Chapter 44: The Source of the Purple Qi

Chen Xiang’s clothes were quite outdated. Even today, when her father dragged her out for a match-making meeting, her outfit was nothing special.

Lin Haiyang drove the car and picked up Chen Bing.

Chen Bing had been idle at home these past couple of days, just hanging around. He was leaving tomorrow, and only after being urged by his parents had he just finished packing his luggage when Lin Haiyang showed up in his car. Shui Miao pulled Chen Bing aside and explained the situation briefly, and Chen Bing immediately understood. He grabbed his luggage, said goodbye to his parents, and left with them for Haiyang city. Chen Bing’s parents were simple rural farmers who rarely went out. Seeing their son being picked up by a car to start work in Haiyang, the old couple felt extremely proud.

Originally, Shui Miao had planned to invite Ye Haibing and Li Hua as well, but they happened to be away visiting relatives.

Thus, Shui Miao, Chen Xiang, Lin Haiyang, and Chen Bing—four people altogether—headed into the city.

Lin Haiyang parked at Times Square. He loved playing electronic gambling machines, commonly known as slot machines, and immediately went into a nearby arcade to play. Chen Bing didn’t have much money but liked watching.

Shui Miao took Chen Xiang to several clothing stores in the plaza and bought her several outfits, including underwear and more.

As the saying goes: “People shine with fine clothes, just like horses shine with fine saddles.” After changing into new clothes, Chen Xiang’s entire demeanor transformed. Combined with her fair complexion and a high-end smartphone, she looked like a rich, elegant beauty.

Seeing his younger sister looking so pretty, Shui Miao felt genuinely delighted.

In Shui Miao’s eyes, even though the waitresses in Haiyang were all pretty, none could compare to his sister.

Buying clothes cost Shui Miao over 5,000 yuan.

Thinking that his sister would need their care in the future, Shui Miao also spent another 1,000 yuan to buy a gift for both Lin Haiyang and Chen Bing.

Chen Bing’s counterfeit phone always had problems, so Shui Miao bought him a new one for 900 yuan.

Lin Haiyang wasn’t short of money, but he had a sweet tooth, so Shui Miao spent 100 yuan to buy two boxes of egg tarts for him.

Shui Miao also bought himself a piece of clothing. He didn’t need many clothes since he wore a uniform every day at work in Haiyang.

Originally, when Shui Miao had 300,000 yuan, he had considered renting a shop in Haiyang to start a small business. But now with only 50,000 yuan left, he decided to continue working at the hotel for a while and offer feng shui consultations on the side. He would think about opening a shop again once he had more money. Many might wonder, since Shui Miao had such good gambling luck, why didn’t he just gamble a few rounds to win money instead of working? In reality, Shui Miao wasn’t confident about his gambling luck anymore, especially after Shen Hui made that comment, which made him even more uncertain.

Shen Hui, speaking through her mother’s body, claimed that the 40,000 yuan Shui Miao won at the Sun family’s place was due to her secretly interfering.

If that were true, Shui Miao believed that the money he won at Li Dafu’s house must have been due to the meddling of that turtle monster.

In that case, would Shui Miao dare to gamble again?

Obviously, he wouldn’t.

Shui Miao took Chen Xiang shopping again, buying a high-quality suitcase and various small items.

Over an hour later, Shui Miao and Chen Xiang arrived at the gambling arcade.

Inside the arcade sat over a dozen people. Some were playing fish-hunting games, some were playing forest-themed slot games, and others were playing old-fashioned slot machines. Lin Haiyang and Chen Bing were sitting in front of a slot machine. Chen Bing kept feeding coins into the machine while Lin Haiyang, judging by his expression, seemed to have been losing quite a bit.

The arcade wasn’t well-ventilated, and the air was thick with cigarette smoke.

Covering their noses, Shui Miao and Chen Xiang approached Lin Haiyang. Lin smiled and said, “Almost there, almost there. A few more rounds. If I still lose, I’ll quit.”

Lin was betting heavily.

Each coin in this slot machine was worth ten points, so in theory, the wins and losses shouldn’t be too big. But Lin’s betting style was extreme—he bet 50 yuan per round on two of the highest multipliers. It was very difficult to win that way, but if he did, he could win hundreds or even thousands at once.

