Chapter 482: The Unpredictable Conspiracy

As the great sword neared his head, Ma Chun couldn’t speak and quickly stepped back.
“Stop! There’s no reason for this brutality!”
Seeing the warrior raise the sword again, Ma Chun shouted.
“No reason? I just like you—what can you do?” The warrior sneered, swinging the sword once more.
It was clear there was no way to reconcile this. Ma Chun took a deep breath, staring at the descending sword. Though he hadn’t fought in years, he had come from a gang background. Although gang fights differed greatly from battles between warriors, the mindset was similar. Most importantly, facing the sword swinging down at his head, he didn’t panic or weaken.
As the sword came down, Ma Chun stood firm. Just short of half a meter away, he suddenly leaned back, ending up lying on his side.
The sword followed closely. As his body was about to hit the ground, Ma Chun kicked out with his right foot, aiming at the warrior’s wrist.
The warrior was shocked and tried to pull back, but it was too late. Ma Chun’s kick, swift as lightning, hit his wrist.
With a thud, the sword flew into the air. The warrior cried out in pain and retreated.
Ma Chun landed with a thud before jumping up instantly.
With a clang, the sword spun in the air before falling to the ground.
This noise drew the attention of the warriors who hadn’t even glanced this way before. Their eyes were filled with surprise. Clearly, none of them expected their own comrade to be defeated.
“Is that enough?” Ma Chun said coldly.
“I won’t stop until you die!” Ignoring the severe pain in his right wrist, the warrior kicked off and soared upward, aiming a kick at Ma Chun’s head.
Ma Chun was extremely frustrated—this man was relentless.
With no choice, as the warrior’s foot came toward him, Ma Chun’s right hand moved like lightning, seizing the moment to grab it.
The moment his hand touched the warrior’s toe, a tremendous force surged. Ma Chun stepped back to counteract it, then his palm, like a serpent, swiftly moved forward to grab the warrior’s ankle.
With spiritual energy surging through his palm, Ma Chun, who wasn’t a gentle person either, unleashed his full strength. Ignoring the consequences of fighting at the entrance of Lin’s Inn, he swung down hard.
The warrior’s body flew in the direction of Ma Chun’s force. As Ma Chun’s right arm stretched fully straight, the warrior’s body twisted, his head crashing toward the ground.
Boom…

With a loud crash, dust billowed into the air, and blood sprayed everywhere, turning the rising dust into blood-red droplets. The warrior convulsed, with blood gushing from his head in thick streams as he lay on the ground. His mouth opened and closed, bubbles of blood emerging from it. The remaining dozen or so warriors flew up and quickly surrounded Ma Chun. None of them bothered to check on their fallen comrade’s injuries. “What, still want to fight?” Ma Chun’s gaze was fierce, his temper already flaring. “State your names!” the warrior at the fifth level of the Mental State phase waved his hand to stop the others and spoke coldly. “Ma Chun, the chief manager of Lin’s Inn!” Ma Chun said in a deep voice, “If you’ve got guts, show them too!” “Lin’s Inn?” The leader frowned briefly before raising his arm. “Go back!” “Go back? We haven’t even killed anyone yet—why go back?” The others immediately became restless. “I said go back, so go back! If anyone dares to say no, I’ll make them regret it!” The leader’s fierce gaze swept over the others. No one showed up, and after a brief silence, they all turned and left. Once they were gone, the leader grabbed his comrade, who was still spewing blood bubbles, held his head in his right hand, grinned viciously at Ma Chun, and suddenly snapped his hand shut. Crack! The warrior defeated by Ma Chun’s head twisted, and he was lifeless. “See you later!” The leader dragged his comrade’s body back. Ma Chun swallowed hard, his heart trembling. During his days as a thug, he had seen many who abandoned their comrades for self-preservation. But to be so cold-hearted toward a comrade who could still be saved—actually killing him by twisting his neck like a chicken—such cruelty and heartlessness sent chills down his spine. Lin Dong stepped forward slowly, intending to pat Ma Chun on the shoulder lightly. But just that touch made Ma Chun jump as if startled. “M-Master…” Ma Chun could hardly speak, only swallowing saliva repeatedly. “Scared?” Ma Chun’s reaction left Lin Dong helpless. He realized he had overestimated Ma Chun’s endurance. Ma Chun nodded reluctantly. “It’s okay. If you have nightmares at night, tell Cheng Bao to take care of them all.” Lin Dong gave a calm instruction. Although the leader was ruthless, with the level of violence he had seen and having trained his mind in the spiritual arrays set up by Yun Lan for over a year, he should not be easily affected.

