Hard Times, Yet the Ability to View Fate Entries

Eternal Martial Dao: I Used Fortune to Become a Martial Saint

Rampaging Sparrow Devours Dragon

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Hard Times, Yet the Ability to View Fate Entries

Hard Times, Yet the Ability to View Fate Entries

Tianying Prefecture, eastern docks of Changhe County.

It was late September, the season when autumn arrived in the southern water towns. The sun was sinking westward, and the horizon was spread with sunset clouds like a blazing fire.

Lin Mo wore his undershirt open. His clothes had been soaked through and dried again and again, and the fishy reek of sweat unique to the docks seemed to have taken root in his garments.

He had just left the dock's accounting room after collecting a day's wages.

"That bastard accountant saw I was young and actually pressed my wages down to thirty-eight coins a day..."

Lin Mo gritted his teeth in secret, his heart filled with bitter frustration.

Even though in his previous life he had worked shady side hustles, held an iron rice bowl, and cared for countless ordinary people...

He had only arrived in this world a little over a month ago, yet already had grievances he could not speak aloud.

Hard, hard, hard!

This world was simply far too hard to survive in!

"When will these days ever end? Maybe I should register with a martial hall, learn some fighting techniques. At least food and clothing should no longer be a problem."

Lin Mo sighed inwardly. He glanced at the two men beside the bluestone steps, puffing away at their dry tobacco. Their martial hall robes made his eyes brim with envy.

Ever since the Great Gan Dynasty had issued the Yellow Register across the realm, giving people of every walk of life household registrations, the countless common folk living within this imperial territory had been divided into ranks high and low.

He was a lowly household, one of the lower three registries, and could only engage in lowly trades.

The better ones were boatmen, blacksmiths, tofu grinders. Their lives were bitter, but at least they could fill their bellies.

The worse ones were laborers and night-soil collectors...

They could only leave things to fate. Work meant money; no work meant no money. They lived by the look on Heaven's face.

"At least these days still have a little hope..."

A work shed stood against a distant wall. Whenever work stopped at noon or sunset, Lin Mo would always come here for a filling meal.

Other than the fact that it specialized in cheap, lowly food in large portions, there were naturally other reasons.

Several long benches were scattered haphazardly through the small shed, where fishermen and laborers chatted about all manner of things.

He found a gap and squeezed inside, calling out smoothly, "Boss, one bowl of wild vegetable soup and two wheat cakes!"

A dark-faced man with a short, squat build soon slipped out from behind a small cloth curtain. He filled a bowl and stacked two golden-brown cakes on top, while Lin Mo took the chance to look above his head.

A cloud of white mist swirled outward. Several large seal-script characters, sharp as iron strokes and silver hooks, floated above the boss's head. Lin Mo examined them closely.

[Healthy] [Childless]...

Most were common traits possessed by the majority of people, but the final one was [Sudden Fortune].

Perhaps it was for the cheap, filling food, or perhaps it was for that Sudden Fortune, but Lin Mo had watched this place for over a week.

He had put a great deal of effort into studying this ability to view people's fate. A few days ago, he had seen [Death by Drowning] above a fisherman from a neighboring village.

Yet that man had been fishing for at least a dozen years. Even Lin Mo had thought it utter nonsense from the bottom of his heart. But only a few days later, when the fate entry dissipated, it came true.

Just as the old saying went: those who drown are all swimmers.

After a week without results, Lin Mo should have looked elsewhere, or spread his bets across multiple lines. That would have been the best strategy.

But this ability to observe people was ravenous. Simply looking at one person consumed seventy to eighty percent of the food in his stomach. Two people, three people... even a dozen people?

He might just keel over!

"This fate-entry white mist is getting fainter and fainter. It should dissipate today or tomorrow. Looks like I need to keep a close eye on him..."

Lin Mo raised his bowl and took a sip of the painfully salty wild vegetable soup to settle his stomach. He wolfed down two bites of the dry wheat cake, his thoughts having long since drifted to the words Sudden Fortune.

