Chapter 95: Misfortune and Fortune

Shui Miao and Xiao Tudou chatted as they walked, eventually arriving at the entrance of a modest hotel.

Through their conversation, Shui Miao learned that Xiao Tudou’s psychological maturity was far behind his actual age. Xiao Tudou’s mindset was like that of a teenager, very innocent and pure. Moreover, when it came to food, he was quite timid. He dared not defy his master’s teachings, and now, standing at the hotel entrance, he hesitated.

“Senior Brother, let’s just forget it! My master once told me that there are many things in this world that we shouldn’t eat. Eating them would affect our spiritual energy, making it impure and weakening our ability to use it effectively. Then I wouldn’t be able to transform my appearance using spiritual energy anymore.”

Xiao Tudou turned around and started walking back toward the alley. “Forget it, I’d rather go back and eat vegetable buns.”

“Well… okay then…”

Shui Miao was reminded by Xiao Tudou’s words and suddenly realized the truth. No wonder his control over spiritual energy was so poor—it was because his spiritual energy was impure and chaotic. If that was the case, then he had no choice but to follow his junior brother and eat buns.

“Senior Brother, let me tell you, there’s a place where the buns are really, really delicious. The vegetables inside those buns are filled with abundant earth-element spiritual energy. After eating them, I feel so refreshed!” Seeing that Shui Miao was willing to go with him, Xiao Tudou became excited and enthusiastically described the buns’ many virtues.

After hearing Xiao Tudou speak, Shui Miao realized that their cultivation methods actually had a similar approach. The main reason he was able to cultivate spiritual energy was due to his grandfather’s cultivation techniques, but diet also played a significant role.

“Alright, let’s go try them.”

Shui Miao, convinced by Xiao Tudou’s words, was walking with him when they suddenly saw Sister Tang appear in the alley ahead.

“This Sister Tang is really a headache—why do I keep running into her!” Seeing Sister Tang, Shui Miao instinctively felt a chill down his spine. He quickly pulled Xiao Tudou into a side passage to hide.

Xiao Tudou looked at Shui Miao and scratched his head. “Senior Brother, have you noticed something off about this woman?”

“What do you mean?” Shui Miao sensed that Xiao Tudou was implying something beyond Sister Tang’s usual personality issues.

“You really haven’t noticed?” Xiao Tudou seemed slightly disappointed.

Shui Miao frowned and glanced at Sister Tang. “You’re being so mysterious—what exactly are you saying? Is she possessed by a ghost?”

“Not exactly,” Xiao Tudou whispered softly, as if afraid someone might overhear. “Perhaps because she is of the earth element and I specialize in earth-element spiritual energy, I can sense that she is surrounded by bad luck. She might face a series of misfortunes lately, maybe even a car accident. But once today passes, she should be fine.”

Upon hearing this, Shui Miao felt puzzled—how come he hadn’t noticed it himself?

“Let me take a look…”

Shui Miao quickly activated his spiritual energy, opened his Yin-Yang eyes, and stepped forward to observe Sister Tang. Just as she turned her back, he noticed a grayish aura surrounding her.

Xiao Tudou peeked out from the corner, half his head exposed, staring at Sister Tang’s back. “Senior Brother, within that gray aura, there’s another kind of energy. Look closely at her hair color…”

Sister Tang’s hair was black.

Shui Miao focused intently on her hair and faintly noticed a thin white light flickering among her strands. “I see it—it looks like a very fine white thread…”

“Exactly, that’s the line!” Xiao Tudou explained.

“Junior Brother, now do you understand why I asked her for money?”

“Just tell me straight, I don’t understand any of this,” Shui Miao said without shame, determined to ask even if it made him look foolish.

Xiao Tudou pulled his head back and whispered, “When people are having bad luck, they often lack money too. Human thoughts are very powerful. Sister Tang can’t find a job, so she must be in desperate need of money. At a moment like this, if I ask her for money, she will feel conflicted, her mind focused on money. When she hands it over, due to her reluctance, she will transfer some of her bad luck onto the money. By taking that money from her, I also take away part of her misfortune.”

“Is that so!” Shui Miao suddenly felt a wave of realization and excitement. “When I was little, I often heard villagers say that when people are having bad luck, it tends to come in waves—sometimes multiple misfortunes in one day. According to your explanation, that’s because their bad luck hasn’t been fully released all at once, so they keep experiencing misfortunes?”

“Exactly, that’s what my master used to tell me,” Xiao Tudou nodded quickly. “In fact, everyone carries some degree of bad luck. But those of us who understand Feng Shui and can control spiritual energy are different. We know what we can and cannot do, which energies are good and which are bad, and we use methods to neutralize them, so we avoid major disasters. Also, a lot of good and bad luck is transmitted through money—it’s a deep subject, and I can’t explain everything right now. We should try to get some money from her or find a way to dispel that white light of bad omen. Otherwise, she really might face a major disaster.”

Xiao Tudou was kind-hearted and compassionate.

