"I am here to send you out of this world," the hunched old man said as he walked towards Lu Fan. His feet stepped on the water's surface, yet not a ripple was made, nor did his shoes get wet.
The hunched figure exuded killing intent. His originally aged face bore eyes that gleamed with sharp light, and his hands, like hooks, lunged towards Lu Fan's neck. Lu Fan, however, seemed frozen in a daze, not knowing to dodge.
*Hmph...* The Second Senior Sister, who was bathing in the water, sensed the danger and abruptly lifted her head. *Hoo...* She leaped towards the old man.
*Swish...* The old man merely lifted a foot and leaped over the Second Senior Sister, his body still lunging towards Lu Fan, his claw-like hands still reaching for Lu Fan's neck.
*Pfft...* Just as the claws were about to land on Lu Fan's neck, the old man suddenly stopped in mid-air. His face, previously filled with killing intent, was now etched with astonishment. He looked down at his abdomen, only to see a wooden sword embedded there. He instantly felt like a puppet impaled on the sword, unable to move.
"Second Senior Sister, let's go up the mountain!" Lu Fan said calmly, his expression cold.
*Hoo...* The Second Senior Sister turned, carrying Lu Fan on her back, and sprinted towards the mountain on the other side of the river. Lu Fan held the wooden sword in his hand, with the old man dangling from it.
"Seventy-two Earthly Fiends Formation? You haven't lost your memory!" Seeing the formation on the mountain, despair filled the old man's eyes.
"It was a coincidence, I just remembered a little. However, it's enough to deal with clowns like you," Lu Fan said calmly again. "This Seventy-two Earthly Fiends Formation requires seventy-two puppets as its core. The stronger the puppets, the greater the formation's power. When the Seventy-two Earthly Fiends Formation is complete, I will be able to recall all of my... One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to ten thousand... Similarly, those ten thousand can return to one. That's why I've always hoped you would come sooner..."
As Lu Fan spoke, he placed the unwilling old man into the Seventy-two Earthly Fiends Formation. *Swish...* The formation vanished, and so did the man.
...
In the villa's courtyard, Lu Fan sat on the ground, slowly whittling a wooden sword.
With a creak, a police car stopped at the villa's entrance. Two people alighted from the car, dressed in uniform. One was a middle-aged man, and the other a woman in her early to mid-twenties.
*Whoosh...* The main door was pushed open, and the two walked directly towards Lu Fan.
"You are Lu Fan?" the middle-aged man asked Lu Fan.
"What is it?" Lu Fan looked up lazily at the middle-aged man and asked.
"The town's police chief and a civilian officer are dead. We're conducting a routine investigation! We heard you had a dispute and even fought the day before. Is that true?" the middle-aged man said.
"Yes, not only that, they also extorted ten million yuan from me before letting me go. I was so happy when I heard the news yesterday that I rode a pig around the mountains," Lu Fan said with a hint of excitement.
"We now suspect you of retaliatory murder! Can you provide evidence that you didn't kill them?" the middle-aged man suddenly said.
"No! Can you provide evidence that I killed them?" Lu Fan looked up at the police officer in surprise and asked.
"Yes!" the middle-aged man stated resolutely.
"Come on... Those two fellows did a lot of bad things, and there should be quite a few suspects. You must have prepared a lot of such evidence, right?" Lu Fan said calmly, looking at the middle-aged man.
"That's not your concern. Just tell me, what do you intend to do about this matter!" the middle-aged man said impatiently.
"You can get out! Otherwise, I'll sue you for trespassing," Lu Fan said, lowering his head to continue whittling the wooden sword.
"Kid! You'll regret this!" the middle-aged man said, leaving a parting shot before turning to leave.
After leaving the villa, the two got into the car. The girl suddenly said to the middle-aged man beside her, "Second Uncle, this kid is quite arrogant. But among the targets, he's the wealthiest."
"I never thought those two bastards would extort ten million yuan from this kid. Even if he has money, he's probably been extorted so badly he can't even afford underwear. Let's go find the families of Yang Wenwu and Li Long, those two bastards. We should be able to get a few million out of them," the middle-aged man grumbled.
"Second Uncle, we're fake. Are we going to trick the real police? Isn't that too risky!" the girl said anxiously.
"Hmph, what's there to fear from the real ones? The real ones are ghosts now. Drive!" the middle-aged man said dismissively.
Lu Fan looked at the wooden sword he had just finished whittling and smiled slightly. Suddenly, a golden rune quietly merged into the wooden sword.
"Master! Why are you making another wooden sword?" At this moment, Duanmu Xiu returned and ran over upon seeing Lu Fan.
"Why aren't you practicing today? Where did you go?" Lu Fan asked with a smile.
"I went to gather some mountain goods and just sold them for over a hundred yuan. Look..." Duanmu Xiu excitedly showed Lu Fan the over one hundred yuan. This was her first pot of gold.
"Hahaha! Amazing! Little girl, Master is learning to make money too!" Lu Fan burst into laughter. He hadn't expected this little girl to actually go out and earn money.
"Impressive, right! Master, don't worry, I'll support your whole family from now on," Duanmu Xiu said, puffing out her chest.
"Xiu'er, there's actually another way to make money," Lu Fan said with a sly smile.
"What way?" Duanmu Xiu's eyes widened as she asked.
"Look there..." Lu Fan pointed to the small fish pond nearby and said with a wicked smile, "There are quite a few lobsters, big crabs, and various fish. Just selling a couple of them could fetch several hundred yuan."
"N-no, right? If Mistress finds out, she'll beat me!" Duanmu Xiu blinked her big eyes a few times, but still shook her head.
"Don't worry, I'm here! I'll take the blame for this!" Lu Fan patted his chest righteously.
"Hehe! Really!" Duanmu Xiu started to giggle.
...
Lu Fan and Duanmu Xiu stealthily approached the small fish pond with large net bags, carefully lowering the nets into the water. Because the pond water was very clear, they could see a foot-and-a-half-long lobster successfully enter the net.
"Scoop... scoop..." Lu Fan shouted from the side.
*Swish...* Duanmu Xiu immediately lifted the net.
"Haha! We did it! We did it..." Duanmu Xiu burst into laughter.
"You want to eat lobster! Alright, I'll cook it for you." Suddenly, a voice appeared behind the two.