Chapter 024: The Minor Chain Mission

Although Lin Feng claimed to be afraid, his face showed no trace of fear whatsoever.

Wang Jun was no fool. Seeing Lin Feng's expression, he knew the boy wasn't scared at all — and if Lin Feng wasn't scared, then it was Wang Jun who should be.

He felt his own life was worth far more than Lin Feng's. Even if Lin Feng was strong as an ox and possessed extraordinary abilities, what did that matter? He, Wang Jun, was the son of the Chief of Police. If Lin Feng killed or crippled him in a fit of rage, then even if they could reduce Lin Feng to dust afterward, what would be the point?

"Lin Feng, don't do anything reckless!" Wang Jun's expression flickered between pale and dark, and amid his fear, he began scheming for a way out. As long as he could get through today safely, he could use his connections to turn the tables in no time.

"Too late — I'm already being reckless."

Watching Lin Feng advance toward him step by step, the terror in Wang Jun's heart grew ever thicker. Since Lin Feng no longer cared about consequences, having a police chief for a father meant nothing now.

"Lin Feng, this whole thing was just a joke. Even if you hadn't come, I wouldn't have done anything to Tian Mengqian... This is a society governed by law — don't do anything crazy..."

Lin Feng bent down and picked up a knife from the floor. Even if he didn't kill Wang Jun today, he was determined to leave him with a permanent disability.

Wang Jun was seized with terror. He knew he had to make a choice. After a brief moment of hesitation, he suddenly spun around and bolted toward the window. He yanked the curtains aside, squeezed his eyes shut, and leaped.

Wang Jun had jumped straight out of the third-floor window.

Lin Feng rushed to the window and looked down. He watched Wang Jun roll across the ground, stagger to his feet, shoot a venomous glare up at the window, then limp away.

"It's over. Let's go." Lin Feng took Tian Mengqian's arm.

"Boss, you'd better watch out for Wang Jun," Li Haidong said, his face carrying a mix of reckless bravado and the deep satisfaction of a long-overdue revenge.

"Thank you for what you did today." After everything that had happened, Lin Feng felt a genuine warmth toward Li Haidong.

Li Haidong might be a thug who had twice been beaten to his knees begging for mercy, but he wasn't entirely without backbone or principle — he had his own bottom line.

Take the beating from the Heavenly Wolf Gang, for instance. Even knowing the consequences of crossing them, he had still chosen to fight back.

"Don't mention it — if anything, I should be thanking you for showing me mercy," Li Haidong said. He was convinced that Lin Feng had been holding back all along, since neither of their previous clashes had displayed anything close to today's level of power.

Lin Feng didn't bother explaining. He led Tian Mengqian out the door.

"Boss, Wang Jun just jumped from the third floor — his leg's definitely broken. Wang Zhengjun will hear about this for sure. Given the nature of what happened, he might not file a formal case to arrest you, but he'll definitely put in a word with Duan Tianwang, and once Wang Zhengjun personally makes the call, the Heavenly Wolf Gang will come down on you hard."

Lin Feng had already worked this out in his head. To settle everything once and for all, step one was to eliminate the Heavenly Wolf Gang, and step two was to deal with Wang Zhengjun. He already had the rough outline of a plan — it just wasn't time to act yet.

After exchanging phone numbers with Li Haidong, Lin Feng and Tian Mengqian returned to their own courtyard homes.

Tian Mengqian's body had been trembling slightly the whole way, and her face was still a little pale even now. Just as they were about to part ways, she suddenly grabbed Lin Feng's sleeve.

"What's wrong?"

"Brother Xiaofeng, I'm scared." Tian Mengqian lowered her head slightly, her helpless expression heart-rendingly lovely.

"It's all over now — what's there to be afraid of?" Lin Feng said with a warm smile.

"My parents went out today and aren't home. My cousin was actually coming to keep me company and sleep over. Could you stay at my place for the night?"

The neighborhood had never had great public safety — just a few days ago, Lin Feng's own home had been broken into, so it was no wonder Mengqian's parents worried.

Although Lin Feng thought of Tian Mengqian only as a little sister, the idea of Jiao Zhibin going over to sleep at her place didn't sit well with him. Worried that if he refused, Mengqian might call her cousin instead, Lin Feng agreed.

After going home to wash up, Lin Feng made his way over to Tian Mengqian's house.

Though they had grown up as neighbors and he had visited countless times, it had become rarer since they'd gotten older. Staying the night at Mengqian's place gave Lin Feng a strangely different feeling.

Tian Mengqian had also just finished washing up.

Her dark, lustrous hair was pinned up in an elegant bun, exposing her fair, slender neck. Somehow, it lent an air of nobility and femininity to her youthful charm. She was dressed in a set of blue floral pajamas made from thin fabric that would shift and cling to her body as she moved, revealing her perfectly proportioned figure in its entirety.

Even Lin Feng, who was so used to Tian Mengqian that he usually paid her no mind, felt an unexpected flutter stir in his chest at the sight of her looking so fresh and lovely.

It was at that very moment that Lin Feng felt a stir from the Peach Blossom Manual.

Taking advantage of a moment when Mengqian wasn't watching, he pulled out the manual and looked.

Minor Chain Mission triggered. Mission 1: Sincerely compliment Tian Mengqian. Mission Grade: Grade-A. Reward upon completion: 2 Peach Blossom Points. Status: In Progress.

