City of Wishes

However, the question was, if this Fortune Telling House was truly so accurate, why was it located in such a remote place?

Anyone with such skills should have found it hard not to get rich.

"No trouble at all... Or rather, your divination was very accurate, and I benefited greatly from it."

The old man smiled. "That's good, then."

"Can I have another reading? Something like my future fortunes..." Shi Dong asked after giving it some thought.

The other man stared at him for a moment, then shook his head. "I can sense that you no longer have any pressing worries. Without that, blind divination will only yield blind results. Besides, I must remind you, child... Every prayer comes with a price. That price is like a snowball—anyone can afford it at first, but once it starts rolling, not everyone can walk away."

That was true... There was no need for him to think so much.

Shi Dong suppressed the thoughts rising in his heart and let out a long breath. Whether it was a coincidence or not, the other man had helped him. In a sense, the old man was his sister's lifesaver. He could not, and should not, assume the worst of him.

Shi Dong reached into his pouch and placed three silver coins on the low table.

"This is the fee."

"Wait, there's still one thing unfinished." The old man stopped him, then turned and took out a thin sheet of paper. "As we agreed, divination must be completed in the form of a contract. Only once you leave your mark can this matter be settled."

"Hey, there's no way I'm putting my name and seal on this thing." Shi Dong frowned—though the man had indeed mentioned a similar requirement during the reading, he had not taken it seriously at all. Wasn't everyone out here just trying to make money? So long as the payment was enough, anything could be discussed. Why were there so many rules? "How about one more Ceriel?"

"What was agreed upon is what it is. A contract cannot be altered." To Shi Dong's surprise, the old man flatly refused. "Of course, I understand your concerns. Your mark does not have to be your written name or a seal. So long as it is sincere, any mark will do, including a fingerprint, an item you carry with you, or even a strand of hair."

Was this guy out of his mind? He would rather trade silver coins for a hair?

Since he did not need to sign his name, Shi Dong could not be bothered to argue further. He plucked out a hair, pressed it onto the thin paper, and spoke the final words. "The contract is formed. Is that enough?"

The old man showed a satisfied expression. "The contract is formed."

Shi Dong did not want to stay another moment. He stood, bent over, and walked out of the shack. The instant the curtain fell behind him, he felt an invisible pressure vanish. Even the air in the West District seemed to smell much better. At the same time, exhaustion swept over him, making his steps less steady than usual.

He hoped he would never return here again.

He gave the sign above the shack one long look, then headed toward the city walls.

"Whew, so this is what Wish Force feedback feels like? It's way too good..." Chao Yang closed his eyes and felt the surging warmth filling his body, unable to stop himself from sighing. It felt like someone who had gone hungry for seven or eight days finally tasting delicious food again—except there was no need to worry about eating himself to death.

Unfortunately, this prayer was not particularly substantial, and the surging heat soon calmed. It had relieved his immediate crisis, but after deducting various expenses, it would probably only be enough to keep him alive for half a month. He was still far from being able to rest easy.

"I still need to keep looking for customers." He licked his lips and muttered softly.

Even Chao Yang found it hard to believe. Just over a month ago, he had been one of countless office workers. Now, he had somehow become a "demon" traversing two worlds.

All these incomprehensible changes had begun on the morning he awakened.

That was right—he had awakened and become a demon, a legendary species that survived on Wish Force. Just as mammal young instinctively sought their mother's milk, he had understood, in that instant, the key to his own survival.

He had to find people with urgent desires, fulfill their wishes, and collect their souls—or rather, the power contained within their souls.

Then Chao Yang discovered that the world he lived in... no longer had such a thing.

Eastern temples were still packed with people, and Western worshippers continued to come in an endless stream, yet he could not draw even a trace of Wish Force. If that was not utterly despairing, then it was at least enough to crush all hope.

Of course, it was not completely absent.

He could still occasionally catch faint glimmers of Wish Force in children making birthday wishes or owners searching for lost cats and dogs. But this feedback was not even worth a mosquito's leg. It could not change the situation, and the energy consumed in granting those wishes was greater than what he received.

A demon without Wish Force would gradually weaken and eventually die. To outsiders, it would look like some unknown terminal illness.

More frighteningly, he had no way to refuse this fate.

At the moment of awakening, Chao Yang had also learned the nature of demon blood—it was not inherited through bloodlines, but awakened at random, like winning the lottery. It had run throughout human history, across all eras and lands. Perhaps it had appeared the moment humanity first conceived of making wishes.

Over the past month, Chao Yang had quit his job and wandered everywhere, hoping to find someone with powerful Wish Force—or at least another one of his kind.

But the result was despairing. He found neither, and his body only grew weaker.

It was not hard to infer that every unlucky soul who had awakened as a demon had already died.

Just when Chao Yang believed he would follow in their footsteps, an unexpected opportunity appeared—Insightful Eye had not led him to another of his kind, but instead discovered a strange rift. Since he would die anyway, he gathered all his strength and passed through it, arriving in this wondrous place known as Glorious Fortress.

...Chao Yang slipped out of the shack through the back door.

The moment he left the Fortune Telling House, the aged and gaunt appearance rapidly peeled away from his body like a layer of skin. In less than a few seconds, he had completely become someone else.

Of course, even in the guise of a young man, it was not his original appearance. Chao Yang knew that the more concealed his identity was, the better. To this unknown world, he was a complete outsider, and he needed to remain cautious in everything he did. Besides, compared to his identity, there was something else he feared even more—

Chao Yang walked out of the alley and looked up over the city.

Through Insightful Eye, countless pillars of light shot up from the city, piercing the clouds like towering columns. Their colors varied: some were blue as ribbons, others red as the evening sky.

That was the marvelous sight created by Wish Force.

It made the city shine brilliantly. Even without flashing neon lights, Glorious Fortress was more dazzling than any major city he knew.

After all, on the other side of the rift, what Chao Yang saw most often was a dim, murky gray, as though the entire world were enclosed in cold concrete.

Unfortunately... he could not claim all this enticing Wish Force for himself.

Because every one of those pillars of light already "had an owner."