Last Bus of Route 13

Semi-Immortal Xu’s miscalculation completely caught me off guard. There was no way all three people counting the moles could have made the same mistake.

Da Lao Wang, seeing the situation, smirked triumphantly and mocked,

“Well, well, you dragged this blind old man here out of nowhere, slapped a fancy ‘Semi-Immortal’ title on him, and for a moment, I almost believed it!”

I stood there, stunned, unable to believe the outcome. How could Semi-Immortal Xu have gotten it wrong?

The villagers around us began to murmur among themselves, and the topic of discussion quickly shifted from divination to scrutinizing me and Old Liu, the two outsiders.

“Who are these two from outside the village? Running their mouths like that? This blind old man can’t even feed himself without our help, and they’re calling him a Semi-Immortal? They must be here to scam us!”

“Da Lao Wang’s been a long-standing villager here. Ever since these two showed up, strange things have been happening. I’m telling you, these two are bad luck!”

…

The villagers, seeing that the Semi-Immortal Xu I had vouched for had failed, began to lose trust in us. Some even went so far as to accuse Old Liu and me of being behind the strange behavior of the rooster.

I stood there, at a loss, looking helplessly at Old Liu. He gave me a meaningful wave, signaling for me to head back. Under the villagers’ accusatory stares and murmurs, we retreated from the crowd.

Even though this wasn’t entirely my fault, I was the one who had declared the blind old man to be Semi-Immortal Xu. Now, with the label of a fraud hanging over me, I couldn’t help but feel my face burning with embarrassment.

As soon as we stepped away from the crowd, Semi-Immortal Xu followed us. Amid a chorus of jeers, the three of us slinked away, heads hanging low.

Fuming, I couldn’t hold back any longer. On the way, I turned to Semi-Immortal Xu and shouted,

“Tell me, old man, are you really Semi-Immortal Xu? How could you lose to Da Lao Wang?”

Semi-Immortal Xu, unfazed by my tone, simply smiled faintly, the corners of his mouth curling up. He replied slowly,

“You revealed my identity to the entire village. If I had won, how could I ever live a peaceful life here in Yangcaogou again?”

I almost laughed at his explanation. So, he was saying that he deliberately lost because he wasn’t done playing the role of a reclusive master? Was he kidding me?

“Scoff…”

I let out a cold laugh, losing interest in arguing with him further. Turning to Old Liu, I said,

“Well, Old Liu, great. Not only did we fail to catch the rooster, but now we’re branded as frauds. And to top it off, we’ve offended Da Lao Wang. Who knows if he’ll even do the third divination for me tomorrow?”

Old Liu coughed twice and said,

“No need to worry. We came here to find Semi-Immortal Xu, and now that we’ve found him, whether Da Lao Wang does the third divination or not doesn’t really matter.”

I was taken aback by his words. Semi-Immortal Xu, who had just failed so spectacularly, didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Yet Old Liu still trusted him so much.

With my hands shoved into my pockets, I let out a long sigh and trudged forward, too disappointed to say anything more.

After a while, Semi-Immortal Xu finally broke the silence,

“Young man, there’s no need to be angry with me. As for that divination just now, I wouldn’t say I lost.”

Still unwilling to admit defeat?

I snapped back,

“Semi-Immortal, the numbers didn’t even match up, and you’re still claiming you didn’t lose? Is your title just for arguing?”

Semi-Immortal Xu chuckled twice and replied, “The moles on Zhang Mazi’s face are indeed 184 at this moment, but by three o’clock this afternoon, he’ll grow a new one. Da Lao Wang calculated the current static divination, while I simply looked a step further.”

I stopped in my tracks, stunned by his words.

“What did you say? You’re telling me Zhang Mazi will grow a new mole on his face at three o’clock this afternoon?”

Semi-Immortal Xu nodded and said, “Yes, indeed,” then laughed as he walked south from the village fork.

Semi-Immortal Xu’s claim seemed a bit mystical-he could predict the exact time someone would grow a mole?

I stared at Old Liu, hoping to hear his thoughts.

Old Liu leaned on his stick, watching Semi-Immortal Xu’s retreating figure until he disappeared from sight. Then he turned to me, resigned, and said, “Trust the person you employ; if you doubt them, don’t employ them. You, you rascal.”

“Old Liu, don’t you think this is absurd? Even movies wouldn’t dare script something like this. Predicting the exact time someone grows a mole? Is there even a natural law for that? Predicting the heavens and the earth is one thing, but predicting when someone will relieve themselves?”

