Chapter 414: JingLei’s Worries
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
DongFang JingLei stood up, placing his hands behind his back as he spoke, “Have you ever seen a child like him, knowing how to endure and be patient? This sort of camouflage, I dare say that even a seasoned wily veteran might not be able to pull it off better than him! Furthermore, he actually hid himself for more than a decade! He only burst out into the picture recently. However, since he had endured for so long, why would he then choose to reveal himself before all the heroes under the world? Why is that so?”
“Why is that so?” DongFang HuaHu stupidly repeated the last sentence, feeling at a loss.
“This was because during the years he was hidden, he had slowly accumulated all his strength and finally had the guts to reveal himself! His abilities truly leave one in shock. Just look at the number of times he has escaped from Justice’s hands. This is already enough to prove his capabilities!” DongFang JingLei’s eyes shone. “With his current abilities, he would be overlooked so long as he did not expose himself, but when everyone converged in Sky Bearing, in order to have things going his way, how could he rely on his identity as the number one silkpants? As such, he could only take that chance to appear before everyone!”
“But revealing himself didn’t give him any substantial benefits…” DongFang HuaHu asked in puzzlement.
“Stupid!” DongFang JingLei scolded, feeling angry that his subordinate did not live up to his expectations, “You don’t have your own opinions? Ever since Ling Tian had revealed his strength, he managed to draw the attention of everyone under the sky! Every major power began to move based on his actions, and start to pick against him. Be it the Northern Wei, the Yu, Sky Bearing, Western Han as well as the Xiao family and us, everyone felt the danger that Ling Tian could pose, and all wanted to get rid of this threat before he was fully grown. That’s what led to this fluctuation of chaos!”
“But all this has no benefits to Ling Tian at all! This only created so many enemies for him….” DongFang HuaHu got more and more muddled.
“Are you dumb? If Ling Tian diverts all the attention to himself, then wouldn’t the military might under him be able to successfully hide? They can do anything they want, and whatever ripples created by them will be completely covered by Ling Tian himself, and will not be linked to the Ling Family or to Ling Tian! This is the art of finding opportunity in danger! Ling Tian should have considered the possibilities, as well as made all the preparations. But the only thing that Ling Tian did not take into consideration was that the crown prince of Northern Wei would be such an idiot, to activate the Martial Order Medallion just to kill Ling Tian. That thing was the last hope of the Northern Wei imperial court! This summons probably messed up all of Ling Tian’s plans. If no one takes this chance to kill Ling Tian, and he is even allowed to survive, there will be no one left to control him in the future! Of course, the Northern Wei also had to pay to respective price, which was the complete annihilation of their clan!
DongFang HuaHu suddenly had an inspiration and suggested, “Then we could take this time to completely annihilate the hidden forces of Ling Tian so that even if he manages to survive, he would still only be a solitary figure, unable to create any waves.”
“What you can think of, do you think that my elder brother and I haven’t considered? If we knew where his hidden forces were located, why would we still need to run for over a thousand miles to camp out here? The Ling Family Courtyard is being eyed upon by countless eyes, but until the death notice of Ling Tian is announced, no one would dare to make a move on them! HuaHu, while your martial skills are great, your mind is too inflexible!” DongFang JingLei let out a bitter laugh.
“Then why not make a move towards the Ling Family Courtyard? Could there be a scheme inside this?” DongFang HuaHu replied in an unconvinced tone.
“Ling Tian’s capabilities are a profound mystery, far surpassing any ordinary expert. Just look at XiMen Qing, he had only wished to dip his finger into Sky Bearing’s affairs, but he was fully shamed in front of everyone! Furthermore, Northern Wei mobilized a 400,000 strong army, together with Western Han and the Imperial Family of Sky Bearing to destroy the Ling Family, but what happened in the end? Ling Tian only needed a small squad to rout the tens of thousands of troops!”
“Do you know in the war between Northern Wei and Sky Bearing how the Northern Wei lost in the end?” DongFang JingLei’s usually calm eyes revealed a rare flicker of fear, “It was towards the end of the war, when Ling Tian rode over on horseback. There was suddenly a group of people with mysterious strengths coming in from all angles, routing and throwing the entire camp into disarray, finally ending with their defeat! I ask you, Ling Tian only came with a few of his men at first, so where did the rest of the group come from? And where did they run off too?”
“This…”
“Just the war at Northern Wei already showcased tens of elite soldiers belonging to Ling Tian! Because of the pressing situation at hand, Ling Tian had no opportunity to transfer his soldiers from other places. If that’s the case, I can confirm that the dozens of soldiers he employed were just a small portion of his overall forces. Then, where else are the rest? Are there any near Western Han? Near our area? Even more urgently, are there any spies in our family? Who can confirm this fact?”
