Shui Miao suddenly felt a strong urge to understand his current condition. After all, he had absorbed a great deal of purple energy for cultivation, so logically his gambling luck should have improved. But this was just a fleeting thought; even if he wanted to verify it, he had no intention of doing so here.
At this moment, the reason Shui Miao didn’t want to win too much wasn’t simply because of a sudden surge of kindness. It was also due to that grayish aura. What exactly was that gray aura? That was what Shui Miao most wanted to know. It felt like some kind of evil spirit trying to harm Li Dafu.
He couldn’t figure it out now, nor did he know when the evil spirit might reappear.
Therefore, Shui Miao had no interest in continuing the gambling.
Xiong Ying took out 300,000 from his pocket and handed it to Li Dafu.
Originally, Li Dafu had planned to stop after just one win, but after actually winning, his mind changed. He turned to Shui Miao and said, “Xiao Shui, how about a couple more games? You’re not losing anyway, and everyone’s just sitting around idle. Let’s play a bit more, shall we?” Li Dafu’s main way of making money was through lending—loaning money to others at high interest rates, which was the reason for his wealth.
Shui Miao felt speechless. How could Li Dafu go back on his word like this? He had clearly said he wouldn’t play anymore, yet now he wanted to continue.
This kind of person wouldn’t calm down unless he was completely defeated and terrified.
“Alright then, if you want to play, I’ll play with you alone,” Shui Miao said, grabbing the deck of cards. As he shuffled them quickly, he silently focused his energy and mentally repeated his determination to win. After dealing the cards, he turned to Li Dafu again and said, “Place your bet. I still have 340,000 here.”
“I’ll start with 10,000.”
Seeing Shui Miao’s unusually angry expression, Li Dafu felt a bit uneasy and only placed a small bet.
After revealing the cards, Shui Miao’s hand was stronger, and he won.
“Grandpa, this money is for you.”
Shui Miao placed the 10,000 into his grandfather’s hands.
Seeing Shui Miao’s confidence, Li Dafu felt secretly alarmed and puzzled. Why did Shui Miao always win? Judging from his youthful appearance, he didn’t seem like a seasoned gambler, but more like a naive young man with good luck. Yet, this young man’s demeanor was neither frivolous nor careless—he was polite and cautious. He seemed destined to win, but what exactly was he relying on?
Li Dafu had met countless people in his life, but Shui Miao remained an enigma.
In fact, Li Dafu had never directly participated in big gambling games himself—he only lent money. His earlier aggressive betting was only because he had mistaken Shui Miao for a naive rookie.
The game continued…
After losing ten consecutive games with 10,000 bets each time, Li Dafu finally gave up, convinced that Shui Miao was some kind of supernatural being.
It turned out that absorbing purple energy for cultivation could also enhance one’s gambling luck. Having verified the miraculous power of the purple energy, Shui Miao felt extremely happy. From now on, he wouldn’t have to work under someone else’s authority anymore. Whenever he needed money, he could just go to a casino. Once he had enough, he might even head to Las Vegas and aim for the title of “Gambling God”!
In his excitement, Shui Miao didn’t keep the 100,000 yuan he had won; he generously gave the entire amount to his grandfather.
At first, Xiong Ying had been unhappy that Shui Miao gave him only 10,000, but after receiving 100,000, his face lit up with joy.
After packing the money, Shui Miao and his grandfather were ready to head home.
But just then, the bald man suddenly stepped forward, blocking the doorway with a grin. “Uncle Xiong, you two have won so much today—don’t you think you should give us a little gift money?”
“That’s right! We’ve lost every penny. Could you spare a bit to help us get through the day at home?” Gang Tou had been waiting to speak up. Seeing the bald man take the lead, he quickly joined in.
More than a dozen other men, disregarding their dignity, began asking for gift money as well.
Logically speaking, having won so much money, it wasn’t unreasonable for neighbors to ask for a small share.
But Xiong Ying didn’t want to give. He shook his head and said, “You actually have the nerve to ask? Have I ever asked for gift money from you after my many losses here? These few ten thousand yuan I won were just my old losses back. Alright, alright, don’t block the way. If you want gift money, come next time—I’ll give it then.”
The bald man scratched his nose, smiled shamelessly, and said, “Uncle Xiong, if you won’t give, maybe Xiao Shui will. He won 300,000! What’s a few thousand to him? We’re just in a tight spot, you know—we lost so much we can’t even go home peacefully.”
“That’s right, Xiao Shui. If you won’t give outright, just lend us a bit, okay?” Gang Tou begged. Today had been a terrible loss—he’d definitely face a fight at home without money.
