Chapter 75: A Sudden Turn, Friend or Foe?

Previous Chapter ∇ Table of Content ∇ Next Chapter

Chapter 75: A Sudden Turn, Friend or Foe?

People from Huaxia were a people who loved and hated with absolute clarity.

To love someone meant wishing them every happiness; to hate someone meant wishing them dead. They would fawn over the powerful and look down on the weak, showering those they favored with praise while kicking those who had already fallen.

Some had said this was simply currying favor with the powerful and the fickleness of human nature. Yet attaching oneself to the strong and scorning the weak was simply the norm of evolution. The weak were destined to be discarded and eliminated by the laws of nature.

It had only been an activity more akin to a friendly spar, yet after Chen Yuan’s victory, almost everyone immediately forgot about the Metaphysics Club and turned their attention to Chen Yuan instead.

Kong Quanlu had anticipated this situation long ago, so he simply left with the members of his club to avoid making things even more awkward. However, he had actually worried more than necessary. After all, everyone at Xishu Academy knew what Kong Quanlu was capable of. Getting closer to Chen Yuan was something everyone would naturally do, but they weren’t foolish enough to provoke the Metaphysics Club. After all, compared with Chen Yuan, who worked at Songxian Bridge, the Metaphysics Club, being based right on campus, had an inherent geographical advantage.

After returning to the Metaphysics Club’s office, the first thing Kong Quanlu did was take out his phone and call his master. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to keep what had happened secret, but news like this was bound to spread like wildfire. There was simply no way to keep it hidden.

“Hello, Master. It’s Kong Quanlu.”

Even though the person on the other end couldn’t see him, Kong Quanlu was visibly tense as he spoke. He remained utterly deferential, his back even slightly bent as though he were standing before his master in person.

A lazy voice came through the phone. “Quanlu? What’s up?”

“It’s like this. Something rather serious has happened, and I felt I had to trouble you with it. There was someone at the academy who originally wanted to order some talismans from our Metaphysics Club to attract romantic luck. But someone interfered, and he ended up giving up on the idea.”

Kong Quanlu carefully recounted what had happened, afraid that he might say the wrong thing and provoke his master.

“Oh? What happened after that?” his master asked casually.

“Originally, it wasn’t anything worth making a fuss over. But the person who interfered is also part of our field, so if the Metaphysics Club doesn’t step in, it wouldn’t really make sense, either by reason or by the rules of our profession. The problem is, although he can be considered part of our field, he actually knows very little about metaphysics. It’s mainly because of who he is—he’s Chen Yuan of Songxian Bridge’s disciple.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

“Chen Yuan? You mean that Chen Yuan?”

Even though his master couldn’t see him, Kong Quanlu still nodded solemnly. “Yes. Chen Yuan—the ‘Half-Immortal.’”

A sharp intake of breath came through the phone.

“So Chen Yuan actually broke the rules of the profession?” his master murmured.

The metaphysics world had its own unspoken rules. One of the most basic was that once a practitioner had taken on a client, no one else, no matter how skilled, could simply step in and interfere. And if a client concealed the fact that someone else had already taken on their case and brought in another practitioner, they could likewise end up facing retaliation.

Someone like Chen Yuan should have known better than to violate such a rule. Yet he had deliberately stepped into this matter.

Could it be that he was intentionally picking a fight with him?

After all, in Xishu Province, the two of them were the only ones of comparable renown. And in the future, as practitioners in the same field, they would inevitably be competing for the position of “Imperial Preceptor.”

“Mm, that’s probably it,” Kong Quanlu answered honestly.

He had no idea that Lan Jingwei had actually been pulling the strings behind the scenes. Although the Metaphysics Club was technically a student organization under Xishu Academy, it was really more of a branch Zhou Qin had established on campus. Its members were fairly detached from the rest of the academy, so they knew little about the rumors circulating among the students. No wonder Kong Quanlu genuinely believed that Chen Yuan had broken the rules of the profession.

Chen Yuan, meanwhile, knew nothing about Lan Jingwei’s involvement either. As far as he was concerned, the Metaphysics Club’s underhanded methods and excessive profiteering were serious enough to justify his intervention, rules or no rules.

Kong Quanlu continued, “For the sake of the Metaphysics Club’s reputation and my master’s standing, when Chen Yuan came to Xishu Academy today to settle the matter, I challenged him.”

“Hmph. I don’t even need to ask how that turned out. At your current level, you must have lost, right?” His master’s voice was openly contemptuous. “After all, he’s someone whose reputation is on par with mine. There’s no way you could beat Chen Yuan. And I’m sure you lost rather badly.”

Being spoken to so dismissively made Kong Quanlu uncomfortable, but he still answered with utmost deference. “Yes, Master. As expected, you saw right through me. I lost.”

“I understand. I’ll take care of this. And remember to hand over this year’s earnings early.”

With that, the call ended.

Kong Quanlu lowered his phone. The respectful expression on his face from moments earlier disappeared, leaving it completely impassive.

