Chapter 848: Xiao He: My wish for good fortune is world peace
After Xiao He followed the attendant to the lower level, his first sensation was the scent. Very fragrant.
It was the kind of scent that seemed to drill into the gaps of one's bones, gentle yet deep-seated, stirring occasionally, scratching at one's limbs and body, leaving one with an indescribable feeling of restlessness all over.
The moment Xiao He smelled this scent, he subconsciously began to adjust the mask on his face.
But it was almost useless. The scent had practically marinated the air here; almost everyone's breath carried this odor.
Even though it was fragrant, Xiao He found it exceptionally disgusting.
He probably wouldn't be able to stand this kind of perfumed scent for a short while, Xiao He thought. Otherwise, he felt he might easily retch.
After arriving at a small hall, the room was already filling up with people. Although some were wearing masks and face coverings, after a brief glance, Xiao He could basically recognize sixty or seventy percent of them.
Many of them had not even appeared at the upper-deck banquet before this. Clearly, after boarding the ship, these people had been waiting directly for this shady lower-level banquet.
After Xiao He was guided to a seat, a woman in a revealing qipao approached, holding a tray, and stopped in front of him, bowing slightly: "Hello, sir, please fill out this form here."
Having never participated in this kind of event, Xiao He naturally did as he was told. He picked up the form on the tray and glanced at it, discovering that it mainly required him to fill in his birth date and time (Ba Zi), blood type, and what he was currently seeking, etc.
It was quite in line with the tone of this Feng Shui gathering.
So, Xiao He thoughtlessly filled in a random birth date and time and blood type. When his pen landed on the section for what he was currently seeking, he paused, thought for a moment, and finally wrote down six characters, very neatly and carefully: "Hope for world peace."
Then he put down the pen and nodded very politely to the receptionist: "Thank you."
The receptionist, seeing the wish for world peace: "..."
It was hard to imagine that this man, with his fierce aura, would have this as his ultimate wish.
Because Xiao He had specially changed clothes and wore a mask to come down, and even deliberately fully unleashed the aura of a criminal he had hidden for years, others who saw Xiao He assumed he was some big shot from the underworld and did not associate him with the currently globally popular star, Xiao He.
So the woman just uncertainly confirmed with Xiao He again: "Sir, this part is actually mainly for filling in what you hope to change your luck with using the fortune-turning bead. Are you sure this is what you want to fill in?"
Xiao He answered very sincerely: "Please, you must let the master help me. This is my greatest wish in this life."
The receptionist: "..." In the end, she left with the tray, wearing a complicated expression.
Clearly, she couldn't quite understand why someone would spend so much money to come down here to change their luck, only for the final request to be this.
This wish obviously sounded like it would never come true! They were here for fortune-turning, not for making wishes!
Moreover, for a guy as fierce-looking as a murderer to state this wish so piously, she felt an inexplicable sense of dissonance. It was just too strange and funny. But her professional standards made her choose to handle it calmly.
So Xiao He continued to sit in his seat, secretly observing the others around him. Soon, another person sat down next to him. Xiao He glanced at him, and based on the person's build, he was surprised to find that the person sitting next to him was Zheng Ji.
That is, the same Zheng Ji who had played a few rounds against him at the casino earlier and ran away immediately when he saw things going south.
Although, based on those few confrontations at the casino, Zheng Ji was a guy who knew how to read the situation and avoid trouble, he was also someone not to be trifled with. In his early years in the underworld, he was the type to fight opponents with real knives and guns and even go to prison.
It was just that now, he was someone with money and power who ran a security company.
Following Xiao He's movement, their gazes met. Clearly, Zheng Ji must have recognized him through the similar aura Xiao He exuded. After briefly looking Xiao He up and down, he nodded slightly towards him. Xiao He nodded back.
At this moment, a single light shone in the center of the hall. A middle-aged man wearing a mask stood on the temporary podium in the center. Attendants began to push in small boxes one after another, then formed a long line. And looking at the middle-aged man, it seemed he was holding a small hammer similar to those used in auctions.
Xiao He, who was completely unaware of the event's proceedings, was truly confused. He had originally thought that upon arriving here, they would either be directly assigned the corresponding fortune-turning beads or get to meet the master and have them "perform" on the spot. He hadn't expected it to look like they were conducting an auction directly?
For some reason, as if he had noticed Xiao He's confusion, Zheng Ji, who was beside him, suddenly spoke up to explain: "The fortune-turning beads here have several categories. What they are selling now is the first batch of regular beads, which are natural finished products, then 'refined' by that master to become trinkets that can be used for fortune-turning."
Xiao He: "???" Xiao He turned his head in shock to look at Zheng Ji beside him.
Zheng Ji just nodded slightly at him, not saying whether he had recognized Xiao He or not, and continued: "And the second batch later will be grudge beads. To put it plainly, they are beads that come with their own resentment. This kind of unnatural resentment is heavier, and after long-term cultivation, it will be easier to help bear the user's karmic debt and bad luck."
Xiao He listened in silence, only feeling something in his stomach churning along with it.
"As for the final highlight, the living beads, this naturally relies on the resentment that bursts out along with the host body to turn into energy for fortune-turning, thereby achieving the effect of changing one's luck..."
Xiao He was even somewhat numb by the time he heard the end, with no expression on his face. He just slightly turned his head to look at Zheng Ji and said: "You know a lot, but listening to your tone, it seems you don't believe in these things."
There was no pity in Zheng Ji's words for those host bodies and budding lives, but he also didn't have any piety or faith in these crooked ways that sounded full of blood and violence. He just recounted what he knew in a light, slightly mocking manner. He seemed like an arrogant bystander, looking down on those people from a high position, watching their madness, their obsession, and then telling this story as a bizarre joke with great interest. As for the blood and cruelty behind these things, no one cared.
"Hmm, I'm not interested in these things." Zheng Ji readily agreed: "In our line of work, if we believed in these, wouldn't that be ridiculous?"
Xiao He: "..." Who is in the same line of work as you? You, just speaking, why are you so presumptuous!
However, Xiao He's heart also raised a bit of wariness. Since he didn't believe in these things but still came to the scene in person—he himself was here to probe the truth and find victims—then what purpose was this other person holding?