After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 114: Chapter 115: Another Worst Lot

"But since yesterday morning, my connection with the Lord Water Spirit has been severed. No matter how I call out, it doesn’t respond!"

"There’s nothing I can do." The old man handed the fortune sticks back to Hee Lingchuan. "Besides, these two sticks are designated as ’Silence Seals’. There must be a reason for it. The Lord Water Spirit often said that some heavenly secrets can only be seen, not spoken."

Hee Lingchuan waved the two sticks and asked, "The Old Turtle Demon made two new sticks just for me. Didn’t it have any requests?"

"The Lord Water Spirit said, ’Let fate run its course.’"

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief. Hee Yue patted his older brother’s shoulder and said, "Don’t lose heart. According to the Water Spirit, even though you drew the worst fortunes, it might not necessarily be a bad thing."

"No, no, the Lord Water Spirit’s fortunes are very accurate—they come true eight out of ten times." Old Liu, as the former Fortune Interpreter, was being far too honest. "There are very few of the worst fortunes in this container. In the past ten years, only five have ever been drawn. And when they appear, it’s a sure sign of great disaster! Besides the two in your hands, the people who drew the first two are both dead. One was beheaded by bandits, the other drowned in a flood. It’s said they both suffered immensely before they died!"

The temple hall instantly fell as silent as a graveyard.

"It gives me the worst fortunes, two of them at once, and then refuses to interpret them!" Hee Lingchuan’s eyes burned with fury. "What is the meaning of this!"

He shot Old Liu a cold smile. "Don’t tell me that Old Turtle Demon isn’t dead at all, but is hiding in some corner, messing with us?"

Old Liu said dryly, "That, I wouldn’t know. I’m just a Cemetery Guardian. I don’t know what’s going on in the lake."

He was a man, not a fish. How was he supposed to know what had really happened to the Water Spirit?

"However, the Lord Water Spirit did say that those who draw the worst fortunes should be cautious and prepare for the worst. That way, there might still be a glimmer of hope."

Hee Lingchuan found it ridiculous. "If it’s so accurate, how could it not foresee its own demise?"

Someone outside interjected, "Whose demise?"

Everyone turned to see Hee Chunhua arriving, flanked by two Guards.

Hee Yue asked in surprise, "Why are you out here too?" With danger lurking everywhere and vicious bandits on the prowl, the whole family was treating this like an outing.

"This is the liveliest spot in the eastern village. How could I not come take a look?" He had asked a Patrol Guard on his way out, who told him the entire family was here. "What happened?"

"Big Brother asked for his fortune twice, and he got the worst possible outcome both times." Hee Yue was a quick talker and explained the situation in just a few words. "None of the rest of us were this unlucky. The Fortune Interpreter said the Water Spirit saved these specifically for Big Brother."

"The worst fortunes? Let me see."

Hee Chunhua took the two sticks and examined them, his brow furrowed. But then he burst into laughter. "You’re actually taking this seriously?"

Old Liu immediately said, "My lord, you may not know..."

Hee Chunhua waved his hand dismissively. "You’re the one who doesn’t understand. My son was watched over by Zhaomandu the Great Shaman as he grew up. The Great Shaman proclaimed long ago that Chuan’Er is blessed with both fortune and wealth, destined for greatness—a truly blessed general. These worst fortunes of yours are nonsense, utter nonsense!"

He stared intently at Hee Lingchuan. "Who do you believe? Zhaomandu the Great Shaman, or some Mountain Demons and Wild Beasts?"

Hee Lingchuan felt that his father’s gaze was unusually sharp.

"The Great Shaman." ’As if.’

"That’s my good son!" Hee Chunhua clapped him on the shoulder. "Besides, the Water Spirit Altar is already broken. That Turtle Demon is dead, so how could its prophecies still count?"

Hearing this, Madam Ying looked at the fortune stick in her hand. "Oh, and I actually drew the best possible fortune." ’So it doesn’t count?’

Hee Chunhua took her stick, glanced at it, and smiled. "I don’t need a fortune stick to know that your future is sure to be bright and beautiful."

"Oh, my lord!" Madam Ying’s smile was radiant. "Would you like to draw one too?"

The words came out naturally, but she immediately felt she had misspoken.

Hee Chunhua wasn’t angry, but his refusal was firm. "I’m not drawing one! They don’t count anyway."

Fuzzy Peach then asked Old Liu, "By the way, you said a total of five of the worst fortunes have been drawn. You’ve accounted for four of them, so what happened to the last one?"

Hee Lingchuan had two of them, and the recipients of the other two were already dead.

"That was an outsider. He left the day after drawing his fortune, so I don’t know what happened to him in the end." Old Liu scratched the back of his head. "Several months ago, two outsiders came by, one old and one young. They said they wanted to see the place where the High Ancestor began his uprising. The young one wanted to ask for a fortune at the Water Spirit Temple, but the old one said it was useless. His exact words were something like, ’Your fate is not decided by the heavens.’ But the young man came back secretly the next day and even pushed a lot of offerings into the lake. I told him the Water Spirit had already sealed the fortunes, but he didn’t believe me. Afterwards, no matter how much he shook the container, not a single stick came out."

"The young man muttered to himself, ’So it really isn’t decided by the heavens, is it?’ and left in disappointment. Who knew that after he was gone, just as I was about to put the fortune container back on the high shelf, a red stick suddenly fell out. I just assumed it was the one he had drawn."

Hee Lingchuan turned and asked, "Where is that stick?" The old man had said earlier that every "worst fortune" stick drawn was to be taken out and set aside.

"It’s here, it’s here." Old Liu went into the small, low-roofed room to the west and rummaged around.

Soon, he returned with a red fortune stick.

Everyone looked. The "worst fortune" stick had a line of small writing on it:

Vast yellow sands stretch on, ambition unfulfilled, the body falls first...

Fuzzy Peach grew impatient and voiced what everyone was thinking: "What about the last word?"

What the hell? Why is a piece of the stick burned off?

The last word was burned away.

Old Liu said, embarrassed, "Ah, last time I was burning firewood, it fell into the kindling pile and almost burned up completely."

"Do you remember what the burned word was?"

"N-no, I don’t remember." Old Liu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "There are one or two hundred fortune sticks here. How could I remember them all?"

Hee Lingchuan suddenly asked, "What was this young guest’s surname?"

"Th-that..." Old Liu thought for a long time. "It’s been several months. But his surname was quite uncommon."

"Was it Nian?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes!" It was as if a light went on in Old Liu’s head. "That’s it, Nian! The same ’Nian’ as in ’New Year’!"

Seeing the dark expression on her husband’s face, Madam Ying quickly took out a few copper coins and gave them to the old man. "Alright, alright, that’s enough for today. You should go get some rest."

Hee Lingchuan walked out of the Water Spirit Temple in silence, then suddenly slammed his fist into a small tree.

CRACK! The small tree snapped under the force.

Hee Chunhua followed him out and said gravely to his eldest son, "Calm down! Chuan’Er, sometimes things are coincidental, but they’re just coincidences!"

Hee Lingchuan remained silent, his expression grim.

’The one who drew that worst fortune was undoubtedly Nian Songyu. So that kid has been here too!’

’The vast yellow sands... that corresponds to the Panlong Desert.’

’Ambition unfulfilled... hmm, the Nian Family’s father and son duo really did have the hearts of rebels.’

’As for those last three words, Hee Lingchuan thought of the "Celestial God" that had descended upon Nian Songyu, and they seemed to fit quite well.’

’It seemed that, for this divination at least, the Old Turtle Demon hadn’t been wrong!’