As evening fell, a bonfire was lit in the center of the small village of Xilin.

Villagers arrived one after another, clutching slips of paper in their hands. The firelight illuminated their faces, making them all look trembling with fear.

If Hou Wu hadn't personally knocked on each door, many people wouldn't have come. After all, the villagers knew very well that they couldn't repay a single penny of the money they owed Prince Reinhard.

Many villagers had made up their minds that if the other party came to collect the debt, they would continue to delay. They had already delayed it so many times, and several groups of people had come to collect the debt. They figured one more delay wouldn't make a difference.

"Sir, all the villagers have arrived," Hou Wu said as he returned to Zhang Fan's side.

"Is everyone here?" Zhang Fan glanced around; there were only about seventy or eighty villagers standing around the campfire.

“This isn’t all the villagers, but every household has sent a representative,” Hou Wu explained. “And as the master instructed, they’ve all brought their debt notes.”

"Oh!" Zhang Fan nodded. He only then noticed that the surrounding houses were all lit up, with doors and windows half-open and half-closed, and he didn't know how many pairs of wary eyes were watching his every move.

Zhang Fan couldn't help but laugh. Indeed, in the villagers' eyes, he was now seen as a villain who had come to collect debts.

"Sir, please don't blame them." Hou Wu pleaded for the villagers. "The people who came to do this S-level mission before used a lot of coercion and bribery to achieve their goals. Although they didn't dare to use violence because of Prince Reinhardt, they still left a bad impression on everyone."

"It's alright." Zhang Fan nodded with a smile, then handed a stack of IOUs to Hou Wu. "Monkey, these are the IOUs from Prince Reinhardt. Check them with everyone and see if any have been missed."

When Zhang Fan received the S-rank mission, the receptionist handed him a stack of IOUs. It was only 180,000 gold coins, and likely a bad debt; Prince Reinhardt wouldn't even consider such a small amount.

The reason for releasing this stack of debt notes was simply as one way to test the abilities of those who came to seek refuge.

Hou Wu had handled these debt notes many times before when he was employed by others, so he was very familiar with everything.

Hou Wu picked up a debt note and loudly read out the name on it. Then, villagers came up with their own debt notes to check with him. After verifying that the amount was correct, he continued to loudly read out the next name.

Half an hour later, all the villagers' accounts had been checked.

"Sir, with interest, the total is 187,542 gold coins."

Zhang Fan nodded, and then instructed Hou Wu to collect all the debt notes from the villagers.

Hou Wu quickly collected all the debt notes from the villagers. Zhang Fan, holding a stack of debt notes in each hand, walked to the burning campfire.

"Fellow villagers, this stack contains your debt notes, and this stack is for Prince Reinhard's records." Zhang Fan waved the two stacks of debt notes in his hand. "Today, I want to tell you..."

"A total debt of 187,542 gold coins..."

"The monkey has already paid off your debts."

Zhang Fan tossed his hands, and the debt notes scattered into the campfire. The papers caught fire and quickly ignited, with flames rising into the air.

Hou Wu stared, mouth agape, as the white debt note turned to black ash in the flames.

"Monkey, you've made a fortune in the capital!"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the villagers began to whisper among themselves, then turned into excited, loud discussions, and the atmosphere became lively.

"I told you long ago, monkeys will do great things in the future!"

"Of course! Monkeys are smart and sensible from a young age!"

The villagers were a jumble of distant relatives and friends, but Hou Wu remained clear-headed.

“Sir, thank you. I can’t repay this debt.” Hou Wu bowed deeply to Zhang Fan. “I have no money. The only thing of value I have is my life. Please take it if you need it.”

"Why would I want your life? Besides, your life is worth much more than this!" Zhang Fan said with a smile. "You don't have anything valuable on you, but you do have something at home. I'm going to take that thing back to pay off my debts."

Hou Wu was dumbfounded. He knew his own home best. What valuable things did he have there? Anything of even slight value had been moved to Helenburg during the move.

Even if you dug up his house three feet deep, you wouldn't find a single piece of steel.

A debt of 180,000 gold coins might be nothing to a rich person, but for the people of Xilin village, it felt like a huge mountain had been lifted off their shoulders. They sang and danced around the campfire, and their troubles vanished like the debt in the flames.

The villagers who had been peeking from behind doors and windows all came out, and the children gathered around the bonfire to roast sweet potatoes and corn, turning it into a veritable bonfire party.

Zhang Fan took a bite of the corn and sweet potato that Hou Wu handed him. The corn was sweet and the sweet potato was soft and sticky. They were all green and pollution-free organic grains, and their taste and texture were far better than those grown in greenhouses around the city using chemical fertilizers.

Hou Wu took many photos of the scene, saying that he hadn't seen everyone so happy in a long time, and he didn't know how long it would be before he came back again, so he wanted to keep the memories.

The merriment lasted until the early hours of the morning, when the campfire died down and the villagers dispersed, ready to prepare for their return journey.

When we got to the SUV, the trunk was already full of local specialties given by the villagers. The two little brothers had been playing all day and were already asleep in the back seat, leaning against each other.

Zhang Fan and Hou Wu entered the house. Hou Wu looked somewhat uneasy. All the debt notes had been burned, and he couldn't think of anything in his house worth 180,000 gold coins.

“This is it.” Zhang Fan took the brightly colored, patched-up garment out of the closet. “Monkey, you have to take this back to pay off my debt.”

“Sir, this garment is worthless.” Hou Wu was dumbfounded. “Even if this garment were brand new, it wouldn’t be worth 10 gold coins.”

As Zhang Fan said before, even beggars dress better than this, which is why Hou Wu didn't take this piece of clothing with him when he moved, because it was just too embarrassing.

“If this garment were brand new, it wouldn’t be worth 10 gold coins.” Zhang Fan spread the garment out and looked at it, nodding in satisfaction. “But because it has so many patches, I say it’s worth 180,000 gold coins now.”

“Sir…” Hou Wu stared wide-eyed, not knowing what to say; this was beyond his knowledge.

“Hey, let’s go.” Zhang Fan patted Hou Wu on the shoulder. “Just remember that you paid off the villagers’ 180,000 gold coins debt with this piece of clothing.”

The SUV drove on the dirt road under the starlight, then turned onto the paved main road and sped up, returning to Helenburgh, a suburb of Adelaide, at dawn.

"Thank you for the clothes." Zhang Fan smiled as he got out of the car. "And here's your payment for today..."

“Sir, if Hou Wu still accepts your money now, then Hou Wu is not human.”

Hou Wu didn't take the money from Zhang Fan's hand. Instead, he knelt down and kowtowed to Zhang Fan several times.

“Sir, the people of Xilin Village raised me to adulthood; they are my parents. I, Hou Wu, am incapable of repaying their kindness. Today, it is you, sir, who is repaying this debt of gratitude on my behalf.”

"If you ever need anything from me, please don't hesitate to ask. My life is now in your hands."

"Don't be like that." Zhang Fan helped Hou Wu up. "Your life is worth far more than 180,000 gold coins. Don't underestimate yourself like that in the future."

"I'll definitely need your help again in the future, and I'll contact you then."

“Sir, when I first met you, I felt that you were extraordinary. You are different from the people here.” Hou Wu’s tone was sincere. “If you don’t mind, I would like to call you ‘Big Brother’.”

"Hmm? Okay!" Zhang Fan laughed.

Does this mean he's taken on a subordinate?