Chapter Thirty: Repaying Debt with One's Body!

  "Get out of here!" After the First Elder and Third Elder left, Blue Wave let out a loud roar in the corner, "Hmph! You little brat, you actually dared to come out on your own."

  "Haha!" Blue Liet burst out laughing and walked out of the darkness, accompanied by Cold Wudi and Sun Teng!

  "Dead kid, what are you laughing at?" Lan Tao bellowed in anger. Seeing his grandson's smug smile, he was truly displeased!

  "Haha, you've got a turtle son! Ahah! Doesn't that make you an old turtle too?" Lan Lie laughed shamelessly, heh heh, it felt so good in his heart! Who let this old man order people to lock him up, causing him to not see Little Bing for several days, waaah...

  "Die, you little brat! If I'm an old turtle, then you're a turtle grandson!" Lan Tao retorted, not willing to show weakness. Hmph! This stinky little kid thinks he can fight him? He's still too tender!

  The remaining members of the Lan family, who had not yet left the scene, made excuses to leave one by one after hearing the conversation between the grandfather and grandson, so as not to become their scapegoats.

  "Hmph! I'm not a turtle grandson." Lan Lie refused to admit it.

  "Kid, I say you are you!" Blue Wave said with an overbearing tone.

  "Old man, your turtle son has already been knocked unconscious by you, but the turtle granddaughter is in the hands of those few Fire Phoenixes, so don't randomly acknowledge relatives!" Lan Lie said with a very unflattering tone. Heh heh, he now admired Cold Ruo Xue to the point of worship! How were her beasts all so fierce?!

  "What did you say, you little scamp?" Blue Wave glared with wide eyes and bellowed.

  "Haha, I'm going to see Xiao Bing!" Lan Lie said, and immediately summoned his own beast, quickly flying away from the Lan family's main mansion. He had barely escaped, but didn't have time to argue with this old man!

  Leng Wudi and Sun Teng saw Lan Lie's departure and also summoned their beast pets, leaving the Lan residence under Lan Tao's angry gaze.

  At this time, Da Zhang Lao and San Zhang Lao were on their way to the inn where Leng Ruo Xue and others were staying.

  "Great Elder, how are we going to tell Leng Ruoxue about this?" asked the Third Elder, he really hadn't expected that there would be a Huo Feng by Leng Ruoxue's side.

  "I don't know either!" The Great Elder was somewhat embarrassed, sighing. The Second Elder had offended those few Phoenixes and they demanded compensation, so it's unlikely that no one will be punished.

  "What are we going there for?" The three elders asked with a puzzled expression.

  "Go and get in touch with her!" The Great Elder thought of a good reason, everyone around Cold Snow had dragons as their beast pets, and she herself had the Fire Phoenix. Alas! What a powerful fighting force this was! So, they couldn't help but attach importance to it, and also reevaluate Cold Snow's value!

  The residence of Leng Ruoxue and others.

  Feng Ling'er and the others have returned to the inn.

  "Ah, Snow Sister!" Feng Ling'er casually tossed the blue bird-shaped Ning'er onto Cold Ruo Xue's shoulder.

  "Ling'er sister, you've had a hard time." Cold Snow comforted her, she knew that Feng Ling'er had been treated unfairly at the Lan's house, so she was feeling quite upset.

  "It's not that I'm not working hard, it's just that the Blue family doesn't know what's good for them. They even dare to attack us! But that old man isn't any better off either, his hair and beard were all burned away by me!" Feng Ling'er said with a proud expression.

  "Haha, girl, these few beast pets of yours are really formidable. The Blue House is going to suffer a great loss this time." Old Man Zhang, who had just returned to the inn after going to the Blue House to watch the commotion, exclaimed excitedly.

  "Heh heh, girl, we're going to get rich again." The old man who went with them also said happily. They were originally in the guest house, but after seeing Huo Huang transform into his true form, they immediately rushed to the Lan family. Unexpectedly, they got to see such a wonderful scene!

