Chapter 164
Chapter 164
This was the second time Meng Yifan had been hauled into the station this year.
It seemed like bad luck wasn’t just following me; it was hunting him too.
If he were merely a suspect, I could handle it, but my greatest fear was that he had actually done something impulsive. The divination I had performed earlier had already accurately predicted Tao Xiaoyu’s death, which meant my reading wasn’t wrong.
At the time, I hadn’t told Song Xiaotian that according to that hexagram, Meng Yifan was very likely going to prison…
If the pieces fit together like this, then Tao Xiaoyu… might really have been killed by that kid!
The thought made me feel like the sky was collapsing. Murder carried at least a life sentence. In a case like Meng Yifan’s, execution by firing squad was even on the table!
Song Xiaotian and I waited until five in the afternoon, but Meng Yifan’s phone remained unreachable.
If he were just cooperating with an investigation, there was no way they would hold him this long without release. The police must have identified him as the primary suspect, meaning he would be detained for forty-eight hours.
I couldn’t sit still any longer. I immediately set out with Song Xiaotian to find out which precinct had taken him. As luck would have it, the officers who had picked up Meng Yifan were from the Chengnan Branch.
We actually had an acquaintance at the Chengnan Branch: Brother Liu!
Brother Liu had previously bought a house through our agency and had helped us out a few times afterward, for which we had paid him handsomely. Later, however, we had threatened him in order to retrieve Li Xiumei’s ashes. Things had certainly ended on a very unpleasant note back then.
Asking for his help now seemed almost impossible. But for Meng Yifan’s sake, I reached out and asked to meet him anyway.
We agreed to meet at a nearby restaurant. Song Xiaotian and I arrived first; Brother Liu hadn’t shown up yet.
Seeing my distracted state, Song Xiaotian said irritably, “Can you quit being so tense? Meng Yifan is just being questioned. It’s perfectly normal to be held for forty-eight hours. Just because he’s a suspect doesn’t mean he actually killed her.”
I hesitated for a long time before finally telling him, “I didn’t finish telling you about that divination… I saw that Meng Yifan would end up in prison.”
Song Xiaotian had just pulled a cigarette from his pack. He froze for a long moment, forgetting to light it.
“Is it possible,” he said eventually, “that your skills are just unrefined? Maybe you only got part of it right-the part about Tao Xiaoyu’s death-and the rest was wrong?”
I nodded vigorously. “Possible! Highly possible!”
I had to doubt myself now. If I didn’t, it meant Meng Yifan really was headed for a cell.
Not long after, Brother Liu arrived. He didn’t give us a friendly look, but he still showed up to leech a free meal.
“Well now, it’s been a while. Did you two miss me? Or are you planning to threaten me with something else?”
Despite his sarcasm, I had to keep a smile on my face. “Brother Liu, we didn’t handle things properly in the past. You’re a big-hearted man; please don’t hold a grudge against common folk like us.”
Brother Liu let out a cold laugh. “This is about Meng Yifan, isn’t it? He’s still in the interrogation room at our unit.”
Hearing that made my anxiety spike. I hurriedly asked, “Brother Liu, could you help us find out what’s going on with the case? You know Meng Yifan; he’s not some cold-blooded criminal.”
Brother Liu looked at me with disdain. “I’ve seen plenty of criminals, and there’s no shortage of ‘honest’ men among them. How can you be so sure he didn’t kill her? Besides, why should I help you dig for information? You’ve got a lot of nerve asking.”
His words left me feeling embarrassed and stuck. Before we came, Song Xiaotian had warned me not to use money as a bribe. Even if I tried to give Brother Liu money now, he might not even dare to take it.
“Brother Liu, we were definitely in the wrong before. I’m here to offer my sincere apologies.”
“Let’s just be honest and make friends. I’m not here to talk about money or anything like that. In this society, another friend means another path open to you. If you run into any trouble in the future, we’ll do our best to help you out.”
I spoke with the utmost sincerity.
He still looked at me with disdain. “There’s no need, really. Who would dare be friends with you? You’d probably turn around and threaten to report me the next second. I’m not so pathetic that I’d call people like you my brothers.”
Song Xiaotian stood up to leave, but I quickly pulled him back.
I looked at Brother Liu and said, “How about this? If there’s anything you’re feeling uncertain about lately-something where you’re desperate to know how it turns out-I can give you the answer.”
He paused, looking confused. “What do you mean by that?”
I replied, “For example, promotions, wealth, or health-including that of your family. Anything you want to know the outcome of, I can tell you.”
He laughed. “Fortune-telling? Well, now that you mention it, there actually is something. My mother fell ill recently, and she…”
Before Brother Liu could finish, I interrupted him. “What is your mother’s name?”
Brother Liu immediately provided her name.
I took out a pen and paper and began to cast a hexagram.
Fearing he would lose patience, I moved quickly. I had the hexagram formed in about two minutes.
Then I began the interpretation. The entire process lasted about ten minutes.
He grew restless. “If you’re trying to play me with some supernatural mumbo-jumbo, I don’t think it’s necessary. I’m not in the mood for this meal anymore.”
Just as he was standing up, I put down my pen and paper. “Your mother has an ailment in her large intestine,” I said to him. “In divination for illness, the Official Ghost represents the disease. The Official Ghost is located at the Second yao. The Second Yao represents the knees, waist, abdomen, thighs, large intestine, and rectum of the human body.”
“The Earthly Branch of the Official Ghost is Shen Metal. In the symbolic meanings of the human body, ‘Shen’ corresponds to the large intestine. Therefore, your mother has a problem with her large intestine, and the symptoms are quite severe.”
A Six Yao hexagram consists of six lines, or yao. Counting from the bottom up, they are the first yao, the Second Yao, the third yao, and so on.
When predicting illness, the position of the yao represents the general part of the body, while the twelve Earthly Branches represent the internal organs. I wasn’t just making wild guesses.
As for how I knew her symptoms were severe, that wasn’t actually from the calculation. It was because he had mentioned his mother was sick; if it weren’t somewhat serious, he likely would have brought up a different topic.
Upon hearing this, Brother Liu’s expression froze. He slowly sat back down. “How… how did you know?”
I smiled and asked, “What were the results of your mother’s previous check-ups?”
He said, “We had her checked at the county hospital. You know the medical standards there-the doctor said it might be colon cancer, but they weren’t sure. They told us to go to the city hospital for an exam. I’ve already booked a specialist appointment for her at the city hospital, but it’s not for another five days.”
I nodded. “Then let me give you the answer. Your mother does not have colon cancer. However, it isn’t minor either; it’s likely something like chronic enteritis.”
“Furthermore, this specialist is a very skilled doctor. He will be able to guide your mother’s condition toward a recovery.”
Brother Liu stood up in shock and hurried over to my side to look at what I had written on the paper.
He stared at it for a long time, looking completely bewildered. “I can’t understand any of this…”
I told him that of course he couldn’t. If everyone could understand it, then everyone would be a master of divination.
He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. “Alright, brother. Regardless of whether your prediction is right or not, just for those auspicious words, I’ll help you guys out one more time. How’s that?”