Shui Miao knew how to crack a safe, which surprised Xiong Ying greatly.
In Xiong Ying’s mind, anyone who could break into someone else’s safe was either a thief or a robber, definitely not a good person.
Grandpa looked strange, so Shui Miao scratched his head and quickly explained, “When I was working outside, I shared a house with a few fellow villagers. There was a guy named Afei who used to learn lock-picking. He taught me how to open locks. This kind of safe is pretty old-fashioned, not as complicated as the electronic ones, but I still need some tools. I can’t open it right now without them.”
“That’s fine. Today we’ll call it quits. We’ll come back another time when we have the chance. Now step outside while I tidy up the room.”
Xiong Ying was cautious, fearing that Wang Yong might discover something. He carefully returned everything he had touched to its original place.
Shui Miao uneasily looked around, fearing that there might be hidden cameras. Fortunately, Wang Yong was also an old-fashioned guy who knew nothing about modern equipment and didn’t trust it, so there were no surveillance devices installed in the house.
Back in the room where Grandpa was waiting, Shui Miao immediately told him about the encounter with Sun Jiming earlier.
However, after hearing the story, Grandpa merely chuckled coldly and said indifferently, “I’ve known about his type for a long time. Let him try to profit. In the end, I’ll make sure to get his treasure into our hands.”
Xiong Ying didn’t care about money at all. The only thing he valued was the treasure inside the safe.
He had mastered the Yin-Yang Five Elements Kung Fu, which allowed him to clearly perceive the changes in Yin-Yang and Five Elements Qi. Although the safe was locked tightly, a powerful Yin-Yang spiritual energy still radiated from it. This energy was very pure and righteous. Obtaining it would be extremely beneficial for his cultivation.
Before long, Wang Yong returned.
Wang Yong was in a great mood. He ran upstairs, pushed open Xiong Ying’s room door, and seeing Shui Miao there, he excitedly said without any hesitation, “Master, everything’s settled. Tomorrow morning, Sun’s car will come to pick you up. After the job is done, they’ll pay you 100,000 yuan. Hehe, I talked to him for quite a while before he finally agreed.”
100,000 yuan? Sun Jihong had already promised 100,000 yuan. Did he really need to go negotiate? Looking at Wang Yong’s happy expression, he must have concealed at least another 100,000 yuan.
Shui Miao and Grandpa exchanged glances, understanding the situation clearly, but showing no reaction.
Xiong Ying nodded, “100,000 yuan is indeed a lot, but after the job is done, I’ll only take 50,000. The other 50,000 will be yours.”
“Oh, this… how can I accept that?” Wang Yong’s eyes lit up at the sight of money. Upon hearing that Xiong Ying wanted to give him another 50,000, he was overjoyed. In fact, when he went out to negotiate with Sun Jiming, Sun had promised him 200,000 yuan, not including Xiong Ying’s 100,000. Making so much money without lifting a finger naturally made Wang Yong extremely happy and elated.
However, Wang Yong didn’t really know what kind of person Sun Jiming was. He still thought Sun was just a wastrel from a rich family.
“Hehe, you deserve it, you deserve it,” Xiong Ying said, hiding his true nature deeply.
In a great mood, Wang Yong glanced at the time, “Oh, it’s time for dinner. Let’s go out for a meal and have a little drink. Tonight, I’ll treat.”
“Drinking…”
At the word, both Shui Miao and Grandpa had the same thought simultaneously: Why not take this opportunity to get Wang Yong drunk, then open his safe and see what treasure it contained?
“Great! Let’s go eat. I’m hungry too…”
“Yes, I didn’t even eat lunch…”
“Then you should eat a lot tonight and have a few drinks with your Uncle Wang.”
“Master, I can’t hold my liquor. You can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. Why don’t you drink with Uncle Wang?”
