Chapter 332

Pan Yun believed in luck, but she did not believe in her own luck, so she relied on her skills to win.

Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen flew up the hillside, one after the other; Seeing Miao Zhen stood facing west, while Pan Yun stood beside her, holding a scorching talisman.

Seeing Miao Zhen said: "He is here."

Pan Yun said: "The talisman shows he is still far away. Let's go."

The two flew down the slope one after the other, ignoring the path entirely, charging instead in the direction indicated by the talisman and Seeing Miao Zhen's divination—climbing over mountains, crossing rivers.

After flying and pausing for half the day, they stopped at the edge of Wu Family Village as evening fell.

The talisman in Pan Yun's hand burned hot, and Seeing Miao Zhen could no longer divine anything; she put away her tortoise shell and said: "He's nearby—shouldn't be far."

Pan Yun saw a man herding cattle home and hurried forward to ask: "Good soul, please wait—I am a wandering Daoist priest, thirsty and wondering if I might beg a bowl of water?"

The old cowherd glanced at Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen, then nodded: "Follow me."

He led them home, poured them a bowl of water, then slowly went inside to scoop out a bowl of rice for them.

Pan Yun stared blankly at the rice offered before her.

The old man frowned: "What are you standing there for? Bring out your sack to catch it."

Pan Yun snapped back to herself, blushed, fumbled in her sleeve, pulled out a cloth sack, and frantically opened it.

The old man poured a bowl of rice into it: "Winter's coming—have those nose-picking Daoists sent you little ones down the mountain again to beg for food?"

Pan Yun blushed and shook her head, defending her senior brother: "No, good soul, we truly came only to beg water—and to ask about someone."

The old man waved his hand: "Do you think I don't know? Every winter, our village fills with wandering men, monks, nuns, and Daoist priests begging alms."

Pan Yun bowed in shame: "We are utterly powerless—thank you, good soul, for your charity."

The old man waved again: "Being powerless isn't bad at all—those capable monks and Daoists are the scary ones."

The old man smiled warmly: "If all monks and Daoists had to come down the mountain to beg for winter food, the common folk would be at peace."

Seeing Miao Zhen: …

Pan Yun, however, raised her thumb in admiration: "Old man, you have great insight—I think the same."

The old man stared at Pan Yun in surprise, then burst into laughter, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her outside; pointing in one direction, he said: "See that? There's a big mansion."

Pan Yun nodded: "I see—is that the landlord of your village?"

"That's our village landlord. He's rich, and his wife is kind-hearted—go to her, you'll get more rice. If you're lucky, you might even get coins."

"By the way, avoid the old man himself—he's a miser. Even if a dog walks past his gate, he'll make it leave a puddle of urine before letting it go."

Pan Yun: … What kind of anecdote is this?

It doesn't even sound like the landlord gained anything.

Only after being pushed two steps forward did Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen remember to turn back: "Good soul, may we ask—where exactly are we?"

The old man said: "This is Wu Family Village. Eighty percent of the villagers are surnamed Wu—the landlord is too. Go find him."

Before Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen could react, he stepped inside and shut the wooden gate.

Pan Yun could only swallow her questions—sigh, she had wanted to ask if any strangers had come by lately…

"Let's go find Old Master Wu and chat," Pan Yun reached into Seeing Miao Zhen's arms, pulled out Pan Xiaohei, and tossed him aside: "Go explore. Look for anyone suspicious."

Pan Xiaohei muttered under his breath but still leapt lightly onto the roof, scampering swiftly across the tiles.

The sun set; Old Master Wu had already eaten dinner and was strolling outside his gate, digesting, while watching his laborers compress, bind, and pile up silage.

Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen strolled up and immediately recognized Old Master Wu; both stared fixedly at his face.

Old Master Wu felt those two burning gazes—he couldn't help but notice them.

Seeing two strangers in Daoist robes, he frowned slightly and turned to walk inside.

"Wait, Old Master Wu," Pan Yun called out quickly: "Old Master Wu, your time is near—"

Old Master Wu rolled his eyes ungracefully, turned back, and cut her off: "You're going to say my third eye is dark and I'm about to suffer bloodshed, aren't you?"

Pan Yun paused: "You can divine this yourself?"

"Why bother?" Old Master Wu said bluntly: "Nine out of ten fortune-telling Daoists on the street start with that. Only one says I have good fortune."

Pan Yun: "…Then your luck really isn't good."

"It's terrible," Old Master Wu said. "Wherever I go, I run into you frauds. Even in my own home, you come begging at my gate. Do I look that easy to fool?"

Pan Yun studied him from head to toe, then shook her head: "No, Old Master Wu, you don't look easy to fool—but you look extremely unlucky… and very rich."

