Chapter 44: Sacred Moon Blocks, Fortune Sticks, and Interpreting the Verses

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Chapter 44: Sacred Moon Blocks, Fortune Sticks, and Interpreting the Verses

Hearing Chen Yuan, the Daoist spread his hands. “Honestly, although the method of using moon blocks is very simple, how many people know how to use them nowadays? Even if we put out a set of moon blocks, hardly anyone would know what to do with them. People burn incense however they please and call it a day. If they start using the moon blocks however they please too, that would be even more pointless. So we figured that rather than let everyone misuse them, we might as well not put them out at all.”

Chen Yuan felt the same way. The Daoist tradition was truly in decline. These days, a great many people believed in Christianity, while Buddhism was flourishing as well. You could find Buddha-shaped ornaments and other such things in all sorts of jewelry stores, but traces of Daoism seemed to exist only in places like Daoist temples. Otherwise, it was mostly associated with things like feng shui and fortune-telling. Under such circumstances, preserving people’s familiarity with moon blocks was indeed unlikely. No wonder the Daoist had reluctantly removed them and left only things like interpreting fortune sticks, which were of interest to ordinary visitors.

“Actually, it’s the same with fortune-stick interpretation. Some people think it’s basically like fortune-telling and can help them see the future. But aren’t most of the people who come here to visit just following the crowd? Whether they’re drawing fortune sticks or doing anything else, they’re mostly just fooling around.” As he spoke, the Daoist glanced toward the people waiting nearby to have their sticks interpreted and curled his lips.

Chen Yuan truly understood that sense of helplessness. It was like how so many people treated things such as fortune-telling and feng shui as entertainment, running off to get their fortunes told on a whim. To those who actually understood the subject, such behavior was incredibly foolish. Fortune-telling wasn’t something you could just do whenever you felt like it. Doing it too often could have an adverse effect on the person whose fortune was being examined, and it also showed a lack of respect for the practice. What was the point of having your fortune told over and over? Did you have to keep doing it until you got the answer you wanted? If so, what was the point?

“Do you remove the bad fortune sticks here too?” Chen Yuan asked.

Normally, a divination lottery tube held one hundred sticks, divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. Everyone wanted to draw an auspicious stick and nobody wanted a bad one. Because of this, some places that used fortune sticks had, from a long time ago, removed all the worst sticks from their tubes, leaving only the better ones. That way, visitors would always draw auspicious verses, catering to the public’s desire for good omens. But how could everything in life possibly be good? Even if those sticks had originally been accurate, after being tampered with like this, they could only be treated as a bit of entertainment.

“Of course not.” The Daoist smiled. “Life is only life because it has its ups and downs.”

“Not worried no one will come to draw fortune sticks anymore?” Chen Yuan smiled as well.

“We don’t need that little bit of money!” The Daoist had never been interested in catering to people’s desires just to make a little money from having fortune sticks drawn and interpreted.

Chen Yuan and the Daoist continued chatting happily, but the others didn’t necessarily understand what they were talking about, so they wandered around the main hall on their own.

Qin Zui and his wife were making polite conversation with Yu Shenliu, while Yu Shenliu’s gaze kept drifting toward Chen Yuan. Huo Jian dashed around the main hall, taking in everything, and then stopped beside the table where the fortune sticks were being interpreted, watching several young Daoists explain the results with great interest. The feeling was surprisingly similar to watching his master use all sorts of divination methods.

After watching for quite a while, he looked up and saw Sheng Kong and Huo Shu standing together, apparently talking about something.

He immediately became annoyed and dashed over to Huo Shu, grabbing her arm. “Sis, why don’t you go draw a fortune stick too?”

“Huh?” Huo Shu had been talking to Sheng Kong and was momentarily distracted by Huo Jian’s interruption. Draw a fortune stick? She looked at the line of people waiting to have their sticks interpreted, then silently looked away.

Seriously? Go squeeze in over there?

Whether it was having a fortune stick drawn or getting your fortune told, there was already a master right beside her. Why bother going anywhere else?

“Sis, Sis, goooo!” Huo Jian whined, dragging out the last syllable. He simply didn’t want his sister hanging around Sheng Kong. Sheng Kong was younger than his sister, wasn’t he? And he was already over eighteen and had only just passed the metropolitan examination. He wasn’t even in the same league as his sister. Huo Jian certainly wasn’t happy about the guy getting so close to her. Sure, compared with Rong Yan, Huo Jian would choose Sheng Kong, but there wasn’t much point in picking the taller of two short people, was there?

“Who knows whether it’ll be accurate? There’s no need.” Huo Shu shook her head, unwilling to move.

Huo Jian frowned. “Not accurate?” After thinking about it, he immediately ran over to one of the red pillars beside the main hall, first flashing the Daoist a smile before turning to Chen Yuan.

“Master, do you know how to interpret fortune sticks?”

“Interpret fortune sticks?” Chen Yuan blinked. “A little, I suppose.” After all, the Daoist temple where he had grown up had this sort of thing as well. He had been exposed to it from childhood, so of course he knew how.

“So I’ll have Sis draw a fortune stick, and you can interpret it for her, Master? Uh, Uncle will pay you!” Huo Jian had originally wondered whether he should pay himself. After all, he now understood that in metaphysics, there had to be an exchange. But then he remembered Chen Yuan’s usual fees and immediately decided to make Yu Shenliu pay instead. It could count as his uncle giving his niece some spending money, even if it was quite a substantial amount.

Chen Yuan, however, shook his head, his gaze falling on the Daoist. “I’m not here to step on anyone’s turf. This is their place, so if you’re going to have a fortune stick drawn here, you should follow their rules. If you want one, have one of the people over there interpret it for you.”

