"That's right, Third Uncle. What is this nonsense Lin Tian spoke about marrying Feifei off to that thief Zhao Yun?" Lin Feng asked, clearly enraged.
"Hey… alas, Xiao Feng, calm down. Let's go inside and talk," Lin Mu sighed deeply and said.
All three of them entered the room. Lin Feng and Lin Mu sat across from each other at the table, while Feifei went to boil tea for the both of them.
"Xiao Feng, the thing is not so easy to resolve this time around," he said.
"Uncle, can you please explain it to me clearly?"
"Well, you aren't aware since you have been unconscious for a while, but things have gotten bad for the family since then. You are aware that the three families—Lin, Chu, and Zhao—dominate the city."
"Yes, Uncle, I remember that all three clans are equal in strength, possessing three Grandmaster-level monks each, so it shouldn't be as bad as you say, even if my father is no longer around."
"Oh, you actually know your father disappeared?" Lin Mu's eyebrows lifted in surprise.
"Yes. Even though I was in a coma, I could still hear all the things going on. My father would always sit near my bedside and tell me stories or how his day was. I also heard the Grand Elder complaining about all the resources being wasted on a dead man." He clenched his fist in rage.
"And in that time, I heard how much my Third Uncle and father had to pay in order to keep even a sliver of hope for my recovery."
Lin Feng stood up, clasped his hand over his fist, and bowed deeply at Lin Mu.
"Once again, thank you, Uncle, for all you have done for me and Feifei all this time."
Lin Mu stood up and hurriedly helped him straighten.
"It's okay, Xiao Feng. You don't even have to be polite with me. We are family, after all."
Lin Feng's heart warmed at the statement.
"Well, anyway, since you heard all of that, then you should have heard your father say he was going to some ruins to find medicine for you."
"Yes, Uncle, but what happened after? What happened to Father?"
"Sigh… I wish I knew. All I know is that everyone who entered those ruins never came out, and the ruins disappeared shortly after." Lin Mu shook his head sadly.
Lin Feng's eyes widened in shock.
'How can ruins full of at least Grandmaster-level powerhouses just vanish out of thin air? It appears things aren't simple,' he thought.
"Then, Uncle, do you know the location of the ruins?"
"NO!! Xiao Feng, don't even think about it. It is too dangerous!" Lin Mu waved his hand and dismissed the question.
"Uncle, please, I have to know. I won't go there until I am stronger," Lin Feng pressed on.
"No. Let's talk about it when you're stronger. It is useless for you to know now."
"Well, after your father disappeared, the Zhao family was indeed well-behaved at first and did not dare to do anything for a while," Lin Mu said, changing the subject, making Lin Feng sigh, knowing he wouldn't get any answers from his uncle—at least for now. He made a mental note to ask later.
"Well then, all of a sudden, the old thieves Zhao Li and Zhao Shi, the fourth and fifth elders of the Zhao clan, broke through to Grandmaster one after another overnight. Now they have five Grandmasters, and we have only two."
Lin Feng couldn't help but suck in a deep breath.
"So what Uncle means is that you suspect someone else is helping the Zhao family—maybe a foreign force? But what exactly do they want? And why don't they just take it themselves? If they have the ability to create Grandmasters as they wish, then they should be a terrifying force."
"As expected of Xiao Feng, these are exactly my thoughts and worries." Lin Mu nodded, his brows furrowed.
"They haven't made themselves and their objectives known. We can only deal with it when the time comes. And as for the Zhao family, they immediately became arrogant after gaining two more Grandmasters, no longer putting anyone in their eyes, and began to bully and devour our clan's territory in the city, squeezing us out of our shops. The family has been retreating steadily. Now we only have a few properties to our name. Many of our already hard lives have become more miserable," he sighed dejectedly.
"So everyone now blames me for the suffering. They must think that if I hadn't gone deep into the mountains and was ambushed by beasts, I would still be engaged to the Yan family, and then the Zhao family wouldn't dare to touch us… hehehe. Those narrow-minded and ignorant fools. Now they forced me out of the clan leader's courtyard into a small rubbish courtyard." He tightened his fist, fury clearly visible on his face.
"I'm sorry, Xiao Feng. I tried to stop them from kicking you out, but ever since Er Ge left, your eldest uncle has become blind with power. He has been bribing and winning over all the deacons and sub-elders, trying to usurp the clan leader position. I tried to get your Fourth Uncle to help, but you know he doesn't care about the struggles of power and only focuses on being a merchant and making money for the clan," Lin Mu apologized guiltily.
"You don't have to apologize, Uncle. I understand. My eldest uncle has always been unreconciled ever since Grandpa gave my father the head of the family instead of him," Lin Feng waved away the apology.
"But Uncle, what I don't understand is—weren't the Chu and Lin families allies before? Isn't it now more than ever that we unite? I don't believe they aren't affected by the Zhao family's tyranny," he asked in confusion.
"HEHEHE!! Chu Moxi, that coward, has surrendered to the Zhao family. In public there are three main families, while in fact there are only two, with the Zhao family owning more than eighty-five percent of the city," Lin Mu said in a mocking tone, expressing disdain for the Chu family's actions.
Lin Feng was shocked at how bad things had gotten.
'So we not only have the Zhao family to worry about but also the Chu. We won't just be facing five Grandmasters, but actually eight, plus the Chu family's forces as well,' Lin Feng thought with dread.
"And as for this little girl's problem," he spoke as he glanced up at Ye Feifei, who had returned at some point, pouring tea for both of them.
"She was spotted by that little bastard Zhao Yun, who used his clan's power to force us into agreeing to take her as a concubine," he spoke through gritted teeth.
Hearing his words, Feifei turned pale and trembled by the side, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes, but she held back.
"And my eldest uncle agreed to it?" Lin Feng asked in disbelief.
"Doesn't he know what fate awaits her? If he agreed, at best she would be his plaything; at worst he would torture her until she's neither human nor ghost!" he raised his voice.
"Hey… my brother is blinded by greed. He thinks he can cozy up to the Zhao family's backers and get them to support the Lin family instead," he shook his head in disappointment.
Lin Feng eventually calmed down and looked up at the trembling Ye Feifei.
"Feifei, what do you want?"
Hearing Lin Feng ask her, she could no longer suppress the tears, and they fell down. She clutched her face with her hands and cried.
"Young Master… sob… sob… Feifei doesn't want to leave your side, but… but if it would cause the Young Master too much trouble, then Feifei is willing to."
Lin Feng's heart melted as he heard her. 'Even though she's the one facing the crisis, she's still thinking of my well-being. No, I can't let her fall into that bastard's hands,' he thought as he stood up and hugged her, placing her little head against his chest and patting her head.
"It's okay, Feifei. Nobody can take you away from me. If they want to, they would have to step over my corpse."
Feifei cried for a bit and eventually stopped, and when she did, she realized embarrassingly that she had been crying on Lin Feng's chest. She hurriedly pulled away from his chest, her entire face bright red from embarrassment.
'Ye Feifei, how could you stain the Young Master's clothes with your tears? You're so embarrassing,' she berated herself as her face turned even redder. She glanced up sneakily at Lin Feng to see if he was watching her.
Lin Feng laughed teasingly at her actions. Lin Mu also smiled at both of them getting along so well.
'Sigh… if all the Lin family were like this, how would we need to fear outsiders? It's a pity,' he thought.
"Oh, by the way, Xiao Feng, before your father left, he asked me to give you something."