The night was deep and tranquil, bathed in moonlight that flowed like water.
In the Hong Family's inner courtyard, Ye Feng sat alone in his wheelchair.
As instructed, Hong Qingyan had gone to the front courtyard to prepare a simple vegetarian dinner.
If one looked closely, they could see Ye Feng's chest rising and falling rhythmically.
Holding his breath, his eyes were intently fixed on a leaf the size of a thumb, ten meters away.
Suddenly, with a whoosh, Ye Feng opened his mouth and exhaled a breath.
The breath turned into an arrow, flying straight out and piercing a hole through the leaf ten meters away.
"Thankfully, my power hasn't been wasted; at least I have some self-protective strength!" Ye Feng sighed to himself.
Just then, a whooshing sound pierced the darkness, and a shadowy figure entered, flipping over the wall like a nimble monkey.
"Who's there?" Ye Feng called out coldly, about to exhale forcefully.
"Greetings, my lord!" Before the person in black could finish speaking, he was already kneeling on the ground.
Ye Feng suppressed his breath, his gaze sharp as a knife, "Who are you, and who sent you here?"
The person in black knelt there, head lowered, and said, "Lord Mu, he ordered me to come!"
"He sent you?" Ye Feng's frown relaxed.
If there was anyone in this world he could still trust, that person was Mu Tian.
Having woken up half a month ago, the first person Ye Feng had called was him.
The two were comrades who had shared life-and-death experiences for many years, bound by a friendship sealed through trials of fire!
He remembered that at the time, Mu Tian said he would send a secret bodyguard over, who must be this person.
"Stand up and speak!"
"Yes, sir!" The person obeyed and stood up, tall and burly, his movements rigid and precise, appearing somewhat stiff, yet he exuded an imposing aura.
Ye Feng didn't inquire about this person's specific origins, because knowing he was sent by Mu Tian was already enough.
"What's your name?" Ye Feng asked.
"I have no name, sir, but from now on you may call me Seventeen." Seventeen stood there with his head bowed, speaking without any movement in his body, every nerve taut.
He resembled a tiger or leopard, a ferocious beast seemingly ready to pounce and kill at any moment!
Ye Feng could tell just from this that the man had undergone rigorous training and was part of the Mu Tian Guard, subjected to the most severe Demonic Training.
Suddenly, Seventeen saluted and bowed, "My life, from now on, belongs to my lord. I may die, but my lord must live. If my lord dies, I shall not live alone!"
Ye Feng, with his piercing eyes, stared at the man without speaking, deep in thought.
It made sense for Mu Tian to have tracked him down through his phone number, as this was one of Mu Tian's strengths.
What truly astonished Ye Feng was that the so-called secret bodyguards cultivated by Mu Tian seemed to have evolved beyond mere protectors and could almost be called Death Warriors.
If there were only one or two of these Death Warriors, the issue wouldn't be significant, but if there were many...
At that moment, a peculiar set of footsteps suddenly interrupted Ye Feng's train of thought.
These footsteps started with a step forward, followed by a long dragging sound.
It was the distinctive sound of Hong Qingyan's steps, the gait of someone with a limp.
Hong Qingyan, carrying an exquisitely crafted food box, turned to enter the inner courtyard.
Seeing a stranger standing behind Ye Feng, she was momentarily taken aback, but she asked nothing.
In recent times, her grandfather had repeatedly instructed her not to ask anything about Ye Feng, telling her that her sole responsibility was to take good care of him with all her heart.
"Big Brother Ye, this is the dinner you asked for." Hong Qingyan shook the food box in her hand.
Ye Feng nodded slightly, intending to return to the attic, but his astonishingly sharp hearing caught the noisy commotion coming from the front courtyard.
"Qingyan, why is it so noisy in the front courtyard?"
"Today is Grandpa's seventieth birthday, and quite a few guests have arrived, so it's become a bit noisy."
"Old Master Hong's seventieth birthday?"
Ye Feng was startled, and then asked, "Then why aren't you going over there?"
Hong Qingyan replied, "Because Grandpa wants me to stay here to take care of you..."
Despite her efforts to seem nonchalant, her tone revealed a hint of sourness.
After all, Hong Qingyan was still a young girl, and as Grandpa had taken her in, she owed him a debt of gratitude. On Grandpa's seventieth birthday celebration, how could she not wish to go there and offer a bow and some blessings?
Ye Feng could see this and waved his hand, saying, "Come on, push me there."
"Push you there, to where?" Hong Qingyan didn't catch on for a moment.
"To the front courtyard!"
"Alright!" Hong Qingyan was immediately overjoyed.
They passed through a tree-lined corridor, turned by a few villas, and then arrived at the front courtyard.
Through three generations of management, the Hong Family had become well-known in the Jiangdu business circles, and under Old Master Hong's generation, they had almost become one of Jiangdu's wealthy clans.
Given that today was Old Master Hong's seventieth birthday, the guests coming to congratulate him were naturally endless.
The main hall in the front courtyard where guests were received was brilliantly lit, and the sound of toasting and merry-making was unceasing.
Just as Hong Qingyan was about to push Ye Feng inside, Hong Yuting and Hong Wei led several people into the courtyard with laughter and conversation.
Several young people were dressed in lavish attire; it appeared they were all scions of well-known families in the Jiangdu business circles.
"Yo, yo, yo, I thought it was someone special, but it turns out to be our Second Miss. How about it, planning to take your disabled fiancé out tonight for a bit of socializing, to wish Grandpa happy birthday as well?"
Hong Yuting walked over, emphasizing the word 'disabled' heavily, with a mocking look on her face.
Hong Qingyan wanted to retort, but anger coupled with her frailty made her cough repeatedly and unable to speak.
A tall man in a white suit among the attendants exclaimed in astonishment, "What's with you, Yuting, this person, this disabled man on the wheelchair, is Miss Qingyan's fiancé?"
"Isn't it? Grandpa himself decided!"
Hong Yuting became even more smug, lifting the corners of her mouth and laughing, "A lame girl marrying a cripple, it's indeed a perfect match made by fate!"
The man in the white suit sighed, "Even though the Second Miss naturally has her defects, she's pretty and also considered half a granddaughter of Old Master Hong. It's beneath her to be matched with a disabled son-in-law, isn't it?"
A few young men and women accompanying them also said, "The Hong family is a wealthy house. As long as Old Master Hong gives the word, those second- and third-tier family disciples in Jiangdu would probably break their heads in a scramble to marry Hong Qingyan for an alliance."
"Now that Old Master Hong has picked such a crippled son-in-law, isn't he just inviting ridicule for no reason?"
"I really don't understand what Old Master Hong is thinking. Even if this granddaughter was adopted, that's no reason to mistreat and wrong her like this. If it were me, I'd never agree to it, even over my dead body!"
"After tonight, this crippled son-in-law of the Hong family will probably become Jiangdu's laughingstock!"
The crowd laughed and joked, not taking Ye Feng into consideration at all, especially the man in the white suit, whose tone seemed especially harsh as if he was trying to curry favor with Hong Yuting.
"It's a good thing you didn't agree to marry this cripple, Yuting; otherwise, you would have ruined your life!"
"Marry him? As if he's worthy of marrying a flower of Jiangdu!" Hong Yuting said, full of disdain.
Throughout this period, Ye Feng just watched coldly and said nothing.
And since he didn't move, Seventeen, who stood behind him, didn't move either!