At this moment, Fu Changxun’s trust in Dong Zi wavered slightly—though it quickly firmed up again.
He was just curious. Dong Zi was usually so reliable—how did he drop the ball this time?
But right now… there was no time to think about it.
“Doctor, what did you come up with?”
Zhao-jie’s voice rang out. Fu Changxun turned around to find everyone staring at him eagerly, clearly full of expectation for whatever idea he had.
Xu Zhengyi also spoke up. “Doctor, what do we do next? Do you have a plan?”
Fu Changxun let out a sigh.
Since he was already completely exposed—and everyone was placing their hopes on him—there was nothing else to be done.
“I really am a veteran player,” he said calmly. “My ability is to modify certain aspects of your cognition. But it’s still too weak right now—the changes I can make are limited. I was thinking… whether we could use this ability in combination with your items…”
Dong Zi snapped out of his daze and embarrassment, picking up seamlessly. “To guide the emperor into telling us where the General was buried.”
“That makes sense,” Swift Step chimed in. “The General’s Blade should be buried together with the General, right?”
Zhao-jie’s eyes lit up. “That ability sounds way more useful than I thought. Could you make the guards think we’re officials or servants, and then sneak into the palace?”
“That’d be difficult,” Fu Changxun said. “Once the scope of the cognitive modification gets too wide, its effectiveness drops sharply.”
He paused, then continued, “But those talismans just now gave me an idea.”
Don’t emperors love pretending to deal with gods and ghosts?
Then they’d put on an act for him.
***
Instance Day Four.
The streets of Yuanjing were bustling with excitement.
But this buzz was different from usual—it was all because of a single “fortune-teller.”
He looked utterly ordinary and even had a little girl with him, yet he exuded an air of untouchable aloofness. Even high-ranking officials and talented young nobles couldn’t compare.
This man was none other than Xu Zhengyi. Though he was terrified inside and drenched in cold sweat, following Fu Changxun’s instructions and putting on the pride of a modern person worked like magic. He actually felt much calmer—and successfully drew a crowd.
“Ahem. The celestial signs are in turmoil. This year’s fortunes are ill-omened, beginning with the collapse of houses!”
He declared solemnly. “At present, only I can resolve this!”
The little girl chanted along beside him, “The celestial signs are in turmoil, this year’s fortunes are ill-omened—only I can resolve this…”
The entire scene was astonishing. Passersby stopped one after another, staring at them with expressions ranging from fear to curiosity.
Xu Zhengyi continued, “Fortune-telling and divination—one reading per person. Only two readings today.”
The crowd immediately grew restless.
Seizing the moment, Fu Changxun—standing amid the crowd—called out, “Master, how does my fortune look?”
Xu Zhengyi shot him a glance and said inscrutably, “Young sir, you recently suffered a loss of wealth. If you enter a gambling house again today, you’ll lose money once more—absolutely do not go.”
Fu Changxun exclaimed dramatically, “How did the master know I lost silver just two days ago? Truly, a master indeed!”
He deliberately performed poorly—overacting to the extreme. The common folk watched him, uncertain whether they should believe him, or whether they should step forward to consult the fortune-teller themselves.
At that moment, a woman suddenly spoke up from the crowd. “Who knows whether you and this fortune-teller are in cahoots? Fortune-teller, tell me—have I had any romantic luck recently?”
Her words reflected what most of the bystanders were thinking. Perhaps that young man was just a plant.
But the fortune-teller replied without hesitation, “Far at the ends of the earth, yet close at hand. Miss, hasn’t your romantic fate always been right by your side?”
The woman looked stunned. “By my side?”
She was, of course, Zhao-jie, acting convincingly. And the newcomer player arranged to play opposite her flushed shyly and said naturally, “It’s me. I’ve admired you for a long time now. I wonder if I might go to your home to formally propose…”
Zhao-jie covered her mouth in shock. “This… could it really be so?”
Naturally, people of this era would never imagine that this was an entire chain of planted accomplices—something akin to modern group-chat scams. After their initial shock, quite a few people began to believe in this fortune-teller.
Especially since the little girl kept chanting, “The celestial signs are in turmoil, this year’s fortunes are ill-omened—only I can resolve this…”
It instantly added another layer of mystery to the fortune-teller.
After hearing his daughter chant it three times without pause, Xu Zhengyi immediately made a hand signal.
At once, Ning Wan swiftly threw out one of her talismans. Wisps of white smoke curled upward, and in an instant, the surroundings were engulfed in mist—serving perfectly as a smokescreen.
At the same time, Swift Step activated his ability at full power, whisking the father and daughter out of the crowd.
By the time the white smoke dispersed, the commoners could no longer see the fortune-teller or the little girl from before.
“Where did they go?”
“Heavens—could it be that man really had some genuine skill? White mist appearing out of nowhere…”
“Don’t scare people! He was just doing tricks!”
“I’ve already reported this to the authorities. Let the constables arrest them and see how they keep spreading rumors.”
“But isn’t it inappropriate to offend a fortune-teller like this?”
“Do you think what he said was true? Houses collapsing—whose house would collapse?”
“Amitabha, please don’t let it be mine.”
“……”
The crowd buzzed with discussion, while the focus of it all—Xu Zhengyi—had already slipped back to his teammates. Still shaken, he said, “What if the officials really come to arrest us?”
