Do You Regret It?

"Who's so bold as to detain someone from our Fenglei Martial Hall?"

Just then, a fiery voice rang out. With a bang, a burly, full-bearded man stormed in, his face twisted with rage. "Hall Master, give the order right now. I'll take some men and wipe him out. An Eighth Rank Martial Artist—how dare he act so insolent!"

Lei Yucheng quickly tried to calm him. "Master Li, hold your temper. We need to discuss this first..."

"Discuss what? That brat's practically stepping on our necks. I'm not swallowing this crap."

Master Li huffed and glared, showing no respect toward him.

Seeing that Master Li didn't take him seriously at all, Lei Yucheng's expression soured.

Still, he understood that Li Xiangrong was Master Li's most cherished nephew. Being detained naturally had him frantic.

Just then, Lei Zhenguang, who had been sitting quietly all along, spoke up, scolding, "Old Li, why are you still so hot-tempered?"

Master Li didn't dare lose his temper in front of him. He whined, "Old Hall Master, Li Ankun here only has this one nephew. If anything happens to him, how will I face my deceased Eldest Brother?"

Lei Zhenguang snapped, "Use your head before you speak. If you lead men to his door and corner him, won't that just get your nephew killed?"

Li Ankun roared, "Would he dare?"

"Hmph, even a rabbit bites when cornered. Let alone a young man who's reached Eighth Rank at twenty."

"Then, Old Hall Master, what do you suggest?"

"First, get the facts straight. Yucheng, bring the man who came back with the message."

"Yes."

Before long, the man Chen Ming had let go recounted the whole story.

Li Ankun flew into a rage before he even finished. "A mere Eighth Rank, and he dares demand we apologize to him? Who does he think he is?"

After hearing the full account, Lei Zhenguang was certain in his heart that Chen Ming had indeed broken through to Eighth Rank.

A twenty-year-old Eighth Rank...

He pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Xiangrong acted a bit rashly."

With that one sentence, the tone was set.

Li Ankun knew from his words that his nephew had suffered a loss in vain—the Old Hall Master wouldn't reclaim face for his own nephew. This was a total loss of dignity.

Though reluctant, he dared not oppose Lei Zhenguang's long-held authority.

Lei Zhenguang continued, "Smashing someone's gate is no different from smashing their signboard. We're in the wrong here. Yucheng, send Yue Bin to repair the Chen Estate's gate and compensate them with five hundred taels. Bring Xiangrong and the others back."

"Yes."

Lei Yucheng left at once.

Li Ankun finally couldn't hold back his grumbling. "Old Hall Master, what's left of our Fenglei Martial Hall's face like this? People will think you're afraid of him."

"You're always hung up on meaningless pride. A little loss of face is no big deal. Our Fenglei Martial Hall is still the top martial hall in Qingfeng City."

Seeing Li Ankun's unconvinced expression, Lei Zhenguang knew he wasn't listening, so he said no more and waved him off.

Half an hour later, everything had been arranged.

In the study, only Lei Zhenguang and his grandson Lei Yucheng remained.

"Grandfather, even if Chen Ming is Eighth Rank, our Fenglei Martial Hall doesn't need to fear him, does it? Why settle things peacefully?" Lei Yucheng once again voiced his doubt.

Within Fenglei Martial Hall, there were three Eighth Ranks alone. Not to mention his grandfather was a true Seventh Rank.

Lei Zhenguang asked him, "How long did it take you to break through from Ninth Rank to Eighth Rank?"

"Four years."

"This Chen Ming did it in just one year."

A sharp glint flashed in Lei Yucheng's eyes. "That kid showed nothing special back when he was with Huo Chengkun. But this past year, he's soared, breaking through two ranks in a row. He must have a secret."

"If you think that, won't others think the same?"

"Grandfather, you mean?"

"Qingfeng City hides dragons and crouching tigers. There are plenty stronger than your grandfather. When a secret becomes known to everyone, do you think it'll fall to us?"