Shui Miao had seen friends play these slot machines before and knew a bit about their patterns.

These electronic gambling machines were all pre-programmed, and luck had little to do with the outcomes. Some could even be remotely controlled. The owner decided when to let players win or lose, and if he wanted them to lose, they could end up bankrupt.

“How much have you lost?”

Shui Miao glanced around. This was a large arcade, but there weren’t many players, which suggested the machines were set to be very difficult to win.

“Over 700 yuan.”

Chen Bing inserted the last coin.

“…”

Seven hundred yuan was quite a lot for an average person, especially when they had come out for fun today and ended up losing money, which would definitely affect their mood. Shui Miao didn’t say anything but turned his gaze to the owner behind the counter. The owner was a middle-aged man in his forties, tall and muscular, with a pockmarked face and fierce eyebrows, looking quite intimidating. He was watching a movie on his laptop.

“Brother, the smell in here is so awful!”

Chen Xiang couldn’t take it anymore. The room smelled not only of cigarettes but also of a foul stench coming from the restroom.

“Then let’s go outside first.”

Shui Miao and Chen Xiang stepped outside, and the fresh air felt incredibly refreshing.

At that moment, Lin Haiyang handed Chen Bing another 200 yuan to exchange for coins at the counter and continue playing.

Seeing this, Shui Miao frowned slightly, feeling helpless.

This was how gamblers were—when they lost money but still had some left, they would always try to win it back.

Since they had time to kill, Shui Miao suddenly had an idea. Why not use his yin-yang eye to check the energy field inside?

This arcade was essentially a gambling den, and there must be some hidden tricks.

About ten seconds later, Shui Miao activated his yin-yang vision. The entire arcade was filled with murky, impure energy. The area where Lin Haiyang sat was not only murky but also gathered a strange black aura. However, this black energy was only a thin layer, not as dense as a ghostly presence.

“What is that black energy?”

Shui Miao stroked his chin, asked Chen Xiang to wait for a moment, and walked directly to the slot machine. He noticed the black energy extended along the floor. Following its source, he found the restroom. The door wasn’t closed, and as soon as he looked inside, he almost vomited.

Such a foul place—if they stayed there any longer, it would bring nothing but bad luck. Dreaming of winning money here was impossible!

Shui Miao casually closed the restroom door and turned on the fan next to it, directing it toward the two slot machines north of Lin Haiyang’s position. As a result, the airflow in the room suddenly changed, and the surrounding energy rushed toward the restroom.

After doing this, Shui Miao walked back out and stood beside Chen Xiang.

“Brother, what were you doing just now?”

Chen Xiang had been watching Shui Miao’s actions the whole time, puzzled about why he had gone in to do all that.

Shui Miao never kept secrets from Chen Xiang. He whispered softly, “The energy field inside is very impure. The restroom is extremely foul. They were surrounded by dirty, nauseating evil energy. Like this, not only would they be unable to win money, but staying too long might even make them sick. What I did was to change their energy field.”

“I could also feel the smell was unbearable,” Chen Xiang wrinkled her nose and suddenly smiled, saying, “By the way, Brother Shui, maybe what you did could bring them good luck…”

“Click…”

Just as Chen Xiang finished speaking, the slot machine Lin Haiyang was playing suddenly made a crisp sound. Then the lights flashed and music blared. Lin Haiyang excitedly jumped up, hugging Chen Bing tightly and shouting, “I hit it! Finally hit it!!”

He had hit the grand jackpot!

And also the “Big Triple”!

In one round, Lin Haiyang won 1,800 yuan!

The owner was alerted and came over. Seeing Lin Haiyang had won such a large prize, his face turned green with anger.

Seeing this, Chen Xiang was so happy she jumped up and down, shouting “Won! Won!”

But Shui Miao frowned…

At that moment, Shui Miao was still using his yin-yang vision, and he saw a purple aura emerging from Lin Haiyang’s body!

Why had this purple aura suddenly appeared from Lin Haiyang?

Could it be that the excitement and joy of winning money had generated this special energy field through some psychological effect?

Shui Miao’s mind raced, feeling as if he had just discovered the source of the purple aura.