Chapter 9: When the Mysterious Comes True, It Inspires Awe

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Chapter 9: When the Mysterious Comes True, It Inspires Awe

Qin Zui didn’t even know what he was feeling. On the one hand, he thought he was being foolish for actually following the young man’s instructions and doing these strange things after meeting him only once. On the other hand, he couldn’t help telling himself to give it a try. It wasn’t as though he had anything to lose.

He followed the path ahead, without knowing where it would lead. He kept thinking about the young man’s words, Stop when you see the mountain , but couldn’t make sense of what they meant.

Lost in thought, he soon came to a fork in the path.

Qin Zui stopped, unsure which way to go. Was he really supposed to keep wandering around like a headless fly? He looked up, then froze.

Splitting the path in two was an oddly shaped artificial rockery.

A rockery? Stop when you see the mountain?

For a moment, Qin Zui eyed the artificial rockery in front of him suspiciously. It could hardly be called a “mountain,” and he wasn’t sure whether this was really where Chen Yuan had meant for him to stop.

But before he could think about it any further, a voice came from beside him.

“Husband?”

A surge of delight suddenly welled up inside Qin Zui. He spun around, only to feel a strange sense of awe at the same time.

At Chen Yuan.

Meanwhile, Chen Yuan was sitting leisurely at the stone table, holding Huo Jian’s phone and continuously scrolling through it.

As it turned out, Chen Yuan had been right to assume that this world’s level of development was roughly on par with that of his former world. Huo Jian’s typical smartphone and the advanced mobile websites were proof enough. But Chen Yuan only gave them a cursory glance before beginning to search for what he was actually interested in.

To calculate Bazi, he first needed to understand the calendar system. A quick search for the calendar gave him the information he needed.

The Chinese calendar system was in use, with the unification of the Six States by Qin marking the first year of the Chinese calendar and serving as the current world’s dating system. A year had 365 days, with months divided into long and short months, and February having both common and leap versions. In this regard, it was almost identical to the world he had once known.

The current year was 2233. Beginning on the twenty-third day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, it was the year of Renchen, the Year of the Dragon.

After looking up the historical dynasties as well, Chen Yuan finally had a clearer grasp of this world’s history.

Up until the Ming Dynasty, all of history had been the same as in the world he once knew. Then, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, a major transformation took place. The Ming Emperor Ying carried out reforms that modernized the entire country and established the system they had today. From then on, Huaxia remained the most powerful nation in the world, right up to the present day.

A historical turning point? It seemed that the two worlds had originally followed the same path, only beginning to diverge during the Ming Dynasty. Chen Yuan skimmed through the information without paying much attention. It had little to do with him, anyway.

He raised his hand and, taking January 23, 2233, as the first day of the first month of the Renchen year, quickly tapped his thumb against his other fingers. He casually picked different dates recorded according to this calendar and converted them into the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches system. He was familiarizing himself with the calendar so that it would be convenient for him to calculate people’s Bazi in the future.

With his phone taken away, Huo Jian had nothing to do and had originally been looking around. But when he saw what Chen Yuan was doing, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

That movement. That posture.

Was this… was this the legendary finger divination?

So amazing!

The moment Huo Jian saw Chen Yuan’s movements, he immediately thought of all those incredibly impressive masters in TV shows and movies who could casually pinch their fingers a few times and somehow calculate where something was about to happen. After seeing Chen Yuan tell fortunes several times, Huo Jian had already begun to wonder if Chen Yuan might really be a master of that level. Now that he saw Chen Yuan performing this finger calculation, Huo Jian instantly decided that Chen Yuan must be Dongfang Shuo, the legendary Han-dynasty astrologer and diviner, reborn, or Yuan Tiangang, the renowned Tang-dynasty fortune-teller and physiognomist, reincarnated.

After calculating several years in succession and confirming that he had gotten the hang of it and there were no problems, Chen Yuan finally lowered his hand, picked up the phone, and prepared to return it to Huo Jian.

When he looked up, he saw Huo Jian’s sparkling eyes.

He instinctively looked himself over but couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Chen Yuan asked, “What is it?”

“Master.” Huo Jian leaned a little closer, looking mysterious. “Was that finger divination just now?”

Chen Yuan nodded. “Mm. What’s wrong?”

Huo Jian immediately became excited at Chen Yuan’s confirmation. “Then, then… Master, is finger divination really that amazing? Can you calculate things like a sudden rainstorm at noon or a customer showing up right away?”

Hearing Huo Jian’s examples, Chen Yuan couldn’t help smiling and shaking his head. “You think finger divination works like that?”

“Doesn’t it?” Huo Jian stared at Chen Yuan blankly.

Honestly, so many people misunderstood it. Chen Yuan found it rather amusing, but patiently explained, “What is called finger divination is actually a method of quickly converting different calendar dates into the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches system using your fingers.”

“If I were to teach you in detail, it would be a little troublesome.” Chen Yuan thought for a moment before continuing. “Put it this way. You assign Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, and so on to different sections of your fingers, then use your thumb to move through them and count quickly. It’s really no different in principle from memorizing the multiplication table. There’s nothing particularly mystical about it. Understand?”

Huo Jian silently blinked once, his expression slowly changing from excitement to disappointment.

He had thought finger divination was something incredibly mysterious, but his master had actually said it was basically the same as the multiplication table? What a letdown.

