Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Master Hui Quan opened the box and froze for a moment when he saw the Seal on the painting.

“The Huicheng Tang Family’s Soul-Confining Seal?” Master Hui Quan asked. “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, are you acquainted with someone from the Hidden Branch of the Huicheng Tang Family?”

I considered my words carefully before replying, “Tang Tang is my senior at school.”

Master Hui Quan clearly knew of Tang Tang. He smiled and said, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, you are truly blessed with good fortune. The Huicheng Tang Family isn’t a group just anyone can connect with, especially that specific person from the Hidden Branch. She hasn’t shown herself to the public in many years.”

“The Hidden Branch?” I asked, puzzled.

“Since you know Tang Tang, you must know her father, Tang Ao. He is a famous Treasure Appraisal Master in our country,” Master Hui Quan explained. “But the Tang Family started out through Tomb Raiding, and today they are a renowned Treasure-Concealing Family. Everyone knows Tang Ao has incredible skill in appraising treasures, but few know that behind him hides an even more powerful figure: Tang Xun.

Tang Xun is aloof, has a sharp eye for detail, and acts with decisive speed. She is a prominent figure on the path of Yin-Yang. If I’m not mistaken, this Soul-Confining Seal must have come from Tang Xun’s hand.”

Since he had already reached that conclusion, I spoke honestly. “Yes. A while ago, I worked with Aunt Tang to acquire this painting.”

Master Hui Quan was even more surprised, but then he stroked his small mustache and chuckled. “It’s unexpected, yet it makes sense. I saw long ago that Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu was no ordinary person. Soaring to the heavens is only a matter of time for you.”

His praise made me feel a bit embarrassed.

Master Hui Quan put the painting away and brought over paper and a brush. “I will place this painting as an offering before the Three Pure Ones Statue. Don’t worry, Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu. Now, let me see your Birth Date and Time.”

This time, I didn’t hesitate. I picked up the brush and wrote down my Birth Date and Time.

Master Hui Quan took the paper, looked at it, and began to perform his calculations.

“Based on these characters, Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, you have a Fully Yin Fate. It is Ominous with Sha Qi, with a Calamity every three years. The Calamity at age eighteen is the most dangerous-Ten Deaths, No Life… No, that’s still not right. This eighteen-year Calamity seems to have a turning point. If you receive help from a Noble Person… Pfft!”

Without warning, Master Hui Quan suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His lips turned deathly pale as if he had suffered a massive internal injury, and his body swayed.

I rushed to support him. “Master, what happened?”

Master Hui Quan steadied himself, wiped the blood from his mouth with a handkerchief, and looked up to stare at my face.

I knew he was reading my Facial Features, so I stayed still.

After a moment, he checked my Palm Lines, slowly tracing the patterns on my hand while muttering something under his breath.

“No, it’s still not right.” Master Hui Quan seemed to have encountered a difficult problem. He asked, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, forgive my intrusion, but do you have any physical defects? Even a missing toe counts.”

I thought about it seriously before shaking my head. “No. I have ten fingers and ten toes. I don’t have any major scars or anything like that. I’ve had medical checkups before, and I’m not missing any organs.”

At that point, I suddenly remembered what Liu Junyan had said.

He always liked to touch the area around my shoulder blades, and he had mentioned that I was missing something.

But my shoulder blades were perfectly fine. From the outside, nothing seemed wrong.

Master Hui Quan refused to give up and began calculating my Birth Date and Time once more.

“Strange. Your Birth Date and Time clearly indicate a Fully Yin Fate, but your Facial Features reveal the pattern of a Pure Yang Fate. The direction of your fate in your eighteenth year is very chaotic. There is a dead end, but also a turning point. Yet this turning point doesn’t seem like a turning point at all; it’s more like a continuation. Further on… Blegh…”
At that point in the calculation, Master Hui Quan spat out another mouthful of blood. His vision went dark, and he collapsed onto the table.

Terrified, I immediately cried out for help.

A young priest rushed in, and together we helped Master Hui Quan onto the bed. After a frantic period of pinching his acupressure points and forcing water down his throat, he finally drifted back to consciousness.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief. If Master Hui Quan hadn’t woken up today, the weight of that guilt would have been unbearable.

I quickly said, “Master, my Birth Date and Time are too cursed. The midwife who delivered me read my fortune back then; she said I was a ‘solitary Yan bird bringing mourning,’ destined to bring death to everyone around me. You should stop calculating…”

If he continued, I was afraid I might actually jinx Master Hui Quan to death.

“Nonsense!” Master Hui Quan snapped, looking genuinely angry. “I pride myself on having a fair amount of mastery in reading the Birth Date and Time. Even I cannot calculate your fate. That midwife barely knew the basics, yet she dared to pass judgment on someone’s life and death? What right did she have!”

Hearing those words, I felt a strange surge of emotion, and my eyes instantly welled up.

Since I was a child, I had carried the stigma of being a ‘solitary Yan bird bringing mourning.’ Because of that phrase, I had a home I couldn’t return to and family I couldn’t acknowledge.

Even now, when I met my relatives, we were like enemies.

Everything was because of that one sentence.

But today, Master Hui Quan told me it was wrong-that the midwife had recklessly decided my fate. Heaven knows how much that encouraged me!

“Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, I cannot decipher your Birth Date and Time,” Master Hui Quan said, steadying his mind. “I can only calculate your fortune for the first eighteen years. Beyond that, your fate is shrouded as if by a veil. Unless someone’s cultivation has reached an incredible level, it is impossible to calculate it clearly.

“However, based on my years of experience reading people, those with such a destiny are usually the Chosen One. You have a limitless future, Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu. You must not belittle yourself because of the words of some half-baked amateur.”

I nodded vigorously.

After leaving Qingquan Temple, I let out a long, deep breath. I felt much lighter. I headed down the mountain and hailed a taxi to return to Wufu Town.

Although I hadn’t managed to get a clear reading on my fortune during this trip to Qingquan Temple, I had gained a great deal.

I wasn’t a person of great calamity; instead, I was very likely the Chosen One.

I wasn’t entirely sure what ‘the Chosen One’ meant, but surely it was better than being a curse?

The car drove steadily forward. I was lost in thought until we reached the intersection just before entering Wufu Town. Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly spotted someone standing by the side of the road.

It was a woman with a high ponytail, wearing a red and black archery suit, holding a Longbow in her hand.

My entire body jolted. I sat up halfway and craned my neck to get a better look, locking eyes with a woman whose eyes were almost identical to mine.

And between her eyebrows was a striking, fiery-red feather mark!

She… she really was the person from the painting.

She was the real Ah Li!

As I watched, the woman slowly raised the hand holding the Longbow and aimed it at me.

The taxi continued forward at a decent speed, yet as the woman stood by the roadside, her body remained perfectly parallel to the moving car. It was utterly eerie.

Her other hand reached up, pulling the bowstring back to full draw. She aimed at me and suddenly let go.

*Whoosh!*