CDJMM – Volume 3 – Chapter 7 Compassion of the Buddha (7)

They say that real gold fears no fire, and good wine is never worried about being hidden in a deep alley. With such a powerful cheat ability, it was only natural that Le Jing’s business was quiet only for the time being.

Le Jing also understood the saying “a tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be blown down by the wind.” Before he had the strength to protect himself, showing too much ability was not a good thing—he might end up losing his life before earning any money.

So Le Jing had always acted rather ordinary. To hide his strangeness, he even pretended to use tortoise shells for divination.

He had even gotten this tortoise shell from a restaurant. If he brought it close and sniffed carefully, he could still smell the fragrance of rich broth.

His fees weren’t high either—two taels of silver per reading. With the promise of “tenfold compensation if the prediction is wrong,” and his active efforts to pull in customers, he actually made some money and gained some popularity.

Those idlers who originally came just to watch a joke now completely accepted Le Jing’s skills, happily paying for his guidance.

Aside from the time he spent fortune-telling, Le Jing spent most of his time resting with his eyes closed. The “Fool’s Eyes” came with heavy side effects—if he used them for too long, his mind would churn and throb painfully. The worst part was that these eyes could not be closed; they were active all the time. Only when he slept at night could he feel long-lost peace.

This quickly trained Le Jing into the habit of walking with his head down, staring at the road instead of people.

He had only run his stall for three days, and while he didn’t make much of a name for himself, he had already earned around ten taels of silver. If he spent carefully, it would be enough for the half-month he planned to wait for Mei Yingliang.

He didn’t need to earn too much anyway—money in the mortal world was useless in the cultivation world.

Le Jing originally intended to stop while he was ahead.

Until he unintentionally noticed a jade pendant a vendor was newly displaying.

The jade pendant was plain—its material and craftsmanship nothing special.

But what Le Jing saw was countless threads of karma clinging to it like spider silk. He couldn’t see the contents of the karma, only the ominous, blood-colored light bursting out of it.

Le Jing: “…”

His eyes grew hot, burning in waves, as if wild flames were licking his retinas.

He hurriedly shut his eyes, and only then did the pain subside.

That jade pendant was definitely strange.

Only then did Le Jing suddenly discover another function of his eyes.

He called it “Treasure Appraisal.”

He had always used these eyes to observe people’s karma, but he had forgotten—this was a cultivation world. Even in the mortal realm, all sorts of spirit materials and rare treasures could exist.

In other words, he could totally hunt for bargains.

He didn’t dare touch that jade pendant, but there might be other treasures in the antiques street.

So he walked through the entire market.

And he successfully found several items whose presence clearly didn’t match the rest.

A fan, a jade hairpin, a ring, and a bracelet. Their common feature was that all of them were wrapped in karmic light, bright or faint. Though limited by his mortal body and unable to see the details, he could tell at a glance these were not ordinary items.

The fan was tattered and old, from the previous dynasty, and not valuable—Le Jing bought it for only a few copper coins.

The ring was average quality; he bought it for two taels.

The jade hairpin and bracelet, however, were expensive—five taels and fifteen taels respectively, which he definitely couldn’t afford. So he could only continue fortune-telling to buy more antiques.

Le Jing had examined the fan and ring carefully; outwardly, they seemed completely ordinary. He even tried the legendary “blood-recognition ritual,” but neither item reacted.

He had no choice but to store them away. Perhaps only after he began cultivating would their effects reveal themselves.

…

After eating breakfast, Su Jian carried a birdcage and strolled through the streets, eventually wandering into the antiques street.

The street didn’t originally have this name, but after so many antique shops opened, the people of Changsu City simply called it “Antiques Street,” and the original name was forgotten.

Su Jian was a complete outsider to antiques, but since he was already here and had nothing else to do, browsing around to kill time seemed fine.

Not everyone could afford to open a shop here, so many vendors simply laid down a hemp cloth on the ground and displayed “antiques” of uncertain origin—who knew whether they were from the previous dynasty or from last month.

Whether one could find a treasure depended entirely on one’s eye.

Su Jian didn’t have such eyes. He had money, but he wasn’t a fool, so he only looked out of curiosity.

He wandered left and right, when suddenly a piece of white jade caught his eye. The material and craftsmanship were ordinary, yet somehow it appealed to him.

He squatted down to ask for the price. The vendor, seeing his luxurious clothing, boldly asked for one hundred taels.

Su Jian immediately haggled fiercely, and finally bought it for twenty taels. Feeling he had won the negotiation, he happily hung the jade at his waist and continued deeper into the street.

As he walked, he noticed a crowd gathered around a small stall up ahead, loud voices arguing.

Could a treasure be on sale?

He hurried over with his birdcage. Before he even got close, he heard a rough voice shouting, “You said tenfold compensation for a wrong reading—don’t you dare try to back out!”

