Street Stories: A True Account of a Group of Blind Men in the Underworld

That afternoon, the sun blazed so hard that the ground was scorching hot, and even the dust seemed to be drooping.

As soon as Qiao Yang, An Tai, and Li You stepped into this remote village, An Tai took out a bamboo flute from his pocket and began to play the ancient tune "Su Wu Herding Sheep".

Before long, a figure in blue cloth stumbled out of the alleyway. The woman's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and her clothes were soaked. Her eyes lit up instantly when she saw the three people.

"Sir! Are you a fortune teller?" The woman grabbed Qiao Yang's sleeve, her voice trembling. "My child is dying! Please save him!"

Qiao Yang steadily supported her: "Sister-in-law, don't rush, take us to see first."

He and Li You quickly followed the woman into the courtyard, while An Tai stayed on the street, continuing to solicit business with his flute.

The room was dimly lit, and a strong, pungent smell of medicine filled the air.

An old man with gray hair was sitting by the kang (a heated brick bed). When he saw the two of them come in, he hurriedly got up and reached out with trembling hands to take the satchels from their shoulders.

"Please sit down, sir! Please sit down!" the old man said in a hoarse voice. "This child... I'm entrusting the child to you!"

On the earthen bed lay a boy of seven or eight years old, his eyes closed, his face as pale as paper, his chest rising and falling so weakly that it was almost invisible, with only a wisp of breath clinging to him.

Qiao Yang frowned and asked:

"What's wrong with the child? How long have they been sick?"

The woman's eyes reddened, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

"It's been more than half a month! I have diarrhea seven or eight times a day, and I fainted the day before yesterday!"

After drinking two doses of herbal medicine, it had no effect whatsoever... I was truly desperate, so I consulted a fortune teller to see if I had been possessed by an evil spirit or broken a taboo!

Qiao Yang nodded slightly: "Let me do a divination for the child."

As he spoke, he took out three copper coins that gleamed with a cold, dark light from his cloth bag and handed them to the woman.

"Calm your mind and focus only on the child's condition, then shake the machine six times."

The woman's hands trembled violently as she tightly clutched the copper coin, closed her eyes and silently prayed, tears mingling with sweat streaming down her face.

Immediately, she flicked her wrist, and the copper coins clattered loudly on the table.

Once, twice, three times...

After casting the divination six times, Qiao Yang gently ran his fingers over each coin, distinguishing between heads and tails, his expression remaining calm throughout.

But when the last coin landed, his finger suddenly stopped and didn't move away.

Three hemp seeds transform into three faces, descendants become official ghosts, and it happens to be the month when the official ghost is in power—

Upon seeing the divination result, Qiao Yang's heart sank, as if weighed down by a massive boulder.

According to the book, this divination is crystal clear: the child's life hangs by a thread; the end will come in two or three days at the earliest, or at the latest in the sixth month of the lunar calendar, with no chance of recovery.

Tell the truth? With such an ominous omen, this family will surely collapse, and may even give up on treatment. What was once a glimmer of hope will be driven to a dead end by a single truth.

Can we keep it a secret?

Qiao Yang's reputation in the martial arts world rested on his accuracy. If something were to happen to the child, this family would surely accuse him of being a fraud, and once his reputation was ruined, no one would believe him again.

On one side are precious human lives, and on the other is personal reputation.

Two knives were repeatedly tearing at his heart.

"gentlemen……"

Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, the woman's voice was already trembling with tears, "Please say something! The divination... what does the divination mean?"

Qiao Yang gripped the copper coin tightly, its cold lines digging into his palm. His Adam's apple bobbed, a thousand words stuck in his throat.

A life-or-death dilemma, one thought can lead to heaven, the other to hell.

He took a deep breath, slowly raised his eyes, and his gaze fell on the desperate parents of the child.

"The divination does indeed indicate danger; the child's illness is extremely serious." Qiao Yang paused, his voice steady and powerful, "But—it's not a hopeless situation."

The old man's body stiffened: "S-Sir, you mean... there's still hope?"

"have!"

Qiao Yang said slowly and deliberately, "It's all up to us. Find another good doctor immediately and take good care of him. If he can get through these next few days, things will definitely turn around."

He concealed the deathly calamity in the divination, only seeking to ignite hope.

