Martial Arts Secret Realm: Only I Can Know the Plot?

Yan Gaotian's heart sank, but he hesitated on the surface: "Uncle, this matter..."

"Don't try to fool me," Hua Tiegan interrupted him. "Women of the Hua family are not women that just anyone can marry. If you become a son-in-law of the Hua family, all the resources, connections, and power of the Hua family will be yours. If you don't—then we can only be ordinary friends."

Yan Gaotian was silent for a moment, then bowed deeply: "Uncle, I am deeply grateful for your kindness. However, I have not yet avenged my brother's death, and have no heart for personal matters. Once this matter is settled, I will certainly give you a satisfactory answer."

Hua Tiegan stared at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

That kid is cunning; he likes him.

That's fine, though, he likes smart people.

Dealing with smart people is effortless.

Unlike his older brothers, he sometimes genuinely felt uncomfortable pretending.

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

Yan Gaotian straightened up, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Hua Tiegan was, to put it nicely, shrewd; to put it bluntly, opportunistic. He was willing to accompany me to Jingzhou not because he trusted my judgment, but because he saw that Shui Dai, Lu Tianshu, and Liu Chengfeng had gone after the Blood Saber Ancestor, leaving me alone in Jiangnan.

At this point, he also needs a helper.

And I happen to be the best one.

It's simply a matter of each getting what they need.

Early the next morning, Hua Tiegan and Yan Gaotian, along with twenty carefully selected guards from the Hua family, rode out of Suzhou City and headed towards Jingzhou.

Meanwhile, west of Jingzhou City, at the Shen Family Villa.

Sun Fan sat at a stone table in the courtyard, a map spread out in front of him. Several locations were marked on the map—Jingzhou, Suzhou, Hunan, and Qinghai—connected by lines like a spider web.

Dong Dahai stood behind him, holding a letter in his hand.

"Squad leader, news from Jiangnan." Dong Dahai handed over the letter. "Hua Tiegan and Xiong Hu, with twenty men, set off from Suzhou yesterday and are heading towards Jingzhou. They should arrive within five days."

Sun Fan took the letter, read it, and placed it on the table.

"Five days," he said in a low voice.

"Squad leader, what should we do?" Dong Dahai asked. "Should we make some arrangements in advance?"

Sun Fan did not answer immediately. He stood up, walked to the edge of the pond, and looked at the fish in the water.

Five days is neither a long nor a short time.

That's enough for him to do a lot of things.

That's enough for the fierce tiger to do a lot of things.

"The sea," he suddenly said.

"exist."

"Go and invite Shen Huaishan. Tell him I have something important to discuss with him."

Dong Dahai nodded, turned around and left.

Sun Fan stood by the pond, watching the fish swim around in the water.

The ferocious tiger is coming.

It was faster than he expected, but also easier to deal with than he anticipated—because not all four of the Southern Wonders came; only Hua Tiegan showed up.

Flower ironwood.

What kind of person was this in the original work?

Sun Fan closed his eyes, searching his memory for Hua Tieqian.

He ranks fourth among the Four Wonders of the South, "Falling Flowers and Flowing Water," and is invincible in Zhongping, with outstanding spear skills.

In the original story, he was the most cunning of the four, but also the most afraid of death. Blood Saber Ancestor used psychological warfare to defeat them one by one in the Snow Valley. Lu Tianshu, Liu Chengfeng, and Shui Dai all died in battle, and only Hua Tie survived—because he surrendered.

Not only did he surrender, but he also ate the corpses of his brothers, framed Di Yun and Shui Sheng, and...

Sun Fan opened his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Hua Tiegan's weaknesses are too obvious.

fear death.

Greed for fame.

They care a lot about saving face.

As long as you exploit these three weaknesses, you can lead him by the nose.

And the ferocious tiger—

Yan Gaotian, one of the Five Tigers of the Dark Martial Arts School, a fourth-realm martial artist, and the owner of the extraordinary martial art Tiger Claw Extinction Hand.

His greatest strength is his martial prowess, but his greatest weakness is also his martial prowess—because he is too superstitious about it.

He carried the iron-handled flower only to guard against the Shen family.

