Chapter 113: Divination
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
"It’s good that you’re confident." Yu Yun Jun was extremely pleased.
Pei Zi Yun noticed that their serious conversation had concluded. He picked up his painting and noticed that it was already dry. He then rolled it up and included on the drawing.
"Teacher, do you know where my childhood sweetheart, Ye Su’er is? Can I trouble you to give her these two items?"
"In the past, I was uneducated and did not have any status. Neither could I cultivate the Dao. I was afraid that even if I had mailed a letter to her, her sect and teacher would reject the letters for fear of interrupting her cultivation."
"However, I guess now’s fine." Pei Zi Yun spoke, clearly troubled.
With the original owner’s memories and experience, he understood this fact. He knew that Daoist cultivators placed a heavy emphasis on marriage status, that a couple must be of equal status befitting of each other.
Hearing Pei Zi Yun’s request, Yu Yun Jun sighed deeply. As for this matter, she had conducted a thorough research and thus was aware of everything. This Ye Su’er was extremely gifted and was a genius of sorts as well. It’s just that after joining the sect, she would eventually marry…. Ai.. Thinking of such matters Yu Yun Jun’s heart sighed as well. Without saying a word, she received Pei Zi Yun’s painting and letter and turned around to leave.
Pei Zi Yun walked over to the window and looked out. He could see the several birds flying over the mountainous terrains. His heart spoke out, "Ye Su’er, how’re you doing now? How could you have trusted the Dao Aunt so easily and leave me like that?"
Hidden Millet Mountains
Hidden Millet Mountains were renowned mountains, which stretched on for hundreds of kilometers. The mountains were tall and had streams flowing from most of them. There were plenty of surrounding mountains, as thick vegetation grew around it. There were more than a hundred temples and monasteries around the mountains.
Of these, there was a particular monastery hidden within the depths of the mountains. There was a stream nearby in which the waters were crystal clear. From afar, birds could be seen flying towards the mountain. They were a pair of mountains together. One resembled a dragon and the other resembled a tiger as they entwined with each other. It was between these two mountains that the Black Alter Sect had a monastery built. The position of this monastery was supposedly extremely auspicious.
Although this monastery had been build in a prime and auspicious location, it looked nothing like a Paradise. Instead, it had a very common and normal look about it.
A Daoist was heading towards the monastery. He looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old. He wore a feather robe and had a hat of jewels. His robes flapped about as he walked. He had a tall and sturdy frame and his facial features were as beautiful as spring. He looked extremely extraordinary. If Pei Zi Yun were to see him, he would grit his teeth in anger. This was the person whose flesh would become saintly, he was the future True Sovereign Xie Cheng Dong.
Xie Cheng Dong led a little Daoist as they walked towards the monastery. The little Daoist carried a chest. There were several Dao inscriptions on the chest. When they reached the entrance of the monastery, the proceeded in. When the pair entered, they saw a blind Daoist sitting within. He smiled, "I know who it is. Looks like Young Master Xie has come."
This blind Daoist spoke and Xie Cheng Dong was not the least annoyed. He laughed, "Since you said that there was a shift in the plans of heavens, I ordered someone to obtain this mystical tortoise. Take a look and see if this tortoise would do."
Xie Cheng Dong waved his hand, and the little Daoist brought the chest forward. When the chest opened up, a black tortoise could be seen within. The tortoise had been chained up by a silver chain. There were several inscriptions on the chains, which bore enchantments on them. This tortoise was extremely vicious. The moment the chest opened, it was almost as if it awoke. It stuck its head out and started biting the chain.
Kacha, kacha. The tortoise bit on the chain violently, and yet it would not budge.
When the little Daoist looked at this fierce and violent tortoise, his face turned pale and immediately offered the tortoise to the blind Daoist, and placed it before him.
There was a strong, dark aura around this blind Daoist. The minute the little Daoist was near him, he felt a strong sense of repulsion and hatred, and immediately backed away. He felt his stomach twist, and a feeling of dread spread all across his body. It was like seeing a venomous snake. His face was filled with fear.
The blind Daoist started stroking the tortoise gently, as if to comfort it. He then traced the lines across the tortoise’s shell. The tortoise was extremely aggressive at first. However the moment the blind Daoist touched it, it was as if it had been struck by lightning. It immediately retreated within its shell and started trembling in fear. It seemed like it had met its worst enemy and was afraid. It struggled to break free, however it was being held steadily by the blind Daoist and could not move.
