After all, simply because Chen Jiaying had accidentally disturbed Zhang Hupan, Song Feng had nearly committed suicide to atone for his crime—and had even considered hunting down Chen Jiaying!

Since Zhang Hupan had not voiced any objection—in fact, there was even a hint of approval in his eyes—Chen Jiaying naturally had no intention of retracting his earlier words. If not for the close relationship between several of his martial seniors and the Lin family, Chen Jiaying might even have considered completely ending cooperation with the Lin family as well. After all, Lin Weifeng of the Lin family had clearly been one of the participants in this incident. If Chen Jiaying had known that Lin Weifeng had not merely participated but had initiated and organized it, he would probably have proposed ending all cooperation with the Lin family without a second thought! As for the head of the Lin family, Chen Jiaying couldn't afford to slight him too much. Though Zhang Hupan was backing him now, he still replied to Lin Qiming, "I don't think that will be necessary. If Martial Uncle Song handles this matter, the result will be the same—perhaps even worse!"

The Wang family and the Lin family had been on friendly terms for several hundred years, after all. Seeing the pleading look in Wang Hong's eyes, Lin Qiming felt that something about the matter was strange, but he still hadn't paid much attention to the ordinary-looking young man standing silently to the side. He thought that at most, the young man merely had a higher seniority, and that Chen Jiaying might be making a mountain out of a molehill. If he called Song Feng himself, then given his relationship with Song Feng, this matter should be easily smoothed over. Thus, he shot Chen Jiaying an annoyed look, picked up his phone, and called Song Feng, explaining the entire situation. Song Feng also found it extremely strange. The Wang family was no ordinary martial arts family, and Chen Jiaying had always handled matters steadily. Why had he so rashly made such a major decision? Suddenly, Song Feng thought of Zhang Hupan in Hangzhou, and his heart jolted. Could that old ancestor be there? Good heavens, how could this be happening?

Song Feng hurriedly asked over the phone, "Brother Lin, is that young man called Zhang Hupan?"

Lin Qiming covered the phone's microphone and asked Lin Weifeng, who was standing nervously beside him. After confirming it, he said to Song Feng, "Yes."

Song Feng fell silent on the other end. He had never imagined that this grandmaster would actually be there. Good heavens, someone had insulted his grandmaster to his face! How could that be tolerated? Without his grandmaster, how could Song Feng have achieved what he had today? Forget the Wang family—even if Zhang Hupan told him to stab the entire martial world, Song Feng would charge out without a second thought, like a gangster, and throw himself into the fray! How had Chen Jiaying handled this matter? He had actually let the Wang family off so easily. But since he had already said those words, and the grandmaster seemed not to object, perhaps it could just be left at that.

With this thought, Song Feng said something that left Lin Qiming stunned for the rest of his life: "Brother Lin, you don't need to say anything more. This matter is settled! As long as Senior Zhang has no objections to anything that happens tonight, Chen Jiaying's decision is Wudang's decision! And one more thing—don't ever let anything like this happen again. Otherwise, our friendship may end here!"

It was a threat—an utterly blatant threat. Although he and Song Feng had been friends for many years, Lin Qiming was still furious upon hearing those words. Yet Song Feng's threat also made him realize that he had absolutely underestimated this unremarkable-looking young man before him. Wudang had always respected harmony above all else. When had it ever been so overbearing and aggressive? Who exactly was this young man, that even Song Feng respectfully addressed him as Senior, and was willing to cast aside their years of friendship for his sake without hesitation? And all this over such a minor matter! Even if Lin Qiming racked his brains, he would never have guessed that Zhang Hupan was Zhang Sanfeng's disciple—the ancestor of Wudang, in a sense. If someone insulted one's own ancestor, who could possibly endure it?

What was Lin Qiming supposed to do now? He had never imagined that what he thought was a simple matter would escalate this far. Seeing Zhao Liya leaning against Zhang Hupan with a similarly shocked expression, inspiration suddenly struck him, and he thought of a solution. After all, the Lin and Wang families had been close for several centuries; he couldn't simply leave them in the lurch! Thus, Lin Qiming secretly gave Zhao Liya a meaningful look. Clever as she was, Zhao Liya immediately understood what he meant. She also knew that the Wang family was just as important to the Zhao family. It was just that everything had happened so quickly and unexpectedly that she had not had time to react. The wooden man she had always thought of as a dullard had actually learned martial arts from a Wudang priest, just as Zhang Hupan had said. And that old priest really had been a senior Wudang figure. Judging from what had just happened, he was far more than an ordinary senior! Lin Qiming's look brought Zhao Liya back to reality. As she looked at the man beside her, a trace of apprehension appeared in her eyes. After all, judging from what had just happened, Zhang Hupan's status was simply too lofty. She didn't even know whether she could persuade him.

Although she disliked Wang Hong as well, he was, after all, from one of the four great families. Zhao Liya lowered her head, her pretty face faintly flushed, and tugged at Zhang Hupan's arm. Stammering, she said, "Zhang Hupan, maybe we should let it go. He didn't really offend us that badly."

Since the beauty beside him had spoken, Zhang Hupan naturally had to show her some consideration. He waved his hand and laughed it off. "It was all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! Jiaying, don't frighten the younger generation. Let's leave it at that! Everyone is here to attend Old Master Lin's birthday celebration. Don't ruin the atmosphere!"

Zhang Hupan's statement filled Zhao Liya's heart with sweetness, as though she had just drunk honey. Even someone like Lin Qiming had been unable to resolve the matter, yet it had been settled so easily with just a few words from her. This gave the young woman's vanity immense satisfaction!

Chen Jiaying, who had grown shrewd with age, naturally understood the power of a beautiful woman. He also realized that Zhao Liya was an extremely important figure, and secretly resolved that he absolutely had to maintain a good relationship with the Zhao family in the future!

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(To be continued)