I rubbed my forehead and could only explain it to her in the plainest possible terms. "For example, if you study hard, are you guaranteed to get into Tsinghua or Peking University? Not necessarily.
But you'll learn a lot. That much is certain.
Fortune-telling is a form of logical deduction. As long as you grasp the basic principles, under normal circumstances, your predictions won't be wrong.
And you won't get beaten up."
As I spoke, I gave her a helpless glance. Beaten up? Seriously?
This kid really had some imagination.
"Oh, oh, oh! I get it, I get it!" Little Bun clenched her little fists and exclaimed excitedly. "If I work hard, I'll get something out of it. I'll gain knowledge. But whether I get into Tsinghua, or become a high-ranking official, also depends on outside factors. My own hard work alone isn't enough. That's what you mean by fate, right?"
"Uh..." Old Taoist mused. "That's all correct... except for one thing. Telling people's fortunes really can get you beaten up."
"Huh?" That threw me completely. Hadn't he just bragged that his predictions were never wrong?
Why was he backing down now?
Seeing that we didn't understand, Old Taoist gave us an example. "In the story of Old Man Sai losing his horse, his son fell off a horse and broke his leg. Old Man Sai took one look and said, 'This is a good thing.' That was because he understood how fortune and misfortune were connected. Breaking his leg could save his life.
If you tell someone's fortune, you can see things just as clearly as Old Man Sai did. But can you tell someone with a broken leg, or their family, that it's a good thing?
They might get so angry that they actually break your leg, just to let you experience that good thing for yourself."
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Get the prediction wrong, and you could get beaten up.
Get it right, and you could still get beaten up.
Old Taoist continued, "There are three kinds of fortune-tellers.
One kind scares people with unpleasant predictions, then gets them to pay to avert the trouble.
That's the most common kind.
Another kind says pleasant things to make people happy, then gets them to pay for good luck.
And the last kind has genuine ability. They tell the truth and ward off disasters for others, only to end up suffering the five disadvantages and three deficiencies."
None of those sounded good. No wonder my master had specifically warned me not to tell other people's fortunes.
At that point, Little Bun and I both sank into our own thoughts.
"Hey, do you know how Duke Huan of Qi died?" Old Taoist suddenly broke the silence with a mischievous question.
For a moment, I couldn't place the name. Who?
Little Bun was baffled too. She asked in her soft little voice, "Who's Duke Huan of Qi?"
The instant Little Bun asked, I remembered the name and asked Old Taoist, "Do you mean the Duke Huan of Qi from 'Bian Que Visits Duke Huan of Cai'?"
Old Taoist chuckled and nodded.
Little Bun looked even more confused. "I know that story about Bian Que and the man who hid his illness and refused treatment, but now that you've said that, I'm confused.
Did Bian Que visit Duke Huan of Cai or Duke Huan of Qi?"
Old Taoist waggled his eyebrows, signaling for me to explain.
I stared at him speechlessly. How had someone who'd been solemnly discussing profound teachings a moment ago suddenly become a completely different person, as though something had possessed him?
Unable to work out why Old Taoist had changed so abruptly, I could only explain to Little Bun, "Duke Huan of Cai and Duke Huan of Qi refer to the same person here. Both names refer to Tian Wu, the third ruler of Tian Qi during the Warring States Period. His posthumous title was Duke Huan of Qi.
A little further back, during the Spring and Autumn Period, there was another man known as Duke Huan of Qi. He was the fifteenth ruler of Qi. His surname was Jiang and his given name was Xiaobai, and he was also called Qi Xiaobai, Gongzi Xiaobai, and so on. He was the foremost of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.
To distinguish him from Gongzi Xiaobai, Tian Wu was also called Duke Huan of Tian Qi, or Duke Huan of Qi Wu.
Tian Qi was a marquisate, so some people also called him Marquis Huan of Qi.
Qi's capital was in Shangcai, so some people also called him Duke Huan of Cai.
Whether he's called Duke Huan of Cai, Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Huan of Tian Qi, Duke Huan of Qi Wu, or Marquis Huan of Qi, they all refer to Tian Wu here."
After explaining who Duke Huan of Qi was, I looked at Old Taoist's mischievous expression and asked irritably, "Didn't he die of an illness?"
Before you continue