Chapter 20: The Patriarch’s Dream Message

Aside from the portrait of the founding master hanging on the wall, everything in the Suirentang that could be smashed was smashed, leaving the entire shop in utter disarray.

Surveying the chaos with great satisfaction, Ye Wuming then turned to Li Chengfeng, his tone threatening.

“Today, I’m giving you a little lesson to make sure you remember it well.”

“Remember, you are never to have any dealings with Ye Mengyao from now on. If you don’t obey, next time it will be you who gets beaten.”

“Brother, don’t worry. I’ll obey for sure—I’ve always been obedient since I was a child.”

Li Chengfeng kept a smiling expression on his face, desperately trying to please the other.

Despite the shop being wrecked, he still smiled. The young onlookers nearby thought Li Chengfeng must be crazy, probably kicked by a donkey in his childhood.

But the older folks, those experienced with hardships, quietly admired him. This young man was not to be trifled with—unshaken by insults or anger, his smile concealed a deadly blade. He was undoubtedly a ruthless man.

To Ye Wuming, Li Chengfeng was nothing but a fool. With his goal accomplished, Ye Wuming turned to leave, dropping two words in a tone full of ridicule.

“Idiot!”

“Yes, I’m an idiot. Take care, big brother!”

Watching the three get into a car and drive away, kicking up dust, Li Chengfeng’s smile gradually faded. He turned back into Suirentang.

He went to the grand master’s chair, propped it up, then plopped down heavily. Taking a deep breath, he grinned and said,

“If no one offends me, I won’t offend anyone. But if someone offends me, I’ll wipe out their entire clan.”

Li Chengfeng had never expected that no matter how much he held back, the other side would still smash up Suirentang. This matter could not just be let go.

This debt must be settled with them—only a matter of time.

If it were anyone else, faced with such a situation, whether they could win or not, they would rush in hotheadedly to fight Ye Wuming to the death.

Many believed such men were truly brave and full of spirit.

But Li Chengfeng would never do that. To him, so-called bravery was just recklessness—charging headlong into a fight against a stronger opponent was just asking for trouble.

Looking toward the door, Li Chengfeng wondered why Ye Mengyao hadn’t returned yet.

Before long, Ye Mengyao appeared at the entrance. She hadn’t gone far earlier—she only pretended to drive off, then circled back to Suirentang.

Li Chengfeng had long suspected she wouldn’t go far and was waiting for her.

In fact, Ye Mengyao had been there all along, sitting in the car watching while Ye Wuming’s bodyguards wrecked Suirentang.

After Ye Wuming left, she hadn’t come in immediately out of embarrassment—she already knew why Li Chengfeng had refused to take action.

Such an irrational act had brought him considerable trouble, and Ye Mengyao felt deeply guilty.

She looked at the broken door, the chaotic mess of Suirentang, and Li Chengfeng sitting unhappily in the grand master’s chair.

Ye Mengyao wore a face full of apology and resolved never to force Li Chengfeng to help her again.

“I’m sorry. Consider the 100,000 yuan as compensation for your losses.”

“I won’t bother you anymore.”

Tears welled up in Ye Mengyao’s eyes. The only hope to cure her father and aunt was gone; it seemed the Ye family was truly doomed.

She quietly turned to leave but was called back by Li Chengfeng.

“Miss Ye, don’t rush off.”

“Is there something else?”

“I promised I’d help you move that locust tree, cure your father and aunt, and all direct descendants of the Ye family.”

Ye Mengyao’s face lit up with excitement, surprise, and joy—she hadn’t expected Li Chengfeng to suddenly agree.

The real reason Li Chengfeng consented was that Ye Wuming had smashed Suirentang, and he had to make him pay a heavy price.

Li Chengfeng calculated the dates and selected an auspicious day for moving graves and earthwork—exactly two days later.

He instructed Ye Mengyao to prepare spirit money, incense, and firecrackers in advance, then gather some people to go to the Ye family ancestral tomb at dawn two days later to move the tree and open the coffin.

He also gave Ye Mengyao some taboos to observe.

“Remember, whether moving graves, earthwork, or transplanting trees, it must be done at dawn, before the sun rises.”

“Got it.”

“Also, when recruiting helpers to move the tree, do not use people born in the years of the Rooster, Dog, Monkey, or Pig.”

“It’s best to choose those born in the Year of the Dragon.”

“All right, I understand.”

Seeing Li Chengfeng’s serious expression and the air of a true master about him, Ye Mengyao felt a faint fondness for this man.

With Ye Mengyao’s help, the two tidied up Suirentang once more.

By the time they finished, it was already evening. Ye Mengyao, filled with anger, said,

“That Ye Wuming is despicable. Once my father is cured, I’ll have him avenge you.”

Hearing the name Ye Wuming, Li Chengfeng couldn’t swallow that anger either; he was eager to make him pay now and casually asked,

“Miss Ye, do you know Ye Wuming’s birth date and time?”

“Yes, it’s all in the Ye family genealogy.”

Li Chengfeng told Ye Mengyao to look up Ye Wuming’s birth details and to get some of his hair or fingernails.

Ye Mengyao looked puzzled and curiously asked,

“What do you want his hair and nails for?”

“I want to show you what a curse truly is.”

At the mention of curses, Ye Mengyao’s interest was instantly piqued, and she left Suirentang eagerly.

Ye Wuming would never have imagined that because he had smashed Suirentang to send a warning to Li Chengfeng, the meek Li Chengfeng in front of him would make him pay a heavy price.

All the efforts of their collateral descendants to seize power in the Ye family would be utterly undone.

After all that had happened today, Li Chengfeng ate a little and soon fell into a deep sleep, exhausted.

In his dream, he felt two kicks to his backside, and an elderly voice whispered in his ear.

“Little trickster, get up quickly.”

“Who’s there?”

Startled, Li Chengfeng jolted awake and sat up in bed, seeing before him an old man with a white beard, dressed in five-colored celestial robes, radiating an ethereal aura.

“Who... who are you?”

“You little scoundrel, you don’t even recognize me, yet you knelt and kowtowed before me.”

“You... you are the founding master!”

The white-bearded old man standing by the bed was none other than Guo Pu, the founder of the Qimen Fengshui sect. He said with displeasure,

“You little trickster! The founding master’s dining table was overturned, the rice bowl smashed, and you stood there grinning like an idiot. How could I have a disciple like you?”

“I give you three days to make those three bastards pay, or I’ll come and take you away.”

With that, the white-bearded elder vanished.

Li Chengfeng, lying in bed, suddenly opened his eyes, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. What was going on? Had he just dreamed again—dreamed of the founding master?

Though it was clearly a dream, why did his backside hurt so much?

It even seemed swollen. Damn, the founding master’s kicks were vicious.

Recalling the last words the master said—if those three didn’t pay within three days, he would take Li Chengfeng away—he sat up straight in bed, terrified.

Could it really have been the founding master’s spirit visiting him in a dream?