Stranger Danger

“When you said ‘everyone’ earlier, do you mean everyone in general, or…?”

Ye Qing’s expression turned solemn. He did not think that Feng Qingyou was misreading the situation.

“Everyone. Both the disciples guarding the gate and the passersby on the streets have black fortune,” Feng Qingyou answered.

“What about us? What about those who just entered the city?” Ye Qing asked with a frown.

“We and those who just entered the city have normal fortune,” Feng Qingyou answered.

“I see. So, only those hailing from Goddess City have black fortune,” Ye Qing said thoughtfully.

“I believe so.” Feng Qingyou nodded affirmatively.

“Do you know why their fortunes are so terrible, Qingyou?” Ye Qing asked.

“I can’t say at the moment, but I believe that it’s due to external causes.”

Feng Qingyou explained, “Be it the forces of mountains and rivers, the fate of a nation, or the qi of a human being, nothing is set in stone. Even the Heavenly Way isn’t immutable, much less everything else. What this means is that all things can be influenced through various factors.”

“Generally speaking, the factors that affect the fortune of a person can be broken down into two things: internal and external. Internal refers to how a person usually conducts themselves. If a person conducts themselves in a sinful, criminal manner, then they would naturally earn the world’s disfavor and garner misfortune. Fortune and misfortune are two sides of the same coin; what you reap is what you sow.”

“External refers to causes that have nothing to do with the person’s conduct. This can be further broken down into two categories, namely natural disaster or man-made disaster. In my opinion, it is unlikely that these people have black fortune because of a natural disaster. I say this because the people of Goddess City look well-fed, well-provided, and quite content with their life. It does not look like they have encountered any natural disasters as of late.”

“So, it’s a ‘man-made disaster’ then. This situation is the result of someone’s machinations,” Ye Qing clarified.

“I believe so,” Feng Qingyou confirmed.

It was at this moment Ye Qing lifted his eyebrows as if he just recalled something. He walked up to Leng Tianjue and asked, “Brother Leng. This is the second time you’re participating in the Goddess Festival, right? Did you encounter anything strange after the festival is over, and you left the city?”

“I’m… not sure what you mean?” Leng Tianjue cast him a confused look. “We went back to the sect right after we participated in the Goddess Festival. I don’t think we encountered anything strange along the way.”

Gu Mingfei interrupted, “You must be kidding, senior brother! Have you forgotten how unlucky we were? It was easily one of the most unluckiest moments of our lives!”

“Ahem…”

This time, Leng Tianjue did recall something. He let out an awkward cough and secretly gestured for Gu Mingfei to stop talking.

Unfortunately for him, Ye Qing wasn’t going to let the matter end there. He subtly stepped in front of Leng Tianjue so that Gu Mingfei wouldn’t notice his gesture and asked with a face that was overflowing with curiosity, “Oh ho? And how unlucky were you, exactly? Tell me everything.”

Leng Tianjue: “...” I had no idea you’re this type of person, senior!

As Gu Mingfei did not notice Leng Tianjue’s gesture or comprehend his cough, the young man quickly launched into a detailed explanation, “Senior brother and I were the only ones who participated in the Goddess Festival at the time, and let me tell you, it was like we were possessed by the god of misfortune as well. I can confidently tell you that neither my senior brother nor I have ever been this unlucky in our life!”

“For starters, it was bright and sunny when we initially left the city, but just twenty or so minutes after that, it suddenly began raining cats and dogs. It took us an unbelievably long time to find a cave to shelter in, and when we finally did, the bloody cave collapsed on us right after we stepped inside! Forget finding shelter, we almost got buried alive!”

“This is just the beginning, however. While we were riding a horse across a street, an old man suddenly ran out of nowhere and collapsed in front of us. He claimed that we bowled him over, but I can swear to all the gods and demons in the world that we haven’t so much as brushed the edge of his shirt! He wouldn’t relent though, and in the end, we had no choice but to compensate him for something we never did.”

“Ah! You got pengci’ed[1]!” Ye Qing chuckled.

“Peng what?” Gu Mingfei did not understand the term.

“It’s nothing. Please, continue your story,” Ye Qing urged.

“Right. We were having lunch in a restaurant—”

Leng Tianjue suddenly turned as pale as a ghost when he heard this. He tried to cough again to stop Gu Mingfei, but just as he opened his mouth, Ye Qing snapped his fingers and caused his breath to become stuck in his throat. No matter how hard he pushed, he just could not cough no matter what. His face turned beet red from the exertion.

