Shameless Scoundrel

"Pfft..." This was a matter of life and death, so Gao Fengshan was quite decisive. He instantly severed one of his fingers with a slash. As blood flowed, his bloodshot eyes locked onto Ye Tong, and he growled, "Are you satisfied now?"

Ye Tong said noncommittally, "I'm half satisfied. Next, let's talk about compensation."

Gao Fengshan roared, "Young man, don't push your luck."

Ye Tong looked at him calmly and said no more.

When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head.

Filled with helplessness, Gao Fengshan finally bowed his head again and said bitterly, "Speak! What compensation do you want?"

Ye Tong smiled and said, "I'm a common man, so I naturally like gold and silver. To set up this formation, I used eight of my jade carvings. Each jade carving is worth fifty thousand taels of Blue Silver, totaling four hundred thousand taels of Blue Silver; one bottle of poison, for a total of one hundred thousand taels of Blue Silver; oh, and do you guys still need detoxification pills? I guarantee they'll keep you alive, and they're very cheap, ten thousand taels of Blue Silver each.

These four fellows wasted four detoxification pills, each costing ten thousand taels, for a total of forty thousand taels of Blue Silver; they were here with me for so long, so they also need to pay two thousand taels of Blue Silver for the storage fee;

In addition, dealing with you has cost me a lot of mental energy. This mental distress fee is naturally indispensable. I'll charge you a bit less, just twenty thousand taels! So, you only need to compensate me six hundred and sixty thousand taels of Blue Silver, and our grievances will be settled."

Six hundred and sixty thousand taels?

What a greedy demand!

Not only were Gao Fengshan and the other seven enraged, but even the onlookers outside the fence gasped. Even Lan Xiaozhu, who was unhappy with the Gao family, felt a pang of pain for them despite her shock.

However! What was this "storage fee"? And what was this "mental distress fee"? Everyone was utterly confused by the items Ye Tong mentioned.

"I agree!" Gao Fengshan clenched his fists, calculating that as soon as they were free, he would kill this damned brat in front of him.

Ye Tong rolled his eyes and said, "If you agree, then agree! Why are you still standing there? Pay up!"

Gao Fengshan heard this and angrily said, "Do you think I carry such a large sum of money with me at all times?"

Ye Tong deliberately showed surprise and asked, "Six hundred and sixty thousand taels of Blue Silver, which is sixty-six thousand taels of Blue Gold. Is this small amount too much for you, the dignified head of the Gao family? Are you kidding me?"

"Small amount?" Gao Fengshan laughed in extreme anger, wishing he could grind Ye Tong into dust.

Ye Tong shook his head and sighed, "Never mind, seeing as your Gao family is truly poor, I won't force you. As long as you're willing to sign an IOU for me later, I'll let you leave."

"Haha... Letting them go like this would be too easy for them, wouldn't it?"

A hearty laugh came from the crowd. Jin Qiusheng, with a ruddy complexion, squeezed through the crowd with several guards and said, "Brother Ye Tong, you've really made me search for you! From yesterday to today, I've almost sent people to turn the entire county city upside down."

Ye Tong smiled and asked, "Brother Jin, what do you need me for?"

Jin Qiusheng smiled and said, "Of course, I want to host a banquet at Piaoxiang Tower to fulfill my duties as a host! Besides, little brother, you saved our lives, and we must express our gratitude."

Ye Tong said, "Saving others is also saving oneself. Brother Jin, you don't need to take it to heart."

Inside the formation, Gao Fengshan's expression froze. An unbelievable feeling grew in his heart. He never dreamed that Jin Qiusheng, Second Master Jin, would appear at this moment, nor that Second Master Jin had such a life-or-death friendship with Ye Tong.

"Damn it..." Gao Fengshan really wanted to curse, but he was afraid!

His Gao family was barely considered a third-rate family in the county city, while the Jin family ranked among the second-rate families. Moreover, Jin Qiusheng was infamous; he was simply a scoundrel. Anyone who dared to provoke him would surely meet a miserable end.

Ye Tong turned to look at Gao Fengshan and smiled, saying, "I was originally a kind person, but I was forced to be a villain! Never mind, it's better to forgive than to fight. As long as he's willing to sign an IOU, all grievances will be settled, and I won't pursue them further."

"You're still a kind person?!" Hearing Ye Tong's words, Gao Fengshan's mouth was filled with bitterness. His heart felt like he had swallowed a fly.

Future troubles!

Gao Fengshan had originally planned to kill the scoundrel in front of him the moment he stepped out of the formation. Who would have thought that someone would come to back him up, and someone he couldn't afford to offend? This forced Gao Fengshan to swallow his pride and suffer in silence.

"Kid, you're ruthless. I'll give it to you!" Gao Fengshan took out a stack of gold notes from his embrace, pulled out a gold note worth sixty-six thousand taels, and said, "We're even."

"No!" Ye Tong's face suddenly showed anger, and he shouted loudly.

"Huh? Why not?" Gao Fengshan's expression was stunned, and Jin Qiusheng was also somewhat surprised. The surrounding onlookers were even more confused.

Didn't he just say that the grievances could be settled? Was he going back on his word?

Ye Tong glared at Gao Fengshan and shouted, "I hate liars the most, especially liars who have deceived me. You clearly have enough gold notes on you, yet you lied to me saying you didn't. Do you really think I'm easy to bully? I think you agreed verbally just now, but you were planning to default on the debt. Right now, I'm in a bad mood. Add more money, increase the amount for my mental distress fee."

"Can a person be this shameless?" As soon as Ye Tong said this, everyone around was speechless. Even the Medicine Slave standing by couldn't help but turn his face away, a blush appearing on his old face, out of shame.

