Chapter 29: Erasing the Lin Family from Luocheng

"Mom, please stop blaming Xiao Nan. Didn't he do it to save Ziqing?"

Seeing Li Ailing relentlessly berating Xiao Nan, Lin Shuyun could no longer hold her tongue.

Li Ailing glared at her eldest daughter and said coldly, "Didn't Ziqing just say it herself? When she was truly being bullied, Xiao Nan was nowhere to be found. He only stepped up to show off and act tough after Li Yunbao's men had already arrived."

"In my opinion, he didn't do it to save Ziqing at all; he did it on purpose to cause trouble for our Lin family."

"Enough! Why are you spouting so much nonsense?"

Seeing his wife becoming increasingly unreasonable, Lin Guodong shot her a sharp look.

Li Ailing, however, did not back down and continued to ramble, "I was against you letting Ziqing get engaged to him from the start. You just had to insist on following the ramblings of some fortune-telling monk from years ago. Well, now look at what happened—we've brought the Hailong Gang down upon the Lin family the moment he arrived."

"You know what kind of person Zhou Hailong is. Do you really mean to tell me you don't?"

"If we cross him, can our Lin family ever hope to remain the wealthiest family in Luocheng in peace?"

"Shut your mouth!"

Lin Guodong didn't need Li Ailing to remind him of the consequences of crossing Zhou Hailong. Already frazzled and anxious, he barked at his wife in a fit of rage.

Seeing that her husband was truly angry, Li Ailing awkwardly fell silent, though her gaze toward Xiao Nan remained hostile.

The more she looked at him, the less he resembled the man her husband had described—a person with the "true dragon destiny" who would bring prosperity to the Lin family. Instead, she now saw him as nothing more than a harbinger of disaster.

"Big brother, in my opinion, since the incident has already occurred, we should think about how to handle this," Lin Guoliang suggested pensively.

Lin Guodong nodded; in truth, he had already begun searching for a solution.

Lin Guoan thought for a moment and said, "Big brother, I think we should just pay to avoid disaster. As far as I know, Zhou Hailong has been coveting that plot of land we own in the North District for quite some time. If it comes to it, we might as well just give him the land to buy his favor."

"This..." Lin Guodong felt a pang of bitterness. The North District land was worth a fortune, and he had already made plans for its development. He was truly unwilling to give it away.

Yet, he could not think of any better alternative at the moment.

Even as the wealthiest man in Luocheng, he was helpless against the city's vicious underground forces. He was wealthy, but that was all. Zhou Hailong, however, had men, weapons, and was rumored to be an unfathomable martial arts expert himself.

While Lin Guodong felt some wariness toward Li Yunbao’s Black Panther Hall, he felt genuine, deep-seated fear toward Zhou Hailong.

"Let's do it."

After a long silence, Lin Guodong sighed and said to Lin Guoan and Lin Guoliang, "There is no time to lose. Guoan, Guoliang, come with me to the Black Dragon Gang now. Bring the deed to the North District land and prepare some gifts as an apology."

Lin Ziqing was furious. She glared at Xiao Nan and said, "Do you realize what a disaster you've caused? Do you know what that plot of land in the North District is worth now, and how much it would be worth after Dad develops it?"

"Now, because of you, a perfectly good piece of land is gone, and on top of that, Dad has to humble himself and beg them to take it."

Xiao Nan certainly would not let Lin Guodong give the land away. He walked over and stepped in front of him. Just as he was about to speak, the sound of car engines roared from outside.

At the sound, everyone in the hall, save for Xiao Nan, saw their expressions shift. All the core members of the Lin family were present, and they hadn't invited anyone.

The people outside had clearly come uninvited. At such a time, who else could it be?

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Soon, the villa's front door was hammered upon quite rudely. "Is anyone home? Open up!"

Lin Guodong and the others had only been speculating whether it was the Hailong Gang, but at this moment, there was no need to guess. In Luocheng, who else but the Hailong Gang would act with such unbridled arrogance?

Lin Guodong quickly signaled for the bodyguards to open the door.

Shortly after, three men in black suits strode in.

"Oh!"

"So the head of the Lin family is here, too. That’s perfect."

The bald man in the lead scanned the room before locking his gaze onto Lin Guodong. Staring directly into his eyes, he said in an overbearing tone, "Head of the Lin family, I’m sure you know why I’m here today."

"For over a decade—a full ten years—no one has dared to lay a finger on a brother of our Hailong Gang in this territory of Luocheng."

"Yet today, over a dozen of our brothers were beaten into cripples on the street. Even Ah Hu, the man our Young Master values most, had his hand ruined."

"Heh, I must say, Head of the Lin family, your future son-in-law has quite a lot of nerve!"

The bald man was Zheng Rutong, one of the three most trusted enforcers of Zhou Hailong. Lin Guodong recognized him instantly.

Lin Guodong hurriedly pulled out a cigarette and offered it to Zheng Rutong. "Brother Zheng, there might be some misunderstanding here..."

Zheng Rutong showed no respect at all; he didn't even bother to take the cigarette. He said coldly, "Whether it's a misunderstanding or not is for you, the wealthiest man in Luocheng, to explain to our Brother Long yourself."

"I am here to deliver a message. Brother Long says that since the Lin family is, after all, a prominent name in Luocheng, he doesn't want to make things too ugly."

"He is giving you one day. By tomorrow, as long as you hand over that ignorant son-in-law of yours and show some sincerity, he can let this matter pass."

"Otherwise, after tomorrow, the Lin family will be wiped off the map in Luocheng."

Having said his piece, Zheng Rutong didn't care about the Lin family's reaction; he turned and walked away.