[Free? Free things could also turn out to be the most expensive!] Zhou Mingrui silently muttered to himself. He was determined to firmly reject whatever additional services that might be provided.
[If you are really that good, divine my transmigrator identity then.]
While in thoughts, Zhou Mingrui followed the woman wearing red and yellow paint on her face and stooped down to enter a low tent.
The inside of the tent was so dark that only a small amount of light infiltrated and dimly revealed a table full of cards.
The woman with the pointed hat did not seem to be affected by the darkness at all. Her black dress swirled cross the table like water. She sat down on the opposite side and lit up a candle.
A fuzzy yellow flame swayed and the inside of the tent was faintly lit up. The place now looked much more mysterious.
Zhou Mingrui sat down quietly. His eyes swept over the Tarot cards on the table and realized that he was familiar with “The Magician”, “The Emperor”, “The Hanged Man”, “Temperance” and the other main cards.
"It seemed that Russell was really a senior from Earth… " Zhou Mingrui's mouth was slightly open.
He did not have the time to finish checking through cards that were turned upwards. The woman who had claimed to be an accurate diviner reached out and shoved all the Tarot cards together into a pile. She pushed it in front of Zhou.
“I will need you to shuffle the cards and cut the deck.” The circus diviner said in a low hoarse voice.
“I need to shuffle?” Zhou Mingrui asked subconsciously.
The oil paint on the diviner’s face moved and she revealed a slight smile.
“Of course, everyone’s fate can only be divined by themselves. I’m just an interpreter.”
Zhou Mingrui was immediately alerted.
“Are there any extra charges for interpretation?”
[As a keyboard warrior, I have seen too many similar tricks!]
The fortune teller was obviously stunned for a moment before she finally murmured.
“It’s free.”
Zhou Mingrui calmed down, he pushed the revolver deeper into his pocket. Then he calmly extended his hands and skillfully shuffled the cards.
“I’m done.” He placed the shuffled deck of Tarot cards in the center of the table.
The diviner crossed her hands and attentively studied the deck for a few moments. Suddenly, she spoke.
“Sorry, I forget to ask, what do you want to divine about?”
While dating his first love in the past, Zhou Mingrui had also learned about the Tarot. Therefore, he answered without hesitation.
“The past, the present, and the future.”
This was a kind of divination method for Tarot cards. Three cards would be lined up in order to symbolize the past, the present, and the future.
The diviner nodded and the corners of her mouth curled up, revealing a smile.
“In that case, please shuffle your cards again. Only when you understand what you want to ask, then you can obtain the truly symbolic cards.”
[You are playing with me right … Do not be so stingy, is it a revenge just because I keep stressing the free service?] Zhou’s face twisted slightly. He took a deep breath, took back the Tarot cards, shuffled them and cut the deck.
“Is there a problem this time?” He placed the cards in the center of the table.
“No.” The diviner raised her finger, picked up the card from the top and placed it on the left side of Zhou Mingrui. She continued in a low husky voice. “This symbolizes the past.”
“This symbolizes the present.” The diviner placed the second card directly in front of Zhou Mingrui.
She picked up the third card and placed it on the right side of Zhou Mingrui.
“This symbolizes the future.”
“Well, which card do you like to see first?” After all these actions, the diviner raised her head and gazed deeply into Zhou Mingrui with her grey-blue eyes.
“Let’s look at the present first." Zhou Mingrui said after thinking slightly.
The diviner slowly nodded and flipped the card in front of him.
This card depicted a young man dressed in gorgeous clothes, wearing a ragged headdress, carrying a staff on his shoulders, with a bag hanging on end of the staff and a little white dog following behind him. The serial number was “0”.
“The Fool.” The diviner whispered the name of the card, her gray and blue eyes stared at Zhou Mingrui.
The Fool? Tarot’s number zero? A beginning? A beginning of unlimited possibilities? Zhou Mingrui could not even be considered to be a part-time Tarot enthusiast. Yet, based on his limited understanding, he was able to make a superficial interpretation.
Just as the diviner was about to open her mouth, the tent’s linen curtains were suddenly lifted and the strong lights of the sun poured into the tent. It was so glaring that even Zhou Mingrui, whose back was facing the entrance had to instinctively narrow his eyes.
"How dare you pretend to be me again! Giving people divination is my job!" A female voice was mad and furious. "Get out! You need to remember that you are only an animal trainer!"
An animal trainer? Zhou Mingrui' eyes adapted to the light and saw another woman standing at the entrance. She was also wearing a pointed hat with black dress and red-yellow paint on her face. The difference was that she was taller and had a more slender figure.
The woman sitting in front of him quickly stood up and said apologetically.
“Please don’t mind, this is just my hobby. Although, I have to say, sometimes my divination and interpretation can be quite accurate, really…”
She lifted her skirt, bypassed the table from the side and quickly left the tent.
“Sir, would you like me to interpret it for you?” The real diviner looked at Zhou Mingrui and asked with a smile.
Zhou Mingrui opened his mouth and asked sincerely.
“Is it free?”
“…no.” The real diviner replied.
“Forget it.” Zhou Mingrui inserted his hand back into his pocket. He held down the revolver and the notes and stooped out of the tent.
[What the heck! I've received a divination from an animal trainer?
An animal trainer who doesn't aspire to a be a diviner will not make a good clown?]
Zhou Mingrui soon put this matter behind his mind. He spent 7 pence on the "Lettuce and Meat" market and bought a pound of average quality mutton. He also bought the grocery items such as green peas, cabbage, onions, and potatoes. Together with the bread, he had spent 25 copper pennies or 2 sule 1 penny.
