Chapter 395: Blatant Threats

Back at the inn, the stars covered the sky. At the door, Ma Chun stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the frame dozing off.
Lin Dong went up to ask. Liu An, who was in charge of investigating the spiritual beasts and materials at Maple Forest Restaurant, still had no news—apparently he had taken root in the city. As for Ma Chun’s task regarding timber and carpenters, it was almost completed.
The workers sent by Ma Chun reported that there was an abundance of timber at several markets in Lingnan City. Since transportation wasn’t difficult, blocking supplies for three to four months would cost hundreds of thousands of silver taels. Even if all the timber could be sold later, they would still suffer losses of at least seventy to eighty thousand silver taels.
After some consideration, Ma Chun immediately ruled out finding Wang Liuzhi. Instead, he took the eagle beasts and birds, along with the members of the guard team who had returned to Lingnan City, and began testing them. Each team was assigned an area to find a carpenter. Once an agreement was reached, they were sent to the carpenter’s home. Within one night, most of the carpenters were hired, and even those already working signed four-month contracts.
Over 300 carpenters were brought under Lin Ji Inn’s employment in less than 5,000 silver taels, with a penalty of 100 times the amount required to terminate the contracts. If Liang Gufeng wanted to ensure the gymnasium was built on time, according to Ma Chun’s calculations, he would have to pay at least half of the total penalty—amounting to no less than 200,000 silver taels.
If Liang Gufeng were truly willing to waste so much money, Lin Dong wouldn’t mind accepting it. Regarding the gymnasium project at Maple Forest Restaurant, besides blocking timber and carpenters, he had other plans.
Besides completing his tasks, Ma Chun was waiting at the door for another reason. After returning from finding Wang Liuzhi, he encountered Hong Wanfu, who was hesitating outside.
As expected, the additional chefs Liang Gufeng wanted were from Hongfu Restaurant. Ma Chun didn’t say much about it, as it was beyond Hong Wanfu’s control.
As for Hong Wanfu’s request to meet Lin Dong, Ma Chun refused outright. He didn’t need to think to know that Hong Wanfu surely wanted Lin Dong’s help to deal with Tianlai Gambling House.
Even if Hong Wanfu had chefs from Hongfu Restaurant, Lin Dong wouldn’t break his word and help him suppress Tianlai Gambling House. Besides, Hong Wanfu now only had two top chefs left who could prepare his signature dishes.

Top chefs, especially those in charge of a restaurant’s signature dishes, are 99% likely to be people the restaurant owner can trust completely. Otherwise, even with a lifetime contract binding them, if they reveal the ingredients and recipes for those signature dishes, it would still deal a severe blow to the restaurant.

It’s hard for these two top chefs to truly become the top chefs at Lin’s Inn. Hong Wanfu can bring them back whenever he wants.

Originally, if chefs from Hongfu Restaurant joined, Lin Dong wouldn’t mind taking in those two top chefs who could prepare the signature dishes. But if not, it was impossible. The reason was that spending four or five hundred thousand silver taels to buy the entire Hongfu Restaurant just for a few more signature dishes that might turn into a hazard someday simply wasn’t worth it.

After Ma Chun left, Lin Dong opened the door and stepped inside.

An unusual atmosphere made every pore on Lin Dong’s body stand on end instantly. The spiritual energy in his dantian also spread throughout his body in an instant.

He scanned the room—empty, with no one in sight.

But Lin Dong didn’t believe it. His intuition for danger wasn’t very strong, but once it appeared, it was definitely real.

Quietly extending his mind to scan the entire room top to bottom, and finding nothing unusual, Lin Dong without hesitation raised his right leg to leave the room when a deep voice came from above the roof.

“Not bad. You can’t find me, but you can sense my presence.”

“Elder Feng?”

Lin Dong’s serious expression suddenly lit up with joy, and his raised right leg settled firmly back down.

Looking up, a shadow fell from the roof beam.

In tattered clothes, with black chains tied around his arms and legs—undoubtedly it was Feng Yue.

“Elder Feng, scaring people too much can actually kill them,” Lin Dong said with a smile, bowing slightly before closing the door.

“A powerful warrior at the Heart Reversal stage—if you can be scared to death so easily, you’d be the first in the Great Han Nation,” Feng Yue said carelessly as he sat down at the desk.

Lin Dong quickly glanced at Feng Yue, who was casually pouring himself some cool tea, looking relaxed.

Lin Dong had wanted to tease Feng Yue to force him to mention the Tianfeng Pepper first, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.

A quasi-peak warrior at the ninth level of Heart Reversal—teasing such a person might bring a sense of achievement, but it could also cost something in return.

Taking out a wooden box from the mobile cabinet, Lin Dong said with a hint of helplessness, “Elder Feng, I’m afraid Lin Dong has to break his promise.”

