Chapter 247

Chapter 247

When I saw the huge hole burned into the bed, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

No wonder Song Xiaotian had dumped water on me. If he hadn’t thrown that basin of water, I would’ve been cremated tonight.

But I’d been sleeping just fine. When the hell had I set anything on fire?

Then I remembered the dream I’d had. In the dream, I’d burned down Du Ruhai’s house.

Had I sleepwalked and burned my own bed, thinking I was burning Du Ruhai’s house?

But I looked left and right and didn’t see a cigarette butt or a lighter anywhere.

So this hole in the bed… had been burned while I was dreaming!

No, not just while I was dreaming. I had burned it with magic while I was dreaming!

All at once, I felt a little excited.

Who would’ve thought the first time I used a spell would be in a dream?

“What the hell are you grinning about?” Song Xiaotian looked at me like I was crazy.

Only then did I notice that he already had his luggage on his back and was getting ready to head out with Meng Yifan.

Just then, Meng Yifan walked in too. When he saw the hole I’d burned in his bed, he was immediately startled. “What are you doing, trying to set yourself on fire?”

I quickly made up a lie and said I’d accidentally fallen asleep while smoking.

The two of them were in a hurry to get to the airport and didn’t look too closely. They just told me not to smoke in bed anymore, then left.

I stared at the huge hole in the bed, my heart still surging with excitement.

But there was no way I could sleep on this bed now. I didn’t have time to replace it either, so I could only deal with it after I got back from Lincheng.

Seventh Master had booked tickets for a little after seven in the morning. I had to hurry up and get to the high-speed rail station.

Before long, I headed out as well.

Half an hour later, I arrived at the station. Seventh Master was already waiting for me.

Lanjiang City was only about a three-hour ride from Lincheng.

After we boarded the train and found our seats, Seventh Master asked me if Meng Yifan and Song Xiaotian were still in Lanjiang City.

I told him the two of them had gone to Qiongzhou to see the ocean and wouldn’t be back until the day before work started.

Seventh Master thought for a moment, then took out the paper I’d written the divination on yesterday and said, “The two of them may go to Lincheng too.”

I was stunned. “No way. They’re already at the airport and about to fly to Qiongzhou. How could they go to Lincheng?”

Seventh Master pointed at the hexagram. “Look. Four Appearances of Brother yao. Two Yang Yao and two Yin Yao, representing two men and two women. And the Brother Yao generates the Self Yao, which means we’ll receive help from the Brother Yao.”

I looked carefully, and my brows immediately furrowed as well.

The Self Yao represented Seventh Master and me, while Brother Yao could refer to friends, brothers, or even relatives of the same generation.

Four Appearances of Brother Yao, and generating the Self Yao, meant four people of our generation would help us.

Yang Yao represented men, and Yin Yao represented women. That was why Seventh Master said there would be two men and two women.

But among people of my generation who were willing to help me, there were really only Meng Yifan and Song Xiaotian.

If those two were the two Yang Yao, then who did the two Yin Yao represent?

I could understand one of them being Anning. But what about the other one?

I told Seventh Master that I hadn’t mentioned the ominous hexagram to Song Xiaotian or Meng Yifan. I’d only told them I was going to Lincheng.

“Besides, they’ve already flown to Qiongzhou. They probably won’t go to Lincheng, right? They only have five days off…”

“Under normal circumstances, of course they wouldn’t come to Lincheng.”

Seventh Master looked at me, his tone grave. “But what if something happens to the two of us?”

I froze for a long while, a chill running down my back. “Seventh Master, we’re away from home. Can you say something a little more auspicious…?”

Seventh Master simply shook his head. “After comparing these two hexagrams, it’s clear they’ve made a very direct prediction of our future. The Four Appearances of Brother Yao in the hexagram proves those two will definitely come to Lincheng. And if they have to come, that means something will definitely happen to us…”
The mood I’d had when I first set out turned heavy after Seventh Master put it that way.

This trip was Seventh Master’s Predestined Calamity. He had to go and Undergo the Calamity.

If he went, I had to go too. Knowing full well he was walking into almost certain death, if I didn’t go with him, that would be disloyal.

But knowing we were heading for the execution ground and still rushing to get there… that feeling was seriously painful.

“Why don’t you go back?” Seventh Master looked at me and said, “The divination your Ancestral Master gave you made it clear too. The danger on this trip has nothing to do with you. You’re only involved because you chose to be. You can choose not to be involved.”

I shook my head, my attitude firm. “Do I look like the kind of person who clings to life, fears death, and forgets favors and betrays righteousness?”

Seventh Master nodded. “I don’t agree with the second half, but I quite agree with the part about clinging to life and fearing death.”

Me: “…”

This Old Man was way too hurtful!

Though I agreed with him too.

I said, “The Ancestral Master already made it clear to me in my dream. He said that if I go, I’ll definitely gain something from it. Of course, I might lose my life too.”

“This is really a test from the Ancestral Master. If I don’t go, I can naturally keep my little life, but I’m afraid all I’ll ever be able to do in this lifetime is tell fortunes.”

“I am afraid of death, but I don’t want to be a coward either. When a real man acts, he weighs right and wrong, not profit and loss; he looks to the ages, not merely the present moment.”

Seventh Master stared at me blankly. I guessed he had been shaken by my impassioned speech, because he didn’t say anything more.

After a while, he asked me again whether Anning was still in Lanjiang City.

I said she wasn’t. Anning had gone back to the orphanage.

Anning had grown up in an orphanage. We didn’t know much about her history there. All we knew was that the orphanage’s first director had treated all the children badly. Later, a new elderly director took over, and that old director treated the children very well. Anning changed her surname after that and took the old director’s surname.

After the children from that orphanage grew up, they would all go back to visit the old director during holidays and festivals.

Seventh Master closed his eyes, preparing to rest. I took out that book and continued reading.

I hadn’t been reading long when the sound of a cart being pushed came from behind me. I turned to look and saw it was the dining cart.

Only then did I suddenly remember that neither Seventh Master nor I had eaten breakfast yet. I was indeed a little hungry.

By then, the dining cart was already coming our way. Strangely, although there were many breakfast items on the cart, the person pushing it didn’t stop. Some passengers wanted to buy breakfast, but he showed no intention of stopping for them either.

I thought this dining cart was being pushed to another carriage to sell there. But when the person pushing it passed by Seventh Master and me, he suddenly stopped.

He set down two portions of breakfast, then pushed the cart toward the next carriage without even looking back.

The person was wearing a dining cap and a mask, so I didn’t really pay attention to what he looked like.

Seventh Master was still resting with his eyes closed, and I sat there stunned for a long while too.

I found it inexplicable. What did this person mean? Other people offered money to buy from him and he wouldn’t stop, yet before I even opened my mouth, he gave us two breakfasts for free?

Just then, I suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a note pressed under the breakfast placed in front of me.

The note was covered in writing… and at a glance, I spotted the two words “Chen Mo.”

My expression changed slightly. I secretly took out the note, then turned and walked toward the restroom.

After entering the restroom, I locked the door. Only then did I take the note out again.

Written on it was…

After reading it once, I was instantly dumbfounded. Both my legs were trembling.

That person just now… who was he?

How did he know Seventh Master and I were going to Lincheng?

He actually… even knew what would happen after we went to Lincheng!

And what was even creepier was that this handwriting looked very familiar to me…