This celestial master cultivates both physical and magical arts; why did you provoke him?

A stone gate.

The stone gate is embedded in the rock wall at the bottom of the lake, about three meters high and two meters wide, and is covered with symbols.

It's that same eye again.

The stone door was half-open, and a faint green light shone through the crack.

That intense yin energy surged out from behind the stone gate.

Xia En stared at the stone door for a few seconds, then reached out and pushed it open.

The door is very heavy, weighing at least several hundred kilograms.

But it meant nothing to him.

The stone door creaked open, revealing a deep, dark passage behind it.

The passage leads upwards and is filled with water, but the water is colder than the outside temperature, chilling to the bone.

Xia En swam in.

The passage was short, only a dozen meters long. He quickly swam to the end.

Another stone gate.

The door was open this time.

He swam in and surfaced.

This is a natural underground cave, approximately one hundred square meters in size.

There were some glowing minerals on the top of the cave, emitting a faint green light that illuminated the entire space.

In the center of the cave, there were two people.

A man and a woman, both very young, probably in their early twenties. They lay on the ground, unconscious, their faces pale and their lips blue.

But he's still alive.

Xia En breathed a sigh of relief, walked over, and squatted down to check their pulses.

It's weak, but it's still jumping.

He was about to wake them when he suddenly felt something behind him.

A chilling aura clung to the back of his neck.

He slowly turned around.

In the corner of the cave, something was crouching.

That thing looked like a person, but it wasn't a person.

It huddled in the corner, its body covered in black scales, with long, thin limbs and webbed fingers.

Its head was bald, with no ears or nose, only a pair of huge eyes.

His pale eyes, with pupils the size of pinheads, were staring intently at Xia En.

Xia En looked at it, and it looked at Xia En.

"Gurgle..."

The thing emitted a series of low, guttural sounds, as if it were speaking, or perhaps issuing a warning.

Xia En didn't move.

That thing didn't move.

The silence lasted for about ten seconds.

Then Shane spoke up.

"Did you bring these two people?"

The thing tilted its head, as if it understood.

It stretched out its slender arm, pointed at the two people, and then pointed at its own mouth.

Xia En understood.

It wanted to eat them.

"No," Shane said. "They are my clients."

The thing tilted its head, as if trying to understand the word "customer".

Then it opened its mouth, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and let out a sharp roar.

"hiss--!!!"

The sound echoed in the cave, shaking the stone walls.

Xia En stood still, his expression unchanged.

"Your yelling at me won't do any good."

He said, "I have to take the person with me."

That thing got angry.

It darted out from the corner with astonishing speed, reaching Shane in almost an instant.

Its slender claws plunged straight into Shane's throat, its sharp teeth bared, emitting a foul stench.

Xia En didn't dodge.

He punched the thing in the face.

"Bang--!!!"

The creature's head was knocked off balance, and its entire body flew backward, crashing into the stone wall with a loud "boom," causing half of the wall to collapse.

It was embedded in the rubble, twitched twice, and then remained still.

Xia En withdrew his fist and patted the water off his hands.

"this one?"

He turned around, picked up the man and woman, and carried them on either side of his shoulders.

Then he walked to the cave exit and looked back at the thing embedded in the stone wall.

It was still alive, its pale eyes staring at him, filled with fear and anger.

Xia En looked at it and suddenly said:

"Next time, don't eat people, eat fish. There are plenty of fish in the lake."

After saying that, he jumped into the water, carried the two people, and swam out.

On the lake, Liu Ruyan and Fang Zijian were waiting anxiously.

Ten minutes have passed, and Xia En still hasn't come up.

"Is he alright?" Liu Ruyan paced back and forth anxiously.

"No, no."

Fang Zijian said this, but his palms were sweaty.

Cuihua floated on the lake's surface, looking down at the water's bottom. Her eyes could see through the darkness.

But at this moment, she couldn't see anything.

The yin energy at the bottom of the lake was so dense that it even obscured her vision.

Just then, the lake surface suddenly began to churn.

"Whoosh—!"

Xia En emerged from the water, carrying two people on his shoulders.

Liu Ruyan and Fang Zijian exclaimed in surprise at the same time and quickly ran over to help.

"Quick! Pull them up!"

Several people hurriedly pulled the man and woman ashore.

Medical staff immediately surrounded them, examining their bodies, administering oxygen, and keeping them warm.

Liu Ruyan squatted down next to her cousin, looking at her pale face, tears streaming down her face.

"Sis! Sis, wake up! Don't scare me!"

Xia En climbed out of the lake, soaking wet, his hair plastered to his face, looking rather disheveled.

But his expression was calm, as if he had just come out of the swimming pool.

"They're alright."

He said, "It's just that the thing sucked away my yang energy. I'll be fine after a few days of rest."

Liu Ruyan looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears: "Really?"

"real."

Liu Ruyan breathed a sigh of relief, wiped away her tears, then stood up and looked at Xia En intently.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much."

Xia En nodded: "You're welcome, just remember to add more money."

Liu Ruyan was taken aback, then couldn't help but laugh.

"You!"

She smiled and shook her head, "Okay, more money. My cousin said it's 100,000."

Xia En nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave.

Fang Zijian caught up and whispered, "You added money again?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing..." Fang Zijian scratched his head, "It's just that I feel like it's a bit... that you always ask for extra money to solve problems."

"What's up?"

"A bit... greedy?"

Xia En glanced at him: "Me, greedy?"

Fang Zijian quickly shook his head: "No, no, I was just saying..."

Xia En didn't say anything and continued walking forward.

After taking a few steps, he suddenly spoke.

Do you know why I charge money?

Fang Zijian was taken aback: "Why?"

"Because if I don't charge money, more people will come to me."

Fang Zijian was even more confused: "Isn't that a good thing?"

"That's a good thing."

"But it's also a bad thing," Shane said.

He stopped and looked at the distant sky.

"Evil spirits are not something one person can deal with. If I help people for free, more and more people will come to me, and I won't be able to save everyone."

He paused.

"Taking money is to let those people know that this is not a trivial matter. They have to take it seriously and pay the price."

"Only in this way will they take it seriously, be careful, and avoid putting themselves in danger."

Fang Zijian fell silent.

He had never thought about this question.

"Besides," Shane suddenly laughed, "who doesn't like money these days?"

Fang Zijian: "..."

Okay, there's no way to refute that.

Liu Ruyan overheard this conversation from behind, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up in her heart.

She had always thought that Xia En accepted money because he was greedy, but now she knew the truth.

He did it on purpose.

They deliberately used money as a barrier to keep out those who weren't serious.

He deliberately used a nonchalant appearance to conceal his true abilities.

This person is far more complex than she imagined.