Hours of sitting there didn't wash away the frustration and bottled up anger caused by his loss in the first sparring session to little Chen earlier in the morning, Zhu Feng ate his food and drank his wine sparingly in solitude while mulling over the reasons of his defeats to the little brat who's annoyingly and certainly is growing up to be freaking handsome as fuck in the future! Still. Any food or drink that he forced down into his stomach was bland in taste at best, much to Feng's distaste and frustration.

The heavy feelings of defeat in his chest were ruining this meal for poor Zhu Feng, clearly the presence of this group of soldiers was making it worse for Zhu Feng who tried to escape that mental struggle. Much worse!

That so-called "captain Ma" and his entourage were noisy as they ate and made a mess of the area around their table carelessly, which only gave grandma Huang extra work to clean after them every now and then.

You better not be working grandma Huang to death.

Squinting at the merry soldiers as they toasted one another, Zhu Feng smiled dangerously and watched as they prepared to leave.

The elderly woman came out from the entrance of the house with a sweeper in her hand and started her cleaning mission for god knows how many times she did that earlier today, or in the previous days these shit-fucks visited her restaurant.

The old lady never requested money or made eye-contact with the captain or his subordinates when they finally seemed to be leaving, keeping her head down and her mouth shut. The silhouette and image of grandma Huang's slim and feeble back as she mutely did the needless work, was screaming "oppression and injustice" to Feng's eyes yet he held himself back and refrained from jumping to conclusions prematurely just yet.

One of the four men in black armor smirked at grandma Huang's meek attitude and flicked a bronze coin at the table, the bronze coin fell inside one of the liquor cups which his colleague just threw up in! That was the decisive moment that ruined their previous festive mood, now that they're done having fun they wanted to just get up and leave? Oh! Hell no. Not after what I saw, someone has to answer for this.

Wrong move assholes. "You forgot to pay your bill." Zhu Feng got up and shouted at the five men while slowly removing his blue robe and throwing it at the back of his seat.

The few clients on the three tables and grandma Huang were more shocked by what Zhu Feng said more than the five guards who shamelessly ate and drank for free, slowly captain Ma and his four lackeys turned to look at the courageous individual who just said the taboo.

"I just did, the payment is in that cup. Boy." The man who flicked the coin smugly said with every bit of menace in his eyes.

"A bronze coin! Looks like a fortune, what generosity?" Feng said, then he removed his belt from his waist and placed it on his table alongside the scabbard containing his wolf flower sword.

The time before he takes off his shoes was the final chance he's going to give these corrupt soldiers. By placing the scabbard which is unique on it's own on the table, he hoped one of them would recognize it. Zhu Feng didn't want to be seen by general Lian as someone who beats up his men first then talk later after all! Even if they're throwing their weight around intolerably like thugs and embarrassing not only themselves but the general as well.

Sorry general Lian, these men will be sleeping in the infirmary tonight. I hope none of them is a faster swordsman than little Chen, it would be very embarrassing to lose after acting the hero. But—quite honestly—after losing a hundred-times earlier today, the prospect of losing while being one against five isn't so appalling at all.

"What can I say? The owner likes us a bit too much. Better walk away young man, the affairs of Ye Yongliang are beyond your meagre self." The generous man in black armor who cared enough to pay, generously offered Feng a hint of what he's getting into.

"Hiccup.... Why... Issh he taking hishh cloth off?" The person next to him wobbly on his feet with dreamy eyes and a drunkard's slurr, struggled to look at Feng clearly as he spoke.

"Shiiing.... "

"City lord Ye Yaoting's son huh! last I heard he was a captain. Sorry lads. If he's got any connection to your filthy corruption, then his fate will be a lot like my own. I doubt he'll enjoy hugging the pole like I did though, enough talk. Pay up all you owe this kind lady from the very first meal you ever had. Or, Ill beat you up and force you to pay even if you'll spend the rest of your lives working for it. Maybe some years of dishwashing will clean your dirty souls." Zhu Feng unsheathed his sword then pulled his soft helmet to cover his head while walking towards the guards.

