"Did I ask for too much?" Ouyang Hai asked with a miserable look.
"What do you think?" Li Yichen said, caught between laughter and tears. "Who wouldn't be scared half to death hearing that number?"
Atamu laughed and chimed in, "Still, it felt pretty satisfying... serves them right for stirring up trouble."
But Lu Sheng and the others soon came around.
He said bluntly, "We don't have any money. Kill us or skin us alive—do whatever you want."
"Is that so?" Ouyang Hai pretended to think, then said quietly, "How about we take them back? The women can warm our beds, and the men can do hard labor until they've paid it all off."
Although Ouyang Hai hadn't spoken loudly, their keen hearing let them catch every word. Their faces turned green the moment they heard his suggestion.
"That wouldn't be right, would it?" Li Yichen said with a feigned frown. "With that much money, they couldn't pay it off in a hundred years. Why don't we just let them go?"
Hearing that, they immediately decided Li Yichen was a truly good man. They were so grateful they didn't know what to say.
"That's letting them off far too easily. I won't agree to it." Ouyang Hai pursed his lips in displeasure.
"Then why don't we see what valuables they have on them? A token payment will do," Li Yichen said casually.
Ouyang Hai pretended to mull it over before saying reluctantly, "Fine. For your sake, I'll let them off easy. Consider it charity for these paupers."
Lu Sheng and the others breathed a sigh of relief, but being called paupers still left a bitter taste in their mouths. They stared at Ouyang Hai with aggrieved, indignant expressions.
"What are you staring at?" Ouyang Hai demanded. "Hurry up and take