Chapter 9

Tianxiu

Qingyun Temple’s gate stood wide open, yet behind it waited only an old Daoist with white hair and beard. Upon seeing Chi You and his group arrive, he bowed and said: “Mountain Lord Chi, I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Hm,” Chi You replied indifferently, bearing little resemblance to the arrogant, scornful, composed, and faintly smiling Senior Brother Nan Shi was accustomed to seeing in the south. It was as if a completely different person had taken his place. Chi You’s expression could even be called cold as he cast a waveless glance at the old Daoist before ignoring him entirely and walking straight inside.

The old Daoist didn’t take this personally, instead falling back a step to walk alongside Nan Shi.

Amidst the pervasive air of death, encountering a living person felt like stumbling upon a bright lamp in the darkness. Naturally, it was as eye-catching as eye-catching could be. The old Daoist cast a meaningful look at Nan Shi but didn’t ask any questions.

Nan Shi had one good quality: he understood when to keep his thoughts to himself. Even under the old Daoist’s scrutinizing stare, he remained unconcerned. Instead, he nodded slightly towards the old Daoist before single-mindedly following Chi You inside.

Chi You seemed as if he had been here before, directly passing the main hall where the Three Pure Ones were enshrined. He led them further and further into the temple, finally stopping in front of a small courtyard in a dilapidated area. The old Daoist stepped forward and knocked on the door. “Shishu, Mountain Lord Chi has arrived.”

Inside, an aged voice traveled from afar: “This humble wayfarer is physically incapacitated; please forgive me for not being able to personally welcome you upon arriving, Ouyuan Lake Master, please.”

Finally, the old daoist opened the door and made a ‘please’ gesture.

Chi You’s expression remained unchanged as he stepped inside.

Nan Shi wanted to follow inside, but he noticed that Qing He and the others had stopped their steps. Just as he was hesitating, he heard Chi You say: “A-Nan, come in with me.”

“Yes.” Nan Shi hurriedly followed.

After Nan Shi entered, the old daoist closed the gate, standing guard beside it like a guardian deity.

The courtyard looked even more dilapidated than the outside, with spiderwebs even hanging about, but at least the doors and windows were still intact; otherwise, it really would have been like a Remote Village Ghost Mansion filming set.

When Chi You reached the door, it opened automatically. No lamps had been lit with candles, yet it didn’t seem dark. Moonlight penetrated through the window, casting a clear illumination within.

Nan Shi glanced inside, seeing an old man sitting on the bed, his head bowed low, resembling a withered skeleton. His face couldn’t be clearly seen, his clothes tattered, and hair disheveled.

At the sight of this, Nan Shi started in fright, instinctively clenching his fists. But thinking back to how he had just spoken…

It was a person! No need to be afraid! Just looked a bit terrifying is all!

Chi You didn’t hesitate and sat directly on the other empty space of the couch, his expression slightly changing. “You’re almost dead.”

The other person let out a chuckle but didn’t raise his head, still maintaining that strange sitting posture from earlier. “Mountain Lord Chi has keen eyes… still alive now, but not for much longer.”

“You can still go reincarnate in time.”

“No need.” The old daoist spoke again. “This old daoist should have come to see Mountain Lord Chi in person, but now it’s Mountain Lord Chi who has to come see me. It’s truly the height of discourtesy.”

Chi You brushed his sleeves, speaking in an unruffled manner. “I don’t hold grudges against the dead.”

It seemed he was unwilling to waste any more time with this strange old daoist, so he asked directly: “What do you want?”

“This old daoist wants to ask about the current state of my disciple.”

Chi You countered with a question. “Don’t you already know?”

“Yes.” The old daoist remained unmoved, only answering with his head bowed low. “So I wanted to request Mountain Lord Chi to reverse the heavens and change my disciple’s fate.”

“Oh?” Chi You seemed to have heard something rare. “I only owe Qingyunzi a promise. After this matter, I’ll be even with Qingyunzi. Are you truly not regretting it?”

The old daoist didn’t hesitate for even a moment, immediately saying: “I’m not regretting it.”

Nan Shi stood to the side, listening in amazement—was his shixiong so incredible? They were already reversing the heavens and changing fate, yet he still asked if he regretted it?

He felt somewhat curious.

However, now was not the time to speak. He could ask his shixiong later.

