Chapter 190
Chapter 190
“You’re saying this thing can drive off Fiends?”
The Driver picked up the Talisman with an amused look.
The master immediately grew angry.
“Are you insulting my profession?”
You’re the one insulting my entire species!
The Driver could see it now. This bastard was a fraud.
In an instant, yin energy erupted from the Driver’s body, and the master immediately felt a chill sweep over him.
“Liu Ye, go out-”
The Driver was just about to send Liu Ye outside when an idea suddenly occurred to him. He immediately drew his yin energy back in, then held up the Talisman and asked tentatively, “Master, how much does this Talisman cost?”
“Ahem. As the saying goes, treasures belong to those destined to possess them. This Talisman shares a destiny with this patron, so I will charge only for the labor. Three thousand yuan!”
The corner of Liu Ye’s mouth twitched. Three thousand for a single talisman? Back when he sold Peachwood Swords, he had charged only three hundred each.
He looked at the Driver, intending to suggest that they leave. They couldn’t afford to have his fortune read.
To his surprise, the Driver wasn’t angry at all after hearing the price. Instead, he looked delighted.
“Master, one more question. How much would it cost to have you examine a home’s feng shui, or drive out a Fiend and avert disaster?”
The master realized a major commission might be coming and hurriedly suppressed his excitement.
“That would not be cheap. I won’t hide it from you: my cultivation ranks among the finest in this establishment. Hiring me to act personally would cost at least one hundred thousand!”
“One hundred thousand?”
The Driver nearly jumped for joy. Struggling to restrain his excitement, he asked, “Do you offer anything even more expensive?”
“Of course! It depends on the scale of the matter. The greater the affair, the higher the price. Not long ago, I helped a wealthy man relocate his ancestral grave. My appearance fee alone was five hundred thousand. Once the work was complete, he gave me this much on top of it.”
The master held up two fingers.
The Driver could no longer sit still. He grabbed the Talisman, pulled Liu Ye up, and said, “Master, your reading was incredibly accurate. We’ll come back when we get the chance!”
With that, he dragged Liu Ye away at a run.
The master froze for a moment before shouting in panic, “Hey! You haven’t paid for that Talisman!”
The Driver raced nonstop back to the apartment. After coaxing Liu Ye into his room, he summoned everyone else to a meeting in the basement.
Smack!
The Driver slapped the Talisman onto the table.
“Look at this. What do you see?”
“You took him out for a fortune reading and came back with this? Don’t you already know whether this thing works?” the Old Man asked speechlessly.
To his surprise, the Driver slapped the table again.
“Exactly! I know whether it works. If I say it works, it works. If I say it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I asked around. Fortune-telling makes a fortune! And the Fiend Investigation Bureau seems to be deliberately loosening restrictions in this field. I figure the public will learn about us sooner or later, which means this industry is about to explode!”
The Fiends inside the Fiend Domain fell silent.
“You want Liu Ye to tell fortunes? He doesn’t know how,” the Shadow Fiend said flatly.
“Whether he knows how isn’t up to him. It’s up to me. Just take the service of driving out Fiends. I go to the client’s home and cause a little trouble. Then, the moment Liu Ye arrives, I withdraw. Tell me, would that work? Would it make money?”
The Fiends fell silent again.
“Isn’t that just the old trick used by wandering con men?” the Old Man asked.
“Which only proves that the wisdom of our ancestors has endured through the ages!” the Driver exclaimed.
The Fiends had no words.
If their ancestors knew how he was using that wisdom, they would probably castrate themselves in shame.
“No, the idea itself is fine, but who would ever ask Teacher to tell their fortune when he looks like that?” Yellow Hair asked.
“That’s easy.”
Bang!
The Driver slapped his contact list onto the table.
“I have plenty of rich friends. I’ll choose one at random and go sit in his house for a while. What’s he going to do, throw me out?”
The Fiends fell silent.
Anyone cursed with a friend like him truly had the worst luck imaginable. Then the Old Man and the others thought it over and realized the bastard had tricked them too.
“Why are all of you looking at me like that? I’m only going to sit in their homes. We carry a lot of yin energy, so at worst, their households will suffer some bad luck. Nothing else will…”
The Driver stiffened in mid-sentence. The other Fiends had thought of the same thing.
After a moment of silence, the Driver slowly asked, “Do you think the reason Liu Ye can’t make money… might be that we’re jinxing him?”
The Fiends said nothing.
They clutched their heads in anguish. Please, let that not be true. Otherwise, wouldn’t they be trapped in another vicious circle?
“Enough. We’ll set that aside for now. The plan is decided. I’ll go discuss it with the kid.”
The Driver called Liu Ye downstairs and briefly explained his idea.
Liu Ye immediately looked troubled.
“Big Brother, wouldn’t that be deceiving people? I don’t know how to tell fortunes. Besides, isn’t it feudal superstition?”
“What do you mean, feudal superstition?” the Driver demanded, instantly displeased.
“These traditions were passed down by our ancestors. Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng wrote the Tui Bei Tu and predicted a thousand years of history. Would you call that feudal superstition?”
“No.”
“What about Zhuge Liang setting up an altar to borrow the eastern wind, or petitioning Heaven for life beneath the Seven-Star Lamp? Was that feudal superstition?”
“No.”
“Go even farther back. King Wen derived the Zhouyi while imprisoned, and the Four Books and Five Classics have been passed down for millennia. Can you call that feudal superstition?”
“No.”
“Then if you, Liu Ye, tell fortunes, can that be feudal superstition?”
“No… Wait, that doesn’t sound right.”
“There is nothing wrong with it.”
The Driver seized Liu Ye’s hand and led him toward the door as he spoke.
“Liu Ye, think about it. This world contains far too many unknown dangers. The masses struggle through the bitter sea of mortal existence, and many spend their entire lives lost and confused. Don’t you want to guide them onto a broad and shining path?”
“Uh… but I’m lost and confused myself.”
“Exactly!”
The Driver clapped his hands.
“Use your wealth of personal experience in being lost. As someone who’s been through it, you can help the public avoid taking the wrong turns!”
The man and the Fiend reached the living room. The Driver pulled over a chair, made Liu Ye sit down, and pointed ahead.
“Look in front of you. What do you see?”
“Uh… a window.”
The Driver gripped Liu Ye’s hand and pumped it up and down excitedly.
“Exactly! A window-the window to the soul! Look at that! You possess extraordinary spiritual insight!”
Liu Ye stared at him.
“Big Brother, don’t you think you’re exaggerating a little?”
“Not at all. Go on. Ask these half-blind fools with dust clouding their eyes if they can see it.”
The Old Man and the other Fiends were speechless.
“Can you see it?” the Driver demanded, glaring at them.
“No!”
The Fiends shouted in unison.
“See? That’s the difference! Liu Ye, don’t overthink it. You have to believe in yourself. You have the potential. Besides, if those people are going to be swindled by someone, they might as well be swindled by you-”
“What?”