Stranger Danger

“Stealing fortune?” Ye Qing furrowed his brow. He hadn’t sensed anything like that at all. “How are they doing this?”

“According to my observations, everyone who feels reverent toward the three goddesses and offers up their knees would lose their fortune to them,” Feng Qingyou answered. “The more reverent they are, the greater the rate of loss.”

“If that’s true, then why couldn’t I sense anything?” Ye Qing asked with puzzlement. He was a Grandmaster now, and his main cultivation art was the “Paranirmitavaśavartin Heavenly Demon Sutra”. He couldn’t say he could one hundred percent perceive the flow of another person’s fortune, but there was no way he would miss his own fortune flowing to the goddesses.

Feng Qingyou explained, “Fortune, fate, destiny and the like are intangible, difficult concepts that most people are hard-pressed to grasp, much less perceive. The three goddesses are also using some sort of art that makes it even harder for someone to perceive the flow of fortune than normal.”

“On top of that, the three goddesses are wise enough to steal only a paltry amount of fortune from each individual. The victim may suffer a few days of misfortune from the loss, but they would return to normal afterward. Leng Tianjue and his companions are the living example of that.”

“Of course, that isn’t to say that this theft is completely harmless. If a victim keeps returning to the Goddess Festival year after year, then it is only a matter of time before their fortune is completely stolen by the three goddesses. Such is the case for the citizens of Goddess City.”

Feng Qingyou paused for a moment before shooting Ye Qing an enigmatic smile. “As for you, you haven’t lost any fortune from the start. You are protected by the Profound Yellow Mother Qi, remember?”

“I understand now.” Ye Qing snorted in disdain. “This so-called Goddess Festival is just an opportunity for the three goddess to cut leeks[1]!”

Having listened to Feng Qingyou’s explanation, Ye Qing finally understood what happened to the fortune of Leng Tianjue’s group and everyone in Goddess City. He also understood why Goddess City went through the trouble of organizing this so-called Goddess Festival that seemed to benefit everyone except themselves.

The reason Leng Tianjue and Gu Mingfei had suddenly become terribly unfortunate after leaving the Goddess City was because their fortune had been stolen by the three goddesses. However, since the amount of fortune they lost was fairly insignificant, they only suffered a couple days of misfortune before returning to normal.

The same could not be said for the populace and disciples of Goddess City. They had been robbed again and again until their fortune finally became as black as sin.

But why did they remain safe and sound despite having a black fortune? If he wasn’t mistaken, it was probably because of the three goddesses. Had the goddesses chosen to leave them to their misery, it was only a matter of time before people grew suspicious of them. That was why they did something that would protect those residing within their city. Naturally, those who left Goddess City for too long would lose their protection and immediately perish from their black fortune.

This matched the intel he collected for the past two days. Goddess City had no rules that prevented its citizens from migrating, so some of them would move out from the city from time to time. However, he came to learn that not a single one of these people had had a good ending. They either died from chronic illnesses or sudden death, or met all kinds of tragic ends such as being killed by a bandit or a Stranger.

He didn’t understand why this was the case before, but now, it was clear that it was the sequela of having their fortune robbed.

No one noticed anything odd with these deaths, however. It was because the people who left Goddess City had all died of accidental causes. This was a harsh world where countless people died of countless numbers of reasons everyday, so why would anyone suspect a thing? On top of that, most of these people were nobodies whom no one gave a damn about, so few people bothered to look into it, if at all.

All in all, no one suspected a thing. Goddess City’s devious scheme remained effective to this day.

The reason Goddess City held the Goddess Festival was clear as day. As Ye Qing said, it was to cut the leeks and steal their fortune for themselves.

At the beginning, he was confused why Goddess City went through the trouble of holding a triennial charity festival. They had consistently given up opportunities and gifts for nothing in return. While there were intangible benefits to such as popularity, he did not think it was worth what they were giving up.

Now, he confirmed that there was indeed no free lunch in this world. By laying out inconsequential opportunities and gifts as bait, Goddess City was able to harvest an unimaginable amount of fortune year after year.

Ye Qing had to give it to them. Their scheme was as devious as it was clever. All living beings were greedy, and Goddess City knew that very well. They had set up the net known as the Goddess Festival and used it to trap their preys again and again.

However, the jianghu was deep, and preys weren’t the only creatures who lurked in its depths. If the bait was too paltry, then they could only draw the small fries, but if the bait was too attractive, then they might lure a mighty dragon they could not possibly defeat. Even if they could, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Therefore, the bait they laid must be just right. It must be tempting enough that it would lure more than just the small fries, but not so big that it would attract a predator.

In the end, Goddess City managed to balance things just right. The gifts and opportunities they gave up during the Goddess Festival was significant enough to attract many warriors, but it wasn’t so significant that it would draw the attention of true elites and champions. They were ultimately successful in creating a system that allowed them to reap an insane amount of fortune without being discovered.

On top of that, Goddess City had various insurance policies in place to ensure they wouldn’t be discovered. For example, Ye Qing knew from his own experience that Goddess City was using some sort of art to spy on every visitor who entered the city. With that in mind, it wasn’t unthinkable that they would know an art that allowed them to identify one’s power as well. After all, it would be most terrible if a strong warrior entered the Goddess City and discovered their secret.

Thanks to this, Goddess City was able to enact their grand scheme for many years without being discovered.

The jianghu warriors who were lured into the trap had no idea that their fortune had been robbed, and the sequelae weren’t serious enough to really draw attention. Therefore, they would surely return to the Goddess Festival to reap the tangible benefits it offered again and again. This would last until they had completely run out of fortune, and misfortune naturally claimed their lives after they left the city’s boundaries. They would be discarded like used goods who no longer had any value to offer their exploiter.

Ye Qing did not make the mistake of putting Goddess City and the three goddesses in the same camp. They could be, but they could also just be using each other. At the current stage, it was difficult to say if it was a symbiotic relationship, or a master-servant one.

“Cutting leeks? That is an apt metaphor,” Feng Qingyou remarked with a curious smile before asking, “So, what do you plan to do, Joyless?”

“Nothing? I’m just a tourist, so what do I care?” Ye Qing shrugged.

Feng Qingyou was asking if he wanted to interfere now that he had discovered the monstrous scheme behind this so-called charity event. His answer? Hell fucking no. Why? Because he simply could not think of any good reason to. He would warn Leng Tianjue and his companions away from Goddess City, but that would be the extent of his interference. It wasn’t like he and Goddess City shared a blood debt, nor was there a conflict of interest between them, so why on earth would he risk his life to expose Goddess City’s ploy and reveal the truth behind the Goddess Festival?

Someone might say that he should do it for the sake of justice and goodness. He would tell them to quit lying or do it themselves if they were such a bleeding heart hero. Before performing any heroic deed, one must question themselves if it was doable. If the answer was yes, then he did not mind being a hero once in a while. But if the answer was no, then why on earth would he risk his life for nothing?

Besides, the waters of Goddess City were as deep as it was murky. He had a feeling that he would end up in more trouble than it was worth if he was careless.

It wasn’t an excuse. It was simply the truth.

1. Cutting leeks was originally used to describe gullible individual investors (股民) in China's financial markets. Like leeks, once one batch of unsuspecting investors have lost their money and been cut down by big players, the next lot is not far behind. ☜

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