Chapter 2: One Warning, One Narrow Escape

The traffic light across the crosswalk was almost done counting down.

 

The young man walked slowly, lagging behind the flow of pedestrians.

Watching the green light tick toward zero, he inexplicably remembered a phrase.

 

“Watch your step…”

The young man looked down at his feet.

 

A corner of red paper, buried under damp mud, lay quietly on the edge of the curb.

 

“Huh?”

His eyes widened.

He hurried forward, bent down, and picked it up.

 

After shaking off the mud, a hundred-yuan note came into view.

 

“A true master…”

The young man gasped, his eyes wide with amazement.

 

“BANG!”

 

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded in his ear.

 

A dark object, cutting through the air with a sharp wind, brushed past his arm.

It slammed into the traffic light pole with a clang, the enormous impact bending the pole.

With a thud the pole collapsed.

The young man felt his vision go dark as the pole narrowly missed the bridge of his nose and hit the ground with a heavy sound.

 

“Young man!

Are you okay?”

 

“Good heavens… why did the tire suddenly blow?”

 

“Is he alright?”

 

The young man looked bewildered.

He shook his head at the passerby who gathered around him one after another.

 

The loud noise across the street had drawn everyone’s attention, but Qianyang didn’t seem to care much.

She continued shouting by the roadside.

 

“Fortune-telling!

Fortune-telling!

I can tell anything!

If it’s not accurate, you don’t pay!”

 

“Fair price for young and old alike!

Fair price for young and old alike!”

 

Qianyang turned around and saw her fellow fortune-tellers standing frozen in place, their mouths agape, their astonished stares fixed on her as if they had seen some kind of monster.

 

“Fortune-telling?

Difficult ailments, fortune and misfortune, heavenly secrets revealed at a glance…”

Before Qianyang could finish her spiel, seven or eight people dropped whatever they were holding and swarmed toward her.

 

“Little master!

Little master!

I’m so sorry about earlier!”

 

“Little master, I’ll have a reading!

I’ll have one!

Why won’t my son get married?

Is it related to the ancestral grave?”

 

“My grandson hasn’t been sleeping well lately, having nightmares.

Has he been haunted by something unclean?”

 

“My daughter’s business is going poorly.

Is there any way to improve it?”

“…”

They surrounded Qianyang in a tight circle, what seemed like dozens of mouths chattering in her ears, making her head spin.

 

“I’m only doing one reading.

Move aside,” Qianyang said loudly.

 

“I’ll go!

I’ll go!”

 

“Why you?

Weren’t you the one who didn’t believe her?

Get out of the way!”

 

“I-I’ll pay five hundred for a reading!”

 

“I’ll pay a thousand!”

“…”

Passersby saw the huddled crowd and asked curiously, “What’s going on here?”

 

“Some little master showed up out of nowhere and predicted that truck tire blow across the street!

It was incredible!”

 

“And I heard it’s only twenty-five yuan for a reading!”

 

A passerby sneered.

“Do you have no brains?

You’ll believe anything?”

 

“Pah!”

 

“If you don’t believe it, why are you lurking around here?”

 

“Go on, get lost!”

 

“Master!!!”

 

“Dear master!!!”

 

At the same time, two loud shouts came from the edge of the crowd.

 

Then a figure forcibly parted the crowd, endured a barrage of curses, and shoved his way inside.

 

“I’m not raising the price.

Twenty-five yuan for one reading, only one person…”

Qianyang was explaining to the crowd when someone suddenly squeezed in front of her and dropped to his knees with a thump.

His face was full of joy and the exhilaration of surviving a near-death experience.

 

“Master!

I am willing to take you as my master!

You saved my life.

From now on, you are my master!”

The young man’s face was flushed.

He knocked his head on the ground with a clang.

 

“Little master, I can apprentice too!”

 

“Me too!”

 

“I’ll pay two thousand!

Little master, take me as your disciple!”

 

“I’ll pay five thousand!”

“…”

Somehow, the crowd had started a bizarre bidding war.

 

Qianyang was utterly confused.

She had thought she was the country bumpkin from the mountain, but why did people down the mountain seem equally uncultured?

 

In the old days, the occult practitioners were all people of status.

Had the world down the mountain really fallen so far?

Things that didn’t even require pinching her fingers to calculate could make them fight tooth and nail?

 

It seemed the flood hadn’t been an accident at all.

