Chapter Ten Grand Prize

  The next afternoon, two police cars drove to the edge of the village. Guo Jing, Teng Fei, Ding Haitao and Sima De got out of the car. Yesterday, Guo Jing received a call and thought something had happened to Cao Sen, so he called his brothers early in the morning and borrowed two police cars from the police station, rushing to the village where Huo Yun's family lived.

  Guo Jing called Cao Sen on his mobile phone to tell him that he had arrived. A group of people would soon come out from the village, including Cao Sen and a few Abnormals, as well as Huo Yun's parents and relatives. The news of Huo Yun's father's debt being paid off by his adopted son had long spread throughout this small village, and everyone came to see this legendary figure when they heard that he was leaving.

  Originally, Cao Sen wanted to let Huo Yun stay at home to accompany his parents more, but was firmly driven out by the old man. He heard that his son said Cao Sen had something for Huo Yun to help with, and the old man insisted on letting his son go to help his godson, absolutely not allowing him to stay at home. Cao Sen couldn't argue with the old man, so he could only agree.

  Cao Sen briefly introduced himself to everyone and asked them to get on the bus. He then turned around, facing the crowd, and shouted: "Is my third uncle here?"

  Yesterday, a middle-aged man who came to collect debts hastily retreated from the crowd, rubbing his hands together and saying, "Hey, I don't dare, really don't dare accept this title!"

  "Third Uncle, my father and mother have entrusted me to take care of you," Cao Sen said, leaning in close to the middle-aged man and speaking in a low voice: "You remember this for me, if the old man has any headaches or fever, hurry up and serve him well, I won't let you lose out. But if I hear that the old man has any mishaps, heh heh, Third Uncle, I'll make you become Third Grandson!"

  Cao Sen finished speaking and ignored the middle-aged man's face, which was red and white with anger. He loudly bid farewell to the old man, and under the reluctant gaze of the two elderly people, the two police cars and Mei Fang's sports car sped away.

  All the way back to Nanquan City, Cao Sen first arranged for Huo Yun and others to check into a large hotel, then found a tea house with his brothers, sat down and told them about their experiences over the past two days. What made Guo Jing and his three brothers feel somewhat amused was that the pretty girl named Xiang Xiang and the small guy Ludi, who looked like an alien, clung to Cao Sen wherever he went. No matter where Cao Sen went, they had to follow him too, not letting go of a single step. Cao Sen tried to intimidate them with benefits and reason, but the two just wouldn't listen. Under duress, Cao Sen could only let them follow him.

  After listening to Cao Sen's narration, the four of them were very interested in the energy vortex in his belly and forced him to demonstrate on the spot.

  When the energy vortex like a vast starry sky appeared on Cao Sen's belly, the four brothers leaned in, their faces illuminated by the twinkling stars, and exclaimed in unison: Holy crap!

  "Brother, from now on you won't need to turn on the light when you pee at night."

  He burst out laughing with a "heh heh".

  "Watch it," Teng Fei glared at Cao Sen's belly, scolding Ding Hai Tao, "There are young ladies present, mind your language."

  Xiang Xiang became displeased, "You, speak clearly, who is the little girl?"

  Several brothers ignored Xiangxiang and continued to admire Cao Sen's belly dance.

  Cao Sen put down his clothes. Several brothers looked up at Cao Sen with dissatisfaction, and Cao Sen glanced back sideways. The brothers helplessly sat back in their seats.

  "Are these stars helpful for your special powers?" Teng Fei asked.

  Cao Sen shook his head.

  "So," Ding Haitao glanced at Xiangxiang and said with a sly tone, "Does it help your abilities or something, like extending the time?"

  "Haven't tried it? Why don't you lie down and I'll try it on you?"

  "Come on, Brother Sen! For our brotherhood, I'll put in these 100-odd catties!"

  Kuo Ching coughed and said, "Aren't you two disgusted? Let's talk about something serious."

  "I want to stabilize for a few days," Cao Sen said his plan, "Let Brother Huo and others rest, then go to the teaching building together."

  "That old tree skin is a tree spirit, it's okay to put it in the city district, right?" Teng Fei asked.

  Since they had already seen a ghost, it was nothing strange for several young people to see a tree spirit again.

  "He said he was a vegetarian and a green creature, harmless to humans and animals." Cao Sen replied.

  Little Ludi burst out laughing, Sima De rubbed his head, "Little guy, what are you laughing at?"