Others chimed in, all begging with pleading expressions.
“Alright!” Shui Miao took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re all my elders, and since you’ve asked, how could I refuse? There are twelve of you, so 3,000 each—36,000 total.”
Shui Miao handed out 36,000 yuan as gift money.
Everyone was stunned—this was truly extravagant!
Xiong Ying secretly cursed the boy as a wasteful fool who would never hold onto money.
But others didn’t see it that way. Especially Li Dafu, who thought Shui Miao was generous and open-minded, and would surely become someone great in the future.
But Shui Miao’s real reason was fear—he was worried they wouldn’t be allowed to leave without giving the money.
Among the twelve, except for the bald man and Gang Tou who had brought more money, the rest had only brought a few thousand, and some even less than 3,000. With this gift money, they not only hadn’t lost, but had actually made a profit. This unexpected windfall made everyone extremely happy.
After distributing the money, Shui Miao took the remaining 4,000 and handed it to Li Dafu’s wife, who was cleaning up the trash bin.
Li Dafu’s wife was both surprised and delighted—no one had ever given her so much money at once. She thanked Shui Miao a few times before hurrying off to the back room with the trash bin.
With the gift money distributed, the crowd stepped aside to let them pass.
But they hadn’t gone far when Li Dafu came chasing after them with a smile. “Uncle Xiong, Xiao Shui, why don’t you stay for a meal?”
“No thanks, I have to go to the city,” Shui Miao replied immediately. He was a bit afraid that Li Dafu had ulterior motives. Besides, carrying 300,000 yuan around, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy any meal until he had safely deposited the money in the bank.
“Another time then, or maybe you can come with us to the city, and we can treat you after you finish your business?”
Xiong Ying smiled and gently patted Li Dafu’s arm. He had also noticed that Li Dafu was acting unusually today.
Earlier, Xiong Ying had worried that Li Dafu might suspect Shui Miao of manipulating Wang Yougui after breaking the formation. But since Wang had run off and Li’s wife didn’t know about her husband’s losses, Xiong Ying wasn’t worried about Li Dafu seeking revenge. However, if they stayed for dinner, there was a risk that Li’s wife might accidentally reveal something, which could lead to trouble.
“Great, I need to buy some fish from Lame Li, so let’s walk together,” Li Dafu wasn’t really serious about inviting them for a meal. He wanted to chat with Shui Miao and become friends. If Shui Miao really had a secret to always winning, he wanted to team up with him and go to bigger casinos. Then, winning hundreds of thousands or even millions wouldn’t be impossible.
So the three of them walked south along the field path.
“Xiao Shui! Xiao Shui!”
They hadn’t walked far when a middle-aged woman called out to Shui Miao, rushing after them in a hurry.
It was none other than Auntie Wu, Li Dafu’s neighbor, who had been chatting with Li’s wife in the back room earlier.
Seeing Auntie Wu, both Shui Miao and Xiong Ying felt a jolt of alarm. She had witnessed Wang Yougui’s incident—could she be here to blackmail them?
“Shui Miao, quickly give her some gift money. Auntie Wu is a good person,” Xiong Ying reacted quickly, nudging Shui Miao.
Shui Miao wasn’t stupid either—he immediately stepped forward to greet her.
Auntie Wu ran up to Shui Miao, but before she could speak, Shui Miao had already taken out some money. “Auntie Wu, I’m so sorry—I left in a hurry and forgot about you.”
“Oh no! It’s not about money—I wouldn’t ask you for that!” Seeing Shui Miao offering gift money, Auntie Wu was first startled, then quickly lowered her voice and whispered, “It’s my old sickly husband—he keeps muttering your name and insists I invite you over. I didn’t mention you to him, but he suddenly started talking about you. Please come see him.”
“…”
Upon hearing this, Shui Miao was instantly stunned. What was going on?
Could it be… that the gray aura had possessed Auntie Wu’s husband? Shui Miao’s mind raced and he quickly guessed the truth.
“Xiao Shui, please come with Auntie Wu. As for Wang Yougui going to the stone to relieve himself, I’ll pretend I never saw it,” Auntie Wu whispered again, seeing Shui Miao hesitate.
To his surprise, Auntie Wu was using this as a threat. Shui Miao frowned, thought for a moment, then looked at his grandfather and Li Dafu nearby. Suddenly, he asked, “Auntie Wu, is Uncle Wu possessed by something dirty?”
“Seems like… it might be…”
At Shui Miao’s reminder, Auntie Wu was startled. Her husband’s strange behavior did indeed resemble possession by an evil spirit!
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