Xiong Ying and Shui Miao took turns speaking, playing their parts well. Hearing this, Wang Yong laughed, “Tonight is a happy occasion. Let’s all have a little, but not get too drunk. We don’t want to mess up tomorrow’s big task.”
“Hehe, that’s true. We can have a big celebration after the task is done,” Xiong Ying replied flexibly, not wanting to raise Wang Yong’s suspicions.
The three of them went to a small restaurant not far away, ordered a table of dishes, and Wang Yong only asked for one bottle of white liquor. Shui Miao declined to drink, so Xiong Ying and Grandpa split it between them. They ate and drank, quickly finishing the bottle. Seeing Xiong Ying still seemed eager for more, Wang Yong, in high spirits, brought out another bottle of liquor. To Wang Yong’s amazement, Xiong Ying drank half a jin (approximately 250 grams) as easily as drinking water.
“Master, your drinking capacity is really impressive!” Wang Yong had heard that Xiong Ying could drink well, but had never witnessed it firsthand.
Xiong Ying stroked his beard, “For some reason, I seem to be immune to alcohol. I can’t get drunk.”
“That’s right, Uncle Wang. My master’s nickname is ‘Thousand Cups Without a Stumble.’ You don’t need to worry about him not being able to drink,” Shui Miao added, taking the opportunity to support Xiong Ying’s claim.
“I don’t believe it. Immune to alcohol? I’ve never even heard of such a thing,” Wang Yong said. Not bringing out more alcohol would make him look stingy, so he brought out two cases of liquor and challenged, “Master, I can hold my liquor pretty well. A bottle or two isn’t a problem for me, but I wouldn’t dare to claim to be ‘Thousand Cups Without a Stumble.’ Today, I’ll keep you company. I’ll drink one cup, and you drink a whole bottle. How about that?”
Wang Yong wasn’t stupid. Each cup he poured was only one liang (approximately 50 grams) of liquor, meaning he would drink one bottle while Xiong Ying would have to drink ten.
This kind of drinking method, he believed, no one would dare to accept.
However, to his surprise, Xiong Ying laughed heartily and immediately asked the waiter to bring over a clean basin…
Ten bottles of liquor were poured into the basin, filling it to the brim…
Wang Yong also poured a large bowl full…
Half an hour later, Wang Yong surrendered. Looking at the pile of empty liquor bottles on the floor, he was completely convinced, while Xiong Ying remained as calm and composed as ever, chatting and laughing as if nothing had happened.
Wang Yong paid the bill, having drunk a total of thirty-three bottles of liquor, which cost nearly two thousand yuan…
With three jin (approximately 1.5 kilograms) of liquor in his stomach, Wang Yong could barely walk straight anymore.
Shui Miao helped Wang Yong back home, where he was already completely passed out by the time they arrived.
Seeing this, Xiong Ying hurriedly told Shui Miao to go buy some tools. Shui Miao thought to himself, “Buying lock-picking tools in the middle of the night? Who would sell them to me at this hour?”
They would have to find some substitute tools…
Shui Miao scratched his head, thinking about alternatives. Seeing Wang Yong snoring soundly on the bed, Shui Miao suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed, “Ah! How could I be so stupid! He has the key right on him!”
Hearing this, Xiong Ying also had an epiphany.
Soon enough, Xiong Ying noticed a key around Wang Yong’s neck—it was the key to the safe.
Shui Miao took the key and placed his ear against the safe, gently turning the combination dial. After about ten minutes, there was a “click,” and the safe door opened…
Xiong Ying felt a surge of excitement and quickly stepped forward!
However, as soon as the safe door opened, a wave of oppressive coldness surged out from inside!
“How cold it is…”
Shui Miao was startled and quickly pulled Grandpa back. This was a safe, not a refrigerator. Being this cold must mean something was wrong.
Xiong Ying stepped back a few paces, quickly activated his martial arts, opened his Yin-Yang eyes, took a couple of glances, and then relaxed, saying, “It’s okay. This isn’t a ghost. It’s pure Yin spiritual energy. I need to absorb some quickly—it will help my cultivation.”
