Discussing Important Matters

Chen Ming discussed with his elder brother, Chen Rui, "Next, the city will probably be in chaos for a while. The people living on Show Water Street are all wealthy, making them easy targets for thieves. For safety's sake, we can't stay here."

Chen Rui remained calm, asking, "Then where do we go? Are we going to leave the city?"

"There's no need for that. Let's go back to the old house for a while. The people living there are all ordinary, and thieves won't go there. Don't worry, the imperial court won't let Qingfeng City remain in chaos like this. I believe they'll take action soon."

Chen Rui thought it made sense and said, "Okay, we'll move back to the old house. When do we leave?"

"The sooner, the better. Let's set off now."

Chen Ming and the others only took some daily necessities, traveling light, and returned to their old house.

Because it hadn't been vacant for long, it could be lived in after a little cleaning, so it wasn't troublesome.

However, it's hard to go from extravagance to frugality. Moving back to this small courtyard from a large mansion, everyone felt a little unaccustomed, even though they had only lived in the new house for a month or so.

Chen Ming continued to send people out to inquire about news. In the evening, he finally received definite information. It turned out that it was the Black Dragon King's subordinates who had done it.

Six Doors also acted quickly, finding their hideout at noon. These pirates were all desperate criminals, so naturally they wouldn't surrender. The two sides started fighting.

It is said that several people from Six Doors died, and only one bandit was killed, while the others all ran away. Fortunately, they recovered a lot of gold and silver.

"Even Six Doors can't beat them. Are these pirates so fierce?" Wei Shi's face was pale, and she was quite frightened.

In her mind, it was because of the existence of Six Doors that those notorious bandits didn't dare to run wild in the city. Now, these pirates were so rampant that even Six Doors couldn't do anything about them.

This made her very uneasy.

At this time, the servant added, "It is said that the one leading the team this time was the Second Young Master's senior brother, Envoy Sun, and he was also injured."

Sun Shicai was also injured?

The sense of insecurity in Chen Ming's heart grew stronger.

That was just a group of pirates with no reputation, yet even Sun Shicai, who had a Seventh Rank cultivation, was injured. It was evident how strong these pirates, who lived a precarious life at sea, were.

What was even more terrifying was that these pirates had just arrived in Qingfeng City and were not clear about the strength of Six Doors, so they were still somewhat cautious and didn't dare to act rashly.

Now that someone had tested the strength of Six Doors, those lurking pirates suddenly realized, "So Six Doors is just a paper tiger?"

It was easy to imagine what they would do next.

Chen Ming strictly ordered the people in the manor not to go out for the next few days. He had prepared in advance and had already stored enough food for the whole family to eat for several months.

Even the pharmacy was temporarily closed until this storm passed.

That night, no one slept well. They could always hear some movement coming from afar, making them feel frightened. It finally calmed down near dawn.

It was finally dawn. As soon as the sun came out, someone knocked on the door.

The gatekeeper yawned and went over, lifted the heavy door bolt, and opened the door. Seeing that it was the Second Young Master's senior brothers, he dared not neglect them. "Are you here to see my Second Young Master? I'll go and inform him."

He led the three to the front hall and then went to find the Second Young Master.

Before long, Chen Ming received the news and hurried over. "Welcome, three senior brothers. Forgive me for not greeting you properly."

The ones who came were Gu Junrong, Wang Mingkai, and Li Qingchang.

Wang Mingkai was already an impatient person, so he couldn't bother with pleasantries. "Junior brother, something big has happened."

After Chen Ming sat down, he asked, "Is senior brother talking about the matter of Senior Brother Sun's injury?"

Wang Mingkai scoffed. "That's not a big deal. Do you know what a big deal happened last night?"

"What is it?"

"A group of pirates attacked the Gu Family. The Gu Family suffered countless casualties. Even the Fourth Rank Gu Yanchang was severely injured. If that person from Six Doors hadn't arrived in time to save him, he would have probably died on the spot."

