Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 93: Fortune-Telling

The fortune teller was a cultivator around the same age as Lu Yang. Upon noticing Lu Yang’s gaze, he begrudgingly explained, “I have no choice. People nowadays don’t really believe in fortune-telling. They keep chanting things like ‘fate lies in my hands, not the heavens’[1] and ‘I am the master of my own destiny.’ It’s honestly hard to make a living.

"Some people prefer to use the bagua compass for divination, so I prepared one.”

“Some people want to predict their luck in gambling, so I prepared dice.

“Some people find logomancy to be accurate, so I prepared the Four Treasures of the Study.

“Some people think that tossing copper coins is the most effective, so I prepared nine copper coins.

“And this crystal ball? It’s a trend that emerged in the East Sea in recent years. Since people like to use crystal balls for fortune-telling, I even specially traveled to the East Sea to pick up a thing or two. Besides, this crystal ball can not only perform divinations, it also secretly plays short videos. One tool for twice the income.

“How about it? Do you want to choose one and give it a try? No need to pay if it isn’t effective,” the fortune teller touted his services fervently.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou peered at the fortune teller in suspicion as they put on their guard. They couldn’t help but feel that the fortune teller was not as simple as he seemed. It looked like he had seen through something.

It was Man Gu’s first time encountering a fortune teller, and he found it very interesting. “Can you tell my fortune?”

The corners of the fortune teller’s mouth curved into a smile. “Sure, which divination method do you prefer, and what do you want to inquire about?”

Man Gu contemplated for a bit, taking into account that he was a Confucian cultivator. “Let’s go with logomancy then. I’ll write a character, and you’ll analyze if I can become a great Confucian scholar.”

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“Please write.” The fortune teller skillfully laid out the calligraphy tools and invited Man Gu to begin.

Man Gu deftly wrote a character, his brush flying across the paper.

The fortune teller tapped on it and let out a long hiss, “Your character...”

“What’s the problem?” Man Gu asked anxiously.

“Your handwriting is so ugly. What character is this?”

“Ru for Confucian.”

Despite being speechless, the fortune teller collected himself and evaluated, “The Confucian is one who embodies softness, often referred to as a skilled savant. Its character encompasses the ‘human’ radical, and ‘xu’ guides its pronunciation.[2]

“You have a strong body and appear to be indestructible, yet you actually possess a soft heart. You are vacillating, taking in everything at face value and imitating everything you learn.

“Look at the character for ‘xu,’ which means ‘need’. It is made up of the character ‘rain’ at the top and ‘will’ at the bottom. As the adage goes, ‘Clouds gather in the sky; when the need arises, it will bring about rain at the right time.’ This implies that you will be needed by others in the future.

Notice that the radical for ‘human’ stands to the side. This suggests that not only can you become a great Confucian scholar, you can even become a new style of a great Confucian scholar.”

Man Gu was over the moon to hear that he could become a great Confucian scholar. His level of Confucianism ranked one of the lowest under Fourth Elder. However, Fourth Elder didn’t mind it and firmly supported the notion of “education without discrimination,” claiming that Man Gu had simply not become enlightened yet. As long as Man Gu achieved enlightenment, Fourth Elder was confident that Man Gu would be able to comprehend the Dao of Confucianism in one go, his future one of boundless opportunities.

In spite of all that, Man Gu kept losing confidence. After hearing the fortune teller’s analysis which asserted that he could become a great scholar, Man Gu regained his confidence.

I do have great potential!

”Oh, there’s one more thing.”

“What?”

“Practice your writing more when you get back.”

“Oh.”

“Do you need a copybook? I happen to have one right here. You should take one. This is a necessary expense for your journey to becoming a great Confucian scholar.”

Man Gu felt that he made a lot of sense, so he bought the copybook.

Seeing that Man Gu was done, Lan Ting also got interested in giving fortune-telling a try and sat down. “I want to know whether I’ll have greater achievements in arrays or talismans. Let’s use the crystal ball.”

She hadn’t focused much on arrays recently, yet her interest in arrays seemed to have surpassed that in talismans. That prompted her to contemplate whether she should change her area of specialization.

The fortune teller raised the crystal ball toward Lan Ting, rubbing it with both hands as he chanted, “Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, crystal ball, show yourself! Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, crystal ball, show yourself!”[3]

When he saw the results displayed by the crystal ball, he was completely floored. “Uh, in the future, you will write arrays on talismans, combining arrays and talismans into one?” He cast a strange gaze at Lan Ting. What kind of unorthodox thought process is this? This female cultivator is peerlessly beautiful, but why are her ideas so different from those of normal people?

Lan Ting tilted her head, finding that the fortune teller’s words were not without merit, so she readily paid him.