"Little Feng!" Grandma Huang finally got over her daze and tried to intervene, however, her grandson Chen was quick to react. Chen held her gently to prevent her from getting near the danger zone, shaking his head anxiously to warn his grandmother not to say anything more while making sure she is well behind him, Chen led her towards the house slowly and handed her to her husband who hugged her while watching the confrontation between Feng and the guards on the street. Finally. Chen noticed that he's struggling to draw breath and covered in sweat, his fear for the safety of his loved ones was suffocating him and he only realized it now.

I never thought that getting exposed to a couple of killing intents was this mentally-straining! Yet here he's, he's not being affected by them at all. Is that the gap between him and me? Still... why is this idiot facing his opponents while being in his underwear? Can't he see that these guards are going to use real weapons against him? I better be prepared to stop them if things get dangerous, that's the least I can do for big-sister Biyu.

That aught ta be a good lesson for him, afterwards he's going to learn his place while staying in my Obsidian-city. Humph. 

"Arrest him." With commanding tune and frosty eyes, finally the leader spoke and three of his subordinates with practiced movements drew their swords and advanced to meet Zhu Feng who was calmly walking their way with firm steps.

Only three in the first-round huh! That's understandable since that one is way too drunk—which is too bad—right now. Still... does that mean that I get to directly fight the boss after wasting these three bullies? Gotta focus then!

Watching two of the men in black armor flank him on both sides while the "generous" dude block his way forward, Feng glanced at the drunken wreck who fell on his butt next to the captain and removed the mental distractions at the first greeting swing from the man to his left.

It was aimed at his left shoulder. Before he leaned right to evade the sword on his left side, Feng saw the man on his right aiming to cut at his right thigh.

"Clang...."

Changing his response by crouching down at a hurry to evade the first slash at his left shoulder while blocking the sword coming at his thigh from the right with an upward backhanded slash with wolf flower, Feng saw the generous asshole smirk at him from above while delivering a double-handed over-head strike with his sword.

The man on the left who missed his first hit was going for Feng's waist with his second swing, the unfortunate fellow in the right noticed that the sword in his hand was not only vibrating and shaking as if it was alive but also it was damaged badly from the previous clash with Zhu Feng's sword as he reeled back from the exchange with a scary wrist pain coursing inside his bones.

"Careful!..."

"Clang.... Guh!"

The man on the right tried to warn his friends of Feng's sharp sword which appears to be of vastly superior quality and the strange power that traveled into his sword from the previous clash while trying to regain his lost balance, Feng was faster and used the rebounding momentum of the first strike and moved his wolf flower sword upward and parried the sword from the man in front of him to the left and took a step forward towards the man in the middle. while planting the handle of his wolf flower sword with a quick change from the right hand to the left while twisting his torso in the stomach of the man who tried to speak earlier. It looked from an outsider perspective that the man on the right threw himself into the pommel of Feng's sword! Thankfully his thrust attempt at the place Feng previously stood was stopped short by Feng himself. otherwise, the man would've impaled his defenseless friend on the left who just had his sword hammered by the one standing closest to Feng.

Both of the swords which aimed for his head and left waist met one another and cancelled each swordsman's attempt of hitting young Feng's body this time, while destabilizing the user's balance and giving Feng enough time to reposition himself in the right spot where he wouldn't lose sight of his enemy's next move. The two guards and captain Ma looked at their friend who fell to the ground foaming in the mouth with completely white and clearly unconscious eyes, then towards this young man in strange black tights seriously this time.

"Bffft.... Didja sshee zhat? Itwaz boom all of a ssudden. Aaand wang izz out cohld."

The drunk soldier smiled at what happened to his friend as he spoke, he was very intoxicated with alcohol that he didn't even notice that he fell on his ass after his legs couldn't support his weight when his friends left him to bully this young man.

Zhu Feng smiled under his soft helmet at this strange commentator. But he never lowered his guard and kept his eyes at the two soldiers who moved closer to one another, they were apprehensive or downright scared shitless.

