Yang Lianhua staggered back three steps. Lu Shangfei's tall bodyguard then intervened: "Boss Lu, Boss Lu, we agreed to only find out the truth. Why are you fighting?! Don't fight. Don't fight."
Lu Shangfei wasn't going to stop; he ignored his bodyguard and tried to fight Yang Lianhua. It happened so suddenly Yang Lianhua couldn't keep up. Sure, he only used thirty percent of his potential when he performed the finger thrust, but he never expected Lu Shangfei to get out unscathed and even launch his own counter.
Yang Lianhua suffered a blow and was livid, but that was due to him forgetting to shield his body with his qi before he struck. He was livid, because his face was his life. He was so angry he completely neglected carrying himself with an adept's demeanour. He flicked his sleeve and tried to attack again with more force.
"Don't fight. Don't fight. Why are you two so hot headed?" The bodyguard stood between the two and tried to help them reconcile when Yang Lianhua struck again. He caught Yang Lianhua's hand and yanked him down. Trying to mediate, he said, "You are both respectable gentlemen. Why are you fighting? Why not both take a step back and talk this out?"
Because the bodyguard focused on catching Yang Lianhua's hand, he released his hold on Lu Shangfei. Lu Shangfei aggressively shouted and knocked Yang Lianhua down with a spin kick to the face. Yang Lianhua grunted when he fell.
Yang Lianhua was fully aware the bodyguard was leading him by the nose. He was confident he would finish Lu Shangfei with a palm strike at eighty percent of his full power, yet the bodyguard disintegrated his force and true qi armour when the bodyguard yanked his arm down. He might not have been a top-tier adept; however, there were only two people among Evil Spirits who were able to dismantle an attack at eighty percent of his full power. Evidently, the bodyguard wasn't an ordinary man.
Ming Feizhen maintained an impartial expression as he tried to break the two up: "Don't fight. Don't fight. We can talk this out."
"Yeah? Talk? Talk to this foot!" brayed Lu Shangfei, trying to kick Yang Lianhua despite Ming Feizhen stopping him. "Brother Hu! This old one knows you're a man who respects justice, but he killed my brother. We have a grudge that can only be settled with his blood. If I don't kill him, I have no shame to continue living!"
"Boss Lu, it's not right to impose a personal vendetta despite him being a criminal. I suggest you arrest him, and send him to a government office."
Lu Shangfei was in tears: "They can't do anything about him! He's in cahoots with them!"
Yang Lianhua crawled to his feet: "You think you can stop me? I could squash you and your brother at the same time even if he could come back to life!"
Yang Lianhua didn't dare to attack, for he feared Ming Feizhen. Lu Shangfei, meanwhile, had absolutely no qualms flinging threats: "I'll body you right here, you gender-bending freak!"
Yang Lianhua laughed in a sinister tone: "Come at me on your own if you're so good. If you can take one blow, I'll kill myself on the spot."
"Bring it! Give me your best shot!"
Ming Feizhen insisted on maintaining his position in the middle of them: "Stop! Don't fight! What are we going to do if you two get hurt? They say fight if you're going to fight, but why would you pull a sabre on him?"
Lu Shangfei: "Huh? Sabre?"
Yang Lianhua: "What sabre? Whose sabre?"
Lu Shangfei glanced down to Ming Feizhen's waist, where an ancient western-style sabre hung, finding the answer to his own question. Needless to say, he immediately reached for it. Once he took it, Ming Feizhen cried, "Why are you pulling a sabre on him?! My Ancient Cold sabre is six point eight kilograms. My ancestors passed it down. It kills on contact. Unskilled martial artists wouldn't touch it; adepts can't defend against it. Why would you attack someone with that?!"
Despite saying all that garble, Ming Feizhen didn't bother setting up any defence; he even handed it over to Lu Shangfei, as the latter was slow. Lu Shangfei was impressed with the blade. The blade's cold aura spread throughout the room. Yang Lianhua could tell he was in dire straits. Knowing it could potentially slice through gold and might've had jellyfish added to it, Yang Lianhua focused.
"I'll hack you to pieces, you demented freak!" brayed Lu Shangfei.
Yang Lianhua evaded all of Lu Shangfei's swings. Ming Feizhen couldn't identify Yang Lianhua's style based on his movements. Lu Shangfei wasn't a martial artist, so he couldn't keep up his assault for long - particularly since the sabre was considerably heavier than a normal sword or broadsword. Lu Shangfei swung it purely out of rage.
