"M-Master, is there something wrong with my brother?"
The Fated One's mind was clear now, realizing that the Master had probably foreseen something bad. He couldn't help but feel anxious.
In high school, he was a day student, and in college, he didn't want to study in another city like most people, directly choosing a university near his home. So, he had always been a day student, and for six years through high school and college, he had practically raised his younger brother himself.
During the day, while he was in class, his brother was taken care of by their grandparents. But after class, he was usually the one taking care of him, as grandparents were getting old and went to bed early.
His younger brother was at an age when his energy was most abundant, and before eleven or twelve o'clock, he was harder to control than an unleashed husky.
It was only this semester that the family sent him to first grade, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It should be almost dismissal time now. Could something have happened on the way? The Fated One's breathing became hurried.
"Big Brother, don't panic. Leave school immediately, take a taxi to the location I tell you, he's still safe!"
Yaoyao saw that his emotions were unstable and quickly tried to soothe him. Although the little brother in the photo was abducted, he was not in life-threatening danger, which was lucky for the Fated One. If it had been discovered an hour or two later, the traffickers could have successfully moved him, and finding him would have been much more difficult.
The Fated One's brother's fate was originally not meant to be overcome. The other party's tricks were too clever; they used artificial face-swapping. One person impersonated the Fated One, calling his grandfather to say that he had no class that afternoon and was going to pick up his brother.
Another person cooperated, using video face-swapping to trick the Fated One's brother, saying that his grandfather had accidentally fallen, and she was his mother's friend who came to help.
With video and calls, the Fated One's brother was still young and had limited vigilance. He was tricked and taken away without exception. The family, in turn, thought the Fated One had taken him out.
Even when school was dismissed, they thought the Fated One had taken his brother to get something to eat, thus missing the golden time for rescue, and eventually, he would have been untraceable.
"Okay, I'm going now. I'll ask my classmate to cover for me."
After being reassured, the Fated One's emotions relaxed slightly. He didn't even care about the spicy hotpot he had ordered, rushing out of school in a hurry. On the way, he called a taxi and messaged his roommates. When they learned his brother was missing, the entire dorm was alarmed.
[Third, wait for us to go together. What if there are many traffickers and you get bundled up and taken too?]
[Right, right. Oldest and I are at the basketball court, we'll definitely get out of school before you. Youngest is in the dorm, just let him ask for leave.]
His roommates' concern warmed the Fated One's heart slightly. He had been unsure about his brother's disappearance but felt awkward bringing it up. Now that his roommates offered, the Fated One naturally couldn't refuse.
The few of them met at the school gate, got in the car, and performed the whole action seamlessly. The driver sped off according to the address Yaoyao had given.
"Third, why are you still watching the live stream at a time like this? Turn it off quickly, don't delay important matters."
In the car, the Fated One's roommate saw him still watching the live stream and frowned. The Fated One saw the latter's expression and instantly knew he had misunderstood.
"Li Ge, it's not what you think. I'm watching the Master's live stream. I got selected."
As soon as he said this, the two paused, then immediately realized who he was talking about. They squeezed into the camera on either side, finally getting a clear view of the live stream situation.
"Wow, you're amazing, kid. The live stream has almost two million people, and you actually got picked. Remember to buy a lottery ticket with that luck."
"But, I remember that the selected Fated Ones are usually somewhat unlucky. Your brother being kidnapped, could that also be what the Master told you?"
The Fated One's roommates' expressions suddenly became a bit strange. They were approaching their senior year, all their courses were finished, and their overall time was very free. In short, they had time to "stroll the streets" online. They watched plenty of live streams, so they naturally knew that the selected ones were "unlucky."
"Yeah, otherwise, how would I know what's going on at home while I'm at school?" The Fated One knew he couldn't hide it and nodded directly, admitting it. Then, he saw his two roommates gasp. This wasn't because they were making a fuss; previously, they had only eaten melons online (gossiped), who knew it would suddenly become reality? It was understandable that they couldn't adapt.
"San, I see on the navigation that we're still about ten minutes away. I... can I ask the Master to give me a quick reading too?"
Suddenly, the roommate on the Fated One's left side hesitated and squirmed for a moment. Although he felt it was inappropriate, he couldn't hold back. This time, it was his roommate's good luck that he got selected by the Master. He usually didn't have this opportunity, and he had been truly lost during this period.
The Fated One heard his roommate's request and looked over with surprise, which made the latter's face even redder, clearly from embarrassment. "N-No, if it's not possible, then forget it. I'll go ask at a Daoist temple myself later." He waved his hands repeatedly.
"Qin Ge, you misunderstood. Of course, I have no problem with it, but the real trouble is with the Master. Let me ask if the Master agrees."
The Fated One shook his head. They were all roommates, knowing a bit of each other's privacy. He vaguely guessed the other's difficulties. Anyway, there was nothing else to do on the way, and changing the subject seemed okay. Of course, the premise was still his own words, and the Master had to agree.
