Happy Little Farmer
Chapter 789

Chapter 789: Chapter 789

Faced with Yang Fan’s confusion, Zhou Yingnan smiled mischievously, "This clue should be something everyone loves."

"Money?" Yang Fan glanced at the black bag.

"Wow, truly a businessman, thinking so fast?" Zhou Yingnan teased with a laugh, placing the black bag in front of Yang Fan. "Since you said to handle it however I see fit, then I’ll really handle it my way. Don’t dislike it—it’s not fully packed, but it’s not completely empty either."

"My thinking isn’t that fast. It’s just that I’ve heard it often enough: the only thing everyone loves in this world, apart from money, is probably nothing else." Yang Fan said as he opened the black plastic bag. Inside were seven to eight bundles of cash, some whole and some partial.

Yang Fan carefully counted them. It seemed to amount to over Fifty Thousand.

"That’s too much." Yang Fan took out one bundle of fifty-dollar bills. "This much is more than enough."

"You’re sure? That thing uses eyeballs as weapons—I feel it’s not something ordinary. If something happens and the medical expenses surpass this amount, don’t blame me." Zhou Yingnan remarked.

Yang Fan nodded, "Fair and square. Just help me gather more medicinal herbs in the future, and we’ll be good."

"Deal." Zhou Yingnan agreed readily, "This money was hard-earned. I’m very happy you’re taking less. Sure you won’t regret it?"

Yang Fan nodded again.

"Alright, I’m taking it!" Zhou Yingnan showed no hesitation—when he said he would take it, he took it.

Yang Fan genuinely admired this straightforwardness.

No hypocrisy, no exhausting pretense—it was refreshingly transparent.

Dealing with people like this was the most relaxing.

"It’s still early. Rest for a while, drink tea, eat some mountain fruits, and I’ll go stew some bones for us," Zhou Yingnan said. "My cooking skills are quite decent. Taste it later."

"Alright, you tidy up, I’ll take a stroll around nearby," Yang Fan said.

While it was still daylight, he wanted to check out the surroundings first.

Anything, no matter how well it hides, should leave some traces to some extent.

"Wait a bit. Let me prep the meat so it can stew while I take you around to look." Zhou Yingnan said.

"...Sure."

Yang Fan sipped tea and admired the mountain scenery, resting for a short while. Once Zhou Yingnan had the meat stewing in the pot, the two set off. Surrounding Zhou Yingnan’s wooden cabin on both sides was a dense forest where light barely penetrated.

Yang Fan kept his Heavenly Eye Technique activated at all times, carefully examining everything around them.

Over time, his cultivation of the Heavenly Eye Technique had progressed, though it hadn’t yet merged with the Divination techniques. Still, he could vaguely discern traces of things—nothing good could escape his gaze, but he was already able to peek into some sinister elements.

What puzzled Yang Fan was how the area around Zhou Yingnan’s cabin was entirely free of anything.

Spotlessly clean.

Unwilling to give up, Yang Fan scoured the entire area again. The result was still the same—no clues, no remnants.

"This is absolutely bizarre. How can there be no traces at all?" Yang Fan muttered to himself under a towering tree, almost questioning reality itself. Birds leave marks, the wind leaves sounds—anything that exists should leave evidence behind.

That thing had lurked around Zhou Yingnan’s cabin for so many days. How could it leave no traces whatsoever?

"Nothing at all?" Zhou Yingnan asked, his tone somewhat solemn.

Yang Fan nodded.

"I don’t know what methods you’re using, but if it’s just the conventional way of looking for footprints and the like, it won’t work." Zhou Yingnan replied. "I’ve examined this area countless times myself—there really isn’t anything left behind. Originally, I thought I might be able to find out what that thing was on my own, but finding no traces at all is what truly spooked me."

"When it threw stuff into my house, I was scared, of course, but not nearly as unsettled as I am now. The complete lack of anything left behind has made me unwilling to even stay here."

Yang Fan’s gaze swept over the surroundings, and he chuckled, asking, "Because this discovery shattered your illusion that those things might be animals?"

Zhou Yingnan’s expression turned a bit grim. He nodded lightly.

"What you said hits the nail on the head. Even when eyeballs were flying into my house like projectiles, I tried to hypnotize myself into believing it was some annoying animal digging them out of graves. But sadly, there weren’t even footprints nearby—how could it possibly be an animal?"

"You’ve got some strong nerves!" Yang Fan laughed, looking up at the lush tree canopy overhead. The dappled light streamed through the gaps in the branches and leaves, casting bright, fragmented beams of light.

Amid the contrast of shadows, these light beams appeared especially vivid, cloaking the dense forest in an ethereal beauty.

"Strong nerves? Who could have nerves strong enough for this?" Zhou Yingnan laughed self-deprecatingly. "I’ve brought people here to look and even consulted a fortune teller. The fortune teller said there might be something beneath my cabin haunting me. But beneath my place, I know there’s absolutely nothing—it’s all refilled soil. How could there be anything?"

"Then there was the guy I brought here to check. He was even more ridiculous. He inspected my little rundown place inside and out, picked dozens of faults, and basically said everything was wrong and had to be fixed immediately. He claimed something about malevolent energy drifting through the air and warned me that if I didn’t make adjustments, things would only get worse. Then he gave me his bill—seven to eight Ten Thousand to do it all. I kicked him out right then and there."

"Trying to scam me out of my money—it’s not that easy. I was already feeling anxious enough, and then these people come along trying to pressure you further. It’s downright despicable."

Yang Fan quietly gazed up at the tree canopy above. "That guy, I don’t know about his other claims, but what he said about malevolent energy drifting through the air—that part wasn’t wrong."

"So... you mean what he said was real?" Zhou Yingnan hesitated briefly.

Yang Fan waved his hand dismissively. "I’m just saying that particular point wasn’t false. As for the rest, I don’t know."

"...Oh."

"Do you think..." Yang Fan lit a cigarette, took a drag, and pointed up at the treetops with his finger. "Do you think those things could be moving in the trees?"

"I... haven’t checked. I can’t climb up there." Zhou Yingnan said. "Birds, maybe?"

Yang Fan couldn’t help but laugh.

What kind of logic was that?

"Have you ever seen a bird so bored that it throws eyeballs at people?" Yang Fan shook his head.

Zhou Yingnan replied earnestly, "Yang Guo’s eagle."

Yang Fan: ...

"You know, you actually make a fair point."

He genuinely didn’t know how to respond.

"Hand me the shoes. I’ll go up to take a look." Yang Fan pulled out the embroidered shoes.

A voice echoed in Yang Fan’s mind, "Fragrant!"

She was becoming increasingly concise, no longer repeating herself.

"I’ll pay you afterward. Don’t worry—it’ll be a full meal," Yang Fan said.