Chapter 41: Three Words of Parting

I walked over to the desk where I usually read. From the cabinet, I pulled out a tattered compass. It was a plastic-cased piece of junk my grandfather had bought for five yuan in town back when he was still swindling people. It looked like a wreck, but it was just barely functional.

I brought the compass to the Bagua diagram and placed it in the center. Comparing the two, the needle pointed toward the south... the city?

With that thought, I stopped worrying about Er Pang and pushed the door open. The female corpse was currently sitting on a stool in the courtyard, seemingly stretching her limbs.

"Miss, I..."

She raised her arm to stop me. "Who is a 'miss'?"

"Then... young lady?" I asked.

The female corpse lifted her eyes and gave me a cold stare.

I immediately blurted out, "Well, 'young lady' is disrespectful, so... we can't call you 'wife' either, right?"

"We haven't bowed to heaven and earth or held a wedding ceremony, so by what right would you call me that?" She glared at me coldly again.

I felt a wave of embarrassment. So, the implication was that we had to get married before we could share a bridal chamber? Looking at her graceful figure, I drifted off for a moment.

"Then tell me what I should call you..."

"Call me Master!"

The female corpse looked at me coldly, her eyes sharp enough to peel the skin right off me.

"That's putting me in a tough spot," I retorted. "What do you take me for? 'Master'..."

The female corpse couldn't be bothered with me. "What did you calculate?"

As she spoke, she picked up a bamboo rod from the ground. It looked like she had prepared it in advance. Was she going to check the homework I’d been doing for the last fifteen years? Linking this to her demand that I call her "Master," did this woman have some kind of twisted fetish?

I swallowed hard and said, "The 'two' and 'one' signs indicate great misfortune. One Qian, two Kun, positioned in the south—it should..." Since this was my first official divination, I was a bit nervous. I was terrified she’d hit me with the bamboo rod if I got it wrong.

"Speak faster!" the female corpse shouted.

I braced myself. "It should mean my family has gone to the city. The hexagram suggests there is a turning point in the south..."

I closed my eyes, bracing for her discipline. But after a few seconds, there was no movement. Instead, her voice came, sounding satisfied: "Not bad. For a first divination, you managed to pinpoint the direction and location. Now, tell me, what does the 'Gate of Death' you rolled mean?"

I hadn't even finished celebrating when I heard this. I was stunned. I really wasn't sure about that part.

My initial guess didn't seem very realistic.

"Speak!"

I quickly said, "A 'Happy Funeral'? Could it be that my grandfather... passed away peacefully of old age?"

"WHACK!!!"

A small bamboo rod whipped across my body! The sharp, piercing pain made me jump.

"Was that your hexagram? Why would your grandfather be dead?"

Hearing her, I realized immediately. Oh right! It was Er Pang who had rolled the dice, not me!

If that was the case, it wasn't a "Happy Funeral" for my family, but rather someone in Er Pang’s family had died. Yet, there is loss in every gain, and when things reach an extreme, they reverse. Er Pang had been having great luck lately! As for who died, it must have been Uncle Wang.

What was wrong with my brain? I slapped myself. It wasn't that I didn't understand such a simple principle. I had been asleep for seven days, and my head was still foggy when I started the divination. Plus, I had to let Er Pang roll the dice because I couldn't divine for myself. I had simply projected the result onto my own life.

I said to the female corpse, "That means this trip to the city is a lucky omen for us!"

Seeing that I had figured it out, the female corpse said blandly, "Pack your things. We're going to the city."

She stood up. I asked, "Where are you going?"

"I need to settle some affairs and pack my own things, obviously!"

Despite her vicious tone, she hopped away the next second. I almost couldn't help but laugh; it looked particularly comical when she wiggled her hips. I have to admit, though, her rear was very round... and so perky.

I slapped myself again. "I must be starving. How could I have such thoughts about a woman who is neither human nor corpse..."

After the female corpse hopped out of the courtyard, I looked around with a heavy heart. This was the place that raised me. Before I went up the mountain, the village had been bustling. Now, there wasn't a single living soul left. Once we left, this village would likely be abandoned and turn into a ghost town.

Actually, you couldn't blame the female corpse. People came here because of her, but whoever caused the corpse transformation was the real murderer who slaughtered the village!

On this trip to the city, I had to find my grandfather and the rest. I also had to find the murderer who slaughtered the village—the same one who killed Er Pang’s father!

That person must be a master of witchcraft and Taoist arts. Don't let me catch you, or I will make you pay for every single life in this village!

And that cold woman! I would conquer her sooner or later! Once I grow stronger, step by step, that will be the time you submit to me!

At that moment, Er Pang walked out. "Tian Gang, what do we do now?"

I looked toward the south and slowly spat out four words: "To the city, to hunt!"

Hearing this, Er Pang was stunned, his eyes turning red. "Tian Gang, thank you. I really want to find the killer who murdered my dad. That heaven-forsaken devil... he treated human lives like grass. Everyone in the village is dead..."

I shook my head. "It’s not just for you. I need to find my grandfather. Besides, this land raised me, and I must demand an explanation!"

Er Pang pulled me into a bear hug. "Tian Gang, the people in the village treated you so poorly, yet you’re still avenging them. You’re a real man! You deserve to be the brother I hold in high regard!"

He started wiping his snot and tears all over me. I pushed him away immediately. "Wipe that on yourself!"

I frowned and went into the house to pack some simple things. Er Pang went home to do the same. I took my grandfather’s compass, yellow paper, and other supplies; if I needed them in a hurry, at least I’d have them. I could buy better ones once I made money in the city.

Finally, I found a box under my grandfather’s bed. It was an old-fashioned iron box with a gaudy, patterned lid. I opened it and saw a fair amount of money inside. I counted it: six hundred yuan. Our village was very remote, and the cost of living was ridiculously low. This must have been my grandfather’s entire life savings.

Under the money was a kraft paper envelope. It looked quite old. I picked it up and read the front: *To my grandson, Han Tian Gang.*

A letter for me? Seeing the dust on the lid, this must have been a letter my grandfather had prepared long ago. I stuffed the money into my pocket, sat on the floor, and opened the envelope. It was definitely my grandfather’s handwriting; the old man liked to doodle, and I was familiar with his script.

*[Tian Gang, by the time you read this letter, the old man will surely be gone. Consider this my last will and testament. As for why I say this, do you remember the condition Old Man Zhao made when he agreed to help us back then?]*

*[The woman in the coffin had a hexagram cast for her. She said it was a hexagram of great peril, likely to cost the lives of everyone in the village. Old Man Zhao will leave on the very day you go up the mountain. As for your grandfather, I am not a man who fears death, but I fear that the Han family will have no one of talent. My life has been absurdly spent, always hoping to change the fate of the Han family. Grandfather... has been poor for too long. I hope you can make something of yourself, to let them see that not everyone in the Han family is a pauper...]*

*[Sigh, I’m rambling again. Let’s get to the point. I’m leaving you this letter with three things to tell you.]*

*[First: Do not fail the wife in the coffin. Live and die together, and you shall break the grand scheme!]*

*[Second: Never forget the family feud. Practice your skills diligently, and you shall master the cycle of Yin and Yang!]*

*[Third: After you marry in the city, give me a great-grandchild immediately. You must make something of yourself, earn lots and lots of money, buy a big villa, and drive a luxury car. You must, you must—remember this last point!]*