"Do you want to take this deal? You don't need to pay any price, and I guarantee that nothing will happen this afternoon," Yun Mo's proposal was highly enticing.
Qin Mu looked at her face and felt a toothache. What kind of environment raised a child like this?!
"Fine," he exhaled deeply, not holding any expectations for Yun Mo.
On his way to the hospital, he had already spoken with the other party via video call. The party was very emotional and refused any reconciliation, threatening to ensure that those responsible for negligence would be punished.
"Stretch out your hand, let me have a look first," Yun Mo said.
Half-skeptical, Qin Mu wondered why resolving a problem required looking at his palm. However, he still placed the documents in his left hand and earnestly extended his right hand in front of her.
After one glance, Yun Mo dismissed it and flicked his hand disdainfully. "Switch to the left hand!"
Qin Mu: ..."Does it make a difference?"
Yun Mo deliberated on how to answer him. If she said too much, he probably wouldn't be able to accept it and might ask endless follow-up questions.
*In the Book of Changes*, the left hand represents innate qualities, while the right hand represents acquired attributes. The so-called left as Azure Dragon and right as White Tiger is merely a simple distinction based on the predominance of Yang or Yin energy. When reading someone's fortune, for men under thirty, such as Qin Mu, the left hand takes precedence, and the right hand serves as supplementary reference.
"You..." Yun Mo hesitated, wondering if she might lose out on this deal.
"You still haven't answered me. Is there a difference between the left and right hands?" Qin Mu continued studying his palms, endlessly comparing them, completely oblivious to her tone.
While spinning a button in her palm, Yun Mo absentmindedly replied, "You're still unmarried, right? Because your right hand carries too much killing intent!"
Qin Mu: ...What?! Killing intent?
Looking at her expressionless face and her gaze drifting toward his thigh, Qin Mu suddenly had an epiphany.
Was she saying he used his right hand to... relieve himself? Killing sperm? Killing intent, my ass! Damn it!
Qin Mu's face turned red, and he unconsciously bent his fingers into an orchid hand gesture. "Y-You... someone so young, who taught you to say such inappropriate things?!"
"You should be more worried about this afternoon," Yun Mo said.
"Oh? Go on, tell me, what did you figure out?" Qin Mu leaned back in his chair, waiting for her to come up with something.
"You have the canopy line on your palm. The Xun Palace and Li Palace show purples, and without help, you will face prison within a month," Yun Mo pointed at a few spots on his palm.
"That's ridiculous! It's just a patient's complaint," Qin Mu clearly didn't believe her.
"Hmm, besides that, the Dui Palace on your palm shows a greenish-dark hue. The wisdom line forks—one heading towards the base of your pinky and the other towards the Qian Palace. Your forehead's Five Parts are surrounded by dark clouds, and red lines cover the younger and longevity areas. Misfortune in court is severe, and the sentence will be heavy."
Once again, Qin Mu experienced the same feeling he had yesterday. He patted Yun Mo on the shoulder earnestly. "Young lady, if you're short on money, I can lend you some. But lying isn't good. Don't continue down this path."
Yun Mo: ..."Give me your paper and pen."
"For what?" Qin Mu pulled a piece of paper from his folder, handing a pen to her as well.
Yun Mo gave him a complicated look, found a flat surface on the bedside table, and began drawing a talisman.
Talismans are divided into innate talismans and acquired ones.
Creating "acquired talismans" involves a complex set of rituals—such as bathing with incense and ensuring the drawing room is quiet. Even the slightest imperfection in cinnabar ink or yellow paper can impact the talisman's effect.
"Innate talismans," on the other hand, require a single stroke of inner force, praised as "one flash of brilliance becomes a talisman while others waste ink and cinnabar."
Yun Mo was one of the rare few capable of creating innate talismans. With her former abilities, she could draw them in midair.
But now...
Now, what Qin Mu saw was a frail girl, trembling as she gripped the pen tightly, as though wrestling with something invisible. With every stroke, her face grew paler, and large beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Qin Mu wanted to interrupt her, to tell her that even though she was acting rather convincingly...
"All done!"