The blind Daoist then removed the black cloth covering his eyes and tied up his hair behind his head. He then revealed his face. He had no eyeball in one of his sockets. As for the other, it was a red and bloody gaping hole. His entire face was filled with boils and ulcers and an extremely pungent smell of rotting flesh emanated from him. Any normal person would flee and shun him should they stumble upon him.
Seeing the appearance of this Daoist, the little Daoist was so afraid that he retreated several steps instantly. His back face against the wall, as he could not believe what he had seen. However, Xie Cheng Dong acted like everything was normal and said, "Go and guard the door. I have something important to discuss with Daoist leader."
"Yes!" The little Daoist gave a deep bow to this disgusting blind Daoist. When the blind Daoist noticed that the little Daoist had left, he then opened his mouth to speak. "Young Master Xie, this tortoise would do. Twenty years ago, I was rescued by your father. All these years, I’ve looked into the future, and prophesied for your father and for yourself. Especially regarding matters of plundering from the heavens. Although I have some protection because of this auspicious location, and because of Paradise, the consequences of this wrongdoing had managed to find me."
The blind Daoist sighed.
"I shall always remember your efforts. If it weren’t for you, I would not have obtained my current destiny and be where I am today." Xie Cheng Dong said sincerely.
"Young Master XIe, as for other requests, I have none. If I were to continue this way, in a few years, my physical body would be depleted and I will surely fall into the abyss of the Underworld. Then, I shall be punished for the sin of prophecy. When that happens, I beg of Young Master to attain the Dao, and redeem me. As long as you promise me this, I shall be contented." As the blind Daoist spoke fearfully, two streams of blood started flowing from his eye sockets.
"Don’t worry. You’ve prophesied for me, as a result I’ve been able to act accordingly and be where I am today. In future, I will surely redeem you. I give you my word." Xie Cheng Dong said, full of confidence in his resolve.
"Since Young Master promised me, I shall put my mind at ease." The blind Daoist then laughed and picked up the mystical tortoise. The tortoise somehow knew that its end was near, as it struggled violently and was trembling.
The blind Daoist didn’t seem to care too much. He extended a hand and knocked the tortoise several times lightly on its shell. Instantly, the tortoise went limp as it stuck its head out of the shell.
When the blind Daoist realized that the tortoise had done this, he then retrieved a knife from within his robes and cut a slit on the neck of the tortoise. Fresh blood gushed out of the wound.
The blind Daoist then retrieved a jade tray where he placed the tortoise on. This mystical tortoise had still not died, and glared viciously at the blind Daoist. Gradually, its life started to flow out from it as it bled out onto the jade tray.
"Young Master, please excuse me. I have to set up the altar, and to prevent anything from going wrong, I need Young Master to leave the room." The blind Daoist gave a bow. Xie Cheng Dong had done this many times before and smiled as he walked out.
The blind Daoist then stood up, holding an enchanted tile. He then ripped open the sleeve of his robe, revealing multiple scars on his arm. He then used the knife to cut several lines in his arm. Blood dropped down from his arm onto the jade tray. The blood of the mystical tortoise and the blind Daoist fused together into an obscure mix.
The blind Daoist gently held his arm and touched the wounds. The new cuts started to heal, as his skin mended itself. However, it could not completely heal. It was almost as if a black wisp of smoke was preventing his wound to mend back fully.
Holding up the jade tray, he then retrieved a jade quill and dipped it into the tray of blood before writing words onto the enchanted tile. The words were squiggly and illegible. However, with every stroke he wrote, a sort of dark energy wafted through the air. When he was done, he then placed the tile onto the altar. He then picked up the tortoise and started writing more words onto the shell of the tortoise. Every time a word had been written, it disappeared immediately.
He pointed at the fireplace, and instantly it burst into flames. The flames within the fireplace were bright green. The blind Daoist tossed the tortoise shell into the flames as it erupted in fiery embers.
"Pi Pa!"
The first thing that happened was that the flesh of the tortoise started burning, giving off a pungent burning smell which filled up the entire room. After the meat had burnt, the shell started melting under the fire. With a crack, the entire shell exploded within the fireplace, only leaving behind several pieces.
The blind Daoist walked towards the fireplace and observed it. His face fell as he gave a gasp of shock.
