Chapter 17: How Could a Brush with Bloodshed Be This…

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Chapter 17: How Could a Brush with Bloodshed Be This…

A brush with bloodshed? Yu Shenliu wasn’t exactly unafraid after hearing Chen Yuan say that. Everything that had happened over the past few days had already proven Chen Yuan’s abilities, and he wasn’t someone who would lie about something like this. However, after spending these past few days with Chen Yuan, Yu Shenliu also knew that if something truly serious were going to happen, Chen Yuan wouldn’t keep it to himself. He would say what needed to be said. But when he had mentioned the brush with bloodshed, his tone had been far too casual. It didn’t seem like it was anything too serious?

It left Yu Shenliu with a strange feeling of uncertainty. After going back and forth in his mind, he felt that it would be ridiculous to worry too much, yet ignoring it completely didn’t seem right either. In the end, he decided to be a little more careful in the coming days.

It was already late, so Huo Shu didn’t go home and stayed at Yu Shenliu’s place for the night. After everyone washed up, they went to bed early.

Lying in bed, Yu Shenliu closed his eyes, but couldn’t help thinking about what had happened earlier.

When he saw that smile on Chen Yuan’s face, why had he felt that way? He wasn’t an inexperienced boy anymore. To call it love at first sight would be ridiculous. They had only known each other for four days. He only knew that Chen Yuan was highly capable and someone he could trust. He knew nothing about Chen Yuan’s background or past.

The more he thought about it, the more unsettled he felt, so he decided to put it aside for now.

Chen Yuan had no idea what Yu Shenliu was thinking. As usual, he lay down, thinking that he had only bought clothes and other necessities the day before, and had only received his identification today. Tomorrow, he should probably buy a phone so it would be more convenient to keep in touch with people. Besides, although setting up a stall was necessary for a fortune-teller at the beginning, once he became somewhat well-known, staying out on the street all the time wouldn’t be practical. It would be better to have a fixed place of his own, where people could come to him, or those who knew of his abilities could invite him over themselves. It was like being a Daoist priest. A wandering Daoist priest could never be as comfortable as one who lived in a temple.

Thinking about what he needed to do tomorrow, Chen Yuan suddenly thought of Yu Shenliu again.

Judging by the look of things, Yu Shenliu would understand what his “brush with bloodshed” was tomorrow. But as far as Chen Yuan was concerned, that little “brush with bloodshed” amounted to nothing more than a minor wound. A Band-Aid would take care of it, and it would heal in a few days. He had only said it to tease Yu Shenliu.

Many people thought that someone like Chen Yuan, a “master,” ought to be aloof and noble, above worldly concerns and looking down upon all living things. But they forgot that no matter how many mysterious arts Chen Yuan knew, he wasn’t an immortal cultivator. He was just an ordinary practitioner. Although his state of mind was better than most people’s, essentially, he was still an eighteen-year-old boy. He still had a young man’s nature. Harmless little pranks like this were exactly the sort of thing Chen Yuan would do when that youthful side of him came out.

Thinking about how Yu Shenliu would react when he found out what his so-called “brush with bloodshed” was the next day, Chen Yuan quietly snickered to himself for a while before slowly drifting off to sleep.

……

Early the next morning, everyone got up and washed up.

As the only woman, Huo Shu got up a little earlier than everyone else and made breakfast. Then Chen Yuan and Yu Shenliu got up as well, leaving only Huo Jian still lying in bed like a corpse.

The three of them knew without even thinking that the kid was just refusing to get out of bed. It would have been strange if Huo Jian hadn’t slept in as much as possible during his hard-earned break. Since they knew he could take care of himself, none of them planned to wake him.

Huo Shu was eating breakfast at the table, Chen Yuan was slowly brushing his teeth, and Yu Shenliu was shaving his stubble.

After swallowing the last mouthful of milk, Huo Shu wiped her mouth with a tissue before standing up. “I have to go inspect the district today, so I’m heading out!” After calling out her plans, she picked up her car keys and prepared to leave.

Hearing Huo Shu’s voice, Yu Shenliu answered without looking up, “Got it!” The moment he finished speaking, they heard the front door close.

“Hiss!” At the same time, Yu Shenliu sucked in a sharp breath.

What happened? Chen Yuan had a mouthful of water and was just about to spit it out when he turned around and saw a shallow cut on the side of Yu Shenliu’s face, with a little blood trickling from it.

Spitting out the water in his mouth, Chen Yuan turned his back to Yu Shenliu and teasingly uttered four words: “A brush with bloodshed.”

Yu Shenliu had still been a little annoyed, but hearing Chen Yuan say that, he froze.

A brush with bloodshed? This was his brush with bloodshed? Looking at himself in the mirror, Yu Shenliu couldn’t help twitching the corner of his mouth. Seriously? He couldn’t help asking, “What if I didn’t normally use this kind of razor?” He raised the blade razor in his hand. Most people no longer used these old-fashioned razors, but Yu Shenliu had always felt that the coldness of the blade helped wake him up in the morning, so he had continued using one. If he hadn’t used this kind of razor today, would the blade have somehow still managed to cut the side of his face?