The generous dude was feeling the pressure now, while the man who just escaped death by the grace of his enemy's mercy wasn't sure if he should keep fighting or go over there to his unconscious colleague "Wang" and slice him into shredded meat for almost making him a collateral damage in this fight!

I guess all these losses to Chen weren't for nothing, my reaction is faster than theirs.

Not to mention that their teamwork is laughable at best!

"Who are you?" Captain Ma asked while feeling like he missed something important.

"None of your business. Pay or face the justice you deserve, blood sucking pieces of shit who abuses their authority needs to learn a lesson today."

Feng twirled his sword and took his stance as he spoke, if they won't come he'll make his move.

"Bastard! Don't be full of yourself."

The captain's face blackened when Feng insulted them in front of the residents of the street who started to trickle in to watch. Unsheathing his sword and together with his two deputies they mounted their assault as one on Feng.

"Fight.... Hiccup.... Whoa!"

Feng knew that he can't evade all the swords this time after their feelings seem to get the best of them, but in this case he wanted to teach them a very harsh and valuable lesson, he wanted to beat them up because granny Huang was such a kind soul who deserves to be treated better.

Sticking his sword in the ground he moved forward to meet the trio weapon-less and barehanded, he ignored the sword aiming to impale his stomach from captain Ma and raised his hands to catch the two swords from the deputies.

The sneer on the captain and his men was gone once they found their weapons unable to harm Feng, their eyes dilated in disbelief and their brains couldn't comprehend this unexpected result.

"My turn."

Zhu Feng felt a slight itch on his belly but he ignored it. taking advantage of their momentarily shock, Feng tugged at the two swords after tightening his grip around them and twisting, in the same time he kicked the captain's right knee joint from the inner side after angling his waist to the side which made the sharp edge of captain Ma's sword scrape against his soft armor in the midsection.

Two deputies disarmed of their weapons and the captain hearing a crunching noise from his leg after the first exchange.

"Clatter.... Clatter...."

"Swordsmanship I give your men three points out of ten. Now, let's see how is your hand to hand combat techniques. Shall we?"

Both swords were flung towards Chen by Feng and he turned towards the three men after seeing little Chen give him a knowing nod. taking an exaggerated pose like neo with a low center of gravity, Zhu Feng smiled under his soft helmet and waited for the shock to wear off.

"Amazshing!....."

Hearing their drunk companion praise the enemy made the three nervous men facing Feng grit their teeth with chests filled with various emotions.

"Assaulting the city guard-" the captain tried to delay for time until reinforcement arrives but Zhu Feng cut him off when he dashed towards him suddenly.

The audience were watching silently with racing hearts as Feng happily traded punches and kicks with the guards, Mu Chen was extremely excited to see this action live but his worry for this flat-face Feng was genuine.

After all, defying the guards isn't going to end up well for the man who stole the heart of big sister Bo Biyu. Still, it felt good to see these men bloodied for once.

"Stop! What is the meaning of this? To dare lay a hand on the city guard, atrocious!" Another captain in a bronze armor leading twenty men walking in formation separated the crowd and shouted at Feng. "Men. Seize him!"

Feng pushed captain Ma whose face could barely be recognized after he fed him a thorough beat down. the captain who was on his knees and was supported by Feng in order not to fall, fell on his side and coughed blood alongside one of his teeth.

"I'm working under general Lian Laoci, those who want to die come face your death."

Zhu Feng knew that he wouldn't be able to be forceful anymore. plucking his sword from the ground, he shouted at the men who started to surround him while glaring.

"Hrrrrm...."

The new captain felt the killing intent spreading from this man in black tights and knew he wasn't an easy target. The captain looked around at his men who stopped tightening the circle after seeing his signal then at the sword in the man's hand.

Frowning deeply, the captain hesitated whether or not he should forcefully capture this fellow.

"Little Chen. Throw me my scabbard, my sword can't be left naked for too long without drinking blood. That would be a great offense to big brother Tushi's resting soul."

