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

Along the Jiyun River, willows provide shade; at Bailonggang Wharf, life is bustling.

When Qiao Yang arrived, the sun was already high in the sky, and golden light shone on the river, making it sparkle and shimmer like scattered gold and silver.

He stopped by the dusty dirt road, listened carefully, and judged that the ferry would not arrive for a while.

Immediately, relying on his hearing, he found himself under a thick old willow tree and sat down quietly.

I had barely settled down when I heard soft footsteps beside me.

A middle-aged woman approached, her tone hesitant and anxious, cautiously probing:

"This fellow villager... is he a fortune teller?"

Qiao Yang nodded slightly, following the direction of the sound.

"Indeed. Does sister-in-law wish to inquire about fate?"

The woman breathed a sigh of relief, quickly stepped forward, lowered her voice, and began to recite her child's birth date and time.

The child has been crying and restless at night lately, and seems mentally confused. The family wants to ask the fortune teller to predict good or bad fortune and foresee any calamities.

Qiao Yang listened intently, memorizing each of the eight characters.

He rapidly calculated with his fingers on his knees, chanting incantations softly, his breathing steady. In a short while, he had drawn up the horoscope and calculated the annual fortune.

From the child's physical condition to recent clashes and taboos, and then to the methods of resolving them, everything was explained clearly and logically, without a single false statement.

Several villagers who were also waiting for the boat were initially just listening casually, but the more they listened, the more alarmed they became. They were gradually drawn over and gathered around Qiao Yang, listening attentively with expressions of conviction on their faces.

After Qiao Yang finished speaking, the woman was filled with gratitude.

"Sir! That's so accurate! You're absolutely right! Thank you so much!"

She quickly reached out and pulled out two crumpled banknotes, intending to hand them to Qiao Yang.

But at that very moment—

A harsh, hoarse voice, like a broken gong, suddenly cut in:

"Wait!"

"This fortune-telling is just feudal superstition! We shouldn't give him money!"

His voice was arrogant and his manner overbearing, instantly shattering the peaceful atmosphere.

The crowd fell silent immediately.

Qiao Yang frowned slightly, slowly turning towards the source of the voice, his tone remaining calm:

"Young man, government laws only promote science and oppose superstition, but they have never explicitly prohibited fortune telling and divination. Who are you to dare block my way and rob me?"

"The government hasn't banned it, but you can't do fortune-telling on my village's turf!"

The young man grew increasingly arrogant, raising his voice to a high pitch:

"If I say it's superstition, then it's superstition! Anyone who dares to give money is complicit!"

Qiao Yang already understood.

Judging from his tone, he's neither a village official nor a government employee; he's just a hothead who thinks he can bully others and show off his connections just because he knows the locals.

He smiled faintly, his expression calm rather than angry:

"Since you have a misunderstanding of the policy, I will explain it to you today."

Qiao Yang slowly raised his voice, speaking not only to the young man but also to all the villagers around him:

"The government does indeed advocate science and oppose superstition, which is correct. However, 'advocating,' 'opposing,' and 'prohibiting' are not the same thing at all!"

Promoting science means guiding people towards clarity and learning in a positive direction; opposing superstition means not condoning or promoting it.

It can be "prohibited," but that's a red line in national law! Like drug use, prostitution, theft, and robbery—crimes that are heinous and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!

Qiao Yang turned to the young man and asked, "Young man, put your hand on your heart and tell me honestly, is fortune-telling and divination, seeking peace of mind and warding off disaster, above all prohibitions? Is it on par with illegal and criminal activities?"

His words, broken down and explained in detail, were clear in their reasoning and logic.

The onlookers nodded in agreement, their gazes towards the young man now tinged with displeasure.

Seeing this, the woman tried to hand over the money again.

"etc!"

The young man, embarrassed and enraged, suddenly stepped forward, his arm sweeping across, blocking the woman and Qiao Yang, almost touching Qiao Yang's body.

Qiao Yang's expression suddenly darkened!

He didn't want to cause any more trouble at the ferry crossing, but this person's repeated provocations had crossed his bottom line.

He slammed the horse-drawn pole heavily onto the ground with a loud thud!

A terrifying aura, honed through long experience and tempered in the darkness, suddenly erupted:

"presumptuous!

