Chapter 40: First Attempt at Divination

"Walking?"

I frowned slightly. The "sister-in-law" Er Pang referred to must be that female corpse.

What kind of weight would one need to have to walk with such a heavy commotion? I remembered her figure being quite perfect—curvaceous and elegant. A total stunner of a woman; why would a few steps cause such a racket?

Filled with doubt, I slowly climbed out of bed, put on my shoes, and headed outside. The pain in my body wasn't particularly sharp, just a slight sense of discomfort.

As I reached for the door, Er Pang called out, "Tiangang, let’s get this straight: don't get too excited when you see her."

Excited? Why would I be excited watching her walk?

Full of curiosity, I pushed open the door and looked out. And with that look, I was truly bewildered.

My courtyard was exactly as I had left it, still littered with the same chicken feathers. The only difference was that a tall, cold, and stunningly beautiful woman was currently jumping around the yard.

Yes, jumping. And it was a stiff-legged, double-footed hop.

*Thump—thump—thump—*

She was moving sideways, hopping along like that. A breeze blew past, causing leaves to drift down.

I had assumed that this female corpse, supposedly my betrothed, was finally able to stand up and breathe like a normal woman. After all, she possessed an exquisite figure and immense power. Where else could I find a wife like that? But I never imagined she would walk by hopping.

I stared at her blankly. Every time she jumped, those long, beautiful legs would leave the ground. Her proud, ample bosom swayed rhythmically with each leap.

I didn't even take a second look at those two massive mounds bobbing in the air. The sight was so bizarre—paired with the female corpse's icy, indifferent expression—that I felt like digging my nails into the courtyard soil.

The female corpse seemed to sense me watching. She turned her head slowly, her cold, clear face filled with a look of pure, unadulterated stupidity.

Our eyes met.

Me: "..."
Female Corpse: "..."

The awkwardness lingered for a moment. I broke the silence, walking out and trying to appear as natural as possible. As I approached, I asked, "Miss, um, where exactly did my family go? Those Taoist priests said you are a Ninth-Grade Fortune Teller; you must be able to calculate where they went, right? And what exactly happened in the village..."

A cold voice rang out. "Aren't you a fortune teller yourself? Calculate it yourself. How am I supposed to do it in this state?"

As she spoke, she raised her stiff arms. It seemed she couldn't bend them either.

"Pfft—"

I couldn't hold it back and burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Sorry, I didn't mean to, it's just... what happened to you? Why are you still like this after waking up... hahah..."

*BANG!!!*

The female corpse flickered and appeared right in front of me. The next second, she swung her arm at me, knocking me straight to the ground!

"Ouch!"

I clutched my backside, the smile vanishing from my face instantly. Alright. Even if she was stiff as a board, she was more than capable of hitting me, and her speed was incredible...

The female corpse looked down at me from above and said, "There are divination coins in the room. Go calculate it yourself. You have ten minutes, then come back out and find me!"

"Oh!"

Rubbing my backside, I slinked back into the room. Er Pang, having climbed down from the window, saw my sorry state and immediately burst into laughter.

"Tiangang, the sister-in-law is pretty fierce, isn't she? You've become henpecked, haven't you? Hahaha..."

*CRASH!!!*

An arm smashed through the wall outside the window. Those long fingers slapped Er Pang across the face.

*BOOM!*

Er Pang was sent sprawling to the floor. Then, the arms were retracted, completely unscathed.

At this, both Er Pang and I went quiet. Neither of us dared to laugh anymore.

I looked at a dark yellow bundle on the table, seemingly made from some kind of animal hide. I walked over and opened it gently, revealing three green copper coins. Inside the hide was a Bagua diagram.

These were tools for fortune telling—Heaven, Earth, and Man hexagrams, Life and Death gates, all present. The craftsmanship was exquisite; while the exterior looked plain, the patterns inside were burned on and then traced with gold powder.

The three copper coins didn't look ordinary either. Despite looking brand new, they exuded an aura of great antiquity.

Is this what a Ninth-Grade Fortune Teller's Bagua diagram looks like? Usually, the items used by people in the trade possess some spiritual resonance, and the older they are, the stronger that resonance becomes. Using such tools can, in a sense, tap into their energy. If one is a fortune teller, it naturally makes the readings far more precise than doing it on one's own.

I carefully spread the Bagua diagram on the table and found my position. Since I couldn't read my own fortune, I said to Er Pang, who was staring blankly at the map, "Shake the coins. Three times. Stand exactly where I am."

For now, I had only learned the theory from books; I didn't even have any Taoist *Qi* in my body. In other words, I couldn't even be considered a beginner. I could only rely on simple coin divination—the most basic form of fortune telling.

This was why you often saw people at the edge of parks or under overpasses using this Bagua diagram. They were all people who hadn't made much progress, using basic methods to scrape by.

Er Pang didn't understand, but he stood in my spot obediently. "Just grab them and toss them?" he asked.

I nodded, sitting opposite him.

*Jingle, jingle, jingle—*

The coins were magical. Ordinary copper coins produced a dull, low sound, but these green ones emitted a crisp, melodic chime. It wasn't quite a bell, but it was just as delicate.

*Clatter!*

Er Pang tossed them onto the Bagua diagram. One coin face-up, two coins face-down. *Shaoyang*? Looking at the positions, the coin was in the *Kun* (Earth) trigram, and the two coins were in the *Qian* (Heaven) trigram.

A great omen of disaster!

I frowned slightly. "Shake them again!" I told Er Pang.

Er Pang picked them up, and once again, that crisp sound rang out before they scattered across the diagram.

One coin face-up, two face-down. *Qian* and *Kun* positions.

Same as before? The odds of that were astronomically low. How could it be the same twice? Just how ominous was this?

My expression turned grave. "Try changing your force a little," I told Er Pang. "They came out the same."

Er Pang nodded immediately, picked them up, and shook them vigorously before letting them drop. This time, it was different.

Two coins face-up, one face-down. The two coins landed in the *Qian* position—a sign of great fortune. But, as luck would have it, the single coin landed exactly on the Gate of Death!

Great fortune followed by the Gate of Death. A "happy funeral"? What did that mean? Could it be that my grandfather had passed away peacefully? But that was impossible. Just a few days ago, he had been full of vigor. He didn't look like an old man on the brink of death at all.

No. The direction was wrong.

*Qian* is Heaven, *Kun* is Earth, *Zhen* is Thunder, *Xun* is Wind, *Kan* is Water, *Gen* is Mountain, *Li* is Fire, *Dui* is Marsh...

Two Heavens for one Earth. Sealed by Heaven and Earth, sitting in the South, no results in the North, the South is the exit...

Does this mean I need to go South to find my family?