Stepping out of the Parsons Auction House with White, they first visited a merchant house to exchange the value card for several cards, each valued at 50 million. Then, after carefully circling several times, they arrived at a tailor shop and completely changed their attire.
Possessing such wealth naturally demanded caution.
“Where to now?” White inquired.
“Naturally, we seek out your former subordinates,” Chen Feng replied.
White nodded. “Very well, I’ll take you to see my old partner. If you can earn his approval, retrieving not just a large portion, but perhaps all of the 000~Jia Shi is possible!”
“Good!” Chen Feng agreed without hesitation.
The two hired a carriage and traveled for nearly an hour, arriving in a bustling, noisy alley in Kejia City. Judging by their ragged clothes, the populace was a motley crew—a mix of all sorts and sundry, mostly the impoverished.
Following closely behind White, they threaded through the crowds. Both were masters of the Dou Zun level, so even the dense throng did not impede their speed.
“Make way, make way…”
Seven or eight youths in sleek, tight clothing elbowed their way from the back of the crowd, walking in pairs with an air of extreme arrogance. The surrounding people, knowing their background, quickly parted to let them pass.
Chen Feng and White, being outsiders, wished to avoid trouble and merely yielded to the flow, stepping aside.
The group sauntered past them, eyes constantly flicking around sideways. One youth stopped at a fruit stall, casually picked up some fruit, and began eating without paying. The vendor had to greet him with a smile; any hint of dissatisfaction would be met with a slap.
Chen Feng recognized them as the local bullies—the riff-raff and petty gangsters of the previous era. Such people were common; one could not police them all.
These ruffians continued on, taking whatever caught their eye, while the stall owners quickly handed them money.
“The person you’re looking for lives here?” Chen Feng couldn't help but ask, observing the wretched state of the place.
White flushed slightly. “Yes. I saw him from afar a year ago when I was here, not far ahead. But I didn’t approach to recognize him.”
“You didn’t recognize him?”
“Alas…” White sighed, the sound heavy with unspoken sorrow.
Chen Feng sensed he had a difficult story, so he did not press further.
They advanced another twenty meters when they heard a loud argument ahead.
The same seven or eight hoodlums were berating a butcher at his stall.
“Damn your ancestors, you haven’t paid this month’s protection fee yet!” a youth with an earring in his right ear snarled.
“Oh, right away, right away!” The butcher immediately bent down behind his stall to retrieve money. He was quite tall, around 1.8 meters, appearing robust, with eyes that narrowed to slits when he smiled; he looked barely over forty.
“What the hell are you doing, slacking off? Hurry up!” the earring youth raged.
The butcher was meek, plastering a smile on his face. “Here, here,” he said, handing over the money.
The earring youth snatched the money, counted it, and with a snap, slapped it into the butcher’s face. “Are you deliberately looking for trouble? Didn’t I tell you? Your pork stall earns more, so the monthly fee is doubled!”
The butcher’s facial muscles twitched violently, but he quickly resumed his ingratiating smile, anxiously gathering the money flung to the ground and offering it again.
“We had family matters this month and couldn't open many days, so we earned less. Please, sirs, be accommodating; I promise to pay the full amount next month, absolutely…” He bowed repeatedly as he spoke.
“Pay your mother! Are you expecting us to live off this pittance?” the earring youth spat, before spitting directly onto the butcher’s face.
The butcher remained perfectly still, not even wiping the spittle, his smile fixed.
“Ptooey, a spineless wretch, useless trash!” the earring youth sneered. “Brothers, let’s go.” The group swaggered away.
Only then did the butcher wipe the saliva from his face, sighing heavily before calmly rearranging the cuts of pork on his table.
“Two catties of pork, ground into mince, please!” a calm voice sounded before the stall.
“Coming right up!” The butcher responded briskly, never looking up. He spun the cleaver in his palm like a circus act, and a piece of pork immediately separated from the block. His arm moved with blinding speed; a blur of steel flashed over the board. In less than three minutes, the pork was finely minced. With a flick of his wrist, the blade bounced off the counter, and the meat was neatly wrapped in a lotus leaf. Placed on the scale, it weighed precisely two catties, no more, no less.
“Here you are, that will be 15 coins…” The butcher finally looked up at his customer, and upon seeing the minced meat, instantly dropped it onto the counter.
“White? You’re not dead…” The surprise was laced with trembling joy.
White gave a wry smile. “Kamm, why do you debase yourself like this?”
The man called Kamm cried out in relief, his usually small eyes nearly closing completely from emotion.
“Is this the person you were looking for?” Chen Feng asked from the side.
White nodded.
“Heroes often emerge from the lowliest stock; noble ladies frequently arise from the dust… This saying truly holds,” Chen Feng mused inwardly. He never would have imagined that the man White had praised so highly was this very man, selling pork while accepting public humiliation.