He thought that as long as he found Sun Fan, he could kill him with one blow.

Unbeknownst to him, Sun Fan's progress in the Divine Illumination Scripture had been rapid over the past month, and he had successfully entered the Meridian Opening Realm.

Admittedly, it is not easy for a martial artist to overcome a superior.

But he already had the ability to fight back.

He had no idea that Sun Fan was waiting for him.

"Squad leader," Dong Dahai returned, "Master Shen requests your presence in the study."

Sun Fan nodded, straightened his clothes, and walked towards the Shen residence.

Shen Huaishan's study remained the same: shelves full of books, a pot of tea, and a wise old man.

"Young Master Sun has arrived, please have a seat." Shen Huaishan put down the book in his hand and pointed to the chair next to him.

Sun Fan sat down, accepted the tea offered by the butler, and slowly took a sip.

The more he looked at Sun Fan, the more he liked him.

This person is simply a lucky star sent from heaven.

At first, he just thought that Sun Fan was quite knowledgeable and suspected that he had connections in the imperial court, so he wanted to hire Sun Fan as a private tutor.

But later I discovered that this kid was not only a good teacher, but also had a lot of insight.

His series of strategic moves successfully helped the Shen family remove the mountain that had been weighing on their heads for many years, and successfully restored their status as the hegemon of Jingzhou City.

If Sun Fan hadn't made it clear beforehand that he would only stay in Jingzhou for a few months, he would have had to leave no matter where Shen Zhaoyuan was learning.

He even wanted to ask Sun Fan if there were any women in the Shen family he could fancy.

As long as he nods, he can choose any eligible woman in the Shen family.

Sun Fan didn't mince words and went straight to the point.

"Mr. Shen, there's something I need to trouble you with."

"explain."

"Someone from Jiangnan has come looking for trouble." Sun Fan put down his teacup. "His name is Yan Gaotian, and he's the 'Number One in the South' who's been making waves in the Jiangnan martial arts world lately."

Shen Huaishan raised an eyebrow: "It's him?"

"Have you heard of Elder Shen?"

"I've heard of him." Shen Huaishan nodded. "A young man heavily promoted by the four major families, he's said to be highly skilled in martial arts and ruthless. Hua Tiegan even wants to marry his niece to him, binding him to the Hua family's cause. What, do you have a grudge against him?"

"The hatred for killing my brother," Sun Fan said. "His brother died at my hands."

Shen Huaishan tapped his fingers on the armrest a few times.

"Young Master Sun, what do you want me to do by telling me all this?"

The four great families of the Jiangnan martial arts world—what a prestigious title!

But Shen Huaishan didn't take it to heart.

They are a martial arts family, not a political dynasty.

Outside, even the leaders of the four families had to address him as Master Shen!

Sun Fan took a letter out of his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Shen Huaishan.

"Mr. Shen, please ask someone to deliver this letter to the Liu family in Suzhou."

Shen Huaishan picked up the letter, glanced at the words on the envelope, and frowned slightly: "Written for Liu Chengfeng?"

"Yes."

"What did you write?"

Sun Fan's lips curled slightly: "He wrote about some things that interested him."

Shen Huaishan stared at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled.

"Young Master Sun, you are a person whose actions are always unpredictable."

Sun Fan smiled and said, "Mr. Shen is joking."

Shen Huaishan tucked the letter into his sleeve and nodded: "I'll deliver the letter to you. But there's one thing I need to remind you of."

"Please go on, Mr. Shen."

"Hua Tiegan is not a easy person to deal with," Shen Huaishan said in a low voice. "He has been operating in Jiangnan for decades and has deep roots. If you only want to deal with Yan Gaotian, that's fine. But if you want to involve Hua Tiegan as well—"

"Then we'll need the city's garrison to cooperate."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Jingzhou may be small, but it's not a place where just anyone can come and run wild."

Sun Fan stood up, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and said, "Thank you for the reminder, Elder Shen. I understand."

It was almost dark when we left the Shen residence.

Sun Fan stood at the entrance of the alley, watching the last rays of sunset on the horizon.

Five days.

He had to arrange everything within five days.

When the ferocious tiger arrives, it will be his death day.