At that moment, as Master Lin burned yellow talisman paper and recited his incantation, he swept his gaze over the crowd and looked at Goldtooth. "Goldtooth, I just used the Coiling Dragon Algorithm to read your recent fortunes. Your luck with money is booming—haven't you made quite a profit in business lately?"
"Not really, not much, not much!" Goldtooth was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly waved his hand.
"Not much? I just used the Coiling Dragon Heavenly Eye, and saw that two hours ago you acquired a field-yellow jade for 250,000 yuan. You flipped it and sold it for 500,000—doubling your money. And you say you haven't made much?" Master Lin snorted coldly, putting on a show.
Goldtooth's face changed as he heard this, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Master Lin, how—how did you know that? My god, this is amazing, truly amazing!"
After saying this, Goldtooth quickly turned to the crowd. "Master Lin really is Harbor City's number one fate-master! I did make that deal, but I was alone in my office. Because it was such a big transaction, I sent away all my staff and even locked the door, making sure no outsiders were around before I started. I can't believe Master Lin saw through it all in one glance. Incredible, truly incredible! This is a real expert—I'm totally convinced!"
The folks nearby were nodding so hard you'd think their heads were about to fall off.
"Damn, now I get why all those loaded Harbor City big shots are lining up for Master Lin to read their fortunes. Who the heck can top skills like this?"
"No kidding! Just burns some paper and—bam!—he can even guess how much dough you made. Master Lin’s got powers straight outta the comics. I used to think fortune-telling was kinda sus, but now? There’s gotta be some real science behind this!"
"There must be some real wizardry going on! But honestly, who else could pull off moves like Master Lin? If you ask me, those so-called Southern Hermit sages should just drop to their knees and call it quits!"
......
While the crowd was buzzing, all eyes shot straight to Ryan Ling. Goldtooth hollered, "Kid, you see what real skills look like now? Earlier, Master Lin could spill my whole life story—big deal! But this latest stunt? Time to eat some humble pie!"
Master Lin just lounged back in his fancy armchair, cool as a cucumber. Goldtooth was all grins, shoving tea at him like he was hoping for a winning lottery number.
With Master Lin’s ‘skills’ looking legit and the contest basically over, half the crowd was ready to kneel and call him ‘Shifu’ on the spot.
Even Sophie Su was about to yank Ryan by the collar and drag him away before he did something truly embarrassing.
But right then, Ryan cracked up out loud, eyes blazing as he stared down Master Lin and Goldtooth. He shot back, cocky as hell, "So—is it my turn to show off now or what?"
"You still wanna go? What, did you take the wrong meds today, kid?" Goldtooth snapped. Master Lin’s face turned stormy, rage written all over it.
The gawkers were so done with Ryan. ‘This kid’s got rocks in his head,’ they thought. ‘Doesn’t know when to quit. He’s a lost cause!’
Sophie Su was about to pass out. Ryan’s stubborn streak was gonna land him in a world of trouble.
Just then, Master Lin gave a sly, nasty laugh and said, "Let him go on, don't anyone stop him. Goldtooth, chill—today we've got all the time in the world. Let this so-called Master Jade Polaris show off his skills. I can't wait to see what kind of magic tricks those Southern Hermit Mountains have up their sleeves!"
With Master Lin’s line, the last exit slammed shut. No backing out now—this was do-or-die.
Sophie’s face turned green, stamping her foot in frustration. With things like this, Ryan was definitely going to crash and burn, and she had to think of a way out—except her family still hadn’t arrived.
But Ryan was totally chill. Not a hint of nerves. He found a table, pulled out a notebook and a pencil, and started writing in a way that looked straight-up goofy.
The nosy onlookers immediately started snickering.
“Hey, everyone, check it out! This is the legendary Southern Hermit Mountains fortune-telling technique. Never heard of it, never seen it! Honestly, I think my kid in kindergarten could pull this off!”
“Right? First time for everything! Maybe it’s some trendy new fortune-telling style. Who knows, maybe he’ll even tell you how many secret wives you’ve got stashed away!”
“Get lost! Maybe he’ll count up all your secret kids too!”
The crowd cracked up at their banter, laughter echoing all around.
Sophie was about to cough up blood—seriously, at a time like this, Ryan was still putting on a show?
Ryan ignored them all. They had no clue what he was up to. He wrote Goldtooth’s name in the Book of Life and Death, and instantly, Goldtooth’s whole life story popped up. Ryan suddenly had the upper hand.
