At the end of Yuhefang Street was a small shop specializing in reading fortunes and feng shui for people, also selling items to ward off evil, avoid misfortune, calm shocks, and pacify souls. The owner’s surname was Dugu. Not many people knew his given name—he was called Divine Calculator Dugu, or Master Dugu. It was said this shop had already passed through three generations, and in this Divine Calculator Dugu’s hands, business was still very good. Especially since he was born with the peculiar appearance of knowing heaven’s mandate and opening the celestial eye—crane-white hair with a youthful face. Therefore, his fame spread far and wide, and people requesting him to read faces and determine feng shui came in an endless stream. He had even taken on several disciples, specifically teaching these mysterious and profound matters of fate and destiny, with the main textbook naturally being the Book of Changes.
However, these days, Divine Calculator Dugu suddenly stopped going out. He claimed to be in closed-door meditation and cultivation, leaving the shop to his eldest disciple to manage. Whether distinguished officials or nobles, close friends or old neighborhood acquaintances—in short, he saw no one. This way, not only did business not decrease, it actually increased. Day after day, people wanting to seek Divine Calculator Dugu’s audience for various reasons formed long queues, with some even camping outside the door for days and nights. It perfectly exemplified this saying: What you can’t get is always the best.
The eldest disciple and his junior brothers were frantically busy. Busy with what? Busy persuading people to go back. Though they very much wanted to take advantage of their master’s absence to apply what they’d learned and see if they could display their talents, divination wasn’t like being an apprentice at a medical clinic where diagnosing the illness correctly and prescribing the right medicine could cure it. Customers all came for Divine Calculator Dugu’s fame and celestial eye—who would want disciples who hadn’t completed their training to help calculate? So unless they came to buy talisman water or talisman paper, they could only be persuaded to leave. But how easy was it to persuade people who had specially come seeking help to leave? Encountering unreasonable ones, troublemakers, those wailing to heaven, or the vicious and evil—they simply had no way to handle them.
At noon, Dugu’s wife came to deliver food. The eldest disciple, representing his junior brothers, asked their teacher’s wife when exactly Master would emerge from seclusion.
Lady Dugu said she didn’t know, but seeing their worried and distressed faces, she promised to go back and ask for them.
Divine Calculator Dugu’s home was right behind the shop. A three-courtyard compound—the front where disciples lived, the back where Dugu lived with his two wives and several children. For the fortune-telling trade, he was really doing quite well. Generally speaking, fortune tellers were rootless and destitute.
The Dugu household population was relatively simple. Though he had married two wives—one principal and one secondary—both were daughters of ordinary families, simple-minded virtuous women who usually got along quite harmoniously.
Returning to the rear residence, the principal wife asked the secondary wife, “Where is the master?”
The secondary wife, holding a meal tray, was somewhat worried, saying she had just gone to deliver food but the master wouldn’t let her enter the room.
Hearing this, the principal wife was even more puzzled. What on earth was going on? Others might not know, but after years as husband and wife, she knew clearly in her heart that the celestial eye and divine powers were all fake. What their ancestors passed down was merely the skill of reading faces and speaking accordingly—determining feng shui might be relatively reliable. For instance, this plot where the Dugu family lived had extremely good feng shui, which was why business had prospered for three generations and the family fortune remained stable. But her husband claiming closed-door meditation—she absolutely didn’t believe it.
Immediately, she pulled the secondary wife and walked toward her husband’s room.
Why wouldn’t Divine Calculator Dugu open the door? It was already mealtime, and he was someone who got terribly hungry missing one meal.
Because there were guests.
Uninvited guests.
With a thump, Dugu dropped to his knees on the ground, his face mournful. “I’ve already followed your instructions exactly, not missing a word in telling that young lady. Looking at her reaction, eight or nine out of ten, she believed it. Moreover, I, Dugu, have some reputation in this area. Even if she later asks others and learns about me, she still can’t expose this act.”