“Alright, regardless of everything, I’ve known her for a while—we can’t just stand by and watch,” Shui Miao shook his head, recalling the passionate kiss he once shared with Sister Tang. He felt a pang of compassion in his heart—he couldn’t bear to see her continue suffering misfortune.

※※※

Sister Tang, barefoot, had searched the alley twice and was about to give up when suddenly Shui Miao appeared behind her. “Sister Tang, are you looking for me?”

“Yes!”

Sister Tang turned around and saw Shui Miao, her heart leaping with both surprise and joy.

“Sister Tang, my wallet was stolen. Can you lend me some money? I’ll pay you back later,” Shui Miao extended his hand directly.

Sister Tang was momentarily stunned. She had intended to ask Shui Miao for money, but没想到 he beat her to it!

(Since the instruction specifies not to retain any Chinese characters, here’s the full translation of the sentence including the Chinese part):

Sister Tang was momentarily stunned. She had intended to ask Shui Miao for money, but unexpectedly, he beat her to it!

Looking at both Shui Miao and Xiao Tudou, Sister Tang hesitated and said, “Shui Miao, I came to apologize and explain. Chairman Lin asked me to take care of you, and I thought I could earn some money, so I spent a lot on clothes and bags. But when Chairman Lin called to ask how you were doing, I lied, and then she fired me immediately. I didn’t know what was going on, and I thought it was you who reported me and framed me, so I acted the way I did earlier. Now I’m completely broke, I don’t have any money to lend you…”

Sister Tang even opened her purse to show Shui Miao—there wasn’t a single coin inside.

Only then did Shui Miao realize that it was actually Lin Qing’er who had fired Sister Tang, which explained why she had taken her anger out on him.

“That’s impossible! There’s still money in your pants pocket—over five hundred yuan!” Xiao Tudou, with his mastery of earth-element spiritual energy, could sense Sister Tang’s thoughts because she was also of the earth element.

“How… how do you know that!?” Sister Tang was shocked, looking at Xiao Tudou as if he were some kind of monster.

“Sister Tang, come on, I said I’d pay you back. We’ve worked together, our relationship isn’t ordinary. How can you not trust me like this?” Shui Miao, for the first time in his life, was shamelessly asking a girl for money.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant!” Sister Tang waved her hands repeatedly. “It’s just that I really don’t have that much money left. If I give it all to you, I won’t even have money for food or a taxi ride home, not even enough to use a public restroom…”

Sister Tang lowered her head. She wouldn’t have said such words unless she was truly desperate.

“Why are you making so many excuses? If we’re friends, just lend it!” Shui Miao didn’t want to waste words and looked impatient.

“I…” Sister Tang was speechless. She couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten into Shui Miao today. “Shui Miao, I’ll lend you four hundred, and keep one hundred for myself to take a taxi back, okay?”

“Ah! Then forget it!” Shui Miao turned and walked away.

Seeing this, Sister Tang hurriedly called him back and took out the last of her more than five hundred yuan.

Before Shui Miao could reach out, Xiao Tudou extended his hand. “Give it to me.”

Sister Tang was stunned, but the money was already half in Xiao Tudou’s grip. To activate Sister Tang’s thoughts, Shui Miao quickly played along, saying to her, “You’re giving it to him, not me. I won’t pay you back.”

“What!?”

Hearing this, Sister Tang panicked immediately and tried to pull the money back from Xiao Tudou, who held on tightly. As the moment was right, Xiao Tudou suddenly shouted “Zha!” at her hand. His loud voice startled Sister Tang, causing her to loosen her grip—the money fell into Xiao Tudou’s hands. He immediately threw the money onto the ground and stomped on it repeatedly.

After stomping more than ten times, Xiao Tudou finally sighed in relief. “Alright, it’s done.”

At this, Shui Miao took out a thousand yuan and handed it to Sister Tang. “Take it. Don’t ask why—it’s something you wouldn’t understand. Now, let’s go eat buns together.”

“Great! Let’s eat buns!”

Xiao Tudou joyfully picked up the money and handed it to Shui Miao, but Shui Miao shook his head. “You keep this. In this world, you can’t go around with empty pockets.”

“Then… thank you, Senior Brother!”

Xiao Tudou jumped up excitedly. He had never held so much money in his life.

Seeing Xiao Tudou’s happy expression, Shui Miao couldn’t help but marvel—how rare it was to find such a pure-hearted soul in this big city. It was truly admirable. He realized he should learn from his junior brother and cultivate a similar state of mind.

Sister Tang was left completely confused by the two.

Still not satisfied, she followed behind Shui Miao, determined to get some answers.

Seeing Sister Tang following them, Xiao Tudou said, “Senior Brother, you’ve given her some of your good fortune. She should turn her luck around soon. Looking at her now, I think she might receive some good fortune today—maybe even very soon.”

“Really! How can you tell again?” Shui Miao suddenly realized—his junior brother was practically more helpful than a master.

“Look at her forehead—there’s a sign of good fortune right there.”

Xiao Tudou stopped and pointed it out directly to Shui Miao.