“Can do.” Chi You lifted one hand, and the dim room was suddenly illuminated. A beam of golden light burst forth from Chi You’s fingertips. Countless specks of light swirled within the room, and a sudden gust of wind lifted Nan Shi’s robes, causing them to flutter.

Nan Shi suddenly sensed something, and when he looked up, he saw that countless small golden fish had appeared in the room at some point, swimming in mid-air. As if attracted to something, they all began to approach Chi You’s fingertips, gradually forming a golden whirlpool.

The whirlpool continuously contracted inward, ultimately compressing into an extremely bright point. It then burst open, becoming a massive Eight Trigrams Disk. It slowly rotated, the Eight Trigrams defining the Eight Directions, the Ten Heavenly Stems defining time, the Twelve Earthly Branches arranging the hours, and beyond them, the heavenly stars…

There were more things beyond that, but Nan Shi couldn’t see clearly, as if something were covering his view. He could only see fuzzy glows of light.

These indistinct objects continually collided as the Eight Trigrams Disk rotated. Some of the collided glows dispersed into specks of light that vanished in the air, while others formed larger masses of light, or perhaps became nearly invisible.

Nan Shi stared unblinkingly at this Yin-Yang Divination Disk, he had a feeling that he should look carefully, perhaps this disk was the ultimate purpose Chi You brought him here.

Chi You’s expression was as tranquil as an ancient well, the surrounding wind could almost be called fierce, blowing his sleeves to flutter noisily. Yet he didn’t seem to mind at all, his fingers slightly spread, when the old daoist suddenly spoke from the side: “The seventh day of the first month of the Kuiyou Year.”

“Mm-hm,” Chi You gave a low grunt of acknowledgment, the entire Yin-Yang Divination Disk quickly rotated, settled momentarily, and then began to mix again, countless bytes detaching from their original positions, competing with other bytes for places.

Nan Shi suddenly heard a faint rumbling sound outside, resembling the heavens’ anger, emitting a deep warning sound from above.

But Chi You seemed completely unconcerned, his fingers gently curling, causing the changes on the Yin-Yang Divination Disk to speed up even more, countless bytes colliding into fine dust, falling from the sky and disappearing without a trace.

The window suddenly brightened, a violet lightning bolt cleaved the sky, even though separated by the window, it illuminated the entire house, illuminating Chi You as well.

Chi You’s pitch-black outer robe was covered with a layer of violet gauze, the violet light then spread onto the Yin-Yang Divination Disk, tinting the pure golden center with a hint of purple.

“Tsk.” Chi You impatiently waved his sleeve, and those violet lights disappeared completely, as if shattered by something.

The hidden thunder in the sky finally came down completely, emitting a sudden loud sound. The sound seemed to fall right next to Nan Shi’s ear, making him want to reach up and cover his ears.

Immediately following were continuous peals of thunder, some very close, some very far away, but Nan Shi saw the light flashing on the windows from time to time.

Suddenly, something exploded outside, causing a rapid brightening. Soon, voices outside began to shout:

“The Deputy Hall is on fire—! Come people—! Put out the fire—!”

Chi You’s face finally was no longer calm, yet it also wasn’t tense. Instead, a hint of scorn—one that Nan Shi was extremely familiar with—appeared. The Yin-Yang Divination Disk in his hand was moving so quickly that Nan Shi could no longer see it clearly.

Nan Shi took the time to glance at the old Daoist priest, only to see that he was still sitting there without moving a muscle, not even lifting his head, as if he were a dead thing.

Just as the characters on the Yin-Yang Divination Disk began to slow down, as if the fate-changing was about to succeed, in an instant, a bolt of lightning struck, and the window suddenly blew out, along with a corner of the house, revealing the light of day.

The rain from outside poured in from that corner.

The window caught fire.

Clearly, even though it was raining so heavily, the window was still burning, and even the room had a tendency to catch fire.

That Yin-Yang Divination Disk settled greatly, thoroughly returning to its original form, with only a slow flow at his fingertips. Chi You finally turned to glance at that burning window, revealing an extremely derisive smile.

It seemed as if he were saying: Go on, throw a lightning bolt—anytime! Got the guts? You can throw it right at my face!

On the side, Nan Shi couldn’t help but give Chi You a thumbs-up—people always said that astrology was a profession dependent on heaven’s favor for sustenance, but his shixiong’s attitude was nothing short of smashing that bowl of sustenance directly into someone’s face. He also added a line: Favor my ass—get lost! I can make my own way without your charity!

