"I wasn't stealing! I was trying to find the exit in all that smoke!" the old man protested loudly, clutching his chest with a look of deep grievance. "If my hands happened to scoop up a few spirit stones, that's only because they were… uh… in the way! Why does fate always misunderstand a good man like me?!"
The bartender's patience finally snapped. He grabbed a broom and hurled it straight at the old man.
"Why are you still here, old man?!" he barked. "Scram! If you don't disappear within three breaths, I'll sweep you out together with the trash!"
Just as the old man was about to speak again, he glanced to the side and met Su Wen's disdainful gaze.
Su Wen noticed the look. Without hesitation, he turned away and hurried into the next street as if he hadn't seen anything at all… or any old man.
But suddenly, a chuckle sounded right beside him.
"Hehehe… young man, why don't you first pay your respects to this old immortal? If this immortal is in a good mood, there's a chance I might read your fortune."
Su Wen turned and saw the same old man standing right next to him, smiling like a bandit cornering a pitiful woman.
"Old man, y-you…?" Su Wen widened his eyes and quickly put on an overly respectful expression. "A-Are you truly… an immortal cultivator?"
The old man straightened his back and smirked proudly.
"You've got good eyes, young man. Not only am I an old immortal, but I can also…"
He paused deliberately, enjoying the moment.
"…foresee fortunes, read destinies, and sniff out spirit stones within a ten-meter radius!"
He tapped his nose twice, wearing an absolutely shameless grin.
"This nose of mine has never failed me!"
Su Wen displayed a shocked expression, "Are you saying truth senior?"
The old man suddenly stopped talking and squinted, peering at Su Wen with narrowed eyes.
"Mm… interesting," he muttered, stroking his beard slowly. "Very interesting."
Su Wen paused. "Senior?"
The old man circled him once, sniffing lightly, then nodded to himself.
"Young man, your aura is chaotic yet harmonious. Your fate line is tangled, yet unbroken. This is no ordinary destiny."
Su Wen remained silent, wearing a confused yet respectful expression.
"Hmph," the old man said. "Since fate has brought us together, this old immortal can take a look at your fortune. Just a small reading… nothing profound."
He leaned closer and lowered his voice.
"Of course, heaven's secrets are not revealed for free. Three low-grade spirit stones will do."
Su Wen blinked. "Three spirit stones?"
The old man waved his hand magnanimously. "A symbolic price! If this old immortal were to read your fate seriously, even ten thousand spirit stones wouldn't be enough."
Su Wen hesitated on purpose, then asked cautiously, "What… what would Senior be able to see?"
The old man's eyes gleamed.
"I can see whether your path is smooth or soaked in blood. Whether those close to you are blessings… or calamities. Whether you'll ascend to the heavens… or die nameless in a ditch."
He sighed deeply and shook his head.
"Young people always regret not listening sooner."
Su Wen lowered his head slightly, looking troubled. Inside, he was already laughing.
Outwardly, he asked, "If I pay, can Senior guarantee the reading will be accurate?"
The old man snorted. "This nose has never lied, this mouth has never been wrong, and this fortune teller… " he tapped his chest proudly, "… has enlightened countless people."
Su Wen pretended to struggle internally for a moment, then slowly reached into his storage pouch.
"Senior truly lives up to the name of an immortal," he said sincerely.
He took out three low-grade spirit stones and professionally placed them into the old man's cloth bag. The old man lifted his chin smugly, looking as though he were already standing above the clouds.
"Senior Immortal," Su Wen added politely, "there's no need to read my fate. Please just take this as a junior paying respects."
"But… this immortal…" the old man began, his eyes flashing, though his face still maintained an aloof expression.
Before he could finish, Su Wen smoothly took out three more low-grade spirit stones and slipped them into the old man's cloth bag.
"Senior, merely seeing you today is enough for me to retreat into seclusion for a full week in enlightenment," Su Wen said earnestly. "Please allow this junior to express his sincerity."
The old man smiled like a greedy merchant who had just found a fat lamb. He waved his hand solemnly and said, "The Dao is profound. It cannot be bought with mere spirit stones…"
Before he could finish, Su Wen smoothly interjected, slipping another four low-grade spirit stones into the old man's cloth bag.
"Senior, it's not that I doubt the profundity of the Dao," Su Wen said sincerely. "On the contrary… one must walk the Dao step by step to reach greater heights."
The old man froze for a split second.
Su Wen continued, his tone calm and reverent.
"You live for the Dao. You follow the Dao. And in the end, the Dao becomes you."
The old man's beard twitched.
"For now," Su Wen added thoughtfully, "I don't wish to know my fate. If everything is foretold, then life becomes dull… and cultivation loses its meaning."
The alley fell quiet.
The old man froze on the spot.
For a brief moment, the greedy light in his eyes dimmed, replaced by genuine surprise.
'It's not like I can really see yours...' He inwardly mused.
He stared at Su Wen as if seeing him for the first time, then slowly reached into his robes and pulled out a worn, tattered book.
Flipping to a blank page, he carefully wrote down the line, his expression unusually serious.
After finishing, he snapped the book shut and coughed lightly, returning to his usual shameless demeanour.
"Hmph. Not bad. Not bad at all," he said, stroking his beard. "This old immortal will remember that line. It'll be quite useful when enlightening… ah!... guiding others in the future."
In truth, he planned to use it as his next grand Dao proverb to scam cultivators and mortals alike.
But deep down, he silently repeated the words again.
'You live for the Dao. You follow the Dao, and the Dao becomes you.'
For reasons he couldn't explain, the sentence lingered in his mind far longer than any other nonsense he'd made up before. He snorted softly, shaking his head as if mocking himself.
'Hah… who knows,' he muttered inwardly, 'maybe one day, this line might actually help this old man take a step further.'