Li Ming Missing, Is the Debt to the Zhao Family?

Wang Tie downed two large cups of water before finally catching his breath.

Lin Feng pulled him into the tent and had Zhang Qian stand guard outside, keeping people away.

"Talk. What happened."

Wang Tie wiped his mouth, sat down on the camp cot, and spoke in a heavy voice.

"Li Ming's family owes a debt, you know that, right? Loan sharks. Back then, his family forced him to come to the Northern Territory to risk his life."

Lin Feng nodded. He'd heard about it the very first day he arrived in the Northern Territory.

"A while after you left, the Seventh Defense Line was stable for a time. That kid Li Ming really stepped up. With the combat techniques you taught him, he farmed monsters in the rifts, saved up a lot of Magic Cores, and even broke through to Martial Disciple, Fifth Stage."

Wang Tie paused.

"But the loan shark debt his family owes—principal plus interest—has snowballed to eight hundred thousand."

"Eight hundred thousand?" Lin Feng frowned.

"Yeah. Interest on interest, just keeps piling up. The debt collectors tracked him all the way to the Northern Territory and blocked the camp entrance."

Wang Tie's fists clenched until his knuckles cracked.

"Four Martial Artists. The strongest was a Martial Artist, Sixth Stage. They squatted outside the camp every day, and the moment Li Ming came out, they'd surround him."

"What about Chen Lie?"

"Instructor Chen said it was a private debt dispute, and the military couldn't directly intervene. He kicked those guys out of the camp, but they refused to leave the area outside. And the area outside the camp isn't under military jurisdiction."

Lin Feng leaned against the head of the cot, tapping his fingers on his knee.

"Then what?"

"To pay off the debt, Li Ming threw himself into the rifts like crazy. One rift during the day, another at night. He didn't even spare time to sleep."

Wang Tie gritted his teeth.

"Three days ago, he entered an E-Rank Rift. He still hasn't come out."

The tent fell silent for a few seconds.

"Three days?"

"Three days." Wang Tie's voice went hoarse. "The respawn cycle for Exotic Beasts in an E-Rank Rift is seven days. When he went in, the beasts in the rift had already respawned once. He's only at Martial Disciple, Fifth Stage. Going in there was suicide."

Lin Feng was silent.

A Martial Disciple, Fifth Stage, entering an E-Rank Rift—it really was nine chances of death to one of survival.

But Li Ming wasn't the reckless type. He was desperate.

"Do you know who he owes the money to?"

Wang Tie hesitated.

"I looked into it."

He pulled a crumpled photocopy of an IOU from his pocket and handed it to Lin Feng.

The header on the IOU bore four characters.

Zhao Clan Bank.

Lin Feng stared at that character.

Zhao.

The Zhao Family again.

"Zhao Clan Bank is a subsidiary of the Qing Prefecture Zhao Family. They specialize in loan sharking. There are branches in several counties around the Northern Territory." Wang Tie lowered his voice. "When Li Ming's family first borrowed, they didn't know the Zhao Family was behind it. By the time they found out, they couldn't pay it back anymore."

Lin Feng set the IOU down on the cot, stood up, and paced a couple of steps.

He thought about Li Ming as a person.

The first day he arrived in the Northern Territory, Li Ming was curled up in the last row of the transport, his pants soaked with urine.

The night of the Beast Tide, Li Ming trembled in a corner, unable even to hold his blade steady.

But later, he stood up.

"I want to go too."

"I don't want to be bullied anymore."

When Li Ming said those two things back then, there was a stubborn light in his eyes.

That stubbornness—it looked a lot like Lin Feng's own early self.

And Li Ming had helped him.

Back at the Seventh Defense Line, Li Ming had stood watch for them, kept guard, and never once asked for more than his fair share of the spoils.

When they entered the rifts, Li Ming was weak, but he never let them down.

To be honest, Lin Feng wasn't some great philanthropist.

He hadn't planned to meddle in this kind of business.

An eighty-thousand loan at usurious interest—that was Li Ming's family affair.

In the Northern Territory, everyone had their own hardships, their own messy debts. You couldn't look after them all.

But the Zhao family...

He'd already crossed paths with that surname twice.

The first time, Zhao Tianxiong. Deputy Commander, embezzling military supplies—one slash of his blade and the man's neck was clean.

The second time, Zhao Yuan and Uncle Fu. A direct-line scion of the Zhao family and his Psychic Master bodyguard, both dead inside the rift.

Second Elder of the Zhao Family, Zhao Kun, had brought men to investigate, only to be driven back by Li Zhenguo.

And now, the Zhao family again.

"Wang Tie."

"Hm?"

"The rift Li Ming went into—where is it?"

Wang Tie's head snapped up.

"Twelve kilometers northwest of the Seventh Defense Line, designation E17."

Lin Feng hoisted the Mountain Splitter.

"Let's go. Fish him out."

Wang Tie jumped to his feet.

"I knew you'd step in!"

"Don't celebrate too soon." Lin Feng pushed open the tent flap. "Let's get the man out first."

He stepped out of the tent and ran straight into Zhang Qian.

"Sergeant Major Lin, you're heading out?"

"Making a trip to the Seventh Defense Line."

"Huh? You just got back..."

"Tell Commander Li for me—personal business."

Zhang Qian opened his mouth, then swallowed whatever he was about to say.

He was used to it by now.

Lin Feng and Wang Tie left the camp, heading toward the Seventh Defense Line.

On the way, Lin Feng asked a question.

"Those Martial Artists collecting the debt—are they still outside the camp?"

"Two left, two still hanging around, refusing to leave. They say if Li Ming doesn't pay up, they'll wait him out."

"Eighty thousand, and the interest's still climbing?"

"Yeah. Twenty percent a month."

Lin Feng did the math.

Twenty percent monthly interest—over a year, that was two hundred and forty percent.

Eighty thousand would become one hundred and ninety-two thousand in a year.

This wasn't lending. This was bloodsucking.

"When we get there, you go find Chen Lie first and fill him in. I'll handle the two debt collectors."

Wang Tie nodded, his pace quickening.

In under an hour, they reached the Seventh Defense Line.

At the camp entrance, two middle-aged men were squatting against the wall, playing cards.

One was a Martial Artist at the Fourth Stage, the other at the Third Stage.

When they saw Wang Tie return, one of them looked up, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, and asked lazily.

"Oh, back again? Your buddy still hasn't crawled out of that rift—want us to burn some paper money for him?"

The other burst out laughing.

Wang Tie clenched his fists, but Lin Feng pressed a hand on his shoulder.

"You go in first. Find Chen Lie."

Wang Tie shot Lin Feng a look, nodded, and strode quickly into the camp.

Lin Feng walked up to the two debt collectors.

"The money Li Ming owes—you two are here to collect it?"

The man with the grass in his mouth tilted his head back and sized him up.

"Who the hell are you?"

"His friend."

"Friend?" The man with the straw in his mouth let out a sneer. "He's got plenty of friends. Not a single one of 'em ever paid back his debts for him. You here to plead his case too?"

"Not pleading."

Lin Feng crouched down, meeting the two men at eye level.

"I've got a question for you."

"Your Zhao Clan Bank's boss—is it the Zhao Family of Qing Prefecture?"

The straw-chewing man froze for a moment, then puffed out his chest.

"That's right. Zhao family business. What of it? You hear the Zhao name and figure you ought to know your place?"

Lin Feng nodded.

"The Zhao family, huh."

He stood up.

"Then that works out just fine."