The male supporting character was actually myself.

"As expected, the mortal realm truly lives up to its reputation as a world favored by the laws of Heaven! It was all because you were too inexperienced and short-sighted that I underestimated you! I shouldn't have been so high-profile. If I had known earlier, I should have secretly found a secluded mountain forest and cultivated to become a level nine expert before emerging into the world..."

"You've ruined everything!"

"You all deserve to die! Especially the thief who stole my things..."

…………

The means to become stronger is gone, as are the gold and silver valuables I had stored here for emergencies. The little silver I had was used to bribe the guards of the School Affairs Department. Now, I have nothing left but this courtyard!

But those damned debt collectors were still sitting in the main room; they couldn't pay back the money and couldn't produce the elixir...

Suffering setbacks and a damaged mental state, Lu Fan's last shred of charisma crumbled. He sat there blankly for a while before finally realizing what was happening—he couldn't just sit and wait to die!

To be able to turn Treasure Pavilion into the largest cultivator's specialty store in Kyoto, the other party must have considerable strength and background.

In that case, we must not let it fall into their hands under any circumstances, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable!

The thought of the inhumane methods of persecution sent a chill down Lu Fan's spine, urging him to run away as fast as he could.

Escape wherever you can, the farther the better. You absolutely cannot return to Kyoto until you have the ability to protect yourself!

"Lu Fan, where do you think you're going!" The experts lying in ambush around the courtyard immediately sensed that the guy with a weak aura was trying to escape, and rushed forward to capture him.

Little did he know that the other party had already set up an ambush. He was smug about how he had managed to use an array to conceal his whereabouts and sneak out of the courtyard two streets away without anyone noticing. Little did he know that he would be caught before he could even laugh out loud.

"Let me go! Who do you think you are? Just because you're rich and powerful doesn't mean you have the right to enforce the law! What right do you have to arrest me!" Lu Fan struggled desperately, roaring as he tried to make a scene in the street, hoping that only by attracting more attention could he escape the clutches of the owner of the Treasure Pavilion who was secretly detaining and torturing him.

Therefore, he disregarded everything and shouted loudly before he could be stopped from speaking.

Sure enough, a crowd soon gathered on the bustling street to watch.

"Isn't that the incredibly popular Young Master Lu? What happened to him?"

"The people who captured him were wearing Treasure Pavilion uniforms; they were probably Treasure Pavilion bodyguards!"

"Oh, Treasure Pavilion is really too arrogant, isn't it? Arresting people like this in broad daylight? Do they really think they're the Imperial Household Department?"

"I heard that Lu Fan's cooperation with the Treasure Pavilion is going quite well. That guy is sending him truckloads of gold and spiritual plants. What's going on today?"

"Hey! It must be a conflict over the unequal distribution of profits."

"No matter what, the Treasure Pavilion can't just arrest people directly. Wouldn't that be considered using vigilante justice?"

"Pah! Didn't you see Lu Fan run out of the secret passage? He must have been trying to escape but got caught..."

…………

The street was already bustling, and the crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger. In addition, Lu Fan struggled to escape, and the thugs could not knock him unconscious in the street, so they could only temporarily restrain him.

"Make way! Plainclothes officers from the School Affairs Department are here!"

The moment Lu Fan fled and the Treasure Pavilion members took action, they were immediately detected by the inescapable net set up by the School Affairs Department. They were waiting for the chaos to erupt so they could seize the opportunity, and thus arrived a little late, surrounding Lu Fan and the Treasure Pavilion members who had captured him.

"Damn it! I never expected this!" The owner of the Treasure Pavilion rushed over after receiving the news, and was so regretful that he slapped his thigh until it turned purple.

If you've known this, you should have forced someone to follow Lu Fan!

I was being a little too cautious, worried that he might have some tricks up his sleeve that could cause casualties. But since the entire Li Chen Fang, where the courtyard was located, was being monitored by the experts I had arranged, Lu Fan would have no way to escape. That's why I didn't keep a closer eye on him.

Well, that's good; the person didn't escape and was caught.

But those guys from the School Affairs Department came running after hearing the news!

Lu Fan's sale of spiritual medicines has become common knowledge, and those old monsters in the School Affairs Department must have been watching him immediately. The reason they haven't taken action is probably the same as what I thought before—they are worried about alerting the mysterious person behind Lu Fan and causing unnecessary misunderstandings.

Now that Treasure Pavilion and Lu Fan are having a conflict on the street, the School Affairs Department takes over the "fraud case" under the pretext of superhuman supervision.