“Who said it was an act?” A coarse voice like stones grinding, a thin, wiry man with a white cloth covering his face, his eyes flickering. “If you dare say even one word outside, you can forget about your head. Know this—if I can enter your room openly in broad daylight, at night I can take your life without anyone knowing.”
A cold snort came from behind the thin man, from the tall, large masked fellow.
Dugu trembled with fright, hastily kowtowing. “Yes, yes, this humble one misspoke. It’s not an act—it really is that young lady’s fate I read, I saw it clear as day.”
“That’s natural. Mister is known for having opened his celestial eye, able to see present life and future. Meeting someone with karmic connection and saying a few extra words of counsel is purely good intentions. Why be overly modest? If you see that young lady again in the future, the karmic connection is finished—no need to say more, just remain silent. Heaven has always been fair—giving you the benefit of a celestial eye means taking something in exchange. Mister has been in this trade for so many years, you should understand what I mean, right?”
“I understand, I understand.” His head bobbed like pecking rice. “I absolutely won’t say another word, otherwise let heaven take my life.”
“If heaven doesn’t take it, I will.” The voice turned abruptly cold.
“Yes, yes, even for my family, old and young, from now on, this matter rots in my belly and goes to my coffin with me.” Divine Calculator Dugu thought to himself what terrible luck he’d encountered, attracting two evil stars for no reason.
“Very good, but it’s best to forget it completely, lest Mister accidentally drinks some wine and speaks the truth or something.” The thin man seemed not quite reassured, stroking his chin. “Should I give Mister the antidote, or simply kill to silence? Truth be told, only dead men keep promises.”
Dugu was so frightened cold sweat poured out, his head kowtowing non-stop. “This humble one swears on my family’s ancestral foundation—from now on I absolutely won’t touch a drop of alcohol. Please spare my life, both of you.”
“Mister, really, I was only joking. I want you to keep your word, so naturally I myself am also someone who keeps my word. That day we agreed that as long as you help me accomplish this matter, your life would be worry-free. Why doesn’t Mister trust me?” With a coarse, cackling low laugh, the thin person pulled out a small box from his sleeve. “The antidote is here. You must swallow it whole, remember not to bite it, take it with green tea.”
Dugu knelt forward a few steps, carefully receiving it with both hands, thanking them repeatedly. Opening the box, he saw a jade-green pill, its color so vivid it was frightening. He had some doubts but feared they would take it back. Closing his eyes, gritting his teeth, he swallowed it whole, taking it with tea. The medicine was indeed fast-acting—before long, the numb and aching places all felt better. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“How about it? I didn’t deceive you, did I?” The thin one said with a smile.
“The great hero’s word is worth nine tripods, truly keeping his promise.” Alas, what kind of situation was this? They had forced him to swallow poison. Now that it was resolved, he was both thanking and ingratiating himself, still not daring to offend them in the slightest.
“However, there’s one thing I’m not joking about. If you reveal this matter, your little life can’t be saved.” The thin one patted a corner of the table, turning back to give the tall fellow a look.
The tall fellow went over and also patted it. That corner of the pear wood table was like tofu—with his pat, it broke off immediately.
This wasn’t Dugu’s first time witnessing the fellow’s astonishing strength. The reason he had agreed so quickly earlier was also because he’d been frightened. Moreover, they had fed him poison, causing his entire body to go numb here and ache there at the slightest movement. He couldn’t even manage the shop or care about others’ fates, staying home all day counting on his fingers the days. They said the poison would flare up in one month, and he’d been on edge until now.
“Master, please open the door. How can you not eat?” The principal wife spoke from outside.
“Master Dugu has two virtuous wives.” The thin one gave a soft laugh. “I hope you’ll treasure your life and conduct yourself well. After this incident, I imagine Master has thoughts of leaving home. However, if you leave, wouldn’t that tell others you have a guilty conscience? So it’s better not to leave. I keep my word—as long as you keep your promise, I won’t come trouble you again.”
