Wu Chengli had always been arrogant, never expecting to be defeated by this young man in just one move. He was utterly unwilling to accept it.
"Are you Cheng Xiaofan from Zhuxi Village?" Wu Chengli glared at Cheng Xiaofan with malice, gritting his teeth as he asked.
Cheng Xiaofan chuckled and replied, "Yes, Young Master Wu. Aren't you convinced?"
"You dare to cause trouble on my territory, did you even greet me?"
"You still dare to have wicked thoughts about my wife, aren't you afraid I'll cripple your eyes?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist, and two streams of energy shot directly into Wu Chengli's eyes.
"Ah—"
Wu Chengli let out another earth-shattering, soul-stirring scream, "My eyes... my eyes are gone!"
The bodyguards, who had just stumbled out of the lake, saw that Wu Chengli's eyes had become two bloody holes. They were all petrified on the spot.
What kind of ruthless person was this!
He could actually do such a thing!
"Why are you all standing there blankly?"
Cheng Xiaofan yelled at the bodyguards, " Hurry up and get your Young Master Wu out of here. If you scare my goddess, you'll all lose your eyes here!"
The bodyguards, terrified, quickly picked up Wu Chengli, who was lying on the ground, and fled like a gust of wind.
"Chao, isn't that Wu Chengli a young master from a hidden affluent family? How did he end up like this, being beaten so badly here?"
"I heard Wu Chengli has quite impressive skills. Is he really that fragile?"
"No way, one moment a 'downhill tiger' and the next a deflated cat?"
"Who is so formidable to dare provoke the young master Wu of Jiangcheng?"
From a distance, a few people wandering by the lakeside, having witnessed everything that happened, were all aghast and began to discuss amongst themselves.
Cheng Xiaofan's senses were sharp. Even though they were at a distance, he heard every word of their conversation.
However, he didn't pay much attention to what others were saying.
His primary concern was the feelings of his own dear goddess.
When Cheng Xiaofan arrived at the island in the center of the lake, he had already sent Zhang Dibao away. Now, only he and Bai Yiling remained on the island.
"I'm sorry I let you see blood!"
Cheng Xiaofan said to Bai Yiling like a child who had made a mistake.
Bai Yiling was indeed startled by the bloody scene.
However, she then recalled that back at the village office, she had seen Bai Jianshan spitting blood and collapsing after being beaten by a Daoist priest. In a moment of impulse, she had wished she could kill that wretched priest.
At this moment, Bai Yiling glanced at the strangers milling around Nanshan Lake and said, "Xiaofan, I know you wanted to use this opportunity to kill one and warn a hundred, to show those people."
"Let them know you're here, and they shouldn't have any ulterior motives on Nanshan Lake!"
"..." My own dear goddess truly understands me!
Cheng Xiaofan was so touched that he didn't know what to say.
He nodded and eloquently replied, "Yiling, you understand me best. You're right. If I don't act ruthlessly, in two days, this Nanshan Lake will be a mess because of them."
"They might even drain Nanshan Lake dry in search of what they want!"
Bai Yiling asked, "Xiaofan, tell me honestly, what are these people coming to Nanshan Lake to search for?"
With no outsiders present, Cheng Xiaofan certainly wouldn't hide anything from his goddess.
"Okay, I'll tell you honestly. They want to find the source of the dragon's energy here!" Cheng Xiaofan immediately told her about the leak that occurred last night.
Hearing this, Bai Yiling was utterly stunned.
After a while, she finally regained her senses and said, "Last night the weather was abnormal, with thunder and lightning. It turns out it was because the dragon's energy leaked here, which then caused the divine fish to overturn their pond?"
Cheng Xiaofan said, "Yes. Beneath this lake, there should be an underground river, and this underground river happens to be a dragon vein, which also connects to Bai Mang Lake."
At this point, Cheng Xiaofan decided to be completely honest with his goddess about why deep-sea lobsters appeared in Bai Mang Lake.
In Zhuxi Village, he had developed and cultivated quite a few things.
For example, Golden Tea, Happy Wine, Divine Fish, and so on.
But he truly didn't have the ability to cultivate deep-sea fish and shrimp in a freshwater lake.
Hearing this, Bai Yiling finally understood why her mysterious man was so determined to lease Bai Mang Lake.
It was as good as picking up money!
Moreover, the deep-sea fish and shrimp sold for very high prices.
She never expected that a pure and honest country farmer would also have the cunning face of a profiteer!
"Yiling, what I've told you, absolutely do not leak it to my parents!" Cheng Xiaofan said, feeling a bit guilty, as if he were hiding something.
He was worried that his parents might not be able to keep their mouths shut and reveal the matter to others.
Wine makes men bold, and wealth tempts the heart.
If others knew that Cheng Xiaofan was getting money for nothing at Bai Mang Lake, how would the villagers see him?
Even if Cheng Xiaofan had the best reputation among the villagers, it would collapse.
Bai Yiling heard him and gave him a charming look, smiling mischievously, "Okay, I won't say anything. But having a secret of yours held by me is also a sense of accomplishment!"
"..." For a moment, Cheng Xiaofan didn't know how to respond to Bai Yiling.
However, he was happy no matter how his goddess teased him, and he even had a roguish grin on his face, appearing to be greatly enjoying himself.
"It seems dealing with just Young Master Wu isn't enough to deter those people!"
Cheng Xiaofan's gaze swept across the surroundings of Nanshan Lake and he noticed several people sitting in pavilions, looking nonchalant, with fishing rods cast into the lake, fishing.
After these pavilions were built, Bai Yiling had instructed people to erect signs at the main entrances to Nanshan Lake, stating that anyone fishing there must register at the duty room on the island in the center of the lake.
Any divine fish caught must not exceed two jin, and would be priced at four hundred yuan per jin.
Clearly, those people were not blind and had not noticed the sign, or they simply disregarded the instructions on it.
These cultivators came here to fish with the intention of finding dragon's energy within the fish.
In their minds, since dragon's energy had appeared in Nanshan Lake, it must have been absorbed by many fish in the lake. By catching and eating the fish, they could absorb some dragon's energy as well.
They would naturally ignore the instruction limiting the catch to two jin.
At the time, the fishing limit was also proposed by Cheng Xiaofan to Bai Yiling.
Since the divine fish were exclusively supplied to Pinweige, Cheng Xiaofan was worried that other hotels might secretly send people to pose as fishing enthusiasts and concentrate their fishing efforts here, thereby competing with Pinweige for business.
"Should we call some people to confiscate their fishing rods?" Bai Yiling asked at this moment.
Cheng Xiaofan's gaze swept over the anglers with indifference and he chuckled, "No need. These people have too much malevolent energy. If we send someone to confiscate their fishing rods, they might get crippled!"
"Let's leave them for Bao Qibao and Potian Ying to deal with."
"This pair of beasts has undergone some mutation and has never fought with cultivators before. Why not let them come and practice their skills!"