The house ultimately did catch fire, and Nan Shi could even feel its heat. Chi You dispersed those golden rays and said to Nan Shi, “A-Nan, we’re leaving.”

“Yes, Shixiong.” Nan Shi unconsciously followed his shixiong’s steps for two paces, suddenly turning his head to glance at the old Daoist still sitting on the couch. The window had been the first place to catch fire, and this long couch by the window was right next to it. Seeing that the fire was about to fall on the old Daoist priest, he asked, “This Taoist priest… what do we do?”

“Don’t mind him,” Chi You said, about to take a step out when he suddenly saw Nan Shi turn around, lifting the hem of his clothes as he rushed over, picked up the emaciated old Daoist in one motion, then started running out, even managing along the way to spare a hand to pull Chi You along with him.

Chi You was dragged along for a few steps before frowning and saying, “What kind of etiquette is this?!”

“Shixiong, it’s on fire! Our clothes were carefully sewn thread by thread for you; wouldn’t it be a pity if they burned? Let’s go, let’s go!” Seeing that he couldn’t make the other run, Nan Shi thought that getting away faster was still good.

Outside the yard, unlike when they arrived, there were now about ten old Daoists squeezed together. It was hard to say what they were thinking, sitting there meditating in such heavy rain. Nan Shi saw that each one was older than the last, and he couldn’t help but think that the city hospital might get a bulk transfer tomorrow.

Nan Shi hurriedly said, “Don’t just stare! This is your Shishu, catch him quick—what’s wrong with you people? Can’t you see such an old man? Don’t you know to call someone to attend to him?!”

Only then did Nan Shi feel a hard-to-describe smell from the old man on his shoulder, but those Daoists quickly reacted. A few slightly younger ones rushed over and whisked the man away.

“Many thanks to this gentleman!”

“Great favors need no thanks!”

Nan Shi patted his own shoulder, then finally turned to say, “Shixiong, let’s go back too.”

“The rain is getting heavy, if I get wet too much I’ll catch a cold.”

Chi You gave him a meaningful look.

Except for those few who were still attending to the old daoist, the other daoists all got up, silently following behind them and escorting them onto the carriage.

It was quite interesting; when they arrived, there was only one old daoist to greet them, but now a group of people came to see them off.

Nan Shi got into the carriage, and waited until the side panels closed before disdainfully removing his already soaked outer robe. He carelessly draped it over the seat, but the outer robe was too long, dragging down to the floor of the carriage. Nan Shi was too lazy to bother with it.

Chi You, who was perfectly dry, leaned against one side. Seeing this, he smiled and said, “What’s this? Now our family’s clothes aren’t precious anymore?”

“They’ll all have to be washed anyway, so there’s no real difference.” Nan Shi waved his hand, then scooted closer to Chi You. “Shixiong, what were you doing just now?”

“Defying heaven and changing destiny,” Chi You didn’t intend to keep it from him. “How much could you see?”

“I couldn’t see much after it started moving.” Nan Shi’s curiosity couldn’t be held back anymore. “…This truly can change destiny by defying heaven, huh? Those bolts of lightning were truly monstrous!”

“Tsk.” Chi You let out a soft scoff, raised his head to drink the wine in his cup, knocked on the table, and hinted for Nan Shi to pour more wine: “What’s so strange about this? You just need to study well. Once you’ve stepped through the gate in the future, you’ll know it’s just…”

Nan Shi interrupted: “Basic operation? Can it get any more showy?”

Chi You: “…”

Chi You suddenly lost all interest in the conversation.

However, seeing the brightness in Nan Shi’s eyes, he knew that bringing him along today had not been in vain.

“Right.” Chi You suddenly said with a smile: “When did A-Nan become so brave?”

“…Huh? No, I’m not.” Nan Shi was a bit bewildered, unsure how he had become such a thing.

“Hm? Then why did you carry someone’s remains and rush out of the fire?”

“No, the fire isn’t burning…yet,” Nan Shi said, then suddenly got stuck halfway through his sentence. He stiffly turned his head to look at his shixiong: “…What did you say?”

“Remains?”

Nan Shi tilted his head, then followed Chi You as he softly fell to the side.

Chi You was initially stunned, but quickly reached out to grab Nan Shi, preventing him from falling to the ground, and couldn’t help but mutter: “…How did I end up with such a weak thing?”