Yang Lianhua was delighted, since Lu Shangfei was easier than easy to for him to defeat unlike Ming Feizhen. He feigned fear and retreated as he bided his time.
"Don't run, bro. You need to talk this out. What's the point of being angry?" sarcastically asked Ming Feizhen.
Ming Feizhen appeared behind Yang Lianhua with a smile out of nowhere and grabbed the latter's hands. Yang Lianhua tried to direct strength to his arms to no avail. He struggled against Ming Feizhen. Yang Lianhua exclaimed, "Y-You pulled me off track!"
Lu Shangfei couldn't give a damn about what Yang Lianhua said. His eyes bulged as he charged over and ran his fists into Yang Lianhua's face, knocking out two of his teeth. Only then did Ming Feizhen release Yang Lianhua and put on another act: "Miss Tomgirl, you should talk this out. Easy come. Easy go. Don't fight. Fighting is no good."
Yang Lianhua was so furious he pointed at Ming Feizhen but couldn't express his thoughts, which were, "Fuck you and your charade, you conniving shithead! I know you're the one screwing me over!"
As soon as Yang Lianhua pointed, Ming Feizhen grabbed the former's wrist and sighed: "Why are you still trying to fight? It's sad, but I have no choice."
Ming Feizhen didn't just dismantle Yang Lianhua's attack again. He drove a kick straight at Yang Lianhua's chest. Yang Lianhua didn't go flying, but he felt his true qi roil. Ming Feizhen basically shook Yang Lianhua's meridians, a technique internal style experts often used. Yang Lianhua felt his mind crumble upon impact.
Yang Lianhua passed out. Nevertheless, Lu Shangfei didn't bring the guillotine down. At the end of the day, Lu Shangfei was a businessman, not a pugilistic world veteran. He didn't dare to commit murder. With Yang Lianhua as his captive, Lu Shangfei's revenge was half complete. As for the other culprit… Lu Shangfei couldn't afford to offend him.
"Boss Lu, why do you look down after avenging your brother?"
"Brother Hu, you heard what he said. I assume you can extrapolate and figure it out for yourself… Frankly, I was just a cowherd from an obscure village…" Lu Shangfei filled Ming Feizhen in on his story, history with Secretary Kong and up to the current events. Then, he said, "My brother and I have been the only family for each other all these years. I must avenge him. That being said, that old fox wields immense power… What can I do about him?"
Ming Feizhen chuckled: "You don't need to worry about that, Boss Lu. Didn't you just finish Yang Lianhua? How is Kong Duan any worse?"
Lu Shangfei waved a hand: "They're different. Yang Lianhua looks useful but isn't. A couple of punches and look where he is."
Lu Shangfei thought, "Yang Lianhua's skills are just so-so. He couldn't even put up a fight against me. I seem superior to you, Yang Lianhua. I bet you had to gang up on my brother to kill him."
Lu Shangfei suddenly jumped into a worried frame of mind again and frowned: "Brother Hu, will Sister-in-law and your child be all right against Yang Lianhua's subordinates. Is it all right for us to just stay here?"
"Don't worry about them. They'll be fine."
Someone opened the door. Tang Ye came in and dusted his hands: "Big Bro, they're all there."
Lu Shangfei's mouth was close to gaping. Tang Ye pointed to the twenty or so Beijiang men on the ground outside and calmly reported: "They insisted on resisting no matter how I tried to convince them. I, therefore, had to resort to force. I did not want to hurt them…"
"Whatever, whatever!" fumed Ming Feizhen, waving his hand. "I saw you walk straight up to them and begin an onslaught. Don't try to be smart with me!! Where's Bai Lian? She's the grand commander here. We can't just ditch our superior, can we?"
Tang Ye's proud tone could rival Lord Zi's: "To the rear. General Manager Bai didn't fight. Nobody fell. What a pity."
Ming Feizhen griped, "What did you think would happen if you didn't spare anyone for her? There were about twenty of them, and I saw you take on four per arm from the beginning, so there went eight. Then, you went on a spree, smashing everyone you came across. Who'd compete with you? What happened the last two days? The Ministry of Personnel is where civil officials gather, no? Why are you even more eager for fights than when you were at Liu Shan Men?"