He stared at the phone in his hand for a long while before slowly setting it down on the desk.

“President?”

The vice president, who had been waiting beside him all this time, finally couldn’t help calling out to him.

Kong Quanlu waved a hand at the vice president. “I’m fine.”

Only then did he slowly sit down and let out a deep breath, a trace of exhaustion showing on his face.

“Master wants us to hand over this year’s earnings early. Let’s just pay the same amount as before.”

“But after what happened today, our earnings are bound to drop. If we still hand over that much, there’ll be even less left for us. I’m not worried about the rest of us, but what about you? You still have to cover—”

“Enough. I’ll find another way. Since Master has asked for it, we have to come up with the money. Besides, I’m still much better off now than I was before I became his disciple.”

Kong Quanlu leaned back and closed his eyes. Whatever he was feeling, Zhou Qin had been the one to give him hope in the first place. He owed his master a debt of gratitude, and repaying it was simply something he had to do.

Seeing that Kong Quanlu clearly didn’t want to discuss it any further, the vice president pressed her lips together, then got up and left to prepare the money and valuables they needed to hand over to Zhou Qin.

Chen Yuan knew nothing about what was happening in the Metaphysics Club’s office at Xishu Academy. In fact, he was preoccupied with something else—or rather, he was having a little fun at someone else’s expense.

Chen Yuan wasn’t someone who usually made cutting remarks. But when he had been reading Lan Jingwei’s fate, he’d taken a quick look at his physiognomy as well, partly to make sure his reading was accurate. And that was when he noticed something.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about Lan Jingwei’s features. He was good-looking enough, but nowhere near the almost inhuman level of Yu Shenliu, whose appearance immediately made people feel that something about him was beyond ordinary.

What caught Chen Yuan’s attention was Lan Jingwei’s expression. Chen Yuan was surprisingly oblivious when it came to his own affairs, but he was extraordinarily perceptive when it came to other people. And the way Lan Jingwei looked at Huo Jian was clearly not quite right.

It was obvious. This kid, Lan Jingwei, had feelings for Huo Jian?

For a moment, Chen Yuan had the strange feeling that he and Huo Jian had suffered the same misfortune. How had they both ended up being targeted by such strange people?

Thinking about his own situation, Chen Yuan suddenly felt an urge to vent all the frustration he couldn’t take out on Yu Shenliu on Lan Jingwei instead. Driven by that impulse, he quietly took a jab at Lan Jingwei.

When he wrote down his assessment, he made it as blunt as possible, laying all of Lan Jingwei’s secrets bare instead of choosing words that, while meaning the same thing, might have sounded a little more pleasant.

What bothered Chen Yuan even more, however, was how much Lan Jingwei really did resemble Yu Shenliu. Even when Chen Yuan deliberately provoked him by stating everything he saw in such blunt terms, Lan Jingwei managed to keep a calm expression. He was clearly shaken, but quickly recovered. His mental fortitude was almost too strong.

After the contest with Kong Quanlu, Chen Yuan, Yu Shenliu, Huo Jian, and Lan Jingwei finally managed to escape the countless layers of people surrounding them and headed to a restaurant outside the academy.

It was a Huaxia habit: if you had something to discuss, there was no better place than around a dinner table. Besides, after Chen Yuan had just helped him settle the matter, Lan Jingwei naturally had to show some appreciation. He still had to win over Huo Jian’s friends and family, after all.

Yu Shenliu took charge and ordered several dishes. While the four of them waited for the food in a private room, they began to chat.

“Xiao Jian, I’ve been thinking about something. If you’d known some practical techniques before, I probably wouldn’t have had to come here and compete with Kong. So I’ve decided to start teaching you some practical techniques from today onward. What do you think?”

“Huh? Really?” Huo Jian’s eyes immediately lit up. “Of course! What are you going to teach me, Master?”

Chen Yuan seemed to casually glance at Lan Jingwei before answering, “Physiognomy or fortune-telling to start with. They’re both basic skills. Which one do you want to learn?”

By “basic,” he meant the skills one absolutely had to know to make a living at a street stall. Besides those two, feng shui was another essential part of the basics. Those three skills covered the needs of most ordinary people.

Huo Jian hesitated. Physiognomy or fortune-telling? He raised both hands, looking from one to the other, then finally looked up at Lan Jingwei and asked, “Which one do you think I should learn?”

Huo Jian’s reaction left Chen Yuan feeling even more dejected. Wasn’t this just a repeat of how he’d once been completely fooled by that scoundrel Yu Shenliu, yet still trusted him without question?

The corner of his mouth twitched, but he said nothing.

“Ask Master Chen. I don’t know much about this,” Lan Jingwei replied, vaguely sensing that Chen Yuan had been somewhat put off by him ever since the fortune-telling began. It wasn’t exactly hostility, but there was definitely a sense that Chen Yuan simply didn’t like him.

