A fart from an immortal is worth a thousand pieces of gold

  A gambling den in western Luoyang City.

  Song old man, who had gambled all night, stumbled out of the gambling house with a tired look on his face due to staying up all night, and his eyes were filled with bloodshot, but from his expression, he looked exceptionally happy.

  At his waist, a bulging money bag was hung, and judging from its weight, it must have been at least twenty or thirty taels.

  Last night was the best luck he had ever had in his life.

  Pressing what comes what, how many points there are, it's as if there is divine assistance. The two-tael silver stake has now been turned over a dozen times or more.

  If it weren't for his advanced age and his spirit being somewhat unable to hold on, he would have liked to take advantage of his good luck, win a full pot, and recover all the losses from before.

  On the way back, Old Man Song seemed to have become twenty years younger, looking radiant and beaming with smiles, greeting everyone he met.

  The streets of Luoyang are bustling and prosperous. As long as you have a skill, making a living is not difficult. Among them, fortune-telling is quite thriving.

  On the street, every now and then there is a fortune teller setting up a table with yellow paper talismans on it, hanging up a loud sign that reads "Ghost Fairy", "Ask the Spirit", "Catch Ghosts", "Drive out Evil Spirits", "Fix Heaven and Earth"... you name it.

  These people generally know some characters, have read the Book of Changes, understand some divination symbols, can help people draw talismans, and write letters for others. Occasionally, they encounter a big client, and in one day, they earn more silver than others do after working hard for a month. This is also the reason why this profession is so prosperous. However, the quality of these people varies greatly, and many are deceitful, some can't even recognize characters, but with their glib tongues, they can cheat some ignorant women into willingly giving them money.

  Usually, when Old Song passes by these stalls, he would hear some frightening words like "your temples are black, evil spirits are haunting you", but he always ignores them and doesn't take it to heart.

  He is already over sixty years old, half of his body has entered the ground, and he was originally half-yin and half-evil, what else can he be afraid of being entangled by yin evil?

  But today was different from usual, when he passed by one of the unremarkable stalls, an old voice sounded behind him: "This brother, looking at you with a auspicious cloud on your head, your footsteps are light and floating like walking on clouds, I suppose wealth and nobility is coming to you, good fortune is arriving, your luck is stronger than others, but what a pity...

  This sentence hit the old man's weakness right on the spot, making him unable to help but stop his brisk pace and turn around to look at the fortune teller.

  This fortune teller was different from the others, he didn't have a table set up and wasn't selling talismans or anything like that. He sat cross-legged on the cold floor, holding several tortoise shell divination blocks in his hand, constantly rubbing them, muttering to himself.

  From his deep-set eye sockets, it can be seen that he is still blind and not pretending to be so. His face is etched with the vicissitudes of life, his hair is gray and white, and he is thin as a rake, but has some of the calm demeanor of a Taoist practitioner.

  The old man Song felt a little curious and walked up to ask: "What's wrong?"

  The blind man pointed slowly at the floor in front of him with his finger: "Sit."

  Song Laotou sat down as he was told, just about to speak, when the blind man waved his hand: "No need to say more."

  He said, handing over the tortoiseshell counters in his hand to Old Man Song, "Let's cast a divination to see."

  "If the calculation is incorrect, no payment will be made!"

  The blind man said calmly: "I have never accepted money for fortune-telling. The world is a sea of bitterness, and I only help those who are destined to cross it."

  Song old man finally put his heart at ease, casually tossed three faces up and two faces down.

  The sound of the disc being thrown onto the ground was surprisingly pleasant, as if there was a strange rhythm hidden inside.

  The blind man seemed to guess what Old Man Song was thinking, and without waiting for him to speak, he began to talk incessantly: "This abacus is made from the shell of a thousand-year-old turtle, and it can produce five tones: gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu. According to different rhythms and tempos, it presents countless divination symbols. Every person's fate is different, and I am not old enough to understand its subtleties. Based on the divination symbol you just threw, your first half of life was rough and difficult, with few children and no good fortune. However, your longevity is strong, so living a long life is not necessarily a blessing for you. Now that you've reached an advanced age, after experiencing many hardships, you've finally gotten a second chance at life. Your luck has already started to change from last night, but this is a critical moment. If handled well, your wealth will expand, and good fortune will follow one after another. But if not handled properly, not only will it be difficult to preserve your good fortune and longevity, but you may also face disaster and bloodshed."

  Old Song exclaimed with joy: "The old immortal's calculation is indeed accurate! I've been feeling it since last night, but didn't think much of it. Now that the old immortal has said it, it's indeed true! No wonder I win no matter what I bet on, even if I roll a very low number, I can still beat others. Old immortal, quickly calculate it carefully for me!"

  The blind man said: "Fate is a thing that changes in an instant, as the saying goes, 'good fortune comes after bad' and 'happiness gives birth to sorrow'. There's often a turning point between these two states. If you grasp this opportunity, everything will go smoothly. Otherwise... Although your luck is stronger than others for now, it hasn't stabilized yet. If you don't seize the victory and press on, once the opportunity passes, I'm afraid you'll never have such good fortune again in this lifetime."

  Mr. Song was startled and hastily said: "I still hope that the old immortal will point out the way, if I can keep this luck, I will not fail to repay the old immortal."

  The blind man didn't answer, instead he pulled out a divination reed from beside him and handed it to Old Man Song. "Tear this reed into three parts and give me one of them."

  Mr. Song tore the divination grass into three pieces as instructed, selected one of them and handed it to the blind man. The blind man put the grass near his nose and sniffed it, then licked it with the tip of his tongue, remained silent for a while, seemingly perplexed, and said: "This divination symbol is something I've never encountered before."

  Song's face tightened: "Has the old immortal figured something out?"

  "Let me feel your bones."

  Old Song leaned forward and let the blind man feel his face all over, the blind man sighed as he felt: "It's tough, it's tough!"

  Mr. Song was already nervous and hastily asked, "Old immortal, please speak directly, do you need to buy some talismans? If they can dispel disasters and bring good fortune, maintain luck, then no matter how much silver it costs, it's not a problem."

  "Hmph, I'm not one of those swindlers who cheat people out of their money. I only calculate fortunes based on destiny. If there's no destined connection, even if you offer me a thousand taels of gold, I won't necessarily say a word to you. But if we have a predestined relationship, giving you a few words is just a matter of lifting my hand, why would I need your money?"

  Mr. Song hastily said: "The old immortal is a transcendent being, I am too worldly, please give me a few more sentences."

  "A person's fate will not be easily changed by a single talisman. The only ones who can change their own fate are themselves and the choices they make. Your destiny is unique, whether it's good or bad fortune, fortune and misfortune are unpredictable, all depending on your thoughts. Today's results are all due to the causes you chose. Since you've met me today, our fates are intertwined. I'll impart a few words to you."

  Song old man saw that this blind old man was extraordinary in his words and deeds, not comparable to ordinary Jianghu divination, and he completely trusted him, hurriedly saying: "Old immortal, please speak."