“Boss, these people are really too cruel, aren’t they?” Lin Dong’s attitude reassured Ma Chun quite a bit, but soon he thought of the potential consequences: “But if Cheng Bao really kills them, since many people saw what happened today, it’s easy for them to suspect we’re behind it. Although you’re registered as a strong fighter by the Military Testing Institute and killing isn’t a crime, once word gets out, customers might be too afraid to come here.”
“It’s fine; the impact won’t be that great.” Lin Dong shook his head. “I’m more worried that they’re targeting Lin Ji Inn.”
“Targeting Lin Ji Inn?” Ma Chun was confused.
“These people are too ruthless. Having their companions beaten is probably a minor issue for them, but they can’t afford to lose face.” Lin Dong pondered. “But just because you’re from Lin Ji Inn and they stop attacking—surely it’s not because they know Lin Ji Inn is strong enough not to be trifled with, is it?”
Ma Chun shook his head. Lin Ji Inn had never caused trouble outside or shown off its strength publicly, so it was unlikely the others knew about it.
After some thought, finding his mind in chaos, Ma Chun asked, “But why are they targeting our Lin Ji Inn?”
“I’m not sure. It might be related to business or to a grudge against me.” With such limited information, Lin Dong also found it hard to figure it out. It could be that some large restaurant hired them to open a stinky tofu shop, making no one dare to go there, or maybe they opened a blacksmith shop that made noise all day, disturbing the customers. Lin Dong thought these possibilities were low—businessmen would find it hard to hire so many ruthless fighters.
As for grudges, after calculating, Lin Dong realized the only parties with a grudge against him were Fu Zizhou, Fenglin Restaurant, and the Grand Elder of Tianjian Sect.
Regarding Fu Zizhou, Lin Dong thought that after the Emperor Qianwei suddenly showed up in their private room during negotiations last time, he should be too afraid to openly oppose Lin Ji Inn. The same applied to Fenglin Restaurant—last time, when Lin Dong participated in the bidding for Xuehong Grass on Tianfeng Street, he learned many secrets about Ling Chenyue. According to Lin Dong’s guess, Ling Chenyue and Zi Han must hold extremely important secrets.
If Fenglin Restaurant was smart, it would definitely avoid provoking Lin Ji Inn again. Otherwise, Lin Dong could just send people around spreading the word that Ling Chenyue pretended to be foolish but was actually extremely smart, and that he was secretly strengthening Zi Han’s abilities, allowing her to become a powerful fighter without anyone noticing. Those involved in these secrets would surely try to investigate. Ling Chenyue could keep pretending, but Zi Han’s strength couldn’t be hidden.
Once such rumors spread, it would surely cause Fenglin Restaurant a huge problem.

On the side of Qin Mengtai, the senior elder of the Tianjian Sect, and Feng Zhengyang, even if they had grudges or wanted to play dirty, they would only resort to ambushes, poisoning, or other such tactics—never something as extreme as suppressing the business of Lin’s Inn. As elders and outstanding figures of a major sect, they had no interest at all in mundane business. Even if Lin’s Inn’s business suffered, it surely wouldn’t bring them any pleasure.

It was utterly baffling to Lin Dong why these ruthless warriors were rushing to demolish shops next to Lin’s Inn. Upon careful consideration, none of the parties seemed likely to be responsible. Yet the fact that they stopped immediately upon hearing Ma Chun’s identity also indicated a connection to Lin’s Inn.

Everything was unclear; not a single clue could be seen.

“We can only wait until the shops are rebuilt to find out,” Lin Dong ordered. “Let’s go! Judging by their speed, we should know the outcome in less than three days.”

Ma Chun nodded and followed Lin Dong back to the front yard. By then, Emperor Qianwei had returned to the stone table, with Yang Shun serving him tea and dishes. Li Xun still stood motionless like a statue, while the queen consort danced around him, beaming and gesturing excitedly.

“The queen consort’s accommodation has been arranged—on the fourth floor of our guest building, room 38A, the innermost room,” Ma Chun said, having already inquired about the room chosen for her while passing through the lobby. It sounded as though he had personally arranged it.

“I heard that Guang is your inn’s head chef?” the queen consort hesitated.

“Well…”

Not only was Ma Chun at a loss, but Lin Dong too.

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying it’s bad for Guang to be the head chef—he can do whatever makes him happy,” the queen consort waved her hands frantically to explain. “I heard from Xiao Shunzi that your inn’s chefs all live in this front yard. I was just wondering if I could live here too?”

Ma Chun glanced at Lin Dong. If the queen consort lived in the front yard, it would scare the cooks! If that happened, who would dare to go out and chat at night?

“It would be an honor for Lin’s Inn if the queen consort wished to live in the front yard. But…” Lin Dong said helplessly, “given her noble status, I’m afraid it might disrupt the daily life of the chefs and staff, and it could also scare her. Besides, some of the chefs here are arrogant by nature. If they offended her, it could easily lead to conflicts with the guards.”

“It doesn’t matter. For Guang’s sake, I’m willing to endure any punishment. And no one will know I’m the queen consort if I don’t say so,” she quickly shook her head. “As for the guards, I can send them all back to the palace.”

“In that case, welcome the princess to stay in the front yard. Ma Chun, send someone to rearrange it.” Lin Dong hesitated not at all. With the drawbacks gone, there were only advantages—there was no reason to refuse.
Ma Chun nodded eagerly.