Huo Jian’s gaze turned to Chen Yuan, and he drew out his voice as he called sweetly, almost coquettishly, “Master~”

Sure enough, Chen Yuan really did feel uncomfortable with Lan Jingwei.

He felt like he was having a hard time keeping his composure. Still, venting a little would help him regain his usual calm afterward. Especially since there was nothing he could do about Yu Shenliu, taking it out on Lan Jingwei instead wasn’t such a bad idea.

“I think you should start with physiognomy. After all, people aren’t necessarily going to give you their Bazi, whereas you can practice physiognomy pretty much anywhere, whether you’re walking down the street or watching TV.” Chen Yuan gave his advice, then shifted his gaze to Lan Jingwei, who had been sitting silently to the side. “For example, you could practice by reading Student Lan’s features right now, couldn’t you?”

At that, Huo Jian couldn’t help staring at Lan Jingwei, studying the face he had already grown fairly familiar with.

Seeing Huo Jian examining Lan Jingwei’s face just as he’d expected, Chen Yuan gave a subtle smile and began explaining from the side.

“His brows are clear and well-defined, long and slanting upward toward his temples. This is the physiognomy of someone with talent and the potential to accomplish great things. However, he may also be overly proud and unwilling to listen to others.”

The first half was praise, the second half outright disparagement. Yet Huo Jian looked as though he’d suddenly had an epiphany, carefully committing the shape of Lan Jingwei’s eyebrows and what they supposedly represented to memory.

Lan Jingwei, sitting there, felt thoroughly uncomfortable and had no idea how to react. If Chen Yuan had simply said it outright, that would have been one thing. But with Huo Jian examining his physiognomy, he really couldn’t refuse.

Yu Shenliu, sitting beside them, merely smiled. It was rare for Yuan Yuan to be in such a playful mood. Wasn’t that a good thing? Although he had no intention of interfering in whatever was going on between Lan Jingwei and Huo Jian, Chen Yuan’s obvious tendency to take his frustrations out on Lan Jingwei made Yu Shenliu think: Better him than me.

“His forehead is broad, what is known as a spacious Heavenly Court. This indicates intelligence, ambition, and ability. However, people like this can also be overly rational, placing too little value on genuine feelings and too much on their own interests.”

Chen Yuan continued doing his best to ruin Lan Jingwei’s image in Huo Jian’s eyes.

Lan Jingwei felt a cold sweat break out on his back. What made him sweat even more was Huo Jian suddenly saying, “I never would’ve guessed you had that side to you. Tsk, seriously.”

Chen Yuan casually added fuel to the fire. “Xiao Jian, after all, you can paint a tiger’s skin but not its bones; you can know a person’s face but not their heart. Being able to see through someone’s inner nature from their features takes plenty of practice.”

Know a person’s face but not their heart? Why did Lan Jingwei feel like he’d just been thoroughly slandered in the span of a few minutes?

Lan Jingwei glanced at Yu Shenliu. If he wasn’t mistaken, had he just been caught in the crossfire because of Mayor Yu? Master Chen wasn’t actually targeting him. He was just taking his frustrations out on him.

What rotten luck.

“His nose is high and straight, indicating a forthright nature and a promising future. But from the side, there’s a slight aquiline curve, which is also a sign of someone deep and calculating.”

“His lips are shaped like a boat. They should clearly indicate fullness and good fortune, yet at first glance they look thin. Cold-hearted, are we?”

“His cheekbones are full and well-rounded, though slightly high. He has hidden depths, yet no one can see through his thoughts. Tsk, I told you he was deep and calculating.”

“His earlobes are round, smooth, and lustrous, a sign of great fortune. He should have a promising future. However, his ears stick out slightly, suggesting a rebellious streak.”

The poor guy who had been caught in the crossfire because of Yu Shenliu had, in just a few remarks from Chen Yuan, been painted as a calculating, profit-driven, cold-blooded schemer—a true ruthless hero.

The only thing that could possibly comfort Lan Jingwei was that Huo Jian hadn’t suddenly distanced himself because of Chen Yuan’s description. Instead, he was examining every detail of Lan Jingwei’s face with great interest, taking Chen Yuan’s words completely seriously.

Being gazed at by the person you liked was a kind of happiness in itself.

In truth, Chen Yuan had known this would happen all along. Huo Jian had such an easygoing personality that unless Chen Yuan directly told him to be wary of someone, merely suggesting that they might have certain tendencies wasn’t enough to make him suddenly dislike Lan Jingwei, whom he’d known for so long and had already developed some feelings for.

In the end, Chen Yuan simply wanted to vent a little, scare Lan Jingwei while he was at it, and make his feelings toward Yu Shenliu clear, lest that man become even more insufferable.

Unfortunately, while he might have accomplished the first few of his goals, the last one… was another matter entirely.

One look at Yu Shenliu’s relaxed expression and keenly interested gaze was enough to tell anyone that the man was simply too shameless and too devious. He hadn’t felt Chen Yuan’s warning—or his threat—in the slightest.

Previous Chapter ∇ Table of Content ∇ Next Chapter