"Fortune, oh fortune! This child in the womb is blessed with fortune!" The Wandering Sage slapped his thigh and shouted, pitching his words like any regular fortune-teller. But the intellectual couple were not so easily swayed and immediately launched into a debate with the Wandering Sage.
Everything so far matched the couple’s memories perfectly.
But what the couple didn’t know was that, in the half-space, Susan Soo was carefully activating her Hyperdimensional Sight, scrutinizing the Wandering Sage.
From lymph nodes to bones, the Wandering Sage looked like nothing but an ordinary person. But Susan Soo just couldn’t shake the feeling—no rhyme or reason—this old Daoist was anything but ordinary.
"You could call them a boy and a girl, or say they’re one and the same. But the term 'Dragon-Phoenix Twins' just isn’t enough for these children. Above the mundane world are the clouds, above the clouds is the sky, above the sky are the stars, and above the stars are the sun and moon. This fetus deserves the title: 'Sun and Moon Divine Fetus.'"
The Wandering Sage spoke with absolute confidence. The couple rolled their eyes, unimpressed, but Susan Soo was startled—she knew the two babies in her belly were indeed special from birth.
How did this Wandering Sage figure it out?
Could it be... he’s got hyperspace vision too?
"Mother and child will both be safe, but you two may face the pain of separation." The Wandering Sage, who’d just been singing their praises, suddenly took a sharp turn and left the couple in a foul mood. They decided not to listen to this old crackpot any longer and walked away from Moon Viewing Peak.
"Sir, madam, separation may be hard, but it’s not a calamity. If one child stays by your side, that’s family joy enough. When the great calamity turns the world upside down, your daughter will naturally return... naturally return..." With a tone straight out of a state TV drama, the Wandering Sage called after the departing couple.
Then, the Wandering Sage looked at the empty space in front of him, stroked his beard, and muttered, "That may be true, but whether she can really return safely... that depends on you."
In an instant, space rippled and the Wandering Sage vanished from Moon Viewing Peak. When Susan Morrow turned around, sensing something, he was already gone. What she didn’t know was, he hadn’t ascended to immortality—Susan Soo had pulled him into the half-space.
Same place, same scenery, even the cold wind felt the same. But strictly speaking, the two of them had already left the world of Earth, stepping into a completely separate dimension.
Watching the utterly unfazed Wandering Sage, Susan Soo became even more convinced and cautiously asked, "Who are you, really?"
"Who I am doesn’t matter." The Wandering Sage looked totally in his element, dropping the fortune-teller act and radiating the aura of a true Daoist master. Of course, he still talked like every other mystical con artist: "What matters is why I’m here, and why I said the things I said."
Susan Soo had never dealt with someone like this before, so she just went with the flow: "Why?"
"Because of fate. Fate is wrapped in layer upon layer of fog—can’t see it, can’t recognize it, can’t guess it. But sometimes, it gives you a pretty clear sign. I don’t know why fate wanted me to wait here at this exact moment, but when I saw you, I knew I was in the right place." The Wandering Sage stroked his long beard and chuckled, exuding the vibe of a real Daoist immortal. "To catch this heavenly opportunity, I borrowed from everyone I knew just to scrape together enough for the trip. I even put my dignity on the line and only managed to get a one-way ticket, so... I haven’t eaten in days. Can I get a meal?"
"A meal?" Susan Soo was completely thrown off. She checked with her vision and found the old guy’s stomach really was empty.
"I’m pretty broke myself," Susan Soo admitted. She’d spent all her glowstick money on the lab, and ever since, everything in the lab was communal—who ever got paid? Still, she needed to eat too, so she’d done some odd jobs lately and made a few yuan. She pulled out all her cash and laid it on the Sage’s table: "This is all I’ve got. Should be enough for food and your ticket home."
The Wandering Sage scrutinized the bills as if they were blooming flowers. The fortune stick bucket behind him chimed musically as he nodded. "Clean money, clean people. Good, I’ll accept it. But I can’t take something for nothing." He split the cash into two piles, pointing to the smaller one: "This is for food, and counts as your fortune-telling fee. If you’ve got a question, ask away."
Susan Soo immediately asked, "Who are you? How did you spot me? And what’s this disaster you mentioned?"
"One at a time. First, I’m just an ordinary person. Compared to you, I’m about as normal as it gets. If I have any special skill, it’s that I know a bit about fortune-telling—just enough to catch a whiff of fate. Second, I didn’t spot you, not at all. But you should know, where I show up, who I meet, what I say—none of that’s a coincidence." The Wandering Sage pulled out his fortune stick bucket. "Go on, give it a shake."
Susan Soo gave it a casual shake—snap! Out popped a fortune stick. She looked down: 'Ill Omen, Dire Misfortune.'
Major disaster? Susan Soo frowned.
"Intellectuals think it’s all probability, all coincidence, but it’s really not." The Wandering Sage pointed at the bucket. "Dump out all the sticks and see for yourself."
Crash—all the sticks spilled onto the table. Susan Soo glanced around, and sure enough, every single one was 'Ill Omen, Dire Misfortune.'
"What does this mean?" Susan Soo was completely baffled by these mysterious antics.
"It means there’s no such thing as coincidence. Drawing the 'worst luck' stick was meant to happen. To be precise, all your past experiences, knowledge, choices, influences—even your fate at birth—led to a bucket full of disaster sticks today." The Wandering Sage tilted his chin. "Take a look—what’s written on the bottom of the bucket?"
Susan Soo flipped the bucket over and stared: four characters—Sun and Moon Divine Fetus.
"What?!" Susan Soo gasped, unable to resist glancing at the distant Susan Morrow. In hyperspace vision, the twins were still happily growing, nothing seemed wrong, but Susan Soo couldn’t help but worry. "What’s going on?"
"Simple—too much of a good thing." The Wandering Sage looked calmly at Susan Soo. "These kids are special, blessed with good fortune, and their parents are virtuous, ancestors kind. Their luck should be long-lasting. But no matter how lucky, they were supposed to be born as Dragon-Phoenix Twins—not as the Sun and Moon Divine Fetus."