Chapter 24: King Jiang of Xichuan

Now, Wang Yong really didn’t care much about those few ten thousand yuan anymore.

But seeing Xiong Ying’s arrogant, cold, and self-righteous attitude, he felt extremely annoyed.

The reason he insisted on competing with Xiong Ying was twofold: first, he didn’t want to be looked down upon, and second, he had been nurturing a long-term plan in his heart. At the center of this plan was Shui Miao. He had studied Xiong Ying, this so-called feng shui master, and found out that his only ability was seeing energy lines invisible to ordinary people. Now Shui Miao could also see these energy lines, and since Xiong Ying had been so stingy with Shui Miao, Wang Yong saw an opportunity. Through this incident, he could get closer to Shui Miao and, in the future, the two could team up to make money together. With Shui Miao, he would be the boss; with Xiong Ying, he would always remain number two.

At Wang Yong’s house.

Wang Yong brought Shui Miao and Sun Jihong to the storage room and pulled out several small wooden boxes. Inside were all sorts of items—some rare, some quite ordinary. Shui Miao casually glanced and saw a copper spade, some very old coins, a Zhong Kui painting, talismans, red threads, a compass, flint, and other unfamiliar objects.

Wang Yong seemed eager to show off. He opened several boxes, revealing all his old tomb-robbing tools from his youth.

Shui Miao picked up a large tooth and curiously asked, “Dad, is this a wolf’s tooth?”

“A wolf’s tooth? Would a wolf’s tooth be this big?” Wang Yong shook his head, took the tooth from Shui Miao’s hand, and grinned, “This is the tooth of a fierce white-tiger with dangling eyes and a broad forehead. It was my favorite item to carry when I was young.”

“Uncle, were you a Taoist when you were young?” Sun Jihong, unaware of Wang Yong’s past as a grave robber, assumed he was a hermit Taoist after seeing all these items.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yong hesitated slightly, but then he smiled and said, “You could say that. I was indeed a Taoist in my youth. My skills in exorcising evil spirits were unmatched. Even my master was jealous of my talent. Eventually, fearing that my reputation would surpass his, he expelled me from the temple under some pretext.” Wang Yong lied without batting an eyelid. The truth was that he had stolen money from his master to visit prostitutes, got caught, got severely beaten, and was then expelled.

“Wow! So you were actually that amazing, Uncle!”

Sun Jihong became instantly excited. He had originally been afraid of ghosts, but seeing how powerful Wang Yong was, his fear immediately vanished.

“Hehe… Well, that was all in the past. A real man doesn’t boast about old achievements…” Wang Yong awkwardly glanced at Shui Miao and quickly pulled out two portable wooden boxes, beginning to stuff various items inside.

Shui Miao rubbed his nose, not bothering to expose Wang Yong’s lies. He reached out and picked up a jade trigram from a shelf. It was about the size of a pancake, entirely emerald green, crystal clear, and finely carved. Seeing it, Shui Miao immediately thought it must be very valuable. After a couple of glances, he carefully put it back.

Unexpectedly, Wang Yong came over, picked up the jade trigram, placed it in a special wooden box, and shoved it into Shui Miao’s hands, saying, “Shui Miao, since you’ve accepted me as your godfather, I haven’t given you a red envelope yet. Giving money would be too vulgar. Here, I’ll give you this jade trigram. Two good things make a pair—you can also choose another item from this room. Take whatever you want.”

Upon hearing this, Shui Miao’s heart swelled with excitement. Was he dreaming? This was the first time in his life he had encountered such good fortune!

Sun Jihong watched enviously, wishing he could also call Wang Yong godfather.

“Pick something, pick something, hurry up. We still need to go catch ghosts and exorcise evil spirits,” Wang Yong happily patted Shui Miao’s arm.

“Thank you, Dad!”

Having a godfather was indeed great! Shui Miao quickly scanned the room. He wanted something rare and valuable. However, after looking around, he didn’t see anything particularly valuable like gold or jewels. Eventually, he noticed a red bag made of silk, embroidered with a blue dragon. It looked quite nice—perhaps it contained something valuable.

“I’ll take this one.”

Shui Miao pointed his hand toward the red bag on the high shelf.

