Shui Miao didn’t want to show off, but this matter had to be handled properly.
There was indeed a mole inside the police station. With a mere sweep of his spiritual senses, Shui Miao easily identified the traitors. He silently relayed their identities to the middle-aged officer and, without lingering, left the police station directly.
The rest was police work—Shui Miao had no interest in getting further involved.
However, just as Shui Miao was being carefully escorted out of the police station by a group of officers, he ran into Su Xue and her team.
Su Xue thanked him.
They exchanged a few casual words. From her tone, it seemed she had only wanted to express gratitude, so Shui Miao politely ended the conversation and walked toward his car.
“Team Leader, should we arrange a car to escort him?”
The middle-aged officer was actually the police chief of the station—Chief Meng. He dared not treat someone like Shui Miao lightly.
Shui Miao shook hands with Chief Meng and, through telepathy, whispered in his mind: “Director Meng, I won’t waste time with pleasantries, but I must warn you—there are far too many bad apples here, especially concerning the Sky Burial Master. You really need to tighten your grip there. I won’t say more—I’ve already given you my number. Contact me in case of emergencies.”
With that, Shui Miao drove off directly.
Chief Meng was once again stunned. Being able to speak directly into someone’s mind without uttering a word—Shui Miao was truly like a celestial being!
Over the next two days, Shui Miao scoured maps, visited temples, and spoke with lamas, trying to locate the child of that legendary female hero.
But Tibet was vast. Searching for a lama whose name was unknown was like trying to climb to the heavens.
It wasn’t until the third day, when Shui Miao encountered Su Xue again at a lama temple in Lhasa, that he learned the truth—that the female hero had passed away over a hundred years ago. If her child were still alive, they would be over a hundred years old. Such a search was utterly meaningless.
After understanding the situation, Shui Miao bid Su Xue farewell.
But Su Xue stopped him, asking if he could stay.
Shui Miao simply smiled faintly, asked for the exact location, and prepared to leave.
Just then, Su Xue stopped him again and introduced him to a friend of hers named Yao, an avid mountaineer preparing to climb the highest peak. More people meant more safety. Shui Miao received Yao’s contact information and agreed to meet at a hotel in a small town called Dula at eight o’clock that evening.
Without hesitation, Shui Miao set off for the town.
It was perpetually snowy here, with thin air and extreme cold.
The town, nestled against a mountain, faced south. The locals were few, mostly replaced by outsiders who came to do business. The main street, not very large, was dominated by a bustling hotel that combined both Chinese and Western cuisine. Inside gathered mountaineering enthusiasts from all over the world—nearly every nation was represented, including many handsome men, beautiful women, and photography enthusiasts.
As Shui Miao entered the hotel and saw so many foreigners, he felt a sense of novelty. After all, he hadn’t encountered many foreigners before—today was truly a first for him.
Looking around, he estimated about twenty-eight or twenty-nine tables. The large round tables inside were for hotpot, while the smaller Western-style tables were outside. Most of the tables were already occupied. The window seats were colder and thus ten or so remained empty. Shui Miao chose a window seat with a wide view. At first, it was fine, but over time, the cold seeped in through the glass, sending chills through his body.
This town, nestled deep in the mountains, was filled with heavy yin energy.
A female waitress approached, placing two menus and a price list on his table. Shui Miao picked up the price list and noticed two unusual charges: seat fees and hourly seat rates. Seeing Shui Miao frowning at the prices, the cold and indifferent waitress spoke quickly and expressionlessly: “Sir, we get packed every evening after six. These fees are for people who refuse to leave after finishing their meals and just sit around chatting. You seem to be alone. Hurry up and order—we don’t have time to waste with you.”
Her coldness made Shui Miao slightly uncomfortable.
About ten meters away, a group of men at a round table kept glancing at him, whispering, and sneering. They mocked how he was showing off by wearing light clothes, that he couldn’t afford a better seat and had to sit by the window, and that he was clearly too cheap to pay for seat fees, among other nonsense.
Hearing their nonsense, Shui Miao thought to himself: “Fellow countrymen! Can’t you show a little pride? Gossiping about your own people in front of foreigners—do you really feel proud? Where’s your sense of decency? Did you swallow it with your food? Just a group of fools ganging up on someone because they’re in numbers? Pathetic, always fighting among yourselves!”
“Hey, are you ordering or not? If not, please leave. We charge for seats here. If it’s too expensive, you can stand, squat, or take it to go. Whatever you want, but if you’re going to sit here, you have to pay.”
The waitress’s attitude was terrible.
