Chapter 1470 - 440: [Fate and Fortune]_3

Chapter 1470: Chapter 440: [Fate and Fortune]_3

Then, let’s call him Haid.

This gas station belongs to Haid’s uncle.

However, now it might belong to Haid.

According to Haid, his parents passed away, and he grew up with his uncle, helping him run the gas station.

His uncle is considered somewhat capable locally—truly a useless bum wouldn’t be able to run a gas station business.

But unfortunately, his uncle died last month.

He died of illness.

After his uncle’s death, a gang of local bullies set their sights on the gas station.

It’s the same group that came over today.

The leader claimed that Haid’s uncle owed them money when he was alive, so they came to collect the debt, and if there wasn’t enough money to repay, they’d take the gas station as collateral.

In reality, it’s just robbery.

Even if the gas station is handed over to these bullies, they wouldn’t be able to run it—a bunch of local bullies who can only harass honest locals or occasionally rob travelers.

They can’t even find channels to get the oil they need for the gas station.

The supply channels for oil were managed by Haid’s uncle, and Haid doesn’t know the specifics.

Clearly, with his uncle’s passing, these channels are out of the picture, and the gas station business can’t continue.

This group came in to rob the place but couldn’t find the money they wanted from the counter.

Of course, the most valuable thing in the gas station is those barrels of gasoline.

Unfortunately, even if those bullies take them, they have nowhere to sell them.

This is the only gas station in the vicinity.

In the past, there were even instances where these bullies robbed travelers’ cars, extracted the gas, and sold it to Haid’s uncle.

Besides gasoline, he would also buy the cars.

Poorer quality cars would be taken apart for parts.

Better quality cars would be fixed, given a makeover, and sold to black market dealers known to Haid’s uncle.

After some conversation, Chen Yan judged that Haid’s uncle was likely a very influential and well-connected figure locally while he was alive.

Being able to secure supply channels for oil and knowing dealers who could move black market cars.

He was probably quite a formidable character.

But after such a person died, Haid’s future days, if he hadn’t encountered Chen Yan, likely wouldn’t have been survivable. ℯⅇ𝙡.

These bullies would swarm like hyenas, biting and robbing, taking over the assets left by Haid’s uncle.

And Haid, this young man, would probably end up with his inheritance seized, left without support, and eventually meet an untimely death.

Though Haid is young, he’s somewhat clever, instinctively realizing that meeting Chen Yan was perhaps his opportunity to change his doomed fate, so he made every effort to please Chen Yan.

During dinner, Haid ran into the warehouse at the back after some conversation and brought out a pile of stuff, placing it in front of Chen Yan to please him.

Chen Yan took a look and couldn’t help but laugh.

American Coca-Cola, American Budweiser, Silver Bullet beer, and American Marlboro cigarettes.

No need to ask, Haid’s uncle likely secured their supply from the quartermaster department of a local US Army base, secretly diverting military supplies.

However, Chen Yan didn’t want to embarrass the young man and opened a bottle of beer.

A bite of roast beef, a sip of beer, and beside him a fawning Haid holding an electric fan.

Just like a noble lord.

After the meal, Chen Yan took Haid to his RV.

Haid’s face showed some unease, as he looked at Chen Yan with a somewhat pleading expression—likely thinking that Chen Yan was planning to leave.

This golden opportunity, he feared he couldn’t hold on to.

Chen Yan smiled and pointed to the front of the RV.

The front was a bit damaged, mainly because when he drove the car into that bully today, he drove it right into the pickup, causing some damage to the front.

Chen Yan used the translation app on his phone to input its message and handed it to the young man: "Can you fix it?"

The young man stared at the dented area from the collision on the front of the car, gritted his teeth.

Returned the phone to Chen Yan, showing his reply: "I’ll try my best!"

Sure, regardless of whether it can be fixed or not, Chen Yan wasn’t really concerned, he just wanted to give the young man something to do.

Human nature is quite subtle.

If at this moment he doesn’t let Haid do some work for him, it might cause the child to feel uneasy and anxious. Letting him work hard for him would instead put him at ease.

Anyway, Chen Yan didn’t plan to leave tonight.

·

Haid seems to know a bit about car repair, bodywork like this is quite basic, he should be able to manage.

Leaving Haid to fix the car, Chen Yan walked back to the rear of the gas station.

The bodies of those bullies killed today were thrown into a dry well at the back.

The wells in this area look different from those in Dragon Country. Simply put, the wells in Dragon Country are relatively small and shallow.

In this area, due to its unique terrain, it’s more arid, with deeper underground water, thus requiring deeper wells, and the well shaft is wider.

At this moment, the bodies of those local bullies are piled up at the bottom of the well.

A total of five bodies.

·

As they say, when a man dies, the lamp goes out.

But when the lamp goes out, the smoke doesn’t immediately dissipate.

A person is like the flame.

When a person dies, their fortune dissipates, but it takes time.

While alive, a person has the fortune of the living.

Birth, aging, sickness, death, blessings and longevity, love and wealth, everything is part of one’s fortune.

After death, this fortune, without a host, becomes rootless and slowly dissipates, returning to the world.

Generally speaking, it takes several days for it to dissipate completely.

Therefore, in Dragon Country tradition, after a person dies, they are kept in the tomb for several days before burial after the seventh day—because at this point they are considered truly and completely dead "clean."

If seen this way, the custom of the seventh day has some logic.

Five local bullies’ bodies are thrown at the bottom of the well. Chen Yan stands at the edge of the well above, calmly staring into the depths below.

The well is naturally pitch black, viewed with the naked eye, you can’t see anything.

But Qi Observation looks at the fortune, not with the naked eye.

Moreover, Chen Yan’s eyes possess the "Illusion Breaking" divine technique.

After looking for a while, the fortune of the five dead guys was already visible to Chen Yan.

The fortune had become somewhat ethereal, unlike the solid fortune of the living, because their fortune lost its source after death, becoming rootless.

This is the beginning of the fortune dissipating.

Suppose other Profound Cultivators, like Chu Keqing, stand here, they would see these fortunes during the dissipating process.

But they could only see, and do nothing.

Yet for Chen Yan, the first Celestial Human Realm in this world, Heavenly Dao’s favorite, Celestial Dao Spokesperson...

These dissipating fortunes are resources he can freely utilize!