Chapter 139. Troublemaker.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The rhythmic pounding of hammers echoed endlessly along the shoreline.
The construction site stretched for hundreds of meters along the coast, bustling with activity from dawn until dusk.
Where gentle waves had once washed against an untouched shoreline, the outline of an immense harbor was slowly taking shape.
A short distance away, a large wooden pavilion had been erected atop the cliffs overlooking the construction.
Unlike the deafening chaos outside, the pavilion was comparatively quiet.
Lu Changseng, the harbor’s master builder, was carefully drafting another section of the harbor’s blueprint.
Every dock, warehouse, drainage channel, and seawall had to be planned with painstaking precision since a single mistake could delay the entire project by weeks.
Just as he finished marking the foundation of another pier, a knock shattered his concentration.
He sighed, setting down his drafting tools, and called out, "Come in."
The wooden door opened, and a young foreman hurried inside.
Sweat covered his brow despite the cool autumn breeze, and his breathing was slightly uneven.
"Master Lu, there’s been trouble at the eastern construction sector."
Lu Changseng frowned.
"What kind of trouble? The workers there have resorted to violence and the conflict escalated into a large brawl before the supervisors could stop it. Several men have been injured, and the entire section has been forced to halt construction."
The room fell silent.
Lu Changseng slowly rose from his seat, his expression darkening.
"...Take me there."
By the time Lu Changseng arrived, the commotion had grown loud enough to drown out the sound of the waves.
Dozens of workers had gathered into a wide circle, their tools abandoned where they had fallen. Several supervisors stood between the two groups with outstretched arms, desperately trying to keep them apart before fists started flying again.
At the center of the dispute stood a middle-aged man with weathered skin and calloused hands. Behind him were nearly twenty men and women, all glaring at the construction workers with defiant expressions.
"You can’t do this!" the middle-aged man shouted, pointing toward a cluster of rough wooden houses perched near the shoreline. "This is my family’s home! You have no right to tear it down! If you want us to leave, then compensate us!"
"That’s right!"
"The land belongs to our ancestors!"
"You can’t simply drive us out because some powerful family wants it!"
The people behind him echoed his words one after another.
One of the construction workers could no longer contain himself.
"Have you all lost your minds?" he shouted back. "The Shangguan Family has already approved this project! Even the city lord gave permission. The land now belongs to the Lin Family!"
"So what if they approved it?" the middle-aged man retorted without backing down. "Does that make it just?"
His voice grew louder with every word.
"Just because a great family says this land is theirs doesn’t mean it suddenly becomes the truth!"
He swept his arm toward the houses behind him.
"Our fathers lived here. Our grandfathers lived here. We were born here. If you force us to abandon our homes, then at the very least we deserve fair compensation!"
"Exactly!"
"We’re not refusing to leave!"
"But don’t expect us to walk away with nothing!"
The construction workers immediately erupted in outrage.
"The Lin Family has already paid for this land!"
"You should be arguing with the Shangguan Family, not us!"
The two sides began shouting over one another, their voices growing louder by the second.
Lu Changseng let out a weary sigh.
This was not the first time people had appeared claiming to be the "original residents" of the shoreline.
Ever since news of the harbor’s construction had spread throughout Azure Willow City, similar incidents had become increasingly common.
Some truly were fishermen whose families had lived by the coast for generations, but many others had simply arrived after hearing rumors of the Lin Family’s project, hastily erecting crude shacks in hopes of demanding compensation.
The prospect of profit had an astonishing way of changing people.
For enough money, many were willing to gamble everything.
Even the fear of death seemed to fade in the face of greed.
After all, obstructing the construction of a cultivation family’s project was not something ordinary people should dare to do.
Yet they came anyway.
On the other side, the construction workers were also driven by profit.
They endured the scorching sun from dawn until dusk, hauled timber until their shoulders bled, and carried stones heavy enough to crush ordinary men but every coin they earned came from honest labor.
Moreover, Patriarch Lin had also personally promised that if the harbor could be completed within two months, every worker who had contributed to its construction would receive a generous bonus from the Lin Family.
That promise had become everyone’s motivation.
To them, every day the project was delayed meant another step farther from that reward.
With that in mind, Lu Changseng could understand why the workers were so furious.
In their eyes, these people were nothing more than opportunistic swindlers trying to profit from the hard work of others.
Lu Changseng stepped forward and swept his gaze over the agitated crowd before settling on the middle-aged man who had spoken first.
"My name is Lu Changseng. I am the master builder in charge of this harbor. I understand your concerns. Rather than arguing here, why don’t we find somewhere quieter and discuss this privately?"
Before he could finish, the man sneered.
"So you can lure us away while your people continue tearing down our homes?"
He shook his head without hesitation.
"No, we’re not leaving. If you have something to say, say it here."
The crowd behind him immediately voiced their agreement.
"That’s right!"
"We’re not falling for that!"
Lu Changseng fell silent.
The two men locked eyes and neither spoke.
After what felt like an eternity, Lu Changseng finally exhaled.
"...Very well. What do you want?"
The middle-aged man’s lips slowly curled into a smile.
"The recipe of the Lin family’s body tempering pills."