Chapter 43: Strange Encounter

  Generally, fortune tellers use either divination blocks or copper coins, but the old man surprisingly used a deck of poker cards.

  But this deck of cards is a bit unusual. Normally they have patterns like squares and hearts, but his deck has constellations drawn on them.

  I don't understand this aspect of knowledge, so looking at poker cards, I also don't know what specific rules there are.

  The old man washed a few cards in front of us and handed them over to Panzi, letting him draw one.

  Pan Ziyu didn't pay much attention either, casually picked one and handed it to the old man, saying, "Master, this is Fang Pian Jiu, tell me about it."

  The old man stared at Fang Pianjiu for a long time, his face deep in thought, and didn't speak for a long while.

  Pan Ziren couldn't help but let out a chuckle and said, "I'm telling you, big brother, you still don't know how to read fortunes. Since you're not charging me any money, I won't make things difficult for you. Let's go, let's go."

  The old man slowly raised his head, ignoring Pan Zi's words, and said directly, "Young brother, you see if what I say is right or not. Six years ago, your father had a great disaster, and you wanted to protect him by taking on the calamity yourself, but ended up getting burned, your father didn't make it, and you also got imprisoned because of this. Fortunately, there was someone who guided you, whether you can live well in the future depends on your luck."

  Pan Zidong was stunned on the spot, and I was also extremely shocked in my heart.

  Pan Zi's situation is clearer than anyone else, his father owed usury six years ago, he worked hard to pay off the debt for his father, but did not expect that his father could not withstand the torture of the debt collectors day by day and died of a serious illness. Pan Zi killed one of the debt collectors because of this matter and was sentenced to twenty years.

  If you savor it carefully, what this old man in a hemp garment said is actually quite accurate.

  I have come with curiosity and am eager to calculate.

  The old man handed me a card again. I casually drew one and happened to be a black nine of spades.

  I returned the cards to him, and this time no one urged us on, we all waited for him to reveal the mystery.

  After a while, the old man spoke up. He looked at me and said, "Brother, you were born a kind person, with eyes that see through to heaven and a unique set of skills. Unfortunately, you used your heavenly eyes to peek into the gates of sin, and in an instant, you fell into hell. Whether or not you can escape from hell depends on the noble one."

  I'm completely confused because what Lao Tuo said doesn't match up with me at all.

  I used to be a security guard, and once after drinking while on patrol, I encountered two thieves. As a result of the fight, I was still under the influence of alcohol and committed intentional homicide, so I was sentenced to 20 years in prison. But where is the philosophical or all-knowing perspective in my experience?

  I shook my head at Lao Tuo, indicating that I didn't believe him. I wanted to ask him a few more questions, but Lu Yifeng jumped down from the upper bunk and took over the conversation.

  He said he also wanted to calculate our two future fates.

  In my impression, Lu Yifeng is a very rational person, he shouldn't believe in this kind of thing, I guess it's because he was bored on the train and just wanted to have some fun.

  The old man naturally did not refuse and handed over the poker.

  I found that Ah Feng's luck was quite good, and he drew the King of Spades at once. Ah Feng smiled as he looked at this King of Spades, asking Old Villager, "What does it mean?"

  The old man looked at us coldly, slowly stood up, turned his head and walked forward. However, before he left, he threw down a sentence: "Your future, choose the right person, live; choose the wrong person, disaster!"

  This statement made me even more confused, I repeated it silently for several times, still being perplexed.

  I wanted to chase after the old man and ask him some questions, but when I got out of the compartment, he was nowhere to be found. I didn't give up, so I went to the dining car and nearby hard sleeper to look for him, but it was all in vain.

  When I came back, Lu Yifeng had already returned to the upper bunk. He seemed nonchalant and waved his hand at me, saying, "That old man is just talking nonsense, don't take it seriously, go to sleep."

  I had no other choice but to turn off the light. From then on, we didn't encounter anything strange along the way.

  After getting off the bus, we found a car and it took us to Moose Jaw.

  But the driver was slippery, and it turned out that this was just a passing car. He let us get off halfway and said we would arrive soon if we walked a bit more.

  Pan Zi was furious and wanted to beat up the driver, but Ah Feng and I stopped him. The driver knew we weren't easy to mess with, so he quickly stepped on the gas and ran away.

