After fishing for two Destiny Stars, by noon, Li Qingxian was feeling a bit tired.
"Go back to your cell and pack up. You’ll be leaving with me in a bit," Li Qingxian said to Shenn Goudan. To a nearby guard, he added, "Help him remove his leg shackles."
"Thank you, Benefactor!" Shenn Goudan instinctively dropped to his knees again. A sharp glare from Li Qingxian made him scramble back up, terrified. He hunched his neck as the Prison Guard removed his shackles, then walked back into his cell.
Shenn Goudan’s steps were much lighter now.
"Goudan, how did it go? That Fate Master didn’t give you a hard time, did he?"
"Yeah, tell us what happened out there. It looked like you were crying."
Shenn Goudan just chuckled. "I sold my worthless life to my Benefactor. He’s letting me out and even found me a way to make a living."
"Are you insane?"
"You’re just a busboy. Why would he be willing to buy your life *and* save you?"
"That’s it. Another one’s gone crazy."
Still chuckling, Shenn Goudan walked to his cell and looked at the place he had called home for over a year.
He’d brought nothing with him when he was thrown in here. Now, aside from a few small rocks and some trinkets woven from straw, there was still nothing. Not even a blanket.
He bent down and picked up a small dog woven from straw. Turning to leave, he closed the cell door behind him.
Holding the palm-sized straw dog, he walked to the end of the corridor. He then turned around and bowed a deep ninety degrees.
"Thank you, Brother Li. Thank you, Brother Fang. Thank you, Grandpa Zhangg. Thank you..."
Tears streamed down Shenn Goudan’s face. He choked out his thanks to everyone before turning and walking away.
The cell block fell silent.
It wasn’t until Shenn Goudan had been gone for some time that the other prisoners snapped out of it.
"He really is a Fate Master!"
"He wasn’t sent to the A-block cells, he was just let go!"
"It seems this Sir is no ordinary man."
"He doesn’t seem like a black-hearted person. He actually helped Goudan find justice."
Pang Mingjing sat on the straw, his heart sinking into a pit.
’It’s only been a few days, and Li Qingxian’s power has already grown to this extent? He can release a prisoner just by saying the word.’
After watching Shenn Goudan walk out, Li Qingxian took his men to the Prison Guards’ quarters for lunch.
After lunch, Han Anbo escorted Shenn Goudan out.
Li Qingxian took a quarter-hour nap to recover his energy. Afterward, he re-entered Cell C7 to continue buying lives.
He bought another batch after dinner, only returning to his own quarters late at night.
Including Shenn Goudan, he had dealt with a total of seven people and acquired eighteen Destiny Stars.
They were all common Destiny Stars, only useful as bait.
A full report of everything that had happened in Cell C7 was placed on the desks of high-ranking Night Guard officials.
Some gave it but a cursory glance; others studied it for a long time.
At the crack of dawn, a Night Guard artist arrived. He sketched the eyebrows, eyes, and other key physical details of the Ge Dynasty contact, including the precise color, size, and location of a mole on his ring finger.
Afterward, Zhou Chunfeng arranged for Li Qingxian to wander around the East Courtyard of the Imperial Prison Department, using the expansion of a workshop as a cover story.
Around noon, Li Qingxian successfully identified the Prison Guard who was the Ge Dynasty’s contact.
With sufficient intelligence, the Night Guard intensified their operation. Li Qingxian, for his part, headed back to Room C7.
Seated in the main hall of Room C7, Li Qingxian brewed a pot of tea. He chatted with Han Anbo, Yur Ping, and Fann Xing for a while before saying, "Bring Pang Mingjing over."
"I’ll get him!" Fann Xing rose to his feet.
Before long, Pang Mingjing was brought over, his leg shackles CLANKING with every step. Seeing Li Qingxian, he took a deep breath and said, "Li Qingxian, it’s wise to be lenient. You never know when our paths might cross again."
"That’s not what you were saying when I was in your carriage," Li Qingxian replied.
Pang Mingjing said calmly, "The winner is crowned and the loser is condemned. Our methods were no match for yours. I admit my defeat, and I’ve received my due punishment. From now on, let’s keep to ourselves. You go your way, and I’ll go mine."
Li Qingxian stared at Pang Mingjing for a long moment before speaking. "Tsk, tsk. What a master of moral gymnastics. You almost had me fooled with your twisted logic. Let me put it this way. I’m minding my own business walking down the street, and you come up and punch me in the face. I block the punch. You then say, ’I lose, let’s just keep to ourselves, we’re even now,’ and turn to walk away. But before you go, you add that if I let it slide, I’m a good person, but if I press the issue, it means I’m unforgiving and not worthy of being called human. Impressive. Truly impressive."