Xiong Ying immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and began breathing and meditating.
Seeing this, Shui Miao quickly closed the doors and windows to prevent the pure Yin energy from dispersing. He then gently opened the safe door and saw a copper octagonal box inside. The box was about five centimeters thick and about thirty centimeters in diameter. There was dry mud on its surface, and faintly visible were carvings of the sun, moon, stars, and constellations. Shui Miao could tell that the box itself was a valuable antique, not to mention whatever was inside.
Grandpa, greedy for the Yin energy, focused only on breathing and cultivating.
Shui Miao, however, was very curious and wanted to see what was inside the box first. Cultivation could wait. With so much pure Yin spiritual energy filling the room, if it could help Wang Yong wake up early and he saw this scene, it would be a disaster.
Therefore, he had to take a quick look, return everything to its original place, and then meditate later.
Shui Miao reached out to grab the copper box and found it surprisingly heavy—probably at least ten jin (approximately 5 kilograms).
It was unbelievable that such a small box could be this heavy.
He carefully took the box out and gently placed it on the ground, only to discover that there was a small lock on the copper box! The lock was exquisitely crafted, seemingly made of gold.
Without a key, there was no way to open this small lock.
As Shui Miao was examining it, Wang Yong suddenly turned over in bed, scaring Shui Miao. He hurriedly and quietly put the box back into the safe, gently closed the door, and relocked it.
With the key in hand, Shui Miao originally intended to put the key back around Wang Yong’s neck, but suddenly had an idea: Why not take this opportunity to make a duplicate key?
Without delay, Shui Miao knew of an old key-making master and quickly went downstairs and rode his bicycle to find him.
It went smoothly, and twenty minutes later, Shui Miao returned.
He carefully placed the original key back around Wang Yong’s neck and fastened his buttons.
Then, Shui Miao kept the duplicate key and sat cross-legged in the room, beginning to breathe and practice his martial arts…
After a while, Shui Miao felt his body getting colder and colder. The cold Yin energy seemed to be rushing into his body, making him very uncomfortable.
At that moment, he heard Grandpa’s voice softly in his ear, “You brat, this Yin energy isn’t for your cultivation. You haven’t even learned to walk yet, and you want to run? Stop immediately and go to another room to sleep.”
Shui Miao quickly opened his eyes and exited his meditative state.
Together with Grandpa, he went to the adjacent room, where Xiong Ying immediately asked, “Did you see what was inside the safe earlier?”
“I saw it. It was a copper octagonal box with a small golden lock on it, very exquisite. I didn’t dare to touch it and put it back,” Shui Miao didn’t dare to hide anything and quickly told the truth. Shui Miao was about to mention that he had made a duplicate key for the safe when Xiong Ying shook his head, saying seriously, “This is a very special treasure. So far, I still can’t determine exactly what it is. Therefore, you mustn’t risk opening it recklessly. For cultivators like us, absorbing the Yin energy is already enough. The Yin energy is what we need. Whatever is inside the box, no matter how valuable, is just an external possession. In the future, when we open the safe again, you must not touch that box.”
Seeing Grandpa’s seriousness, Shui Miao could only nod.
“Alright, you can sleep in this room. I’ll go to the other room and practice my cultivation a bit more,” Xiong Ying stood up and went to the adjacent room.
Shui Miao pouted a little unwillingly, thinking to himself, “So stingy. How do you know I can’t cultivate? I’ve already seen the Yin energy, and you still say I can’t cultivate.”
Despite his complaints, Shui Miao felt uncomfortably cold and began to meditate in this room to practice his martial arts.
In the deep silence of the night, when Yin energy was at its peak and Yang energy was at its weakest…
Just as Shui Miao and Grandpa began to meditate, a large mass of black human-shaped energy seeped into Wang Yong’s courtyard from beneath the main gate…
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