  The two of us had no choice but to walk towards Moxi Town with our backpacks. By this time, the sky was already dark, which reminded me of the scene when Panzi and I went to Suifeng Village. At that time, we also encountered a sly old man who drove a cart halfway, and walked on an extremely desolate and strange dirt road. However, it's much better this time. At least looking far away, you can see the night view of the town.

  I suggested we find a hotel in town first when we arrived, but something strange happened after crossing a bridge.

  A woman crouched by the bridge, estimated to be around 40 years old, dressed quite simply, only her hair was slightly disheveled, at first glance she looked a bit neurotic.

  We didn't want to provoke this kind of person, so we deliberately leaned to the side. Strangely, when she saw us, she was first stunned, then delighted, stood up and walked over, knelt down with a thud, and kept calling out "Xing Guan".

  I was stimulated by the two words "star official", and I even had a strange feeling, thinking what is a star official, isn't that referring to a celestial star coming down to earth? But this isn't a movie, how could we three old men possibly be related to a star official?

  Panzi puffed out his chest and deliberately stuck it out, hehe smiled. I stared at him with one eye, meaning to let him be serious for a bit.

  Lu Yufeng walked up to the woman and squatted down beside her, asking, "Sister, what are you doing?"

  The woman saw Lu Yu Feng and spoke to him, even more happily, and knelt down a few steps back, knocking her head on the ground. While knocking, she said, "Three Star Officers, please save my son's life, he is about to die from illness."

  I get it now, this woman is a bit feudal and superstitious, her son got sick, so she came up with a desperate attempt to cure him.

  I came with a surge of enthusiasm and also went over to help Ah Feng lift her up. I spoke ahead, "Older sister, we are not gods or doctors, your son is ill, he needs to see a doctor, take medicine, looking for us is useless."

  The woman wouldn't listen to me at all, and she sobbed, saying that Officer Xing refused to save her son.

  Lu Yufeng thought of another thing and asked again, "Who did you hear say we are Star Officers?"

  That old woman was particularly polite to us, and hastily replied that it was the Divine Brush Master who said so. He told her to wait at the town bridgehead for three backpackers, which would be the Star Officer's reincarnation, and they could definitely cure her son.

  I don't know who she's talking about with this "Divine Brush Master", but I've been feeling that things have been pretty absurd on this journey, running into either the Old Man in Hemp Clothing or the Divine Brush Master.

  Seeing the woman continue to cry, Panzi also felt embarrassed and walked over to comfort her together. However, no matter how we explained it, there was no effect at all.

  We can't afford to quarrel with this woman in the middle of the night, Lu Yifeng gave us a signal, and we all let go, ignoring her, and ran forward quickly.

  I think we two are big men after all, how can't we outrun women? If she still wants to cling to us, if she has the ability, come and chase us.

  That woman not only didn't chase after him, but also took a hairpin from her head and stuck it in her neck, shouting, "Three Star Officials! If you don't save my son, I won't live either. I'll accompany my son to see King Yan together."

  These words were too harsh, and the two of us stopped in our tracks and looked back. I saw that the woman had really made up her mind, her hairpin was stabbed into her flesh, and a stream of blood flowed from her neck.

  I don't want her to die because of our evasion, and the way she uses suicide as a threat doesn't seem like something a mentally ill person would do.

  I think there's something fishy going on here, so we two discussed it and then walked back together.

  Lu Yifeng said to the woman, "Sister, let me make one thing clear, we are not doctors, but since you're so anxious, we'll go take a look at what's wrong with your son."

  The woman, delighted, didn't even bother about the blood on her neck, and beckoned us to follow her.

  We walked for about two miles and came to a flat house area, the woman's home was on the outer edge of this flat house, still a farmhouse. At first glance, her family was quite wealthy, not like some poor household.

  We followed her into a tile-roofed house. I thought this was where her son lived, but as soon as we entered, my heart tightened up.

  There is actually an ancestral tablet here, with a photo of a man hanging above it, and incense and offerings are being burned in front of it.

  The two of us stopped in our tracks and stared coldly at the woman.

  I have a bad idea, I wonder if we've been deceived. Has this woman lured us here with impure motives?