He withdrew his hand and pointed at the doorway. "Now, take your dog and get lost."
As if granted a pardon from heaven, Qin Kun scrambled to his feet, hauled up his still-twitching bodyguard, and fled the hospital room in utter disgrace.
Silence returned to the room, save for a lingering trace of tension in the air.
Lin Feng watched Qin Kun's pathetic retreating figure with a complex look in his eyes. Once upon a time, as Immortal Venerable Chonglou, he would have considered even a passing glance at such an ant-like creature a waste of time. Yet now, he had quite amusingly played along with their little farce.
This feeling... wasn't actually bad.
Perhaps this was true mortal tempering—not merely a matter of rebuilding his cultivation, but of reshaping a Dao Heart that had once been cold and aloof. Having accepted this body, he seemed to be accepting this brand-new way of life, brimming with all the complex emotions of humanity.
He bent down, unhurriedly picked up the hundred thousand yuan scattered across the bed, neatly arranged it, and pocketed the cash.
"You..." Su Aoxue finally found her voice, looking at him pocket the money with a bizarre expression. "You're actually taking it?"
"Blood-money delivered right to my doorstep—why wouldn't I take it?" Lin Feng said as a matter of course. "I happen to need the money to pay my hospital bill."
Su Aoxue was utterly speechless. This man had completely redefined her understanding of shamelessness.
Just then, Qin Ruyan hurried back, breathless, holding several slips of paper. "The paperwork is done, but..."
Before she could finish, she caught sight of the chaotic state of the room and Su Aoxue's strange expression, and froze. "What... what happened here?"
"Nothing. Your cousin just dropped by and offered a little severance pay." Lin Feng patted his pocket with a calm and composed look.
Qin Ruyan understood instantly, furious and anxious all at once, but this was no time to dwell on it. She took a deep breath, her expression turning exceptionally grave. "Lin Feng, put that aside for now. My grandfather... he wants to see you."
An hour later, the Qin Family Old Residence.
Inside the antique rosewood hall, the atmosphere was oppressive enough to suffocate.
"Grandfather! You must get justice for me!" Qin Kun wailed tears and snot to an elderly man in a Tang suit seated in the main seat. "That Lin Feng is completely out of his mind! I went to see him out of the goodness of my heart, offering him one hundred thousand yuan just to leave my sister. Not only did he refuse it, but he complained it wasn't enough and demanded thirty million right off the bat! When I refused, he laid a hand on my people! Look, my man is still lying in the hospital because of him!"
The old man sitting in the armchair was none other than the current head of the Qin family, Qin Kuang. His face was lean, his eyes flashed with sharp vitality whenever he opened and closed them, and his natural dignity commanded awe without anger.
Ignoring Qin Kun's howling, he cast a piercing gaze straight at Lin Feng, who was standing in the center of the hall.
"Young man, you want thirty million?" Qin Kuang's voice was steady and powerful, carrying the oppressive weight of someone accustomed to absolute authority for years.
Without waiting for Lin Feng's reply, he took a checkbook from the drawer beside him, scribbled his signature in a few swift strokes, and pushed the check across the table.
"Here is thirty million. Take it and leave my granddaughter. From this day forward, you will have nothing more to do with each other."
Qin Ruyan's face drained of color. Without a second thought, she rushed forward, slammed her hand down onto the check, and pleaded urgently to Qin Kuang, "Grandfather! You can't do this! Lin Feng isn't doing this for the money! We... we are truly in love!"
Even as she spoke, she shot frantic warning glances at Lin Feng, her eyes filled with entreaty and caution, terrified that he would actually accept the check. If he did, their "transaction" would be completely ruined, and she would once again face the desperate fate of being forced into marriage with the Qiao family.
All eyes focused on Lin Feng.
Qin Kun's eyes were filled with gloating anticipation, waiting to watch Lin Feng make a fool of himself by eagerly grabbing the money.
Qin Ruyan's heart was pounding so hard she felt as though it might leap out of her chest.
Qin Kuang's hawk-like gaze scrutinized Lin Feng for every micro-expression.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Lin Feng slowly stepped forward and picked up the feather-light check on the table.
Qin Ruyan's heart plummeted straight to the bottom.
Yet, Lin Feng's next action left everyone present completely petrified.
He merely glanced at the figures on the check, chuckled softly right in front of Qin Kuang, and holding the paper between two fingers, slowly—inch by inch—tore it in half, then into quarters, then eighths...
Finally, he gave a casual flick of his wrist, and a flurry of paper scraps drifted down like snowflakes.
"Thirty million?" The corners of Lin Feng's mouth curled into an amused smirk, his gaze locked directly onto Qin Kuang's iron-gray face. His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough for everyone in the entire hall to hear.
"Elder Qin, you misunderstood."
"To buy out the romance between me and my 'beloved,' this sum..." He paused, held up three fingers, and his tone suddenly turned arrogant and unquestionable.
"You need to add a zero. Three hundred million—not a cent less, or I won't sell."
Three hundred million!
When Lin Feng held up three fingers and uttered those words in a tone bordering on sheer arrogance, the air in the entire Qin family hall seemed to freeze instantly.
A deathly silence fell over the room.
The muscles on Qin Kuang's usually unshakeable face twitched uncontrollably, and a terrifying, bone-chilling light flashed in his eyes.
Qin Kun looked as though he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. He froze for a split second before bursting into exaggerated laughter. "Hahahaha! Three hundred million? Did your brain rot from sleeping for three years, you motherfucker? Who do you think you are? Made of gold?"
Even Qin Ruyan, who had been trapped in shock and fury all this while, now stared at Lin Feng as if he were a complete lunatic. Her fair cheeks flushed bright from the emotional upheaval, her chest heaving rapidly as her voice trembled:
"Lin Feng! Do you have any idea what you're saying? Have you lost your mind?!"
She felt like an absolute joke. Just moments ago, she had been pleading on his behalf, believing they shared a tacit understanding of cooperation—an alliance against fate.
Yet now, Lin Feng's actions felt like a resounding slap across her face. He hadn't come to help her at all; he was here to extort them! He was even greedier than Qin Kun, than Qiao Yu, and even than her own grandfather!
Lin Feng remained entirely indifferent to the surrounding reactions. He casually scattered the torn fragments of the check onto the expensive Persian rug, meeting Qin Kuang's blade-sharp gaze with absolute calm. He looked less like a man making an exorbitant demand and more like someone stating an undeniable fact.
Just as the tension in the hall reached its breaking point and a clash seemed imminent, a frivolous and utterly disdainful voice drifted in from the doorway.
"Heh, interesting. I was wondering what grand crisis had blown up, only to find you all squabbling over money. Three hundred million? Consider it paid."
Everyone turned toward the source of the voice to see a young man dressed in limited-edition streetwear, with a handsome yet somewhat effeminate and arrogant face, leaning lazily against the doorframe. With his hands shoved in his pockets, he watched the farce unfolding before him with keen amusement. Behind him stood two cold-faced bodyguards whose aura was even more formidable than those of the Qin family.
"Young Master Qiao!"