Her ancestors had arranged it, sending her down the mountain to carry on the family legacy and save the occult world.

 

“Master, master!”

The young man lowered his voice and called out twice.

“Follow me.”

 

Qianyang reluctantly tore her gaze away from the picture of the giant grab-and-go pancake, swallowed, and ducked down to slip away with him.

 

The group was still arguing, red-faced, and had already caught the attention of the police station officers.

No one noticed the two sneaking off.

 

After walking a hundred meters with the young man, the air became breathable again.

Qianyang let out a heavy sigh.

 

“The people down the mountain are so ignorant,” Qianyang couldn’t help but remark.

 

The young man, who had been haggard and downcast just earlier, now had shining eyes.

“Master, how did you calculate that just now?

Teach me, teach me!”

 

Qianyang glanced at him and said, “You have some innate potential, but not much.

You could never reach this level.”

 

Young man: “…”

His face dimmed.

“Oh… never mind then.

I really am a waste.

Thank you for saving my life.

Maybe we’ll meet again.”

 

“However, you could learn a few superficial tricks.”

 

The young man perked up instantly.

“What?

What?”

 

“You’ll know later.

Right now, your master is very hungry.

I want the giant grab-and-go pancake from that stall earlier.

Go buy it.”

Qianyang ordered him without the slightest hesitation.

 

In her understanding, apprentices were supposed to serve their masters like oxen and horses.

 

Without a word, the young man told her to wait there and ran back.

 

In no time, he returned carrying the fragrant giant pancake and handed half to Qianyang.

 

“I haven’t eaten either.

This pancake is too big.

You can’t finish it alone.

Half for each of us.”

 

Qianyang was about to say she could finish it, but the young man had already taken a big bite out of the other half.

 

Qianyang took her half expressionlessly, silently tagging her cheap apprentice with a mental note: “lacks respect for his master.”

 

“What’s your name?”

Qianyang asked.

 

Qianyang could learn the names of those with weak energy after just a few exchanges, but someone like this young man, whose bodily energy was dense, she couldn’t calculate immediately.

 

“My name is Yang Mao.

And you, Master?”

 

“Qianyang.”

 

Qianyang took a bite of the pancake.

A flavor she had never tasted before exploded in her mouth, fragrant and delicious.

 

So people down the mountain did have their redeeming qualities.

The food they made was very tasty.

 

“Where do you live?”

Qianyang asked.

 

Yang Mao said, “A rental.

Why?

Master, are we going to live in a mansion and eat lavish meals together?”

 

Qianyang looked at him with puzzlement.

“I have nowhere to go and not a single cent to my name.”

 

Yang Mao: “?”

 

Back at Yang Mao’s rental, Qianyang looked around the small room and pursed her lips.

Stuff was piled in a mess.

It wasn’t even as good as the rest area at Laojie Police Station.

 

Yang Mao scratched his head and awkwardly tossed the dirty clothes off the couch into the washing machine.

“Master, this is the living room.

The bedroom is further in.”

 

Qianyang followed him inside, glanced around, and said, “Not as good as the living room.”

 

Yang Mao said helplessly, “I’ve been busy looking for a job.

Haven’t had time to clean.”

“…Sigh.

I thought that by taking a master, I wouldn’t have to find a job anymore.”

 

Qianyang said, “Don’t worry.

Once your master starts earning money, I won’t need you to support me.”

 

Yang Mao smiled.

“I didn’t expect there to be a century-old Daoist temple on Little Qian Mountain.”

 

On the way here, Qianyang had already told him her general situation.

 

“Master, you’ve got real skills.

You’ll definitely lead me to a life of wealth and prosperity in the future!”

 

Remembering how those people had treated her earlier, Qianyang asked curiously, “You just brought me home like this.

Aren’t you afraid I’m a con artist or have some other ulterior motive?”

 

Yang Mao said, “Ulterior motive?

First of all, I’m poor.

And secondly…”

He looked at himself, then at Qianyang, and said cheerfully, “If you’re a bad person, what could you even do to me?”

 

Qianyang pressed her lips together.

“I don’t know what you mean by that, but I could kill you with one finger and leave no evidence.”

 

“Got it!”

 

Yang Mao hastily cleared up his things and moved them to the living room.

 

“Master, you don’t seem to have much luggage.

There are my sister’s clothes in the closet.

She’s about your height.

You should be able to wear them.”