Merely hearing "Ministry of Personnel" struck the wrong nerve with Tang Ye. Cool Tang Ye had to be meticulous and careful with every minutia at the Ministry of Personnel to meet Teacher Zhang's standards. There was no fighting for him when he even had to mind the way he spoke. Then, he was forced to stomach Boss Huang's meat buns. Why hold back when he finally has the opportunity to resolve something with his fists, especially when the enemy was the one who indirectly forced him to stomach the meat buns? If anything, he loved dishing out punishment.
After beating them down, Tang Ye realised fists, legs, spears, blades and what have you were the truth in life. Nothing felt more exhilarating than punching and kicking. Unfortunately for his opponents, they ran into Liu Shan Men's lesser lord who beat them before they could even grunt.
"I said, you're mistaken!"
Ming Feizhen focused energy to eyes for vision enhancement when he heard the arguing. He saw one of his nightmares, Bai Lian and Su Xiao, two enemies, quarrelling with each other.
"How many times have I repeated myself? Do you have comprehension issues?" Bai Lian explained, "I had to play husband and wife with him for the mission; it's not as if I wanted to!"
"At least you're trying," remarked Su Xiao, pulling a funny face. "They call me Liu Shan Men's genius, Su Xiao. Do you genuinely believe you can deceive me? Zizi told me you not only pretended to be husband, but also took the initiative to acknowledge him as your son!"
Lord Zi was twelve. Su Xiao had yet to turn sixteen. Owing to them being close in age, they got along well. Lord Zi still had their friendship-token candied hawthorn stick.
Lord Zi sensed Bai Lian's glare on his back. He shivered and said, "I-I didn't say much. Only two sentences!"
Frustrated her most respected Lord Zi betrayed her, Bai Lian folded her arms: "I-In any case, I didn't want to."
Su Xiao smirked: "Hmph, try a different excuse. I took my eyes off Big Brother Ming for a moment, and you became his wife. Since when could eunuchs be wives? Zizi, have you ever heard of a eunuch being a wife?"
Lord Zi, honest, shook his head: "No."
Bai Lian went red in the face. Su Xiao lifted his chin condescendingly and flaunted his genius: "If you haven't fallen for Big Brother Ming, would you have been willing to pretend to be a woman? Just admit it. You share the same taste as Eunuch Wang and Liu Yuan. You like Big Brother Ming, don't you?"
Bai Lian wanted to argue, but Su Xiao outclassed her in verbal warfare, and she was in still in female clothing. As such, she couldn't impose her general manager power. Defeated, she turned to innocent Ming Feizhen and shot him a glare.
Su Xiao licked his friendship-proof token, making slurping sounds as he licked. Eyeing Bai Lian out the corner of his eyes, he said, "Unfortunately for you, you don't have my permission. I can't let you deceive him when he's so stupid. He has less retirement funds than me. There's not much you can swindle from him."
'You're the stupid one, Fool! Who are you to be giving my wifey grief?! What would the General Manager of the imperial household con a lowly constable's money for? Please show some tension; we're working on a case, damn it!!'
What could Ming Feizhen do? One was a Prince. The other was the one in charge of the case.
Upon seeing Yang Lianhua floored, Bai Lian expressed surprise: "Ming Feizhen, not bad. He's quite skilled, yet you managed to defeat him?"
Well prepared ahead of time, Ming Feizhen smiled: "He just happened to be weak. Ask Boss Lu if you don't believe me. Strictly speaking, he beat Yang Lianhua."
Ming Feizhen's wife was a eunuch. Ming Feizhen's son was a fake son. And then a beautiful maiden appeared out of nowhere. The conversation and Su Xiao's appearance stupefied Lu Shangfei. He inquired, "Br-Brother Hu, what's going on?"
"Let me give you an introduction. This is the palace's imperial household general manager, General Manager Bai. This is Constable Su and Tang from Liu Shan Men. My surname isn't Hu. My name is Ming Feizhen; I'm also Liu Shan Men's constable."
The cat caught Lu Shangfei's tongue. Ming Feizhen continued, "Boss Lu, did you just ask me what you could do? Does this answer your question? Frankly, I wanted to say this to you, the villagers and others."
Ming Feizhen wore on his signature innocent smile whenever he boasted. He raised a thumb and confidently said something he never said in the past: "If there's a problem, report it to officials. We don't charge."