Chapter 38: Lenient Treatment
Early in the morning, outside the Chen Residence on Xiushui Street, a group of fierce-looking martial artists arrived, armed with sabers and swords.
Leading them was a young man in his twenties, his face full of arrogance, shouting, “Kick the door down!”
One of his burly subordinates stepped forward and kicked the door. With a crack, the latch snapped.
With another kick, the main doors collapsed.
“Senior Brother Zhang is mighty!”
At once, the accompanying martial artists all cheered in unison.
“What are you doing?!”
The gatekeeper Zhang Li came out and, seeing the main doors had been kicked down, his eyes bulged with rage.
Clenching his fists, he looked ready to throw himself at them.
They had just moved into their new home, and on the second day, someone had smashed their front gate.
What an utter humiliation!
The arrogant young man barked, “Li Xiangrong of the Martial Arts School Guild! Today I’ve come to demand justice. Bring Chen Ming out!”
“Bring Chen Ming out!”
“Bring Chen Ming out!”
“……”
More than a dozen people shouted in unison, their voices echoing far and wide.
Old Li was so intimidated by their momentum that his legs gave out, and he sat down hard on the ground.
Such a loud disturbance quickly alarmed the neighboring households.
They all sent their house servants out to see what was going on.
It was soon learned that the Martial Arts School Guild had come to cause trouble for the Chen family who had just moved in the day before.
The timid ones shut their gates tight.
The bolder ones sent servants to keep watch.
Some fearless individuals even came out to watch the commotion.
“Martial Arts School Guild? Never heard of it. I only know of the Fabric Guild and the Tea Guild…”
“There are only a few martial arts schools in Qingfeng City. It’s not strange you haven’t heard of them. They usually don’t cause trouble unless provoked…”
“Looks like this newly moved-in Chen family is in trouble.”
“Wonder what they did to get on the Martial Arts School Guild’s bad side…”
……
The Martial Arts School Guild was a group formed by martial artists.
Of all the people to provoke, they chose them? Wasn’t that courting death?
Finally, a young man walked out from the Chen Residence. He was tall and had a valiant, handsome appearance.
It was none other than the second son of the Chen family, Chen Ming.
He walked out slowly and, facing the dozen aggressive intruders, showed not a hint of fear.
Li Xiangrong stood with his hands behind his back, his expression arrogant, clearly looking down on Chen Ming. He asked, “You’re Chen Ming?”
Chen Ming ignored him. Looking at the two fallen doors on the ground, a trace of coldness flashed in his eyes as he asked, “Who did this?”
At that moment, the frightened gatekeeper Old Li, seeing the second young master had come out, suddenly found his backbone and sprang up from the ground.
He pointed at the burly man behind Li Xiangrong and, with a voice tinged with tears, said, “It was him! That damned brute! In broad daylight, he kicked down our gate. May he be cursed with no descendants…”
Chen Ming finally looked at Li Xiangrong and said coldly, “Does Chen have a grudge with you, sir?”
Li Xiangrong said, “No.”
“Then an old feud?”
“Also no.”
Chen Ming asked, “Then why tear down my door for no reason?”
Li Xiangrong lifted his chin and snapped, “Because you broke the rules of our Martial Arts School Guild by opening a school and taking disciples without permission. Today we’re here to seek justice!”
Chen Ming didn’t get angry. He simply said, “I’d like to hear how exactly you plan to seek justice.”
Li Xiangrong raised one finger and said, “First, you are to immediately disband the disciples you have taken.”
Then he raised a second finger. “Second, you must go to the Martial Arts School Guild and apologize.”
“Third, you must compensate the guild with five thousand taels of silver.”
“This is the president showing leniency because you are a disciple of Master Huo, giving you a chance to make amends. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even get to speak—we’d have already taken you by force and brought you to the guild. Don’t ruin yourself!”
The expression on Li Xiangrong’s face made it seem like he had already granted Chen Ming lenient treatment.
……
“This Martial Arts School Guild really acts overbearingly.”
