I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 48 Tragedy
After leaving the Wu family martial arts school, Chen Ming went to the Huo residence to find Zhang Mingyu.

"Junior brother, what brings you here?"

Zhang Mingyu was explaining the Five Elements Sword Technique to several of his junior brothers, all of whom were old acquaintances. After greeting them, he told Gu Junrong and the others to practice it on their own, and then took Chen Ming to the pavilion for tea.

For a while, the three of them, along with Hong Mingquan, would sit here every day drinking tea and chatting.

Now, the tea tray is still the same tea tray, but the person is no longer here.

Chen Ming felt a pang of sadness. After taking a sip of tea, he said, "I just happened to be passing by, so I thought I'd ask my senior brother for a cup of tea."

Zhang Mingyu laughed heartily, "We don't have anything else, but we have plenty of old mountain tea. I've been looking forward to my junior brother's visit every day."

In the past month, he has been sparring with Chen Ming every few days.

After their sparring session, Chen Ming would review the game with him. He felt his swordsmanship had improved. Naturally, he hoped Chen Ming could come over more often.

Chen Ming said, "I'm just glad you don't find me annoying, Senior Brother."

"how come."

After chatting for a while, Chen Ming got down to business, "Speaking of which, this morning, a black-clad constable from the Six Doors came to see me..."

He briefly explained the situation.

When Zhang Mingyu heard the constable mention Lao Liu, he immediately tensed up. "You didn't tell him, did you?"

Chen Ming said seriously, "No, since I promised my senior brother, I naturally won't tell anyone about this."

"That's good."

Zhang Mingyu finally felt relieved. He glanced at his junior brothers practicing their swordsmanship not far away and whispered, "Actually, Sixth Junior Brother..."

"I have no intention of investigating this matter. I just felt I should come and tell my senior brother that it's getting late and I should head back first."

After learning about Bi Haibo's story, he might get caught up in this mess. He wouldn't do something that wouldn't bring him any benefit.

After saying that, he took his leave.

……

Chen Ming returned home around dusk, just in time for dinner. When he arrived at the table, he found that his sister-in-law was not there, but his older brother, Chen Rui, had already announced that they could start eating.

He asked, "Aren't you waiting for your sister-in-law?"

"She wasn't feeling well, so she asked Xiao Hong to bring the food to her room."

Feeling unwell?
She must have felt humiliated in front of him, right?
Chen Ming found it somewhat amusing; this guy was really thin-skinned.

Suddenly, the eldest brother, Chen Rui, asked, "Second Brother, do you have a woman you fancy?"

"No," he shook his head and said, "My marriage is none of your concern, elder brother. I have no plans to get married for the time being."

Seeing his resolute attitude, Chen Rui seemed to want to say something, but held back.

After finishing his meal, he returned to his room and asked his wife, Madam Wei, "Madam, do you think Erlang might still be unable to forget that girl from the Zhang family?"

Why bring this up all of a sudden?

"Erlang is already twenty-one, but he has no intention of getting married. When I was his age, Ade was already born." Chen Rui looked somewhat worried.

The eldest brother is like a father; with both parents gone, it's natural for him, as the elder brother, to take care of his younger brother's marriage.

It is only natural for a man to marry when he comes of age.

Erlang's refusal to marry was ultimately not quite normal.

Getting married is just a matter of finding a wife; how could it possibly affect my martial arts training?

In his view, this was just an excuse.

After thinking it over, Chen Rui realized that this was the only possibility.

Upon hearing this, Madam Wei became worried. "What should we do? That girl is about to marry someone else."

“The Zhang family is so materialistic, they are definitely not a good match for her. Even if she doesn’t marry someone else, Erlang can’t marry her, otherwise, there will be no peace in the household. We need to think of another way.”

That day, Chen Rui didn't sleep a wink, constantly thinking about this matter.

……

The next day, Li Jinchuan indeed brought his parents to the house. One of them was a man in his forties, who looked ordinary and was dressed in coarse linen clothes. Li Jinchuan introduced him, "This is Uncle Rui. Uncle Rui, and this is Senior Brother Chen."

Uncle Rui bowed and said, "Hu Guangrui greets Young Master Chen."

"Mr. Hu, you're too kind." Chen Ming was a little unsure about their relationship; it didn't seem like an elder-younger relationship, but rather like a master-servant one. "May I ask what brings you here, sir?"

"I wouldn't dare, but I have a favor to ask."

"But it doesn't matter."

"I will be leaving Qingfeng City soon, but I am worried that Chuan'er will be left unattended. May I ask if he can stay at your residence for a while? I will return in a month at most."

Chen Ming laughed and said, "I thought it was something serious, but it's nothing. You can stay as long as you want."

Hu Guangrui said happily, "Thank you, Young Master Chen. If it's alright, please stay here tonight. I'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"it is good."

So, Li Jinchuan moved into the Chen residence.

As a result, many students, after hearing about this, also clamored to move in.

When Chen Ming put on a stern face, those who were egging him on quieted down.

……

A few days later, one night, Chen Ming was reading in his room when he suddenly heard a scream from afar.

Judging from the sound, it must have come from several hundred meters away.

"problem occurs?"

Just then, I heard another scream, this time much closer.

Chen Ming's heart tightened. He put down the book, grabbed the long knife beside the bed, went out the door, and headed straight for his elder brother's courtyard, calling out, "Brother."

Soon, Chen Rui came out wearing an overcoat, and asked somewhat nervously, "What happened?"

Chen Ming said with a serious expression, "It's not clear yet. Go back inside and take care of your sister-in-law and Lide. I'll stay outside."

"it is good."

Without further ado, Chen Rui went back inside to comfort his wife and children.

Chen Ming then instructed Chunxiang and Xiaxiang to wake everyone in the mansion and gather them in this courtyard.

Then, several more screams were heard.

Then, there was no sound at all.

Chen Ming dared not let his guard down and stayed in the courtyard until dawn.

None of us slept well all night.

After daybreak, Chen Ming sent people out to gather information, and they returned quickly.

The man, pale-faced, reported, "Young Master, Second Young Master, last night a group of thieves broke into the home of a family surnamed Jiang on the east side, killed the entire family of twelve, and then stole their money and left. The Six Doors officers have arrived now..."

Upon hearing of this horrific incident, Chen Rui exclaimed in shock and anger, "This is utterly lawless! Who on earth did this? How could they be so vicious and ruthless? Robbing money is one thing, but to kill someone is quite another!"

"It's said... it was done by a gang of pirates. These maritime traders have no morals whatsoever; when they plunder merchant ships, they often leave no survivors..."

Chen Ming frowned as he listened. It seemed that Wang Yangming's concerns were justified. These pirates were truly reckless; in just a few days, they had committed such a horrific massacre.

If they had targeted his home last night, he alone might not have been able to protect his family.

It seems we need to improve our strength as soon as possible.

It is foreseeable that with Zheng Longwang's death, his pirates will be unrestrained, and Qingfeng City will likely be in chaos for some time.

It should be noted that the overall strength of Qingfeng City is far inferior to that of Zheng Longwang's pirate gang.

Qingfeng City only has one fourth-rank expert from the Gu family. Then there's one fifth-rank garrison commander from the Six Doors, and two other renowned fifth-rank masters.

On the pirate side, although King Zheng Long is dead, his nine adopted sons are all of the fourth or fifth rank strength. If they all come to Qingfeng City to plunder, we simply cannot resist them.

(End of this chapter)