The fortune teller was about the same age as Lu Yang. Noticing Lu Yang's gaze, he complained a bit, saying, "These days, people don’t really believe in fortune telling anymore. They say things like 'my fate is in my own hands, not controlled by heaven.' It’s tough to make a living like this."
He continued, "Some people like to use the Bagua for divination, so I have a Bagua plate ready."
"For those who want to test their luck in gambling, I have dice."
"If someone believes in character analysis, I have the Four Treasures of the Study."
"There are those who think tossing coins works best, so I have nine large coins."
"And this crystal ball—it's become popular in recent years. People love using it for fortune telling, so I even learned how to use it from the East Sea."
"Plus, this crystal ball can not only tell fortunes but also show little videos, so I can make money in two ways."
"How about it? Want to give one a try? If it doesn’t work, you don’t have to pay." The fortune teller eagerly promoted his services.
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou looked at the fortune teller with suspicion, feeling a bit wary. They sensed there was something unusual about him, as if he could see through them.
Man Gu, who had never encountered a fortune teller before, found it interesting and asked, "Can you read mine?"
The fortune teller smiled slightly, "Sure! Which method do you want to use, and what do you want to know?"
Man Gu thought for a moment and decided to test his luck as a scholar. He said, "Let’s do character analysis. I’ll write a character, and you can see if I can become a great scholar."
"Please," the fortune teller said, skillfully arranging the Four Treasures of the Study for Man Gu to write.
Man Gu wrote quickly, putting down a character.
The fortune teller knocked on the table and let out a long sigh, "Your character..."
"What’s wrong?" Man Gu asked anxiously.
"This character is so ugly! What character is this?"
"Rú (儒)," Man Gu replied.
"..." The fortune teller collected himself and explained, "A scholar is gentle, soft. The term comes from 'person' and 'need sound.'"
"You are strong and seem unbreakable, but you have a soft heart. You lack your own opinions; you just follow what you hear and learn."
"Now, looking at the character 'xū' (需), it has 'rain' above and 'er' below."
"It means that like clouds in the sky, rain comes at the right time, indicating that you will be needed by others in the future."
"The 'person' standing aside means you can not only become a great scholar but also a new kind of scholar."
Man Gu was thrilled to hear he could become a great scholar. His academic level was the lowest among the four elders, but the elder didn’t mind. He believed that everyone could learn, and as long as Man Gu understood, he could enter the path of scholarship, with a bright future ahead.
But Man Gu always felt insecure. Now, hearing the fortune teller say he could become a great scholar, he regained his confidence.
He really had potential!
"By the way, there’s one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Practice your writing more when you get back."
"Oh."
"Do you need a writing manual? I happen to have one here. It’s a necessary expense on your path to becoming a great scholar."
Man Gu thought it made sense and bought a copy.
Lan Ting, seeing Man Gu finish, found it interesting and wanted to try too. She sat down and asked, "I want to know if my future achievements will be higher in formations or talismans? Let’s use the crystal ball."
Recently, she hadn’t been studying formations and realized she seemed more interested in them than in talismans.
Lan Ting was considering whether to change her focus.
The fortune teller lifted the crystal ball toward Lan Ting, rubbing his hands together while chanting, "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, crystal ball, show your magic! Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, crystal ball, show your magic!"
When he saw the result in the crystal ball, he was stunned. "Uh, you will write formations on talismans in the future, combining the two?"
The fortune teller looked at Lan Ting strangely. What a peculiar idea! This female cultivator was stunningly beautiful, yet her thoughts were so different from ordinary people.
Lan Ting tilted her head, pondering the fortune teller's words. It seemed possible, so she paid without hesitation.
Next was Meng Jingzhou. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "You’re not a disciple of the Tian Ce Sect, are you?"
The Tian Ce Sect was the top sect for fortune telling in the central continent and had predicted the return of the ancient era.
The Tian Ce Sect emphasized karma, and usual methods of hiding one’s identity were useless in front of them.
A disciple of the Tian Ce Sect could see someone’s background and origins with just a glance.
Perhaps this fortune teller could tell that the four of them were from the Wen Dao Sect and the Yue Gui Immortal Palace.
"Haha, junior brother, you must be mistaken. I’m just a free-spirited wanderer, how could I be a disciple of the Tian Ce Sect?"
Meng Jingzhou fell silent for a moment and took out a blood contract from his identity token. "Three hundred years ago, a high elder from the Tian Ce Sect borrowed a huge amount of top-quality spirit stones from our Meng family. Later, he couldn’t pay it back and hid in his cave, claiming to be in closed-door cultivation."
"When our Meng family went to the Tian Ce Sect to collect the debt, your sect leader made a blood contract, saying he would definitely pay it back. Furthermore, any direct descendant of the Meng family encountering a disciple of the Tian Ce Sect could use the blood contract to demand repayment."
"Do you want to try the power of the blood contract?"
Lu Yang heard that the Meng family was the creditor of the world and realized this was true.
The fortune teller suddenly knelt down, hugging Meng Jingzhou's leg and crying, "Brother Meng, please spare me a way out, so we can meet again in the future!"
"Our Tian Ce Sect is so poor we can’t even support our disciples, and we were told to come down the mountain and fend for ourselves. If I, Luo Bu, had money, I wouldn’t be here scamming people!"
"Setting up a stall here requires a fee, and I can’t even afford that!"
Luo Bu, the fortune teller, lamented, "Look at this coat I’m wearing; I’ve patched it up for years and can’t afford a new one!"
Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. The coat was clearly refined and worth a lot.
"I’m not expecting you to pay me back. Just get up," Meng Jingzhou said, pulling his leg away. "You give us two free readings, and I won’t bother you anymore. Remember, no cheating!"
"Hahaha, that’s not difficult."
"Come on, check my fate and see what my future achievements will be!" Lu Yang spread his hands, letting the Tian Ce Sect disciple Luo Bu read his palm.
Luo Bu laughed confidently, "That’s a common question. Let me take a look."
But unexpectedly, Luo Bu’s eyes widened, and he jumped up, looking incredulous. He stumbled back several steps until he hit the wall.
"Y-You, what’s wrong with your fate? It’s all hazy! In the future, you will have karma with several immortals!"
Luo Bu realized that even with the karma of immortals surrounding him, Lu Yang could still move freely, as if unaffected.
But the scariest part wasn’t that.
The scariest part was that Luo Bu discovered Lu Yang would become a major disaster in the cultivation world, spreading the bad influence of the Wen Dao Sect throughout the entire realm!
The influence of the Wen Dao Sect was already outrageous. If the entire cultivation world was assimilated by them, how could anyone survive?
He absolutely couldn’t get involved with someone like this!
Luo Bu silently lamented. He had thought all four of them were from the five great sects, easy targets to scam for some money. He didn’t expect that among them was Lu Yang, someone he absolutely couldn’t touch!
Wait, from the palm reading, it wasn’t just Lu Yang spreading bad influence; there was another person involved.
The other person was...
Luo Bu glanced at the big creditor, Meng Jingzhou.
Run away!
Without saying a word, Luo Bu used his escape technique, not even bothering to pack up his stall, and fled, "I-I-I didn’t see you today!"
He was afraid that if he looked again, he might lose his life here.
Before the four could react, Luo Bu had already disappeared.
Lu Yang blamed Meng Jingzhou, "It must be you chasing him for money that scared him off."
(End of Chapter)