“People who practice martial arts—when are they not overbearing? That’s why they say, better to offend merchants than martial artists. With blades in their hearts, the intent to kill follows—it’s not just talk. They’ll really kill people…”
“Chen family’s second son is just unlucky. If Master Huo were still around, the Martial Arts School Guild definitely wouldn’t dare storm in like this.”
“……”
The onlookers whispered amongst themselves. Suddenly, they saw the Chen family’s second son burst into laughter, as if he had just heard something hilarious.
Everyone thought, had he lost his mind from the shock?
Li Xiangrong scolded impatiently, “What are you laughing at?”
Chen Ming laughed so hard he was nearly in tears. “Should I be thanking your guild leader for his great generosity?”
Li Xiangrong could naturally hear the sarcasm in his tone and sneered. “Sounds like you’re not willing to comply?”
Before coming, he had consulted the guild leader—what if this Chen Ming refused the punishment?
The guild leader said only one thing: just don’t kill him.
He understood immediately.
As long as the man was left alive, anything else was fine.
Crippling him, maiming him—it was all acceptable.
This was probably to save face for Sun Shicai.
After all, the two of them had come from the same lineage; some respect had to be shown.
Chen Ming said coldly, “Then I’ll also give you two choices. One: repair my gate and apologize in public. I won’t ask for five thousand taels, just five hundred.”
“Two: otherwise, none of you are leaving.”
Li Xiangrong exploded with rage. “Courting death!”
He was here on behalf of the Martial Arts School Guild. How dare this brat talk to him like that?
“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 the Xiangyang Martial School, a Ninth Grade Martial Artist, born with astonishing strength, nearly unmatched among Ninth Grade fighters.
His only weakness was that he wasn’t very bright.
This group had brought three Ninth Grade martial artists in total—already quite the show of seriousness towards Chen Ming.
Li Xiangrong believed that Junior Brother Liu alone could settle this.
Without a word, Junior Brother Liu charged at Chen Ming.
The onlookers were excited to finally see a fight. Some had witnessed the man kick down the gate with two legs and knew he was incredibly strong.
Surely this Chen Ming would be injured—
But just as that thought appeared, they saw the burly man fly backward at even greater speed, crashing to the ground on his back, clutching his leg and screaming in agony.
Everyone was stunned.
Li Xiangrong’s face froze. He hadn’t even seen how Junior Brother Liu lost.
How could this be?
Then he heard the disciple next to him blurt out, “Eighth Grade—”
What?
Eighth Grade?
Impossible!
Li Xiangrong couldn’t believe it. How old was this Chen Ming? How could he possibly have reached Eighth Grade?
Wasn’t he just a Ninth Grade martial artist a year ago?
In just one year, he had broken through again?
Absolutely impossible.
He roared in denial, “Impossible… attack… all of you, attack!”
“But…” the junior brother hesitated. If Chen Ming truly was Eighth Grade, even if they all rushed him together, they still wouldn’t be his match.
Li Xiangrong glared at him. “You dare defy orders?”
The junior brother gave a bitter smile. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“Then go.”
So, Li Xiangrong led the entire group to charge at Chen Ming.
“Hmph!”
Chen Ming sneered coldly.
Facing a dozen attackers, he barely moved—every punch knocked someone down, every kick sent someone flying.
In the blink of an eye, all of them lay sprawled on the ground.
Only Li Xiangrong remained standing, his arrogant expression completely gone, replaced by despair. His voice trembled, “You… you… how dare you…”
Bang!
Before he could finish, Chen Ming kicked him to the ground.
Li Xiangrong rolled his eyes from the pain and passed out.
Chen Ming looked at the junior brother named Wang and said calmly, “You. Send someone back and tell your superior to fix my door. Then we can talk.”
……
On the street, the crowd of onlookers was utterly dumbfounded.
They never expected such a reversal.
Someone said in a trembling voice, “That Chen family’s second son… he’s actually Eighth Grade? How old is he?”
“I think… just twenty…”
“Twenty years old and already Eighth Grade… My god…”
“This Chen family is incredible!”