Chapter 20: **Chapter 20: The Ancestor’s Warning**
The Hall of Serendipity lay in ruins. Every piece of furniture had been shattered, save for the portrait of Guo Pu hanging stubbornly on the wall. Li Chengfeng sat slumped in his overturned armchair, staring blankly at the debris. The air reeked of splintered wood and spilled incense ash.
Ye Wuming smirked, brushing dust from his tailored suit. "Consider this a lesson. Stay away from Ye Mengyao—or next time, we break *you*."
Li Chengfeng's grin never wavered. "Of course, sir! I've always been good at following orders."
To bystanders, he seemed unhinged—a lunatic grinning as his livelihood crumbled. But the elderly shopkeeper next door narrowed his eyes. *A man who smiles while his world burns… either a fool or a coiled viper.*
Ye Wuming spat "idiot" under his breath and strode out, his bodyguards crushing incense sticks under polished boots. Li Chengfeng waved cheerfully. "Safe travels, sir!"
The moment their car vanished, his smile dissolved. He righted his chair and sat, fingers drumming a silent rhythm. "You spare a rat, it gnaws your grain. Crush it, and peace returns."
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**A Calculated Revenge**
As twilight bled into the shop, Ye Mengyao reappeared, her earlier fury replaced by hollow resignation. "Keep the 100,000 yuan. Consider it… compensation."
Li Chengfeng studied her—the smudged mascara, trembling hands. Powerless, yet still regal. *Like a phoenix in ashes.*
"I'll move the tree," he said abruptly.
Her breath hitched. "Why?"
"Because your cousin cracked Guo Pu's altar." His voice turned glacial. "No one desecrates my ancestors and walks free."
He dictated preparations: dragon-zodiac laborers, dawn rituals, offerings of white silk and ghost coins. Ye Mengyao scribbled notes, hope flickering.
"One more thing." Li Chengfeng's eyes glinted. "Get me Ye Wuming's birth chart—and his hair."
"You're going to curse him?"
"Not curse." He smiled. "*Balance*."
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**The Ancestor's Fury**
Exhausted, Li Chengfeng collapsed onto his splintered bed. Sleep came swiftly—and with it, a dream.
A white-bearded man in **five-colored robes** materialized, kicking him awake. "Useless whelp! Letting vermin trample my altar!"
Li Chengfeng scrambled back. "Who—?"
"Your *ancestral master*!" Guo Pu's spectral form crackled with rage. "Three days. Make them bleed—or I'll drag you to the underworld myself!"
The vision dissolved. Li Chengfeng awoke drenched in sweat, his buttocks throbbing as if kicked by a ghostly hoof.
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