The Plan

"Father, how did your discussion go?"

As soon as Meng He and his son returned home, Meng Zhiwei rose to greet them.

Their mother, Madam Wang, heard the commotion and came out too, watching her husband and son with concern.

Everyone knew the merchant association had been having trouble lately.

"Alas..."

Meng He let out a long sigh, seemingly at a loss. "Let Zhaowu tell you."

Meng Zhaowu said angrily:

"That old man was awful today. He opposed Father at every turn. It was clearly a plan that would benefit everyone, but he just had to nitpick!"

Meng Zhiwei rarely saw her younger brother so worked up. She urged him to calm down and take his time.

"That gang's been smashing up businesses all over town for ages. Everyone's losing money. Father thought it over and wanted everyone to pool their funds to hire Martial Artists, but then..."

Meng Zhaowu slapped his hand down.

"Not one person supported him. They were all quibbling over the money."

"Then that old man stirred things up and dumped all the responsibility on Father, saying, 'The chairman can figure out a solution.'"

Meng Zhiwei was taken aback. "Who do you mean by 'that old man'?"

Meng He answered calmly, "Elder Qin."

An image sprang to Meng Zhiwei's mind: a short old man in a long robe, holding an abacus.

So it was Elder Qin...

Elder Qin was one of the merchant association's founding members. He had been there even before Meng He became chairman.

He wielded considerable influence within the association.

"Son, you should watch what you say, or someone might overhear..." Seeing how angry he was, Madam Wang handed him a cup of water.

She also reminded him not to speak ill of others.

He might make an enemy of someone.

"I just can't stand that old man. He goes around with a sour face every day, like everyone owes him money. And he even accuses me of being a wastrel."

Meng Zhaowu was furious.

Meng He spoke calmly. "Zhiwei, what do you think?"

Meng Zhiwei shook her head. "The gangs are playing dirty, and the authorities don't want to get involved. We can only hire Martial Artists; there's no other way."

"But they won't pay!" Meng Zhaowu said. "Now they're all fighting over the few guards the association has left, and none of them wants to contribute."

"They've even left our family with hardly any guards. We don't have a single Martial Artist, either. Last time, you were almost captured by people from Yicheng Hall, Sister."

"And we pay the most in membership fees!"

After thinking it over, Meng Zhiwei said:

"The association doesn't have enough guards right now."

"The Martial Artists we hire would serve the association, so everyone should contribute. It's just a question of how much each person pays."

"Since everyone's trying to get something for nothing..."

"Why don't we hire a group ourselves first? Once they see us making money, they'll naturally want to spend some of their own to hire Martial Artists."

"Whether they hire them themselves or the association does, as long as we can stand up to the gangs, it'll benefit us."

"And the small businesses that can't afford to hire anyone are worried they'll pay up and still get no protection."

"Father, you could set a rule: whoever pays more in membership fees and contributes more gets first call on the Martial Artists."

Meng Zhaowu's eyes lit up.

He thought it was a wonderful idea.

Meng He nodded too, looking at his daughter approvingly. "We'll do as you say."

Meng Zhiwei turned to her younger brother and asked:

"By the way, Zhaowu, do you really not know any Bone Forging Realm Martial Artists?"

Last time, she had been saved by a young man at the Pastry Shop. He had said he was Meng Zhaowu's friend, and Meng Zhiwei had been struck by the memory.

At his sister's question, Meng Zhaowu once again thought through everyone he knew.

In the end, he grinned and denied it. "There are so few Bone Forging Martial Artists. How could I know someone like that? Maybe he was just using you as an excuse to get close to you."

Meng Zhiwei froze, her cheeks flushing as the young man's dashing figure came to mind.

"What nonsense are you talking about? If he really came because of me, why didn't he even leave his name? Why only say he knew you?"

Seeing that his sister was a little shy, Meng Zhaowu chuckled. He'd only been joking.

But...

He still couldn't figure out when he'd made a friend who was in the Bone Forging Realm.

The only Bone Forging Realm Martial Artists he knew were the few instructors at the martial arts school.

But he had no talent for martial arts. No matter how hard he trained, he never got anywhere. Why would any of them pay him attention?

Meng Zhaowu's eyes rolled. He gave up trying to figure it out, but then he noticed his sister's face growing redder and stared at her in shock.

"Sister, you haven't actually fallen for him, have you? Is that why you've kept asking me about him these past few days?"

Their mother, Madam Wang, raised an eyebrow too, looking at her daughter with an amused smile.

"Our Zhiwei's all grown up now."

Meng Zhiwei's fair skin made the apple-red blush on her cheeks stand out even more.

"Y-you, don't talk nonsense!"

Although she said that, she couldn't stop an image from surfacing in her mind: a figure as calm and unruffled as the breeze, every movement composed and easy.

The more she thought of him,

the rosier her cheeks became.

In the afternoon, the sun slanted westward.

Chen Feng had changed his appearance, and in his ordinary cloth clothes, he blended into the crowd without drawing the slightest attention.

He walked along the familiar streets, gazing thoughtfully at the largest residence in the distance.

That was Lin Mansion.

He had visited the area many times while plotting to assassinate Lin Yan. He knew the neighborhood like the back of his hand. He never expected that, on his return, he would once again be planning a killing.

The Lin Family had always been a thorn in Chen Feng's side. He wouldn't feel right until he pulled it out.

Now that he had reached the peak of the Bone Forging Realm, the first thing he would do

was take revenge on the Lin Family.

Whether for the Original Owner or for himself, he had to wipe out the Lin Family. Chen Feng didn't want people popping up every other day to take his life.

This time it was Xie Fei.

Who knew whether there would be a Wang Fei, a Zhang Fei, or a Li Fei next time?

Chen Feng had already looked into it. There was only one Bone Forging Martial Artist in Lin Mansion, and he was old and frail, his Qi Blood in decline.

His strength was less than half what it had been in his prime.

As the saying went, youth had the advantage in a fistfight. An old man in the Bone Forging Realm couldn't stop him.

But...

That wasn't what Chen Feng was thinking about now.

He was thinking about how you had to pull up the roots to get rid of the weeds.

He still remembered how it had all begun, and who had set the Original Owner on his tragic path: Lin Jingshu.

However, according to what Chen Feng had heard, Li Shuxian had gone to the Provincial Capital to take the Xiangshi Examination, and Lin Jingshu had gone with him.

That meant Chen Feng couldn't get to her.

When Lin Jingshu came back and discovered that her family had been wiped out, while Chen Feng, her enemy, had become a lofty Personal Disciple of Dragon Walk Martial Arts School, she would surely grow suspicious.

That would be like rustling the grass and startling the snake.

If Lin Jingshu hid herself away in the Li Family and never came out, Chen Feng would have no way to get to her.

And Li Shuxian was even less worth mentioning. With Chen Feng's current strength, he still wasn't quite a match for the Li Family.

Killing Li Shuxian, the apple of the Li Family's eye, would be harder still.

But just because it was difficult didn't mean Chen Feng wouldn't do it.

"Otherwise... that wouldn't be fair..."

Painful memories welled up in Chen Feng's mind: the Original Owner's entire family driven into a corner with nowhere to turn.

The horrors of the past remained vivid in his mind. Just so Lin Jingshu could preserve her reputation and climb into the Li Family's good graces, she had destroyed his family.

How could he not avenge such a grudge?

Chen Feng had already made up his mind.

Letting the grass rustle and startling the snake was fine. At least it would scare the snake off—better than walking right past it and getting ambushed.