Dugu hastily bowed repeatedly in agreement.
“Master, if you don’t open the door, I’m breaking in!” The principal wife heard no movement inside. Thinking again of her husband’s worried expression these past days, she felt increasingly wrong about it and immediately ordered the servants to smash the door open.
Dugu, fearing implicating his family, shouted loudly not to come in, but it was too late. He watched as the two doors were forcefully pushed open, his principal and secondary wives crossing the threshold one after the other.
“Master, you’ve had no appetite for food or tea—what on earth is the reason? Could it be you have some serious illness?”
Dugu looked behind him—truly arriving without trace and departing without shadow, those two had already left at some unknown time. He only saw the window lattice lightly touching the wooden frame.
“It’s nothing, nothing.” Dugu comforted his principal wife, also comforting himself.
“Oh my, Master, how did this table lose a corner?” The secondary wife had sharp eyes.
“Uh, I accidentally knocked it off.” As long as his life was saved, Dugu answered without much concern.
“Master, how did you knock it? It’s all turned to sawdust.” The secondary wife crouched down, stretching out her hand to twist something in her palm, then spread it before Dugu. “Look.”
Dugu looked down—this was really something. Just now when the tall fellow’s palm struck down it was still wood chunks, how had it now become sawdust? Thinking it over, those two were definitely not bluffing. They truly could kill someone invisibly. His entire body couldn’t help but shudder. He thought to himself this place couldn’t be stayed in. But then remembering the thin man’s words, he heaved a long sigh. Even if he wanted to leave, he couldn’t!
Now to speak of these two wearing white cloth masks—they jumped out the window, leaped over the wall, and landed easily in the small alley behind Dugu’s residence.
Pulling off the cloth from the face, the thin man spoke. “Zan Jin, your skills are good.” More stable and faster than when Xiao Yi carried her.
The tall one removed his mask and chuckled.
Now there’s no need to say more—if this thin man wasn’t Mo Zi, then who else could it be?
That day when she first went to the Lin mansion with Cen Er, hearing Little Ma mention this Master Dugu with his celestial eye, she had conceived a plan. Ancient people almost all believed in ghosts, gods, and fate—Qiu Sanniang would be no exception. So she and Zan Jin inquired about this Dugu, and he was actually a far and near famous crane-haired, youthful-faced divine calculator. This gave her plan even more certainty of success. She found an opportunity to infiltrate Dugu’s home. Zan Jin struck his pressure points, fed him his father’s exclusively made Numbness Tendon Pill, then intimidated and threatened him this way, having him hide nearby on the day Qiu Sanniang went to the Lin mansion, then pretend to encounter her by chance. She also taught Dugu to say those profound words with truth within falsehood and falsehood within truth, including how to dress up with a bit of immortal bearing and a bit of crazed, unrestrained appearance.
Qiu Sanniang had once said that when facing matters, she kept her fists clenched in her sleeves and wouldn’t act. Actually, Qiu Sanniang was wrong. Her ruthless way of doing things differed from Qiu Sanniang’s. She liked operating behind the scenes, liked openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing by another route, liked striking when others thought it impossible, then hitting the mark with one blow.
Qiu Sanniang probably suspected the fortune teller was arranged by her—so what? Just like when she helped Qiu Sanniang switch the dowry, even if Zhang Shi suspected Qiu Sanniang of manipulating things, without evidence what could she do? The fortune teller wasn’t fake—he was real. Having opened his celestial eye and being a divine calculator were things everyone knew. She had sealed Dugu’s mouth. Qiu Sanniang could disbelieve Dugu’s words, but she couldn’t find fault with her. So over time, it could only settle.
How did that saying go? A barking dog doesn’t bite, a biting dog doesn’t bark.
Let it be stated in advance—she wasn’t that dog.