Ning Wan had already retrieved her talisman. She waved it lightly. “So what? Worst case, we keep using our items. This one can be used five times per instance—more than enough to cover our escape.”
Fu Changxun added, “Relax. Even if they arrest you, Ah-Zi can still break you out.”
Xu Zhengyi laughed honestly. “Haha, I trust Xiao Dong.”
Fu Changxun looked at Dong Zi. “So do I.”
Dong Zi: “…Mm.”
As he responded, the rims of his ears flushed red again—but Fu Changxun had already looked away and didn’t notice.
Following the plan, they hurried toward the direction of the imperial palace. Before noon, they reached the outside of the palace walls. This was already very close to the imperial city—any closer and the imperial guards would surely notice them—so everyone stopped.
Lowering his head, Fu Changxun said, “Xiao Xiao, use your item. Any is fine.”
Xu Xiao nodded and took out her building blocks, stacking them one by one until they quickly formed a shape. She placed the tower of blocks on the ground. With just a gentle push from the little girl, the blocks instantly collapsed—and at that exact same moment, a palace not far away let out a thunderous roar and crumbled completely, collapsing into ruin.
From the wreckage burst a large group of officials, eunuchs, and palace maids, screaming as they fled.
“Protect His Majesty—!”
“Oh no, the Emperor is still inside!”
The eunuchs’ shrill, piercing voices could be heard from half a street away—let alone from just beyond a single palace wall. Inside, screams and chaos rang without end.
Zhao-jie clicked her tongue. “No way… are we that good at picking? We just happened to choose the palace the emperor was in?”
Xu Xiao put her blocks away, looking a little unhappy.
She looked up at her father and asked, “Did we hurt someone? Does that count as harming an NPC?”
Xu Zhengyi suddenly realized it too. “Right—would the game count this as—”
“It won’t,” Fu Changxun said. “I checked beforehand. Most of the timber inside is hollow. It won’t kill anyone.”
The palace had been built during the previous dynasty. Corruption had been rampant back then—cutting corners, hollow timber—it wasn’t rare. Ironically, it ended up saving the emperor’s life.
This was something Black Cat had discovered while sneaking in and sharpening its claws on the roof beams.
Zhao-jie and the others: “How did you know?”
Fu Changxun recalled the Black Cat back into his item slot and lifted his gaze. “I have my own methods.”
Since it involved privacy, Zhao-jie didn’t press further.
Before returning to the inn, Dong Zi specifically had Xu Zhengyi dress up as the fortune-teller again and walk boldly through the main hall.
“The emperor will send people,” he said.
Sure enough, not long after the players returned to the inn, a commotion arose outside.
“This servant is from the palace. Do you have a fortune-teller staying here?” A sharp, piercing voice asked.
It sounded like the inn’s attendant replied, “Yes, yes! Eunuch, please follow me!”
Footsteps drew closer. All the players hid in another guest room. Only Fu Changxun and Dong Zi stayed behind, waiting quietly together with Xu Zhengyi and his daughter.
The door was shoved open by a eunuch, who strode in arrogantly and demanded, “So—you’re the fortune-teller from the streets?”
Xu Zhengyi answered immediately, “I am.”
“The Emperor summons you. Please, this way, Master,” the eunuch drawled in a soft, effeminate tone.
Xu Zhengyi tensed up instinctively and glanced at Fu Changxun. But he quickly remembered he was playing the role of a reclusive immortal—there was no room for hesitation. So he straightened his back and said with authority, “In that case, I must insist that my three disciples accompany me.”
The eunuch looked over the two men standing with their heads lowered and the little girl by their side. Not realizing they were all part of the act, he frowned slightly but relented. “Very well. You may all enter the palace together.”
After all, the imperial guards were stationed thick around the Emperor. Even if they were assassins, there was no real need for concern.
Fu Changxun exhaled quietly.
It worked.
They’d discussed the plan with Zhao-jie: once they received the signal, they were to storm the palace and try to regroup, so long as it didn’t cost them their lives.
Once the mission was complete, they’d leave anyway—even if they pissed off some NPCs, it wouldn’t matter anymore.
The eunuch led them through winding paths into the palace grounds. However, instead of taking them to the imperial study, he brought them to a secluded, quiet palace and left them there.
“The Emperor is currently speaking with the National Preceptor. Please remain here and do not wander,” he instructed before hurrying off.
The four of them didn’t dare lower their guard. They thoroughly checked the area—no eavesdroppers by the door, no hidden guards in the rafters—only then did they finally relax.
Though slightly desolate, the palace was well-furnished, clearly a guest hall of some sort.
“What now?”
Xu Zhengyi tugged at his deliberately whitened hair and sighed. “If they leave us hanging here for days, we’ll run out of time to finish the mission!”
Fu Changxun shook his head. “I don’t think that’ll happen. The Emperor’s own palace just collapsed. This is the moment he’s most afraid. Since we’re the ones who ‘predicted’ that scene, he won’t just toss us aside. Unless…”
He suddenly paused. “Wait, he said he summoned the National Preceptor.” His expression changed as he turned to Dong Zi. “Ah-Zi, did you ever hear about a National Preceptor before? I don’t recall there being any such character!”
Dong Zi’s face darkened as well. “No. Until now, no one’s even mentioned him.”