Man proposes, God disposes. The owner of Treasure Pavilion was just a businessman; how could he dare to go against the School Affairs Department?

He had no choice but to go along and give a statement, watching helplessly as a living treasure, full of research potential and secrets to be unearthed, was personally taken away by one of the organizers...

"Sir, where are we going?" Lu Fan asked nervously, following behind one of the organizers.

As he walked, he looked around the school affairs office, which was predominantly black. Perhaps because the building was tall enough, he didn't feel oppressed, but the sense of majesty emanating from within still made him feel intimidated.

One of the organizers, who was leading the way with his hands in his pockets, turned around and looked at him with a smile, saying, "This is a big case for you. The owner of the Treasure Pavilion is suing you for fraud involving a thousand taels of gold."

But you turned around and reported that the courtyard had been burglarized, and that a thousand taels of gold and a precious medicine worth ten thousand gold pieces had been stolen.

You have to understand that a thousand taels of gold is no small sum for Treasure Pavilion, and on top of that, the evidence he provided also included many valuable elixirs. If they don't give the victim an explanation, with the connections of the Treasure Pavilion owner, they'll definitely make your life a living hell.

The School Affairs Department always values ​​evidence; before solving a case, they need to protect you to prevent the plaintiff from taking revenge privately.

So it's to protect himself?

A surge of warmth welled up in Lu Fan's heart. He looked down and saw that he was indeed not shackled or handcuffed. The direction he was heading did not appear to be an underground cell but a backyard. He breathed a sigh of relief and his courage grew considerably. He complained, "Sir, I am truly innocent!"

In that hidden underground chamber, I kept gold and elixirs, yet they were stolen!

"Your Honor, you must solve this case, find the thief, and clear my name!"

"Creak!" An organizer walked to a house in the backyard, opened the door, and gestured for the door to open. "Don't worry, if a thousand taels of gold were to be transported out, it would definitely leave traces. The School Affairs Department will definitely investigate the matter thoroughly and will not wrong an innocent person nor let a bad person go unpunished."

You can stay here for now. If you have any needs, just tell the guard at the door. As long as it's not unreasonable, he will try his best to meet them.

Once the school affairs department has investigated the matter, they will definitely give you a satisfactory answer.

Lu Fan peeked into the clean and simply furnished room and wondered if this meant he was being temporarily placed under house arrest.

Having a comfortable room to live in is much better than a dark, damp prison infested with rats and cockroaches!

He walked straight in, watching as the other party closed and locked the door. The guards standing on both sides of the door remained motionless, watching over the room. Lu Fan sighed, walked to the table, sat down, poured himself a cup of hot tea, and slowly drank it.

"Is everything arranged?" Li Changguang, who was still admiring the Illusion Mirror when the guard reported, smiled and said, "Let's leave him hanging for a couple of days, and I'll think about it some more. When the time is right, the School Affairs Division will be able to get all the secrets we want from him!"

For three consecutive days, Lu Fan was confined to his room.

A fairly plentiful hot meal is delivered to me every morning, noon, and evening. Apart from the lack of freedom, it's not bad.

With a "what's done is done" attitude, he meditated and cultivated every day after eating, drinking, and resting well. The resentment of the original owner's lingering soul would occasionally surface, but he would brush it off by saying that he was "a hundred times better than Ling Qiye who was in prison," and thankfully, he didn't end up with his soul leaving his body.

"Finally, I'm off duty! Standing all day is so tiring!"

"We were assigned to guard Lu Fan, who is involved in a serious case. We heard that the Treasure Pavilion said they would kill him to vent their anger, even if it meant giving up a thousand taels of gold. Although he is in the Department of School Affairs, we cannot let our guard down."

"A thousand taels of gold! If I were the owner of Treasure Pavilion, losing that much money and losing all face would mean I'd do anything to kill this guy!"

"Shh! Don't talk nonsense, hurry up and take advantage of the shift change to relax..."

…………

The two guards chatted as they walked further and further away, while Lu Fan hid by the window and listened intently.

Since being imprisoned here, he could always hear the guards whispering gossip from time to time. It sounded like the situation was not good. The theft case had not made any progress, but the news that he had deceived the owner of the Treasure Pavilion was spreading wider and wider. Now the other party had murderous intentions, and the School Affairs Department was on high alert for fear that someone would sneak in and kill him.

"Damn it, how could I be so unlucky?" Lu Fan felt a terrible headache coming on, at his wit's end. What if they couldn't find the thief's whereabouts after a long time and ended up convicting him of fraud?

Given the owner of the Treasure Pavilion's modus operandi, he would definitely torture himself to death to vent his anger!