Shui Miao turned to look at her. With a flick of his spiritual senses, he sensed that she was in a hurry to meet her boyfriend—a foreigner who had promised to marry her and take her to America. Her mindset had changed; she no longer cared about being a waitress and didn’t want to carry trays anymore.
“What are you staring at? Never seen a beauty before?” Her temper worsened.
Shui Miao smiled faintly. “Actually, I’ve never seen a beauty like you before, so I wanted to take a few more looks. Anyway, enough talk. I’ll book all the empty tables here tonight. Take away these small tables and bring me the biggest round table you have. Here’s the payment for tonight—I’ll book it all night, and the rest is your tip.”
Shui Miao spoke boldly, placing 50,000 yuan on the table to book all the empty tables.
Seeing so much money, the waitress was stunned.
The group of fools at the nearby table also shut up instantly.
“What, are you just going to stand there? Didn’t you say you were in a hurry?” Shui Miao asked, puzzled at the waitress’s hesitation.
Snapping out of her shock, the waitress quickly smiled apologetically: “Sorry, sir, booking so many tables—I can’t decide on my own. Let me go consult the boss, just wait a moment…”
“Hmm, if it’s not enough, I can pay double.”
With that, Shui Miao took another 50,000 yuan from his bag.
“…”
Wow, a real rich guy!
The waitress realized she had encountered a wealthy patron and hurriedly greeted him warmly before rushing off to fetch the owner.
“A rich guy!”
“What a fat rich guy!”
“Pfft! What’s a few stinking dollars to show off?”
“Exactly, it’s just 100,000 yuan…”
“Bro, he booked a table for 100,000 yuan!”
“Yeah, it would take us years to earn that!”
The group at the nearby table, filled with envy and resentment, spewed all sorts of nonsense.
But one honest guy finally voiced the thoughts of the group.
Soon, a small old man hurried over.
“Sir, I heard you want to book all the remaining tables?” the old man asked with a smile.
Shui Miao nodded. “These small tables are too sparse and cramped. My friends will be coming later. Please combine all the tables into one large round table, cover it with a red tablecloth, and change the curtains to red as well to make it feel warmer. Here’s 100,000 yuan. If it’s not enough, I can pay more.”
The old man looked at the money, then said, “Sir, the problem is that we get many customers every night. If I book all the tables for you, others won’t be able to come…”
It seemed he was going to refuse.
But the next moment shocked everyone.
“But if you’re willing to pay double, then there’s no problem.”
“Fine! Calculate it. Double it, and I’ll book it all night.”
Shui Miao said it casually, even glancing at the waitress. She was thinking about the tip and thought Shui Miao had taken a liking to her, so she gave him a flirtatious look, even puffing out her chest, as if hoping he’d book her for the night too.
The old man took out a calculator and started adding things up—double the price, including curtain changes, table-moving fees, etc. Finally, he raised his eyebrows: “Sir, done. Exactly 100,000 yuan!”
“Eh!?”
The waitress was unhappy. Shui Miao had promised to leave the remaining money as a tip, but now the old man had taken it all!
Shui Miao shrugged at her helplessly.
She had already been thinking of quitting, and now the boss had double-crossed her. She couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed the bill from the old man and shouted, “Boss, you’re charging 100,000 yuan for a few tables for one night! What kind of pricing is this? Are you running a black market here?”
“Xiao Tao, are you crazy? Don’t you want to work here anymore?”
The old man was furious—just when he had found a rich customer, his own employee had exposed him.
“Exactly! I don’t want to work here anymore!” The waitress shouted, jumping up. “Today, your fees are outrageous! I know all your secrets—you use gutter oil, sell dead fish as live fish, recycle leftovers, and worst of all, you even sell tree bark as medicinal herbs in hotpot!”
“You’re crazy! You’re crazy! Security! Security!”
The old man called for guards.
A group of foreigners stood up too—one of them was the waitress’s so-called boyfriend.
“Throw her out!”
The old man ordered the guards to eject the waitress. Then, he quickly grabbed the 100,000 yuan Shui Miao had left on the table and tried to leave.
“Old bastard, you stole my tip! I’ll fight you for it!”
The waitress, desperate, jumped up and tried to grab the money.
The guards blocked her, and the foreign guys also jumped in. A fight broke out in the restaurant.
The group of fools at the nearby table rushed toward the old man, trying to seize the money!
Other foreigners, having just heard the waitress’s accusations and already upset about the high prices and poor food quality, also started causing trouble.
In an instant, chaos erupted—tables were smashed, and the entire hotel was turned into a mess.
Shui Miao sat by the window, watching the commotion unfold…
In fact, this was exactly what Shui Miao wanted to see—human nature.
