Chapter 264: Did You Really Get Born Twice?!

"Hey, old Taoist, why do you have time to come find me again today?"

Chen Yan, who had just returned from Cheng Yaojin's house, happened to run into Li Chunfeng, who had brought Yuan Tiangang along, and immediately began teasing.

Li Chunfeng said cheerfully, "Mr. Chen, sorry to disturb you, but my friend is genuinely curious about you and wants to show you his physiognomy."

"I said we'd wait two days, but my friend couldn't wait, so we had to come and disturb you."

"Your friend?" Chen Yan asked, his gaze shifting to the... hmm, shabby old man beside Li Chunfeng.

"Your friend... isn't young, huh."

Li Chunfeng: "......"

Yuan Tiangang: "......"

In fact, Yuan Tiangang gave Chen Yan a strange impression: his body was full of dusk energy, his hair was grizzled, yet his face didn't look that aged.

But without a close look, one would easily think he was a sixty- or seventy-year-old man.

That's why he said so.

"I am Yuan Tiangang, long have I heard of the Marquis of Weinan's great name; today I specially came to pay my respects, and hope you will not take offense," Yuan Tiangang bowed his hands.

"Yuan Tiangang? Ganzi!!" Chen Yan's eyes lit up instantly, and he walked over at a quick pace, clasping Yuan Tiangang's shoulder as if they were old friends.

"Ah, so you are the National Teacher, long admired, truly long admired."

"I heard you and Li Chunfeng, the old Taoist, are close friends; as a peer, I am unworthy, but Li Chunfeng called you 'Sir.' If you don't mind, you may call me 'Uncle.'"

"I don't mind."

Yuan Tiangang: "......"

Yuan Tiangang glanced at the arm that had clasped his shoulder, his body moved unnaturally, he looked at Chen Yan's wide white grin, and gave his friend a complicated look.

"Brother Yuan... Mr. Chen..." Li Chunfeng said, half laughing, half crying.

He thought Chen Yan was frivolous, but didn't expect him to be this frivolous.

He had just said the man was old, and now he opened his mouth to let the man call him Uncle.

"What, aren't you a child of two hundred plus months?"

"National Teacher, I know you might not accept it at first, but it's fine; we each call each other as we wish. You call me Uncle, I call you National Teacher, and it won't hinder anything."

Yuan Tiangang's eyelids twitched uncontrollably, his fist already clenched, about to explode; Chen Yan immediately forced a dry laugh:

"Um... excuse my rudeness, you came to my door, I should have welcomed you in right away; please don't blame me, don't blame me."

"Come, come, the tea at my place is delicious, and the cat I raise can do a backflip; let me show you inside."

Chen Yan warmly invited the two, pulling them inside without further discussion.

This left Yuan Tiangang unable to even emit a breath of anger.

He seemed to understand the variable now.

No shame!

"......"

"Marquis of Weinan, please stop joking. Brother Li says he cannot see through your destiny; your eight characters are extremely odd. I am genuinely curious—may I take a look at what's beneath?"

After sitting down, Yuan Tiangang impatiently spoke.

The reason was that he knew his friend's ability; even Li Chunfeng could not see through that destiny, so how could he not be curious?

Moreover, he also wanted to see why Chen Yan could become such an influential variable.

"Is that improper?" Chen Yan hesitated, "Coming up here to look at my underside, I'm afraid my wife wouldn't be pleased."

Li Chunfeng: "......"

Yuan Tiangang: "......"

A few blue veins burst from both men's foreheads, clearly straining to suppress something.

"I'm really screwed."

"Who wants to see your underside?"

"I want to see your physiognomy, physiognomy!"

"Not the underside!"

"Marquis of Weinan, what do you think I relied on when I walked the world and experienced the myriad affairs of the mortal realm?" Yuan Tiangang asked through clenched teeth.

"...... Relying on the skill of reading faces?" Chen Yan stroked his chin, recalling the historical records of Yuan Tiangang.

This guy indeed has countless brushes for physiognomy and divination.

"No!" Yuan Tiangang's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he raised his fist, as big as a sandbag, "I rely on my own unbeatable fist."

"If I encounter the unreasonable or road‑blocking robbers, I usually split the loot three to seven."

"I strike three punches, they bleed from seven orifices!"

Chen Yan: "......"

"Haha, uh... National Teacher, impressive." Chen Yan sneered, "I may be frivolous and make jokes, but if you don't understand, what's the problem?"

"Unfortunately, you do understand."

"What a sin." Yuan Tiangang's face turned ashen.

He couldn't believe that the results of his long efforts were ruined by this guy in an instant.

"Alright, alright, no more jokes." Chen Yan, not daring to go too far, hurriedly said, "National Teacher, if you want to look, go ahead; I'm actually quite curious about my own destiny too."

Seeing him finally become serious, Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng both breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Li Chunfeng produced a slip of paper on the spot, which contained Chen Yan's birth eight characters.

The two began their procedure in front of Chen Yan.

Li Chunfeng calculated relentlessly, while Yuan Tiangang stared intently; one was analyzing the destiny, the other was reading the face.

Later they even produced a turtle‑shell for divination.

Chen Yan stared eagerly at the two people.

To be honest, if he had met those two rascals right after he first crossed over, he might have blindly followed them to learn techniques.

Alas, he now has too many worries and no interest in learning them.

After a long while, seeing the two still continuing, Chen Yan did not disturb them and kept drinking his tea.

Suddenly, the two froze, their faces simultaneously showing shock and disbelief.

Li Chunfeng: "Run Xia pattern, the water flow is vast! Ministerial palace facing the wall, heavenly star?!"

Yuan Tiangang: "Flame Upper pattern, the fire shoots to the heavens! General star gains the earth, Wu Qu sits in destiny?!"

"This is impossible!!!"

The final sentence was spoken together by the two.

Chen Yan mused, "What does this mean?"

"It's absolutely impossible; we must have miscalculated, we must be wrong!" Yuan Tiangang could not believe the result, his expression even turned frantic.

He slammed his hand heavily on the table; three copper coins fluttered and all fell into the turtle shell in his hand.

Li Chunfeng still stared blankly at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan was silent for two seconds, then slowly uttered, "What are you looking at?"

Li Chunfeng: "......"

"Mr. Chen, I, a humble monk, truly don't know what to say." He gave a wry smile, and like Yuan Tiangang, he could not believe the result.

"Just say it then, all this about upper and lower patterns—you have to explain it clearly to me, right?"

Li Chunfeng hesitated for a long while, then let out a long sigh, "Flame Upper pattern and Run Xia pattern are special configurations in Zi Ping's Eight Characters, a very rare destiny of great wealth and high honor."

"But the problem is, regardless of who a person is, the birth Eight Characters are already fixed; whether the fate is good or bad, this pattern exists only one way."

"However, what the hell gives you the right—"

"Heaven‑damned!!!"

"And they're all—"

"Did you get born twice or what?!!"

"This is unfair and unreasonable!!!"

"......"