Volume One: The Lonely Beta Test Chapter Twenty-Six: Changing Circumstances

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“Brother Feng, open the door, quick!” Early the next morning, a flurry of urgent knocking was accompanied by a voice calling from outside Lin Feng’s door.

The previous night, after sending Li Tong off with Lin Zhen, Lin Feng had returned to his room and pored over the map of Azure Dragon Mountain, not retiring until the hour of the Ox. Utterly exhausted, he had slept deeply, and now, feeling as though he’d only just closed his eyes, he truly had no desire to rise. He yawned, remaining in bed, and called out groggily, “What is it? Why so early?”

The person outside answered, “Brother Feng, it’s Lin Qing. I just got back from the county town—I have urgent news to report to you!”

“Lin Qing?” As soon as Lin Feng murmured the name, he sprang from his bed, not even bothering to put on his shoes, and rushed to open the door.

The moment the door swung open, a disheveled Lin Qing burst inside, his face grimy and his bearing tense. He made straight for the table, seized the teapot, and gulped down mouthfuls of tea.

Seeing this, Lin Feng snatched the teapot from Lin Qing’s hand and patted him on the back. “Slow down! What if you choke and it goes down the wrong way?”

Lin Qing said nothing at first, but sat down and caught his breath before speaking: “Brother Feng, just before the city gates closed yesterday, the Wang family sent someone out of town. The man’s behavior seemed suspicious, so I followed him in secret. After trailing him for over two hours, I realized he was heading towards Azure Dragon Mountain. I knocked him out and tied him up. I found this letter on him. It seemed urgent and important, and I didn’t have time to open it before coming back.” With that, Lin Qing produced a letter from within his robes and handed it to Lin Feng.

Lin Feng took the letter and unfolded it at once. Fortunately, the words were written in clerical script, which Lin Feng could easily read. When he finished, his expression was grim. “Just as I suspected. The Wang family is deeply involved in the kidnapping of my parents.”

“What does the letter say?” Lin Qing asked urgently.

“It’s written by Wang Lin to that bandit chief Li Damu, inquiring about my parents’ situation and instructing Li Damu to increase the ransom demanded from us.” Lin Feng tossed the letter aside, his fists clenching, veins standing out on the backs of his hands. “Wang Lin, that scoundrel, is colluding with outsiders. Once we deal with Li Damu, he’s next.”

After several days spent with Lin Zhen and the others, Lin Feng had come to feel the deep affection the Lin family bore him. Unconsciously, his feelings for the parents he had never met, and for the entire Lin family, had grown stronger. From his reaction now, it was clear Lin Feng had nearly become part of this world, though he himself had yet to realize it.

“Bang!”

Lin Qing suddenly leapt up and slammed his right hand on the table. “Wang Lin, that ungrateful traitor! No matter how powerful his family is, when we catch him I’ll make him pay for his crimes!” Lin Qing’s outburst showed just how well Lin Wei and his wife had treated him over the years—and that he was a man who hated evil and feared no oppressor.

Seeing Lin Qing so enraged, Lin Feng worried he might act rashly and ruin their plans, so he tried to calm him. “Brother Qing, don’t be impatient. Everything is already arranged—they won’t be free for much longer.” As he spoke, he pressed Lin Qing back into his seat and poured him another cup of tea.

“Brother Feng, I may be young and furious, but I won’t let anger cloud my judgment. Since my father passed, Uncle and Aunt Lin have treated me as their own. Now that they’re in trouble, my heart feels as if it’s roasting over a fire or boiling in a pot. Li Damu is an outsider, but Wang Lin—he is the one I truly despise. The anger in my heart is hard to quench!”

Lin Feng’s earlier worries had clearly been unfounded. Lin Qing had managed to keep watch on the Wang family alone in the city, follow their man undetected for so long, and finally capture him. Without patience and a cool head, it would have been impossible.

Seeing Lin Qing’s mood settle after a sip of tea, Lin Feng said, “Brother Qing, compared to your feelings for your family, I feel deeply ashamed.”

“Brother, I know you keep your feelings buried inside. No one in the Lin household has had a harder time than you these days. It’s I who am immature and still need your guidance. I can only hope to learn from your example in the future.” Lin Qing rose and bowed solemnly to Lin Feng.

Lin Feng had spoken from his heart: at this moment, his attachment to Lin Wei and his wife truly could not compare to Lin Qing’s. Otherwise, with his temperament, it would be Lin Qing who was trying to calm Lin Feng.

Yet Lin Qing believed Lin Feng’s calm was a sign of newfound maturity and steadiness, and so he changed the way he addressed him, now calling him “elder brother”—a testament to how utterly Lin Feng’s image in his eyes had transformed.

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Seeing Lin Qing bow to him, Lin Feng quickly helped him up. “Brother Qing, there’s no need for this formality between us. We’re brothers—let’s keep things as they’ve always been. Don’t let these troubles create distance between us.”

“Yes, Brother Feng!” Lin Qing replied happily, reverting to his old address.

Lin Feng grasped Lin Qing’s hand. “Good brother!”

“Oh, right—Brother Feng, was there anything else in the letter?”

“Let me take another look. I only read the gist in my hurry.” Lin Feng picked up the letter and studied it carefully. “Here—Wang Lin’s last instruction to Li Damu was not to let the tiger return to the mountain. Look at this,” he said, pointing at a line.

