I chose one of four options at the start, and I chose the number one clan in Lingnan.

Wang Kai knelt on the bluestone slab, his forehead pressed against the ground, his teeth chattering.

"Stop hitting me, I'll tell you everything. Master Qiao called me personally this afternoon, asking me to hack into your control terminal."

He said that if the machine tools burned out, the factory's monitoring and fire alarm systems would all be paralyzed.

Wang Kai looked up, snot and tears streaming down his face.

"This is not the end. Burning the machine tools is just the first step. Their real target is tonight."

Lin Fei tapped the solid steel pipe in his hand on the ground twice, making a clanging sound.

"Explain clearly, what are you going to do tonight?" Lin Fei pressed.

Wang Kai kowtowed repeatedly.

"Second Master arranged for Scarface to lead a team. At 2 a.m. this morning, taking advantage of the power outage and lack of surveillance in your factory, he sent several hundred men with gasoline to set it on fire."

They wanted to burn the factory, the machinery, and all the old workers to the ground. Afterwards, they would pin the blame on the Lin family, saying they set the fire to claim insurance money.

Lin Ting sat in the armchair, put the lid on the teacup, and it made a crisp sound.

Lin Dabiao kicked over the wooden chair next to him.

"These beasts! Grandfather, I'll take my brothers to the city right now, smash up their Sanyi Society's headquarters, and drag Master Qiao back to Tazhai to be drowned!" Lin Dabiao cursed loudly.

Lin Ting stood up and straightened his suit sleeves.

"If we can't find any fault with Master Qiao by smashing up his place, and they want to burn down our factory, we'll just build them a stage."

"Wang Kai, how many exactly are the 'several hundred' people you mentioned, and which route do they take into the old industrial area?" Lin Ting asked.

Wang Kai swallowed hard.

"A little over three hundred people, divided into more than a dozen Jinbei vans and three buses."

They took a detour from the Shinan District, avoiding traffic police on the main roads, and went directly to the main gate of Hongtu Machinery Factory via a dirt road along the river.

Lin Ting walked up to Wang Kai.

"Lin Fei, tie this kid up tightly and throw him in the woodshed in the backyard. Da Biao, go and bang the gong," Lin Ting ordered.

Lin Dabiao turned and ran outside.

Lin Shouzhen, the second great-uncle, walked out of the inner hall, leaning on a yellowed bamboo cane. He glanced at Wang Kai on the ground, then looked at Lin Ting.

"Grandpa, we've caused such a commotion as soon as we entered the city. If the city bureau gets involved, it won't be easy to handle with several hundred of us in the city," the second uncle said with concern.

Lin Ting helped his second uncle sit down.

"Second Uncle, the Three Righteous Men have cut off our escape route and are going to burn three hundred old workers to death."

If the Lin family doesn't beat them hard tonight, they'll dare to pour gasoline on the ancestral hall in Tazhai tomorrow.

"As long as the city police don't find the body, I'll have a way to explain it," Lin Ting said.

Second Uncle nodded and said no more.

Ten minutes later, at the entrance of Tazhai Village.

Fifty heavy dump trucks lined up in a row, their engines roaring and thick black exhaust fumes billowing from their pipes.

Old Zhao sat in the driver's seat of the lead vehicle and rang the pneumatic horn.

Five hundred loyal men who had undergone basic physical enhancement by the system had assembled.

The group of men were muscular and dressed in uniform, thick canvas work clothes. Each of them received a yellow safety helmet and a one-meter-long piece of rebar.

Lin Ting stood on the high platform, looking down at the dense crowd below.

"Someone's planning to burn down the Lin family's factory tonight, cutting off their access to the city. According to clan rules, what should be done?" Lin Ting raised his voice.

Five hundred people roared in unison: "The entire clan shall condemn them!"

"Get in the car, let's go into the city." Lin Ting waved.

The men jumped onto the dump trucks in an orderly fashion, and the convoy drove out of Tazhai and headed straight for the old industrial area of ​​the prefecture-level city.

Midnight, outside the Lin's Heavy Industry base.

Old Wei stood anxiously with three hundred veteran workers in the open space in front of the logistics building.

Fifty dump trucks drove into the factory area, and five hundred strong men wearing yellow safety helmets jumped off the trucks and lined up neatly.

