Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume #1)

40 Whatever

Shun Tao threw the scroll of fate. Before it had time to smack against the opposite wall he leaped up, stumbled over his table and caught it. He sighed in relief and patted it, freeing it from some non-existent dust.

"Don't make it worse, Shun Tao," he told himself and cautiously carried the scroll back to his table. The scroll of fate was bound to a person's fate. Damaging it might also have an influence on the person's life. After everything that had happened, he couldn't risk something like that.

Shun Tao sat down, unfurled the scroll and looked at the latest gap.

Once again. Once again, someone had thwarted his plans. And in the last possible moment to boot. Neither Jing Yi's mother nor his father was dead. They weren't even injured. Of course, nothing had happened to the boy. And the bandit that should have put the final nail in the coffin was pushing up the daisies himself.

It was a pity that Jing Yi hadn't been there when Qiu Ling saved his father. Otherwise, this savior might have been described in the scroll of fate and the miraculous adversary plaguing the Fate's Scribe would have been revealed.

After all, it wasn't a secret that there was a man enamored with crown prince Jing He who perfectly fit the description of being young with black hair falling to his waist, wearing black robes of high quality with silver embroidery and two silver rings on his hand. Most gods in the Nine Heavens or at least those with a status high enough to have seen the crown prince for themselves would have thought of the dragon king had they heard that description.

But since Jing Yi hadn't been there the Fate's Scribe could only sigh. It would probably take another day for Hong Bao to find out if any of the young gods monitored Zhong Jing Yi and his family. Another day in the Nine Heavens, another year in the mortal realm. By then, Zhong Jing Yi would be nine years old already and still wouldn't have passed a single trial.

By then ... could Shun Tao still conceal this from the Heavenly Emperor? Probably not. Even if the Heavenly Emperor hadn't sent someone to check on his son by then, waiting longer would be a threat to the crown prince. Those trials weren't for fun. A trueborn god had to complete them. If the mortal Zhong Jing Yi never went through a trial, then the same would be true for crown prince Jing He. The consequences ... Shun Tao didn't even want to imagine them.

But he also didn't want to confess his failure before he could provide an explanation. If he could, he might not have to lose his head. There was no way he could keep his job. It was a pity. He had always loved to be the Fate's Scribe. But with how things stood ...

Shun Tao sighed again. He knew lamenting wouldn't lead to anything. He took up the brush again but hesitated, unsure what he should write. His well thought out plans hadn't succeeded even once. And as long as he hadn't found the culprit it would most likely stay that way.

Whatever. He needed to add some problems. He'd see if that guy could counter all of them. As long as some of it succeeded the Heavenly Emperor wouldn't be as furious. Then he might be able to salvage the situation.

Shun Tao started to write: Afraid that after losing her husband, her son will also be harmed Madam Zhong sends him in another direction by himself. She wants to draw the attention of the bandit and deliberately leaves traces. Mister Zhong follows them, slowly catching up to his wife while the two of them create a longer distance between them and their son.

The bandits who find the body of their brother are furious and start searching for the culprit. They notice the traces left by Madam Zhong and follow the husband and wife. Shortly after Mister Zhong catches up to his wife, the bandits find them. Still furious about their brother's death they kill off Mister Zhong and abduct his wife, detaining her at their lair.

Thanks to his parents' sacrifice, Zhong Jing Yi successfully flees the forest and waits for his parents at the nearest town but they never come back.

Shun Tao dropped the brush, nodding slowly. This should work. For all those other incidents, Zhong Jing Yi had been with his parents. Thinking about it like that, it was fairly easy to counter these things. Only one person had to be observed while three people could be saved. The person only had to look at Zhong Jing Yi but could save his parents too.

Wasn't that a little too easy? Why did he leave such an obvious loophole in the crown prince's fate as a mortal? And how had it taken him a whole week to figure this out? But if it was like that, he could succeed. He just had to separate them. Surely that person couldn't send help everywhere.

He would send help to Zhong Jing Yi but neglect his parents and thus fate could take its course. The Zhong husband and wife would die and the boy would finally become the orphan he was supposed to be. How would a boy his age, far from his village and without support, fare? His fate would have a chance of getting on track again.

"One trial. Let me at least succeed with one trial." Shun Tao furled the scroll of fate and put it back inside his sleeve. He stood up with a sigh and went to the door facing his courtyard. Ah, how wonderful would it be if things really worked out!