It was an unspoken rule: when you were on someone else’s turf, you followed their rules. If a person’s fate had already been read by one fortune-teller, another fortune-teller should avoid reading it again. That would be considered an offense against the first fortune-teller and was highly taboo. Similarly, if a feng shui practitioner encountered an arrangement someone else had already set up and casually altered it, that was also a major taboo. Even if the other person had deliberately arranged the feng shui to harm someone, it was still not something to be tampered with lightly. Doing so meant making an outright enemy of the other practitioner.

Chen Yuan had never encountered anyone with genuine ability before, so he had never paid much attention to such things. But now that he was on someone else’s turf, interpreting their fortune sticks for them would simply be going too far.

“Ah…” Huo Jian was disappointed by Chen Yuan’s answer. But he knew there was no room for negotiation once Chen Yuan had made up his mind. Even acting cute wouldn’t help, so he could only sigh.

At that moment, however, the Daoist spoke up. “Fellow Daoist, I’d actually be quite interested in seeing what you can do. Besides, having you here to give those juniors a little guidance would be a good thing.”

Although Chen Yuan clearly looked young, even younger than the several young Daoists interpreting fortune sticks over there, there was something about his bearing. To the Daoist, Chen Yuan seemed mature and composed, almost as though they were the same age. Thus, suggesting that Chen Yuan guide the others came naturally to him.

Seeing a chance, Huo Jian immediately perked up and tried to persuade Chen Yuan. “Master! Look, the Daoist himself said it’s fine. Just interpret one!”

Chen Yuan helplessly shook his head before answering Huo Jian. “All right.”

The moment Chen Yuan agreed, Huo Jian ran back to Huo Shu, squeezed Sheng Kong aside, and clung to his sister’s arm.

“Sis, Master agreed to interpret it for you! Go draw a fortune stick!”

Master Chen was going to do it?

Huo Shu was tempted by the prospect. Just then, Chen Yuan and the Daoist walked over.

“Go draw a fortune stick,” Chen Yuan said. “But before that…” He looked at the Daoist. “We still need the moon blocks.”

The Daoist laughed heartily, lifted the yellow cloth covering the altar table, and took the moon blocks out from underneath.

Looking at the implements, Huo Shu was a little confused. She wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do. She couldn’t help looking at Chen Yuan hesitantly.

At this point, everyone in the main hall had noticed what was happening. They watched Chen Yuan and the others curiously, wondering what they were up to. Yu Shenliu also ended his pointless small talk with Qin Zui and his wife and came to stand beside Chen Yuan, seemingly casually putting himself between Chen Yuan and everyone else.

“First, pay your respects to the gods,” Chen Yuan said, indicating that Huo Shu should prepare the incense. He then carefully explained to her the way he had offered incense earlier. Rituals passed down through the generations always had a reason behind them. If you just casually burned some incense and shook a fortune stick like everyone else, what was the difference between that and playing around? In that case, was there any need to have him interpret the fortune stick?

Huo Shu followed Chen Yuan’s instructions, while the other visitors also realized that he was teaching her the proper way to offer incense. Several of them immediately began imitating her with great interest.

The other Daoists watched curiously as Chen Yuan guided Huo Shu through each step. How did this person know the proper procedure? And with their martial uncle standing right beside him, could this really be some kind of master?

After Huo Shu finished offering the incense, Chen Yuan continued, “Pick up the divination lottery tube and kneel on the prayer mat. In your heart, think about today’s date and time, your name, the title of Laojun, and what you want to ask about. Think it through clearly. Then hold the tube level and gently shake it from side to side. Don’t shake it too hard. Wait for one stick to fall out on its own.”

Huo Shu followed his instructions, her face slightly flushed. To anyone watching, it was obvious that she was probably thinking about something related to romance or marriage. After shaking the tube for a while, one stick fell out. Huo Shu picked it up.

“Check which number it is, then put it back.” This was so that other visitors could draw their own sticks afterward. Although practically everyone was gathered around watching them now, the proper ritual still had to be followed.

Next, Chen Yuan had Huo Shu pick up the moon blocks.

“All right. In your heart, ask Laojun whether the question you asked is the one answered by the stick you just drew, then toss the moon blocks in your hands.”

The others finally began to understand how this strange-looking object was supposed to be used. Huo Shu silently asked her question, then tossed the moon blocks onto the floor.

One flat side up and one rounded side up. A shengbei , an auspicious result. So this was indeed the correct stick. Chen Yuan nodded. Sometimes the moon blocks had to be tossed three times, but once was enough here.

Seeing Huo Shu complete the series of proper rituals under Chen Yuan’s guidance, the Daoist smiled and asked, “Young lady, which stick did you draw?”

“Ah… the nineteenth.” Huo Shu answered.

“The nineteenth…” The Daoist thought for a moment before reciting the verse from memory. “The nineteenth stick is Liu Zhiyuan Takes Lady Yue . Its verse reads:

Alas, you have never had your moment before; This year, the stars are rather favorable. All your endeavors will go as you wish; A harmonious marriage will bring a noble son.”

Then he looked at Chen Yuan. “Fellow Daoist, what do you think?”

Chen Yuan smiled as well. Looking at Huo Shu, he winked. “This is a Superior Auspicious stick.”

Huo Shu immediately looked delighted. Superior sticks weren’t particularly rare, but the onlookers still murmured among themselves, saying how lucky she was to have drawn one. By now, practically everyone was waiting to see what would come of Huo Shu’s fortune stick.

“You were asking about your romantic prospects?” Chen Yuan asked, even though he already knew the answer.

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