"I don't want to accept payment from you as an expression of condolence." Based on Wie Kie-hong's story, Bu Tiat-cui had no idea that someone had died in his room.
Did he truly not know? "Your prediction was quite accurate!" Tu Liong said to him with a cold tone.
"Hey...
Hey...
All the predictions I've made so far are usually always accurate." "Did you actually know the person was dead from the start?" "Oh..." From the beginning, I already knew? Impossible!" "Because this person died in this room." "Sir!" Bu Tiat-cui suddenly stood up, his demeanor turning very firm, "someone just told me earlier that a person was killed here.
But I didn't see it with my own eyes.
Sir! You also didn't see it with your own eyes.
What you hear is not necessarily the truth, but what you see, that you can believe." "Bu Tiat-cui!" Tu Liong exclaimed sharply, "you don't need to play games, looking at the situation, I know you're not an ordinary person... your lips are as tough as horn skin. You tell me! How did that person die?" "It's a strange thing! How that person was killed, how could I know this?" "I'll say it again.
You must know because the person died here!" "Sir! Bu Tiat-cui has never done any wrong to you! Why do you suddenly come accusing me like this?" "Didn't you say you could foresee, see a person's character from their face, predict good and bad, predict the past? Then why don't you try to predict, why I could come here and accuse you like this?" "Don't glare like that! I can predict others accurately, but I can't predict myself.
If I could predict myself, why would I make a living by fortune-telling?" "Bu Tiat-cui! You must know by now that I'm not someone who enjoys small talk.
Moreover, you should already know.
I came here, I won't leave easily just because you try to scare me....! I want to ask you a question.
Please answer honestly!...
"What question?" "Who is controlling your actions and hiding behind you? I just want to know who this person is.
You see, I'm not someone who likes to get small results.
I'm not looking for cowards who run away.
I'm looking for the big boss! The big boss behind you!" "This honorable gentleman...
!" Bu Tiat-cui did not panic at all.
All words flowed from his mouth very orderly, "whatever you say, it's all useless, I've lived in this city for decades, and the people I know are not few.
Who dares to say that I am a coward who likes to run away? If you don't believe it, please ask others.
Back then, King Su-cen also came here looking for me to calculate himself and predict his future." Upon hearing the phrase "King Su-cen," Tu Liong's emotions calmed down.
Now his tone of speech returned to normal.
He became friendly again, as the topic would surely shift to Leng Souw-hiang.
"Do you know Leng Taiya?" "The head of King Su-cen's trust department.
Who doesn't know him?" "According to circulating rumors, Leng Taiya entrusted a leather suitcase to you for safekeeping.
How did this happen?" "I won't hide it from you.
Today, at least three to five people have come here asking that.
But no matter what, my answer remains the same... it never happened." "Really never happened?" "Never." Bu Tiat-cui truly lived up to his iron mouth (Tiat Cui), once he spoke, he never changed it.
"Someone saw you going to the train station and exchanging a yellow leather suitcase with a young person." "When did this happen?" "Not long ago." "Lies! Since this morning, I went out for a walk as usual.
After coming back, I didn't go out again.
The person who told you that, if not a liar, must be blind!" Initially, Tu Liong hoped to get other information from him, but unexpectedly, all the words spoken by Bu Tiat-cui were very clean.
No oddities could be seen.
Did Thiat-yan already come here to eavesdrop? And did Bu Tiat-cui answer all his questions in the same way as he did? Would Thiat-yan believe and leave immediately? It seems very unlikely. "Sir! Please go home! I dare say if you're looking for news, you've been barking up the wrong tree.
You've asked the wrong person." Tu Liong, disappointed, felt as if his brilliant mind had stopped spinning.
Suddenly, from outside, a voice was heard: "Is there anyone inside?" "Who?" Bu Tiat-cui quickly went to the door and pulled back the curtain.
"We came here for a fortune-telling." The newcomers were two and both very young.
From their appearance and the way they walked, it was immediately apparent that both of them had martial arts skills, something Tu Liong couldn't overlook.
Bu Tiat-cui did not suspect their intentions at all.
He immediately went to take a wooden box containing paper scrolls and handed it to the two people.
