Chapter 49: Discussing a Major Plan
Chen Ming discussed with his elder brother Chen Rui, “Next, the city’s going to be chaotic for a while. The folks living on Xiushui Street are wealthy—it’s too easy for thieves to pick them off. To be safe, we can’t stay here anymore.”
Chen Rui stayed calm and asked, “So where do we go? You mean leave the city?”
“That’s unnecessary. Let’s move back to the old residence for a bit. It’s full of common people; thieves won’t bother with that side. Don’t worry—the court won’t let Qingfeng City stay like this. Something will happen soon.”
Chen Rui found the reasoning sound. “Fine, we’ll move back to the old residence. When do we depart?”
“Time is of the essence. We should leave now.”
…
They packed only daily necessities, traveling light, and returned to the old residence.
Since it had only been vacant for a short time, a quick cleaning made it livable again—it wasn’t troublesome.
However, going from luxury to frugality was difficult.
Moving from the big mansion to this small courtyard felt uncomfortable, even though they'd only lived in the new house for a month.
Chen Ming continued sending people out to gather information.
That night, they finally received definite news: it was the work of the Black Flood King’s men.
The Six Doors (Six Investigators) had acted swiftly; by noon they had located the pirates’ hideout.
These sea raiders were desperate and didn’t surrender easily.
A firefight broke out.
It was said the Six Doors lost several men and only managed to kill one bandit.
The rest escaped—but at least they recovered a good deal of silver and gold.
“Even the Six Doors can’t defeat them? Are these pirates that ferocious?” Madam Wei’s face turned pale; she was terribly frightened.
In her mind, the mere presence of the Six Doors had kept bandits from acting brazenly in the city. But now these pirates were so rampant that even the Six Doors couldn’t handle them.
She felt deeply uneasy.
At that time, a servant added, “They say the leader this time was Second Young Master’s senior brother, Inspector Sun, and he was injured too.”
“Even Sun Shicai was hurt?”
A stronger sense of insecurity gripped Chen Ming’s heart.
These were pirates of little renown, yet even Seventh‑Rank cultivator Sun Shicai was injured.
That alone showed the strength of these sea raiders, whose existence on the sea meant life was never secure.
What was more terrifying: these pirates had just arrived in Qingfeng City; they didn’t know the Six Doors’ true power, so they still held back.
Now that someone had tested their strength, the pirates who had lain hidden suddenly discovered that the Six Doors were nothing but paper tigers.
We can only imagine what they would do next.
Chen Ming ordered everyone in the residence to stay indoors for the next few days.
He had prepared—today he stocked enough food to feed the family for months.
Even the medicine shop was temporarily closed.
They’d wait until the storm passed.
That night, no one slept well.
Strange noises came from afar, making hearts pound.
It wasn’t until dawn that the commotion finally quieted down.
…
Dawn came at last.
As soon as the sun rose, someone knocked on the door.
The gatekeeper yawned and went to open it. He lifted the heavy barlatch and saw it was a few of the Second Young Master’s senior brothers. He dared not delay. “You must be here to see our Second Young Master. I’ll go inform him at once.”
He led the three to the front hall and then went to fetch the Second Young Master.
Shortly after, Chen Ming received the message and hurried in. “Senior brothers, you’ve honored us with a visit—sorry for not welcoming you properly.”
The visitors were Gu Junrong, Wang Mingkai, and Li Qingchang.
Wang Mingkai was naturally impulsive; he cut to the chase. “Junior brother, a massive crisis has occurred.”
After Chen Ming sat down, he asked, “Senior brother means the matter of Sun Shicai being injured?”
Wang Mingkai scoffed, “That’s nothing. Do you know what major event happened last night?”
“What event?”
“A band of pirates attacked the Gu Family. The Gu Family suffered countless deaths and injuries. Even that Fourth‑Rank master, Gu Yanchang, was severely wounded. If the Six Doors’ man hadn’t arrived in time to rescue him, he likely would have died on the spot.”
Chen Ming gasped in shock.