  "What's the reaction of the Lan family?" asked Leng Ruo Xue, she didn't believe that the Lan family would obediently hand over the money. Although she had been staying in the guest house and hadn't gone to the Lan family to watch the commotion, because of her contract with the beasts, she was clear about what they were doing. The only thing she didn't know was how the people of the Lan family reacted.

  "Lan Tao has already agreed, it seems he won't go back on his word." Old Man Zao said thoughtfully.

  "If I'm guessing correctly, the Great Elder should already be on his way here." said Leng Ruoxue calmly.

  "Haha, Xiao Xue, you guessed it!" Blue Lie's voice rang out in everyone's ears.

  "How did you get here?" Cold Snow slightly furrowed her brow and asked lightly, it had been several days since she last saw Blue Lethal, she thought he wouldn't be coming back!

  "Wooo... Xiaoxue, you're rejecting me!" Lan Lie's eyes were filled with tears, pretending to be pitiful!

  "Is it? Did you just realize?" said Leng Ruoxue with a faint smile.

  "Wo... Xiaoxue, I'm just here to deliver a message, how can you treat me like this?!" Lan Lie said pitifully, looking extremely wronged.

  "You're a member of the Lan family, and you can't wait to eat inside and peel outside?" Leng Ruo Xue said somewhat speechlessly. The way this grandfather and grandson from the Lan family interact is truly one-of-a-kind!

  "Heh heh, how did you know?" Lan Lie said with some embarrassment. This lifetime's greatest wish of his was to see that old man get punished!

  "It's just a guess." said Leng Ruoxue.

  "Hey, Little Snow, let me take a look at Little Ice!" Lan Lie begged, this was the main purpose of his visit.

  "Xiao Bing is sleeping on the bed! However, don't wake it up, its temper hasn't been good these past two days." Leng Ruo Xue reminded with some helplessness.

  "Mmm, I know, I'll just take a look," Lan Lie guaranteed, then crept quietly to the bedside and sat down, staring intently at Bing Qi who was sleeping soundly.

  Leng Ruo Xue saw Lan Lie's deep expression and thought to herself, Hmm! Lan Lie wouldn't really have any improper thoughts about Xiao Bing Bing, would he? Hopefully not! Otherwise, Xiao Bing Bing will bite him to death!

  Just as Leng Ruoxue was lost in thought, the Eldest Elder and Third Elder arrived. The two of them greeted everyone in the room with a bow and asked how they were doing before turning their attention to Leng Ruoxue.

  "I don't know what brings the two venerable elders to my humble abode, may I ask what is the purpose of your visit?" Cold-as-Snow asked directly, looking at the two old men who had just entered the room.

  "Hmm! Little girl, just now several fire phoenixes and silver wolves went to our Blue House, they are your pets, right!" The Great Elder glanced at the carelessly discarded Blue Ning'er on the ground, who was only covered with a piece of broken cloth, his mouth twitched, and he spoke.

  "Hmm, Lan Ning'er came to find trouble with me and was taught a lesson by my beast. I saw that they didn't have the ability to return to the Blue House on their own, so I had Ling'er sister go to the Blue House once, planning to send them back to you all. However, it seems like they got into conflict with someone from your Blue House." Cold Snow said in a cold tone.

  "Ah, it's all a misunderstanding." The elder said with some helplessness.

  "Was it a misunderstanding? I don't know, but anyway! Originally, I wanted to do something good, but unexpectedly, such a thing happened. My beasts are very sad, and just now they told me that their fragile hearts were hurt!" Lan Ruoxue said with a hint of dissatisfaction, her face full of blame towards the Blue House.

  "The...the..." The elder was speechless.

  "Haha, little girl, we can be considered familiar with each other now. Can't you just let it go and not make a big deal out of it?" The Third Elder said with a stiff face.

