Chapter 69: Personally Demonstrating What It Means to Laugh Too Hard—and Pay the Price
Di Tian looked at Fan Chen in front of him, who was rattling off demands as smoothly as if calling out dishes, and felt utterly speechless.
Judging by Fan Chen's posture, this wasn't a request for compensation at all—it was outright taking advantage of the situation.
A dignified Beast God being shaken down by a brat like this—no one would believe it if it got out.
"I'm telling you, kid, that's enough. Don't push it too far," Di Tian said darkly. "Do you think immortal herbs and divine fruits are like ordinary fruit you can just pick whenever you want?"
"And asking soul beasts for soul bones—why don't you go dig up your ancestors' graves and pry their skulls out to give me instead?"
Scarlet King was the first to lose patience and cut off Fan Chen's endless chatter directly.
"You're soul beasts—do you really have such taboos?" Fan Chen asked innocently.
Scarlet King fell silent.
Soul beasts didn't really have such taboos, but couldn't you at least put yourself in someone else's shoes?
Didn't it feel wrong to say something like that?
What an utterly tactless brat.
"Water of Life can be given to you," Scarlet King finally said. "But immortal herbs and fruits—we can only spare you a few stalks. There's no more than that."
"As for the soul bones you mentioned, sorry. We don't have the habit of collecting other soul beasts' bones, so there's no way to give you any."
At this moment, a beautiful woman in a flowing emerald-green dress finally spoke up. She had been standing beside Di Tian all this time without saying a word.
She was Biji, the Jade Swan—an existence with cultivation exceeding six hundred thousand years and currently the strongest healing-type soul beast on the continent.
Among the Fierce Beasts, her status was second only to Di Tian. Her words carried real weight.
Seeing that Biji had spoken, Fan Chen wisely chose to stop while he was ahead.
From the very beginning, he hadn't expected Di Tian and the others to fully satisfy all his demands. This was mostly about testing their bottom line.
Now that he could obtain this much, he was already more than satisfied.
In the end, when Fan Chen left with Scarlet King, he took away a large number of valuable items.
Quite a few of them were even carried for him by Scarlet King—Fan Chen simply couldn't carry everything by himself.
Watching Fan Chen leave, Di Tian was utterly speechless.
"Hm? Xiong Jun, why are you so quiet today? Changed your nature?" Di Tian asked.
Xiong Jun shot him a look full of resignation.
'Wasn't it you who told me not to butt in?'
'Besides, I may be reckless, but I'm not stupid.'
'I have no intention of provoking that kid and getting my fortune severed. More importantly, you being embarrassed has nothing to do with me.'
...
Meanwhile, on the other side,
Because Fan Chen had been gone for so long, Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others were growing increasingly anxious.
Soon, Qian Renxue was the first to lose her composure—she wanted to go look for Fan Chen.
Just as she was about to get up, Xiao Bai grabbed her.
"Don't worry, sister. Big brother is back."
As soon as Xiao Bai finished speaking, Fan Chen and Scarlet King appeared in everyone's view.
To get rid of Fan Chen as quickly as possible, Scarlet King had brought him back at full speed.
At this point, he genuinely didn't want to see this kid anymore. He was far too offensive.
Both were auspicious beasts—so why was the difference between them so huge?
Because of the excessive speed, Fan Chen felt dizzy when Scarlet King set him down.
Before he could fully recover, a figure suddenly threw herself into his arms.
Caught off guard, Fan Chen nearly lost his footing and fell to the ground.
When he realized it was Qian Renxue in his arms, he spoke helplessly.
"It's fine. I told you I'd come back. I never lie."
"Mm."
Hearing Fan Chen's voice brought immense relief to Qian Renxue.
The time he was gone had been pure torment for her. If Xiao Bai hadn't stayed by her side the whole time, she might have already rushed out to find him.
"I've delivered him back to you," Scarlet King called out toward Golden Crocodile Douluo. Then he looked at Fan Chen. "Remember what you promised. Take good care of Xiao Jin—or I won't let you off."
"Don't worry. I'll treat her like my own little sister and take meticulous care of her," Fan Chen replied calmly.
He didn't mind Scarlet King's slightly threatening tone at all. After all, he had taken so many good things—wasn't it fair to let him vent a little?
"Hmph."
Scarlet King snorted, gave Xiao Jin one last look, and then left without another word.
Everything that needed to be said had already been said. There was no need to say more and risk unnecessary trouble—after all, the more you said, the more likely you were to slip up.
Watching Scarlet King depart, Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others gathered around him.
"What did you do?" Golden Crocodile Douluo asked, staring in the direction Scarlet King had left.
His attitude was clearly very different from before.
Before leaving, his gaze toward Fan Chen had held curiosity. Now it was pure disgust.
"Nothing much. I just asked them for a bit of compensation," Fan Chen replied casually.