"What is it you want?" Pang Mingjing demanded.
Li Qingxian smiled. "Now, it’s my turn to throw a punch. Whether you can block it or not, after that, we’ll be even."
"So long as I have not been tried by the Three Ministries and no Holy Decree has been issued, I am still a dignified Senior Seventh Grade official of the Imperial Court! If you dare to carry out a private punishment, I swear, even if it costs me my life, I will take you down with me!" Pang Mingjing shouted.
Li Qingxian laughed. "What’s the rush? What bad intentions could I, Li Qingxian, possibly have? I’m just returning the favor with a punch of my own. Watch him."
The others moved in. Fann Xing drew his saber and laid it against Pang Mingjing’s neck.
Pang Mingjing snorted. He stared at Li Qingxian and said, "I will never sell my life to you."
Li Qingxian acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing and began Observing Fate and Qi.
A Copper Official Seal materialized above Pang Mingjing’s head. However, the seal wasn’t positioned directly over him; it was tilted on its side, floating to his upper left.
The Approaching Officer position normally signifies flourishing Qi Fortune and rapid promotions.
But when the Approaching Officer’s fortune shifts, good luck turns to ill. This phenomenon is known as the "Displacement of the Approaching Officer." His fortune has plummeted, and only time will tell if it will turn completely malicious or merely stagnate.
No Destiny Image appeared above the Official Seal.
’Even though he’s imprisoned and has lost the protection of the Imperial Court’s Qi Fortune, he can still resist my observation. It means his own Fate Grid is quite strong.’
Li Qingxian continued Observing Fate and Qi, his consciousness entering Pang Mingjing’s Life Mansion.
He saw a two-story, red-lacquered wooden building.
He approached the entrance, but the main doors were sealed shut.
’I’ll spend a Qi Fortune Fish and activate the Celestial Destiny Instrument.’
The great doors swung open, and Li Qingxian peered inside.
Within the Destiny Star of the Year Pillar, a half-foot-tall, three-legged Golden Toad sat squatting. Behind it, gleaming copper coins, silver coins, and gold bars were piled into a small mountain as tall as a man.
The Golden Toad held a gilded copper coin in its mouth.
Destiny Star: Golden Toad with Treasure. Greatly auspicious.
As the Fate Technique says: ’With a Golden Toad with Treasure, wealth flows endlessly; with a mountain of gold at your back, Benefactors will come to your door.’
’No wonder he was able to take charge of the accountants in the Finance Department and gain Wei Yong’s favor. This Golden Toad with Treasure is a famous Fate Grid, bestowing both wealth and status. Being born into a rich family, his parents’ teachings and connections are his ’mountain of gold.’ However, this Fate Grid prioritizes wealth over status. It’s helpful for an official career, but its effect is limited. If he’d gone into business, he would have become fabulously rich. But without a stronger Fate Grid to protect him, becoming that wealthy in such chaotic times would be a curse, not a blessing. That’s why the ’mountain of gold at your back’ aspect led him to abandon business and pursue the safer path of a government official.’
’This is the only Fate Grid in his Youth Life Land.’
’He never outgrew the profligate habits of his youth, relying too heavily on his family. That’s why he failed to form a Human Destiny Star during that time.’
Li Qingxian looked higher.
The Youth Life Land had no Celestial Destiny Star, but it did contain a Human Destiny Star.
Within this Destiny Star, a peach tree was blooming with over fifty flowers and had already borne two peaches.
Human Destiny Star: Abundant Peach Blossoms.
’Five of the blossoms have withered. That signifies loves started and then cruelly abandoned.’
Finally, Li Qingxian looked to the Middle-Aged Life Land.
It contained only a single Human Destiny Star. Within it, a massive, striped tiger stalked forward, causing the small animals nearby to tremble in fear. Trailing behind the tiger, looking utterly smug, was a red-furred fox.
Human Destiny Star: Fox Posing as Tiger’s Might.
’With a Fate Grid like Golden Toad with Treasure backed by a mountain of gold, being a spoiled brat in his youth is understandable. Fooling around as a young man is also excusable. But to remain unrepentant into middle age, to still be so accustomed to relying on others that he forms a Human Fate Grid specifically for it... what a complete waste of a magnificent Golden Toad with Treasure.’
’Pang Mingjing’s Seventh Grade strength was probably just brute-forced with money spent on Elixirs.’
As Li Qingxian thought this, he withdrew from Pang Mingjing’s Life Mansion and looked back at the space above the man’s head.
Above Pang Mingjing’s head, a series of Destiny Images began to appear.