  Little Ludi was still unaccustomed to interacting with strangers and blushed, lowering his head without saying a word.

  "What the heck, is he a green creature? Is he harmless to humans and animals?" Xiang Xiang retorted angrily, "That old thing is a thousand-year-old pervert, a super big freak!"

  Except for Cao Sen, the brothers were shocked. Such a delicate and lovely water spirit girl, how could she scold as soon as she opened her mouth? But seeing that Cao Sen didn't mean it, the brothers pretended they hadn't heard anything.

  "Toward the old path coming friends, tonight let's get together a bit?" Teng Fei asked Cao Sen.

  "It should be the Four Joys Spring, as a welcoming wine. I'll go invite Big Brother Huo and them, you book the banquet." Cao Sen replied, "Teng Fei, is that Flying High car of yours idle?"

  "Got it, I'll drive you over tonight."

  "Hey, what a great Jeep, you gave it away. You're really stupid, now you don't have the money to buy a car, do you?" Ding Haitao said.

  "We have to think of a way to make some money," Guo said with a worried expression, "After starting work, I realized that no matter how much money you have, it's never enough, sigh!"

  Cao Sen's heart skipped a beat, "Tao Tao, think of a way to get me to the lottery draw site."

  The brothers were all clever men and understood Cao Sen's intention as soon as they heard his words, their eyes shining brightly as they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  Xiang Xiang and Little Ludi looked at each other in confusion as they watched several people laughing uncontrollably, unable to understand what was so funny.

  After leaving the teahouse, several brothers rushed to the lottery sales point in a hurry.

  The next day, at the lottery draw site, Cao Sen sat upright in the audience seat with two small tails, and when the lottery machine started, Cao Sen's eyes were exceptionally bright.

  A few minutes later, in Cao Sen's dormitory in front of the TV, Guo Jing and several others held their lottery tickets and shouted wildly, Jackpot!

  The female ghost Jing Zhe looked at the crazy boy with boredom, is money really that important?

  Money is that important, talking about love requires money, being romantic requires money, respecting the elderly requires money, eating, drinking water, watching TV, making phone calls and so on, except for breathing which doesn't require spending money, everything from food, clothing, shelter to birth, aging, illness and death can't be separated from money.

  While Cao Sen had a keen foresight that Huo Yun and others would be his greatest helpers, whether it was against fierce ghosts or the hidden black hand behind the scenes. The abilities of the abnormals were not something that guns could replace. Cao Sen had already decided to thoroughly win over these people, and the car-top tent at Huo Yun's house was just his first step. From now on, he would not only continue to play the emotional card but also use high-quality life and rich material things to thoroughly capture the hearts of several abnormals. This way, he needed a large amount of money, so Cao Sen turned his mind to the lottery. Controlling the lottery draw results was simply a trivial matter for Cao Sen's increasingly refined superpowers.

  Nanchuan City Lottery Center is a place that all lottery enthusiasts yearn for, dreaming of one day stepping through its doors and exchanging a small lottery ticket for a large sum of cash. Cao Sen and Teng Fei have just stepped through this door, with five first-prize lottery tickets neatly tucked away in their pockets.

  First prize, the highest grand prize of lottery drawing. Whoever gets it will have a life-changing experience and become a millionaire overnight, living their dream life. However, Cao Sen and Teng Fei were not very excited because from yesterday's draw results, there were too many winners this time, exceeding thirty people, which is the most number of first-prize winners in the history of lottery.

  This made the brothers extremely disappointed after their initial excitement. Originally, they thought that this time's lottery would at least bring in tens of millions, but unexpectedly, the five brothers together only won over 40 million. After deducting 20% for personal income tax, they could only take home around 30 million, which was really far off from their expectations. Therefore, even with hundreds of millions of unexpected wealth, the brothers were still not satisfied. Ding Haitao even shouted that this lottery had a dark secret and that his prize money had been given to someone else.

  Man's heart is forever dissatisfied.

  Cao Sen and Teng Fei walked into the prize office, where several staff members warmly welcomed them. When the two men took out five first-prize lottery tickets one after another, even though there were more than 30 winners this time, the staff members were still a bit stunned. After verifying their identities and the authenticity of the lottery tickets, before transferring the prize money to Cao Sen's designated account, the staff members first encouraged the two brothers to donate some love, contributing their own strength (wealth) to vulnerable groups in need of social attention.