The Gu Family was the preeminent lineage of Qingfeng City.
Though the emergence of maritime trade had elevated the Seven Great Sea Merchants far above the Gu Family, the Gu Family’s centuries of heritage, their strength and foundation, were beyond question.
And they even had a Fourth‑Rank master stationed there—yet they were nearly wiped out.
He asked, astonished, “Who did this?”
Gu Junrong said gravely, “It was most likely the work of Zheng Longwang’s adopted sons. Only they possess that level of strength.”
Zheng Longwang had nine adopted sons, all taking the title “Jiao” (Flood Dragon): White Jiao King, Green Jiao King, Black Jiao King, and so on.
Among them, several were of Fourth Rank cultivation. If a few of them joined forces, the Gu Family truly wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
“These pirates are far too brazen.”
Chen Ming muttered to himself.
He hadn’t expected these pirates to be so daring. While others always went for the soft targets, they had gone straight for the toughest one.
Wang Mingkai said, “I heard the Gu Family’s mansion was completely ransacked. Tsk, that was the wealth they had accumulated over hundreds of years.”
Chen Ming looked troubled. “This incident will likely plunge all of Qingfeng City into panic.”
Gu Junrong added, “Exactly. When we were on our way here, we saw many carriages heading toward the city gates. Likely they were scared senseless and planning to flee.”
Just then, Li Qingchang suddenly said, “Junior brother was smart to move back to the old residence yesterday. All the homes around here clearly belong to common folks—there’s nothing worth stealing. Those pirates won’t target this area.”
“We went to your new home earlier and found it empty. You don’t know—on Xiushui Street, two more households were robbed last night, and people died. One of them was the Zhang Family. I heard they had a falling out with your family before.”
The Zhang Family?
That wasn’t surprising.
On Xiushui Street, his house had the grandest gate. It was only natural for pirates to target it.
Still, given the current state of affairs, Chen Ming didn’t feel any schadenfreude.
Suddenly, Gu Junrong and the other two exchanged glances. It was Wang Mingkai who spoke, “Actually, we have an unreasonable request. We want to bring our families over to stay with you…”
Before he could finish, Chen Ming clapped his hands and said, “That would be wonderful. It’d be easier for our families to look after each other.”
“Junior brother, your righteousness is admirable. If you ever need anything from us in the future, we’ll follow without hesitation.”
Gu Junrong, Wang Mingkai, and Li Qingchang all thanked him sincerely.
What worried them most was their families. The Huo Residence was too prominent a target and, paradoxically, unsafe.
Chen Ming’s place was inconspicuous, and there was an Eighth Rank martial artist present—this was the safest place they could think of.
That very day, the three of them brought their families over.
Fortunately, the Chen Family residence was large enough.
With some cleaning up of the living and sitting rooms and squeezing in a bit, they managed to fit everyone.
…
Another two days passed.
The pirates grew even more audacious, and chaos in the city intensified.
Disturbing news poured in constantly—three times a day people were frightened out of their wits.
The wealthy in the city lived in constant fear.
Under such conditions, someone finally lost their patience.
That morning, there was another knock on the door.
This time, Zhang Mingyu came in person, bringing four or five armed men with him.
The moment he saw Chen Ming, he delivered a bombshell. “Last night, Baofeng Bank was robbed.”
Chen Ming sighed. “They’ve finally set their sights on the Seven Great Sea Merchants.”
Baofeng Bank was jointly established by three of the major sea merchant families.
Clearly, the pirates could no longer restrain themselves and had begun looting the Seven Great Sea Merchants.
In Qingfeng City, the Seven Great Sea Merchants were undoubtedly the biggest fat sheep. Saying they were as rich as a nation might be an exaggeration, but the combined wealth of those seven families far exceeded anyone else in the city.
Even the Gu Family’s centuries of savings couldn’t compare.
No one understood the profits of maritime trade better than these pirates.
“So, in the middle of the night, the chief steward of Sihai Trading Company sent word to me. He said they want to gather all the city’s martial artists to discuss a major plan to deal with the pirates.”