All kinds of contradictions intertwined, various crises lurking. Shui Miao had created the 100,000 yuan to ignite a conflict. First, to teach the waitress a lesson—to make her less cold, arrogant, and money-driven. Second, to punish the greedy boss and make him pay for his ill-gotten gains. Third, to expose the true nature of those gossiping men—they were indeed shameless, taking advantage of the chaos to rob money!
But what Shui Miao didn’t expect was that the foreigners would actually stand up for the waitress and fight fiercely. Upon sensing their thoughts, Shui Miao understood—the boyfriend and his group were also a bunch of foreign hooligans. Their promise to marry the waitress was just a beautiful lie. They were troublemakers who loved fighting. As for the foreigners who were angry about being served bad food, they were genuinely furious—foreigners cared deeply about food hygiene, and eating garbage food was something they couldn’t tolerate.
The old man was pushed to the ground, and the money was stolen.
The fools who grabbed the money tried to run but collided with a group of arriving police officers.
When the police finally calmed the chaos, the hotel was completely destroyed.
The police took the troublemakers to the station. The old man, seeing the mess, was stunned.
At this moment, Shui Miao approached him and smiled slightly: “Boss, you took my 100,000 yuan, right?”
“Uh… yes…”
The old man nodded repeatedly.
Shui Miao looked around. “But where are my tables? You charged me by the hour. Now all your tables are smashed—can you quickly set up a big round table for me? Also, who’s going to compensate me for the losses during this time?”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’ll arrange it right away!”
Just as the old man turned to call for help, he suddenly realized his hands were empty—where was the money?
Shui Miao added, “You personally took the money from the table. I was so straightforward with you—I paid whatever you asked. Now, are you planning to stiff me?”
“No… no…”
The old man was speechless.
This was called swallowing the bitterness silently—like eating bitter melon with no way to complain.
※※※
Half an hour later
The hotel was mostly cleaned up.
The old man personally fetched a hammer and nails, hammering and assembling a large table.
Following Shui Miao’s instructions, he spent about an hour and a half setting everything up.
Limping over to Shui Miao with a forced smile, he asked, “Sir, does this work?”
Sighing, Shui Miao said, “Ah! This table collapses under weight—can those chairs even hold people? My many friends are coming. How are they supposed to eat? Let’s be honest—I’m a grown man with an ID card. I’m hosting a banquet, spending so much money, yet I booked a place like this. What will my friends think of me? Where will I put my face?”
Shui Miao was deliberately picking on the old man—this was his karmic retribution for being so greedy.
The old man smiled awkwardly: “How about this, sir? The table is like this—just ask your friends to be careful. I’ll cover all your food and drinks for tonight, free of charge. That should be okay, right?”
“Pfft! Do you think I’m broke? I won’t accept free food and drinks! You’re insulting me!” Shui Miao suddenly stood up, kicked over a chair, and pretended to be furious: “Old man, do you know who I am? My father is Li Gang! My uncle is Fang Zhouzi! My aunt is Guo Meimei! My uncle-in-law is Li Shuangqiang…”
“Okay, okay!”
The old man could tell—Shui Miao was a typical rich second generation with powerful connections.
“Brother, I’ll cover all your food and drinks, and you can do whatever you want. That’s fair, right?”
“No way!”
Shui Miao pressed on. “That waitress just said you use gutter oil, recycle leftovers, and even sell tree bark as herbs. Let me tell you, that’s illegal. My brother-in-law is the head of the drug administration, my aunt is the head of the health bureau, and my cousin’s father is the local mafia boss. If I report this, your shop will be confiscated, you’ll go to jail, you’ll have to pay compensation…”
“My dear ancestor, please stop! Just tell me what you want—I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”
The old man was practically ready to kneel.
Shui Miao sniffed. “Alright, since you’re so sincere, I’ll give you a deal. Write down a confession detailing all your illegal business practices, promise never to do it again, sign it, and we’ll call it even. As for compensation, just cover tonight’s meal for me and my friends. I won’t be like some people who demand millions. I’m not that kind of person.”
Shui Miao’s ultimate goal was to stop the old man from making illegal profits.
The old man wasn’t stupid. He knew that once he signed that confession, he’d be under Shui Miao’s thumb forever. But this living ancestor before him was impossible to offend. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and said: “Fine! I’ll risk it! Little ancestor, come with me—I’ll show you a rare treasure. I guarantee you’ve never seen anything like it in your life. No matter how rich you are, you can’t buy it.”
“Bragging! What treasure could there be in this dump?”
Shui Miao’s mind stirred. Instantly, he spread his spiritual senses, scanning the entire hotel carefully.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage