Chapter 47 Leaving No Trace Behind

"What... what is the meaning of this?!" Xu Damao's mind went completely blank. He whipped his head around to look for the fortune-teller, only to find that the old woman had vanished without a trace.

It was then that the brutal realization hit him—he had been scammed!

"Damned swindler! You old hag! How could you be so vicious?!" Xu Damao roared, clenching his hands into tight fists and slamming them furiously against the ground.

His heart was filled with agonizing regret and rage. Those gold, silver, and jade pieces represented the accumulated savings of half his life!

Xu Damao sat on the ground, clutching the empty jewelry box to his chest while tears welled up in his eyes.

He wept as he berated himself, "How could I have been so foolish? How could I have believed her lies? My wealth, my entire livelihood, it's all gone! How could I be such an idiot?"

His cries drew the attention of nearby neighbors and passersby. They gathered around, looking at Xu Damao in his pathetic state. Some felt sympathetic, some shook their heads, and others whispered among themselves.

"My word, look at Damao. How on earth did he fall for such a trick?"

"Ain't that the truth? You could tell at a glance that fortune-teller was no good."

"In this day and age, there are simply too many con artists. You can never guard against them all."

...

Just then, He Yuzhu walked over from a distance.

He had originally been heading into the city on an errand, but upon hearing Xu Damao's wails as he passed by, he walked over out of curiosity.

Taking in the scene, He Yuzhu figured out what had happened in a heartbeat.

He walked up quickly to Xu Damao and asked, "What on earth happened to you? Why are you sitting on the ground crying?"

Xu Damao looked up at He Yuzhu, then lowered his gaze, wiping away his tears with his sleeve. He choked out, "What else could it be? I've been conned. That wretched swindler took all my gold, silver, and jade heirlooms."

Hearing this, He Yuzhu frowned and asked, "Have you reported it to the police?"

"I did, but what good does that do? There's a fat chance of getting it back now," Xu Damao replied, his tone steeped in utter despair.

He Yuzhu's heart sank at these words.

He knew that scammers were rampant in the neighborhood, and all too often, going to the police was of no use.

Yet, he could not simply stand by and watch Xu Damao sink into such absolute despair.

He patted Xu Damao on the shoulder and comforted him, "Damao, don't be too broken up about it. Although this whole thing is infuriating, we can't just let it go like this. You need to tell me, where did you find that fortune-teller? Do you have any other leads?"

Consumed by overwhelming grief, Xu Damao was in no mood to answer He Yuzhu's questions.

He merely shook his head, buried his face in his knees, and resumed crying.

"Xu Damao, Zhuzi is talking to you properly here. The least you can do is give him some sort of answer," someone nearby urged, losing patience with Xu Damao's silence.

Xu Damao still wore a look of utter dejection, but hearing the proverb about the temple fleeing when the monk cannot sparked a faint glimmer of hope in his mind.

True enough, as long as they could track down the background of that fraudulent fortune-teller, they could eventually figure out a way to retrieve his belongings.

He lifted his head, staring blankly ahead, and answered in a hoarse voice, "Zhuzi, how am I supposed to know where she lives? I just lost my senses at the time."

Realizing that Xu Damao was still trapped in a haze of remorse and self-blame, He Yuzhu knew he didn't have the luxury of waiting for him to slowly process his emotions.

He patted Xu Damao's shoulder again, speaking with a firm tone, "Xu Damao, you need to pull yourself together now. We have to figure this out together. First, think about who introduced you to this fortune-teller, or who told you about her. We have to trace this back to the source."

The well-meaning intentions of the crowd felt like sharp blades piercing Xu Damao's heart.

He gazed up at the overcast sky, his grief and indignation pouring out as he stammered, "I—I just happened to bump into her on the main street..."

A dead silence fell over the courtyard, the very wind seeming to freeze in place.

The onlookers exchanged glances, utterly at a loss for words of comfort in the face of Xu Damao's plight.

Within the courtyard, although Xu Damao was hardly hailed as a paragon of virtue, his sharpness and cunning were universally acknowledged.

Who could have possibly imagined that someone so shrewd would commit such a foolish blunder!

At that moment, Xu Damao's heart was flooded with regret. He realized that in his desperation for a quick cure, he had blindly trusted a street-corner charlatan.

What pained him even more was that not only had he been stripped of the gold, silver, and jade his mother had prepared for his future wedding, but he had also needlessly handed over fifteen cash notes!

"Fifteen cash notes! That was the exact sum I promised her upfront!" Xu Damao said through gritted teeth. Compared to the fortune in jewelry she had stolen, those fifteen cash notes were trivial, yet they felt like a thorn deeply embedded in his heart.

While the crowd pitied Xu Damao's misfortune, they couldn't help finding it darkly amusing.

After all, being conned so thoroughly by a street-side mystic was almost too bizarre to believe.

In contrast, He Yuzhu's reaction brought Xu Damao a measure of solace.

Not a single trace of mockery could be detected on He Yuzhu's impassive face.

"Tomorrow, take me to that street. Let's see if we can track down that fortune-teller," He Yuzhu said calmly.

Xu Damao turned to look at He Yuzhu, whose eyes burned with seriousness and resolve.

He gave a bitter laugh and said, "As if a con artist would just sit there waiting for us to catch them. You're too naive."

After a brief pause, Xu Damao added, "Still, this is the first time I've heard you say something that didn't grate on my nerves. Thanks."

As the words left his mouth, an awkward flush crept onto Xu Damao's face, and he suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands and feet.

Beneath the awkwardness lingered a prickle of guilt.

After all, his original motive in hiring the fortune-teller had been far from innocent; aside from curing his ailment, he had intended for the mystic to teach He Yuzhu a harsh lesson.

For he had stubbornly convinced himself that He Yuzhu was working behind the scenes to curse him with that strange affliction.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought flashed through Xu Damao's mind.

Could that fraudulent fortune-teller actually have been planted by He Yuzhu all along? Was everything He Yuzhu was doing now just the hypocrisy of a cat weeping for a mouse?

Xu Damao's expression instantly darkened into a menacing scowl. He glared at He Yuzhu and interrogated him, "He Yuzhu, there's something fishy about all of this." Xu Damao finally spoke up, a trace of stubborn resentment in his voice. "Tell me, was that swindler of a fortune-teller someone you deliberately set up to ruin me?"

Hearing this, He Yuzhu frowned slightly, caught off guard by the direction of Xu Damao's suspicion.

He walked slowly toward Xu Damao, his gaze piercing as if trying to read the other man's soul. "Xu Damao, there may be bad blood between us, but I, He Yuzhu, have always conducted myself openly and honorably. I would never resort to sneaking around throwing stones from the shadows. I'm sorry you were conned, and I'm willing to help you get justice, but never through such despicable means."