The more I spoke, the more agitated I became. Any trust I had in Semi-Immortal Xu was shattered by his outrageous claim.

Old Liu sighed, patted my shoulder, and said, “You’ve experienced more than most. I understand your youthful skepticism, but remember, excessive doubt can make you miss your luck.”

I hadn’t fully digested Old Liu’s wisdom when he left for Zhou Zhuang’s house without waiting for me.

I pulled out my mobile phone to check the time-it was one o’clock in the afternoon. I had to visit Zhang Mazi’s house; I refused to believe that he would grow a mole at three o’clock.

Resolute, I turned and headed back.

After asking around, I arrived at Zhang Mazi’s house just before two o’clock. Zhang Mazi was initially surprised by my purpose, then burst into laughter, saying, “Buddy, you must be from the city. Do city folks play like this? Are you sure you want to stare at my face until three o’clock?”

I nodded firmly. I didn’t trust anyone’s theories or words; I only believed in the truth, in what I saw with my own eyes. Semi-Immortal Xu claimed Zhang Mazi would grow a mole at three o’clock. Fine, I’d watch until three and see how a mole grows!

“Brother, I’m not joking. Do you have anything else to do? If not, let me count them first.”

As I moved to count the moles, Zhang Mazi stepped back and said, “Hey, no, no. Before you guys came, no one wanted to take a second look at this face. You’re so eager to look, I’m actually happy. But staring at me until three o’clock will delay my work, you know…”

Zhang Mazi grinned mischievously, his face with those 184 moles looking as repulsive as ever.

I understood his meaning and reluctantly pulled out 50 yuan from my pocket, handing it to him. “Will this do?”

Zhang Mazi took the money, grinning from ear to ear, nodding repeatedly, and said, “That’s perfect. It’s the first time I’ve made money with my looks. You can look, touch, or kiss as you please.”

With that, he sat down and presented his face.

I took a deep breath, suppressing the disgust bubbling up inside me, and began counting the moles on Zhang Mazi’s face one by one.

After more than ten minutes, I finally finished counting the “stars” scattered across his face.

A total of 184 moles. Old Wang’s prediction was spot on!

Now, all that was left was to wait until 3 o’clock. With a mix of nervous anticipation and skepticism, I stared at Zhang Mazi’s face without blinking, waiting for the appointed time.

As soon as the clock struck three, I couldn’t wait any longer and started counting the moles again.

One, two, three…

Ten minutes later, I collapsed onto the chair, utterly drained.

185 moles!

He had actually grown a new one!

The shock hit me like a tidal wave, leaving me feeling small and insignificant. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by my earlier doubts and disbelief. Semi-Immortal Xu truly lived up to his name-what a genius!

To be absolutely certain, I counted the moles several more times. Each time, the total was exactly 185.

When I finally left Zhang Mazi’s house, my eyes were so strained that everyone I looked at seemed to have moles all over their face.

I cursed myself under my breath, feeling an urge to find Semi-Immortal Xu and apologize. But I had no idea where he lived.

As I stood by the roadside, hesitating and unsure of what to do next, I suddenly spotted the soul-transfer rooster sprinting madly down the village road.

That cursed rooster was up to no good again! Without thinking, I grabbed two stones from the ground and took off after it.

The rooster seemed to recognize me and appeared somewhat frightened, stretching its neck forward as it ran for its life.

Caught up in the chase, I failed to notice a puddle in my path. My foot landed squarely in it, and before I knew it, I had taken a hard fall.

The impact was brutal. Half my body felt like it had been smashed to pieces, my shoulder was dislocated, and the stones I had been holding slipped from my grasp.

The rooster ran a short distance before noticing my tumble. To my horror, it turned around and began walking toward me, step by step.

My heart sank. This was bad!

That rooster was dangerously wicked-it had even managed to kill Old Niu. Now, with my right arm incapacitated, if it decided to target me, I was done for!

Terrified, I scrambled backward, but the rooster, sensing my fear, picked up speed and charged at me.

It ran faster and faster, closing the distance between us, and then aimed straight for my eyes with its sharp beak!

Just as I thought my fate was sealed, a loud “THWACK!” echoed through the air.

A shovel came down hard on the rooster’s head. No matter how vicious it was, it was still made of flesh and blood. The blow was so forceful that blood splattered everywhere. After a few feeble flaps, the rooster lay still, dead.

Sweat poured down my face as I stared in shock. Following the direction of the shovel, I saw the person who had saved me. It was none other than Zhou Zhuang’s wife, Xiao Chu!