So, two pairs of eyes stared intently. Yaoyao had been listening the whole time, so they didn't need to explain further.
"Big Brother, if you don't make a decision when you should, you'll suffer for it later!"
Yaoyao glanced at him and immediately saw his anxious question. It was just a quick mention, so she decided to just say it directly. The Fated One's roommate was still trying to figure out how to speak, but he didn't expect the Master to be so insightful, pinpointing his innermost thoughts with a single sentence. His face instantly turned pale.
"But... she also said that once my job is stable, she would take me to meet her parents, and I haven't done anything to let her down!"
The Fated One's roommate argued unwillingly. This one sentence let Yaoyao know that this big brother was stubborn. If she didn't completely expose the truth, he wouldn't be able to move past it. So she stopped being subtle.
"Big Brother, you haven't done anything wrong, but your family itself is that big sister's biggest fear."
"She doesn't want to shoulder the burden of everyone in your family as soon as she gets married."
Yaoyao saw the complexity of the Fated One's family: not just parents, but also paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents, and a pair of younger siblings about to go to university. As the eldest son, his parents were getting old and could no longer bear the heavy burden of the family.
He would face immense pressure as soon as he graduated. That young lady's family situation wasn't bad. If she were to marry the Fated One's roommate, life would become difficult, and there would be endless quarrels. The young lady was rational. Rather than ending up with a broken relationship in the future, it was better to cut ties now and at least leave each other with beautiful memories.
"..."
The Fated One's roommate actually already had the answer in his heart, but he had been deceiving himself. Now that Yaoyao had ripped off this fig leaf, he painfully reddened his eyes, but no longer avoided it.
"It'll be alright, everything will be alright." The Fated One's other roommate, seeing the situation, softly offered comfort.
Unexpectedly, the latter suddenly looked up, his previously complex emotions actually suppressed. He said indifferently, "Hah, it's just dating. It's normal for things to not work out and break up. Let's focus on Third's matter. His brother is still so young, nothing can happen to him."
"These damn traffickers, I'm going to beat them to death later!"
Seeing his roommate forcefully maintaining calm, the Fated One, with good judgment, didn't try to expose him.
The live stream was quite lively at this point.
[The Fated One's roommate is pitiful, but the young girl didn't do anything wrong either. Who would want to take on six elderly people and two younger siblings right after graduation?]
[Unless he has an extraordinary ability to make money, otherwise, even a god wouldn't be able to fill that hole.]
[And living with so many elderly people, if you accidentally eat one more piece of meat, six mouths will talk. Thinking about that kind of life, anyone would feel suffocated.]
People always aim to make their lives better; no one has the courage to try to go back to a declining life. This can only be said that the two were fated but without destiny, destined not to achieve a positive outcome in this life.
Ten minutes later, the taxi stopped at the entrance of a narrow old alley. The road ahead was a bit bad, and ordinary cars couldn't turn around inside, so the driver had to stop.
The Fated One and his two roommates got out of the car. Following Yaoyao's directions, they twisted and turned through many alleys. It wasn't until they were almost dizzy that they heard the Master's voice telling them to stop.
"Big Brother, your brother is inside here!"
The Fated One looked up at the situation before him. It was a single-family courtyard house, with vermilion doors. Perhaps no one lived there, as the door handle was covered in dust. This kind of old house locked from the inside.
Once locked, unless the door was kicked down, outsiders simply couldn't get in. Of course, there was another way: climbing the wall. The walls of these old courtyards weren't high; two people could easily help each other climb in.
The Fated One felt a bit lucky, seeing this. Thankfully, he brought two roommates, otherwise it would have been quite troublesome.
After some discussion, it was decided that Chen Qin, the most agile of them, would go over the wall. This was the same big brother who had just asked Yaoyao for a fortune reading. He didn't disappoint the Fated One; with a single boost, he easily scaled the courtyard wall and opened the door from the inside.
The group hurriedly crossed the courtyard and, upon entering the main hall, suddenly froze.
They saw a weasel, only the size of an adult's arm, sitting properly on a chair. It wore a melon-skin hat, held a large opium pipe, and puffed out white smoke like clouds, its voice shrill and piercing.
"Lu's words were right after all, there truly are people not afraid of death coming to our door!"
"Hehehe, and three sturdy, good bodies at that. It seems this old man's Five Ghosts Moving Technique is to achieve great success today."
The weasel let out a sinister cackle, and from its flat, elongated mouth, it exhaled rings of smoke. The smoke rings moved with astonishing speed, and in the blink of an eye, they trapped the three Fated Ones, leaving them unable to move.
Fear was still etched on the three men's faces. After all, this was the first time in their lives they had encountered a weasel speaking human language. The sense of horror was instantly maximized.
The Fated One had originally thought it was just an ordinary kidnapping case, and that the three big men could surely beat the kidnappers until their own mothers wouldn't recognize them. But now, with such a bizarre entity appearing, directly exceeding his scope of ability, he didn't even think, directly opening his mouth to call for help.
"Master, save me!" His booming voice startled the weasel.
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