I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 49 Discussing the Big Plan
Chen Ming discussed with his elder brother Chen Rui, "The city is likely to be in chaos for a while. This Xiushui Street is home to many wealthy families, making it an easy target for thieves. Just to be safe, we can't stay here."

Chen Rui managed to remain calm and asked him, "Then where are we going? Are we going to leave the city?"

"No need for that. Let's go back to the old house for a while. It's all ordinary people living there, so the thieves won't go there. Don't worry, the imperial court won't let Qingfeng City continue to be in such chaos. I believe they will take action soon."

Chen Rui thought it made a lot of sense and said, "Okay, let's move back to the old house. When are we leaving?"

"There's no time to lose, let's set off now."

……

Chen Ming and his group only brought some daily necessities and traveled lightly back to their old house.

Since it hasn't been vacant for long, a little cleaning is all it takes to move in, so it's not too much trouble.

However, it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. Everyone was a little unaccustomed to moving from the big house back to this small courtyard, even though they had only lived in the new house for a month or so.

Chen Ming continued to send people out to gather information, and by evening, he finally received confirmation. It turned out that it was Black Flood Dragon King's men who had done it.

The Six Doors acted swiftly, locating their hideout by noon. These pirates were desperate criminals, and naturally wouldn't surrender easily; a fierce battle ensued.

It is said that several people from the Six Doors died, only one bandit was killed, and the rest all escaped. At least a lot of gold and silver was recovered.

"Even the Six Doors couldn't defeat them, are these pirates really that fierce?" Madam Wei's face turned pale, she was quite frightened.

In her mind, it was precisely because of the existence of the Six Doors that those notorious bandits dared not cause trouble in the city. Now, those pirates were so rampant that even the Six Doors couldn't do anything about them.

This made her very uneasy.

At this moment, the servant added, "It is said that the leader of this team is the second young master's senior brother, Inspector Sun, who was also injured."

Sun Shicai was also injured?
Chen Ming's sense of insecurity intensified.

Those were just a group of relatively unknown pirates, yet they managed to injure even Sun Shicai, a seventh-rank cultivator. This shows just how powerful these pirates, who lived a precarious existence at sea, were.

What's even more frightening is that these pirates have just arrived in Qingfeng City and are unaware of the strength of the Six Doors. They are still wary and dare not act recklessly.

Now that someone has tested the strength of the Six Doors, the pirates who had been lying in wait have suddenly discovered that the Six Doors are just a paper tiger.
It's easy to imagine what they'll do next.

Chen Ming strictly ordered everyone in the mansion not to leave the house for the next few days. He had made preparations in advance and had stockpiled enough food for his whole family to last for several months.

Even the pharmacies have temporarily closed, waiting for this storm to pass before resuming operations.

That night, no one slept well, as they could hear noises coming from afar that made their hearts pound. The noises finally subsided just before dawn.

……

Finally, dawn broke, and as soon as the sun rose, someone knocked on the door.

The gatekeeper yawned as he went over, lifted the heavy bolt off the door, and opened it. Seeing that it was the second young master's senior brothers, he dared not be negligent. "You gentlemen are here to see my second young master, right? I'll go and inform him right away."

He led the three to the front hall and then went to find the second young master.

Before long, Chen Ming received the news and rushed over. "I am sorry for not welcoming you properly, my three senior brothers."

The three who arrived were Gu Junrong, Wang Mingkai, and Li Qingchang.

Wang Mingkai was an impatient person by nature, so he didn't bother with formalities and said, "Junior brother, something terrible has happened."

After Chen Ming sat down, he asked, "Is Senior Brother referring to Senior Brother Sun's injury?"

Wang Mingkai scoffed, "That's nothing! Do you know what a huge deal happened last night?"

"What's the matter?"

"A group of pirates attacked the Gu family, causing countless casualties. Even Gu Yanchang, a fourth-rank official, was severely injured. If it weren't for the timely arrival of the Six Doors official who rescued him, he would probably have died on the spot."

