"Help! Oh, help!"
In less than half an hour, several agonizing screams echoed from ahead, startling the cultivators milling around the shore and nearly making them lose their souls.
Those cries were truly horrific!
Some cultivators looked towards the source of the sound and saw a dog and an eagle each holding a person in their mouths, tossing them back and forth on the ground. With every toss, there was a sickening thud.
The two men were battered and bloody, almost unrecognizable.
"Am I seeing things? Aren't those two Fang Peng and Tong Dana from Pigeon Mountain?"
"Indeed, your vision is perfectly normal, they are indeed Fang Peng and Tong Dana!"
"Heavens! These two are renowned rogue cultivators, masters in the martial world. How could they be made to look so pathetic by a dog and an eagle?"
"Are the dog and eagle from this Zhuxi Village so formidable?"
"Yi Ling, let's go collect the compensation!" Cheng Xiaofan, seeing the time was right and it was time for him to make an appearance, said to the white goddess beside him.
Bai Yi Ling smiled, "Alright, I'll listen to you!"
"Bip bop bip bop!"
Sensing their master's will, the Dragon Fish emerged from the depths of the lake, soaring into the sky with a whoosh.
Cheng Xiaofan immediately embraced his white goddess, leaped into the air, twisted mid-flight, and landed steadily on the Dragon Fish's back.
Those who were nearby watched in stunned silence.
What kind of divine maneuver was this?
Not only could this fish in the lake fly, but it could also carry people?
Amidst the foolish gazes of the crowd, the Dragon Fish carried Cheng Xiaofan and Bai Yi Ling in a circle in the air before flying forward.
"Look, a Dragon Fish!" someone exclaimed.
"That fish has horns on its head and long whiskers under its jaw. It truly looks like a Dragon Fish!"
"Wow, this is truly magical!"
It was no wonder that even after Cheng Xiaofan had dealt with two groups of people, others were still fishing.
Nanshan Lake was vast, and if you dealt with someone in one area, others elsewhere might not witness it.
Cheng Xiaofan arrived at his destination and, embracing Bai Yi Ling, gracefully dismounted the Dragon Fish once more.
"Woof woof!"
"Chirp—"
Taotie Bao and Potian Ying saw their master arrive and immediately moved aside, conveying, "Master, we've already brought these people to their knees. The rest is up to you."
Cheng Xiaofan scanned the ground and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Five men lay on the ground, all built like oxen. Judging by the aura emanating from them, they were all masters who had broken through the third realm of Innate cultivation.
At this moment!
They were all clad in rags, their faces smeared with dirt, lying there and wailing endlessly.
Where had these beggars crawled out from to be bullied into such a state by a pair of beasts?
If one were to call them cultivators, wouldn't that be an utter disgrace to everyone who made a living in the cultivation world?
"Stop your howling here!"
Cheng Xiaofan walked over with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the damaged items nearby. He said coldly, "Tell me, how much compensation should be paid for these damaged items?"
"Who are you? Why should we pay you?" one of them yelled hysterically.
Cheng Xiaofan walked over, grabbed him from the ground, and delivered a series of slaps to his face, right and left. His face immediately swelled up like a pig's head.
"I am the infamous scoundrel of Zhuxi Village. You came to my territory to fish without even a greeting, and you dared to fight my dog and eagle. Who gave you the courage?"
Upon hearing that the dog and eagle belonged to this scoundrel, the men instantly cowered.
Earlier, they were too focused on their tears and hadn't seen Cheng Xiaofan arrive, embracing a peerless beauty and riding on a Dragon Fish.
Had they seen that, they wouldn't have been so arrogant.
Anyone who could ride a fish and fly was clearly no ordinary person!
"How much do you say?" someone asked Cheng Xiaofan, feeling wronged.
Cheng Xiaofan immediately put on a friendly smile and said, "Seeing your pathetic state, you must have been thoroughly dealt with by my dog and eagle. I won't ask for too much. How about this, give me ten million as compensation, just a token of your sincerity!"
Ten million?
And it was just a token?
"Aren't you robbing us?" another person shrieked.
Cheng Xiaofan shook his head and said, "Then twenty million. Not much, is it?"
Ten million doubled, and he still said it wasn't much? Did that mean twenty million was less than ten million?
Who taught you your math?
"What, do you think twenty million is too much? Then let's make it thirty million. No, forty million. You should be satisfied now, right?"
Seeing their dumbfounded silence for a long time, Cheng Xiaofan's face lit up with joy.
"Satisfied, we are satisfied!" one of them quickly said.
He finally understood that this rogue was not playing by the rules.
If they delayed any longer, forty million might become a hundred million.
Although the five of them could afford a hundred million, it wasn't easy money to earn.
Hearing the man's words, Cheng Xiaofan's expression appeared quite helpless, and he sighed heavily, saying, "Alas, ten million turning into forty million in the blink of an eye. What a loss!"
"It's all because I, this village overlord, am too soft-hearted!"
With that, he recited his bank account number and said, "Hurry up and transfer the money to my bank account!"
Ding!
Before long, forty million had arrived in the account.
Cheng Xiaofan smiled at his white goddess and said, "See? I am so kind, I have successfully accepted compensation from others!"
"..." You're handsome, so everything you say is naturally reasonable.
No matter what her man said, Bai Yi Ling always found it to be the right thing to say.
As Cheng Xiaofan received the forty million, he glanced around the lake's edge and his expression changed.
There wasn't a single person fishing to be seen.
Cheng Xiaofan had wanted to extort tens of millions more, but now he couldn't find anyone to target.
The strangers were still milling around Nanshan Lake, their eyes never leaving the water. Some held fishing rods but dared not cast them into the lake.
Should he target those holding fishing rods, to make his persona as a village overlord even more vivid and imposing?
But if he did, wouldn't it scare these cultivators away, making them never dare to set foot in Nanshan Lake again?
Long-term vision is essential!
At any time, a person cannot just focus on immediate gains.
To make big money, one must learn to leverage the dragon qi that had once leaked from Nanshan Lake and make something substantial of it.
Cheng Xiaofan's eyes darted around, and a new idea formed in his mind. He immediately called out the Dragon Fish from the lake and instructed, "Take the White Goddess and me to the island in the center of the lake!"