Kamm glanced at Chen Feng. “Lord White, is this your son… He’s quite grown. Say hello to Uncle…”
“…” Chen Feng.
White’s face darkened. “Stop the nonsense. I’ll explain everything when we get back to my place!”
“Fine!” Seeing his old friend had lost interest in business, Kamm quickly packed up his stall, bundling nearly two hundred catties of pork onto his back as if it weighed nothing.
“Kamm… just now…” White started, then stopped.
Kamm didn't seem fazed, still wearing a smile. “That was nothing; I’m used to it.” However, the smile was underscored by a deep weariness.
The three left the noisy marketplace, turning left and right through several small alleys until they reached a courtyard of packed earth.
The yard was desolate and overgrown with weeds. A thin, yellowed dog squatted in a corner and barked fiercely at the strangers.
“This is your home?” White looked at the near-collapsing house with bitterness in his eyes.
“Come in and sit,” Kamm said, leading them into the single room.
“Cough, cough…” An old woman lay on a cot, coughing incessantly. “Kamm, who’s here?”
“Mother, these are my friends.” Kamm rushed forward, pouring a cup of hot water for the old woman.
“Ah,” White sighed, understanding the reason for Kamm’s poverty.
“Let’s talk outside in the yard,” White said, standing and walking toward the dim room.
“This is my current employer, Chen Feng!”
Once in the courtyard, White spoke plainly. “Your employer?” Kamm looked at Chen Feng with suspicion. “He looks rather young?”
“He is actually only seventeen years old,” White stated quietly.
“Seventeen?” Kamm shook his head, looking sympathetic. “You chose an employer like this? It seems you aren’t much better off than I am!”
Chen Feng listened to their exchange, offering only a slight smile without interrupting.
Seeing Chen Feng wasn't angered, White pulled him aside and whispered, “I came to find you so you would come out of seclusion and join me in achieving something great!”
Kamm shook his head. “Great achievements? I lost interest long ago. Have you forgotten what happened back then? If it hadn’t been for… never mind!” His eyes filled with desolation.
White was about to press the matter when Kamm grasped his hand. “We haven’t seen each other in ages, brother. Let’s not talk about such things. I’ll go buy some wine and two catties of meat; we’ll drink…”
White understood that Kamm was politely refusing him to save face, and his eyes dimmed momentarily.
Chen Feng, with his keen senses, had heard enough of their conversation. He walked over, smiling, and asked, “Rejecting so quickly? Shouldn't you at least consider it?”
Kamm glared at Chen Feng with undisguised revulsion. “I despise spoiled young masters like you the most. Get out of my sight!”
It turned out he had mistaken Chen Feng for a member of a prominent, wealthy family.
White suddenly understood Kamm’s aversion to “great achievements.” Back then, they were young and ambitious, following a young master from a powerful family to seek glory. And then… it turned out that they had been betrayed by that very person!
Chen Feng seemed to recall something upon seeing Kamm’s reaction. Ignoring the harsh words, he looked at White and said, “Let’s go. He’s just a coward, burying his talent here, accepting insults from hooligans! His mother is sick and he can’t afford a doctor. This kind of man doesn’t deserve to be called a man!”
Kamm’s face turned green, then white. After the incident years ago, the people he hated most were those from influential families—the hypocrites wearing human skin. In his eyes, none of them were decent. Hearing that White now served this youth, whose age suggested reliance on family backing, he felt a disdain that, combined with the current insult, ignited the rage suppressed for over a decade.
“Who do you think you are? You’re just relying on your family’s wealth! Without your family, you are nothing!” Kamm roared.
“Kamm, have you gone mad?” White exclaimed anxiously. “He is my boss now, far superior to that Young Master Waxi!”
Chen Feng pulled White back coldly. “White, let him keep talking.”
Kamm’s eyes glowed red with feral fury. “You clothed beasts! If it weren’t for people like you, my sister wouldn't have died, and my mother wouldn’t have been injured…”
White anxiously stepped forward again.
Kamm shot White a cold look. “White, what benefits did he give you? Have you forgotten the harm you suffered back then?”
White lowered his head and remained silent for a moment, then his eyes hardened with resolve. “Chen Feng is different!”
“How is he different? He’s just another one fighting for inheritance rights! If you have the guts, create your own empire!” Kamm vented, spitting a thick gob of phlegm onto the ground. “Useless, with nothing but a fine exterior, a good family background!”
Chen Feng gave a cold laugh, slowly walked forward, grabbed White and pulled him back, then swung his hand and delivered a vicious slap across Kamm’s face!
Thwack!
He held nothing back, the strike was blindingly fast, and Kamm didn't even react. The blow completely distorted his face, knocking out four or five teeth, sending him flying sideways until he slammed into the courtyard wall, knocking a chunk out of it.
After the blow, Chen Feng walked up to him, his tone icy. “Are you a man? If you are, stand up!”
Kamm staggered upright, staring at Chen Feng with a trace of venomous hatred.