“Let me see…” Lin Qing glanced at the spot indicated. “Does that mean they don’t intend to release Uncle and Aunt?”

“Hmm, I think it’s not so simple. We need to call Second Uncle and discuss this together.”

“I already sent someone to fetch him on my way back—he should be here soon.”

“Feng’er, your brother Qing has returned?” came Lin Zhen’s voice from outside just as Lin Qing finished speaking.

Lin Feng smiled at Lin Qing. “Speak of the devil and he appears!”

“Um, Brother Feng, who is this ‘devil’?” Lin Qing asked.

“Let’s greet Second Uncle first—you’ll know soon enough who he is.”

Just as they reached the doorway, Lin Zhen strode toward them.

Upon seeing Lin Qing, Lin Zhen asked, “So you’ve returned. Well, did you complete the task your brother Feng entrusted to you?”

Lin Qing stepped forward and bowed. “Second Uncle, it’s all done. In fact, I discovered something even more urgent, which is why I came straight to Brother Feng’s place. I was just about to send for you to discuss it when you arrived!”

“Indeed, Second Uncle, the situation has changed. We’ll have to advance our plans,” Lin Feng added, clasping his hands in respect. “Let’s go inside to talk.”

“Very well.”

Once inside, Lin Feng handed the intercepted letter to Lin Zhen. After reading it, Lin Zhen’s face darkened. “According to this, Wang Lin, that villain, never intended to release anyone. There’s a deeper, more sinister plot at work. Fortunately, Feng’er, your foresight has ensured we’re fully prepared. If we’d simply handed over the ransom in hopes of saving them, we’d have fallen right into their trap!”

“Second Uncle, you flatter me!” In truth, Lin Feng had not foreseen any of this at the start. His original plan was to use the kidnapping as an opportunity to form a force, train it by fighting bandits and pirates, and accumulate some wealth. He hadn’t expected Lin Zhen to credit him with such shrewdness, and though Lin Feng was thick-skinned, he couldn’t help blushing.

Seeing Lin Feng’s embarrassment, Lin Zhen teased, “Well, well, who would have thought our young master Lin would turn bashful after all he’s accomplished!”

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Lin Qing laughed as well. “Second Uncle is right—I’ve never seen Brother Feng like this before!”

“Let’s not dwell on any unflattering stories from the past,” Lin Feng interjected, eager to steer the conversation away from his former self, which he gathered from their words was not exactly praiseworthy. “Let’s focus on revising our plan in light of these new developments.”

He took out a stack of papers and the map of Azure Dragon Mountain, spread the map out, and pointed out the locations he had marked the previous night, explaining the corresponding arrangements he had made and soliciting their opinions.

After listening to Lin Feng’s explanation, both Lin Zhen and Lin Qing were astonished. They hadn’t imagined Lin Feng would organize the rescue plan in such meticulous detail. Every scenario they could think of, he had anticipated, with thorough countermeasures laid out.

He had even written out each person’s actions step by step. As for the concept of a rehearsal before the operation, it was something they had never even heard of. Only after Lin Feng’s patient explanation did they understand what he meant.

When Lin Feng finished, the other two fell into deep thought.

After a long while, Lin Zhen spoke. “Feng’er, your planning is flawless. But with the situation changed, we don’t have time to conduct that…what did you call it?”

“A rehearsal,” Lin Qing answered.

“That’s right.”

Lin Feng massaged his temples. As the saying goes, plans can’t keep up with change. He hadn’t anticipated that Lin Qing’s interception would prompt the Wang family to send someone to contact Li Damu so soon. Though Lin Qing had stopped the messenger, the Wang family would surely grow suspicious when he failed to return on time and send someone else. This increased the risk of Li Tong’s exposure.

“This is indeed a serious problem. We’re out of time. But those bandits outnumber us three or four to one, and most of our people have never fought a real battle like this. Without a rehearsal, we might still defeat them with our secret weapon, but the casualties could be much greater. I don’t want anyone hurt if I can help it. Do either of you have any good ideas?”

At this, Lin Zhen and Lin Qing again lapsed into silence.

Lin Feng’s concern was theirs as well. After all, their followers were ordinary farmers and fishermen with families—no match for hardened outlaws who lived by the sword. If anything happened, how could they face the families left behind?

For a time, the room was unusually quiet.

“Why must we confront them head on?” Lin Qing suddenly asked.

“Exactly!” Lin Feng and Lin Zhen replied in unison.

Lin Qing’s question instantly opened their minds. All three gathered up the papers from the map and started to study the map anew. Not until breakfast did they finally leave, their faces bright with newfound confidence.

After their meal, Lin Qing, having rested briefly, returned to town to continue monitoring the Wang family’s movements.

Lin Zhen took Lin Feng’s rehearsal plan to the Lin family farm. Although there wasn’t time to carry out a full rehearsal, the three agreed it would still be useful for the militia to hear the plan. As for Lin Feng, he went to check on the progress of their secret weapon.

P.S.: I’ve been a bit busy these days, so I could only upload a first draft for everyone—my apologies! For various reasons, the story later underwent major revisions and basically turned into another book, so after updating a few more chapters, I’ll be switching to the new novel. I’m truly sorry, everyone. If you like the story, please check out the next book when it’s out—the characters’ names remain the same, and the plot continues from here. Thank you all!