The martial arts competition had been the talk of the town for a while, but its end turned out to be dramatic beyond anyone''s imagination, concluding in an unexpected way.

    Ye Feng left quickly because he didn''t want to be gawked at and discussed like a monkey.

    Long Zaitian had intended to invite him for lunch as a form of apology, but upon reflection, he realized that his own plane was probably not worthy enough.

    Even though Ye Feng had departed, the sensation he caused remained for a long time, with everyone savoring the recent scene. Eventually, everyone came to the same realization, the Hong Family was on the rise.

    All the while, Long Zaitian remained rooted to the spot, staring blankly in the direction of Ye Feng''s departure.

    Long Mingbo approached and whispered, "Father, he''s already gone, gone far."

    Long Zaitian then snapped out of his daze, sighing deeply, "Gone, finally gone, just like that."

    His sigh was laden with a complex mix of emotions, relief, regret, and, of course, lingering fear.

    After a pause, Long Mingbo asked, "Father, what exactly is the identity of that man, that even you would..."

    He didn''t finish his question, for Long Zaitian''s expression had suddenly darkened, and he interrupted sharply, "Don''t ask any more. Even if I didn''t know, I wouldn''t tell you. With his level of plane, knowing too much will bring no benefit at all!"

    Lowering his head, Long Mingbo dared not ask further. He could feel that, although the man had long gone, his father was still under immense pressure.

    After some thought, Long Mingbo asked, "Father, it''s said he was once the foster son of the Fu Family. Now, how shall we deal with the Fu Family?"

    Long Zaitian pondered for a moment before replying, "That''s exactly where he showed his cleverness. He didn''t punish me directly; I fear his real intention was to use my hand to help the Fu Family!"

    "Order the Lei Family immediately to return the properties originally belonging to the Fu Family. Do it now!"

    "But Father, the Jiang Family of Southern River Region Jiangnan Province backs the Lei Family. If we do this, the Jiang Family might..."

    Before Long Mingbo could finish, Long Zaitian glared at him furiously, bellowing, "Are you brainless or is your head filled with water? Compared to that man, what is the Jiang Family of Southern River Region Jiangnan? They don''t amount to even a fart."

    "Yes, Father, I understand now!" Long Mingbo''s mind seemed to be still reeling, but after thinking for a while, he asked again, "About the Lei Family, should we specifically suppress them to please him a bit?"

    The car drove into the Hong Family Courtyard, and with the aid of Hong Qingyan, Ye Feng slowly got out of the car.

    Hong Yuting walked out from the main hall, crossing her arms and sneered, "Wow, who would have thought that our ''Mad Son-in-law of the Hong Family'' would actually come back? This is truly unexpected!"

    Hong Wei also rushed out and exclaimed with widened eyes, "You actually came back? Didn''t you have a martial arts duel with the Leader of the Jiangdu Martial Alliance this morning? Didn''t you go? Otherwise why didn''t the Leader of the Martial Alliance beat you, the ''Mad Son-in-law of the Hong Family'', to death or into cripple?"

    Zhang Manyu sauntered out with her hands on her hips and sneered repeatedly, "Beaten to death or into a cripple? He''s already crippled like this, how more could he be beaten? In my opinion, it must be that our ''Mad Son-in-law of the Hong Family'' was kneeling and begging for mercy, and the magnanimous Leader of the Martial Alliance decided not to lower himself to that level in the end, right?"

    "Mom, you can''t possibly be serious. If that''s really the case, then our Hong Family''s face would be utterly lost by this so-called ''Mad Son-in-law''!"

    The three of them didn''t go to the martial arts hall because they didn''t want to witness the ''Mad Son-in-law of the Hong Family'' kneeling and begging for mercy, causing the Hong Family to lose all its dignity. Therefore, naturally, they were also unaware of everything that had transpired at the martial arts hall.

    As for Hong Tianming, he had wanted to go, but he was tied up with a stack of corporate board matters and couldn''t make it.

    Hong Qingyan couldn''t stand it anymore and retorted, "Saying Big Brother Ye was kneeling and begging for mercy, you didn''t go, but if you had gone, you would have been in for an eye-opener. It wasn''t Big Brother Ye who was kneeling; it was the Leader of the Jiangdu Martial Alliance. He was the one begging Big Brother Ye for mercy!"

    "The Leader of the Jiangdu Martial Alliance begging for mercy from our Hong Family''s crippled son-in-law?" Zhang Yuman and Hong Yuting widened their eyes as if they had heard the world''s biggest joke.

    "What kind of international joke is this? You crippled girl, although ''one follows the husband like a chicken or a dog'', you still can''t be spouting nonsense like that. Who is the Leader of the Jiangdu Martial Alliance, and why would he beg for mercy from a cripple."

    "If the Leader of the Jiangdu Martial Alliance were begging for mercy, then this young lady here would kneel down to this crippled son-in-law and call him daddy on the spot. But, is that even possible?" Hong Yuting sneered repeatedly.

    "You..." Hong Qingyan was furious and about to argue.

    Ye Feng held her hand and said calmly, "They''re just three buffoons. Arguing with them would only lower our intelligence."

    "Three buffoons?" Zhang Manyu laughed, ready to hurl an insult.

    However, at that moment, from outside the Hong Family Courtyard, there suddenly came a series of rumbling car horns, with at least a dozen luxury vehicles arriving.

    The first to get out of the cars were people from the Long Family, followed by the Lei Family, then the Fu Family, and after that the Chu Family along with other large and small wealthy families.

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