“It wouldn’t have been this. There are other possibilities too.” Chen Yuan rinsed his toothbrush in the cup water, poured it out, then filled the cup again and rinsed it once more before putting the toothbrush back in the cup and setting it aside.

“With a brush with bloodshed this minor, you might have taken a fall, or cut your finger. If you avoid this one, can you avoid everything that comes after?” Chen Yuan took down the towel, put it into the hot water, and rubbed it a few times as he continued, “Or would you rather have all these little bits of bad luck pile up until you end up in a hospital bed?”

By then, Yu Shenliu had already wiped away the faint traces of blood from the wound with his own towel. After shaving off the remaining stubble, he rinsed the razor and put the blade away.

Hearing Chen Yuan’s words, he sighed. “All right. So this is what you mean by ‘too much brings loss’?”

Wringing out the towel, Chen Yuan answered before covering his face with it, “Yes. Your fate is already about as good as it gets. A little bad luck isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

His beard was cleanly shaved, which meant he was finished washing up. Yu Shenliu turned around and watched as Chen Yuan carefully dried his face, hung up the towel, and only then said, “Ready? Let’s go.”

Did he really have to wait for Chen Yuan so they could walk from the bathroom to the dining room together? At that moment, Yu Shenliu couldn’t help criticizing himself inwardly. This was practically like two little boys and girls whose school was only five hundred meters from home but who insisted on walking home together. And yet, he wanted to do it. He was merely following what he wanted to do.

The two of them walked to the dining table together, pulled out their chairs, and began breakfast.

Huo Shu’s breakfast was a mix of Chinese and Western fare: milk and bread accompanied by pork-and-century-egg congee. Yu Shenliu took a bite of toast and chewed slowly. Yesterday, Chen Yuan had merely glanced at him, yet somehow he had known that he would end up with a cut on his face today. The more Yu Shenliu thought about it, the more incredible Chen Yuan seemed. At the same time, though, he had plenty of questions about it. “I always thought fortune-tellers were supposed to be blind or old men or something.”

“In a few decades, I’ll be an old man too.” Chen Yuan made a dry joke as he blew on his bowl of congee. He was used to eating things after they had cooled a little. “As for being blind, that’s actually a misconception.”

“Many famous fortune-tellers have some kind of physical impairment. According to the usual explanation, it’s because they revealed the secrets of Heaven and were punished by Heaven. But the truth isn’t that simple. Many genuine fortune-tellers will have some kind of shortcoming in their fate, to a greater or lesser degree. Perhaps they have weak family ties and lose their parents; perhaps they have a difficult life from birth or a physical impairment; perhaps they suffer one setback after another and have an ill-fated life; or perhaps they never have children. But that doesn’t mean every fortune-teller is blind or anything like that. If someone has accumulated enough good fortune, then even if they become a fortune-teller, they won’t necessarily suffer anything too terrible. And some people only take this path because they’ve experienced too many hardships in life.”

Chen Yuan spoke in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, but Yu Shenliu couldn’t help frowning as he listened. Looking at Chen Yuan, he didn’t see any signs that the young man had suffered any misfortune, and had assumed such talk was nothing more than superstition. But after hearing Chen Yuan say this, could he have some of these shortcomings too? Yu Shenliu looked at Chen Yuan but couldn’t bring himself to ask.

Wait. Chen Yuan had only ever mentioned his master. What about his parents? And why was he a person without a household registration, living alone in Jincheng?

Suddenly, Yu Shenliu felt a sense of pity. Not pity for the weak, but empathy, putting himself in the other person’s shoes.

So he changed the subject and asked Chen Yuan, “Taking you to the park today?”

Unless Huo Jian occasionally went along with him, he spent every day at home. Whenever Yu Shenliu drove out, he would usually drop Chen Yuan off at the park along the way.

“Mm. You don’t need to pick me up at noon. I’m going to buy a phone,” Chen Yuan replied.

What Yu Shenliu didn’t know was that fortune-tellers actually had it relatively easy. When it came to metaphysics, if someone took a somewhat more sinister path, an early death and dying without descendants were practically inevitable. If they made a living doing things that harmed their own moral merit, such as disturbing people’s ancestral graves, it was common for masters to trick their disciples into following this path. Before the disciple knew any better, the master would deceive them into following him to a graveyard and then ask whether there was anyone behind him. If the disciple answered, “No one,” they had chosen to die without descendants himself, and there would be no escaping that path afterward.

“A phone? I’ll go with you,” Yu Shenliu offered, worried that Chen Yuan might not know what to do. Yet he felt strangely awkward inside. The words that slipped out most naturally often revealed what a person truly thought. As for Chen Yuan, was he…?

Chen Yuan nodded. “Mm.”

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