Tragedy

Chen Ming left the Wu Martial Hall and then went to Huo Manor to find Zhang Mingyu.

"Why is Junior Brother here?"

Zhang Mingyu was explaining the Five Elements Saber Technique to several junior brothers, all familiar faces. After greeting Chen Ming, he told Gu Junrong and the others to practice on their own and took Chen Ming to the pavilion for tea.

For a while, the three of them, including Hong Mingquan, sat here every day, drinking tea and chatting.

Now, the tea set was still the same, but one person was missing.

Chen Ming felt a pang of emotion. After taking a sip of tea, he said, "I was just passing by and thought I'd ask Senior Brother for a cup of tea."

Zhang Mingyu laughed heartily, "I have plenty of Lao Shan tea. I've been looking forward to Junior Brother's visit every day."

Recently, he had been sparring with Chen Ming every few days.

After sparring, Chen Ming would also review his performance. He felt that his saber technique had improved, so he naturally hoped that Chen Ming could come over often.

Chen Ming said, "I hope Senior Brother doesn't find me annoying."

"How could I?"

After chatting for a while, Chen Ming got down to business, "Speaking of which, this morning, a black-clad constable from Six Doors came to find me..."

He briefly explained the situation.

As soon as Zhang Mingyu heard the constable mention Old Six, he became nervous, "You didn't tell him, did you?"

Chen Ming said solemnly, "No, since I promised Senior Brother, I naturally wouldn't tell anyone about this."

"That's good."

Zhang Mingyu finally felt relieved. He glanced at the junior brothers practicing their saber techniques not far away and said in a low voice, "Actually, Sixth Junior Brother, he..."

"I have no intention of investigating this matter. I just felt I should come and tell Senior Brother. It's getting late, I'll head back now."

Knowing Bi Haibo's story might draw him into this karma. He wouldn't do something that had no benefits.

After speaking, he directly took his leave.

Chen Ming returned home around evening, just in time for dinner. When he got to the dining table, he noticed that his sister-in-law wasn't there. His elder brother, Chen Rui, had already announced that they could start eating.

He asked, "Aren't we waiting for Sister-in-law?"

"She's feeling unwell and has asked Xiao Hong to deliver the food to her room."

Feeling unwell?

She must be feeling mortified in front of him.

Chen Ming found it a bit amusing; she was so thin-skinned.

His elder brother, Chen Rui, suddenly asked, "Second Brother, is there any woman you fancy?"

"No," he shook his head. "You don't need to worry about my marriage, Elder Brother. I have no plans to get married for now."

Seeing his resolute attitude, Chen Rui seemed to want to say something but held back.

After dinner, he went to his room to find his wife, Wei Shi, "Madam, do you think Second Brother still can't forget that girl from the Zhang Family?"

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?"

"Second Brother is already twenty-one, but he has no intention of getting married. When I was his age, Ade was already born." Chen Rui frowned slightly.

As the eldest brother, he was like a father. Since their parents were gone, it was natural for him, the elder brother, to worry about his younger brother's marriage.

It was a matter of course for a man to marry when he grew up.

But Second Brother had always been unwilling to marry, which was quite abnormal.

How could marrying a wife affect his martial arts practice?

In his opinion, this was just an excuse.

Chen Rui thought about it and it seemed that this was the only possibility.

Wei Shi frowned upon hearing this, "Then what do we do? That girl is about to marry someone else."

"The Zhang Family is so materialistic; they are definitely not a good match. Even if she doesn't marry someone else, Second Brother can't marry her. Otherwise, there will be unrest at home. We have to think of another way."

That night, Chen Rui didn't sleep a wink, constantly pondering this matter.

The next day, Li Jinchuan indeed came to the door with a family member. It was a man in his forties, who looked ordinary and wore coarse linen clothes.

Li Jinchuan introduced, "This is Uncle Rui. Uncle Rui, this is Senior Brother Chen."

Uncle Rui bowed and said, "Hu Guangrui greets Young Master Chen the Second."

"Mr. Hu, you're too polite." Chen Ming couldn't quite figure out their relationship. They didn't seem like elders, but rather like master and servant. "I wonder what brings you here, sir?"

"I wouldn't dare. I have a request."

"Please, speak freely."

"I will be leaving Qingfeng City soon, but I'm worried that Chuan'er will have no one to take care of him. Would it be possible for him to stay at your estate for a while? I will be back in at most a month."

Chen Ming laughed, "I thought it was something important. It's a small matter. You can stay as long as you like."

Hu Guangrui was delighted, "Thank you, Young Master Chen. If it's alright, I'll move in tonight. I'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

"Alright."

And so, Li Jinchuan moved into the Chen Estate.

As a result, many students, upon hearing of this, clamored to move in as well.

Chen Ming put on a stern face towards these troublemakers, and they quieted down.

Several days later, one night, Chen Ming was reading in his room when he suddenly heard a scream in the distance.

Judging by the sound, it came from several hundred meters away.

"Something happened?"

Just as he was thinking this, he heard another scream. This time, the sound was much closer.

Chen Ming's heart tightened. He put down the book, grabbed the long saber by the bed, went out, and headed straight for his older brother's courtyard, calling out, "Brother."

Soon, Chen Rui came out wearing an outer robe, asking somewhat nervously, "What happened?"

Chen Ming said with a solemn expression, "It's not clear yet. You go back inside and take care of your wife and Lide. I'll stand guard outside."

"Alright."

Chen Rui didn't waste words and went back inside to reassure his wife and children.

Chen Ming also had Chunxiang and Xiaxiang wake up everyone in the Chen Estate and gather in this courtyard.

Then, several more screams were heard.

After that, there was no more sound.

Chen Ming didn't dare to be careless and stayed in the courtyard guarding until dawn.

Everyone had a restless night.

After dawn, Chen Ming sent someone out to gather information, and the person quickly returned.

The person reported with a pale face, "Young Master, Second Young Master, last night a group of thieves broke into a family named Jiang on the east side, killing the entire family, a total of twelve people, and then robbed them of their money. Now, the people from Six Doors have arrived..."

Chen Rui, upon hearing of such a tragedy, said with some anger and shock, "This is simply lawless! Who on earth did this? To be so vicious and evil, robbing is one thing, but to kill people as well!"

"It is said... it was a group of pirates. Those who do business at sea have no morals to speak of. When they rob merchant ships, they often leave no one alive..."

Chen Ming frowned as he listened. It seemed that Wang Yangming's concerns were correct. These pirates really acted without restraint. It had only been a few days, and they had already committed such a heinous crime of exterminating an entire family.

If they had targeted his family last night, he alone might not have been able to protect the entire family.

It seems that he needs to improve his strength as soon as possible.

It was foreseeable that with Dragon King Zheng dead, the pirates under him would lose their restraint, and Qingfeng City would probably be in chaos for some time.

One should know that the overall strength of Qingfeng City was far inferior to that of Dragon King Zheng's pirates.

Qingfeng City only had one Fourth Rank expert from the Gu Family. Then there was a Fifth Rank guardian from Six Doors, and two other Fifth Rank renowned experts.

On the pirate side, although Dragon King Zheng was dead, his nine adopted sons were all Fourth or Fifth Rank experts. If they all came to Qingfeng City to plunder, it would be impossible to resist.