Esoteric Buddhism: To live as king in America

She continued, following the script that Mian had rehearsed beforehand:

"The choices of destiny often require personal experience to be clearly perceived. I suggest you hold these three short swords imbued with the power of the stars in your hands one by one, and feel their resonance with your current state of mind and the future indicated by the cards. The one that gives you an indescribable sense of harmony, as if it was meant to be yours, is your true 'Blade of Destiny'."

After Lisa finished speaking, her heart was pounding.

Born into a family of fortune tellers, she naturally didn't think fortune telling was some kind of deceptive trick. But she also understood that her fortune telling skills were far from being able to instantly establish a "destined" connection between a freshly made craft and a customer.

Although Mr. Wang He assured everyone that he would handle everything, could he really do it...?

She glanced at Mian furtively, who noticed her gaze and nodded slightly at her with unwavering confidence in her eyes.

This forced Lisa to suppress her doubts and guide the guests forward.

With a mixture of curiosity and anticipation, the guest carefully picked up the first sword. The hilt was cool to the touch, its patterns exquisite, but in her hand it seemed… merely a beautiful work of art. She tried, as Mian had indicated, to gently swing it against a large, rough, grayish-white pebble serving as a prop. The blade struck the stone with a dull clang; the stone remained unmoved, and the blade was perfectly intact—just as expected, unsharpened.

"Hmm...it's beautiful, but it feels..."

The guest hesitated for a moment before putting down the first one.

The second sword felt similar. She swung it at the stone again, but the result was still a dull thud and only a barely visible white mark on the stone's surface.

A faint look of disappointment, as if to say "I knew it," began to appear on the guest's face, as if he felt that the so-called "fate connection" was nothing but a gimmick.

Lisa's heart leaped into her throat, and she almost couldn't help but look to Mian for help. Mian, however, remained calm and gestured for the guest to pick up the last short sword, which had the most antique design and the most understated star pattern.

"Please try this one more time, and feel it with your heart."

Lisa's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible tension.

The guest picked up the third sword as instructed. The hilt seemed no different from the first two. Somewhat listlessly, she raised the sword and swung it at the same stone—her movements even appearing more casual due to her previous experiences.

Just as the blade was about to touch the stone!

Clang!

A crisp, almost ear-piercing sound of metal striking metal rang out in the cramped backstage space!

The expected rebound and thud did not occur. Instead, the seemingly blunt blade, like a hot knife through butter, smoothly wedged itself into the hard pebble! A palm-sized, smooth-cut stone fell to the ground with a soft "thud".

"ah--"

The guest let out a short scream in shock, jerked his hand back, stared wide-eyed at the sword in his hand, then at the neatly cut stone on the ground, his face filled with disbelief.

Lisa covered her mouth, her azure pupils dilating in shock. She had seen it with her own eyes! The moment the blade swung down, it seemed to flash with an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible glimmer of light! And then… the stone cracked! This was completely beyond her comprehension! She looked sharply at Mian, her eyes filled with questions and a hint of lingering fear.

Mian stepped forward at just the right moment, a knowing smile on his face, and said in a magnetic voice.

"Do you see that, madam? This is the magic of the 'Sword of Destiny' resonating with its wielder's soul! It's not just simple sharpness, but an outward manifestation of your inner decisiveness and will to overcome adversity. This sword has chosen you. It is responding to the power you most need right now—the power to 'cut through obstacles'!"

His words were highly inflammatory, perfectly packaging the incredible scene that had just occurred as irrefutable proof of "destiny in harmony" in mysticism.

The guest held the short sword, which seemed to possess magic in her eyes at that moment, her fingers trembling slightly with excitement and awe.

The cold touch of the sword seemed to possess some strange vitality, and its smooth, stone-cut surface was the most powerful proof of that. Mian's words were like a bewitching whisper, making her love the originally ordinary short sword in her hand more and more, as if it truly carried her destiny and was a weapon bestowed upon her by the stars.

The last vestige of hesitation in my heart due to the high cost of divination was instantly dispelled by the magical "resonance" and the "extraordinary" nature of the sword itself.

"This is...this is amazing! This...this must be fate!"

The guest's cheeks flushed with excitement, and he hugged the "Sword of Destiny" tightly in his arms without hesitation, as if he were holding a rare treasure.

"Miss Lisa's divination was so accurate! This sword...it really understands me!"

She turned to Lisa, her eyes filled with gratitude and awe.

She quickly pulled out her wallet, readily paying the extra 100 eagle dollars "guidance fee," and, in extreme satisfaction and excitement, immediately pulled out another 100-dollar bill and stuffed it into Lisa's hand.

"Miss Lisa, this is for you! Thank you for helping me find it! It's an invaluable guide!"

The guests were so overwhelmed with surprise and satisfaction that they completely forgot about their initial concerns about the price.

After seeing off the satisfied guest who practically jogged away, the tent fell into a brief silence.

Lisa looked at the extra 100 yuan in her hand, then at the neatly cut stone on the ground, and finally at Mian's face, filled with complex and indescribable emotions—shock, disbelief, and a hint of unease.

"...Mr. Wang,"

Lisa's voice was a little dry.

"Just now... what exactly...?"

She couldn't understand, nor could she believe, that it was pure "fate." Mian seemed to be shrouded in a mystery deeper and more elusive than she, the fortune teller.

Mian merely gave her a cryptic smile, his gaze sweeping over the stone, and said casually:

"That was just a little trick. You've already checked the money; it's all just handicrafts, not heavy enough, and not even sharpened, so naturally it can't cut through stone. I'm not a fortune teller, but I'm quite skilled in marketing techniques and scams. It was all just the result of persuasive rhetoric and magic tricks."

Mian spoke eloquently, as if answering everything, yet also as if answering nothing at all.

Lisa tried to figure out what methods he had used, but all she got in return was Mian's smile.

"Miss Lisa, as I said, leave the matter of compatibility to me. And it turns out, it's worked quite well, hasn't it?"

He avoided a substantive explanation and instead clapped his hands.

"Alright, our first customer was a great success! Let's get ready to welcome our next lucky customer!"