Gu Mingfei was on a roll and so failed to notice Leng Tianjue’s reaction at all. He continued excitedly, “—and we were sitting next to a few jianghu warriors who were eating lunch as well. Brother Leng was curious about them and shot them a glance. What do you think happened next?”

“What happened?” Tan Tao and Fei Fei chirped excitedly. Even Cang Qingmei and Wen Anran were secretly spying on the conversation.

If there was one interest all of humanity shared, it was gossip.

Gu Mingfei chuckled. “The lady sitting at that table suddenly claimed that senior brother Leng was flirting with her and insisted that he marry her for it!”

“What? That sounds like a good thing! Why didn’t senior brother Leng take her hand in marriage?” Tan Tao snickered.

Gu Mingfei rolled his eyes at him. “Because she’s over sixty years old, you buffoon! She’s so old didn’t even have her front teeth anymore!”

“Pfft!”

The girls could not control themselves any longer and burst out laughing. Leng Tianjue was the only one who had turned as red as a tomato, and only he knew if it was because his breath was still stuck in his throat, or because he was embarrassed to hell and back.

“What else? What else? Why haven’t you told us about this before?” Fei Fei complained while shaking Gu Mingfei’s arm up and down.

“Well, senior brother Leng swore me to… oh shit!”

It was only now that Gu Mingfei finally recalled that he promised Leng Tianjue to keep this a secret. When he glanced sideways and saw Leng Tianjue’s blackened, stone hard face, he shuddered visibly and stepped away from Leng Tianjue, muttering, “Anyway, to cut a long story short, we were unlucky as hell for the few days. To borrow an idiom, we were so unlucky that water got stuck between our teeth.”

“Why do you want to know, warrior Ye?” Cang Qingmei changed the subject.

“It’s nothing. I was just curious,” Ye Qing answered. No one among the group of five suspected anything, but Wen Anran definitely shot him a meaningful look.

After the conversation was over, Ye Qing stepped closer to Feng Qingyou and said in a low voice, “It looks like anyone who visits Goddess City would suffer misfortune as well.”

Fortune was an invisible, intangible thing, but it was possible to evaluate it to a certain extent simply by observing the person themselves. For example, a person with good fortune would encounter a string of good luck and vice versa. That was why he asked Leng Tianjue if he encountered anything strange after he left Goddess City. He wanted to know if visitors of the city would be impacted by the strange phenomenon as well.

Clearly, the answer was yes.

Leng Tianjue and Gu Mingfei’s fortune had declined considerably after they participated in the Goddess Festival. That was why they had encountered a string of unfortunate events.

It wasn’t too big of a decline though. After all, their lives were never in danger despite their loss of fortune. It could be because they had only stayed in Goddess City for a couple of days, or it could be because of some other factors.

“It probably has something to do with the Goddess Festival,” Feng Qingyou replied.

“Heh. Things are getting interesting, it seems.”

Ye Qing rubbed his nose and let out a chuckle. The Goddess Festival wasn’t just a normal festival after all.

……

April 4, the day of Ding-si and the month of Jia-chen. It was a day to renovate the kitchen, offer sacrifices, and bring in wealth, and to avoid doing business, opening a shop, and breaking ground.

It was also the day where the Goddess Festival was set to begin.

The Goddess Festival officially began at night, but the inner city was open to the public at the first light of dawn. That was why countless people dressed in their finest clothes were standing in front of the entrances expectantly before daybreak.

Ye Qing, Feng Qingyou, Wen Anran, and the group of five were waiting as well.

Unlike the hustle and bustle of the outer city, the inner city was a lot more quiet and tranquil. However, its buildings and infrastructure were clearly bigger, better, and more luxurious. Some parts of the inner city were one-of-a-kind scenic spots as well.

According to Leng Tianjue, there existed Three Sceneries and One Wonder in Goddess City. The Three Sceneries referred to the Rainbow Lake, Moon Altar, and Spring Garden.

1. Meaning scammed. Specifically, it refers to the practice of crooks placing ostensibly expensive, fragile items (usually porcelain) in places where they may easily be knocked over, allowing them to collect damages when the items are damaged. It also refers to a predominantly Chinese crime where scammers feign injury in traffic accidents in order to extort money from drivers, as well to describe "broken porcelain" diplomacy, in which any foreign criticism of the Chinese government, or its strategic issues, is met with manufactured outrage, shattering the "porcelain of diplomacy" and fanning popular anger. ☜

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