Very politely, he said, "Please take one of these scrolls as you wish." One of them reached out and took a scroll.
Bu Tiat-cui opened the scroll and saw the writing inside.
A letter P (kau) that means mouth.
The other person seemed interested in the trinkets at Bu Tiat-cui's place.
He looked around and touched everything.
Finally, he took a copper ruler from the table where Tu Liong was sitting.
Bu Tiat-cui did not suspect anything from them.
He asked, "What would you like to ask about?" "Looking for someone." "Oh?" Once again, Bu Tiat-cui took a brush and scribbled on a blank sheet of paper.
First, he drew a letter P (kau).
Then he drew two lines.
Now the letter P changed to the letter Jl(Ci).
This letter means "only".
After drawing, he spoke again to the two young men, "My predictions can be relied upon, usually always accurate., because you both came together, under the letter (kau) I drew two lines.
The letter P changes to il(ci) which means only.
This means you both came here looking for the same person.... the gentleman holding the copper ruler in his hand, because of that we will add a letter K.[check] which means "ruler (penggaris)", and our writing changes to FH ....Hmmm...
this person is in a very close place!" "What does it mean?" "This person is under the sky, but very close in front of the eyes..." Suddenly Bu Tiat-cui was startled and immediately fell silent.
It seemed he just realized that his prediction was once again a bad prediction, because in front of his eyes there was still a third person.
From the beginning, Tu Liong watched everything with cold eyes, at this moment Tu Liong also realized there was something amiss.
The young man holding the copper ruler laughed and said, "Bu Tiat-cui! Everyone says that your predictions are very accurate, it turns out what people say is not wrong.... we both indeed came here looking for a friend who is in this room." This answer was indeed anticipated by Tu Liong beforehand, only he did not expect the two people to have to meet Bu Tiat-cui for fortune-telling.
This made the situation a bit more complicated.
Are Bu Tiat-cui's predictions really that accurate? Or did these two people indeed work with Bu Tiat-cui to create a prediction? Did they deliberately stage a play? Even though he was facing two strong opponents, Tu Liong still couldn't let go of the interest to solve a mystery.
"Tu Liong!" The person carrying the copper ruler said in a cold tone, "we really didn't expect to meet you here.
How about we three go for a walk for a while?" "Why should I go with you?" Tu Liong's gaze did not move from Bu Tiat-cui's face.
It seemed he wanted to use this opportunity to see his opponent's stance.
Bu Tiat-cui looked very surprised.
Such an expression was impossible to fake.
"Friend!" the person carrying the copper ruler said to his friend, "it seems this Mongolian friend doesn't want to cooperate.
What should we do?" "If the gentle way doesn't work, we must use force." "Brothers!" Tu Liong said in a cold tone.
Of course, he didn't underestimate these two people, "I think you both must have heard the news.
If you use force, you both may not easily get what you want.... where do you want to take me? To meet whom? If you can explain everything, maybe I would be willing to go with you to meet this person...." "To meet whom, where to meet...
in due time you will know yourself." "Huh! Do you think you want to blindfold me, herding me like a stupid goat to the slaughterhouse?" The two young men quickly exchanged glances.
Finally, they devised another plan.
Now Tu Liong knew that they were Thiat-yan's men sent to fetch him.
"You go back and tell Thiat-yan, I don't want to meet him.
If he wants to see me, I will determine, the place and time you must remember well.
At four o'clock sharp in the afternoon, at Tong-ceng tea house." After saying that, Tu Liong immediately walked out.
The two young men did not block his departure.
It turned out there were still others in the courtyard.
---
**
Glossary:**
- **Bu Tiat-cui**: A character in the story, possibly a fortune-teller or someone known for his predictions.
- **Tu Liong**: Another character, potentially an investigator or someone seeking information.
- **Thiat-yan**: A character mentioned as possibly antagonistic or a person of interest.
- **Leng Taiya**: A person associated with King Su-cen, known for trustworthiness.
- **King Su-cen**: A ruler or authority figure referenced in the story.
- **Wie Kie-hong**: A character referred to as a source of information.
- **Pinyin**: The romanization of Chinese characters based on their pronunciation.