Lenient Treatment

Early that morning, a group of fierce-looking martial artists, armed with blades and swords, gathered outside the Chen Estate on Show Water Street. At their head was a young man in his twenties, his face full of arrogance, who shouted, "Kick the door down!"

One of his burly subordinates stepped forward and kicked the door. With a crack, the door bolt snapped.

Another kick, and the main gate collapsed.

"Senior Brother Zhang is mighty!"

At once, the accompanying martial artists burst into cheers.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The gatekeeper, Old Zhang Li, came out to see the front door smashed in. His eyes blazed with fury, and he clenched his fists, itching to fight back.

They had just moved into their new home the day before, and now, on the second day, someone had wrecked their gate.

What a utter disgrace!

The arrogant young man shouted, "Li Xiangrong of the Martial Hall Guild is here today to demand an accounting. Call Chen Ming out!"

"Call Chen Ming out!"

"Call Chen Ming out!"

"..."

A dozen voices roared in unison, the sound carrying far and wide.

Old Li, intimidated by their presence, felt his legs go weak and collapsed to the ground.

The commotion quickly drew the attention of nearby households, who sent servants out to investigate. Soon, word spread that the Martial Hall Guild was here to cause trouble for the Chen Family, who had just moved in yesterday.

The timid ones bolted their doors tight.

The bolder ones sent servants to keep watch.

And those who weren't afraid of trouble came out to watch the spectacle.

"Martial Hall Guild? Never heard of it. I only know the Cloth Guild, the Tea Guild..."

"Qingfeng City only has a few martial arts schools. It's normal you haven't heard of them. They usually don't make trouble unless provoked..."

"Looks like this newly moved-in Chen Family is in for it."

"I wonder how the Chens managed to get on the wrong side of the Martial Hall Guild..."

The Martial Hall Guild was an organization founded by martial artists. Of all people to provoke, why pick them? What was that if not asking for death?

Finally, a young man emerged from the Chen Estate. He was tall and strikingly handsome, with an air of martial prowess. This was Chen Ming, the second of the Chen Brothers. He walked out slowly, facing the dozen or so aggressive men without a trace of fear.

Li Xiangrong stood with his hands behind his back, his expression haughty, not deigning to take the other seriously. He only asked, "Are you Chen Ming?"

Chen Ming ignored him, his gaze falling on the two collapsed doors. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he asked, "Who did this?"

At this, the terrified gatekeeper Old Li, seeing the second young master come out, suddenly found his backbone. He jumped up from the ground and pointed at the burly man behind Li Xiangrong, his voice choked with tears, "It was him, that damned bastard. In broad daylight, he kicked down someone's front door—may his line be cut off and his descendants cursed..."

Chen Ming finally looked at Li Xiangrong and said coldly, "I don't recall having any grievance with you, sir."

Li Xiangrong said, "You don't."

"Then some old grudge?"

"Not that either."

Chen Ming asked, "Then why did you tear down my front door for no reason?"

Li Xiangrong lifted his chin slightly and said harshly, "Because you broke the rules of our Martial Hall Guild by privately opening a school and taking disciples. Today, we've come to demand an accounting."

Chen Ming didn't get angry. He said, "I'd like to hear exactly how you plan to demand that accounting."

Li Xiangrong held up one finger. "First, dismiss all the disciples you've taken immediately."

Then he raised a second finger. "Second, you must come to the Martial Hall Guild to apologize."

"Third, compensate the Martial Hall Guild with five thousand taels."

"The guild master, out of consideration that you are Old Huo's disciple, is giving you a chance to reform. Otherwise, you wouldn't even get a chance to speak—we'd just take you down and haul you straight to the guild. Don't make a mistake you'll regret!"

Li Xiangrong's expression suggested he was already being lenient.

"This Martial Hall Guild really acts with tyranny."

"Martial artists—when are they not tyrannical? That's why they say, better to offend a merchant than a martial artist. 'With a sharp blade at your chest, murderous intent rises on its own'—that's no empty talk. They really will kill..."