It was now Meng Jingzhou’s turn. He raised an eyebrow. “Are you a disciple of the Heaven Strategy Sect?”

The Heaven Strategy Sect was the number one fortune-telling sect on the Central Continent. They had once prophesied the time of resurgence of the Great Ancient Era. As they were a sect that emphasized karma, ordinary identity concealment methods were practically ineffective in front of them. All it took was a glance for the disciples of the Heaven Strategy Sect to discern the other party’s background.

Perhaps this fortune teller has managed to identify that we come from the Dao-Seeking Sect and Moon Laurel Celestial Palace.

“Haha, junior brother, you must be mistaken. I am but a free spirit and idler. How could I possibly be a disciple of the Heaven Strategy Sect?”

Meng Jingzhou fell silent for a bit. Then, he took out a blood contract scroll from his identity jade pendant. “Three hundred years ago, the grand elder of the Heaven Strategy Sect borrowed a large sum of top-grade spirit stones from the Meng Family. He couldn’t repay it and hid inside a cave abode, claiming that he was in absolute seclusion.

“When we went to the Heaven Strategy Sect to collect the debt, your sect leader signed a blood contract, promising to repay it. Furthermore, when any direct descendant of the Meng Family meets a disciple of the Heaven Strategy Sect, they can demand repayment with this blood contract.

“Do you want to test the power of this blood contract?”

Lu Yang had heard that the Meng Family was the creditor of the world. It looks like this rumor didn’t come out of nowhere.

The fortune teller plonked himself to the ground with a thud, hugging Meng Jingzhou’s leg as he burst out crying, “Big Brother Meng, please have a sliver of mercy; maybe we’ll cross paths again in the future!

“Our sect is so poor that the disciples have to leave the mountain and eke out a living for ourselves. If I, Luo Bu, had the money, I wouldn’t have been reduced to scamming people here! To make things worse, setting up a stall requires a fee, and I can’t even afford that!” Luo Bu bewailed his poverty. “Look at the magua I’m wearing![4] I’ve been sewing and mending this for many years. I don’t even have the money to replace it!”

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. It’s so obvious that this magua has been refined and fetches an exorbitant price.

“I’m not expecting you to pay up, so get up first.” Meng Jingzhou forcefully extricated his leg. “Give the two of us a free reading, and I will let it slide. Remember, don’t lie!”

“Hahaha, that’s not difficult.”

“Come come come! What are my destiny and future achievements like?” Lu Yang spread his hands, allowing Luo Bu to read his palm.

Luo Bu laughed heartily, confident as usual in his domain of expertise. “That’s a common question. Let me take a look then.”

To their surprise, Luo Bu’s eyes widened, and he sprung up. Incredulity distorted his face as he stumbled a few steps backward until he hit the wall. “You...you...what’s with your destiny? It’s all hazy. In the future, you will be entangled in karmic ties with several immortals!”

Despite all these karmic entwinements, he can still move freely, as if he isn’t affected!

And that’s not the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying thing is that this guy will be a scourge in the cultivation world, propagating the ethos of the Dao-Seeking Sect through the entire cultivation community! The Dao-Seeking Sect’s ethos is already outrageous; if the whole cultivation world gets brainwashed, how are people going to survive?!

I definitely mustn’t get myself involved in any karmic entanglements with someone like this!

Luo Bu whined inside his heart. I saw that the four of them came from the Five Great Immortal Sects, perfect lambs for slaughter. I thought I could cheat some money out of them, but I totally didn’t expect that there’s someone like this guy who I certainly can’t mess with!

Wait, from the palm reading, this guy isn’t the only one who will be spreading toxic influence to the rest of the cultivation world; someone else is in cahoots.

This other person is...

Luo Bu looked toward the major creditor, Meng Jingzhou.

I better run right now!

Without any hesitation, Luo Bu activated an escape spell, not even bothering to pack up the items on the table. “I...I...I didn’t see all of you today!” He was worried that staying even a moment longer might cost him his life.

Before the four could register what was happening, Luo Bu had already escaped without a trace.

Lu Yang blamed Meng Jingzhou, “You must have scared him off with your debt collection!”

1. This is a very common phrase found in Chinese novels and shows. ☜

2. This phrase is adopted from the explanation of the word for “scholar” or “Confucian” in the book Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary compiled by Xu Shen during the Han Dynasty around the 2nd century. Another point to note is how Chinese characters are structured. For the sake of simplification, we can understand it as complex characters containing a radical that confers the “meaning” of the character and a phonetic component that provides an idea of how the whole Chinese character is pronounced. ☜

3. Up until the part before the crystal ball, this is a common incantation used. ☜

4. Magua is a style of buttoned jacket worn by males in the Qing dynasty. ☜