“Break a promise?” Feng Yue’s calm expression stiffened slightly as he glanced at Lin Dong with a hint of tension. Having been imprisoned for over a decade and being a near-peak powerhouse, Lin Dong believed Feng Yue’s composure was extraordinary. To lose his temper over just a sentence meant that sentence contained something that made Feng Yue extremely anxious. Tianfeng peppers—still Tianfeng peppers. Lin Dong flung open the lid of the wooden box. Inside, more than half were bright red peppers, glistening with oil, their intense spiciness filling the entire room. “The guy who delivered them brought only about forty pounds, saying a lot was wasted in testing cultivation,” Lin Dong said apologetically with clasped hands. “There’s a shortage of over ten pounds. I hope Senior Feng can forgive me.” Feng Yue smiled bitterly. Over ten pounds—just over ten pounds—was enough to block his breakthrough through the internal restrictions. “Senior Feng…” Lin Dong hesitated. Feng Yue shook his head helplessly. “Brother Lin, could you tell me where these Tianfeng peppers come from?” “Well…” Lin Dong looked apologetic. “If it’s inconvenient, it’s fine. I remember Brother Lin said they’re delivered once every six months?” Feng Yue asked. Lin Dong nodded. “In that case, I’ll come back in half a year.” Feng Yue opened his palm, revealing a stack of rice paper, which he then threw at Lin Dong. “Inside are all the skills I’ve learned in my life: one eighth-tier spiritual technique and three seventh-tier spiritual techniques. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me in half a year.” Lin Dong smirked. Such a small reward paled in comparison to an entire box of eighth- and ninth-tier spiritual techniques. However, given Feng Yue’s current state, it was indeed unlikely he could obtain anything good in three months. Judging by the thickness of the stack, it would take at least half a month of writing by hand to finish it. “Thank you, Senior Feng!” Lin Dong placed the rice paper on the mobile counter and asked, “Senior Feng, what material is the chain on you made of? I’ve never seen you take it off. As a high-level armorer, you should be able to find a way, right?” “There is a way. This chain is made from the skull of a deep-sea Tianye shark. Its hardness even exceeds that of many ninth-tier spiritual weapons. To break it, one needs the strength of a peak powerhouse, along with a high-quality ninth-tier spiritual weapon,” Feng Yue said helplessly. “There’s little hope within three to five years.” “Senior Feng, why not just stay at Lin’s Inn?” Lin Dong suddenly suggested. “Stay here?” Feng Yue looked puzzled.

Lin Dong nodded and said, “Right. Our Lin’s Inn provides food and lodging—far better than Senior Feng having to sleep outdoors in the elements. During this time, I can try to find a high-grade ninth-tier spiritual artifact. I think Senior Feng is planning to go out for this reason as well. One person’s plan may be short-sighted, but although my strength isn’t as great as Senior Feng’s, I do have quite a network of connections. If nothing goes wrong, I should be able to borrow one. Once Senior Feng breaks the restrictions and reaches the Heart Riding stage, he can cut these chains off right away.”

“No need. I’ll just look for one slowly!” Feng Yue shook his head. “I don’t like living in crowded places.”

“I think it’s better for Senior Feng to stay at Lin’s Inn,” Lin Dong said calmly.

Feng Yue frowned, his gaze toward Lin Dong growing increasingly sharp.

Feigning not to notice Feng Yue’s increasingly hostile look, Lin Dong said lightly, “With Senior Feng’s strength, staying at our Lin’s Inn would also provide multiple layers of protection for us.”

“Brother Lin, from the way you speak, it seems like you’re threatening me?” Feng Yue clenched his fists slightly, the veins on his arms bulging, making it clear those fists could strike at any moment—targeting Lin Dong, of course.

“Senior Feng, you’re overreacting. Forced sweetness isn’t sweet. If I really dared threaten you, that would be seeking death!” Lin Dong shook his head. “Not to mention your strength—you could kill me easily even now. If I really forced you to pretend to stay at Lin’s Inn, all you’d need to do is wave your hand, and Lin’s Inn would likely be reduced to rubble.”

“To me, that’s exactly a threat!” Feng Yue’s eyes flashed with a cold light. “You shouldn’t have forgotten the consequences of Old Qin threatening me when we first met.”

“You mean that time when we were with Elder Qin?” Before Feng Yue could nod, Lin Dong laughed. “I remember. It was Senior Feng who got a thorough scolding from Elder Qin.”

“What did you say?”

Feng Yue’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he stared intently at Lin Dong. A fierce killing desire surged, causing the tables, chairs, and books in the room to tremble strangely.

An angry strike was imminent.

Lin Dong had no doubt that with Feng Yue’s determination to die rather than be threatened by Qin Mengtai, coupled with such mockery, he might be able to hold back his murderous intent. But Lin Dong wasn’t afraid at all. There was a huge difference between the first and ninth levels of the Heart Rebellion stage. Moreover, Feng Yue was under the restrictions placed by Yun Cangqiong, preventing him from replenishing spiritual energy. As long as he fought desperately, there was still a chance of escaping by luck. Besides, there was the inn system’s expulsion function, ensuring his safety.

“Are you sure you still want to threaten me?” Feng Yue said sternly.
“Sure!”
Lin Dong’s reply was firm and decisive. The only way to subdue Feng Yue was to threaten him openly and force him to compromise. Otherwise, even if Feng Yue were willing to stay, he couldn’t do so for long. Moreover, given Feng Yue’s tendency to act according to his own will, not doing this would not only be detrimental to Lin Dong but could also turn into a major disaster if conflicts arose.
For Feng Yue, who would rather die than be threatened by Qin Mengtai, this possibility was far too slim. But Lin Dong had no choice but to take the risk—having a near-peak powerhouse like him was too important. For that, he was willing to bear the cost of being unable to operate the inn until Old Ding returned.