As he ate, his mind sank into his consciousness, where a Jade Talisman suddenly appeared, displaying a great deal of information.

[Lin Mo]

[Age: 17]

[Fate Entries: Weak and Humble Destiny (White), Observe People and Their Aura (White)]

[Fortune: 0]

Fortune was the key to improving fate entries, but Lin Mo had no idea where to obtain it for the time being. He could only rely on the ability of [Observe People and Their Aura] to gain some advantages.

"Brother Mo?"

A man nudged him with an elbow and called softly. Only then did Lin Mo pull his wandering thoughts back to the food before him.

After glancing around, he finally realized that everyone had turned the conversation toward him. Without his participation, would it not be terribly dull?

"Brother Mo, at sixteen or seventeen, it's about time you took a wife."

"Yeah! You were born with a prettier face than ours. That's a blessing too!" As soon as one person teased him, another man picked up the thread.

The moment the subject came up, everyone's enthusiasm soared. They all looked toward Lin Mo. This young man had no shortage of stories to tell!

"Brother Mo, are you really not interested in Butcher Zhang's daughter? Don't look down on him for selling meat—he earns quite a bit, enough to eat well for the rest of your life!"

"Oh, right! There's also that tofu-selling widow in the western alley. I heard she treats you pretty well too..."

"There are plenty more! The fisherman from the Lin family has a daughter too, and she's quite pretty!"

Listening to the crowd's babble, Lin Mo truly felt powerless from the bottom of his heart. What was all this even about?

He shook his head without answering, though he knew perfectly well that if he had the chance to live off a woman, he would definitely seize it.

Only...

Butcher Zhang's daughter was still young, around eight or nine. The tofu-selling widow had once given him a warm block of tofu to fill his stomach.

As for that so-called Lin family fisherman, he was his own uncle. His cousin was even more off-limits!

All three had extended a helping hand when he had first transmigrated here and had barely enough to eat. They had helped him weather the hardest days until he found work as a laborer.

Eating cakes, drinking soup, and listening to these men chat about the world was one of his rare pleasures.

Lin Mo sat there until deep into the night. Only after the boss closed his stall and pushed his cart away at a leisurely pace did Lin Mo trail along far behind him.

The boss ambled along the docks, and Lin Mo followed slowly behind, his gaze never leaving the space above the man's head. The color there was growing increasingly dim.

After they left the docks and turned through several streets and alleys, Lin Mo finally saw the white mist faintly begin to dissipate...

With a harsh creak, the wooden cart wheel seemed to have rolled onto a stone. The man exerted himself several times, but it would not budge at all.

Just as he was about to lower his head to inspect it, Lin Mo arrived first. Taking the opportunity, he stepped beside the man and greeted him warmly.

"Boss, what a coincidence. Let me help you."

"That'd be great! This rotten road really can't stand being walked on!"

The two of them pushed together and got the cart over the obstacle. Lin Mo merely waved him off, but the boss asked curiously, "Little brother, why aren't you home this late?"

"My home is nearby. I was just taking a walk before heading back."

Lin Mo was not lying. His current home was in Big Fishing Village, in the southern outskirts.

Once the boss had gone far away, Lin Mo crouched down and carefully wiped the ground with the corner of his undershirt. Under the faint moonlight, a dazzling silver glint reflected into view.

Lin Mo weighed it in his hand, the smile on his lips nearly impossible to suppress. "This Sudden Fortune is actually a whole tael of silver!"

If he relied on ordinary work, it would probably take him more than two or three months to save a tael of silver, assuming his body did not suffer any problems in the meantime.

Joining a martial hall to learn fighting techniques required a tea fee. That was the threshold!

One tael and five mace of silver—not a fraction less!

He tucked the silver close against his body and walked down the muddy road. Even the autumn wind carrying a chill seemed several degrees warmer.