  "Two elders, I recall telling you to keep certain people from the Blue family tied up and not let them out. Otherwise, I'll take care of it myself. And you also promised me that you wouldn't harbor them, right?" Cold Snow didn't answer Third Elder's question, but instead asked directly.

  "Hmm! Yes, but we didn't cover up for them, did we? Haven't they already been left to your disposal?" The three elders retorted with thick faces.

  "But I'd like to know, how did Lan Ning'er end up coming to bother me? Didn't the Great Elder already lock her up?" Leng Ruoxue asked with a hint of skepticism as she looked at the Great Elder.

  "She... she ran out by herself." The Third Elder wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, pushing all the blame onto Lan Ning'er's body. Alas! He couldn't say that Big Brother had let Lan Ning'er go in order to teach Leng Ruoxue a lesson.

  "Xiao Xue, Third Elder is deceiving you. Lan Ning'er was intentionally released by that old man to cause trouble for you." Blue Lie suddenly spoke up, exposing the Third Elder's lie.

  "Oh!" Cold as snow, seemingly smiling yet not smiling, gazed at the three elders and faintly uttered an "oh".

  "You little stinker, is this how you repay kindness?!" The Third Elder was furious! Not caring about anything else, he directly chased and beat Blue Lava in the room!

  "I'm telling the truth! Didn't you teach me that good kids shouldn't lie?!" Lan Lie was extremely wronged, covering his head and scurrying around to hide, finally running to the old man's back for shelter.

  "Hey, senior, don't protect him, I want to teach this stinky little brat a lesson." The Third Elder said very respectfully, he already knew the identity of this old man, so naturally he didn't dare to be rude in front of him.

  "What's there to teach? I think he's right! Kids, after all! Honesty is good, dishonesty is what needs to be taught!" The old man said with a hint of meaning.

  "Hmm!" The three elders' foreheads dripped with cold sweat, their hearts racing with anxiety. They thought to themselves, "It can't be that the dishonest child is referring to him, right?" Alas... he was also forced into this situation! This whole mess was caused by the family head stirring up trouble for no reason!

  "Third Grandfather, you can't escape from doing something wrong! Don't cover up for that old man!" Someone supported him, and Lan Lie became even bolder.

  "You stinky little brat, that's your own grandfather!" the three elders thundered.

  "Hmph! In front of him, I'm always calling him old man!" Lan Lie said disapprovingly.

  "Alright, you want to quarrel and fight, go back to your Blue House to do it. Now, First Elder, Third Elder, you must give me an explanation." Leng Ruoxue coldly spoke up, she was not willing to become a sacrifice in the struggle between the Blue House's ancestors and descendants, so she would not let go of any benefits that were due to her.

  Eh! The two elders were stunned. Had they heard wrong? Leng Ruoxue was actually asking them to explain themselves, what explanation?!

  "Little girl, what do you want us to do for you?" The elder asked somewhat foolishly. Had he really grown old? Why couldn't he understand what this little girl was saying?

  "You have lost my trust, shouldn't you give me an explanation? I thought the Blue family had always emphasized honesty. Isn't that so?" Leng Ruoxue said slowly, looking at the two Blue family elders with a hint of suspicion.

  "Of course it is, but... does this count as a breach of trust?" The elder wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and equivocated.

  "Oh, well, I suppose it's different for everyone then. Anyway, in my opinion, you two didn't keep your promise to me, which means you've lost my trust. Of course, if you don't think so, that's fine too." Leng Ruoxue said nonchalantly, her face full of understanding towards the two of them.

  "Hmm, little girl, what do you want to do?" The Third Elder said somewhat helplessly. He had only just realized today that this little girl was really too troublesome. No wonder she dared to pry into the secrets of the Lan family and even dared to discipline the people of the Lan family.

  "In my hometown, there's a rule that if two parties agree on something and one party breaks the agreement, they have to pay a penalty to the other party." Leng Ruoxue said with a smile, her expression was so sincere.

