It’s common to have a gust of wind.
But suddenly, a fierce gust came out of nowhere, swirling violently and then vanishing in an instant—it was eerie.
Even Xiong Ying was startled by this strange wind. She hadn’t expected it at all—she had only anticipated that the energy around Li Dafu’s house would shift, giving her a chance to win some money. This bizarre wind shocked her deeply, and she began to suspect that some powerful malevolent presence must be hidden nearby, to act so swiftly and brazenly.
Shui Miao was also taken aback. Quickly activating his Yin-Yang Five Elements Kung Fu, he saw grayish vapors rushing into the house!
Confident in his ability to “devour ghosts,” Shui Miao was unafraid and hurried toward the front door.
Seeing Shui Miao moving so fast, Xiong Ying felt a surge of irritation. She thought to herself, “Bringing an apprentice really is a hassle! Shui Miao clearly noticed something strange with the wind, yet he still charges in like an idiot—why go looking for trouble? If he gets possessed by something dirty, today will be a complete embarrassment.”
For Shui Miao’s sake, Xiong Ying quickly gathered her energy and rushed into the house behind him.
As soon as Shui Miao entered the house, ignoring the others, he saw the gray vapor disappearing into a room on the east side.
When Li Dafu noticed someone entering, he turned around and saw Shui Miao staring fixedly at the eastern room. Instantly, he felt uneasy. “Why is this kid looking at that room like that? What exactly is he seeing?” Everyone knew that the eastern room in Li Dafu’s house had always been locked and never opened. People assumed it was the main chamber, reserved for special purposes, and thus no one questioned it. Over time, the curiosity faded.
It was normal for Shui Miao, visiting for the first time, to glance at the wooden door of the eastern room. But staring at it so intensely was definitely strange.
The others were too preoccupied with gambling to pay any attention to Shui Miao.
Xiong Ying followed closely behind, but unfortunately, she arrived too late to see the gray vapor.
Approaching them, Li Dafu directly asked Shui Miao, “Kid, what are you looking at?”
Shui Miao was startled, snapping out of his trance, realizing his gaze had drawn unwanted attention.
Before Xiong Ying could explain, Shui Miao quickly replied, “I saw a rat run into that room just now…”
He spoke with such seriousness and sincerity that it didn’t seem like a lie.
But to Xiong Ying, it sounded forced and awkward. In broad daylight, with so many people inside, how could a rat dare to run in here? Still, she had no choice but to support Shui Miao’s lie. “Actually, I saw something too—a small dark figure darted in.”
Xiong Ying expected Li Dafu to doubt them, but to her surprise, Li Dafu simply laughed. “Just a rat? No big deal. Come on, let’s play a few rounds of Bullfighting.”
Li Dafu knew that the eastern room housed a shrine to a spirit deity, with offerings placed on the table. Occasionally, a rat sneaking in to nibble on the offerings wasn’t unusual.
“Haha, great! Shui Miao, why don’t you play too?”
Xiong Ying gave Shui Miao’s shoulder a hard pat, a silent reprimand: “You little brat, stop acting all startled and causing trouble. Just behave yourself. Li Dafu has a bad temper—if he senses anything strange, he might beat you up. That wouldn’t be worth it.”
Practitioners of Qi cultivation are extremely sensitive to disruptions.
Xiong Ying had no idea that Shui Miao was in the middle of channeling energy when she slapped his shoulder so hard.
“Grandpa, what was that for? What are you trying to do?” Shui Miao thought to himself, annoyed. “It’s not a big deal—I just said I saw a rat. What’s Li Dafu going to do to me? Besides, he didn’t even say anything. Look at how scared you are—you almost scattered my Qi and caused me to lose control!”
“You hit my shoulder like that—how am I supposed to play now?” Shui Miao thought, irritated, and couldn’t help but mutter a reply.
It wasn’t a strong retort—nothing serious by today’s standards. Kids arguing with adults was common enough. But to the gamblers, it was a sign of disrespect toward Xiong Ying.
Xiong Ying was momentarily stunned. Although Shui Miao had defied her, she realized she was indeed in the wrong.
