I Only Want to Lie Flat But Am Forced to Cultivate Immortality-Chapter 223 - 129: No More than Three Questions_2

Zhao Yuan saw the situation and timely pulled Zhao Zhonghe back, "Uncle, since the divination master states there’s no second price, why not listen to what he has to say first."

Standing by and watching the commotion, Xu Qing followed up, "That’s right. If his answer doesn’t satisfy the constable, you can then overturn his stall, strip off his clothes, and throw him into the river."

"..."

The divination master heard this and glanced at Xu Qing, his gaze seemingly unfriendly.

"Most silkworms die when their silk runs out. To remedy this, one must act contrary to nature..."

Zhao Zhonghe was baffled by what he heard, while Xu Qing thoughtfully said, "Perhaps the divination master is advising the constable’s child to change professions and not become a constable in the future."

"Is he right?"

Zhao Yuan asked the divination master, who smiled but did not answer.

Zhao Zhonghe still had doubts and asked, "Who can predict what will happen in ten or twenty years? How do I know you’re not deceiving me?"

The divination master smiled and said, "It’s just a divination. The constable just received his salary today, does he still care about the cost of a divination?"

Zhao Zhonghe was startled and looked at the divination master with a changed expression.

Today, he was supposed to give a funeral and burial for Shi Quan, but he had little silver on hand. Unwilling to delay time by returning home to fetch it, he had asked the household office to advance his month’s salary. No one but the household officer knew about this.

Truly eerie, Zhao Zhonghe thought, feeling uncertain.

At the divination stand, the diviner continued to shake the bell.

Zhao Yuan noticed his uncle’s strange expression and became interested in the divination master. He stepped forward, sat on the stool, and said with some anticipation, "Master, please read my fortune as well..."

Zhao Yuan had always been obsessed with studying and achieving fame, and that was what he inquired about this time.

Unfortunately, after calculating, the divination master only shook his head.

"No chance at all?" Zhao Yuan still held a glimmer of hope.

At this moment, a yellow dog passed by the bridgehead, and the divination master pointed to the dog and said, "There’s a chance, but you must wait behind it."

"..."

Zhao Yuan left the stool in despair, and the next moment, Xu Qing sat down.

"How much does a divination cost?"

"Pay as much as you think is appropriate, I will read your fortune based on it!"

Seeing Xu Qing sit down, the divination master’s attitude obviously differed from others.

Alright! This divination master seems a bit petty!

Xu Qing didn’t mind, he took out a copper plate and pushed it to the divination master with a smile, "I want to ask you, who is buried in the Ancient Yin River Dao?"

Earlier, when he went to the Ghost King Mausoleum, Xu Qing saw many skeletal remains of bull-headed, human-bodied creatures, half-buried horse-headed, human-bodied bones, and many unidentified strange fish skeletons scattered around.

Those bones, aside from their peculiar structures, had nothing special about them, but Xu Qing spotted some unusual things from these remains.

The Ancient Yin River Dao seemed to be a burial ground, and those creatures appeared to be burial accompaniments that, after ages of transformation, had been exposed from underground.

Hearing Xu Qing’s question, the divination master remained silent for a while, then said, "Why don’t you ask another question."

Xu Qing raised his eyebrow, took out a piece of fragmented silver.

"I only have this one question! Didn’t you say you know all the past and present? How could you not know even this?"

The slender-faced divination master’s face turned black, he picked up the doorkeeper’s ruler and pushed the copper plate and fragmented silver back to Xu Qing.

"This matter goes against the heavenly way, I cannot tell."

Seeing this, Xu Qing chuckled inwardly and countered, "You say this matter goes against the heavenly way, but isn’t calculating life and death also against the heavenly way?"

"What do you mean by that?" The divination master frowned.

Xu Qing replied unhurriedly, "Each profession has its specialty. In terms of divination, I am not as skilled as you, but I know a bit. It’s said that calculating life harms death, and calculating death harms life."

"If I’m not mistaken, you once divined for someone named Shi Quan. He didn’t believe your prophecy about life and death, so he insisted on going out to sea on official business despite your warning..."

Xu Qing changed his tone, reminding, "You might as well divine who’s in this coffin."

The divination master calculated, his frown growing deeper, until finally he spoke, "This person’s life and death are their own doing, what does it have to do with me?"

Xu Qing smiled, "You said just now that you don’t calculate your own affairs, didn’t you realize that you’re also part of fate? If Shi Quan had listened to you and stayed at the government office, he might have followed someone else’s advice..."

"Of course, this matter has nothing to do with you. It’s just that it coincidentally fulfilled the prophecy. As for whether it’s against the heavenly way or harms life and death, it’s up to you to decide."