  "Penalty fee?" The two old men finally understood, this means they still want money! This little girl's family has already taken a lot of money from the Lán family, how can she not let them off? It's really too hateful, this little girl is truly a bloodsucker!

  "Hmm, you need to pay me a breach of contract fee." Leng Ruoxue said calmly.

  "We don't have any money." The two old men said in unison, deciding to play dumb collectively.

  "No money? No problem, you can work for me to pay off your debt if you don't have any." Leng Ruoxue said with a cold smile.

  "Huh? Working to pay off debts?" The two old men were stunned, what's this about working to pay off debts? Does it mean working for this little girl?

  "Working, as the name suggests, means you two will work for me from now on until you pay off your debt to me. And that includes food and lodging!" Leng Ruoxue knew these two old men definitely didn't know what "working" meant, so she directly explained it to them.

  "Hmm? Then how long will we have to work for you?" The Great Elder couldn't help but ask, only then realizing that Cold-as-Snow's intention was for them to become her subordinates.

  "It depends on your work ability, if you are not capable enough, then it might be for a lifetime." Lan Xue was very considerate in her words. These two old men were from the Blue family and were respected elders with noble status, they definitely wouldn't do manual labor.

  "A lifetime? Then how much do we owe you in total?" The three elders suddenly remembered, the most important thing hadn't been asked yet! They still didn't know how much they owed Leng Ruoxue, if it wasn't a lot then they could just give it to her, he didn't want to work for someone else after all!

  "Two billion purple gold coins!" Leng Ruoxue stretched out two fingers and said.

  "What? You're openly robbing us! How could we owe you so much money?" The elder growled, his face red with rage.

  "Who made your identity and status so high! If it were an ordinary person who breached the contract, they wouldn't have to pay so much money. But you're different, with your status, I'm still giving you a discount! Each of you will be 10 billion, for a total of 20 billion!" Leng Ruoxue explained.

  "If you don't have the money to pay, then use part-time work to repay the debt. Of course, if you're shameless and neither want to repay the money nor do part-time work, I, an ordinary citizen, can't do anything about it either. However, your reputation will be completely ruined!" Leng Ruo Xue continued to remind them, blocking all their escape routes.

  "Grandfathers, you'd better take the money!" Lan Lie couldn't help but remind them, heh heh, Leng Ruoxue was really ruthless. It's not easy to get these two old men to fork out 20 billion Purple Gold Coins, it's harder than taking their lives!

  "You little scamp, where did you get so much money from?!" The Third Elder bellowed in anger.

  "You can ask that old man for it! Anyway, all these things are caused by him." Lan Lie said with some schadenfreude, his tone as if the money of the Lan family had nothing to do with him.

  "You stinky little brat, are you really a member of the Lan family or not!" The Great Elder couldn't help but scold with laughter, how did this kid's elbow manage to bend outward?!

  "I'm a Lan family member, of course, but I'm a just Lan family member. I stand on the side of justice." Lan Lie said with a straight face, actually he just wanted to see that old man make a fool of himself, so he would take Cold Snow's side, heh heh!

  "You little stinker, just you wait, I'll deal with you when we get home!" the elder said with a huff.

  "Alas! Little girl, the penalty you want is too much, can't it be less?" The Third Elder sighed heavily and said in a negotiating tone.

  "Alright! However, the amount of liquidated damages is based on your identity and status. If you think your identity and status are not worth that much money, then paying less is also acceptable." Lan Ruo Xue said indifferently.

  The two elders were speechless again, because they found that they couldn't outtalk Leng Ruoxue at all, and she had already said everything. If they asked for a reduction in the penalty, it would be self-deprecating, so they could only admit defeat!

  "Besides, I've said it before, if you want to default on the debt, there's nothing I can do about it. At most, I'll just let everyone on the Vast Heaven Continent know that the two esteemed elders of the Blue family owe a debt and refuse to pay it back!" Cold Snow said fearlessly.