A crisp child’s voice replied, “I’m afraid the mistake is fake, and you trying to extort money is real!”

Through the gaps in the crowd, Su Jian spotted the two people in the center—a shifty-eyed middle-aged man and a skinny child.

By listening to the onlookers’ chatter, Su Jian understood the situation. The child was fortune-telling here, advertising “perfect accuracy, tenfold compensation.” This man claimed the reading was wrong and demanded compensation.

Su Jian frowned. Even though the slogan was the boy’s idea, an adult bullying a child like this was ugly to watch.

Admittedly, Su Jian’s bias was partly because of appearances.

The boy was adorable, his cat-like eyes lively and bright—clearly a well-behaved child.

The man beside him, however, had a sharp, monkey-like face and murky eyes—obviously not a good person.

“Chen Si is really shameless. Now he’s even going after a child’s money.”

“Poor kid…”

“It’s also his fault. If he hadn’t said that ‘tenfold compensation,’ Chen Si wouldn’t be pestering him.”

“I don’t know why kids mess around with this fortune-telling nonsense. Don’t his parents care?”

“Hey, don’t say that. This child does have some skill. He’s been here for days, and Chen Si is the first to claim the reading was wrong.”

“Really? Could this kid actually be capable?”

“Whether he’s capable or not, being so arrogant is not good. I say he should suffer a little loss and learn a lesson.”

Su Jian’s frown deepened in displeasure.

Chen Si’s expression grew smug as he listened to the murmurs. “Me, extort money? Why would I extort a child? You’re the one who promised tenfold compensation. If your skills are bad, that’s not my fault. Honestly, I don’t care about the money—I just want to teach you a lesson so you’ll stop bragging.”

Su Jian was stunned. He had never seen someone so shameless.

Facing the aggressive man, the boy remained unexpectedly calm. “I can pay you,” he said quietly. “The question is whether you want money… or your life.”

The man rolled up his sleeves, eyes fierce. “Oh? You threatening me? What, you gonna kill me?”

Unable to tolerate the scene any longer, Su Jian called out loudly, “Little brother, why don’t you tell my fortune instead?”

Le Jing looked over and saw a young man pushing through the crowd. Dressed in silk, holding a birdcage, with a lazy, carefree temperament—he was clearly a rich young master.

Le Jing narrowed his eyes, surprised.

This pampered young master’s fate… was interesting.

“Since you dare make such a claim,” Su Jian said, meeting Chen Si’s glare without fear, “you must have real skill. Go on, tell my fortune.”

Le Jing smiled and stretched out his hand. “Payment, two taels.”

The young man loosened his bulging money pouch and placed a silver ingot in his hand without even checking it.

“You gave too much—that’s five taels.”

Su Jian deliberately glanced at Chen Si, eyes filled with provocation. “Keep it. Even if you get it wrong, I won’t demand tenfold compensation. I’m not so poor I need to calculate a child’s money.”

Chen Si’s face flushed. “Young Master Su, what do you mean by that?”

Su Jian chuckled and stroked his chin. “Didn’t expect you to recognize me.”

Chen Si said mockingly, “Who in Changsu City wouldn’t recognize the famous son of Magistrate Su? How could a humble man like me not know you?”

Su Jian ignored him and asked the boy, “What can you read?”

Le Jing said cheerfully, “Depends on what you want to know.”

Su Jian thought for a moment. “My marriage fate.”

Le Jing shook his head. “Too early. You’ll have to wait a few more years.” Or… a few hundred, a few thousand even.

Su Jian laughed. “Little brother, you don’t know, do you? I already have a fiancée. We’re getting married at the end of the year!” He sighed theatrically, then grinned. “Alright then, give me my money back.”

Le Jing shook his head and said seriously, “In ten days, your engagement will be broken.”

Magistrate Su would soon be framed and imprisoned. When the Su family fell, Su Jian would lose all his wealthy young master status, becoming someone everyone avoided. His fiancée naturally wouldn’t marry a criminal’s son.

And then it would be “thirty years east of the river, thirty years west”—never underestimate a young man when he’s down.

Su Jian would join a cultivation sect during this crisis. Ten years later, he would sever all ties to the mortal world, returning home to cut off all karmic connections. In simple terms—ten years later, he would return in glory and slap faces cleanly.

This was all Le Jing could see. Anything after Su Jian entered the cultivation world was beyond his sight. But one thing was certain—the frivolous young man before him was no ordinary person.

Le Jing looked at Su Jian’s disbelieving face with complicated feelings. In a storytelling world, this would be a textbook “broken engagement protagonist.”

His gaze swept over the jade pendant hanging from the youth’s waist. There wouldn’t happen to be an old grandmaster living in there, would there?