Chapter 1415: Your Love Is Right Around the Corner
"Sure." Xu Huo agreed readily, took the melon seeds and dried fruit, and followed her.
"When did you get here?" he asked along the way.
"About ten days ago. There's so much fun stuff in Platinum Eye, I want to play a few more days." The voice came out muffled from inside the plush costume, but you could tell the speaker was genuinely happy.
"Are you wearing the plush costume for fun, or did you run out of money and have to work?" Xu Huo asked with interest.
"Playing while working," the plush costume said, holding its head. "The Magic Eye Goddess and I are friends, and she pays me well. I just have to attract customers and make sure no one causes trouble."
"Why would anyone cause trouble? Is the fortune-telling inaccurate?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
The plush costume sighed. "In this world, it's not just inaccurate readings that get you beaten up. If the reading is accurate, the chances of getting hit might be even higher."
Xu Huo chuckled. "If you have to hire a bodyguard just to do fortune-telling, can you even make back the cost?"
"Hahaha!" The plush costume laughed loudly. "She's not short on money."
Up ahead at the street corner, the Magic Eye Fortune-Telling booth was already visible, with a few couples waiting in line.
The plush costume pulled Xu Huo to the back of the line and added, "Platinum Eye has a really strong romantic vibe lately. Everyone's asking about love lives, partners, and stuff like that. You can get yours read too... but don't ask anything too hard. I'm afraid she won't be able to figure it out."
Xu Huo said no problem, then asked, "When do you get off work? Want to grab a meal together?"
"Anytime," the plush costume thought for a moment. "How about we leave after your reading? I'm hungry anyway."
Xu Huo had no objections. He waited until the people ahead finished their readings and came out happily before entering the fortune-telling booth.
"Please sit." The woman dressed in a witch costume with a veil sat on a flying carpet and pointed to the seat in front of her.
Xu Huo sat down as instructed, and the levitation device activated, lifting him smoothly into the air.
"What would you like to have divined, sir? Love, marriage, career, health—anything is fine." The Magic Eye Goddess spoke solemnly and seriously.
"What's the price?" Xu Huo asked casually.
"The value of my divination depends on the customer," the Magic Eye Goddess said. "If you think it's accurate, you can pay more. If you think it's not, you can leave without paying."
"However, divination reads a person's fortune. When you start the divination, your luck becomes connected to the medium. So the result isn't determined by me, but by you."
"Peeking into your own destiny in advance is a form of taking. If you take, you must also give to maintain balance, or it can easily affect your luck."
"And since I'm the one telling you the result, I'm also part of the medium. That's why you need to pay me—to achieve a balance of taking and giving. That way, it won't affect you, and I get some compensation."
"So you're saying that if I only get a reading and don't pay, whether I get unlucky or not is uncertain, but you'll definitely get unlucky?" Xu Huo said.
The Magic Eye Goddess paused for a second. "That's about right."
"Have you ever done a reading for yourself?" Xu Huo asked again. "Who do you pay the fee to?"
The Magic Eye Goddess lifted her eyelids to glance at him. "Physicians don't treat themselves. Fortune-tellers usually don't read for themselves."
"I see. So that means you don't actually know whether reading for others will affect you, or how much it will affect you. So how do you determine the fee based on your own loss?" Xu Huo looked at the sign next to him that read "Starting at 100 White Notes" and asked with skepticism.
The Magic Eye Goddess pointed to the words on the sign. "Didn't you see the 'Grand Promotional Event'?"
Sensing that she was losing patience, Xu Huo smiled and said, "Alright, I'll get my love life read too."
The Magic Eye Goddess gave him a cold look. "I don't need to do a reading to tell that you basically have no love luck."
Xu Huo laughed. "Is that so? No need for the divination medium?"
The Magic Eye Goddess's service attitude wasn't great. She spread a stack of special divination cards flat in front of him. "Pick one at random."
Xu Huo drew one from the middle and turned it over. It showed a balance scale.
The Magic Eye Goddess looked at him with slight surprise. "Your love is coming very soon. And based on the card, it should happen right here in Platinum Eye."
"This is the Balance of All Things. No matter what's on your mind, drawing this card means you've already formed a connection with what you're seeking."
"One side of the scale represents you, and the other represents what you desire."
"The greater the height difference between the two sides, the longer the road ahead before you reach what you seek—at least, it won't happen anytime soon."
"But if the two sides are on the same level, it means what you're asking about will happen soon... Look at the scale you drew. The sides are basically even. That means your love is right around the corner."
She spoke, and Xu Huo listened without giving any reaction. The Magic Eye Goddess took a slight breath and continued, "Based on the card, you like strong women—at least women who can go toe-to-toe with you."
"But you need to be careful. Such women won't just bring you the joy of love; they might also bring life-threatening danger."
"Love is precious, but staying alive is more important."
She said the last sentence with a rather gleeful tone, as if she could already see the day Xu Huo would meet his downfall.
Xu Huo made no comment, paid a hundred White Notes, and left.
The plush costume brought back two more customers. She waved at Xu Huo. "Let me say a word to the Magic Eye Goddess."
Yan Jiayu ducked into the fortune-telling booth, took off her headpiece, and asked curiously, "Is his love life really going to get him killed?"
The Magic Eye Goddess rolled her eyes ungracefully. "You know that guy? Don't worry, he won't die anytime soon." Otherwise, with a mouth like that, he'd have been beaten to death long ago.
"So is what you said true or false?" Yan Jiayu scratched her messy short hair, seriously doubting whether the woman actually knew how to do fortune-telling.
The Magic Eye Goddess felt insulted and said irritably, "Do I even need to calculate that? Anyone with eyes can see it. Do you think an ordinary woman could keep a relationship going with a guy like that? He doesn't even have basic respect for a fortune-teller... If it were me, I'd break up with him in three days for sure—or just punch him to let off steam!"
"And he only paid a hundred White Notes!"
"He's not wrong, though. I'm also curious—don't you just spend all your fortune-telling fees on food and drink? Can eating and drinking really make up for your lost luck?" Yan Jiayu grinned and then held out her hand.
The Magic Eye Goddess pouted, reluctantly counted out a small stack of White Notes, and handed them over. "I don't even earn enough from fortune-telling to cover your salary."
Yan Jiayu pocketed the money. "I'll bring you back some good food."
"Today's business started off badly. I might as well close up early..." the Magic Eye Goddess muttered, then added to her, "Don't forget there's something tonight."
"I know!" Before the words faded, Yan Jiayu had already vanished from the fortune-telling booth.