“The money is used so quickly, poor Benson…” Zhou Mingrui had not only finished the two notes he brought but also a penny from his own pocket too.
After sighing, he stopped thinking about it and hurried back home.
[With the staple food, I can carry out the luck conversion ritual!]
While waiting for tenants on the second floor to leave, Zhou Mingrui did not rush to perform the ritual. Instead, he translated the words "Blessings of Xuan Huang Immortal Lord" into Ancient Fusaq and Ruenese language. If the spell did not work, he would try a different language on another day!
[After all, we must consider the difference between the worlds. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.]
As for the Hellenese text that were used in ancient prayers and sacrifices, Zhou Mingrui could not complete the translation because of his insufficient vocabulary.
After doing all this, he took out four pieces of rye bread from the paper bag. He put one at the corner where the coal stove was originally placed, one underneath the bottom of the mirror, one on the top of the cupboard where the two walls meet, and one near the junk items beside the desk.
Taking a deep breath, Zhou Mingrui came to the center of the room. He calmed himself down for a few minutes before he solemnly walked counter-clockwise in a square.
Taking the first step, he whispered.
"Blessings of Xuan Huang Immortal Lord."
In the second step, he meditated.
"Blessings of Xuan Huang Heavenly Master."
The third step, Zhou Mingrui breathlessly whispered.
"Blessings of Xuan Huang Deity."
In the fourth step, he breathed out and said silently in his mind.
"Blessings of Xuan Huang Heavenly Lord."
After returning to the starting point, Zhou Mingrui closed his eyes and waited for the results. His heart full of anticipation, anxiousness, hope, and panic.
[Can I go back?
Will it be effective?
Will any accidents happen?]
The darkness before his eyes was dyed in the dark red of sun. Zhou Mingrui’s thoughts flocked in his mind and were difficult to subside.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that the air around him seemed to stop flowing, becoming thick and mysterious.
Immediately afterward, his ears started ringing with disjointed sounds. They were sometimes sharp, sometimes illusory, sometimes tempting, sometimes arrogant, sometimes it was the whispers of a mad man.
Though he obviously couldn’t understand what was the whispers were about, Zhou Mingrui couldn’t help but try to listen and differentiate.
His head was sore again as if there was a steel rod drilling into it.
Zhou Mingrui felt that his head was about to explode and his thoughts became stained with psychedelic colors.
He knew something was wrong and tried hard to open his eyes, but he could not complete this simple action.
The whole body became more rigid and tense as if it would break at anytime. Zhou Mingrui inexplicably developed a self-deprecating thought.
“no Zuo no Die…(1)”
Just as he could no longer bear it anymore and the string in his mind was about to break, the numerous voices and whispered retreated. The surroundings became very quiet and the atmosphere was whimsical.
Not only the atmosphere, Zhou felt that his body was equally whimsical.
He tried again to blink and open his eyes. This time it was very easy.
A stretch of diffused fog appeared in his eyes. It was bleary, vague, and boundless.
“What is happening?” Zhou stared blankly. He lowered his head and found himself floating in an area of fog, an area so huge that the fog seemed endless.
The fog, which was almost like water, was dotted with many crimson little “stars”. Some of them were large, some were small, some were hidden deeply, and some were floating on the surface.
Looking at the holographical scene, Zhou Mingrui, in a semi-experimental and semi-exploration state, extended his right hand to reach a crimson "star" floating near him on the right surface. He wanted to try and find a way to leave this place.
Just as his fingers came into contact with the surface of the star, water lines suddenly emerged from his body. The "crimson star” bursted, like an illusory firework.
Zhou was shocked. In panic, he tried to retract his hand but it accidentally touched another "crimson star".
Thus, that “star” also started to glow brilliantly.
For a moment, Zhou felt that his mind was empty and his energy was depleted.
Beckland, the capital of Ruen Kingdom, Queen's district, a luxury villa.
Audrey Hall was sitting in front of the dressing table, her fingers gently stroking an ancient bronze mirror with a cracked surface.
“Mirror, mirror, wake up now…”
“In the name of the Hall family, I command you to wake up!”
She changed her expression again and again, but the mirror did not respond.
After ten minutes, she finally gave up, grumbled and whispered.
“Dad was really lying to me. He had always told me that this mirror was a treasure that belonged to the Dark Emperor of the ancient Solomon Empire and that it was an extraordinary item…”
Before she could finish her sentence, the bronze mirror placed on the table suddenly bursted with deep red lights which engulfed her immediately.
In the Sea of Sunia, a three-mast sailboat that was clearly outdated was cutting through the waves in the middle of a storm.
Alger Wilsen stood on the deck. His body swayed up and down with the ship's movements, yet he could easily maintain his balance.
He was wearing a robe embroidered with patterns of lightning and he held a weirdly shaped glass bottle in his hand. The inside of the bottle was for a moment fizzy with bubbles, in the next moment it became the frosty with snow, and later it was windy with scratch marks.
“I still need the blood of a Ghost Shark…” Alger whispered.
At this moment, a deep red light erupted between the glass bottle and his palm. It engulfed the surroundings immediately.
Above an endless stretch of grey and white fog, Audrey Hall came to her senses. She looked around in panic and confusion. Diagonally across, she noticed the man with a blurred head and fuzzy figure performing the same actions.
Almost immediately, they discovered that not too far away in the distance, there was another mysterious man who was covered in gray mist.
The “mysterious man” – Zhou was equally shocked.
“Your Excellency, where is this place?”
“What do you want to do?”
Audrey and Alger were stunned, they kept slient for a moment before speaking together in unison.
TN
1 ) no Zuo no Die - Chinese meme: to make trouble out of nothing