Old Wei ran up to Lin Ting, rubbing his hands together incessantly.

"Grandpa, what are you doing? If the Sanyi Society really intends to set fire, we should report it to the police."

"They outnumber us and have knives; if a fight breaks out, people will die," Old Wei advised against it.

Lin Ting toyed with the two red walnuts in his hand. Click. Click.

"By the time the police arrive after we report the crime, the factory will have already burned to ashes. Old Wei, take your men back to the dormitory to sleep."

"No matter what noises we hear outside, no one is allowed to peek out. The Lin family is having a business meeting tonight." Lin Ting pointed to the logistics building.

Looking at those expressionless men from Zhongtang carrying rebar, Lao Wei swallowed back all the words he was about to say.

He turned around, led the old workers quickly into the logistics building, and closed the door tightly.

Lin Dayou led dozens of bricklayers from Yitang, using bulldozers and excavators, to seal off all three side gates of the factory area with sandbags and precast cement slabs.

The bulldozer was placed directly behind the door, and the car key was removed.

The entire 500-acre factory area now only has one entrance left: the main gate.

Lin Dabiao began to set up the defense line.

"First Company, take one hundred men and hide behind the scrap metal pile on the left. Once they're all inside, block the main gate."

"Second Company, take two hundred men and ambush them in the wasteland on the right. As soon as the fire starts, rush out and break their legs."

"The rest of you, stay with me and guard the main workshop entrance. If they dare to throw bottles into the workshop, hit them on the head with steel pipes," Lin Dabiao assigned the task.

The five hundred loyal men quickly dispersed and went to their designated positions.

All flashlights and searchlights were turned off, and the factory area was pitch black, with only the sound of wind and grass.

Lin Ting sat on the iron frame platform on the outer side of the second floor of the main workshop. This position offered a commanding view, allowing him to see the entire gate and the activity in the front yard.

Lin Fei stood beside Lin Ting, holding a half-meter-long solid steel pipe.

Night was falling.

1:50 a.m.

The sound of engines could be heard coming from the dirt road along the river in the old industrial area.

More than a dozen blinding beams of headlights illuminated the night as they headed straight for the factory area.

The convoy stopped fifty meters from the gate, with a dozen Jinbei vans and three dilapidated buses lined up in two rows.

The car doors opened one after another.

More than three hundred thugs carrying machetes, baseball bats, and steel pipes jumped off the bus.

There were also dozens of people in the crowd carrying red plastic gasoline cans and holding Molotov cocktails made from beer bottles.

The one leading the group was the scarred man who had been scared away from the factory manager's office during the day.

The scarred man's face was still swollen on one side, with a band-aid on the corner of his mouth, and he was holding a meter-long machete.

Scarface walked to the front of the group and looked back at the thugs.

"Brothers, Master Qiao has spoken. The hackers have cut off the power to this lousy factory, and all the surveillance cameras inside are down."

"Those country bumpkins from Tazhai are probably hiding in the workshop crying right now," Scarface shouted, urging them on.

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

A junior leader stepped forward and lit a cigarette for Scarface.

Scarface took a drag and exhaled a smoke ring.

"Those Lin family members were pretty arrogant during the day, throwing money at me. Tonight we'll show them that in the city, money can't buy life."

Once inside, they smashed everything in sight and slashed at anyone they saw, pouring gasoline all over the main workshop and the logistics building within ten minutes.

"Tighten all the doors with wire, and don't let a single old man out," Scarface ordered.

"Don't worry, Brother Long. Burning a few country folk is no different from burning wild dogs," the henchman chimed in.

The thugs banged on the steel pipes and machetes in their hands, making a clanging sound.

Scarface, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, strode to the rusty iron gate.

After Lin Dabiao violently dismantled the iron gate during the day, the Lin family simply hung it on the gatepost with two thick iron wires, without welding it in place.

Scarface raised his right foot and kicked the iron gate hard.

Clang.

The wire snapped, and the two heavy iron doors fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The factory area was pitch black; there wasn't even a flashlight.

Scarface pointed the machete in his hand forward.

A henchman handed over a glass bottle filled with gasoline and lit the rag at the bottle opening with a lighter.

The firelight illuminated the scarred face.

"Burn it!" Scarface roared, raising the Molotov cocktail.