Just as Qin Mu couldn't hold back anymore, Yun Mo wiped the sweat off her face weakly.
"What is this? It looks like a child's scribble."
Yun Mo carefully folded the talisman into a triangle. Her earlier hypothesis was confirmed—spiritual power could indeed transform into mystical energy, but the efficiency was painfully low. Even this simplest of fortune-enhancing talismans had drained most of her energy.
"This is a fortune charm. Keep it safe."
A charm? Seriously? Qin Mu didn't even know what to say anymore.
Could this be the ultimate level of scamming? Fooling others by first fooling oneself? The girl across from him had immersed herself so deeply in her role as a scammer that there was no way his limited capabilities could bring her back from it.
"What's it for?" Qin Mu asked, utterly exasperated, making one last effort.
Meeting his deeply skeptical gaze, Yun Mo remained unfazed. The deeper his skepticism, the harder the slap in the face would be later. Who knows? It might even earn her her first thread of faith energy.
"Listen carefully. This afternoon's lawsuit should have cost you 20,000 star coins. On your way home, your hover car would have been in a crash, for which you'd be fully responsible, and it would have resulted in the other party's death. You know how long you'd have to stay in an interstellar prison for that, don't you?"
Looking at her deadpan expression, Qin Mu couldn't help but shiver. "I almost believed you for a second!"
"You will believe," Yun Mo said.
"You said, 'should have.' That means there's a 'but,' right?"
"Of course," Yun Mo continued, "because of my fortune charm, you shouldn't end up that unlucky. But you'll definitely have to pay the 20,000 star coins, and the hover car accident will still happen, though it will be limited to a minor scrape."
Qin Mu: ..."When I come back this afternoon, I'm taking you to interview at Feith Restaurant. Stop dreaming and be a good citizen!"
Yun Mo shrugged nonchalantly.
Meanwhile, Qin Mu grew increasingly suspicious. Blue Planet's plight was worthy of sympathy, and this girl was still too young. He couldn't just let her wander down the wrong path.
Unable to resist, Qin Mu opened his "WB" account and posted about Yun Mo's predictions online.
His WB account, which he'd managed for over ten years, was called "Don't Mess With Me, I Have Medicine." He often shared medical knowledge and had accumulated a fair number of followers.
Qin Mu detailed Yun Mo's assertions in a post, which quickly attracted attention.
"Flowery Boxer Shorts": "What did she say? Fortune-telling? If I hadn't seen this term in a museum before, I would've thought it was just this year's trending keyword."
"Nurse on Fire": "These days, you see all kinds of people."
"Thick Skin": "I believe in unexplainable phenomena, but I don't believe just anyone can use them to predict unexplainable outcomes."
"Literally Illiterate": "Her experience is sympathetic, but exploiting others' sympathy to deceive people is disgusting."
"Physics Ph.D.": "I agree with the comment above. Even if she could come up with a whole new electromagnetic theory and predict probabilities using some unknown field, I'd still only give her some sympathy points because of her background."
...
The comments became increasingly chaotic.
In every era, there are always troublemakers stirring the pot, and harsh criticism was no rarity.
One user, "Wind Chilling My Bum," went even further. "Why is no one handling this kind of idiot? At just sixteen, she's already a fraud. Imagine what she'll become as an adult? Blue Planet shouldn't even be called Blue Planet anymore. It's just a useless mess!"
After rounds on the ward, Qin Mu came back to find that the outcry on the interstellar network had grown overwhelmingly one-sided, with most people ridiculing Yun Mo.
He was a bit dumbfounded. He had just wanted some advice on how to save a misguided girl, but now things had spiraled out of control.
Feeling guilty, Qin Mu glanced around before deciding to delete the post.
Just then, a user with the username "Call Me Daddy" made a high-profile comment, tagging all the individuals who had made disparaging remarks.
"Call Me Daddy": "If you don't understand something, don't spout nonsense. Mysticism isn't non-existent—it's just you ignorant commoners who can't comprehend it."
This comment stirred up an even greater storm.
Qin Mu's face turned pale. He rushed to Yun Mo's hospital room, ready to warn her not to provoke public outrage and to be careful not to get exposed.