Xie Cheng Dong heard him gasp out and barged into the room. He looked upon the pale face of the blind Daoist and asked, "Is something untoward going to happen?"
The blind Daoist picked up the fragments of tortoise shell and touched it, his face turned ashen. "Young Master, Ying Prefecture and Free Cloud Sect’s fate had deviated from their course. A change has taken place."
"What?" Xie Cheng Dong’s face fell as well as he took a step forward. "Ying Prefecture? Could it be Ji Bei Hou? That would still make some sense. But how could the fate of Free Cloud Sect change so abruptly?"
"Free Cloud Sect has appeared within the will of the heavens. According to the will of the heavens, this was not to happen until another ten years later. And yet here they are. This is why I said that there are many changes to the will of heaven." The blind Daoist said coldly.
"But they're just a mere tiny sect. If in ten years time, there was a small adjustment to the Imperial Qi, it can still be reasonable. However with the fixed will of the heaven, how could they change their destinies? Unless this sect is more important than the Three Ye’s and Two Guo’s?
"Mister, you've mentioned before that destiny doesn't just vanish into thin air, and it doesn't appear without reason. Why has something like that happened then?"
Xie Cheng Dong found it hard to believe and hurriedly asked.
The blind Daoist fell deep into thought, "The destinies of heaven and earth had been fixed eons ago. There must be a reason for this huge change. For example, between the Three Ye’s and Two Guo’s something happened and they're now just Three Ye’s and One Guo. It's because I've been rescued by your father. Hence in order to repay his kindness I did what I could. However, in this life, there can only be one chance of rebelling against the heaven and plundering a person’s destiny."
"There is only one man among the Three Ye’s and Two Guo’s. He had the ability to take the remaining Three Ye’s and One Guo as his concubines before fulfilling the wishes of the heaven. I’ve transferred this person’s spiritual prowess and destiny over to you. That was how I altered the will of the heavens."
"Then is there another man among them?"
"That’s impossible." The blind Daoist replied as he cut off a golden bracelet. "Heaven’s will is not easily altered. It can be said that in hundreds or thousands of years, I am the only person to achieve that. And hence I’m facing the wrath of the heaven, and shall be punished with divine retribution."
"Although that’s not it, I still feel that something is not quite right. When I’ve faced the wrath of the heaven, my ability to prophesize the will of the heaven and look into the future had been reduced by more than half. However as for Young Master’s fate I can still faintly feel something. It’s clear to me that this shift is not good for Young Master. There’s a dense fog shrouding my vision, and thus I cannot understand what’s actually happening. If you truly wish to know the reason, you would need someone to sneak in."
"What? Then I shall go. I want to see for myself who in Free Cloud Sect or Ying Prefecture altered the wills of the heaven. Who is it, that wishes for me to fail." Xie Cheng Dong replied.
"Young Master, although you’ve acquired your destiny, all these years you haven’t been moving forward. With a prosperous fortune, you’ve acquired many opportunities you would’ve otherwise acquired. You’ve buried many pawns standing in your way as well. However, you’ve used up many chances as well. For now, what you should do is to go into Hidden Millet Mountain and enter secluded meditation. Doing this would enable your good fortunes to aid in your recuperation of strength and chances. Then you can accumulate more luck. Now’s not the time for you to attack."
"Don’t forget. Your destiny did not belong to you, and had been usurped by you. This is clearly not orthodox and thus there is a hole. If you’re not prudent, you could lose everything!"
Hearing these words, Xie Cheng Dong frowned and asked, "Mister, all these years you’ve been spying on the will of heavens, and have walked along this path as well. Then you could not leave the monastery. Can you leave now?"
"Young Master, how can I leave? I can never leave the monastery. Once I step out of the monastery I will die instantly. Young Master, now is the crucial moment. You must not reveal yourself. Neither can you call on the people from Black Altar Sect. If not, there’s a high possibility that they will exploit your current situation."
"I have a disciple, Shi Mu Zhong. You’ve met him before. Although he does not have the ability of gazing into the heavens, I’ve imparted some of my prophetic skills to him. You can ask him for help. He might be able to discover the reason for this change.
As he spoke, the blind Daoist’s face turned pale as he spat out a large glob of blood. The blood was extremely pungent. It was clear that this was the repercussions of his actions, damage on his physical body. Xie Cheng Dong’s face became gently as he sighed, "I understand. Mister please recuperate."