40: Chapter 40 The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Silent Behind! Tonight, I'll double-cross him!

Ling Feng slammed his palm on the table and stood up abruptly.

The grand armchair behind him toppled to the ground with a loud "clang."

"Withdraw the documents?!"

His eyes were bloodshot, and his voice had gone out of tune.

"Brother Shen, I have dozens of people under me waiting to be fed. If I close all the shops, are you telling us to go starve?"

Shen Ji leaned back against the chair and leisurely picked up the cup of cold tea in front of him.

"Ling Xiao is simmering you over a slow fire."

"Cutting off your supply, stalling payments, and finally, sending the Administration Bureau to your door."

"If you stubbornly hold on, the end result will be your shops being swallowed up by him at a low price, without even a ripple left behind."

Ling Feng's lips trembled; he wanted to retort, but couldn't say a single word.

"If you follow his path, you will surely die."

Shen Ji lifted his eyes and set down the teacup.

"If you want to live, you must overturn his chessboard."

Ling Feng breathed heavily: "How do I overturn it?"

"If you go with the documents, Deputy Commissioner Zhou Chengxuan can find a hundred excuses to fine you and impound your goods."

"But if you throw the documents right into his face in front of all the rogue cultivators in the city and tell everyone that it was the Ling Family's Second Young Master who forced you into destitution..."

"Do you think Deputy Commissioner Zhou Chengxuan would dare to take on this mess?"

The private room fell silent, with only the sound of Ling Feng's heavy breathing remaining.

"The main family doesn't care about internal strife." Shen Ji pushed the untouched glass of wine over to him.

"But if the internal strife tears off the Ling Family's face in Yunzhou and makes the entire city of Yunzhou watch a joke, do you think the Great Elder of the main family will still be able to sit still?"

Ling Feng stared fixedly at the wine, his fingers trembling violently.

"What about after it's done? The shops are gone, the goods are gone, I..."

"You must first ensure Ling Xiao can't even put on his pants before considering what comes next."

Ling Feng grabbed the glass and tilted his head back, downing the strong liquor in one gulp.

The strong liquor entered his throat, burning his eyes red.

"Do it!"

He slammed the empty glass onto the table with a crisp "bang."

"I'll have people paste white lanterns right now!"

Shen Ji stood up.

"Paste a few hundred more, the largest ones."

"For a funeral, the bigger the commotion, the more dignified it is."

— —

On the fifth day of the eleventh month, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

A piece of news spread like wildfire through the market.

"Have you heard? Shopkeeper Ling Feng has been driven to a dead end by the Second Young Master, and today he's going to the Administration Bureau to deregister all his shops!"

"Really? Giving up such a huge family business just like that?"

"It's absolutely true! His shop entrance is covered in white lanterns, just like they're holding a funeral!"

By mid-morning, the entrance to the Market Management Bureau was packed with people, three layers deep inside and out.

The crowd blocked the main gate completely.

Inside the main hall.

Deputy Commissioner Zhou Chengxuan sat leisurely in his grand armchair, skimming the tea foam with the lid of his teapot.

Ling Xiao's confidant, Steward Zhao, sat in the lower seat and fawningly pushed a brocade box over.

"Deputy Commissioner Zhou, that Ling Feng is just a grasshopper at the end of autumn; he won't last past today."

"When he comes in to kowtow and beg for mercy, just follow the Second Young Master's instructions and seal the shops immediately."

Deputy Commissioner Zhou weighed the brocade box in his hand, his wrinkled face blooming into a smile.

He had heard the commotion outside, but it was just some rogue cultivators with no background watching the spectacle; they wouldn't amount to anything.

Just then, a shrill sound of a brass gong exploded outside the door!

"Clang—!"

Immediately after, a heart-wrenching wail followed.

"That goddamn Ling Xiao has cut off my livelihood!"

"Fellow neighbors, the Ling Family shops are closing down for good today!"

Deputy Commissioner Zhou's hand shook, and the scalding tea splashed all over him.

He looked up abruptly.

He saw Ling Feng wearing heavy mourning clothes, a white funeral banner on his head, striding across the threshold.

Behind him followed four shop assistants, also wearing white hemp ropes around their waists, carrying two heavy red wooden chests.

They beat gongs and wailed all the way, scattering paper money to everyone they saw.

This wasn't coming to beg for mercy.

This was coming to hold a funeral!

The rogue cultivators on the street surged over in an instant.

"My god, it's just closing a shop, why is it being treated like a funeral?"

"This isn't closing a shop; this is clearly pointing at Ling Xiao's nose and cursing his mother in public!"

