“About a month ago, George suddenly became wealthy. First, he spent money to treat his family to lavish meals, then bought fabric to make new clothes for them, and even said he wanted to buy a large, standalone house in town.”

“George is just a boatman, barely able to make ends meet on a normal day. How did he suddenly come into money?”

“When people in town asked him, he said he had dug up a hidden stash—found a cache of silver dollars left by his ancestors.”

“But that story might fool outsiders, but not his own family. George's ancestors have all been boatmen for generations—how could they have saved up silver dollars? Besides, back in the days of the emperor, everyone used copper coins. Where would the silver dollars have come from?”

“But George is as stubborn as a tree stump—you couldn’t get a word out of him even with an axe. He refused to say where the money came from, and no one in town could get an answer.”

“In the end, George lived large for about ten days. He had just bought a house, and then his whole family suddenly died!”

“Next up was Thumbs.”

After saying all this in one breath, David Carter suddenly changed the subject: “Little Simon, do you know why this ‘Thumbs’ has such a name?”

Samuel replied impatiently, “If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t act like you’re telling a story.”

David Carter gave an embarrassed laugh and quickly continued, “This Thumbs was a well-known figure in our old town—a complete wastrel and gambling addict. His family had some assets, but he gambled them all away.”

“He also liked to swear oaths. Every time he lost badly, he’d vow, ‘I’ll never gamble again. If I do, I’ll chop off one of my fingers.’”

“As a result, by this year, he only had his Thumbs left on both hands. Whatever he did, he had to stick out his Thumbs, so that’s how he got the nickname.”

Samuel snorted with a laugh.

A gambling addict—not worthy of sympathy.

“The big house George bought was actually Thumbs’s ancestral home. Thumbs sold the house, took the money, and went straight to the gambling den. This time, he had so much money that he stayed at the den, throwing silver dollars onto the gambling table in handfuls.”

“But after just a few days, Thumbs also died suddenly!”

Chapter 007: Mister Divine Machine

Samuel asked, “Was it all the work of 钱眼儿?”

David Carter replied with a bitter face, “Yes. That’s when the elders in our town realized something was wrong. But we’re all just ordinary folks—at that time, we didn’t know about妖魔 like 钱眼儿.”

“After that, a few more similar incidents happened—people died suddenly, and we got scared. So we invited a master from the city, and under his guidance, we tried every way to find 钱眼儿 and subdue it.”

Samuel frowned and said, “That doesn’t sound right. From what you’re saying, 钱眼儿 first makes people spend money…”

“Exactly,” David Carter quickly agreed, “It turns into money for people to spend, but this isn’t ordinary money—it’s life-selling money.”

“Master, you know, a person’s fortune and wealth are all predestined. If you spend all the money you’re destined to have, won’t your life end as well?”

Samuel said coldly, “What I mean is, if that’s the case, why not just not spend the money from 钱眼儿?”

David Carter gave a wry smile, “That’s not possible, Master. As the saying goes, ‘With money, you can make ghosts turn the millstone.’ It’s not just people who love money—ghosts do too!”

“Likewise, 钱眼儿 can tempt not only people, but also ghosts. As soon as it reveals its true form, it can attract nearby ghosts to itself.”

“So if it finds it can’t tempt a certain person, it’ll switch to tempting ghosts, letting them come and harm that person’s family. That’s even worse—”

“钱眼儿 is very cruel. It will lure ghosts to first kill the pillar of the family, then the strong adults, then the elderly, and finally the children. It loves to create fear and despair!”

Samuel suddenly understood.

No wonder after he threw 钱眼儿 to Daozu and ran away, the temple started to be haunted.

So at that time, 钱眼儿 had already realized he couldn’t be tempted, and immediately went all out to get him.

This is a very decisive妖魔—truly ruthless!

After figuring it out, he asked David Carter, “Blessings from the Supreme Celestial Lord. Oh, so when 钱眼儿 appeared in your town and you couldn’t handle it, you just sent it to our Simon’s Place?”

“By rights, we should mind our own business. My perfume doesn’t mix with your sewage—why would you do something so nasty?”

David Carter exclaimed in shock, “Little Simon, what are you saying? I just told you, that妖魔钱眼儿 was already subdued by the master we invited—in fact, the person who donated that big gold bar to your temple was him!”

Samuel stared at him.

He seemed to realize something, and a look of horror appeared on his chubby face: “No way! Little Simon, are you saying that gold bar is 钱眼儿?”

Then he shook his head, “Impossible, impossible, Little Simon, this must be a misunderstanding. That gold bar was the reward we raised in town for the master. I personally went to exchange it, and I personally checked the gold. There’s no way there’s a problem!”

“The matter was resolved last night. Today, I represented the town to give the gold bar to the master, but he didn’t accept it. He said he’d long heard of Simon Carter’s great reputation, and also heard that Simon’s Place was in disrepair, so he didn’t take our reward, but instead asked me to deliver it to your temple.”