The old man naturally noticed it but didn't care, he smiled, spread his arms, pointed to the cards over the leather mat. "These cards are known as the Cards of the guardian."
"Guardian? Cards of the guardian?"
'he didn't answer my question, this old man'
Though the words were kept within.
"Yes, these cards originated from their creator, the guardian of fate. It was said that each one of these cards possessed the key of destiny, and will allow a person to possess incredible power"
The old man exaggerated, and the boy simply gave him a dead eye for it.
To this, the old man coughed, and kept the same professional smile as usual. He clasped his hand and continued, "And by that, by using these powerful cards, I would be able to tell your destiny, and potentially allowing you to unlock a far greater world than what you currently perceive... "
...
"If these cards were really that great, you won't show it onto the open that easily, old man. Do you take me for a fool?"
The boy snorted, arms crossed over his chest.
"But you are foolish enough to come and sit here, no?"
...
'Oooo, this old man's tongue is quite good brat' The mysterious old man's voice sounded inside the boy's ears.
The boy's cheek twitched slightly and he could only swallow the words back into his mouth.
With an ugly face, he waved his hand, "Then show me the so-called greater destiny that you mentioned of... "
"Or else..." The boy's voice dropped lower, his eyes changed, but not by the physical sense.
Liam noticed it right away, but he wasn't scared. He stared back into the boy's eyes.
After several seconds of staring, showed no reaction, and Liam simply smiled and waved, "Then.... "
He waved his hand over the cards, "Among these 10 cards, pick one to your liking, and I will read... "
He paused, Liam's eyes turning strange, catching the boy off guard but he didn't budge, "Your destiny... "
"Destiny again... " The boy wasn't one to believe such a thing, rather... He despised such a term that refers to one's weakness of unable to defy fate.
Though rather, the boy found it to be rather amusing, "Destiny is It?.... Then, show me what my destiny will look like."
The boy's right arm joint pushed forward, arm stretched and his finger pointed to one of the cards on the leather mat...
In a trance of thoughts, he seemed to faintly hear something from the cards, as if there were faint whispers billowing like hidden smoke into his ears.
Liam's eyes shone, nodded subtly as he reached out a hand, the straw that covering his face shaded the upper side of his face under the shadow.
"Well... I am intrigued as well as to what your destiny may hold... "
Picking up the card, and flipped it upside down, revealing the picture of a jester holding a mask.
One side of the mask depicted the picture of a crying face, while the other half dedicated the picture of a smiling face.
Teary eyes.
Hands praying to the sky.
Though behind it was a face filled with rage, eyes looking towards heaven, seemingly displeased with what had been fixed.
"This card is?..." The boy ventured, thoughts tangled as the picture confused him for a moment.
Liam's hand retracted, his eyes slowly lifted up, meeting the boy's gaze, "It's the anguished jester... "
"Anguished jester?" The boy blinked, to which Liam smiled, the old face filled with wrinkles crumpled down on its own with this motion, "If not for a jester to cry against heaven? The injustice of fate that was cruelly placed against mortals... The jester is there to cry out his anger"
"Our anger... " A small correction, but Liam was more than pleased enough to say so.
He placed the card down, flipped it over again to hide it.
"That means nothing to foresee my destiny, no?"
"But the words of a liar would always remain as a deceiver... "
"But that's not for you to see? Had I not said something further would you concede?" Liam played the character well, a raspy laugh echoed out from his mouth, the half closed eyes looked forward without a bat of an eye.
'huh'
The boy heard his words, confusion etched, evident across his face.
What is the old man trying to say?
Why can't I understand his words?
The boy inquired about the old man inside him to clarify these strange words, but the old man had the same response as him.
I've never heard such strange wording sentences before, but they doesn't sounded to be dishonest.
The crowd behind them went on about as usual. Nothing seemed to be amiss in this tiny corner of the street.
But what the boy didn't know was that, from a passer-by perspective, this corner appeared to be empty.
Strange...
Liam smiled, another successful attempt to fool and confuse a protagonist level character.
His hand reached up, fingers pulling the front tip of his straw, pulling it down.
"You seek strength for such a brazen purpose. A purpose that few dared to claim"
The boy's shoulder tensed, his back visibly straightened as he heard these, and he smiled after his eyes were widened, "My purpose? Old man, what are you talking about"
"Hahaha... " Liam let out a raspy laugh, hoarse voice as if the wind met with charcoals, and he lifted his eyes, their eyes intertwined, but the boy visibly tensed, goosebumps spreading from the back as he regarded the strange gaze from the old Man's eyes.
It was, suffocating?
"I..."
But it was only for a moment as Liam lowered his head down again, waving his hand, "No matter, for a great fate, there must be an equivalent balancing weight to push it forward, no?"
Indeed, if a monk's lifelong goal was to simply become strong without a cause, his life would be akin to that of a shell without anything inside.
Purposeless...
For a monk to traverse from ordinary to extraordinary! He must be daring enough to take upon a weight that challenged the heaven!
How can an immortal call himself immortal if he bowed down to the rules that governed mortals!
A set of rules must be broken if you wish to see beyond the boundaries.
'For a great fate, there must be an equivalent balance to weigh against?' the boy repeated the words inside, his eyes a bit confused.
The old man inside him pondered the words, and he couldn't help but gave this old man another glance, 'Boy, this person is not simple, be careful... '
'what do you mean, Old man?' The boy inquired, and on the surface he kept the same calm gaze, 'Is this old man a hidden hermit expert? Why are his words so profound?'
'He might be one, I sensed an unusual intent in his speeches just now, but it was so hidden that I almost missed it'
'a hidden intent?'
The boy's eyes flashed for a moment hearing this, and inwardly, his perspective upon this old man began to change from contempt and suspicion into that of awe and respect.
Just like that, Liam completely fooled the pair of Master and apprentice into believing that he was some sort of a hidden expert.
"Then... " The boy began again, his tone clearly different from the prior ones, body leaning down slightly, and he clasped his hands, "How does this Junior traverse the incoming fate that's about to come. "
"The coming fate... " Liam muttered, grabbing the card yet again, as he gestured forward for the boy to bring his hand forth and open his palm.
Placing the card down onto the boy's palm, Liam smiled, "the coming fate is a hideous one, a cruel one.... But with danger, accompanied with it are opportunities"
Liam's hand closed the boy's palm onto the card. The metallic touch against his hand, the way Liam worded his words, everything that happened now seemed to be rather...
Strange...
He doesn't quite understand the meaning behind Liam's words. But remembering the warning from the old man inside him, that a calamity would soon fall upon this world, the boy shivered as he connected the dots.
'Old man, by these dangers, is he referring to the calamity that you mentioned before?'
'I am not sure, but the thread of death that I felt wasn't false. I had practiced that skill for hundreds of years, there must be no mistakes, a calamity is coming'
'Is it tied to the red fog?'
'No... I already made a deduction, the red fog isn't the calamity that I sensed. These death threads seem to have come from beyond the sky... '
The two of them couldn't really pinpoint the truth from these tiny deductions. But as the old man explained further, the tighter the connections became.
"Senior... " The boy suddenly lifted his head, "Pardon this junior for saying this but... If it's permissible, this Junior wished to deduce another one... "