  "Alas, I've gambled myself into debt of over 70 million!" Cao Sen sighed heavily.

  "Alas, my futures business has failed, and I owe the bank over 90 million in loans!" Teng Fei sighed with a low head.

  Several staff members looked at each other in dismay, this excuse is a bit far-fetched, isn't it?

  Cao Sen never believed in these guys, if he wanted to do good deeds, he would rather give the money to Jinda Chui, let this kind old man take care of the vulnerable groups, and the money will not be misused elsewhere.

  "So are you going to donate money or not?" an employee asked impatiently.

  "No way!" Cao Sen replied viciously.

  "Hmm, in that case... Gentlemen, your lottery tickets need further verification of their authenticity. Please be patient and wait for a few more days. We will not let a single fake ticket slip through, nor will we allow the real winner to suffer any losses." A staff member with an official tone said.

  Several other staff members had mocking glints in their eyes. You don't know how to behave, do you think you can just take the bonus without leaving something behind?

  Cao Sen glared at him, "Say it again, I didn't hear clearly, what did you say?"

  Never had he seen such a fierce winner, the others who came to collect their prizes were either thanking him profusely or being dazzled by the huge prize and letting them do as they pleased. The young man in front of him was clearly not someone to be trifled with, his gaze contained an irresistible pressure.

  He panicked for a moment in his heart, "I... I just said it might be fake, didn't say it must be fake."

  Teng Fei cast a disdainful glance at all the employees, "Speak clearly, what exactly do you suspect is fake?"

  "Think of the consequences before speaking." Cao Sen added another sentence.

  He was a bit scared, and pretended to let his subordinates reconfirm the authenticity of the lottery ticket. Under the gaze of Cao Sen and Teng Fei, he obediently transferred the money into Cao Sen's account.

  The two brothers walked out of the office, Cao Sen still fuming with anger, "Damn it, what a bunch of things!"

  "We'll come a few more times," Tengfei said with a pat on Cao Sen's shoulder, "Hehe, a few more times."

  "Where did you come from?"

  A voice suddenly emerged, and the two brothers looked up to find that it was Zhu Jianjun.

  Only to see Zhu Jianjun walking over with a high-end fur coat, smiling, followed by a tall and fat old man. The oily face squeezed his eyes into a slit, his gaze paused on Teng Fei's body before fixing on Cao Sen. The narrowed eyes flashed with precision, making Cao Sen's heart skip a beat, as if an invisible hand had plucked his heartstrings, leaving him feeling indescribably uncomfortable.

  "Unbelievable! Unbelievable!" Zhu Jianjun said with a joyful smile, "I didn't expect that when I won the prize, my old classmate also won, haha, what a coincidence, what a joy!"

  Cao Sen didn't have the time to care about Zhu Jianjun, his instincts told him that the tall old man was a formidable opponent, making him feel an unprecedented sense of urgency and threat. This feeling was unheard of for Cao Sen, who had always been in a position of power. He almost instinctively reached into his armpit, flicked open the snap on his gun holster, and the warm grip of the gun restored his sense of security and confidence.

  Zhu Jianjun walked over with a big smile and gave Cao Sen a warm hug. "Sen, is it the first prize or second prize?"

  "You also won?" Teng Fei asked unexpectedly, this was too coincidental.

  "Haha, small prize, brother didn't have much good fortune, got a small prize." Zhu Jianjun seemed to not notice Cao Sen's hand had already reached under his arm, still enthusiastically said: "Come, let me introduce you guys."

  He respectfully said to the old man, "Old Hu, this is Cao Sen, whom I often mentioned to you. Cao Sen, this is my teacher, Old Hu, who has a high reputation in the national information forecasting field."

  Cao Sen faced Hu Lao, and unexpectedly didn't dare to loosen his grip on the gun. He had a strange thought in his mind, wanting to draw the gun and shoot this old man dead.

  Hú's face jiggled with fat as he piled on a sincere smile, "Indeed, heroes emerge in their youth. Our meeting today has given me a surprise." As he spoke, he extended his thick right palm towards Cáo Sēn.

  When Hu Lao spoke, Cao Sen felt a lot of pressure relieved and his emotions calmed down. He didn't want to show weakness in front of Zhu Jianjun, so he also reached out to shake hands with Hu Lao.

