It was still the same roadside stall.
It was still the same young man, eating noodles and garlic with each bite.
Seeing Lucian was still there, Fu Qian quickly dismissed his attendant and walked over to him alone.
"Young friend, it's me again, hahaha."
Fu Qian spoke with a friendly smile, ordered a bowl of noodles and a few cloves of garlic, then sat across from Lucian to keep him company.
"So, how's it going, uncle?" Lucian slurped a mouthful of noodles and asked casually. "You don't look so good. Trouble at work?"
"Well... I was rude this morning, and you actually guessed it right." Fu Qian's expression turned serious. "I made a small mistake at work and got suspended for three days."
It should be noted that the affairs of the Divination Commission weren't something anyone could meddle with, especially with the Master Diviner personally presiding over it—no one dared to tamper with such matters.
At this point, Fu Qian no longer dared to take the young man in front of him lightly.
He suspected this young man was probably a reclusive master from an ancient family, pretending to be harmless while hiding his true strength.
One should know that in the Xianzhou Alliance, there were plenty of people nearly a thousand years old, and some even over a thousand, who still looked young and beautiful.
However, someone that old and as handsome as the young man before him—Fu Qian was seeing it for the first time.
"It's fine, just a small matter." Lucian smiled faintly, his eyes clear. "If you trust me, I can help you ward off misfortune if you want. As for payment... nothing much—just one strale."
Hearing this, Fu Qian observed Lucian carefully, but unfortunately, he had no way to tell what the young man was truly thinking.
"Just one strale? Young friend, what are you after?" Fu Qian asked seriously.
"Fate." Lucian replied calmly. "I divined that I had a fate with the Fu family, so I came to take a look. You're the patriarch of the Fu family, so following the law of fate, a single strale will be more than enough to resolve the karmic bond."
In Fu Qian's ears, this kind of answer sounded exactly like what those retired old foxes from the Xianzhou Alliance would say—and the fact that this young man asked for only a single strale, not money or riches, but spoke only of fate, made him even more convinced that this young man was a big shot hiding his true strength—someone perhaps even more formidable than himself, the patriarch of the Fu family.
In any case, it would not harm to try.
If this young man truly was that capable, then he had to be invited into their family as a guest—or better yet, retained as one of their own.
"In that case, please help me ward it off, young friend."
Fu Qian spoke while pulling out a strale from his robe and placing it in front of Lucian.
Lucian calmly picked up the strale, looked at it for a moment, then activated Sham Diviner.
In the next moment, with a pinch of his fingers and a brief calculation, the divination result surfaced in his mind.
'He would have an unlucky day at work and was punished, huh...' Lucian chuckled in his heart.
Sure enough, human fate was always in flux, and this conceptual ability was truly accurate.
"Mm, it's done." Lucian handed the strale back to Fu Qian. "Carry this strale with you, and before today ends, you'll see the result."
Right after saying this, he rose and walked away casually without looking back, looking every bit the image of a worldly wanderer and hidden master.
Given that the Sham Diviner's result stated today's work would be unlucky and that Fu Qian would get punished, that result would certainly not happen.
In other words, either things would return to normal, or Fu Qian would be rewarded with a promotion.
Nevertheless, whichever it turned out to be, it still meant Lucian had successfully warded off misfortune for Fu Qian, proving his remarkable skill as a diviner.
As for the strale, it was nothing more than a prop used to put on a show.
===
On the other side, Fu Qian returned home alone, studying the strale that Lucian had given back to him.
It glittered with a faint glow, yet seemed no different from before.
'Hmm, does this count as consecration or something? Could this strale really let me defy my unlucky fate? I, a longstanding diviner, can't even see through it...'
Just as Fu Qian sat in the Fu residence's main hall, lost in thought, Fu Xuan entered the main hall and approached him.
"Father, I just did a divination and saw your fortune today was bad. Did something happen?" Fu Xuan asked, her voice filled with worry.
"Oh, amazing, Little Xuan. Your old man just got suspended, and you already saw it? Hahaha!" Fu Qian's mood suddenly brightened as he laughed heartily. "As I thought, you truly have the makings of a Master Diviner."
"Why are you happy?" Fu Xuan widened her eyes in confusion. "Isn't that bad?"
"Because seeing you makes me happy, of course." Fu Qian replied almost instantly. "A little bad luck doesn't matter, hahaha!"