Li Dafu, trying to mediate, smiled faintly and said, “No worries, no worries! Shui Miao, you take a break for now. Let your grandpa play. Whoever wins can give you a red envelope later, to bring you good fortune.”
With that, the atmosphere eased.
Xiong Ying gave a helpless smile and found a seat to start betting.
In the main hall, there was a three-seat sofa. Shui Miao sat down, picked up a copy of a story magazine, and began reading. But every now and then, he stole glances at the door. Li Dafu, knowing that Xiong Ying always carried a lot of cash, also found a seat and prepared to bet, paying no attention to Shui Miao.
Li Dafu was cunning—he shuffled the cards himself, subtly manipulating the game to make Xiong Ying the dealer.
Xiong Ying took out ten thousand yuan and placed it in front of him, inviting others to place their bets.
Ten thousand yuan was a large sum here. Most people were ordinary folks who played cards just for fun and small profits. Rarely did anyone bet such large amounts. But today, by coincidence, everyone was present, and several big gamblers had come with plenty of cash. Soon, the total bets reached ten thousand yuan.
As Li Dafu was about to deal the cards, Xiong Ying took the deck, cut it once, and began dealing himself.
Just as Xiong Ying was about to deal, Shui Miao suddenly looked up and saw a large amount of purple energy emerging from the bottom of the door!
“What’s going on here?”
Shui Miao was stunned. He hadn’t expected so much purple energy inside the room. Seeing everyone focused on his grandfather, he quickly stood up and walked to the door, pretending to watch the game while secretly chanting a spell and activating his Yin-Yang Five Elements Kung Fu to absorb the purple energy into his body for cultivation.
But there was simply too much purple energy—he couldn’t absorb it all.
Something else puzzled him: while channeling his energy, he suddenly felt a surge of increased spiritual power within his body.
Before him, purple energy was spreading thickly.
Half of the people around the gambling table were enveloped in it.
Xiong Ying finished dealing the cards—some won, some lost, but overall it balanced out.
For the second round, Xiong Ying immediately flipped his cards when dealing—two fours, a three, a five, and a nine. No bull, and a very low total. Everyone opened their cards, and all had higher totals than Xiong Ying’s. Everyone won, and Xiong Ying lost the entire ten thousand yuan.
“Again! Again!”
Xiong Ying’s face darkened. This was the first time he had ever experienced such an unlucky total loss.
He took out another twenty thousand yuan in cash and placed it on the table.
Everyone looked at each other hesitantly. After such sudden luck, many were satisfied and reluctant to bet. But Li Dafu, confident and wealthy, placed a ten thousand yuan bet. “Haha! Let’s play a good round today. If I lose, it’s like I never won anything. But if I win, I’ll gain over ten thousand yuan!”
Hearing this, everyone was tempted and began placing bets again.
Seeing the rising stakes, even Xiong Ying felt uneasy.
Shui Miao was still using his spiritual vision. He noticed that everyone was covered in purple energy, except for his grandfather, whose aura was the weakest. He thought to himself, “Is Grandpa going to lose again this round? Hmm! Maybe this is a good chance to test whether purple energy can alter gambling luck. If Grandpa loses again, it proves that this purple energy is the key factor affecting the outcome.”
Shui Miao didn’t care about the twenty thousand yuan—he only wanted to know the relationship between the purple energy and luck.
Xiong Ying, with a grim expression, shuffled and dealt the cards again.
To everyone’s horror, the cards were just as strange as before—they were exactly the same!!
Another total loss!
Twenty thousand yuan—gone in an instant!
Everyone was ecstatic. Such good fortune was rare in a lifetime!
Shui Miao’s heart sank—Grandpa really lost again!!
Three minutes, thirty thousand yuan lost. Xiong Ying began to feel uneasy. She had only brought fifty thousand yuan in total. Three had already vanished—she was afraid to take out the last twenty thousand.
“Hey, old man, are you going to keep playing?” Li Dafu said proudly, slapping the money he had won into his palm. “If you keep playing, I’ll bet all my winnings. I won’t be a coward.”
Li Dafu’s words carried a double meaning, provoking Xiong Ying.
