"You think you can buy me off with money? Sorry, but my dignity isn't something money can measure." Chu Feng snorted coldly, refusing through a voice transmission.
"Young friend Chu Feng, I'm truly doing this as a last resort. Please bear with it for now, and I'll clear your name in the future." The old village chief spoke again, his tone not only sincere but brimming with remorse.
In that moment, Chu Feng was somewhat moved. If this old village chief were truly a petty man like Zhou Sitian, there would have been no need to send him a private transmission saying all this.
Regardless of everything, he was still the chief of the Sealed Village, a powerhouse of unfathomable strength. And Chu Feng was merely a junior with a low cultivation level.
In truth, he really had no obligation to humble himself and say all this to Chu Feng. The fact that he did meant he truly felt guilty in his heart — that he had no choice but to wrong Chu Feng.
"Ch-Chu Feng, bro, that old bastard — is he sick or something? He just finished framing us, and now he's secretly sending me voice transmissions to apologize."
"He — he even said he'd s-sneak me the second-place prize, and give me double at that."
"You think this old bastard is plotting something against me behind the scenes? What — what kind of game is he playing?"
However, just then, Wang Qiang's voice transmission suddenly reached Chu Feng's ears. So the old village chief had not only said these things to Chu Feng, but to Wang Qiang as well.
It seemed he truly felt guilty, or he wouldn't have said all this to both of them.
"Do you want the compensation he's offering?" Chu Feng transmitted to Wang Qiang, asking him privately.
"O-Of course I want it. Only a fool wouldn't. I just don't know whether this old bastard is actually reliable," Wang Qiang replied.
"I'll talk to him." After saying this to Wang Qiang, Chu Feng sent another transmission to the old village chief. "When will you clear our names?"
"I can't guarantee exactly when, but I can guarantee that I will clear your names," the old village chief said.
"Fine. Wang Qiang and I accept your compensation. When do we get it?" Chu Feng asked.
In truth, Chu Feng very much wanted to receive this compensation. Regardless, it was a considerable sum, and on top of that, it was a doubled reward.
The reason Chu Feng refused earlier was because he thought the old village chief was offering the doubled compensation to buy him off — to make him accept being wronged.
Chu Feng naturally wasn't willing to accept that. After all, to him, dignity was the most important thing, and he would never allow anyone to trample on it.
But now things were different. The old village chief had already said he would clear Chu Feng's name in the future, which meant he wasn't trying to buy him off with the doubled reward. Rather, he simply wanted to compensate Chu Feng.
In that case, there was no reason for Chu Feng not to accept. The grievance had already been suffered, and even if his name would be cleared later, he shouldn't suffer for nothing. Only by taking some compensation would the scales be balanced.
Just as Wang Qiang had said — only a fool wouldn't want it.
"Young friends, after you leave, linger outside the village. Don't go far, and I'll come find you," the old village chief said.
"Fine. I hope you won't break your word." After saying this, Chu Feng transmitted the information to Wang Qiang, letting him know about the arrangement.
"He — he wouldn't secretly kill us to silence us, would he?" Wang Qiang asked, clearly worried.
"He won't. If he really wanted to assassinate us, we couldn't escape anyway."
"Besides, if we really died here, word would get out, and everyone would assume the Sealed Village was behind it. They wouldn't dare," Chu Feng said with full confidence.