Fool

"One tael of silver?! He's that rich?!"

Lin Guoliang and the others were all stunned.

Looking at the tael of silver in Yang Ling's hand, they subconsciously swallowed.

They worked themselves to death, and several of them together could only scrape up ten copper coins.

The nearby miners also swallowed, their eyes gleaming.

The copper coins they earned on ordinary days were basically all spent on food and drink.

Even if they had saved some, they weren't qualified to exchange them for broken silver.

It could be said that among all the miners in the vast Fire Crystal Vein, only a handful possessed any broken silver.

Uncle Wang clicked his tongue inwardly, but reacted quickly and shouted at the miners:

"Little Yang has brought out his entire fortune. Give him some face and let this matter go!"

"Fine, we'll give Little Yang some face."

"Those little bastards got beaten up today. They probably won't dare do it again next time."

Several miners immediately crowded forward, took the tael of silver from Yang Ling, and prepared to have Steward Niu break it up for distribution.

Seeing this, Ma Hou's face turned green, then white.

Yang Ling slowly walked over to Officer Chen.

"Let me see the wound."

Officer Chen gave a weak smile.

"It should be nothing serious. Thanks, Brother Yang."

He'd adapted to the local customs pretty quickly?

Yang Ling smiled, pried open Officer Chen's hand, and found a thumb-sized gash on his forehead, blood streaming out of it.

He took out a bottle of Golden Wound Medicine and sprinkled it over the wound.

The bleeding stopped at once.

He glanced at Officer Chen's status panel.

His Strength was 6, quite a bit higher than an ordinary person's, and his Health was 60. Right now, only a little over 20 remained.

With this bottle of Golden Wound Medicine, he should recover nearly all his Health after resting for a few days.

Chen Xu felt his scalp tingle as he watched. He hadn't expected Officer Chen's injuries to be so serious. If he hadn't received treatment in time, the consequences would've been unimaginable!

Suddenly, Officer Chen's expression changed.

"Watch out!"

A gust of wind swept in.

Yang Ling grabbed the pickaxe behind his back.

Ma Hou was slightly startled and instinctively tried to yank the pickaxe back, but it didn't budge at all.

Yang Ling gave it a light shake, and the pickaxe fell into his hand.

The nearby miners looked at one another.

"What skill!"

Officer Chen exclaimed in amazement.

Chen Xu and the others were also shaken.

Everything had happened far too quickly.

Even they hadn't noticed Ma Hou launching a sneak attack.

They hadn't expected Brother Yang to defuse it so casually.

"Yang Ling, standing up for them means you're breaking the rules here!"

Ma Hou said fiercely, though his heart was weak.

Yang Ling said nothing. He simply stepped forward, grabbed Ma Hou by the neck, and slowly lifted him up.

Ma Hou's face flushed red as he desperately clawed and kicked with both hands and feet.

Yet Yang Ling didn't move in the slightest. Even his arm showed no tremor.

"That strength..."

Not only were the miners dumbfounded, but the Fire Crystal Vein guards watching the spectacle exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of gravity in the other's eyes.

One of the vein guards muttered to himself:

"Steward Niu's guess was probably right. This kid's background isn't simple."

Uncle Wang and the others clearly hadn't expected the normally gentle Yang Ling to possess such terrifying strength.

"Spare... spare me..."

Ma Hou clutched Yang Ling's tiger's mouth tightly with both hands. His eyes kept rolling back, and his tongue had already slipped out involuntarily.

"Little Yang, if someone dies, we'll have to report it to Constable Lin in the city. What a hassle. Give me some face and let him go."

Steward Niu slowly walked over.

The miners around him immediately stepped aside, their gazes filled with respect.

That was because Steward Niu was usually rather fair in his dealings. Thus, aside from Supervisor Wu, Steward Niu held the highest prestige among the miners of the Fire Crystal Vein.

Yang Ling released him. Ma Hou immediately collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at Yang Ling.

"Steward Niu, about what happened today..."

Yang Ling said thoughtfully.