  "Little girl, aren't you afraid that we'll kill you to silence you?" The tall and thin old man threatened.

  "Don't worry, before you kill me, the news of your debt evasion and murder will spread first." Leng Ruoxue said nonchalantly, heh heh, she knew that these two old men wouldn't casually take lives, let alone with her having so many secret methods up her sleeve, what was there to fear?

  After hearing Leng Ruoxue's words, the two old men were thoroughly disheartened. Alas! They knew that this little girl was not afraid of them at all, and they were not the kind of people who were extremely cruel and bloodthirsty. Moreover, it was indeed their fault, so they really couldn't do anything to these people. However, it was hard for them to swallow being robbed of 20 billion Purple Gold Coins like this!

  "Little girl, we really don't have any money. How about we work for you instead?" The two old men exchanged a glance and made their final decision.

  "Alright! Let's start working formally now! However, you'll have to start from the lowest level." said Leng Ruoxue.

  "No problem." The two old men replied very readily.

  "Grandfather, these two elders from the Blue family will be our servants from now on. If anyone needs anything done, just order them to do it, no need to be polite." Cold Snow said to everyone present.

  "Haha, great! I just happen to be short of a servant!" The old man said with glee.

  "Hmm, I'm also short of one." Lin Liang said.

  "I... I want a medicine boy, but I don't know if they can handle it." Zheng En said with some annoyance, and looked up and down at the Great Elder and Third Elder, as if thinking about who was more suitable.

  "Foolish kids, they don't even have the qualifications to be medicine boys! They can't even tell apart grass and medicine, if they ruin those precious herbs, I reckon they'll be paying for it in their next life." The old man chimed in.

  "The master is right, let them be servants!" Zheng En nodded in agreement.

  Everyone's words made the two elders, Da Zhang Lao and San Zhang Lao, break out in cold sweat. In their hearts, they secretly wondered if they were really that incompetent. They could only serve as servants; anything else was beyond them!

  "That... little girl, how much is our monthly allowance?" asked Third Elder, with several black lines on his forehead.

  "Master Du, what's the price of a slave on the Vast Heaven Continent?" asked Leng Ruoxue, turning her head to look at the old man.

  "This is hard to say! Like the Blue family, a super-rich family, because of their large business, they give their servants high monthly wages. An ordinary servant can get at least ten purple gold coins per month. For small families, one purple gold coin is already the limit." The old man thought for a moment and then said cautiously.

  "Oh, I see! In that case, we can't even be considered a small family. How about 500 purple crystals per month?" said Leng Ruo Xue after some thought.

  "Five... five hundred?" The three elders widened their eyes, asking somewhat disbelievingly, had he heard wrong? Was this little girl saying five hundred? Or was it Purple Crystal Coins? The esteemed Blue Family's third elder working for her was only worth five hundred Purple Crystal Coins?

  "Little girl, we are the elders of the Lan family. Is our value really worth only this much?" The Great Elder also asked with some difficulty in accepting it, he had lived for many years and never thought that he would be so cheap...

  "What about the Blue Family's elder? You're here to work for me, not to enjoy yourselves. Besides, you've been pampered since childhood, can you even do any real work? Do you know how to serve others?" asked Leng Ruoxue.

  "The old man couldn't say a word, they really don't know how to serve others."

  "Little girl! I admit we can't do these things, but can you arrange some other work for us? We'll be your bodyguards or something, that's no problem." said the Third Elder.

  "I don't need bodyguards, I have Xiao Bingbing. None of you can compare to it." Leng Ruoxue said matter-of-factly.

  "Hmm! Little girl, I, the great Emperor Xuan, won't be outdone by a mere puppy, will I?!" The three elders couldn't help but ask, w...he's hurt his pride.