"Yes, yes, I know..." Fu Xuan sighed helplessly, feeling hopeless for her father. "But I still don't want to see you suffer. We should find a way to turn misfortune into fortune."
At this, Fu Qian lifted the strale given back by Lucian and waved it in front of his daughter.
"Remember the young man you met yesterday—the one who said our family would face a bloody disaster?" Fu Qian asked with a smile. "Your father suspects he's a hidden master, so I tested him. He really does have some ability, so I asked him for a consecrated item to ward off my misfortune."
Fu Xuan took the strale from her father's hand and carefully examined it, but saw nothing unusual.
"Hmmm... feels like just an ordinary strale... nothing special..." Fu Xuan muttered with a frown.
As time passed, the elders of the Fu family eventually learned that the patriarch had been suspended from the Divination Commission, so they swiftly came one after another to the main hall to ask for an explanation.
As soon as they heard the patriarch had actually asked the fraud diviner from yesterday to dispel his misfortune, they reacted one after another.
"Patriarch, you're the pillar of the Fu family. Don't trust outsiders so easily!"
"Yes. If you get tricked even once, our family's reputation will suffer a huge blow!"
"Patriarch, the other families still covet the seat of Master Diviner. Just because the young lady was foretold to inherit it doesn't mean it's guaranteed."
"Five thousand years ago, our ancestor stepped onto the Path of Erudition and mastered interpreting hexagrams—that's how the Fu family became what it is today. We must…"
A whole group of elders surrounded Fu Qian, chirping nonstop, filling the main hall with their voices.
Fu Qian rolled his eyes, not even bothering to listen.
No wonder his daughter liked locking herself in her room with her books, reading all day—who would want to sit around with these old geezers and listen to their nagging?
Every time they opened their mouths, it was about the glorious history of their family and how things used to be.
"Always living in the past—how can we move forward?" Fu Qian said seriously. "For all we know, that young man could be special, a hidden master who helps us!"
Of course, even he wasn't absolutely certain about that and was only saying it casually to stop the elders' nagging.
Upon hearing his words, the elders shook their heads, insisting that the patriarch should focus on strengthening the family and nurturing Fu Xuan.
Who cared about some supposed hidden master?
As long as Fu Xuan could claim the seat of Master Diviner, the Fu family's glory would continue.
"Patriarch, it's already night now. Do you see any changes after all this time? You're still suspended."
As one of the elders, frustrated with Fu Qian's behavior, spoke contemptuously—
*Beep-Beep-Beep—*
Fu Qian's jade abacus received a message, and as he opened it, it was a voice message from the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission himself.
[Fu Qian, regarding your project mishap—you handled it well! Although there was some trouble, we unexpectedly gained even greater results. We've decided to cancel your punishment and instead grant you compensation and a reward. Be sure to come in tomorrow on time. We'll discuss it in person.]
As the voice message of the Master Diviner, played at maximum volume so the others could hear, finished, Fu Qian froze.
He couldn't help it.
What did 'unexpectedly gained even greater results' even mean?
He had made a mistake, yet somehow it turned into an unexpected gain that not only canceled his punishment but even earned him compensation and reward.
Politically, this was clearly a huge advantage for the Fu family.
Fu Qian, his heart shaken to the core, slowly looked down at Lucian's consecrated strale in his hand.
No doubt—it really had averted his misfortune and changed his fate!
Diviners could only guide fortune within the limits of their ability, and in his current case, he had no way of avoiding it—it was beyond his reach.
And yet, that young man had managed to do it, which clearly showed his power was immense, undoubtedly a true powerhouse.
Meanwhile, the elders, after hearing the message from the Master Diviner, immediately fell silent.
They truly had no words.
Just moments ago, they had been chattering about not trusting outsiders, but now they had been utterly slapped in the face.
Needless to say, a disaster the Fu family couldn't avoid was dispelled effortlessly by an outsider—and with extra benefits, no less.
Knowing this, there was nothing left for them to complain about.
"Alright, everyone." Fu Qian clapped his hands and glanced at everyone with a smile. "Should we invite that young man over for a visit?"
At this, the elders looked at each other in silence, then nodded silently in agreement, since the facts were right here before them—impossible to deny.
Fu Xuan, peeking from outside the main hall door, heard the entire story.
"Amazing..." Fu Xuan muttered with glittering, shining eyes. "So that man wasn't a fraud at all... Tomorrow, I definitely have to meet him..."
===
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