“This… even if Ling Tian possesses a strong military might, we can also consider attacking his family! Without his family’s help, Ling Tian would no doubt receive a tremendous blow! While they might be one of the Eight Great Families, they’re after all nouveau riche, and not a real powerhouse. Their strength is definitely limited compared to ours!” DongFang HuaHu replied.
“Sigh, if your argument was presented a decade ago, or even five years ago, it might have been viewed as a feasible option. However, right now this situation is a matter of the past, just like how the blue sea has already turned into mulberry fields! 1 The Ling Family currently cannot be compared to their past. Let’s first touch on the people inside the Ling Family. Old Madam Ling is not only shrewd and with deep foresight, she is also ruthlessly decisive with her abilities being not a whit less than any famously capable person! And Ling Zhan has gotten even more sturdy over the years, with an iron will. As for Ling Xiao, although he was betrayed by his own monarch and suffered a great defeat, he is still the War Deity of Sky Bearing with a huge reputation behind him. The three people I talked about might be thorny people, but we still can deal with them. However, the most troublesome one is the fourth Ling person in the family! Do you know who that is?!” DongFang JingLei questioned.
“There seems to be no one else in the Ling Family who has influence!” DongFang HuaHu replied cautiously.
“After the Northern Wei Crown Prince attempted to have Ling Tian hunted down, the entire Royal Family of Northern Wei was annihilated by a mysterious power! It was rumored to be the assassin group the ‘First Pavilion’, which had been dormant for quite a long time. While people believe the First Pavilion to be in the employ of the Yu Family, I ask you, with the power of the Yu Family, would they require an external source to act for them against an already declining Northern Wei Royal Family? Furthermore, the Yu Family is the local tyrant in that area, so why would they need to spend money to ask an outsider to act for them? The behavior of the First Pavilion cannot be separated from the Ling Family!”
DongFang JingLei continued, “This is, in fact, the Ling Family’s revenge! All the major powers know this, but until Ling Tian dies, no one will step up and speak a word about the Northern Wei Imperial Family! However, within this, there’s still a hidden element!”
“What hidden element? The revenge of the Ling Family on Northern Wei is actually a justifiable matter!” DongFang HuaHua exclaimed.
“The fact that it was the First Pavilion who annihilated the Northern Wei Royal Family goes without question. But the main problem is, while their efficiency is high, so are their fees! Just how much money is needed to annihilate the imperial family of a country?!” DongFang JingLei shivered as he deduced.
“Isn’t it just money? To get their revenge, the Ling Family would care less about their riches!” HuaHu argued.
“You still don’t understand what I’m getting at. In order for the Ling Family to fork out the money needed for the First Pavilion to wipe out an entire imperial family, what kind of riches do they have?!” JingLei reiterated.
“So what if they have a lot of money?” HuaHu was even more confused now.
“Riches can enslave ghosts and can also attract gods; the fourth person with influence in the house is the Fortune Deity of Sky Bearing, Ling Xiao’s wife and Ling Tian’s mother, Chu Ting’er! Only she has that ability and the resources. After managing the Ling’s foreign markets for a decade she actually can draw even with the number one financial magnate, the Xiao Family! If this event was orchestrated by her, who dares guarantee that she will not do it a second time? Now that Ling Tian has not died, to further provoke the Ling Family, who can guarantee that they will not end up in a similar situation as the Northern Wei Imperial Family? What family would be able to receive such a disastrous revenge? Who would even want to receive it in the first place?!”
“This might not be the case. Second Master, isn’t the Yu Family now inside Sky Bearing, busy dividing the power and influence of the Ling Family? They did not even take any action in response! If the Ling Family is really as what you have described, then wouldn’t they have made a move by now?” DongFang HuaHu stammered out an excuse.
“Stupid! The Yu Family is relying on the pretext of marrying off their daughter to invade, and since Ling Tian has already accepted the marriage, they have to at least be harmonious on the surface! If the Ling Family were to revolt, then that would be their fault, and with the rallying power of the Yu Family, more than enough major powers would be justified to come over and annihilate the Ling Family! While the Ling Family has taken a great step forward in the last decade, when compared to a millennium old family like the Yu Family, they’re still wholly inadequate! However, since Ling Tian has not made any move, the Ling Family are still the in-laws of the Yu Family! Thus, we cannot make any rash moves towards the Ling Family, for they’re perfectly safe with the Yu Family residing in Sky Bearing as well!”
“This was a meticulous scheme created by that wily fox Yu ManLou, and while there’s no obvious use in it now, when chaos strikes, the influence that the Yu Family has amassed in Sky Bearing would be the killing strike to Ling Tian’s heart! I have to say, Yu ManLou is really cunning, indeed a senior to look up to!” DongFang JingLei sighed in praise.