Huo Jian’s instant deflation made Chen Yuan laugh. He comforted him, gently smoothing things over. “But what I meant by finger divination was simply using your fingers to convert dates into the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Apparently, there is another kind of finger divination, the kind you were thinking of, that can reveal all sorts of information. I don’t know exactly how it works, though. After all, that isn’t the same thing as the kind of finger divination I know.”

“Some people can determine someone’s fate by feeling the shape of their hand bones, while others can see through you using something that belongs to you. There are all kinds of different methods in metaphysics, and none of them can be fully explained.”

“But if someone really could perform that kind of finger divination, they would certainly be an extremely rare talent. The chances of you ever meeting one would be pretty slim.”

After saying this, Chen Yuan fell silent and fixed his eyes on the direction Qin Zui had left.

Huo Jian had originally wanted to ask about fortune-telling by feeling someone’s bones. It sounded quite interesting. But when he saw what Chen Yuan was doing, he looked over as well.

A dozen or so seconds later, two figures appeared at the intersection.

It was Qin Zui, who had just left, accompanied by a woman with a graceful bearing. Judging by the way they looked, she was probably his wife?

When they reached Chen Yuan, Qin Zui’s gaze became somewhat evasive. The woman, however, hurried forward with a warm, gentle smile. “Master, my husband was rather rude. I hope you won’t take offense.”

Chen Yuan shook his head. He didn’t mind Qin Zui’s earlier distrust. Who in this line of work had never been treated like a swindler? Those with genuine ability would naturally be able to make people believe in them. He tapped the table before finally saying, “That’ll be five hundred yuan.”

Xu Jiaohua readily raised her hand, took five bills from the handbag hanging from her wrist, and handed them directly to Chen Yuan.

A thousand yuan earned this morning. Chen Yuan did the math in his head. Everything was going smoothly.

“What is your surname, Master?” Xu Jiaohua clearly had no intention of leaving yet. She sat down across from the stone table, then motioned for Qin Zui to sit beside her. From the way she spoke to Chen Yuan, it seemed she wanted to build a connection with him. After all, what she had learned from her husband earlier made it clear that this young man was no ordinary person. Naturally, it would be beneficial to have some connection with him. This wasn’t being worldly or calculating; it was simply something one ought to understand when making one’s way through life.

“My surname is Chen,” Chen Yuan replied.

On the surface, he seemed like nothing more than an inexperienced young man. But as a practitioner, his heart was clear. Since Chen Yuan had already seen through the reason behind the couple’s quarrel, he now understood exactly what this woman wanted.

Put simply, Qin Zui worked in government and had moved up thanks to Xu Jiaohua’s connections this time. He felt that he was living off his wife’s family, which left him unhappy. He was also worried that someone might find out and leave him unable to save face.

Now Xu Jiaohua simply wanted Chen Yuan to give her a solution.

Chen Yuan had never been accustomed to beating around the bush. He straightforwardly spread his hand out in front of Xu Jiaohua again, making her pause in surprise.

She was no ordinary woman. Xu Jiaohua immediately understood what Chen Yuan meant and took out another five hundred yuan, placing it in his hand.

In return, Chen Yuan said, “Don’t worry. Now that you’ve already seen the mountain, everything that follows will go smoothly.”

After saying this, Chen Yuan made another gesture indicating that they should leave. Even though they weren’t on Chen Yuan’s turf at all, but merely sitting in a pavilion in the park, he carried himself as though he were.

Chen Yuan’s words sounded rather perfunctory, almost as if he hadn’t said anything at all. Yet after he gestured for them to leave, Xu Jiaohua still rose and said, “Thank you so much for your guidance,” before pulling Qin Zui away from the pavilion.

He has such presence.

Huo Jian looked at Chen Yuan with immense admiration.

Chen Yuan glanced at Huo Jian, the corners of his lips curling upward. “Even if the other party has an extraordinary status, what does that have to do with me? Since we have no connection, why should I bend over backward to be polite and waste time exchanging empty pleasantries with them?” People like that tended to be suspicious by nature. There would be plenty of opportunities later to make them trust him completely.

The pavilion was secluded, and Chen Yuan had only seen three people there all morning. By noon, it was already approaching midday.

For some reason, just as noon approached, heavy rain began falling from what had originally been a clear sky.

Huo Jian could only wail about not bringing an umbrella. He frantically played with his phone until the battery died, leaving him unable to even contact his uncle. For a moment, he had no idea what to do, yet he failed to notice the amused look Chen Yuan gave him.

Earlier, when Huo Jian had mentioned finger divination, he had casually given two examples: “a sudden rainstorm at noon” and “a customer showing up right away.” The second had come true with that married couple, and now the first had happened as well. Perhaps this kid really did have some connection to metaphysics?

“All right, don’t worry about the umbrella. Sit for a while.” After saying this, Chen Yuan looked out at the torrential rain beyond the pavilion, slowly stood up, gathered the things he had brought with him, and then simply sat back down without moving.

Seeing how calm Chen Yuan was, Huo Jian was still somewhat worried, but he sat down as well. Was Chen Yuan waiting for something?

Two minutes later, when Yu Shenliu appeared with an umbrella, Huo Jian was completely convinced.

His uncle was so busy with work that under normal circumstances, how would he even notice whether it was raining, let alone come all the way over to bring them an umbrella? Why was it that ever since he started following his master, all these unbelievable things kept happening!?

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