They Came Knocking!

Shi Yiming was besieged by a crowd of enraged cultivators.

His shrill screams rang out from within the crowd without end.

"Ah—don't! I'm a good man, a great good man, ah—"

"Good man my ass! You colluded with those bastards from the Penglai Cloud Sea Foundation—you should be crippled on the spot, you beast!"

"Corrupt merchants! Geneva, give me my money back!"

"You sons of bitches sold this senior Returning Restoration Pills that cost five hundred Spirit Stones a bottle for three thousand Spirit Stones! Give me back my money!"

"Look me in the eyes, bastard~"

Shi Yiming: "???"

What money was he supposed to refund?

What three thousand Spirit Stones?

He had no idea!

What did this have to do with him? Why were they beating him?

What the hell were they talking about?

Shi Yiming's eyes were utterly bewildered, even holding a clear, innocent confusion, but that did nothing to quell the cultivators' fury. He was pinned to the ground and rubbed raw for quite a while.

"H-how did this happen?"

Meng Qiuyue's eyes widened as she watched Shi Yiming being brutalized by the crowd, utterly perplexed. "Didn't Young Master Shi also donate over a million Spirit Stones to charity?"

Liu Ruo'an was somewhat puzzled as well.

Only after listening for a while longer did they understand. So Penglai Cloud Sea Foundation had done such infuriating things in the Starry Archipelago.

"Damn, so that's what happened?"

"No wonder they got so furious the moment they heard the words Penglai Yunhai!"

"Brother Shi really is miserable. Those cultivators must think he colluded with Penglai Yunhai, taking advantage of the disaster to rob them and swindle them out of their money, right?"

Liu Ruo'an was even more indignant. "I knew it long ago—the Penglai Yunhai was nothing but an organization of corrupt merchants. It didn't have even a bit of what a Charity Foundation ought to be... They raised so many charitable donations, yet I fear not even one ten-thousandth of it was truly used for charity!"

Meng Qiuyue's eyes sparkled as she looked at Liu Ruo'an with several shades more admiration. "So that was why Young Master Liu chose to donate to the Langya Foundation?"

Liu Ruo'an straightened his back and said with righteous solemnity, "Exactly. Although on the Langya Merchant Association's side, only one percent of one's spending in Spirit Stones could be donated to the foundation, which didn't seem like much!

But the Young Master of Langya kept his word. That one percent could genuinely help people suffering hardship!

Yet the other Three Great Merchant Associations flew the banner of charity, claiming that however much was donated would all be used—when in fact... most of that money went into their own pockets!

Even if the figures displayed on the Merit List were small and truly didn't look very impressive!

When we do good deeds, though, we were never doing them for others to see. We did them so that our own hearts could be at peace!"

As soon as he said this—

Ripples shimmered in Meng Qiuyue's eyes. "So Young Master Liu had long seen that only the Langya Foundation was sincerely doing good deeds?"

Liu Ruo'an puffed out his chest so far it was practically sticking out. He said confidently, "Naturally! Miss Meng, you have only just arrived in the Northern Region, so perhaps you haven't heard of Young Master Wang's reputation!"

Meng Qiuyue blinked. "No, I have heard of him. They all say he's the Northern Region's number one wastrel, that he does every kind of bad thing!"

"Rumors! Utter rumors!"

Liu Ruo'an spoke with absolute certainty. "That was all the world's jealousy and slander toward Young Master Wang's noble character! Young Master Wang first held the Ascension Convention, testing ordinary people for Spiritual Root aptitude free of charge. He was determined that everyone under heaven who possessed a Spiritual Root would have the chance to set foot upon the immortal path.

As long as aptitude was detected, he would also, in the name of the Langya Merchant Association, gift them Spirit Stones and cultivation techniques to help them embark upon the right path!

Then he pioneered charitable work in the Northern Region, establishing the Langya Charity Foundation to provide free relief and aid to cultivators in many disaster-stricken regions, never charging a single Spirit Stone!

How could a person like that possibly be evil?

The world slandered him, but people of conscience like us could absolutely not tolerate such a thing!"

Upon hearing this, the light in the girl's eyes grew even brighter. She only felt that the young man before her was filled with upright righteousness, soaring straight into the heavens.

A girl's gaze was the deadliest weapon.

Liu Ruo'an's blood boiled. He felt strength filling his entire body, and he wished he could return at once and have his Old Dad go on another wild spending spree at the Langya Merchant Association!

Awesome!

So damn awesome!

He really had made the right choice!

Luckily, he had donated to the Langya Foundation. Otherwise... he would be the one beaten like a dead dog right now!

He had spent money and still gotten beaten. Where would he even go to seek justice?

Shi Yiming was beaten for quite some time, until in the end he no longer even had the strength to wail.

Only then did Liu Ruo'an step forward to dissuade them.

Seeing that it was a benefactor of the Langya Foundation speaking, the crowd all said they would give him face. Each of them gave Shi Yiming another kick before leaving in fury.

Shi Yiming lay sprawled on the ground, his hair a tangled chicken's nest, his nose bruised and face swollen beyond recognition.

He immediately pounded the ground and burst into tears.

"Heavens! Earth! I've been wronged—"

Liu Ruo'an coughed twice and said righteously, "Brother Shi, although you were unaware of it, you could hardly escape suspicion of aiding a tyrant in his evil. Let this matter serve as a lesson. In the future, keep your eyes open! In a matter as important as charity... you cannot be greedy for even a bit of profit!"

"I f—"

Shi Yiming's mentality had already collapsed. Hearing Liu Ruo'an's words now, he wanted nothing more than to leap up and fight him on the spot.

But when he raised his head—

He saw Miss Meng standing beside him, looking at Liu Ruo'an's profile with admiration in her eyes.

In an instant—

Shi Yiming froze completely.

Crack~

"Hm?" A young man in the scene said in confusion, "What just broke?"

Shi Yiming clutched his heart, spat out a mouthful of blood, and blacked out, collapsing to the ground.

Qingyun Archipelago, Feixian Island.

Penglai Cloud Sea Foundation.

Shopkeeper Zhong sat in an expensive sharkskin chair, leisurely drinking tea while two maidservants beside him kneaded his legs.

"Shopkeeper, I heard that over in the Starry Archipelago, all the people our foundation sent there were driven away. Our reputation is terrible now, and quite a few customers who donated money with us have complaints!"

The attendant bowed, unease written across his face.

Shopkeeper Zhong did not care in the least. "Calm down! So what if they have complaints? These wealthy customers are the easiest to handle. They only care about face. At worst, we apologize and say this matter had nothing to do with us, that it was purely done by those below us. What could they do to us?

Could they possibly dare come knocking at our door?"

As he spoke, he chuckled twice. The attendant found it reasonable as well and laughed along with him.

Yet the moment his words fell—

A thunderous boom sounded from the entrance.

The entire building shook.

Shopkeeper Zhong toppled straight beneath his chair. Raising his head, he wore a blank look of bewilderment. "What's going on?"

Two guards rushed in, shoving aside the two maidservants. "Shopkeeper, this is bad, something huge has happened! Those wealthy patrons who previously donated money with us have all come knocking at our door! They demand that we give them an explanation!"

Shopkeeper Zhong: "???"

Everyone: "!!!"