"I have already completed the divination, I have clearly determined the fortune and misfortune, and I have also given you the method to resolve it. This is like hiring a worker; they complete the task, but you jump out and refuse to pay them. What kind of logic is that?"

The young man was taken aback by his sudden outburst of power, his whole body trembled, and he subconsciously took a half step back, stammering:

"I... I just don't believe you can calculate it accurately! What could a blind man like you possibly know?"

Qiao Yang's anger gradually subsided, replaced by a cold sneer.

He accurately "looked" in the direction of the young man, and his all-knowing aura made the other man involuntarily feel flustered.

"Oh? You're saying my calculations were inaccurate?"

Qiao Yang's clear voice carried throughout the entire venue.

"Alright! Today I will make an exception and not charge you a single penny. I will cast a divination just for you! Let everyone here, young and old, hear whether my divination, Qiao Yang's, is accurate or not!"

If even one word is false, I will not take a single penny today, but I will return double the money this woman gave me for the divination!

boom--!

These words were like cold water poured into boiling oil, and the entire room instantly erupted in chaos!

"Good! Well said!"

"Sir, quickly calculate his fortune! Let's put this brat's arrogance to rest!"

"Yes! Make him admit defeat!"

The young man with the raspy voice suddenly changed his expression, turning from dark to a deep liver color. His Adam's apple bobbed, and after a long while, he managed to utter a sentence:

"I... I don't even know my own birthday, what am I to count!"

Qiao Yang remained calm and spoke softly:

"No problem. I am an expert in physiognomy based on voice. I don't need your birth date or time, nor do I need to look at your face or hands. Just by your voice, your breathing, and your tone of voice, I can predict your fortune and misfortune throughout your life!"

He raised his right hand and slowly made calculations, his lips moving silently, as if he were conversing with the will of Heaven.

The audience was silent.

All eyes were fixed on the blind man.

About two minutes later, Qiao Yang suddenly looked up, his voice sharp and clear:

"Your destiny palace carries the water element, indicating you suffered a water calamity in your childhood. You secretly went into the river and almost fed the river dragon king, didn't you?!"

"oops!"

An old man nearby, puffing on a pipe, exclaimed in astonishment, "Amazing! Absolutely amazing! When he was six, he sneaked out to take a bath, and if his uncle hadn't arrived, he would have drowned!"

The crowd erupted in uproar!

Qiao Yang gave no one a chance to breathe, his fingers moved again, his tone cold and stern:

"Your family was extremely poor in your early years, eating coarse grains mixed with wild vegetables. They couldn't afford to send you to school. By now, you probably can't even write your own name, right?!"

"That's absolutely right!" a dark-skinned man couldn't help but interject. "His family was dirt poor back then, often going hungry, their bottoms were so dry you could see your reflection in the pot. How could they afford to go to school!"

Looking at the young man again, his face was ashen and he was trembling all over.

Qiao Yang sighed, his voice desolate, and uttered the last sentence:

"As for your future... the Lonely Star enters your destiny, bringing misfortune to your family and relatives, estrangement from friends, and a life of toil, ultimately leaving you with no true confidant!"

A chorus of exclamations of amazement immediately erupted from all around.

The young man stood there, as if his soul had been ripped out, unable to utter a single word.

Qiao Yang cleared his throat and continued:

I will give you four more lines of advice; please remember them well:

This person's fate indicates poverty in their family.

Feeling cold and desolate;

Living a life of toil and idleness

Seeking to do something is rarely successful.

The voice just fell.

Finally, the clear sound of oars could be heard on the river, and the ferry slowly approached the shore.

The villagers snapped out of their daze, quickly pulled out their crumpled banknotes, and crowded forward to have their fortunes told.

"Sir! Please tell my fortune too!"

"Please, sir, analyze my birth chart!"

Qiao Yang, however, had already leaned on his horse's pole and slowly stood up.

He clasped his hands in a fist salute to the crowd:

"I apologize to everyone, I have urgent business to attend to and must rush to Zunhua. I cannot stay any longer today. I will answer your questions another day if the opportunity arises."

After saying that, he turned around and was about to board the ferry.

But just as his toes were about to touch the deck—

Qiao Yang's ears twitched suddenly; he heard a figure dart over!