A Minor Chain Mission had actually triggered!

Lin Feng's heart leapt with joy.

According to the Peach Blossom Manual's description, after separately completing one Grade-A, one Grade-B, and one Grade-C mission, there was a chance to trigger a Minor Chain Mission — a series of three consecutive Grade-A, Grade-B, and Grade-C missions issued without interruption. If all three were completed, the reward would be 17 Peach Blossom Points in total.

With dangerous enemies closing in, Lin Feng desperately needed Peach Blossom Points. The manual triggering a Minor Chain Mission at this moment was like coal delivered in a snowstorm.

As for whether the mission could be completed — Lin Feng didn't think that far ahead. At the very least, this Grade-A mission was simple. It was practically free Peach Blossom Points.

"Qianqian."

"Mm?" Tian Mengqian turned her head. Under the lamplight, her pretty face was flushed slightly red — clearly, being alone together in a room had made her feel a little bashful too.

Under the warm light, Tian Mengqian was breathtakingly beautiful. In terms of figure and appearance alone, she was probably on par with Bai Yichen — only where Bai Yichen carried an air of serene elegance with refined yet fashionable dress, a true daughter of a distinguished family, Tian Mengqian had a delicate, quietly gentle quality — the archetypal girl-next-door.

For the first time, Lin Feng found his composure slipping.

He took a deep breath, fixed his gaze on her, and said: "Qianqian, you're really beautiful."

Tian Mengqian froze for a moment, then a flush of crimson rose across her cheeks, tinged with an irresistible, shy delight. She lowered her head and murmured, "No way, I think I'm pretty average..."

"I mean it."

Tian Mengqian looked flustered, keeping her head down without a word.

Lin Feng had been entirely sincere in his compliment. Soon, he felt the manual react, and pulling it out for a look, Mission 1 had indeed been marked complete.

And the second mission had already triggered.

Minor Chain Mission triggered. Mission 2: Obtain Tian Mengqian's first kiss. Mission Grade: Grade-B. Reward upon completion: 5 Peach Blossom Points. Status: In Progress.

Lin Feng's expression fell into a look of distress.

Despite completing the Grade-A mission in the chain, he hadn't received the 2 Peach Blossom Point reward.

Since completing the Grade-A mission yielded nothing on its own, completing the Grade-B mission would surely be the same — the Minor Chain Mission likely had to be completed in full before the manual would pay out all the rewards at once.

His original plan had been to complete whatever missions he could to collect partial rewards first, and then find an opportunity to finish the rest. But that plan had now fallen apart. He had no way out — even just to earn those 2 Peach Blossom Points, he would have to clear the entire Minor Chain Mission.

The Grade-A mission was to compliment Tian Mengqian.

The Grade-B mission was already asking him to take her first kiss.

So what would the Grade-C mission be?

Never mind the Grade-C mission for now — the Grade-B mission alone was already quite the challenge for Lin Feng.

He and Tian Mengqian had been childhood neighbors who'd grown up together, but Lin Feng had always treated her like a little sister. Asking him to take Mengqian's first kiss was genuinely asking a lot of him.

Yet Lin Feng had no choice.

"Brother Xiaofeng, I'm heading to my room — you should get some rest too," said Tian Mengqian.

"You go ahead. I'll watch some TV."

Tian Mengqian poured him a glass of water, then turned and went into her bedroom.

Lin Feng had absolutely no interest in the TV. His mind was entirely occupied with how to complete the mission.

After the beating Wang Jun had taken today, the Heavenly Wolf Gang could come knocking as early as tomorrow. Though Lin Feng had mastered the first half of the Iron Shirt technique and learned the Iron Sand Palm, he felt it was still far from enough. What he craved most right now was to master the complete Iron Shirt, pushing his body's defensive capability to an entirely new level.

The Heavenly Wolf Gang's members were all ordinary people — if Lin Feng could master the full Iron Shirt, he would be virtually unbeatable in any fight against them.

Learning the second half of the Iron Shirt required 15 Peach Blossom Points.

Completing the Minor Chain Mission would yield 17 Peach Blossom Points in total — enough to learn the second half and still have some left over.

Lin Feng paced back and forth in the living room, unable to sit still.

A first kiss really wasn't that big a deal, was it? Besides, both he and Mengqian had probably been kissed on the cheek countless times as children — what "first kiss" was there left to speak of?

Having given himself this convenient excuse, Lin Feng decided to wait until Tian Mengqian was asleep, then sneak into her room and steal a quick kiss.

After watching TV in the living room for about an hour, Lin Feng figured Mengqian must be asleep by now, and quietly made his way to her bedroom door.

He gently twisted the handle — it was unlocked.

Lin Feng pushed the door open and found Tian Mengqian lying on the bed, her back to the door.

To make sure she was actually asleep before moving in, Lin Feng did a full loop around her bedroom rather than approaching immediately.

He figured that if she were awake, she would surely say something — and he could just make up an excuse and slip back out, then wait another hour before trying again.

After completing his circuit, he saw that Tian Mengqian's eyes were shut and her breathing was slow and even. Lin Feng exhaled in relief.

Yet as he quietly made his way to the bedside and looked down at Tian Mengqian's peaceful face and her softly pursed lips, his heart — in spite of himself — began to beat faster.