Old Master Wu had been barely annoyed, but now he was truly angry: "Who are you calling unlucky? You're the unlucky one! Your entire Daoist temple is unlucky!"

Pan Yun nodded: "I am indeed unlucky. Our temple is the unluckiest within a hundred li."

Old Master Wu: … "But even I've never seen anyone with dark clouds hovering over their head, with crimson and black blood-clouds nearly overflowing their forehead," Pan Yun asked directly: "Old Master Wu, have you offended someone recently?"

"No!" Old Master Wu said immediately: "I am kind to all, never offend anyone. Are you going to say I've angered a petty person?"

Pan Yun choked—her lines had been stolen. She wanted to curse.

But she was telling the truth~!

Pan Yun took a deep breath, smiled, and opened her mouth—when Old Master Wu cut in: "Don't even think of taking a single copper coin from me!"

Pan Yun's smile crashed down instantly; her face blank, she said: "I'm not taking your money—I'm letting you take mine."

Pan Yun pulled a one-tael silver ingot from her sleeve and handed it to him, expressionless: "Old Master Wu, I'll ask you three questions. Answer truthfully, and this tael of silver is yours."

Old Master Wu stepped back, but his eyes locked onto the small silver ingot in her hand: "What new scam is this? I've never heard of it."

Pan Yun remained expressionless: "Why fear it? This is your own gate, and you've got plenty of laborers nearby. Just stick to one rule: no matter what I say, you don't spend a single copper—you won't lose, and you'll still get money from me…"

"Conning money from a con artist?" Old Master Wu's eyes lit up—he liked this idea.

!. Read

Mostly, the small silver ingot in Pan Yun's hand looked so nice, so cute, and the silver quality clearly seemed excellent.

Old Master Wu slowly extended his hand, then snatched the ingot from her grasp, bit it, confirmed it was real, slipped it into his sleeve, stroked his beard, and said calmly: "Ask your three questions."

The laborers nearby watched enviously, paused their work, and strained their ears, eager to hear what three questions were worth a tael of silver.

I've learned— they can earn this money too in the future.

Pan Yun: "Recently, have any strangers passed through and stayed in your village?"

Old Man Wu tugged at his beard in thought, and just as he was pondering, a farmhand shouted loudly: "I know!"

Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen whipped their heads toward him.

The farmhand said: "Around noon today, a man dressed in black clothes and black pants—clearly not a respectable person—passed through our village and asked us for directions to Bai Village."

"That man looked clearly evil, so we pointed him the opposite way—he'll never find Bai Village, even if he dies trying!"

Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen: …

Just from the description, the two knew it was Qu Le.

Qu Le is truly pitiful.

Pan Yun shook her head directly. "I'm not asking about him—I'm asking about this person!"

Pan Yun pulled out a portrait from her sleeve and showed it to them.

This was Pan Yun's redrawing of Chang Mingwei's portrait, based on the wanted poster.

Everyone leaned in to examine it closely; Old Man Wu also widened his eyes and studied the portrait intently, then shook his head after a long while: "I've never seen him, but he looks familiar."

Others chimed in: "It does look familiar—like we've seen him somewhere before, but we're certain we've never actually met him."

Pan Yun: "Then think again—has any stranger come to your village recently without household registration or travel permit, and is still staying here?"

Pan Yun scanned the expressions of the crowd, focusing especially on Old Man Wu.

Sure enough, she saw his face freeze—he clearly remembered something.

The farmhands were still huddled together, counting on their fingers.

In autumn and winter, with harvesting, winter wheat planting, and silage, there was much work to do, so Old Man Wu hired temporary laborers, bringing more strangers to the village.

They didn't know anyone well, but as the employer, Old Man Wu knew best who he had hired.

Where each man was from, whether he had household registration or a travel permit, whether he had a recommender, and who that recommender was—he knew everything clearly.

Seeing Old Man Wu's odd expression but silence, Pan Yun said: "Old Man Wu, you've taken my money—you must answer my question."

Old Man Wu grumbled: "What if I don't answer?"

"Then I'll curse you!" Pan Yun said solemnly. "You've seen the wanted poster—I'm here to capture a fugitive. I'm young, yet I dare do this—do you think I have no skills at all?"

"Saving lives is hard, but harming someone is easy. Cursing is the easiest of all magical arts. If you take my money and refuse to help, I'll draw circles and curse you right now!"

Old Man Wu felt the small silver ingot in his palm burning hot—he nearly dropped it, but… he couldn't bring himself to let go.

That's right—he was this greedy.

The greedy Old Man Wu wasn't afraid of angering a possible fugitive farmhand. He first clarified to Pan Yun: "I'm not harboring a criminal! I do have one farmhand without household registration or a travel permit—but he doesn't look like the man on the wanted poster."

Guess I don't need a leave slip today.

(End of Chapter)