"Cultivating fate without taking action means feelings will change with circumstances. Honored Guest, you are too attached to the outcome. Drawing a bad slip makes you panicked and anxious; drawing a good slip makes you doubtful and hesitant. If you weren't agonizing over romantic fate but seeking a clear mind, I would probably let you be. It's a pity that in the end, you still chose the truth. I hope the outcome meets your wishes."
After a moment of hesitation, Kiana drew another bamboo slip from the cylinder.
Engraved at the top were two large black Shenzhou characters: "Great Misfortune."
The Daoist also saw the words on the slip and sighed repeatedly.
"It seems the result is not ideal," the Daoist shook his head.
"But this is the correct one... the future that belongs solely to me." Kiana curled her fingers, gripping the bamboo slip tightly.
"Honored Guest, you seem to have a death wish? Please do not give up your life so easily. No one knows how wonderful the future might be, right?"
"This is my own business."
Kiana tightly gripped the bamboo slip symbolizing misfortune and death omens in her palm. She walked closer to the giant cherry blossom tree nearby. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and under the brilliant, rosy light, pink petals fluttered down like light snow.
She took a wish card from the Daoist. After writing her wish on it, like the surrounding couples, she climbed the ladder and stuck the wish card onto a branch.
The vermilion wish cards were like a cluster of stars, adorning the already beautiful cherry blossom tree.
"I only hope that before I reach the end, I can do a little more... of what is within my power. Goodbye, little Daoist. I don't think I will come here again."
"..."
Kiana walked toward the exit. The Daoist didn't stop her, merely standing under the cherry blossom tree watching her figure gradually fade and finally disappear into the vast sea of people.
"Sigh, can such a beautiful girl still have worries? It truly makes one curious, I wonder... Hey! What are you doing, kid?! Get down here right now! Did you devolve back into a monkey? Not climbing a perfectly good ladder... Don't fall down!!"
The Daoist was feigning a reserved sigh, but in the next second, seeing Li Wu hanging suspended from a branch like an ape, his image instantly collapsed, and he jumped up and down anxiously under the cherry blossom tree.
Li Wu gripped the branch tightly with both hands. He hadn't expected to jump so high himself. Originally, seeing the ladder being used by someone else, he wanted to see if he could directly hook the wish card Kiana had placed. As a result, he over-jumped and was forced to grab a branch over five meters high.
If one fell from this height, a normal person definitely wouldn't be able to handle it and would have to lie in the hospital for a long time.
He wasn't sure if his current physical constitution could withstand it. To be safe, after taking down Kiana's wish card, Li Wu climbed down steadily via the ladder.
"How on earth did you get up there? Wasn't someone using the ladder? Thank goodness this gentleman was kind-hearted enough to yield the ladder to you, otherwise, what would you have done if you fell?!" The Daoist fired off three questions in a row.
Li Wu held the wish card and awkwardly muttered an "I'm sorry."
The Daoist's eyes lit up, and he also replied in the Shenzhou language: "Yo, so you're one of our own. No, that's not right. You're completely ruining the quality of us Shenzhou people! Why tear down the wish card someone else worked so hard to hang up? That's so impolite. If someone filmed this, wouldn't it throw all our faces away?"
Faced with the Daoist's questioning, Li Wu didn't continue apologizing but directly brought the topic to the point: "The girl just now is my classmate. Her situation is rather special. If I said her name you would definitely know her, but I don't think it's necessary."
"Why isn't it necessary? If I knew her, I would at least help out a bit, or at least comfort her to make her feel better. It would be such a pity if such a beautiful girl died. I've heard there are many depressed kids here in the Far East. I actually have some experience in comforting people."
"That's exactly why I'm not telling you. Do you absolutely have to know her and know her name before you take action?"
The Daoist was momentarily rendered speechless by Li Wu's question, not knowing how to answer.
"I heard the conversation just now. You did nothing wrong. You just did what a staff member should do, and you did it very well."
Li Wu praised the Daoist's action of swapping the cylinders, then suddenly changed his tone: "But if you place yourself too high on a pedestal of aloofness from worldly affairs, naturally no one will take your thoughts and feelings to heart either."
"The way of the Sage is to act but not to contend," the Daoist argued.
"I'm not a sage. Moreover, I don't believe anyone in this world can become a true sage; it's ultimately just an ideal state fabricated by people. In reality, people need to eat, need to live, and occasionally need a bit of spiritual release. How can one not contend for anything? Only dead people don't contend for these things. I'm living very well, and I hope the people around me live very well too. So I must contend! Not only contend, but keep contending all the way!"
Li Wu's words plunged the Daoist into deep thought, leaving him stunned in place.
His belly was full of learning, and he could spout a bunch of grand principles at any time. But right now, those words reached his throat only to be swallowed back down, unable to be spoken.
In just their first meeting, Li Wu had left too profound an impression on him—climbing trees, barbaric, impolite, yet possessing unique insights in certain areas.