"Bang!"

The two red wooden chests were slammed heavily onto the blue brick floor.

The wooden lids popped open, revealing they were packed full of the shop's account books from over the years.

Ling Feng pulled four beast-skin documents stamped with vermilion seals from the chest and slammed them onto the official desk in front of Deputy Commissioner Zhou.

"Shopkeeper Ling! You, you, what kind of behavior is this!"

Deputy Commissioner Zhou was both shocked and angry; he grabbed the gavel and slammed it down hard.

"Is the Administration Bureau a place for you to act wildly!"

"Withdraw the documents, I'm not doing this anymore!"

Ling Feng's voice was full of vigor, drowning out all the discussions outside the hall.

"The Second Young Master, Ling Xiao, in order to seize the family property, colluded with the three major merchant firms in the east of the city to cut off my supply, and bribed officials to choke my lifeline!"

"I, Ling Feng, am of low standing and cannot fight him!"

"Today, I don't want any of these four shops! I am returning the documents to the Administration Bureau!"

The crowd outside the hall instantly erupted.

"Holy crap! Really? The Ling Family's Second Young Master is forcing his own kin to death?"

"If he's this ruthless to his own clansmen, who would dare do business with the Ling Family in the future?"

Steward Zhao was scared pale, shrinking in his chair, not daring to move.

Deputy Commissioner Zhou's face turned the color of a pig's liver; he stared at the documents on the table, not daring to reach out.

Stamp them?

Once the Administration Bureau's seal was stamped, it would be equivalent to an official confirmation of Ling Xiao's vile act of suppressing his own kin. If the Ling Family's main family investigated, he would be the first scapegoat pushed out to take the fall!

Don't stamp?

"If Deputy Commissioner Zhou won't accept them," Ling Feng pressed forward, his momentum overwhelming, "I will paste these documents and account books, exactly as they are, onto the main gate of the City Lord's Mansion tomorrow!"

"By then, not only will the Ling Family lose all face, but I'm afraid the Administration Bureau's face will also be stepped on and ground into the dirt!"

Among the crowd outside the hall, some people had already started cheering loudly.

Deputy Commissioner Zhou opened his mouth, cold sweat streaming down his cheeks from his temples.

"The documents are here; Deputy Commissioner Zhou, please count them well!"

Ling Feng sneered and turned to leave.

The four shop assistants immediately followed, continuing to wail and scatter paper money.

White paper scraps drifted across half the street.

Steward Zhao took advantage of the chaos and slipped out the back door.

He scrambled and crawled, rushing toward the Ling Family's inner courtyard like a madman.

— —

The Ling Family's detached courtyard, study.

"Crack—bang!"

The corner of the fine jade sandalwood table was smashed to pieces by a single palm strike from Ling Xiao.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

Steward Zhao knelt in the mess, his whole body trembling.

"He... he really withdrew them in public?"

"Withdrew them..." Steward Zhao's voice trembled, "The whole city is talking about it, saying you forced a branch family member to death in order to monopolize the business..."

"Shut up!"

Ling Xiao kicked him in the chest.

Steward Zhao went flying into the air and slammed heavily against the door frame.

He curled into a ball without even a groan.

Ling Xiao gripped his folding fan, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

He understood Ling Feng.

That was a piece of trash who would only go home and cry when wronged; it was absolutely impossible for him to come up with such a vicious plan to use public opinion to build momentum!

There was definitely someone behind him guiding him!

Very faint footsteps sounded outside the door.

After a two-breath pause, there was a knock on the door.

"Second Young Master, it's me, Xiu Yun, here to bring you calming tea."

"Get in here."

Xiu Yun pushed open the door, avoiding the debris on the floor and Steward Zhao.

He placed the teacup on the only remaining corner of the table and immediately dropped to both knees.

"Second Young Master, please calm your anger."

Ling Xiao ignored him.

Xiu Yun knelt forward half a step and lowered his voice.

"I dare to speak out of turn. That coward Ling Feng usually doesn't dare to even fart, but for him to dare to make such a big scene today, there must be an expert behind him guiding him!"

Ling Xiao turned around abruptly.

"Who?"

"The name... I haven't found it yet," Xiu Yun knocked his head on the floor, "but I've been tailing them these past few days and discovered that Ling Feng's shop assistants have been frequently in contact with a stranger recently."

"That person's movements are strange, hiding during the day and coming out at night; they've been spotted several times wandering around the black market in the south of the city."

This whole story was taught by Shen Ji.