Lei Yucheng froze, then a bitter smile crept onto his face. He let out a long sigh. "I understand, Grandfather."

Lei Zhenguang said with some relief, "I knew I wasn't wrong about you. In this world, if you want to live long, you must curb your greed."

"Grandfather, what next? How do we handle Chen Ming?"

"Follow the rules. If he wants to keep opening his hall and taking disciples, let him take the trials."

On Show Water Street, in a large mansion two alleys away from the Chen Estate.

A young girl was embroidering in a pavilion in the back courtyard. She wore a tender yellow ruqun, her features delicate, around sixteen or seventeen years old.

She was working on a mandarin ducks playing in water design—the kind used for a woman's wedding dowry.

"Miss, miss, I heard there's a fight outside."

"Oh."

Zhang Xinyi wasn't interested and kept her focus on her embroidery.

But her personal maid, hearing there was excitement, started chattering with the other servant girl beside her.

"I heard it's a family that just moved in..."

"Surname Chen..."

"They run a medicine shop..."

When Zhang Xinyi heard this, she suddenly lost focus. A sharp sting hit her finger as she accidentally pricked it with the needle. A bead of blood welled up quickly, dripping onto the embroidered fabric and spreading fast.

The maid snapped to attention and smacked the other servant girl, scolding, "Look what you made her do with your nonsense! The miss has been working on this piece for half a month, and now it's ruined."

Surname Chen, and running a medicine shop. That had to be the miss's former fiancé, didn't it?

It might not be him, for sure.

But the miss must have thought of that person.

The servant girl was confused, not knowing what she'd done wrong.

Zhang Xinyi suddenly asked, "Why did they fight?"

The servant girl glanced at her, then at the maid, unsure whether to speak or not.

The maid angrily hit her again. "The miss asked you a question. Spit it out."

Only then did the servant girl say, "It seems they offended some Martial Hall Guild, and they came to demand an accounting..." She recounted the whole incident vividly.

When she heard how the Martial Hall Guild people arrogantly announced what they'd do to that Chen Family's Erlang, Zhang Xinyi's heart tightened. She asked anxiously, "Is he... all right?"

He?

The servant girl had no idea who the miss meant and looked blank.

Seeing how dense she was, the maid kicked her and snapped, "The Chen Family's Erlang, that's who."

The servant girl finally caught on. "He's perfectly fine. Miss, you wouldn't believe how strong he is—he took down over a dozen of them in one go."

Zhang Xinyi was stunned. "He was always that strong?"

"Of course he is. I heard he's an Eighth Rank Martial Artist, really formidable."

Eighth Rank?

Zhang Xinyi was taken aback.

Even though she didn't care much about martial arts, she knew the weight of an Eighth Rank Martial Artist.

Could it not be him?

Her former fiancé was said to have mediocre talent and had even given up martial training halfway. If his talent had been any better, her family wouldn't have considered breaking off the engagement.

As she remembered, he wasn't even a martial artist.

Zhang Xinyi hadn't heard news of him in a long time and knew nothing about his current situation. Only once, she'd overheard her elder brother mention that the Chen Family medicine shop's business was getting better and better.

The maid also found it strange. "This Chen Family's Erlang—what's his name?"

"That I don't know."

"Then go find out."

"Yes."

After a while, the servant girl came back, looking regretful. Once she learned the name of the Chen Family's Erlang, she finally understood why the miss had been acting so strangely.

Turns out, it was that Chen Family's Erlang whose engagement the miss had broken off!

No one used to call Chen Ming that.

The master had strictly forbidden mentioning this person in front of the miss. Without meaning to, she'd made a huge mistake.

The maid couldn't wait to ask, "Is it him?"

The servant girl stammered, "Yes."

It really was him?

Zhang Xinyi's emotions churned, and it took a long time for her to calm down.

Suddenly, she remembered what Huo Qianqian had said.

An uncontrollable thought surfaced in her mind: "Are my uncle and father regretting it now?"