Chapter 234: Returning Together (Part IV)
Hearing this, Xiao Ran turned to the youth. “Swap how? Who could we swap with to satisfy her?”
The youth tilted his head, looked at Xiao Ji, and curled his lips into a smile. “I think your Senior Brother Wuyan here is a fine choice. He’s incredibly handsome and refined—an excellent candidate.”
The moment his words landed, Xiao Ran flew into a rage. “Nonsense! How dare you blaspheme our Immortal Sect’s Buddhist Son! You’re also incredibly handsome and refined, so why don’t you go?!”
Hearing this, the youth stared at Xiao Ji with his narrow, peach-blossom eyes. “If I could catch that demon’s eye, it wouldn’t be impossible. But I was traveling with everyone that day, and the demon didn’t linger on my beauty to keep me behind. I suppose she simply didn’t fancy me.”
“Sigh, Buddhist Son, why don’t you give it a try? Just consider it sacrificing yourself to save others and delivering all living beings. How about it?”
His tone lifted slightly at the end, carrying a hook—just like those peach-blossom eyes of his—making him look entirely unlike a decent, proper person.
Xiao Ran hadn’t paid much attention to this person before. Initially, he had only glanced at him twice because of his striking looks. But afterward, the man’s presence was virtually nonexistent; he stayed silent, huddled in the corner, and didn’t interact with anyone.
Who could have expected that the moment he opened his mouth, he would be so obnoxiously irritating?
He snapped angrily, “Cease your insolence, or I won’t spare you.”
The youth narrowed his eyes and let out a sarcastic “Yo.” “Getting anxious? Why bother? Your Buddhist Son hasn’t even said he’s unwilling yet, so what are you yapping blindly about?”
“I was merely offering a helpful suggestion. What if it works? Then everyone gets to leave. If we don’t even try, then we can all just wait here to die. Having so many people buried with me isn’t a bad deal anyway.”
He put on a careless, ‘broken-pot’ attitude, looking entirely unbothered.
Xiao Ji didn’t respond to anyone’s words. He merely pulled out his copper coins and initiated another divination.
Seeing him take out the copper coins, the surrounding people consciously cleared a space and fell silent.
Xiao Ji sat cross-legged. The first divination was to determine fortune or misfortune.
The copper coins fell: neither fortune nor misfortune.
He frowned. The second divination was to find the gate of life.
The copper coins fell: neither life nor death.
Among those present who could read the hexagrams were Xiao Ran and another Xiao family disciple. Seeing this, the two exchanged a glance, and Xiao Ran pressed his lips together:
“What does this mean?”
Xiao Ji remained silent.
Though seated far away, the youth suddenly burst into laughter. “Neither fortune nor misfortune, neither life nor death; possessing a solution yet simultaneously having none. Sigh, this… Buddhist Son, since you’re already casting divinations, why not cast one more?”
Xiao Ji looked up at the youth. “Cast what?”
The youth looked at Xiao Ji with a beaming smile. “Asking when you already know the answer. To calculate your romantic destiny, of course.”
If these words had been spoken a month ago, Xiao Ji would have definitely struck out and torn the man’s tongue from his mouth to stop his spouting of nonsense.
But Xiao Ji’s prayer beads had broken.
Because of this incident, he hadn’t had a peaceful, guilt-free night’s sleep in many days.
Xiao Ji didn’t move. With lowered eyes, he grasped the copper coins tightly in his hand and said flatly, “One does not divine their own fate.”
Hearing this, the youth stood up, walked over to Xiao Ji, stared into his eyes for a long moment, and held out his hand to him:
“Then why not let me do it?”
His eye color was very pale, and it seemed as if flames were burning within his pupils.
Xiao Ji felt this person was bizarre in every aspect. Dressed in coarse clothes yet exuding an extraordinary bearing—at first glance, Xiao Ji assumed he was some young master from a wealthy family who had sneaked out to play.
But looking at him now, it clearly wasn’t that simple.
In that brief exchange of glances, Xiao Ji silently cast a divination in his palm for this person. But the result caused a ripple in Xiao Ji’s heart.
Because he couldn’t divine a single thing; it was completely blank.
This could only mean one of two things: either this person’s cultivation level was far above his own, or this person’s destiny was so complex and unfathomable that Xiao Ji’s current cultivation wasn’t enough to calculate it.
The Xiao family had a master in the art of divination. The Great Elder of the Xiao family could calculate heaven and earth, life and death with a single cast. Yet, when calculating for Xiao Ji, his vision had been entirely obscured by thick fog, resulting in a blank hexagram.
And right now, this very person was holding his hand out to Xiao Ji, offering to try.
Half-believing and half-doubting, Xiao Ji placed the copper coins into the extended hand before him.
It wasn’t that he was genuinely interested in his romantic destiny; he merely wanted to see exactly how capable this person really was.
Xiao Ran and the others had wanted to interject—divining a romantic destiny for a Buddhist Son was pure absurdity.
But seeing Xiao Ji hand the copper coins over so willingly, they could only shut their mouths and stand aside to watch the spectacle.
The youth accepted the copper coins and opened his palm right in front of Xiao Ji.
The copper coins floated weightlessly above his palm, shifting continuously before falling back into his hand.
The youth said nothing. He simply pushed the copper coins toward Xiao Ji.
The onlookers exchanged bewildered glances, completely unable to decipher the profound meaning behind it.
But Xiao Ji understood. In his destiny, the Red Luan star had stirred.
The youth continued to look at him with a radiant smile. “What did I tell you? Buddhist Son, it’s time for you to return to secular life.”
“Bullshit!” Xiao Ran interrupted the youth. “You didn’t even ask for my Senior Brother’s birth characters!”
The youth reached out, grabbed Xiao Ji’s wrist, and returned the copper coins to his palm. Looking at Xiao Ran, he said:
“You still have a lot to learn. I’m holding his copper coins to divine for him; why the hell would I need his birth characters?”
After saying that, he turned his gaze back to Xiao Ji:
“Just be obedient and listen to me. Once the ceremony is complete, everyone can leave. Trust me, I won’t let you suffer a loss.”
Although Xiao Ji still didn’t show much emotion on his face, the youth could tell that Xiao Ji was deeply dissatisfied with this outcome.
He tilted his head. “Destiny dictates it. You cannot resist it.”
Xiao Ji understood the implication behind the youth’s words. The hexagram couldn’t be faked; he was destined to face this tribulation.
But to Xiao Ji, this actually wasn’t that important. If his karmic ties to Buddhism had ended, then they had ended. He had seen the signs early on and held no lingering attachments.
However, the matter of the Red Luan star stirring felt utterly absurd to him.
He had known early on that his ties to Buddhism were shallow, but he had spent so many years cultivating his mind and character, walking this very path. If his Buddhist affinity was truly so thin, those prayer beads would never have been handed to him back then, nor would he have achieved such profound mastery at such a young age.
His suspicions about the youth’s identity grew. After a moment of thought, he asked:
“Your name.”
The youth didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it. He spoke frankly:
“Tianque Palace’s Zhong Family, Zhong Yinnian.”
Translator’s Note:
- Buddhist Son (佛子 – Fozi): An honorific title for a highly talented or revered young monk/cultivator in the Buddhist path, often viewed as the future pillar of the sect.
- Red Luan star (紅鸾): In traditional Chinese astrology and fortune-telling, the stirring or movement of the Red Luan star signifies an upcoming marriage or deep romantic encounter.
- Birth characters (生辰八字): The Eight Characters of birth (year, month, day, and time) used in Chinese astrology for fortune-telling and matching compatibilities.
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