The woman instantly stopped crying and smiled, wiping away her tears as she prepared to get up:

"I'll go to town to find Doctor Wang right now! He's the best doctor around here!"

"Don't just go to village doctors."

Qiao Yang's tone turned serious, carrying an unquestionable determination: "Switch to Western medicine. It would be best to go to a large hospital in Tangshan. If that's not possible, you must go to the county town."

The medical skills and medicines available in large hospitals are far superior to those of rural healers.

"Okay! Okay! We'll listen to you, sir!"

The old man nodded repeatedly, "Tangshan is too far, the child can't withstand the journey, we'll set off for the county town immediately!"

Qiao Yang nodded slightly, but his heart felt heavy.

He didn't know if what he was doing was right or wrong. But if he told the truth, the family's last bit of will to live would probably be extinguished on the spot.

Stepping out of the courtyard, Li You finally couldn't hold back any longer and quickly followed, speaking:

"Brother, why were you so hesitant when interpreting the divination? A favorable divination is a favorable divination, and an unfavorable divination is an unfavorable divination. She cast the hexagram herself, so why didn't you just say it outright?"

Qiao Yang sighed deeply: "Li You, remember this. Divination concerning human life is never a matter of simply saying whether it's good or bad."

Sometimes, a white lie can save lives far more than the bloody truth.

An Tai, standing nearby, sighed and added, "Qiao Yang is right. Years ago in Luanping County, I witnessed something firsthand—"

A junior colleague of mine did a fortune telling for an elderly woman who had just turned sixty, saying that she was about to suffer a bloody accident and might not be able to eat dumplings for the New Year.

Li You was startled: "And then?"

"Then?"

An Tai's expression was complicated. "The old lady was already in poor health. After hearing this, she was heartbroken. She fell and fell ill and never recovered. No matter how we tried to persuade her, she refused to take her medicine. She really passed away in less than a month."

"Everyone says my junior brother is accurate in his predictions, but I've always had a nagging feeling—that old man wasn't destined to die; he was clearly scared to death by a single sentence."

Li You fell silent and said no more.

As the sun set and twilight painted the sky, the three returned to their inn, where a familiar figure was already waiting at the door.

"Brother! I've finally found you!"

A familiar voice came from afar, and Qiao Lei strode forward, grabbing Qiao Yang's arm.

Qiao Yang was slightly taken aback, a look of doubt appearing on his face:

"Brother? What happened to you, following me all the way here? Did something happen at home?"

Li You tilted his head slightly, a hint of curiosity on his face.

Tai'an had already recognized that the person was Qiao Lei, and there was no wariness on his face. He just waited quietly for what was to come.

Qiao Lei grinned from ear to ear, waving his hands repeatedly:

"It's not a disaster, it's a great joy!"

His voice was filled with joy: "Miss Su Yue sent you a letter, but after waiting and waiting for a reply, she actually came all the way from Tianjin to Baodi the day before yesterday!"

When her parents heard why she had come, they were overjoyed and immediately sent me to find her and bring her home!

Qiao Yang's body trembled slightly, the tense lines on his face softened instantly, and his voice became a few decibels lower:

"She...she actually came?"

"Of course it's true!"

Qiao Lei, abandoning his usual sullen demeanor, spoke with a smug expression:

"I inquired my way here and happened to hear about your matchmaking for the daughter of the manager of Wanxin Trading Company. Everyone for miles around is praising your accurate divination!"

He paused for a moment, then continued, "As soon as the shopkeeper heard that I was your elder brother, he immediately had his assistant prepare a carriage to send me here. He even specially prepared a fine tea set, saying it was an early wedding gift for you and Miss Su Yue!"

A relieved smile appeared on Tai'an's face as he said softly:

"Good, good... Qiao Yang, you've not only accumulated good karma, but you've also found a good match. That's a good thing."

Li You, also beaming with joy, cupped his hands in a salute towards Qiao Yang and smiled:

"Congratulations, brother! Not only have you saved someone, but you can also go back and get married. It's truly a double blessing!"

Standing under the setting sun, Qiao Yang could not see the afterglow of the sunset, but he could feel its warmth.

The heaviness, dilemma, and torment that had weighed on my heart during the divination had quietly eased considerably at this moment.