30: Chapter 30 Slaying the Dragon's Fury, a Ten Million Dollar Deposit

The morning sunlight filtered through the half-rolled metal shutter of the Funeral Shop, casting an oblique glare over the scratched glass counter.

Tiny dust particles floated in the air.

That pitch-black bank card, edged with dark gold patterns, lay quietly at the junction of light and shadow, radiating the heavy, oppressive aura unique to capital.

"Clack."

Fatty Wang's half-eaten crab roe xiaolongbao dropped to the floor, splashing golden crab oil all over his trouser legs.

His already small eyes were now locked onto the black card on the counter.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down with difficulty, and even his breathing stagnated.

Ten million!

If this sum of money were exchanged for hundred-yuan bills, it would be enough to pile up into a small mountain inside this cramped Funeral Shop.

For ordinary people, this was an astronomical figure that couldn't be earned in several lifetimes.

Lin Ye stood behind the counter, his expression as calm as stagnant water.

He didn't touch the card; his gaze swept past it and landed on the silver-haired elder in a gray Zhongshan suit standing before him.

The elder leaned both hands on an intricately carved Phoebe zhennan cane, his back held straight.

Years had carved deep gullies into his face, yet his slightly murky eyes revealed the sharpness and worldly shrewdness unique to those in high positions.

Beside the elder, a hulking bodyguard in a suit stared at Lin Ye with a gaze that appraised a piece of prey.

The man's posture looked relaxed, but his feet were firmly planted in the stance of internal martial arts, his knuckles covered in thick calluses.

"You are quite generous, Elder, throwing away a fortune with a single toss."

Lin Ye casually picked up the celadon teapot on the counter, poured two cups of cheap jasmine tea, and pushed one of them forward.

"This cup of tea is on me. As for this money, until I understand the background, this Lin dares not accept it."

Hearing this, the suit-clad bodyguard's expression suddenly darkened.

He suddenly took half a step forward, a fierce punch wind carrying a malevolent aura rushing straight at Lin Ye's face:

"The old patriarch visiting in person is giving you junior an immense amount of face. Asking you to take the money and get things done, how dare you hesitate and evade?"

The bodyguard's aura was exceptionally terrifying; an ordinary person facing the coercion of such an internal martial arts master would likely turn weak at the knees on the spot.

But Lin Ye didn't even lift an eyelid.

He just stood quietly in place, the abundant Pure Yang Qi within his body acting like an active volcano on the verge of erupting.

Sensing the outside hostility, the Pure Yang Dao Body operated spontaneously, and a layer of scarlet protective Qi invisible to the naked eye instantly covered the surface of his body.

The bodyguard's fierce malevolent aura collided three feet in front of Lin Ye, only to vanish without a trace instantly, like a clay ox entering the sea.

Instead, a supremely rigid and yang counter-shock force followed the air and slammed fiercely into the bodyguard's chest.

"Ugh!"

The bodyguard let out a muffled grunt, his hulking frame violently swaying twice as he retreated three steps in succession before barely managing to steady himself.

Clutching his chest, he looked at the seemingly weak and scholarly young man before him with utter shock, deep apprehension surging from the depths of his eyes.

Relying solely on his released aura without even moving a hand, he had forced back an internal martial arts master!

"A-Biao, stand down. You must not be rude to Boss Lin."

The elder in the Zhongshan suit lightly tapped the ground with his cane, speaking out to halt the bodyguard who was about to step forward again.

In the gaze he directed toward Lin Ye, there was an extra hint of undisguised appreciation:

"A hero truly emerges from the youth. The rumors outside say that a true dragon is hidden in Taiping Old Street, and seeing you today, this old man believes it."

Just at that moment, a faint shimmer flashed across Lin Ye's retina, and the system's tingling notification chime sounded punctually in his mind.

"Ding! "My Lord, Please Behave Yourself" System prompt: Detected a top-tier wealthy merchant seeking help, triggering the side story quest 'Bizarre Events of the Richest Song Family'. Please make a choice within three minutes!"

[Option A: Treat money like dirt — Slap the black card right onto the old man's face, shout loudly "Do not bully a young man into poverty, this lord is not short of money", and turn around to return to the room to sleep.]

[Reward: Obtain the title "Nemesis of Wealth-Obsessed People".

Consequences: You will lose a colossal sum of ten million and leave behind a notorious reputation as a lunatic in Jiangzhou City's metaphysical circle.]

[Option B: Greedy at the sight of money — Without any bottom line, pounce forward to hug the old man's thighs, crying out "If Your Excellency does not abandon me, this one is willing to acknowledge you as an adoptive father".]

[Reward: Face thickness + 50, Yang energy value - 10 (qi and blood flow hindered due to being overly disgraceful).

Consequences: Aura completely shattered, Leng Yue will immensely despise your spinelessness.]

[Option C: Demeanor of an expert — Sit securely on the fishing platform, figure out the ins and outs first before making a decision, maximizing professional competence and aura.]

Reward: Husband points + 200, the Song family master and servant's reverence greatly increased, obtain one Xuanmen magical artifact [dragon seeking ruler].]