  "You can't compare with it! If you don't believe me, go back and ask your master, then you'll know." said Leng Ruoxue with a sly smile.

  "Huh?" What does it mean? The two old men were a bit confused.

  "You go back and ask him then you'll know, today is your first day on the job, now go back! Come over early tomorrow to wait for orders." said Leng Ruoxue very kindly.

  "Oh, then we'll leave first." After saying that, Da Zhang Lao and San Zhang Lao left the inn with great depression.

  As they walked on the road, both of them were still thinking in their hearts, how did things become like this? What were they going to do when they came? Now, they are completely confused and can't even remember the main purpose of going to see Leng Ruoxue. The only thing they know is that they have also gotten themselves involved!

  The residence of Leng Ruoxue and others.

  "Xiao Xue, you really plan to let the two elders work for you?!" After the two old men left, Lan Ming, who had been silent all along, couldn't help but ask. He truly admired Leng Ruo Xue, as the master and elders of the Lan family were all at a loss with her.

  "Of course not, what would those two old men do? However, since they can't bear to part with their money, they'll just have to use their bodies to repay the debt." Cold Snow said without any sympathy, but in fact, she was secretly delighted.

  "Hey, Xiao Xue, you're really amazing! You actually made them back down. Teach me, okay?" Lan Lie ran to the front of Leng Ruo Xue, gazing at her with a worshipful expression, his bright black eyes blinking nonstop.

  "Do you really want your grandfather to be humiliated?" asked Leng Ruo Xue, somewhat speechless, she really didn't know what they were thinking.

  "Yes! That old man has been making trouble for me since I was a kid, holding me back. Whatever I like, he always ruins it, so our relationship is terrible." Lan Lie said with some annoyance, he really hated that old man to death!

  "But what I see is not like that!" Leng Ruoxue said calmly, in her opinion, the master of the Lan family was very fond of this grandson, but she didn't know what unsolvable contradictions there were between them, so it caused their current way of getting along, and she had robbed the Lan family of so much money, the master of the Lan family and those two elders hadn't been enraged, probably because of some factors related to Lan Lie, which was enough to illustrate Lan Lie's position in their hearts.

  "You're wrong, you don't understand that old man at all, you haven't even seen him!" Lan Lie said somewhat discontentedly. He had known the old man for over twenty years, what kind of person was he, how could he not understand?

  "Who says I haven't seen him? I've seen him long ago." Leng Ruoxue said somewhat helplessly, she didn't even bother to argue with Lan Lie's stubbornness.

  "When did you see him? How didn't I know!" Lan Lie said somewhat displeased, what was that old man trying to do anyway? Was he going to interfere with his friendships again?

  "The few days you didn't come, I saw him." said Leng Ruo Xue.

  "Huh? Did he say anything unpleasant?" Lan Lie asked somewhat worriedly, as that old man had always been blunt with his friends.

  "No, he just came to see Xiao Bing." Leng Ruo Xue explained with a light sigh.

  "Oh, that's good." Lan Lie felt relieved.

  "That's right, I still have something to do, so I'll take my leave first." Lan Lie said, and then he hastily left the inn.

  Leng Wudi and Sun Teng said hello to Leng Ruoxue and others, then followed Lan Lie together and left.

  "Xue Er, why is this kid so impulsive?" Leng Qing Tian asked with some puzzlement.

  "I reckon he's gone back to your place to settle scores with your dad." Lan Meng said with a knowing tone.

  "Hehe, that's their unique way of getting along with each other, something outsiders can't understand." said Leng Ruoxue with a light smile.

  Everyone was chatting when suddenly there was a knock at the door.

  "Is Miss Leng in? Someone is looking for her outside." The waiter's voice came from outside the door...

  Digression

  Thank you Li Qingxiu and Jinhui for the flowers.

  Thank you for the votes from Qīn Mèng Lí Shuǐ Xiāng, Sahasa and Zhān Fū.