Gao Fengshan gritted his teeth and said word by word, "How much more do you want?"

Ye Tong thought for a moment and said, "One more tael!"

"Just one tael?" Gao Fengshan frowned into a "川" shape upon hearing this. He could accept it somewhat in his heart, so he took out another tael of Blue Silver.

Ye Tong removed the formation. After the sixty-six thousand taels of gold notes and one tael of Blue Silver were handed over to him, he looked at Gao Fengshan and said, "Patriarch Gao, as the saying goes, it's better to resolve enmities than to create them. But if you want to send me gold and silver in the future, I don't mind accepting it. When you go back, I hope you'll discipline your precious son well and let him cause more trouble and bring more disaster to your Gao family."

"Thank you for your guidance..." Gao Fengshan didn't even look at Ye Tong again. He cupped his fists towards Jin Qiusheng and then, along with his Gao family members, left in a dejected manner.

Ye Tong stuffed the gold notes into the Medicine Slave's hand, then showed a shy expression to Jin Qiusheng and said, "Brother Jin, you've seen a joke. I can't help it; I'm poor, you know? I have to seize every opportunity to make money to survive."

"You're still poor?"

Jin Qiusheng almost burst out laughing. Just after that small beast tide, Ye Tong must have gained hundreds of thousands of taels of Blue Silver, right? Also, he had sent people to inquire, and Ye Tong had previously sold pills here, likely earning a lot as well.

"By the way, do you still have pills for sale here?" Jin Qiusheng asked.

Ye Tong smiled and said, "A little."

Jin Qiusheng waved his hand and said, "How much will it all cost? I'll take it all."

Ye Tong looked at Jin Qiusheng's ostentatious display of wealth and felt a bit amused. After counting the remaining pills, he said, "I'll give you a discount. Just give me four hundred thousand taels of Blue Silver."

"Good!" Jin Qiusheng found that the price Ye Tong sold to him was almost half that of the pills sold in other shops, which increased his good impression of Ye Tong. He readily took out four gold notes worth ten thousand taels and handed them to Ye Tong.

Then Jin Qiusheng took out another calling card and solemnly handed it to Ye Tong, saying, "Tomorrow night, I'm hosting a banquet at Piaoxiang Tower. I hope my brother Ye Tong can make it to discuss matters."

"Alright!" Ye Tong nodded in agreement.

If not for today's events, he might not have accepted the invitation. However, Jin Qiusheng's arrival had changed Gao Fengshan's attitude and saved him from trouble, indirectly earning his favor. To refuse again would be ungrateful.

Seeing Ye Tong agree so readily, Jin Qiusheng's satisfaction doubled. He glanced around, noticing the crowd gradually dispersing. He leaned closer to Ye Tong and said in a low voice, "There's something I wanted to ask, brother Ye Tong, have you heard about it?"

Ye Tong asked, "What is it?"

Jin Qiusheng said, "In the past few days, many important figures from the capital have arrived in the county city. I heard that the Princess will also be coming. The County King has secured the qualification to set up a Teleportation Array for the Sky Net Empire. His Majesty is greatly pleased and intends to reward the County King handsomely!"

A Teleportation Array? Ye Tong's face showed surprise at the mention of it.

He had heard of Teleportation Arrays and had even been curious about them before. He hadn't expected that the Sky Net Empire would be able to set one up in the near future. After all, with a Teleportation Array, cultivators from the Sky Net Empire would find it much easier to travel to other countries.

Ye Tong said, "I haven't heard about that yet."

Jin Qiusheng chuckled, "I'm already trying to find a way to get an invitation to the County King's mansion banquet. If I manage to get one, I'll take you to broaden your horizons."

Ye Tong chuckled in amusement, "Brother Jin, I'm not interested in that. If you really want an invitation, I might be able to help you get one."

"You?" Jin Qiusheng looked at him strangely, then said with a wry smile, "Brother Ye Tong, it's not that I look down on you, but do you really think the County King's mansion is your backyard? That you can just get one if you want? In the entire county city, or even the whole Zifu County, the number of people who can get an invitation to the banquet is extremely limited."

"You still don't believe me," Ye Tong said with a hint of annoyance. "As the saying goes, where there's a will, there's a way."

Jin Qiusheng still didn't believe him and shook his head with a smile. "Never mind. If you can get one, consider me owing you another favor. I'm leaving now. Remember, Piaoxiang Tower tomorrow night."

"Alright!" Ye Tong nodded gently.

Tian-character Pavilion, Room 109.

In the elaborately carved and painted pavilion, in an antique room on the second floor, a rich scent of ink and paper permeated the air. Lan Tianyu, with her elegant demeanor, was quietly admiring a painting she had just finished.

"Miss, Miss..."

Lan Xiaozhu suddenly rushed in like a gust of wind, her face beaming with excitement. "The Gao Family really came to cause trouble for Ye Tong, haha... Today's show was even more exciting than yesterday's."

Lan Tianyu turned around, surprised. "More exciting? What happened?"

Lan Xiaozhu nodded vigorously, her face flushed with excitement. "It's a shame you didn't go to watch, Miss, otherwise you would have been clapping and cheering too! That Ye Tong is simply... simply a bizarre person. I laughed so hard today."

Lan Tianyu asked, "Who is Ye Tong?"

Lan Xiaozhu said, "It's that young man I told you about before!"

Lan Tianyu suddenly understood and became interested, smiling as she said, "Then tell me, what exactly happened today?"

"Mhm, mhm!" Lan Xiaozhu began to narrate vividly.