Facing these three choices, Lin Ye chuckled inwardly.

This system usually had no proper form, but when it came to serious matters, it knew how to weigh the pros and cons.

"I choose C."

Lin Ye's mind stirred slightly as he casually pulled over a chair to sit down, picked up the jasmine tea before him, took a light sip, and spoke in an unruffled tone:

"Elder Song, let us sensible people speak without hidden meanings. Ten million is merely a deposit, which means the matter you want handled far exceeds ordinary levels of peril. Tell me, what kind of evil spirit did you actually encounter?"

The elder let out a long sigh, a mask of hard-to-conceal fatigue and sorrow appearing on his weather-beaten face.

"This old man is Patriarch Song Zhenguo, serving as the helmsman of the Jiangzhou Song Group. The ten million in this card cannot buy power, nor can it buy fame and fortune; I only ask Boss Lin to save the life of my ill-fated granddaughter."

Fatty Wang beside him drew a sharp breath, whispering in astonishment beside Lin Ye's ear:

"Yezi! Patriarch Song Zhenguo! The richest man in Jiangzhou City, that Song God of Wealth whose businesses occupy half of Jiangnan Province!"

Lin Ye waved his hand to signal Fatty Wang to be quiet, his gaze fixed tightly on Patriarch Song Zhenguo: "What happened to your granddaughter?"

Patriarch Song Zhenguo crossed his hands over his cane, his voice trembling slightly:

"Half a month ago, my granddaughter Ruobing went back to the Xishan ancestral residence for ancestor worship. The Song family's ancestral residence was built deep within Xishan. Back then, we invited a grandmaster of feng shui from Hong Kong to examine the terrain, and it was designated as an exceptional feng shui treasure land known as 'Divine Dragon Drinking Water', destined to ensure my Song family's prosperity for three generations."

"Yet on the very night of the ancestor worship, the century-old ancient well in the backyard of the ancestral residence turned crimson without warning, reeking of a foul, fishy stench..."

"Ruobing went to the backyard to check, and collapsed unconscious on the spot. She was rushed overnight to a private hospital in the city, where top experts from all walks consulted, and while all physiological indicators were completely normal, she simply couldn't wake up."

Speaking of this, a trace of fear flashed through Patriarch Song Zhenguo's murky eyes.

"If it were merely a coma, that would be one thing, but starting from the third day, every midnight, Ruobing would bizarrely crawl up from the hospital bed! Using both hands and feet, she would climb onto the ceiling like a beast, spitting out esoteric and hard-to-understand strange syllables."

"All doctors and nurses who approached her were frostbitten by the black Qi emanating from her body, resulting in severe illness at best, or instant shock at worst. The Song family spent a heavy fortune inviting five or six waves of experts from Taoist temples, but all were helpless, and even two Daoist priests suffered backlash and vomited blood on the spot..."

After listening to Patriarch Song Zhenguo's narration, Lin Ye's brows locked tightly together.

The knowledge of the Primary Talisman Compilation and True Explanations of Feng Shui spun rapidly in his mind.

"Divine Dragon Drinking Water formation?"

Lin Ye sneered, tapping his fingers lightly on the glass counter.

"Elder Song, that feng shui master you invited back then probably only understood the first part, not the second."

Patriarch Song Zhenguo was stunned: "What do you mean by those words, Boss Lin?"

Lin Ye stood up, staring sharply at Patriarch Song Zhenguo, and opened his professional commentary mode:

"The so-called Divine Dragon Drinking Water requires flowing water to pass through the hall and a low-lying dragon vein; if the water is clear and cold, wealth will flow in abundantly. For the well water to turn into a crimson color with a fishy stench, in the Liqi school of feng shui, this is called [Dragon-Severing Malice]!"

"Dragon-Severing Malice?"

Patriarch Song Zhenguo and the bodyguard A-Biao looked at each other in dismay.

"The underground dragon vein was forcibly severed by someone, Yin Qi poured backward into the water eye, and the underground cinnabar vein was eroded by malevolent Qi, which then dissolved into the well water and transformed into the so-called 'blood water'."

"With the dragon vein severed, great resentment will inevitably arise at the fracture point. Your granddaughter happened to approach the ancient well at the node where Yin Qi was most rampant; this was by no means an ordinary encounter with evil spirits, but rather her soul being seized by an earth-malice evil entity crawling out from the broken dragon vein!"

Lin Ye's words were resolute and powerful, every single word striking precisely at the nodes of metaphysical theory.

Patriarch Song Zhenguo listened with cold sweat trickling down.

This young man hadn't even visited the scene, yet relying merely on a few descriptions, he had dissected the essence of the matter so thoroughly.

This discernment and cultivation far exceeded those so-called sect leaders from famous mountains and great rivers invited previously.

"Master Lin! Since you can see the crux of the matter, you must surely have a way to resolve it!"

Patriarch Song Zhenguo changed his form of address, a hint of entreaty creeping into his tone.

Just as Lin Ye was about to speak, a faint sound of footsteps suddenly came from the wooden staircase.