Chen Ming gasped when he heard this.

The Gu Family was the number one family in Qingfeng City. Although, with the rise of maritime transport, the momentum and strength of the seven great merchants had long surpassed the Gu Family.

However, the Gu Family had been passed down for hundreds of years, and their strength and foundation were beyond doubt. They even had a Fourth Rank expert guarding them, yet they were almost wiped out.

He asked in shock, "Who did it?"

Gu Junrong said with a solemn expression, "I'm afraid it was done by Dragon King Zheng's adopted sons. Only they have such strength."

Dragon King Zheng had nine adopted sons, all named after the jiao dragon, such as White Jiao King, Green Jiao King, Black Jiao King, and so on.

Among them, several had Fourth Rank cultivation. If a few of them joined forces, the Gu Family really couldn't resist.

"These pirates are really too rampant," Chen Ming muttered.

He didn't expect these pirates to be so bold. Others would pick on the weak, but they directly found the hardest bone to gnaw on.

Wang Mingkai said, "I heard that the Gu Family's mansion was looted. Tsk, that's the wealth that the Gu Family has accumulated for hundreds of years."

Chen Ming was a little worried. "Now, the entire Qingfeng City is probably in a state of panic."

Gu Junrong also said, "Yes, when we just came over, we saw many carriages heading towards the city gate. They were probably scared out of their wits and wanted to escape from here."

At this time, Li Qingchang suddenly said, "Junior brother is still smart. He moved back to the old house yesterday. The houses in this neighborhood look like ordinary people's homes. There's no profit to be made, and those pirates won't target this place."

"We went to your new home earlier, but it was empty. You wouldn't believe it, but two more families were robbed in Show Water Street last night, and people died. One of them was the Zhang Family; I heard you had some disagreements with them in the past."

The Zhang Family?

That's not surprising. On Show Water Street, their gate was the most imposing. It's normal for them to be targeted by pirates.

However, Chen Ming didn't feel any schadenfreude in this situation.

Suddenly, Gu Junrong and the others exchanged glances, and Wang Mingkai spoke, "Actually, we have a favor to ask. We want to bring our families to live with you, Junior Brother..."

As soon as Chen Ming heard this, he clapped his hands before he could finish, "That's great! It's good to have someone to look after my family."

"Junior Brother is righteous. We will do anything you ask of us in the future."

Gu Junrong and the others thanked him solemnly.

Their biggest worry was their families. Huo Manor was too conspicuous and unsafe. Chen Ming's place was not only inconspicuous, but also had that Eighth Rank martial artist, which was the safest place they could think of.

That day, all three of them brought their families over.

Fortunately, the Chen residence was large enough. After tidying up the living room and other places, they could barely squeeze in.

Two more days passed, and the pirates became even more rampant, causing constant unrest in the city. All kinds of news spread, scaring people multiple times a day. The wealthy families in the city were living in constant fear.

Under such circumstances, someone finally couldn't sit still any longer.

Early this morning, someone came knocking on the door again. This time, Zhang Mingyu came in person, bringing four or five people with him, all carrying weapons.

As soon as he saw Chen Ming, he revealed a bombshell, "Last night, Baofeng Bank was robbed."

Chen Ming sighed, "They finally made a move against the seven great merchants."

Baofeng Bank was a bank jointly run by three of the seven great merchants.

It was clear that the pirates had finally couldn't resist plundering the seven great merchants.

In Qingfeng City, the seven great merchants were undoubtedly the biggest fat sheep. It would be an exaggeration to say they were richer than a country, but their combined wealth far exceeded that of anyone else in the city.

Even the Gu Family's centuries of accumulation couldn't compare to them.

No one knew better than these pirates how lucrative maritime trade was.

"So, yesterday in the middle of the night, Manager Qian of Four Seas Trading Company sent someone to contact me, saying he wanted to gather all the martial artists in the city to discuss a plan to deal with the pirates."