"Alright, I admit it. Although I want to help, experience tells me your friend has a massive karmic burden. I don't want to be implicated."
"Besides, who can say for sure what is right and wrong? But what are you doing tearing down her wish card? Don't tell me—she has trauma from her family of origin, is very depressed, and you plan to intervene in this karma, like a male protagonist in an island nation's anime, fulfilling her wishes before she seeks her own end, becoming her courage to live on?" The Daoist's tone was light and airy, as if he were joking.
Li Wu frowned, opened the wish card, and read the content written on it. His expression became even more solemn.
For no other reason than the wish card had a very strange sentence written on it—
[Li Wu, don't die.]
Li Wu quickly went through his memories and confirmed he hadn't seen Kiana during his risky endeavors. So why would Kiana write such a wish?
Besides, wasn't she already completely disappointed in him?
"If only it were that simple. What she's facing isn't just trauma from her family of origin. But there's no use telling you."
Li Wu didn't explain much.
He couldn't explain to this Daoist that Kiana was a Herrscher, and once she came of age, she would be captured by Schicksal, reduced to a test subject, tortured, and finally die in humiliation.
Even with immense power, she couldn't resist. It was better to obediently accept it so her family could continue living peacefully.
In a sense, this was indeed a predetermined fate.
"Saying all this, you actually don't have any certainty yourself, so why make this unnecessary move?" the Daoist asked, puzzled.
"Having the ability to do it and attempting to do it are two different things. Moreover, I think I can."
Hearing Li Wu's answer, the Daoist narrowed his eyes.
A person's character is their destiny.
Having read countless people, he could be certain that this young man before him would bear countless karmic burdens, both now and in the future.
Furthermore, no one could help him; he had to taste the bitter fruits born from those karmic ties alone.
Sigh...
"Want to draw a slip? Test your luck. Don't worry, I haven't tampered with the slips in this cylinder. The slips inside are random: Great Fortune, Small Fortune, Small Misfortune, Great Misfortune—they are in equal amounts."
The Daoist handed the cylinder to Li Wu.
After hesitating for a moment, Li Wu casually drew a bamboo slip, looked down, and saw—
[Death].
"...Are you sure you didn't tamper with this?! You actually dare let tourists draw a slip like this?!"
Thank goodness he had a good temper, otherwise he would have cursed out loud on the spot.
Imagine a family happily coming out to play, drawing a slip, and getting a "Death" slip. They would probably greet all eighteen generations of the Daoist's ancestors.
Hearing Li Wu's words, the Daoist directly snatched the bamboo slip to check. Confirming that the word "Death" was indeed written on it, a look of unbelievable confusion appeared on his face. How is this possible?
It's impossible!
All the bamboo slips were checked. How could such a low-level mistake be made?
If a tourist drew this, the Daoist temple, along with the person who provided the cylinder, would definitely get "flamed" online.
The Daoist hurriedly took all the bamboo slips out of the cylinder and checked them one by one, confirming there wasn't a second "Death" slip.
"How strange. How could there be a Death slip? Don't spread this around, okay? It was indeed my oversight. I apologize to you. But your luck is truly awful, even worse than your classmate's. She drew one of the only two 'Great Misfortune' slips out of twenty, and you drew the only 'Death' slip that wasn't even supposed to exist out of twenty. It's too outrageous. Judging by luck alone, you two look more like a couple than the couples I've seen."
"Sometimes I really don't know if you're praising or insulting. But it doesn't matter. I still have things to do, so I'll be leaving first."
Li Wu put away the wish card and walked straight toward the exit of the temple. He hadn't taken two steps before he was stopped by the Daoist.
"What else is there?"
"Nothing much. I just wanted to ask if you want to meet Miss Fox. Consider it compensation. I see you're a perceptive person. As a man, who doesn't want to look at a beautiful woman? Even just chatting for a few sentences would be nice... An audience with Miss Fox requires two omamori. If you don't have a 'Clear Source' omamori, I can secretly give you one."
Hearing this, Li Wu directly took out the blue 'Clear Source' omamori and waved it in front of the Daoist. "No need, I have both omamori. I just simply don't want to see her. Unless your Miss Fox actually grew a pair of fox ears, then I might consider whether or not to see her once."
After speaking, he turned again, ready to leave.
"Wait!"
"What now?! If you can't give me a good reason this time, I really have to post you online and let people attack you," Li Wu impatiently put down his raised foot.
"Is your... surname Li?"
"Holy crap, when did you dox me?"
"Name, Mo?"
"Oh, then no. You've got the wrong person."
"Alright. Anyway, the Temple Master, Miss Fox, prophesied this. She said something like 'Mo will definitely find her one day.' It seems you aren't the person she's waiting for."
"Putting on airs. A perfectly good Temple Master acting like a pop idol, slapping a bunch of labels on herself, setting up a persona. What era is this to still be playing this 'fated destiny literature' game? Go back and tell your Miss Fox to stop waiting. He won't come."