Chen Ming gasped in shock.

The Gu family was the most prestigious family in Qingfeng City. Although, with the rise of maritime trade, the influence and power of the seven major maritime merchants had long surpassed that of the Gu family.

But the Gu family, with its centuries-old heritage, possessed unquestionable strength and foundation. Even with a fourth-rank expert guarding them, they were still nearly wiped out. He asked in shock, "Who did it?"

Gu Junrong said with a solemn expression, "It was probably done by Zheng Longwang's adopted sons. Only they have the power to do that."

King Zheng had nine adopted sons, all of whom were given the title "Jiao" (蛟), such as White Jiao King, Green Jiao King, Black Jiao King, and so on.

Among them, several are at the fourth rank of cultivation. If they join forces, the Gu family really won't be able to withstand them.

"These pirates are really too arrogant."

Chen Ming murmured.

He hadn't expected these pirates to be so audacious; while others would pick on the weak, they had directly targeted the toughest nut to crack.

Wang Mingkai said, "I heard that the Gu family's mansion was looted. Tsk, that was the Gu family's wealth accumulated over hundreds of years."

Chen Ming was somewhat worried, "Now, I'm afraid everyone in Qingfeng City will be living in fear."

Gu Junrong added, "Yes, when we came over just now, we saw a lot of carriages heading towards the city gate. They were probably terrified and wanted to escape from here."

At this moment, Li Qingchang suddenly said, "Junior brother is smart. He moved back to the old house yesterday. The houses around here look like ordinary people's homes, with nothing of value. Those pirates won't be interested in this place."

“We went to your new house just now, but it was empty. You don’t know, two more houses were robbed last night on Xiushui Street, and someone even died. One of the families is surnamed Zhang, and I heard they had a grudge against your family.”

Zhang family?

This is not surprising. His house had the most magnificent gate on Xiushui Street, so it was normal for it to be targeted by pirates.

However, Chen Ming had no intention of gloating over this situation.

Suddenly, Gu Junrong and the other two exchanged glances, and Wang Mingkai spoke up, "Actually, we have a favor to ask, we'd like to bring our families to live with you, Junior Brother..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ming clapped his hands before he could finish speaking and said, "That's great! It'll be perfect for my family to have someone to look after them."

“Junior brother Gao Yi, if you ever give us any orders in the future, we will have no objections.”

Gu Junrong and the other two expressed their gratitude solemnly.

Their biggest worry was their families. The Huo residence was too conspicuous and therefore unsafe. Chen Ming's place was not only inconspicuous, but also had this eighth-rank martial artist with him, making it the safest place they could think of.

That day, all three of them brought their families over.

Fortunately, the Chen family's house was big enough that they tidied up the living room and other areas, and squeezed in enough space for them to live there.

……

Two more days passed, and the pirates became even more rampant, causing constant unrest in the city. Various rumors arrived, creating a daily sense of dread. The wealthy households in the city lived in constant fear.

Under such circumstances, some people finally couldn't sit still any longer.

That morning, someone knocked on the door again. This time it was Zhang Mingyu himself, accompanied by four or five people, all of whom were carrying weapons.

As soon as he met Chen Ming, he brought up some bombshell news: "Last night, Baofeng Bank was robbed."

Chen Ming sighed, "They've finally made their move against the seven major sea merchants."

Baofeng Money Shop was a money shop jointly run by three large merchants.

It is clear that the pirates finally couldn't resist plundering the seven major sea merchants.

In Qingfeng City, the seven major merchants are undoubtedly the biggest targets. Saying they are richer than a country is a bit of an exaggeration, but their wealth far exceeds that of everyone else in the city.

Even the accumulated wealth of the Gu family over hundreds of years is far from comparable to it.

No one knew better than these pirates how lucrative maritime trade was.

"So, last night, Manager Qian of the Sihai Trading Company sent someone to contact me, saying that he wanted to gather all the martial artists in the city to discuss a grand plan to deal with the pirates."

(End of this chapter)