The divination master’s expression changed, and finally, he laughed self-deprecatingly, "I see, no wonder you’re giving me a hard time. It’s an old enemy coming."

"Alright, I’ll make an exception this time. Ask your question!"

Xu Qing smiled slightly and repeated his question, "Who is buried in the Ancient Yin River Dao?"

The divination master shook his head, "The Ancient Yin River Dao doesn’t bury anyone."

"Then what?"

"The Heaven-Reaching Road was cut off, it buries countless cultivators seeking immortality."

"The Heaven-Reaching Road was cut off?" Xu Qing heard this for the first time and frowned, "What’s the connection with the buried cultivators?"

The divination master stayed silent for a moment, then retrieved the silver and copper plate he previously pushed away.

"The earth’s path is not severed, traveling through the underworld might lead to the Heaven-Reaching Road. The Ancient Yin River Dao buries the pioneers of that road."

Xu Qing’s eyes widened, isn’t that like climbing over a wall with a ladder?

"Why was the Heaven-Reaching Road cut off?" Xu Qing couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Without a second thought, the divination master stood up and began to pack up his stall.

"A divination is limited to three times. I’ve answered your question for one time, don’t ask again." قال المتحدث.

With that, the divination master fell silent, seemingly having reached his daily limit for divinations.

"What did Shopkeeper Xu ask about? Was his divination accurate?"

In the carriage, Zhao Yuan asked curiously.

Xu Qing shook his head, still pondering the divination master’s words.

If the Ancient Yin River Dao is a path to the underworld, then isn’t Hu Baosong’s Hu family ancestors the pioneers trying to break through the Heaven-Reaching Road?

The Heaven-Reaching Road in the mortal world is severed; only by traversing the underworld can one achieve immortality and the Way...

Xu Qing thought of his Sutra of Salvation, recalling the white light dots floating around the babies at the Child-Giving Temple.

If there really is an underworld, why can’t the mortal world see Soul-Seeking Ghost Messengers?

Thinking of this, Xu Qing suddenly froze.

He thought of the strange remains scattered on the Ancient Yin River Dao.

Could it be that these ghost messengers and yakshas were exterminated by the cultivators of the mortal world?

What exactly happened a thousand years ago...

...

As Xu Qing continued to ponder, the divination master, who had just packed up and left not far from Tanggu Bridge, was also deep in thought.

The young man he encountered today was truly odd. The divination master was left puzzled, feeling as if a cat was scratching at his heart.

The Jing Sect people have this quirk: the more they come across something they don’t know or are curious about, the more they want to learn about it.

"Playing tricks, let me see what spirit you are."

The divination master calculated with his fingers, immediately realizing something was off.

Government Official leader, meticulous despite being straightforward, brave and healthy...

How can this be connected to the constable with a foul mouth?

The divination master wiped his hand on his robe, thinking the hand sweat from earlier made it less accurate, and decided to try again.

Widow, thirty-nine years and two months old, a mature woman past her prime...

No, no, the divination master switched hands and calculated again.

Xu Qing, still absorbing this, quickly added, "Practicing at Xijing Mountain, a yellow weasel called Zhao Yuan who has failed the child student exam five years in a row?"

How is it getting even more confusing?

The divination master’s frown deepened.

The Jing Sect has a saying: ’Three questions only.’ This phrase also appears in the "Book of Changes," meaning ’It’s not I who seek the innocent, it’s the innocent who seek me; keep inquiring and it won’t be told’.

For the same matter, the divination master had already divined thrice. If he continued, it could displease Heaven, leading to punishment.

The divination master knew this but remained skeptical!

Since leaving the mountain, he had never encountered a situation he couldn’t understand.

"Today, I must see what kind of demon you are!"

The divination master took out the copper plate given by Xu Qing and added two additional copper coins into the turtle shell.

Lips tightly closed, the divination master, his face tense, continued shaking the turtle shell with copper coins.

When he felt a divine response, the divination master abruptly opened his eyes and threw the copper coins from the turtle shell.

The three copper coins spun on the ground, and as they settled, the divination master’s expression changed drastically.

Oh no!

All three copper coins stood upright, which is an ill omen!

Sure enough, the next moment, the clear weather suddenly shifted with rolling dark clouds, and the divination master hurriedly left, leaving his stall behind. He threw his divination robe onto a nearby tree and removed the large black mole from his face, discarding it.

The divination master rubbed his face and transformed his appearance.

Just then, a clap of thunder rang out, the centuries-old elm tree nearby split and burst into flames, sending blue smoke skyward.

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