Chapter 2144

"Zhu Yanyi, your herbs are good, but not that expensive," Elder Wu said helplessly.

"No, you can't count it that way," Zhu Yanyi said, her face very serious. "Let me count for you, Elder Wu. I dug these fields myself. They were wasteland before. You admit that, right?"

"I admit it." Most students at the Sage Academy got wasteland for their fields.

"I put many spirit stones in the soil as fertilizer. That made the fields full of spiritual energy. I also spent time and money growing them. And the seeds—yours might be on the market, but mine have better spiritual energy. They are unique. That is point two.

Also, I grew them specially. One year of growth gives ten years of effect. That is another point. So, the price is at least a thousand spirit stones."

Zhu Yanyi counted on her fingers. "I planned to use these herbs for top-grade pills. You know my pills are ninety-nine point nine nine percent pure. They are priceless on the market. I usually sell them for twenty top-grade spirit stones each. The stolen and destroyed herbs could make over ten thousand pills. So, they owe me two hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones. I see they are young and foolish, and have no money. I just want to teach them a lesson. So I only ask for ten thousand top-grade spirit stones. Is that not cheap?"

"Not cheap," Elder Wu smiled bitterly. she could not argue with her. Her reasons were all valid.

"This does not include the time I will waste replanting and growing new herbs because of their damage. If I count everything, selling their whole family would not be enough to pay," Zhu Yanyi said, looking very kind. "Look, Elder Wu, is my compensation too much?"

"Not too much. They should pay," Elder Wu said. She knew Zhu Yanyi was right, even if her logic was twisted. She could not refute it.

Elder Wu thought the price was high, but she wanted to beat those students for their bad behavior. She knew Zhu Yanyi was right. Paying a high price was a good lesson. It would teach them who they could offend and who they could not. It would teach them what they could do and what they could not.

Elder Wu thought for a moment, then said firmly, "They must pay. Your price is fair."

Zhu Yanyi nodded with a smile. "So, Elder, do you plan to pay spirit stones to redeem them?"

Elder Wu shook his head. "I do not have that many spirit stones. I have some assets, but they are mine, not theirs. I will not pay for them. Their families are well-off. Let them tell their families. Let their families redeem them."

Elder Wu refused to pay now. The two teachers from Shangmo Academy certainly would not pay either. They knew they were in the wrong. They could not protect their students. They just stood silently, following Elder Wu’s attitude. It was the other families’ loss, not theirs.

Zhu Yanyi nodded. She said to Wu Xiong, "You should have a communication token to contact your family. Contact them quickly."

"But even if my family sends spirit stones, they cannot arrive immediately," Wu Xiong said. She saw Elder Wu would not help her. She saw Elder Wu’s attitude toward Zhu Yanyi. She knew she had hit a hard wall. She obediently stated her difficulty.

The Wu family had money. They could afford two thousand five hundred spirit stones. But the Wu family lived in the Sage Plane. It took three to five days to travel from the Wu family to the Sage Academy.

"If you had not mentioned this, I would have forgotten. I cannot release you before the ransom arrives," Zhu Yanyi said, raising her eyebrows.

"But I will not feed people for free. So, you must atone for your sins these days.

Before your relatives bring the ransom, you must come here every day to tidy the damaged fields. I will have someone supervise you. You must work hard. No laziness. No more damage. If I find you lazy or damaging the herbs, I will calculate interest. My interest is not easy to calculate."

Zhu Yanyi looked at Wu Xiong with a sincere expression. She looked like she was saying, You better be good, or everyone will suffer.

Zhu Yanyi moved her mind. A flame appeared on her shoulder. She talked to the flame, asking it to supervise the four students. The flame wanted to play. Seeing toys, it happily nodded.

Zhu Yanyi was generous. She gave the flame some spirit fruits as snacks. After that, she said to Wu Xiong and the others, "This is my contracted spirit pet. It will supervise you for me. If it finds you lazy or damaging the herbs, it will punish you directly."

Zhu Yanyi had a kind face. "Do not worry. My spirit pet is reasonable. If you accept punishment and tidy the fields well, it will just watch. But if it finds you lazy or cheating, the result will be bad. I cannot say how bad. It will be very, very miserable."

Zhu Yanyi finished speaking and smiled at Elder Wu. "Elder Wu, what do you think of my arrangement?"

Elder Wu had no objection. Wu Xiong and the others were wrong. So he said, "No objection. Do it your way. Do not worry. I will contact their families. I will let them raise money slowly. There is no danger to their lives."