He stood up abruptly and called out, “Your name’s Goldtooth, right?”
“Whoa, you actually know my name? Not bad!” Goldtooth mocked, grinning.
That got another round of laughter from the crowd.
“Goldtooth, laugh all you want now. Pretty soon you’ll be too busy crying!” Ryan shot back. “Just now, Master Lin said you lost your leg at twelve saving a kid from a car, right?”
“That’s right! You just repeating what he said? Lame!” Goldtooth snorted.
“Repeating’s boring, sure. But here’s the thing: you didn’t lose your leg saving a kid. You were actually peeping on the village chief’s daughter bathing, got chased by their wolfdog, and got hit by a car while running away!”
The neighbors who were close to Goldtooth immediately scoffed, “Yeah, right! You’re just making stuff up. We’ve heard Goldtooth’s hero story a million times—he’s a good guy, not some creep. Stop dragging his name through the mud!”
(This part of the chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Click next page for more awesome content!)
“That’s right, punk. I’ve been holding back, but now you’re just slandering me. Looks like you need a lesson.” Master Lin stood up, and the other neighbors started cracking their knuckles.
But Ryan didn’t flinch. He stepped right up to Goldtooth and said, “They don’t know the truth, but you do. If you want heaven to stay quiet, don’t do evil. So tell me, am I right or not? If you dare lie, may lightning strike you!”
Goldtooth’s face turned ghost-white. He’d kept that secret buried for years. He really was peeping, and got chased by the wolfdog—but nobody else ever saw what happened.
How could Ryan possibly know all that?
Goldtooth just stared at Ryan, stunned, not saying a word.
The crowd started to sense something was off. Usually, Goldtooth couldn’t stand anyone talking about him—even a tiny jab would get him arguing for hours.
But now Goldtooth was totally mute!
Clearly, there was more to this story.
Ryan didn’t care. His counterattack was just getting started.
He went on, “Just now, Master Lin said you made millions at twenty from gambling on jade, like you were some young prodigy. But that’s not the whole truth, is it?”
Goldtooth’s face got even uglier.
He tried to stop Ryan, but Ryan spun around and blurted out, “That money wasn’t from fair jade gambling at all. You straight-up swindled it!”
“You—You…” Goldtooth choked, like he had a rock stuck in his throat, totally unable to argue back.
“You’re a pro scammer. That stone was your buddy’s, but you knew it was valuable, so you swapped it overnight. Your friend lost everything. Did you know his daughter had leukemia and needed money? But after you stole his stone, you didn’t even check on them. You just watched their family fall apart. With a heart like yours, you wanna talk about morals and heroism? Biggest joke ever!” Ryan finished, and the crowd was stunned—most thought he was just making up stories.
But what freaked them out was Goldtooth’s ghostly pale face and beads of sweat. He blurted out, “How—how do you even know all this?”
“Didn’t you say I couldn’t tell fortunes? Well, here’s your proof!” Ryan sneered, not caring that Goldtooth was falling apart. “Actually, those two things are nothing. The worst thing Goldtooth ever did was team up with that ‘fox spirit’ beside him and secretly poison his wife’s food. His poor wife was kind, loyal, and never complained no matter how tough things got. In the end, she died at the hands of the person she loved most. That’s just the biggest irony ever.”
“No way! No way! How do you know all this? Who the hell are you?” Goldtooth collapsed to the ground, face ashen, shaking all over.
The crowd was completely stunned.
Master Lin’s jaw dropped in shock.
Sophie was dumbstruck, her mind full of question marks.
Ryan smiled, strolled over to Goldtooth, and said, “Who am I? Didn’t I just say? I’m Jade Polaris, a cultivator from the Southern Hermit Mountains. You can fool the world, but not me. And right now, your wife’s ghost is standing behind you watching.”
Ryan said it on purpose—and it totally broke Goldtooth.
Goldtooth collapsed, kneeling and bowing, crying out, “Wife, I’m sorry! I was blinded by greed. I shouldn’t have poisoned you. I really know I was wrong!”
He kept slapping himself, the sound echoing through the crowd, leaving everyone totally stunned.
At that moment, Ryan’s gaze snapped to Master Lin.
“How is this possible?” Master Lin stumbled back, still refusing to admit defeat. “Don’t listen to him, everyone! He’s using some kind of trick!”
“Lin Fu, don’t worry. You and Goldtooth are two peas in a pod. Now it’s time to expose your own dirty laundry.” Ryan stood before Master Lin like a god…