Chapter 5: The Dragon Ring Speaks for the Gang Leader

The assistant waved to the burly men.

They fixed Chen Huijuan with hungry, wolfish stares. They had no intention of going easy on her just because she was a woman.

As they closed in, she trembled all over and shut her eyes helplessly.

“Stop!”

A cold voice rang out from the entrance. A beautiful young woman hurried inside and anxiously looked Chen Huijuan over.

“Mom, are you all right?”

Seeing her daughter at last, Chen Huijuan felt some of her fear subside.

“I’m fine, Wanqing. I really didn’t break those bangles…”

She explained exactly what had happened.

Lu Wanqing was quick-witted enough to spot the problem immediately. It was an outright scam.

Her lovely face turned frosty as she fixed the assistant with a sharp look.

“You say my mother broke the bangles. Do you have proof?”

The woman remained unruffled, her expression contemptuous.

“Proof?” she sneered. “Everyone here is a witness. They all saw it. What more proof do you want?”

“So you have none. These are all your own people. Just because you claim my mother broke them doesn’t make it true. How do we know you didn’t frame her?”

Lu Wanqing argued her case, but the woman had no patience for it.

Her face darkened. “Think what you like. Even if I did frame her, so what? You’re paying whether you want to or not.”

She had finally shown her true colors, all but admitting she had deliberately trapped Chen Huijuan.

“If we broke them, we’d sell everything we own to compensate you. But if you’re framing us, then I’m sorry. You won’t get a cent.”

Lu Wanqing’s answer was firm.

The woman clapped her hands, her expression twisting viciously.

“That’s a first. Someone with the nerve to stand up to Duobao Pavilion. In that case, there’s nothing left to discuss.”

She flung out a hand.

“Get them!”

The men were already itching to act. With a delicate beauty like Lu Wanqing before them, they were looking forward to getting their hands on her and taking liberties.

“Hold on.”

Another voice sounded. Everyone turned to find a handsome man leaning in the doorway.

They had been so focused on Lu Wanqing that they hadn’t noticed him.

Lin Feng surveyed the scene lazily.

“Let me say something fair. People ought to pay what they owe. If we’ve broken someone else’s property, we’re in the wrong however you look at it.”

“We have to pay.”

The woman studied him at leisure and finally smiled. That was exactly what she wanted to hear.

“And who are you?”

Lin Feng straightened his collar and strolled over.

“Allow me to introduce myself. This beautiful lady is my wife. Naturally, the woman who broke your bangles is my mother-in-law.” He grinned. “I’ll cover it.”

The woman giggled. “See? Someone here understands reason.”

Lu Wanqing clenched her teeth. In her worry over her mother, she had forgotten that Lin Feng had come with her.

It was bad enough that he wasn’t supporting her. Now he was siding with this crooked shop.

Chen Huijuan was utterly bewildered. Her daughter had been resolutely single yesterday. How had she become someone’s wife overnight?

“We’re in the right, Lin Feng. Stop making trouble!” Lu Wanqing said through gritted teeth.

He shrugged and smiled. “Stay out of this, honey. Let your husband handle it.”

Without giving her time to say more, he began rummaging in his pocket.

Lu Wanqing’s eyelid twitched. Was he about to play the big spender with the million yuan she’d given him?

After a lengthy search, Lin Feng produced ten yuan and slapped it onto the counter.

“Those glass bangles cost about five yuan to make. Keep the rest as a tip. No change needed.”

The woman’s smile froze. She had actually thought he was going to pay.

Then her face turned venomous.

“You bastard. How dare you make a fool of me?”

“Kill him!” she screamed.

The men charged Lin Feng like tigers descending a mountain.

Their sheer size and menace made Lu Wanqing’s heart tighten. The idiot had gone looking for trouble. Now they were all doomed.

Lin Feng looked completely at ease. He didn’t take their attack seriously at all.

What happened next left everyone dumbstruck.

Pain suddenly distorted the charging men’s faces. They doubled over, and in the blink of an eye every one of them was on the floor, groaning, unable to stand.

Shock filled the assistant’s eyes.

These men were called security guards, but in reality Duobao Pavilion kept them as hired thugs. They weren’t martial artists, but they were no ordinary fighters either. Each could handle more than a dozen average men.

Yet not one of them had lasted a single exchange against this young man.

Worse, she hadn’t even seen how he had moved. They had simply gone down.

Only a martial artist could be that swift and ruthless.

“Y-you’re a martial artist?” she asked, disbelief making her voice tremble.

Lin Feng curled his lip and gave her a sidelong look.

“Just an ordinary, exceptionally handsome guy.”

Despite the thugs’ defeat, Lu Wanqing couldn’t feel relieved. Dealing with a few small fry meant nothing. The power behind Duobao Pavilion was the real problem.

Otherwise, she would never have tried to swallow her anger.

After her brief shock, the woman recovered her composure.

“So what if you’re a martial artist? Duobao Pavilion is backed by the Azure Dragon Gang, the strongest force in Jiangcheng’s underworld!”

“Whatever tricks you have, you’re nothing before them.”

Everyone in Jiangcheng knew the Azure Dragon Gang’s fearsome reputation. Even the city’s four great families had to show its leader respect.

That was where the woman’s confidence came from.

Chen Huijuan went deathly pale. She regretted calling her daughter over.

Lu Wanqing looked no better. Had she known the gang was behind Duobao Pavilion, she would have gritted her teeth and paid.

Now Lin Feng had beaten their men. Even offering the money might no longer settle things.

She forced herself to speak. “I’m Lu Wanqing of the Lu family here in Jiangcheng. I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“I hope you’ll show my family some consideration.”

Normally, she would never invoke the family name unless she had no other choice. But learning who backed the shop had made the gravity of the situation clear.

After all, Lin Feng had fought for her mother. She had to step in and keep the consequences from falling on him.

The Lus were one of Jiangcheng’s four great families. Surely the gang would grant them that much respect.

But the assistant showed no surprise at all.

“The Lu family? So what?” she scoffed.

“You’ve offended the Azure Dragon Gang. Even the most powerful backer couldn’t save you.”

Lu Wanqing’s heart sank. They wouldn’t even show the Lu family any respect.

The Azure Dragon Gang?

Lin Feng glanced at the dragon-shaped ring on his right index finger.

Before he left the mountain, his Eighth Master had told him he had prepared a gift too: an underworld organization called the Azure Dragon Gang.

How could his disciple go out into the world without a few capable subordinates?

The Dragon Ring on Lin Feng’s finger was the token of the gang leader’s authority.

To see the Dragon Ring was to stand before the gang leader himself.