Chapter 109: Tenfold Compensation for Any Falsehood!

The stall owner’s expression darkened further. He took a deep breath, trying to force a smile. "Brother Lantern, please don't be angry. I just think we should stick to the evidence."

I stared at him coldly, my eyes like blades. "Evidence? Fine, I'll give you evidence."

I looked at him, sneered, walked over to his stall, and picked up a piece of scrap material. I handed it to him. "Cut a cross into the surface of this stone for me!"

The stall owner took the piece of scrap. Though he didn't understand what I was after, he gave me a long, searching look.

I sneered, "Don't look at me. It's scrap. If you cut it and find green, I'll give you twenty thousand!"

The stall owner nodded, turned away sullenly, and walked to the stone-cutting table. Following my instructions, he cut a cross into the material. Then, he handed it to me.

I sneered again, took the cut material in my hand, and pulled out a high-intensity flashlight. Then I said to the stall owner, "Hang up the display cloth you use for your stones!"

The stall owner asked suspiciously, "Where should I hang it?"

"Anywhere where it can be used for projection!"

Although he was full of doubt, he hung the cloth up as requested. I turned on the flashlight and aimed the beam at the cut stone, projecting it onto the cloth. The light penetrated the stone, but because it was low-quality material, there wasn't a speck of green; it only revealed the edges of the cut.

The onlookers, seeing this, were all filled with confusion.

Watching the texture of the edges, I slowly walked up and pointed to a bump at a notch. "The blade of your stone-cutting machine is chipped. There is a nick in this position. It is precisely because of this notch that, during the cutting process, every time you cut to the three-centimeter mark, this specific point leaves a raised edge!"

As soon as I said this, everyone looked in the direction I was pointing. It was indeed true; on both the horizontal and vertical lines of the cross-cut, there was a raised bump at the three-centimeter mark.

After I finished speaking, I saw the stall owner's expression change visibly. I looked at his liver-colored face and sneered. The people around us began to whisper, their gazes toward the stall owner shifting; they were looking at him like a swindler.

"Well? Do you want me to continue?" I raised an eyebrow, my tone filled with undisguised mockery.

The stall owner gritted his teeth and stiffened his neck. "Th-this doesn't prove anything. Who knows if you're just looking for trouble?"

"Looking for trouble?"

I gave a cold laugh, pulled a piece of paper from my pocket, and slapped it onto his stall. "Open your dog eyes and look clearly. What is this?"

I took the piece of material the man had given me earlier and shone the high-intensity flashlight through it, projecting the edge of the entire stone onto the cloth once again.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, everyone saw the notch on the edge of that raw stone!

I sneered. "Only your stall can cut a stone like this. If one edge could be a coincidence, what about the second?"

I flipped the raw stone over and shone the light on it again! Once more, everyone saw the tell-tale bump from the notch.

This time, the stall owner finally shut his mouth. His face turned from green to white, and for a long time, he couldn't say a word. The crowd of onlookers grew, pointing and whispering in heated discussion.

"This boss is truly black-hearted, actually swapping out the man's material!"

"Exactly! Brother, don't be afraid of him. There are so many of us here to back you up!"

"Our market might be small, but we don't stand for such dirty tricks!"

Listening to the crowd, I curled my lip in a cold smirk. This stall owner had relied on his experience to cheat many people, but today, he had finally kicked an iron plate.

"Well? Have you figured it out? Do you want me to keep talking?" I stared at him, my gaze as sharp as a knife.

The stall owner wiped the sweat from his forehead, his tone softening. "Brother Lantern, please, calm down, calm down. I had eyes but failed to recognize a master. You are a magnanimous person—please don't hold this against me."

I let out a cold snort. "Hold it against you? You aren't worthy!"

I scanned the surroundings. Those who had originally intended to buy raw stones were now stepping back, afraid of getting involved. I pointed at the stones on the ground and said to the stall owner, "According to the rules, you have to compensate him with ten stones. Of course, that’s on the condition that you immediately find the one you swapped and give it back to him!"

The stall owner’s face turned even paler, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. He knew that arguing was useless now, so he said in a low voice, "Fine, fine, I'll find it right now."

He hurriedly rummaged through the stones on his stall. Finally, he pulled one out from the pile of clutter and handed it to me. "This is that piece."

I said coldly, "You gave it to the wrong person!"

The stall owner realized his mistake and hurriedly handed it to the man. After checking the stone over, the man looked at me with excitement. "Brother Lantern, thank you so much. If you weren't here, I would have lost even this life-saving stone!"

I waved my hand, signaling that he didn't need to say more. "Don't thank me. Our market values integrity. If we let people like this run rampant, who could do business with peace of mind?"

The man nodded gratefully, clutching the stone tightly. Just then, a middle-aged man emerged from the crowd. He was dressed plainly, but his eyes were incredibly sharp. He walked up to the stall owner and said coldly, "Old Wang, I’ve seen everything today. Your behavior has seriously damaged the reputation of this market. As the market manager, I have decided to revoke your stall license."

It was Lu Yier; he had returned.

The stall owner’s face went deathly pale. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He knew that today’s events were beyond repair. He cast a venomous look at me and cursed, "Bad luck! Today is just my unlucky day. Don't say another word—isn't it enough that I'm leaving?"

With that, he started to pack up all the stones on the ground. However, I reached out and stopped him. "Wait, boss. I think you’ve forgotten our newly established rules!"

The stall owner froze and looked at me. "Rules? What rules?"

I sneered, my expression filled with disdain. "Naturally, 'compensate ten for every one fake.' You stole and swapped someone's raw stone. Besides returning the original, you are also obligated to compensate them with ten raw stones."

The stall owner’s face turned even whiter, his voice trembling. "Ten raw stones? Isn't that demanding my life?"

Someone in the crowd let out a cold laugh. "You brought this on yourself. Who told you to engage in such trickery?"

The stall owner sighed helplessly. He lowered his head and began to pick out ten raw stones from his stall, intending to hand them over to the man.

Yet, I shook my head and said, "Wait!"