"This Chen Family's second son is unlucky. If Old Huo were still around, the Martial Hall Guild wouldn't dare come knocking like this."

"..."

The onlookers murmured among themselves. Suddenly, they saw the Chen Family's second son burst out laughing, as if he'd heard something ridiculous.

The crowd thought, Has he gone mad from anger?

Li Xiangrong frowned and snapped, "What are you laughing at?"

Chen Ming laughed so hard tears nearly came to his eyes. "Should I be thanking your guild master for his magnanimity?"

Li Xiangrong could naturally hear the mockery in his tone, a cruel grin spreading across his face. "Looks like you're not convinced?"

Before coming, he had asked the guild leader what to do if this Chen Family's Erlang refused to accept punishment.

The guild leader only said one thing: don't cause a death.

He understood then—as long as the man's life was spared, it was fine. Crippling or maiming him was no issue.

This was probably to save face for Sun Shicai. After all, the two were technically from the same school, so a bit of courtesy had to be shown.

Chen Ming said coldly, "I'll give you two choices too. One, fix my front gate and apologize to me publicly. I won't ask for five thousand taels—just five hundred."

"Two, none of you are leaving."

Li Xiangrong flew into a rage. "You don't know when to die!"

He was here on behalf of the martial hall. How dare this brat speak to him like this?

"Junior Brother Liu, go. Teach him a lesson."

Junior Brother Liu was the burly man who had kicked down the Chen Family's gate. He was from Facing Sun Martial Hall, a Ninth Rank martial artist with astonishing natural strength, rarely matched among his peers.

His only weakness was that he wasn't too sharp.

This trip had brought three Ninth Rank martial artists in total, which was already a sign of considerable regard for Chen Ming.

Li Xiangrong believed that Junior Brother Liu alone could handle this man.

Without a word, Junior Brother Liu lunged at Chen Ming.

The onlookers, seeing the fight finally start, grew excited. Some of them had witnessed the big man kick down the gate with two strikes and knew how terrifying his strength was.

They figured Chen Family's Erlang was about to get hurt—

But just as that thought crossed their minds, they saw the burly man fly backward even faster, landing flat on his back, clutching his leg and letting out a miserable scream.

The crowd was stunned.

Li Xiangrong's expression froze. He hadn't even seen how Junior Brother Liu lost.

How could this be?

Then he heard Junior Brother Wang beside him exclaim, "Eighth Rank—"

What?

Eighth Rank?

Impossible!

Li Xiangrong refused to believe it. How old was this Chen Ming? How could he possibly be Eighth Rank?

Hadn't he only reached Ninth Rank a year ago?

How could he have broken through again in just one short year?

Absolutely impossible.

He roared like a madman, "No way... go... all of you, go together..."

"But..." Junior Brother Wang hesitated. If the other party really was Eighth Rank, even all of them combined wouldn't stand a chance.

Li Xiangrong shot him a vicious glare. "Are you disobeying orders?"

Junior Brother Wang's lips twisted bitterly. "No, sir."

"Then go."

So Li Xiangrong led everyone charging at Chen Ming.

"Hmph!"

Chen Ming let out a cold laugh. Facing the siege of over a dozen men, he made no showy moves. With every punch, one man fell. With every kick, someone was sent flying.

In the blink of an eye, all dozen-plus were down.

Only Li Xiangrong remained standing, his earlier arrogance gone, replaced by sheer despair. His voice trembled. "You... you... you actually—"

Bang!

Chen Ming didn't let him finish. A single kick sent him crashing to the ground.

Li Xiangrong, wracked with pain, rolled his eyes back and passed out.

Chen Ming looked at Junior Brother Wang and said flatly, "You. Send someone back to tell your boss to fix my gate, then come talk to me."

On the street, the crowd of onlookers stood dumbfounded, never expecting such a reversal.

Someone stammered, "This Chen Family's Erlang is actually Eighth Rank! How old is he?"

"Seems like... just twenty..."

"A twenty-year-old Eighth Rank... my god..."

"This Chen Family... they're something else!"