Then the captain heard the man speak and saw pretty boy Chen from the restaurant raise an ivory scabbard with a very famous decoration, then his heart fell in dread because he knew that this situation just shifted against them.

"These men. Once and again ate and drank in this restaurant, for free! That doesn't mean the owners are freaking rich and their organization is focused on charity, they're afraid from the people who are supposed to protect them. This shit ends now. Not only here in the miners district but everywhere in the kingdom. We have enough enemies everywhere eyeing our territories from outside, we can't tolerate corrupt authority from the inside."

Zhu Feng sheathed his sword and spoke loudly with anger in his tune, this was bullying and he hated bullies.

"Awooo...."

"Easy girl. Good. now go home, if I wanted to kill I would've done it before you arrive, you always leave your kills disfigured and ugly, don't give me that look! you and I both know that you do. Oh I almost forgot! Don't forget to actually do your job and investigate this time captain, there was half a dozen of witnesses from the very beginning, and please do report back to the city lord and his son that Zhu Feng was the one who beat up these men and caused this incident. You see that house over there? That's where I'll be staying until I leave, that fellow over there with a broken leg threatened me with the name "Ye Yongliang" I'm not sure if it was the same person that I think it is. It would be awful if he was tarnishing the reputation of you know who, and it would be unfortunate if.... Good day captain."

Storm jumped on top of the guards circling Zhu Feng and stood in front of him while growling at the soldiers threateningly with a lethal set of teeth.

For fuck sake Ma! Everyone already knows that this little "Jinx" is in the city since long ago, you just had ta risk it all didn't ya.

All of it is in the wind now, and for what? for a freaking free meal!

'You just ruined your chance of riding the coattails of the reformation movement, it seems like it will be impossible for him to pass the rank of captain as long as shameless general Lian is the commander-in-chef of the western armies.' the new arriving captain thought while foreseeing the future of his fellow captain Ma.

The captain was certain of his conclusion of Feng's identity when he saw Storm standing next to him with the famous sword as another proof and sighed inwardly.

Hearing Feng's exchange with his wolf made captain Kai's heart go cold with foreboding feelings. Then the next words coming out from Feng's mouth made captain Kai know that there's a storm coming to this city.

Looking up, Kai felt the clouds of misfortune gather around over obsidian city's sky.

'whomever gets on the receiving end of these ominous lashes of fate, won't recover unless he managed to join the ranks of cultivators and control his own fate or get his own dao protector to ward the endless waves of destiny for him.' captain Kai thought while vehemently deciding to keep clear from these turbulent waters to the end, after all cultivating or getting a dao protector is both impossible. With the earlier less harder than the latter yet still a very farfetched dream for more than ninty-nine percent of those fortunate to walk this world.

"Don't block his way, start asking questions I want a full report in ten minutes. Someone go tend to their wounds, nobody leaves the street until I say so."

When Feng started to leave towards his home two soldiers tried to intercept him, but the captain knew better and let him leave in peace while throwing orders at his men to distract them from being a cause of trouble for this little ancestor who has the backing of the commander and guardian of the whole west.

"Big brother Feng! Here. You forgot your things, you never told me that you're some hot-shot. Yeah I get you, believe me.... I really do. Even I wouldn't believe you if you told me all about your background earlier, it's just that.... that face of yours is just too flat.... oy! Alright I'm going back since you're mentally unstaple.... Hahaha. Thanks for standing up for my family I owe you big time, don't forget to drop by tomorrow so I can have fun toying around with you again. Who knows! Maybe in ten years you'll be able to properly spar with me using blunt swor-" little Chen smiled which caused a truckload of females to get infected with starry-eyes, awkward shivers, fanatic blushes, squeals and kyaaahs, then he grabbed the shoes and robe for Feng and ran towards him with that same big-ass smile and naïve blind teenager attitude.

He completely disregarded the masses and choose that dangerous moment to suck up to Zhu Feng, of course with his super sensitive nose for bullies or people who are looking for flattening Zhu Feng under their feet after targeting his back.