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and Lu Fan was so confused that he couldn't sleep.

So, in his state of mind, he didn't even notice that the clear moonlight shining through the window contained a barely perceptible refracted light.

"Lu Fan! Lu Fan! Wake up and stop sleeping!" Half asleep, Lu Fan was shaken awake and opened his eyes to see a person dressed in black standing by his bed.

He was about to shout when the other person covered his mouth, saying, "Shh, I bribed the guards to sneak in."

The man in black pulled off his mask, revealing a beautiful and familiar face. He lowered his voice and said, "I'm here to save you! The School Affairs Department is about to close the case. Some neighbors testified that they saw many carriages quietly leaving your courtyard in the middle of the night. They suspect that there were no thieves at all, and that you were the one who moved the gold and elixirs and tried to escape but were caught by the Treasure Pavilion."

They're about to pronounce their verdict and hand you over to the Treasure Pavilion for their full disposal. You'll be tortured to death by them!

"Liang... Liang Siyu?" Lu Fan never expected that the visitor would be the daughter of the Liang family. The excitement deep in his soul made his voice tremble slightly. "Did you come here specifically to find me?"

Previously, thanks to the popularity of selling spiritual medicines, the young lady of the Liang family had improved her relationship with him quite a bit and even took the initiative to visit him several times.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, it was clear that the other party had designs on him.

But what if she suddenly appears at this moment...?

Lu Fan forcibly suppressed the resentment in her lingering soul, and after a moment of serious thought, decided that it was safer to stay in the School Affairs Department. Leaving aside whether her feelings for him were strong enough to warrant a prison break from the School Affairs Department, the connections behind her were likely incredibly complex, and a slight misstep could lead to being trapped!

Staying in the School Affairs Department, even if the case can't be solved, allows me to use my knowledge in exchange for protection, which is much better than running away with her.

Liang Siyu clearly hadn't expected to be rejected, and after a moment of sadness, she quietly left.

The turbulent night passed quickly, and at the crack of dawn, the Iron-Faced Guards brought Lu Fan to court for another trial. From witness testimonies to the evidence submitted by the investigators, no matter how Lu Fan tried to defend himself, he could not change the final verdict—Lu Fan's fraud of the Treasure Pavilion out of a thousand taels of gold had a wide-ranging impact, and at the plaintiff's request, Lu Fan, who had committed a capital offense, was handed over to the other party for arbitrary disposal!

"My lord! My lord, I know many prescriptions and many secrets that even the School Affairs Department doesn't know. My lord, I'm willing to tell you everything without hiding anything. Please, my lord, have mercy!"

"Please, sir, don't hand me over to the owner of the Treasure Pavilion! I will gladly give away all the secret formulas I possess!"

However, no amount of pleading was of any use, and the judge announced the adjournment and left in a huff.

The owner of the Treasure Pavilion, whose face used to be adored with a fawning smile, now wore a sinister grin and a vicious expression!

Lu Fan felt like the sky was about to collapse, and if he fell into Lu Fan's hands, he would definitely be unable to live or die!

The image of Liang Siyu's beautiful face flashed before his eyes, and he regretted not following her to wander the world last night.

As the daughter of the Liang family, she was a mere woman who was willing to abandon everything to take him away. Why did you have to guess her with such despicable thoughts and miss the chance to escape?

Chapter Seventeen: Exploiting Every Bit of Your Resources!

"Young Master Lu, don't you have many prescriptions and secrets?"

The owner of the Treasure Pavilion smiled sinisterly, waved his hand to signal two powerful bodyguards to restrain Lu Fan on either side, and leaned close to him, saying in a gloomy tone, "Then let's see if you can bring me enough profit to make up for your previous losses."

If it can be used to pay off the debt, then everything is negotiable;

If I'm not satisfied with what you bring out, hehehe..."

After he finished speaking, his sinister gaze filled Lu Fan with despair.

Those secrets brought back from the demon race, which were essentially a form of downgrading and suppression, were originally supposed to be his last resort for dominating the human world. Are they now going to become a condition for avoiding torture?

Before he could think much, the other party covered his head with a black cloth hood, shutting off his senses, and took him away from the school affairs office.

In the days that followed, Lu Fan endured unbearable torment.

The other party clearly wanted to squeeze out every last bit of value from him, but Lu Fan was, after all, a reborn demon king, and he could still figure out these stakes.

If you don't say it, you'll get beaten up;

Speaking out might bring temporary relief;

But once you've said everything, your last card is completely in the other party's hands, and your life, which you've only had one chance to live, is over.