 

“Okay.”

 

After bathing and changing into clean clothes, Qianyang had Yang Mao fetch a basin of cold water and a blank sheet of paper.

 

“Master, what are you going to do?”

Yang Mao asked curiously.

 

“Find a way to make money.”

 

As she spoke, Qianyang laid the paper flat on the water’s surface and pulled out a half-burned incense stick from her cloth bag.

 

“This will find a way?”

Yang Mao made a face.

 

“Probably… yes.”

 

Yang Mao was confused but respectful.

Seeing her stick the incense into a cup, he immediately stood up.

“I’ll go get a lighter.”

 

“No need to bother.”

 

Qianyang pulled a yellow talisman paper from somewhere, flicked it lightly in the air, and a flame materialized out of nowhere.

 

Yang Mao’s eyes went wide.

He hadn’t even seen how Qianyang lit the talisman.

 

After lighting the incense, Qianyang let the talisman ash fall onto the paper floating on the water.

 

Yang Mao grew even more curious about what she was doing.

He squatted half-crouched on the ground, watching her every move without blinking.

 

“Ancestor, are you there?”

Qianyang suddenly spoke.

 

Yang Mao: “?”

 

Gradually, dark ink-like characters appeared clearly on the paper floating on the water.

— Here.

 

“Holy shit…” Yang Mao exclaimed.

He had prepared this basin of water and paper himself, guaranteeing there were no tricks.

How had Qianyang done that?!

 

After everything that had happened earlier, Qianyang realized that relying on herself alone probably wouldn’t earn her much money.

 

No money meant no livelihood; no livelihood meant no way to carry on the family legacy.

So she decided to consult her well-traveled ancestor.

 

“The ancestral house collapsed.

I was forced down the mountain.

I want to earn some money.

Any advice?”

 

Qianyang added, “Preferably a job that brings in cash fast.”

 

Yang Mao didn’t dare blink, afraid of missing any exciting moment.

 

After she spoke, the water remained still for a long time.

 

Qianyang stared at the paper, her face expressionless.

 

Several minutes passed.

Yang Mao grew restless and ventured, “Master, is the ancestor… still there?”

 

“Yes.”

Qianyang lowered her voice.

“Maybe consulting someone else.”

 

After all, her ancestor had passed away so many years ago; he might be even less familiar with the world down the mountain than Qianyang was.

 

Hearing this, Yang Mao couldn’t suppress a shiver.

His gaze unconsciously drifted toward the empty air.

 

Were her ancestor and other departed people right here beside them?

 

Seeing his fear, Qianyang reassured him, “Don’t worry.

Usually they don’t mean any harm.”

 

Just then, a strange noise came from the cabinet beside them.

Yang Mao immediately stiffened, staring at it nervously.

 

“Whoosh!”

 

Suddenly, the cabinet door flew open on its own, and a sheet of paper flew out from inside, slapping Yang Mao in the face with a smack.

 

Yang Mao had never seen anything like this.

Trembling, he dared not move.

He cried out shakily, “Master, save me…”

A slender pale arm reached toward him and peeled the paper off his face.

 

Qianyang flipped the paper over.

It was an advertisement.

Amid flashy images, a bold line of text read — [QING NING LIVE PLATFORM RECRUITING STREAMERS!!!]

Below were listed several streaming categories: Looks Zone, Dance Zone, Game Zone, Sales Zone… and Occult Zone.

 

Yang Mao asked shakily, “Wh-what does the ancestor mean?”

 

Qianyang carefully read the entire advertisement.

 

Qing Ning Live was a platform launched not long ago.

Being in its development phase, it was enthusiastically recruiting streamers.

In the first month, if one streamed for 200 hours—regardless of whether they had viewers or tips—they could earn a guaranteed salary of 4,000 yuan.

 

“Livestreaming?”

Yang Mao asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

Yang Mao said seriously, “I know this platform.

It launched less than two months ago.

There are almost no streamers or viewers.

We could easily switch to a platform with more traffic.”

 

Qianyang shook her head.

“No need.

This one will do.”

 

As her words faded, another line gradually appeared on the paper:

[Teach, enlighten, gather followers, rebuild the family legacy, restore the occult world.]

After a few seconds, a smaller line appeared below.

[There’s a villa down the mountain.

Burn two of them for me.

Duplexes.]

“…Master, your ancestor is quite trendy.”

 

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