"The dispute over the ore has been settled. You handled it well."

"As for Ma Hou's sneak attack on you just now, he'll be fined ten jin of Fire Crystal Ore."

"From now on, he must turn in a full ten jin of Fire Crystal Ore before he can start receiving payment again. How does that sound?"

Steward Niu said with a smile.

"I have no objections."

Yang Ling nodded slightly.

Ma Hou's face grew even paler when he heard that.

Ten jin? How was he supposed to eat and drink during that time?

"All right, then disperse. Work comes first."

Steward Niu waved his hand.

The nearby miners obediently dispersed on their own.

Ma Hou didn't dare linger either and left in a miserable state.

After settling the matter, Steward Niu slowly returned to his seat and sat down again.

"Brother Yang, that medicine of yours is really good. I already feel much better."

Officer Chen slowly stood up, looking pleasantly surprised.

What kind of medicine was that? Why was it so effective?

Based on his experience, even if this injury didn't kill him, he'd still need ten days to half a month to recover.

"They sell it at the pharmacy. Five copper coins a bottle. Golden Wound Medicine."

Yang Ling said with a faint smile.

Five copper coins a bottle?

That wasn't expensive.

Chen Xu and Officer Chen both thought so instinctively.

Chen Xu hurriedly cupped his hands.

"Brother Yang, we owe you for stepping in today. Otherwise, Officer Chen... and the others would've definitely been in trouble."

"I lent that tael of silver to you. Pay me back when you get the chance."

Yang Ling said.

Chen Xu froze for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"I definitely will!"

A tael of silver was a lot, but he believed that as long as he was given some time, he would definitely be able to earn it!

"Brother Yang, we're injured too. Can you give us some Golden Wound Medicine?"

Lin Guoliang walked over while supporting Wu Meng.

"There's no more."

Yang Ling said casually.

Lin Guoliang was slightly taken aback. "You just happened to use it all up?"

Then he changed his tone. "Then can you lend me a tael of silver? I'll definitely pay you back."

"No."

Yang Ling said.

Lin Guoliang hadn't expected such a decisive refusal. Feeling utterly humiliated, anger crept into his voice.

"You think I won't pay you back? Why are you looking down on people like this?"

Yang Ling looked Lin Guoliang up and down.

"What are you doing?"

Lin Guoliang instinctively sensed danger.

The next second, Yang Ling raised his hand and slapped him.

Smack—

Lin Guoliang was knocked to the ground, his cheek instantly swelling red.

His Health visibly dropped by a chunk.

"How dare you hit someone!"

Wu Meng was both shocked and furious as she kicked at Yang Ling.

Smack—

Yang Ling backhanded her with another slap.

Wu Meng felt the world spin around her as she fell to the ground.

The four newcomers had originally still harbored a few thoughts, but now every one of them was completely clear-headed.

"Idiots."

Yang Ling cursed casually, then said to Chen Xu and Officer Chen:

"I probably won't be at the Fire Crystal Mine anymore. You need to follow the rules here. Follow them properly, stay out of the mine tunnels, and surviving won't be difficult."

"Brother Yang, you're leaving?"

Chen Xu was slightly startled.

He wanted to ask more, but Yang Ling had already strode away.

Only after Yang Ling had left did Lin Guoliang get back to his feet and start cursing furiously.

"Guoliang, stop cursing."

Chen Xu said flatly.

"Chen Xu, didn't you see him hit me?! He even hit Mengmeng!"

The veins on Lin Guoliang's forehead bulged.

"Officer Chen, let me take you back to rest. Don't go down into the mine for the next few days. Focus on recovering."

Ignoring Lin Guoliang, Chen Xu supported Officer Chen and left.

"Fine, Chen Xu, fine! Fine, fine, so it's all my fault, is it? What did I do wrong?! I just wanted to earn us a few more copper coins so we could fill our stomachs!"

Lin Guoliang roared.

Chen Xu didn't respond. Officer Chen seemed to have noticed something as well and remained silent.