The purpose was to muddy the waters and lead Ling Xiao's line of sight toward the chaotic black market.

"Go investigate!"

Ling Xiao grabbed Xiu Yun by the collar and lifted him up by force.

"Drag that dog who is giving the ideas behind the scenes out for me! I want to peel his skin off alive!"

"Yes! Yes! I'll go right now!"

Xiu Yun was thrown to the floor and scrambled out of the study.

As soon as the door closed, the respectful look on his face vanished without a trace.

Investigate, my ass.

Finding Brother Shen to get this month's antidote is the real priority!

— —

At dusk, at Yunlai Inn.

Ji Mengxue reclined on the couch.

Between her fair fingers, she toyed with a jade opium pipe.

Shen Ji pushed the door open and entered.

He sat down at the table and pushed ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones over.

"Buying information."

Ji Mengxue glanced at the Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

"Ling Xiao is desperate. The cash in his hands has been mostly exhausted in today's farce."

"Last night, he sent people to the Treasure Pavilion outside the city and mortgaged one of the inner courtyard's fire spirit mines."

Shen Ji tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop.

Mortgaging a mine, taking out a usurious loan.

Ling Xiao wants to use money to forcibly crush Ling Feng's shops and create a fait accompli before the main family can hold him accountable.

"How much money?"

"Five thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, with a term of half a month."

Ji Mengxue tapped off the ash.

"If this money arrives, no matter how big a scene Ling Feng makes, it will be in vain. In the Ling Family, money and assets are the rules."

"Boss Shen, how do you plan to respond to this move?"

"He won't get this money."

Shen Ji stood up and pushed the Mid-Grade Spirit Stones forward another inch.

Ji Mengxue didn't press further.

She knew that every time this person said "won't get," it meant someone was about to suffer a major loss.

"With Ling Xiao pushed to this point, I'm afraid he'll jump the wall like a cornered dog." She watched Shen Ji's back, "Is that mole of yours reliable?"

"Not reliable."

Shen Ji lifted the door curtain.

"But he is afraid of death."

"That is enough."

— —

The night was as dark as ink.

Just as Shen Ji turned into a quiet, dark alley, a dark figure vaulted down from the wall.

The figure stumbled upon landing, nearly falling over.

Xiu Yun pulled off his black mask.

He was drenched in sweat, the sweat mixed with mud and dust, his face deathly pale.

"Brother... Brother Shen!"

He grabbed Shen Ji's sleeve.

His ten fingers trembled violently, digging hard into the fabric.

Shen Ji countered by grabbing his shoulder blade, his five fingers tightening slightly.

"Speak."

"Ling Xiao... Ling Xiao has gone mad!"

Xiu Yun's voice was dry and hoarse.

"He didn't care about the Administration Bureau matter at all! Just now... he sent me to the mass grave in the south of the city, and under the third coffin, I stuffed five hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!"

"What did you get in exchange?"

"A... a bronze medallion."

Xiu Yun swallowed hard, his teeth chattering.

"From Blood Drop Tower."

Shen Ji's fingers gripping his shoulder blade paused for a moment.

The entire alley was deathly silent, with only the sound of Xiu Yun's rapid breathing.

"Whose life are they buying?"

"Ling Feng!" Xiu Yun's voice rose sharply, full of panic, "And not just Ling Feng's life!"

"He added more money. Blood Drop Tower will dispatch three assassins at midnight tonight, all at the late stage of Qi Refining!"

"They aren't just going to kill him; they're going to empty out the secret warehouse Ling Feng hid in the west of the city... clean out the whole pot!"

Shen Ji let go.

Xiu Yun immediately went limp, leaning against the cold wall to barely steady himself.

The sound of the night watchman's clapper came from afar.

Two strikes.

The Hour of the Bo had passed; there was only one hour left until the action.

Shen Ji did not turn back.

He walked step by step into the darkness deep in the alley.

"Ling Feng's secret warehouse, the specific location."

His voice was very calm, chillingly calm.

Xiu Yun was stunned for a moment and answered subconsciously: "In the west of the city... the backyard of that abandoned dye mill in the west of the city."

"I heard it with my own ears when Ling Xiao had me coordinate with the people from Blood Drop Tower."

Shen Ji's footsteps didn't stop.

Xiu Yun watched that back about to be swallowed by the darkness and couldn't help but call out: "Brother Shen! Where are you going? Those are three assassins from Blood Drop Tower!"

At the end of the alley, that figure finally stopped.

He did not look back.

Only a cold voice drifted over on the night wind.

"He pays the money, I collect the goods."

"This is fair."