Xiong Ying took a deep breath and sneered, “Why not? I don’t believe it! Four times in a row? I can’t possibly lose three times!”
Determined, Xiong Ying placed his last twenty thousand yuan on the table.
This time, everyone rushed to bet. Some who couldn’t place bets sighed in disappointment.
As the bets were placed, Shui Miao noticed that the purple energy had stopped flowing out of the room. Some had been absorbed by him during cultivation, some clung to the others, and some had even spread outside the house. Unable to absorb more, Shui Miao quietly moved around, channeling his energy while lightly touching each person to draw away the purple energy clinging to them.
“Crack!”
A sharp sound broke the silence in the room.
At that moment, Shui Miao was just behind Li Dafu, glancing at the table—and saw that Xiong Ying’s cards were exactly the same as before!!
Three identical hands in a row—this was just too strange.
Everyone stared in shock, too stunned to speak.
Li Dafu, on the other hand, was glowing with excitement, silently thanking the deity for protection.
“Shui Miao, lend me your money.”
Xiong Ying suddenly broke the silence, turning to look at Shui Miao.
At the same time, Li Dafu turned around and met Shui Miao’s gaze—Shui Miao had just absorbed the purple energy from him.
Shui Miao’s meridians were flowing rapidly—wherever he touched, the purple energy vanished instantly.
“Grandpa, let me play.”
Shui Miao took out forty thousand yuan and slammed it onto the table, pushing Xiong Ying aside.
“…”
Xiong Ying hesitated, wanting to play but unwilling to snatch his grandson’s money in front of everyone. He could only stand silently aside.
“Great! Truly a family affair—Shui Miao has guts!”
Li Dafu shouted in approval, immediately placing a twenty thousand yuan bet.
Seeing this, others followed suit, placing their recently-won money on the table.
In no time, the total bets reached forty thousand yuan.
Shui Miao licked his lips, picked up the cards, and began shuffling. The cards had colors—those touched by Xiong Ying were dull, while those handled by recent winners carried a faint purple glow. At first, Shui Miao didn’t think much of it. But after shuffling once, he noticed that the previously dull cards were now faintly glowing with purple energy. After shuffling twice more, the purple glow grew stronger!
Seeing this change, Shui Miao felt a chill—could it be that everyone’s luck was getting better? If everyone’s luck improved, then it would come down to whose hand was the strongest. In Bullfighting, the strongest hand was the “Five Little Bulls,” right?
As he thought this, Shui Miao suddenly noticed that the purple energy across the entire deck vanished in an instant!!
What was going on now!?
This strange reaction made Shui Miao’s heart race with uncertainty.
“Shui Miao, deal the cards already—you’ve shuffled five times…”
Li Dafu and the others watched Shui Miao shuffle repeatedly, awkwardly and clumsily. They realized he was a novice—any experienced gambler would have been scolded for shuffling so many times.
Shui Miao stopped, allowed someone to cut the deck, and began dealing.
When dealing his own cards, he noticed that his own cards radiated strong purple energy, while the others’ were dull and gray.
After dealing all the cards, Shui Miao saw that all five of his cards were glowing with purple energy, while only Li Dafu’s cards carried a faint trace of it.
“Haha! A Bull Bull hand!!”
Li Dafu excitedly slammed his cards onto the table, revealing a great hand.
Others opened their cards too, but none had a “Bull” hand. They remained silent, eyes fixed on Shui Miao’s five cards.
“My cards are glowing with purple energy—what kind of hand could it be?”
Shui Miao’s heart pounded as he reached out and slowly flipped the first card. It was the Three of Hearts!!
That Three of Hearts had been touched by his grandfather three times before!
“Ahh!”
Xiong Ying sighed heavily behind Shui Miao. In all her gambling life, this was the strangest and unluckiest moment.
In Bullfighting, the Three of Hearts was a weak card. Even if it formed a “Bull” hand, it might not beat Li Dafu’s. If it didn’t, then he would lose. Shui Miao didn’t think his hand was weak, but he was still extremely nervous. To end the suspense faster, he suddenly flipped all four remaining cards at once!
“…”
The room fell into a deathly silence once more upon seeing the remaining cards.
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