  "No! Don't touch his hand!" Xiangxiang suddenly shouted and ran over, followed by a sweating Ludi.

  Xiang Xiang ran over and stood between Cao Sen and Hu Lao, "Grandpa Hu, my brother Sen doesn't know you, please don't mind."

  Little Lu Di also ran to Cao Sen's side, pulling him back hard. The anxiety and worry in his eyes made Cao Sen somewhat perplexed, but it was all related to Hu Lao, who was absolutely a dangerous person.

  "Haha, so it's you little girl," Hu Lao's chubby face jiggled a few times, causing his mouth to emit a chuckling sound. "Where's your sister?"

  "My sister and Uncle Jin, as well as Uncle Huo Yun, are all waiting for us outside." Xiang Xiang changed her usual tomboyish image, smiling in a particularly obedient and sweet way.

  Old Hu heard this and withdrew his outstretched hand, "Hehe, you've all arrived, it's just a prize money, no need to make such a big fuss. It's been so long since we last met, come, let Grandpa give you a hug." Old Hu said, opening his arms wide.

  Xiang Xiang's eyes flashed with a hint of fear, but she refused to back down, making Cao Sen and Hu Lao face each other directly. She gritted her teeth, wanting to hug Hu Lao.

  Cao Sen suddenly grabbed Xiang Xiang and took a step forward with his foot, standing in front of her. Xiao Ludi and Xiang Xiang didn't have any chance to stop him.

  "Hehe, Hu Lao and I are like old times, let's just give each other a hug."

  Cao Sen said and really went to hug Hu Lao, Xiao Ludi was anxious and stomped his feet, while Xiang Xiang's face turned pale.

  Old Hu and Cao Sen warmly hugged each other, in the moment their bodies touched, both of their faces froze for a moment before returning to their warm smiles.

  Cao Sen felt the other person's body was like a huge sponge, soaked in icy water, emitting a cool and damp breath. The chill spread from the other person's body, penetrating his own, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him from head to toe, freezing his smile instantly.

  But Hu Lao felt a hard object on the other's chest, pressing against his heart. Combining Cao Sen's action of hugging with one hand and putting the other in his pocket, plus Zhu Jianjun's repeated mention that Cao Sen loved guns, it was clear what the object was without asking - a handgun! His smile also froze.

  Then Old Hu's body returned to normal temperature, and Cao Sen withdrew his right hand from his bosom. The old and young hugged each other tightly, and the people around them seemed to hear the sound of their bones shrinking together.

  The two of them parted ways, and Old Hu's face jiggled with fat as he chuckled, "Haha, young man, you're interesting. Let's find a chance to have a good chat." He patted Cao Sen's shoulder as he spoke.

  "We must learn from Old Hu." Cao Sen smiled and took a step back.

  "Hey, hey, what are you guys doing?!" a security guard at the lottery center yelled in a loud voice, "Is this your chat place? Go do what you need to do!"

  Cao Sen continued smiling, "You see, Old Hu, we're in the way here, so let's take our leave first."

  "Haha, that young man wasn't talking about you, he was blaming this old man for blocking the way. Ah Sen, look at me, I'm as fat as a pig, wherever I go, people can't stand me!"

  The two passed each other by, and Old Hu suddenly said in a low voice: "Be careful, kid, keep a distance from Zhu Jianjun."

  "Old man, it's not your turn to threaten me!" Cao Senlian retorted without hesitation.

  When Cao Sen and the others returned to the car, Xiang Xiang anxiously pounced on Cao Sen's body, feeling him all over, "Are you okay? Are you okay? Was your ability sucked away?"

  Cao Sen pushed Xiang Xiang away, "I'm fine." As he spoke, he made the lighter float in mid-air, effortlessly controlling it to flip over several times, drawing an arc in the air before landing in his hand.

  "Brother Sen, you were really in danger just now!" Ludi said with lingering fear.

  "Who is that fat guy? You two are so afraid of him?" Teng Fei asked.

  "He is our arch-nemesis." Little Ludi said, and couldn't help but shiver at this point.

  Xiang Xiang was infected by Ludi and her body trembled, "That old demon is the archenemy of our kind, he loves to absorb the ability energy from us, it's said that the old demon used to be as thin as a straw, every time he absorbs an ability user, his weight increases by one pound, look at how fat he is now..." Xiang Xiang shivered again.