Wang Yong was slightly taken aback but then gave Shui Miao a thumbs-up. “Good kid, you’ve got an eye for it. This is the most valuable treasure in this room.”

“What’s inside?” Shui Miao was curious.

Wang Yong took down the bag, didn’t open it, and directly handed it to Shui Miao, saying, “This is the ginger king from western Sichuan. Carrying it on you keeps away all evil spirits.”

What the heck! It’s just a piece of ginger! Shui Miao opened the bag and was immediately disappointed. After picking and choosing, he had selected what he thought was the most valuable item, only to end up with the least valuable—ginger. It was big, yes, but decades old, inedible, and seemingly worthless.

“How come it hasn’t rotted after all these years?” Looking at the shriveled ginger, Shui Miao thought bitterly.

“Rotten? This is the ginger king. How could it rot?” Wang Yong shook his head. “You don’t recognize its value, kid. This item has saved my life multiple times when I carried it. I wouldn’t have given it to you if you weren’t my godson.”

If you’re not willing to give it, I don’t want it either. Shui Miao was very reluctant inside but, for the sake of appearances, didn’t want to seem too greedy, so he accepted the bag. However, he noticed that Sun Jihong was staring at the bag with a gaze full of desire, as if it were an invaluable treasure.

After packing the boxes, Shui Miao and Sun Jihong each carried one, while Wang Yong went upstairs to fetch other items.

As soon as Wang Yong left, Sun Jihong whispered to Shui Miao, “Bro, I can tell you’re not fond of that old ginger. How about you name a price and sell it to me?”

“You name the price,” Shui Miao had already mentally prepared for Sun Jihong’s move.

Sun Jihong raised one hand, “How about five hundred?”

“Get out of here! This is the ginger king, a treasure that saved my godfather’s life multiple times!” Shui Miao wasn’t stupid. He knew Sun Jihong was afraid of ghosts and, regardless of whether the item could actually ward off evil spirits, it at least gave him psychological comfort, reducing his fear.

Sun Jihong looked at Shui Miao, swallowed hard, and hesitated, “I spent several ten thousand yuan on dinner last time, so I don’t have much cash now. How about I pay you later?”

“Then how much are you planning to offer?” Shui Miao knew clearly that besides Sun Jihong, probably no one else in the world would want this item.

Sun Jihong thought for a while, “Five thousand. I’ll pay two thousand now and the rest later.”

“That seems a bit too low. If my godfather finds out I sold the ginger king cheaply, he’d scold me to death,” Shui Miao shook his head, deciding not to give in yet and wait.

“How about ten thousand?”

Sun Jihong looked anxious, not at all like a businessman haggling over prices.

In an instant, the price doubled. This was too easy to make money. Shui Miao licked his lips and decided to be a greedy businessman this time, “How about fifty thousand? But you can take longer to pay. How about paying it off within two years?”

Sun Jihong’s eyes lit up, “How about five years? And I can write an IOU right now if you agree.”

Sigh!

Shui Miao paused and let out a long sigh, “Seeing how much you want it, I’ll reluctantly part with it. Five years it is. But you must pay me ten thousand each year. And you must give me ten thousand today before I hand it over.”

In reality, Shui Miao was already overjoyed at selling a worthless old ginger for ten thousand yuan.

As for the remaining forty thousand, whether he paid or not didn’t really matter.

Sun Jihong gritted his teeth, “Alright then. I’ll figure it out and definitely give you the money before dark. You mustn’t back out then. I’m scared of the dark, and if you back out, I’ll haunt you even after death.”

“Come on! Do you really think I’d do that…”

Shui Miao was genuinely startled by how timid Sun Jihong was.

Twenty minutes later…

Wang Yong, dressed in Taoist robes, holding a peach-wood sword, and wearing a bronze trigram mirror on his chest, returned with Shui Miao and Sun Jijun to Sun’s villa.

By then, over a dozen workers had already arrived at Sun’s villa, and Sun Jijun had returned after getting his wounds bandaged.

Seeing Wang Yong’s outfit, Xiong Ying, who was talking with Sun Jijun, was greatly shocked. A sudden sense of impending crisis gripped his heart!