This house was old and dilapidated, but it was still better than the tents that lined the streets.
At the very least, this was a house that was properly built with wood and stone, so it was better at sheltering the owners from the elements than the tent.
Of course, by Lin Fan's standards, it was still a very poor place to live.
After they arrived, the first thing that Duanmu Hua Yu did was pull a piece of paper off the door.
He quickly read it with knitted brows, but he also just as quickly put it away before inviting Lin Fan in.
While it seemed very dirty outside, it was at least much cleaner on the inside. It seemed that Duanmu Hua Yu and Min'er took care of the place they lived in.
There were also a few toys that were scattered around that showed that Duanmu Hua Yu did take quite good care of Min'er.
Once they were in, Duanmu Hua Yu sent Min'er off to play before inviting Lin Fan to sit down. He didn't even have any water for Lin Fan, but when Lin Fan looked closely, he saw that there wasn't anything like a faucet in this place to begin with.
It seemed that even water was a precious resource in this place…
So he pulled out a few bottles of water and some things to make some tea.
Duanmu Hua Yu had an awkward look on his face when he saw this, but he didn't stop Lin Fan. He knew that this was Lin Fan's courtesy and it would be rude for him to reject this.
It definitely wasn't because he hadn't had tea in a long time.
Based on the scent of the tea leaves, Duanmu Hua Yu could tell that these tea leaves weren't normal. These were high quality tea leaves that perhaps even he had never tasted before.
That was indeed the case. These tea leaves were specially given to Lin Fan by old man Qiao who was known as the Ghost Chef. These were special leaves that even he felt pained to share with others, so it spoke to how great they were.
They were grown over a thousand years in a special place filled with life energy, only being watered with fresh spring water. These were tea leaves that were not only delicious, but also filled with life energy.
As soon as water was poured on them, there was a burst of life energy that came out and filled the room.
Sensing this, Duanmu Hua Yu couldn't help looking at Lin Fan with a strange look as he started wondering what kind of background he had. This kind of tea leaf was definitely not something that anyone could get, it was even hard to get in this Stellar Kingdom unless one was from one of the large factions.
But why would someone from a large faction come to a place like this?
Still, since Lin Fan didn't say anything, it wasn't as if he could ask. So he just suppressed these thoughts and turned his attention to the tea.
With such good tea in front of him, how could he not enjoy it?
But before either of them could take a single sip of the tea, there was a loud knocking that came from the door. After that, there was a loud voice that shouted, "Duanmu, you old piece of trash, get out here!"
Both Lin Fan and Duanmu Hua Yu knitted their brows and looked at the door when they heard this.
As for Min'er who had been playing by herself, she immediately trembled and ran into the corner with a doll in hand.
Duanmu Hua Yu turned to Lin Fan and was about to say something, but then the door suddenly flew in at them.
In one swift motion, Lin Fan caught the door and placed it onto the ground beside him before looking at the people who were now standing at the empty doorway.
These large men had tattoos and scars all over them, it was clear that they weren't anyone good…As for why they were here, Lin Fan had a good guess based on the note that had been on the door.
Duanmu Hua Yu had just stood up when one of the men suddenly came forward and knocked him to the ground in a single punch. Once he was on the ground, he began stomping on the old man as he shouted, "You dare run away! You think that you can run from your debt?"
From his words, Lin Fan had confirmed that it was indeed what he had suspected.
These men were clearly collectors for a debt that Duanmu Hua Yu had incurred and based on how they were treating him, it seemed like he hadn't paid that debt for a long time.
But of course, based on his living conditions, it should be hard for him to pay this debt even now.
However, that also confused Lin Fan since Duanmu Hua Yu was clearly a Soul Realm Cultivator. If he really wanted to, it should be easy for him to earn money in a place like this.
So why did he have this kind of debt?
But before anyone could do anything, Min'er couldn't stand seeing her grandfather being trampled like this, so she ran forward to grab the large man's leg as she said, "Stop it! Stop hurting my grandpa!"
The large men did stop, but when his eyes fell onto Min'er, they revealed a strange look.
It wasn't the look of disdain that most people would reveal in this kind of situation, but rather there was a bit of lust…
It seemed that this large man had some strange tastes…
The large man licked his lips before saying, "Oh, I never thought that you would have a granddaughter like this. How old is she?"
Duanmu Hua Yu naturally knew what this person was thinking and in one swift move, he came out from under the man's feet and stood in front of Min'er. The look in his eyes made it clear that he wouldn't let this man lay a single hand on her even if he lost his life.
But at the same time, he gestured with his hands as if he was reprimanding Min'er for coming forward.
Min'er lowered her head, but she still revealed the same strong look as before as she held tightly to her grandfather's sleeve.
The large man was surprised with the speed that Duanmu Hua Yu moved at, but then he was quickly filled with rage when he saw him getting in between him and this cute little girl. He raised his voice again as he shouted, "You really think that you can do anything here? You're nothing but a piece of trash and you think that you can defy us!"
He kicked out at Duanmu Hua Yu again to knock him out of the way, but the old man just wouldn't move.
Seeing this, the large man thought for a bit before saying with what he considered a friendly smile, but was actually quite terrifying, "Alright, let's do this then. As long as you offer your granddaughter to us, we'll consider your interest paid. How about it? Isn't it generous?"
There was a trace of killing intent that appeared in Duanmu Hua Yu's eyes, but they also quickly disappeared. He picked up a pen and a piece of paper from the side before writing, "Just give me a few more days. I promise that I'll pay, I just need a bit of time."
The large man's face sank when he read this. He revealed a look of rage again as he roared out, "I've already given you plenty of patience! Do you really think that I want to do this? Wasting my time with a piece of trash like you?"
He waved his hands at the other large men who moved to different parts of the house and started raising the weapons in their hands.
The large man looked at Duanmu Hua Yu and said, "Do you really think that I'm that easy to step over? What will you do if I destroy your house and break all your limbs today? If you don't pay, that is what's going to happen today!" Then after a pause, he added, "Of course, if you give us your granddaughter for a few rounds, we can reconsider."
Lin Fan finally had enough at this point.
He didn't want to interfere since this clearly didn't involve him and if he were to get involved, he would clearly be getting into plenty of trouble.
But he just couldn't keep watching anymore.
The one thing that he was confused about was why Duanmu Hua Yu held back against these men. He could tell from their aura that these men weren't even in the Soul Realm, so it would be easy for someone like Duanmu Hua Yu to take care of them.
Was he holding back because they had a powerful backer, or was there another reason why he didn't do anything to them?
Either way, that didn't matter to him.
Right now, all he wanted to do was take care of these thugs and find out more about the person above them.
After all, he wasn't just doing this to save Duanmu Hua Yu and Min'er, he was also doing this to wipe out the organization behind them.
If he wanted to make his way back to the Galactic Humanity Alliance, he would need to gather power first.
In a place like this, the easiest way to gather power was to take over the established powers that were here.
So with a group to take over and a reason to take them over, why wouldn't he accept it?
Not to mention, he quite liked this grandfather and granddaughter pair.
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