Zhu Feng shivered under the red-eyes of the lovestruck foolish females and kept his outer calm while trying to stay away from the excited idol, yet the idiot kept to his younger brother attitude even after Zhu Feng took his items and attentively watched the female audience inch closer to surround him with steam coming from their noses and rolling up their sleeves! Finally he had to save himself.

Feng pushed the dazzling piece of work towards his fan-club to save himself, then ran with Storm towards his home.

Even the she-wolf felt the pressure coming from these usually weak humans in the area around them and whimpered as she in turn ditched poor Zhu Feng to save herself! After all, she has been holding herself from throwing up all over him since she arrived. Because Zhu Feng really stank bad to her and her pups noses ever since that day when she discovered him with coppery-green skin in the water barely breathing.

Fuck! you little shit.... just you wait.

Zhu Feng looked back just before he closed his door and cursed under his breath at what he saw, little Chen was smirking while females of all ages were raising him up with care and checking if this "brute" who "luckily" escaped fast had hurt him anywhere! Zhu Feng saw these chen-maniacs play dirty and behind the scenes elbowing, tackling, tripping, hair pulling, scratching.... Practically doing everything in their powers to the anyone blocking their way of "touching" this angel-to-be.

Enjoy being molested by a thousand hands you.... handsome-weirdo!

What made his intestines twist in his belly from frustration was little Chen calling his last lines aloud to announce that he's clearly superior to this "flat-face" in swordsmanship.

Let's see how eloquent can you be when there isn't and army of women—who're more than willing to throw themselves at your enemies like freaking fresh-recruits of brainwashed kamikaze-troop!—behind your back. I never intended or dreamt of wishing to corner someone who's younger than me to exact my revenge.... never in my life, but you.... you little shit. You more than deserve it.... you better watch your back "Pretty-face".

Because I'm coming for you.... seriously this time, humph.

"Grrrr.... Sniff...."

"Oh fuck off! Where's my wife? I need to vent out these unhealthy feelings. Now."

Storm snapped at him when he remained for long in the courtyard which she took as her new territory, scoffing while slapping her head Feng rolled his eyes at the pitifully territorial beast and waltzed into his new home.

He found Bo Biyu nowhere to be found and only Storm was home with him right now.

Sighing. Zhu Feng calmed down slightly then took his sword to the backyard to train until his woman arrive so that he can keep his mind occupied and distracted from what happened earlier, the soon-to-be idol just made the wrong move and someone has to teach him how to respect his seniors.

Of course. It had nothing to do with the magnitude of his fan base, just a man with a wounded pride who is looking for the sweet remedy of revenge.

A gentleman's vengeance is countless times scarier than a bunch of red eyed fan girls.

------

Meanwhile as Zhu Feng maimed his imaginary opponent in his solo training, in the city-lord estate of obsidian city there was a heavy air of unrest in the private hall.

"Crash...."

Some old man in a robe of silver-gold colors in a strange mixture of design just kicked the tiny table ahead of him causing it to fly over the head of the kneeling messenger who just arrived, standing up that old man was glaring at the poor messenger who shook like a leaf buffeted by wind into the stream.

"Bloody useless! dismissed...." The city lord of obsidian city Ye Yaoting exhaled a breath finally after glaring at thin air for a few seconds which felt like years to the unfortunate messenger, waving him away repulsively Ye Yaoting watched the guard scurrying away as if his life depends on how fast his feet can take him.

"Call official Zhang for me, he met this beloved pet of the shameless geezer before. Call Liang'er and that captain Ma and Kai as well, lock the first one in chains so that the news wouldn't be against standard procedures when they travel to Rock city. Until this little pet hound leaves my city, I'll personally flog those who seek to cause trouble with this Feng fellow." Ye Yaoting went towards his private study while throwing these orders at the walls! Obviously there was no one there within hearing reach.