"Together with the copper coins I have left from before, after paying the full one tael and five mace, I'll still have five mace left over."

"I need to nourish my body properly these next few days. I absolutely have to seize this chance to become an apprentice!"

Night had deepened. Lin Mo slowly reached the village entrance and spotted several clusters of firelight gathered before his home, with several broad-shouldered, thick-waisted figures faintly visible.

"Could Zhao Wu and those ruffians be here to collect the debt? There shouldn't be several more days left?"

His predecessor's father had owed a tael of silver in gambling debts. In two months, interest had snowballed into two taels and eight mace. Despairing, he had thrown himself into the river.

Everything valuable in the house had been pawned, buying them only a little more time from Zhao Wu and his gang.

Lin Mo thought quickly and moved deftly, hiding the tael of silver in a small mound of dirt before walking toward them.

"Lin Mo, why are you only coming back now? Were you deliberately hiding from your Fifth Master?"

Several figures squatted beside the earthen wall. Seeing someone approach, Zhao Wu, whose body was covered in fat, finally revealed a trace of a smile.

"How could I, Fifth Master? Isn't the debt due in a few days? I've been working hard to find jobs so I can save enough silver to bring it to you."

Lin Mo smiled and fobbed him off with a few words, which Zhao Wu clearly enjoyed.

"Heh, you kid sure knows how to talk. Fifth Master won't make things difficult for you. I found you a good job. Work for Fifth Master, and your debts will be wiped clean. You'll earn a full tael of silver a month, and maybe even learn some fighting techniques."

A job?

That sounded nice enough. Was it really just more filthy work—bullying men and oppressing women?

As for fighting techniques, even Lin Mo could tell that Zhao Wu himself had not learned them properly, yet he still dreamed of teaching others.

He absolutely could not do such a virtue-sapping thing.

"I appreciate Fifth Master's kindness. There are still more than ten days left. By then, even if I have to smash pots and sell iron, I'll definitely make up my father's debt!"

"Hehe... so you refuse to show respect?" Zhao Wu narrowed his eyes and sneered twice. The ruffians beside him had already rolled up their sleeves.

Fight them head-on?

Running was the best strategy!

Lin Mo licked the corner of his lips, lowered his center of gravity slightly, and prepared to flee.

"Zhao Wu, what are you doing here again?"

"Fifth Master, are you planning to have dinner in our Big Fishing Village?"

Another round of footsteps approached, accompanied by several familiar voices. This time, they were not ruffians, but villagers from Big Fishing Village...

Lin Mo let out a breath, his expression easing as he looked toward the men holding fish spears and greeted them softly.

"Uncle Changyuan, Uncle Changshun..."

Fishermen depended on one another for survival. Though they had their disputes, in this world, they stood united against outsiders.

The man in brown clothes glared at Lin Mo, his expression carrying some resentment at iron for not becoming steel. "Lin Mo, what are you standing there for? Why aren't you seeing our guests off?"

Lin Mo immediately understood and bowed with clasped fists.

"Fifth Master, shall I see you off?"

"No need." Zhao Wu's eyelids drooped, and his face was extremely gloomy. He beckoned toward the crowd. "You Lin family boys, didn't you want to come? Follow Fifth Master. Fifth Master will take you to eat the finest food and drink the best liquor..."

Several figures Lin Mo knew well stepped out from among the villagers. They were the village's young men, some even younger than Lin Mo.

"Father... I don't want to fish for the rest of my life..."

"I want to make big money! When I come back, I'll support you in your old age."

Lin Changshun and the others clearly had not expected this. They could only stare blankly as the young men hurriedly shrank behind Zhao Wu.

Watching the group walk away, Lin Mo felt that this matter was not so simple. However, he only had enough strength left for one more use of [Observe People and Their Aura].

He looked toward a cousin named Lin Hai. As white mist swirled forth, Lin Mo actually saw the words [Calamity of Blood Light]!