As he spoke, he pointed to the items Scarlet King had left behind.
There was a beast-skin bag on the ground, filled with the Water of Life Biji had given him.
Whether because they hadn't prepared in advance or did it on purpose, they had simply used crude containers to pack it.
When Guang Ling opened the bag and took out a bottle of Water of Life, he froze on the spot.
He finally understood why Scarlet King's expression had been so strange when he left.
This kid hadn't just taken compensation—he'd basically looted the place.
And the most ridiculous part? The owner had even carried the loot back for him.
No wonder he'd been given that look.
"So that's how it is. Looks like all of us worried for nothing," Guang Ling muttered.
"Always causing trouble. One of these days you'll really need a beating."
Seeing Fan Chen grinning like that, Golden Crocodile Douluo felt his temper flare.
They'd been worried sick about him, and he came back completely fine—with a pile of benefits no less—and was still smiling foolishly.
If he didn't teach this brat a lesson, he'd really start flying to the heavens.
"Hey! Master, you can't treat me like this! I clearly resolved a huge problem, okay?"
Seeing Golden Crocodile Douluo's expression turn dangerous, Fan Chen tried to bolt.
But how could he possibly escape Golden Crocodile Douluo's grasp?
He was immediately suppressed, then treated to a series of heavy smacks on the backside.
"A problem? Have you got the nerve to say that? Wasn't this trouble brought on by you in the first place?"
"Do you know how worried everyone here was about you? And you were having the time of your life!"
"Why'd you stop laughing? Go on, keep smiling!"
Golden Crocodile Douluo punctuated each sentence with a slap, beating Fan Chen until he yelped nonstop.
At this moment, Fan Chen was personally demonstrating what it meant to laugh too hard—and pay the price.
Nearby, Qian Renxue wanted to step in to stop it, but couldn't find a proper reason, so she could only stand there helplessly.
As for Xiao Bai, every time Golden Crocodile Douluo beat Fan Chen, he hid himself away tightly to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Meng Xiaoyan, on the other hand, watched with great interest.
She had never seen Fan Chen pinned down and spanked before.
Now she finally had material to tease him with—especially since he always mocked her for losing to Da Bai.
Di Yue sat quietly to the side, her watery eyes wide with curiosity as she watched Fan Chen get his butt smacked.
This was her first time seeing such a scene—it was… surprisingly novel.
After venting his anger, Golden Crocodile Douluo finally let Fan Chen go.
But under his "loving care," Fan Chen's rear was already visibly swollen.
Fan Chen looked utterly miserable—this was truly an unwarranted disaster.
Not only had he been beaten, but all the benefits he'd brought back were confiscated as well.
He was left with nothing but the work.
What a tragedy.
Fortunately, Qian Renxue stayed by his side to comfort him—otherwise, he might have really shut down emotionally.
After a brief rest, Fan Chen turned his attention to Di Yue sitting nearby.
She was still sitting quietly, unmoving.
When Fan Chen walked up to her, she finally lifted her head.
Fan Chen extended his hand toward her, wearing a gentle smile.
"Hello. My name is Fan Chen. From now on, I'll be your big brother. You can call me Brother Chen—or Brother Fan Chen like Xiao Xue does."
By human age standards, Di Yue was only five years old—calling him brother was perfectly natural.
After hearing his words, she nodded obediently and softly called out:
"Brother Fan Chen."
Her voice was very light—she was still a little shy—but much better than before.
However, the golden beast she was holding, Jin Bao, was still rather scared.
That was because Xiao Bai was staring over from the side like a hawk.
Seeing this, Fan Chen directly grabbed Xiao Bai.
"This matter is over. Cause trouble again and you're going into confinement—and you'll lose a meal."
Faced with the twin threats of solitary confinement and reduced food, Xiao Bai weighed the pros and cons and chose to surrender.
Thus, the white and golden little beasts finally made peace.
Soon after, the two little ones were quickly "divided up."
Xiao Bai left with Qian Renxue, since he usually stayed with her anyway.
As for Jin Bao, it was snatched away by Meng Xiaoyan.
Because Xiao Bai was always clinging to Qian Renxue, Meng Xiaoyan rarely got the chance to hold him.
Now that there was a new Jin Bao, she naturally claimed it.
Girls simply had no resistance to fluffy creatures—and Meng Xiaoyan was no exception.
Di Yue had no objections to Meng Xiaoyan taking Jin Bao.
As an auspicious beast, she could sense that Meng Xiaoyan harbored no ill intent.
As for Di Yue herself, she became Fan Chen's little shadow—following him wherever he went.
The three-person team officially became a four-person team with Di Yue's addition.
Because of this unexpected incident, Golden Crocodile Douluo and the others had no choice but to end the trial early.
After helping Meng Xiaoyan quickly obtain her first soul ring, they returned to Spirit City at once.
—
End of Chapter