“A man should be able to take up and put down responsibility, a man should act, a man should stand tall, a man should reclaim what is owed to him—not stand there waiting for the spittle on his face to dry in the wind, only complaining about how others hurt him!” Chen Feng finished sternly, then lifted his right foot and kicked him viciously.
Boom! Kamm flew back over ten meters from the force, landing heavily on the ground.
If White praised Kamm so highly, he must have been a notable figure in the past. For such a man to allow himself to be bullied by hoodlums to the point of accepting humiliation showed the depth of his self-abandonment. Against such a person, earnest words, patient teaching, and gentle persuasion were useless. Only fists worked!
Only the power of the fist could shock such a person awake.
This situation was common in psychology; the usual treatment was a metaphorical "sudden, heavy blow." To awaken such a person, one needed harsh medicine to force them out of their dazed state. Chen Feng, having studied psychology in his previous life and watched many dramatic films, understood this condition and chose this extreme method.
Kamm suddenly leaped up from the ground. His bones cracked audibly; his entire frame seemed to stretch momentarily, and his arms thickened by nearly half in an instant.
“Even if I’m not a man, it’s not your place to lecture me!” Kamm stomped his feet, launching himself into the air in a surge of energy, like a fierce tiger pouncing, straight toward Chen Feng.
“Hmph!” Chen Feng snorted. Seeing him fly over, he didn't dodge. Just as Kamm reached him, Chen Feng thrust his right hand forward and slammed it fiercely into Kamm’s spine.
Crack! The latter crashed heavily at his feet, pinned beneath him.
Though Chen Feng was powerful, it wasn’t his strength alone that felled Kamm in one move. Kamm hadn't fought anyone in over a decade, and when he suddenly unleashed his power, he couldn't control his own strength; thus, he was no match for Feng. He had no chance to resist.
Chen Feng kicked him away again, then ignored him, turning to White. “Let’s go. Someone who has given up on himself like this isn’t worth our grueling journey to find.”
“This…” White was bewildered by Chen Feng’s sudden attack. Torn between his boss and his friend, he felt helpless.
“Wait a moment…” Kamm’s voice, after being kicked away, drifted from behind him as he slowly got up, wiping blood from his mouth.
“Not bad. A man should reclaim what others owe him. Being able to say that, and possessing that level of skill, you are certainly not just some pampered young master of a noble family!” Kamm stood straight, his eyes filled with determination. Chen Feng’s beatings and scolding had completely roused him.
“I… I am willing to follow you!” Kamm walked over, looked at Chen Feng, and finally couldn't help asking, “Are you… really only seventeen?” He rubbed his throbbing chest, his burning back, and his stinging cheek, nearly collapsing. He was, after all, a Jin Jia Shi expert, yet he was treated like a rag doll, only good for taking hits. The frustration was immense.
Chen Feng had been waiting for this. Beating the man served to display his own strength; the principle of 'strength commands respect' would, at least, inspire awe.
“Drink this medicinal liquid; it will benefit your injuries,” Chen Feng said, handing over a small jar of water from the ‘Jade Cloud Spring.’
Kamm opened his mouth and drank the water Chen Feng offered, calming his breath. The effects were indeed astonishing, filling his eyes with shock. Healing arts existed in this world, but the skill level was limited. Silver or Bronze Jia Shi would require long periods of recovery for serious injuries. A medicine that took effect so quickly was something only the Ming Sheng masters within the Church, utilizing natural methods, could possibly achieve. It was because of the backward medical arts that A’Can had lost all his hair to fire and was forced to shave his head.
Seeing Kamm subdued by Chen Feng, White’s admiration for his new leader deepened. “Kamm and I fought side-by-side back then. I handled the organization of battles, but the selection of guards, personnel appointments, even provisions and logistics—he managed it all single-handedly. He was the team's best steward, which is why everyone respected him and willingly served under him.”
Chen Feng finally understood Kamm’s capabilities and nodded with a smile. “Gather your old subordinates for me.”
Since Kamm had completely submitted, he let go of his pride and nodded. “No problem. Although we haven’t been in contact for over a decade, if those 000 Jin Jia Shi are still alive, I’m confident I can find every last one for you!”
Chen Feng smiled with satisfaction, took out eight merchant cards, and handed them over.
“This is 400 million. Take it for now. Every man willing to follow me will receive a settlement allowance of ten thousand. If you need more money, ask me,” Chen Feng said calmly, tossing the 400 million in merchant cards over.
Kamm caught them, his hands trembling at the sight of such a high denomination. Tears welled up in his eyes. His voice cracked. “You, the great leader… I truly recognize you now…”
Having only just met him, Chen Feng had thrown 400 million in assets his way. If a person like this couldn't be trusted, who could? The instant Kamm accepted the cards, he was utterly convinced.
PS: Two chapters totaling ten thousand words have been updated... (To be continued. For further developments, please log in to M for more chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!) First published.