Evening — Feng & Xue
After making sure Liu Yue got into a cab—and watching it disappear into traffic—Feng and Xue headed home.
The ride back was quiet.
Xue leaned against the window, the city lights sliding past her reflection. The liveliness she'd had earlier was gone. She wasn't frightened—just spent, the kind of exhaustion that came after adrenaline wears off.
When they arrived at the Second Branch villa, the lights were on.
Guohua was in the living room, tablet in hand. At the sound of the door opening, he looked up—
and his brows knit almost instantly.
On any normal day, Xue would have come home brimming with stories, eager to recount every little detail of her outing. Tonight, she just slipped off her shoes quietly and offered him a small, polite smile.
Too polite.
"How was your outing?" Guohua asked, carefully.
"We had fun," Xue said. "It was good."
The words were right.
The energy wasn't.
Guohua's gaze shifted to Feng—silent, questioning.
Feng met his eyes and gave the faintest shake of his head—Later.
Guohua understood at once.
"I'm glad," he said gently. "Go get some rest."
Xue nodded and went upstairs without another word.
The moment her door closed, the house felt different.
Guohua turned fully toward Feng.
"What happened?" he asked.
Feng didn't waste words.
"Four men confronted us in Central District."
Guohua's eyes widened. "What?! Were you hurt?"
"No," Feng said. "We're fine."
Guohua exhaled—but not in relief. Not completely.
"What were they after?"
"They were targeting Liu Yue," Feng replied evenly. "Most likely sent by the Zhou envoy—to intimidate her."
Guohua stiffened. "The Zhou family sent an envoy to Longhai?"
"Yes," Feng said. "Zhou Tianhao to be precise. He sent an envoy after the Expo—to keep an eye on Xue."
That was enough explanation for Guohua.
He pieced the rest together instantly.
Isolation.
No close friends.
No admirers.
No one getting too near.
"And you weren't harmed because…?" Guohua asked quietly.
"They were just thugs," Feng said. "Nothing worth worrying about."
Guohua rubbed his temple, concern and disbelief crossing his face at once.
"That was still dangerous," he said after a moment. "But… you did well. Thank you—for protecting your sister. And her friend."
Feng nodded.
Seeing the tension still clinging to his father's shoulders, he added calmly,
"You don't need to worry too much. The envoy's instructions are simply to keep an eye on Xue and to ensure no harm comes to her."
Guohua didn't look entirely convinced.
"Our priority should remain Blue Horizon," Feng continued. "Strengthening it and Expanding it. There's no need to worry about the Zhou family yet, there's still time."
Guohua studied his son for a long moment.
Finally, he nodded.
"Alright," he said. "We'll deal with what's in front of us first—Silent Hands, and the Li Group."
Feng nodded and headed upstairs.
But long after his footsteps faded, Guohua remained where he was, staring at the staircase—
fully aware that the world closing in around his children was growing tighter by the day.
---
Night — Feng's Room
The room was quiet.
Feng sat at his desk, jacket draped over the chair, the city lights faint through the window. Arachne's interfaces hovered silently on standby, untouched.
He replayed the earlier event at the alley again in his mind. If he hadn't been there tonight, things could have gone wrong.
Maybe not catastrophically.
Maybe not immediately.
But enough.
Enough for Liu Yue to get hurt.
Enough for Xue to blame herself.
Enough for small ripples to turn into long-term damage.
That was unacceptable.
His fingers tapped once against the desk.
"Being reactive isn't enough anymore," he said quietly.
He lifted his wrist.
"Arachne," he said, voice calm. "Run a background analysis on Liu Yue's parents and their immediate contacts. Focus on leverage points the Zhou envoy could exploit."
A brief pause.
"Understood," Arachne replied smoothly.
As the Arachne began working, Feng opened a new encrypted workspace.
[Project: Shadow Guard]
He didn't need an army.
He didn't need noise.
He needed people who could stand between danger and his family—quietly, decisively, without hesitation.
His eyes hardened slightly.
This time, he wouldn't wait for something to almost go wrong.
---
Six days later...
Feng stepped out of the car and into the private establishment tucked away from Longhai's main roads. From the outside, it looked unremarkable—tasteful, discreet, easy to ignore. Inside, however, everything was designed for privacy.
Soft lighting. Thick carpeting. Minimal staff.
A place where conversations were meant to stay contained.
He was led to a private meeting room without ceremony.
As he walked, his mind briefly catalogued the last six days.
The Zhou envoy hadn't been idle these past few days.
Two attempts.
He had made two attempts against Liu Yue's family.
Both attempts neutralized by Feng before they could even begin. To anyone looking, the failed attempts were just bad luck. Bad timing.
The first attempt had been subtle.
A directive passed down to Liu Yue's father's superior. The idea was to force her father to quit the company while leaving a simple message: your daughter is getting too close to the wrong people.
Feng had thwarted it before it even started.
The superior's digital footprint unfolded cleanly—embezzlement, kickbacks, falsified reports. Enough to bury a career. The evidence was delivered anonymously, efficiently.
By the next morning, the superior was dismissed.
Liu Yue's father was promoted.
No confrontation.
No retaliation.
Just bad luck, from the Zhou envoy's point of view.
The second attempt was cruder.
He had sent thugs to "cause trouble" at Liu Yue's mother's restaurant. Nothing dramatic. Just enough to scare. Enough to pressure.
But the thugs never got to make any move.
Arachne had rerouted surveillance data, isolated communications, and handed the police a complete package: timestamps, recordings, prior offenses, illegal dealings. All tied to the thugs and their entire gang.
The whole gang was hit with a sting operation and raided by the cops.
From the outside, it looked like coincidence.
From Feng's perspective, it was simply cleanup.
All in all, it was a productive week. Apart from thwarting the envoy's attempts, he had begun laying the foundations for Project: Shadow Guard.
Not yet a team.
Not yet an organization.
Just a currated list of properly verified skilled individuals that fit the requirements, the right moral compass and proper skill level.
A veteran hollowed out by war and loss, drifting without purpose after being divorced by his wife, his daughter terrified of him.
A discharged five-man unit struggling to support their families.
An underground fighter with discipline hiding beneath violence.
A local rising thug—ambitious, smart, unexplainably strong and with a moral compass to be a good cop.
Initial contact only.
No promises.
No recruitment yet.
Just observation.
Li Feng reached the meeting spot and pushed the door open quietly.
Stepping inside, the room was simple and well-kept—a round table, two chairs, and tea already prepared.
And waiting inside—
Wen Yuning.
She stood near the window, arms folded loosely, gaze turned toward the city skyline. Young. Composed. Sharp-eyed in a way that suggested nothing escaped her notice.
When she heard the door close, she turned.
Her eyes landed on Feng.
Then she smiled—not polite, not forced.
Genuine. Curious.
"So," she said lightly, walking back to the table,
"we finally meet properly."
Feng met her gaze, calm and steady.
"Hello, Wen Yuning."
---
Hi guys, Author here. I need your honest opinions on something. Do you think I should continue with this book?
Afterhaving my application rejected by webnovel, ngl, I've been really down. Then, recently the book hasn't been getting as much reactions as the start. I'd like to know your honest opinions. Am I currently writing the story in the wrong direction? Or are you guys good with the current progression.
Please let me know your thoughts on the comments section. I appreciate both positive and negative reviews.
Thank you.