  Cao Sen estimated that Hu Lao weighed at least over 200 jin, and maybe even reached 300 jin. According to Xiang Xiang's words, hadn't he sucked dry one or two hundred people?

  "How did you two know them?" Teng Fei started the car and asked.

  "There was a time when he found the ancient path and came in, coincidentally running into Jindachui and Huoyun, as well as several other high-ranking individuals from the ancient path," Xiangxiang recalled. "The old demon appeared to be seeking friendship and visiting the path on the surface, but secretly he was plotting against people. Huoyun and the others joined forces to deal with the old demon, who was extremely formidable. Alone, he fought several people to a stalemate. In the end, Jindachui came out and made an agreement with him: from now on, the ancient path would welcome him as a guest, but he could not harm anyone within the ancient path. The old demon agreed and stayed in the ancient path for two more days before leaving."

  "How did he absorb the energy of the mutant?" Cao Sen asked.

  "I know, I know!" Little Ludi shouted ahead of Xiang Xiang.

  Cao Sen laughed, "Hehe, kiddo, I knew you'd say that."

  "As long as he makes physical contact with someone, he can absorb their special abilities completely." Ludi said quickly. "Both I and Xiangxiang saw him absorbing special powers. One day, Xiangxiang and I sneaked out of the ancient path to play, and we happened to see the old demon getting close to a person we didn't know, who was also an ability user. Before he even entered the ancient path, the old demon touched him, tricked him into shaking hands, and instantly absorbed his powers, turning him into a dry corpse like a mummy!"

  Xiang Xiang nodded repeatedly, her face turned pale, obviously deeply impressed by that scene.

  Cao Sen saw the two little guys in the back seat looking scared through the rearview mirror, and smiled: "No guts, what are you afraid of? He's tough, I'll take him down with one shot."

  Teng Fei gave Cao Sen a glance, "Don't advocate violence in front of kids."

  "Who is a kid?" Xiangxiang was unwilling, "I can get married now!"

  Ha! Teng Fei burst out laughing.

  "Who are you laughing at?" Xiang Xiang's eyebrows inverted in anger, "If it weren't for Sen Ge's face, I'd hit you three times!"

  "Shut up," Cao Sen rebuked, "You're a girl, keep your mouth clean!"

  Xiang Xiang pouted and closed her mouth, but Xiao Ludi looked at her with envy. Sen Ge scolded her, how lucky, when will Sen Ge scold me too?

  Teng Fei had a strange thought, how did Cao Sen start calculating with Xiang Xiang? Before, he didn't care about any girl, no matter good or bad, beautiful or ugly, today why did he change his ways, could it be that this kid likes to eat tender grass?

  He didn't know that Xiangxiang had just bravely stood between Cao Sen and Hu Lao, using her fear of Hu Lao to take this step, which was not easy. Cao Sen wasn't a wooden person, he understood the emotions involved, so he started paying attention to Xiangxiang's words and actions. However, Cao Sen's cold demeanor towards girls made his concerned words sound uncomfortable to hear.

  Xiang Xiang is a child at heart, and in just a few minutes she forgot about Cao Sen's scolding, muttering complaints that the Teng Fei car was driving too slowly, like a silly rookie.

  "Ah! That's right!" Xiangxiang suddenly exclaimed, "I haven't asked you two yet, what prize did we win and how much prize money did we get?"

  "Hehe," Tengfei replied with a smile, "Xiangxiang, it's not us, but we."

  "Haha, Teng brother, don't be so particular with me, we can spend money together..."

  Teng Fei was delighted, while Cao Sen was thinking about the scene just now. What is the relationship between Zhu Jianjun and Hu Lao? Why did this Hu Lao appear in Nanquan City? All of these need to be figured out, especially can't underestimate Zhu Jianjun, this person will not let go of grudges, must let Ding Haitao and Guo Jing continue to investigate him.

  Suddenly, Hu Lao's chubby face reappeared in Cao Sen's mind, the fatty flesh on his face twitching, revealing a ferocious smile. A chilling aura instantly enveloped Cao Sen's entire body, and he felt a chill run down his spine. The Star Sea in his lower abdomen suddenly began to rotate at high speed, forming a powerful whirlpool. A strong suction force pulled Cao Sen's internal organs towards the center of the whirlpool, causing him excruciating pain that made him let out a loud cry. He spat out a mouthful of blood that stained the car window red and slumped over in his seat, fainting away.