"Wait! Double.... No triple your inspector shifts from this moment on, from what I heard this mutt is very sensitive to corruption. Since he's bound to sniff something, we can't apppear as if we're smelling our fingers after poking our butts here. Clean my city on all fronts, if it isn't going to hurt our foundations then we should eat our tails before someone else chomps it. As for those who aren't related to us you can ignore them, having someone rabid like this Feng who doesn't discriminate between sides when it comes to justice is good. We just have to get clean and the stink of others will be enough to disguise us and with time we will be forgotten, the restaurant owners.... Were they satisfied with the results of the investigation? What about the neighborhood and how the citizens of my city took the news?"

The ring on Ye Yaoting's left hand lit up in yellow glow which went out just a moment after and the man grinned as if he just received the perfect answers for his questions.

'excellent. Damn geezer Laoci blatantly sending me a spy in these turbulent times, as if the war north isn't enough headache for me! The owners got compensated and their miners district got it's guards shuffled, now all I have to do is spank and demote the ones who messed up publicly then send the honest report to the old fox and hope for a wait and see response, but above all else I need to keep someone whom I can trust next to the brat all the time to prevent such occassions from repeating themselves in the future.' Ye Yaoting scratched his beard while thinking about how to sort this mess.

-----

Back in Rock city, inside the estate he's sitting with his men and a minority of officials in the warm hall with an enlarged map of the western territories, the spot where the mist bandit headquarters should be west of bull-horns cliffs was no longer marked as a threat.

Same went for where the bandits layed normally to ambush the merchants in the rocky maze north of lonely mountin! There was trade lines drawn on the map and connecting from obsidian city up in the far north of the Shi kingdom all the way down south on the far west, linking Obsidian city and Rock city through the rocky maze then further down south and linking two more cities before ending at Sand city which is bordering the Mu kingdom.

That was stage one on the plans, further roads aiming to connect the rich cities of the east and center with the poor and impoverished settlements of the west.

Then the third and final plan was for these roads to go to every kingdom or empire, be that far away or close by. allie or enemy country doesn't matter profit always manages to make mortal enemies turn a blind-eye on certain products being exchanged with one another even while they're at war.

"Report."

A soldier cupping a rolled parchment sealed with red wax was running towards the hall, he shouted his reason for being in a hurry while running the long corridor.

"Jian, see if it's something urgent."

Lian Laoci was still going over the details which threatened to delay this great financial project behind schedule, still he picked up the shape of the seal stamped on the red wax and told his advisor to handle it.

Not only was Jian Jianjun happy and excited to read the news of little Feng's latest achievements before anyone, the lucky guard Yi Yaozu who whipped Li Canglai, vice-general Zhang, vice-general Shang Haohai and even general Lian himself weren't actually giving much attention to the logistics official as he went on and on about elevation or roughness of the terrain and water sources nearby the supposed to be trade road.

"General. The kid is said to be about to lock horns with the young master of the.... This isn't good."

"Shut up and give it here, after all these years you still can't resist an opportunity to tease `em young ones."

"Heh...."

"If I return after my midnight cup of tea and find you all still without the finished plans, then you're all staying here and I'm going north alone. Even if I have to enter obsidian city undercover."

Seeing his men devoid of pure focus and all of them waiting for him to personally ask his advisor for further explanation, Lian Laoci's eye twitched and he snatched the scroll from Jian Jianjun's hand.

Folding it back he nonchalantly commanded his men who frowned at this obvious and intentional treatment, the individuals who were dying to know what is the contents of this letter which is certainly saying or reporting something their new unofficially ranked "young master Feng!" Each of them would glare once at senior Jian for leaving them hanging then would grit their teeth and urge the officials to work with them on solving everything that their general requires.

Feng proved his worth in courage, wit, toughness, spirit of righteousness and forbearance to the special detachment personally supervised by general Lian, their previous successful raid on the mist bandits on both sides simultaneously went perfectly because of the news which Zhu Feng timely provided.

They approved of him and their long gone years of smiles whenever late young master Tushi's news reached them was starting to repeat itself amongst these battle-hardened men with Zhu Feng this time being the source of the mood uplifting positively.

-----