Chapter 21

The special scents in the small courtyard were very mixed.

There was an incense smell similar to that of the Earth Temple, a certain warmth like a rock, a strange soil smell, and even a cold smell similar to the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coin...

The feeling it gave people was simply like a grocery store.

These scents were very faint, clearly even if they were things in the Mystic Sect, they wouldn't be good goods.

But this had already proven that the other party was an insider!

Li Yan turned anger into joy, saw the courtyard gate wide open, and lifted his foot to enter.

The small courtyard wasn't big, but it was cleaned very cleanly; a jujube tree was planted in the left corner, and there was a stone trough fish tank in the right corner, with several small red fish swimming happily.

An Eight Trigrams mirror hung in the northwest corner, and there was a stone pier in the center.

The whole courtyard gave people a refreshing and peaceful feeling.

Li Yan just scanned it, and he already had a count in his heart.

Jujube wood is wood, fish tank is water, Eight Trigrams bronze mirror is metal, central stone pier is earth to suppress the house—it was clearly a yang house feng shui arranged according to the five elements, only missing a fire.

Li Yan looked around and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

That position is the kitchen, worshipping the Kitchen God—isn't that fire?

In the main room of the small courtyard, the door was also wide open, and one could see an incense table and many offerings inside.

That statue was a three-eyed Daoist, holding a long sword, and the Daoist robe was painted with the sun, moon, stars, and the four symbols of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise, looking a bit flashy.

On the spirit tablet, it was written: "Position of the Mystic Qi Manifesting Might Chen Heavenly Lord."

Li Yan didn't recognize it, but he could also smell that the incense smell attached to it was somewhat similar to the Earth Temple, relatively faint, but more majestic.

Inside the room, a middle-aged Daoist was sitting upright before the desk.

The Daoist was naturally Wang Daoxuan, and his attire was also interesting: he wore casual black clothes and a white short jacket, with Eight Trigrams embroidered on the back, a square scarf crown on his head, and square-mouthed black cloth shoes on his feet, also embroidered with auspicious clouds.

This outfit wasn't cheap; although it had been washed until it was white, it was still neat.

The most attractive thing was his appearance: thin and healthy, black beard hanging to his chest, five features upright, eyes very gentle; although it couldn't be called immortal-like, it made people feel good at first sight.

The Daoist held a wolf-hair brush and was writing and drawing on a piece of paper.

And opposite him sat a young man, looking like a scholar, with a bitter face, full of worry between his brows.

Li Yan saw this and knew he was measuring words.

This trade is considered the "Gold Gate" in the Jianghu.

The Gold Gate is the head of the eight clear gates, mainly including nine types, including fortune-telling, physiognomy, word-guessing, spirit-writing, round light, yin-walking, astrology, magic master, and Duan Gong. So there is a rhyme: "Nine Gold, Eighteen Skin, Seventy-two sets of widow heads."

The reason it is called the head of the eight gates is, first, because people in the Gold Gate are good at observing words and colors, and are eloquent, with many tricks. If you learn the methods of the Gold Gate, you will be able to infer the other eight gates.

For example, the methods of the Gold Gate can be directly used in the Skin Gate of selling medicine, called "Gold changes to Skin, one morning."

Furthermore, this trade is mixed with fish and dragons, and most are scammers who pretend to be gods and ghosts, but it's not impossible to meet someone in the Mystic Sect who possesses strange arts, so Jianghu people are mostly polite when they meet them.

Even the bandits of the Lan family gate have eight "don't rob," one of which is the Gold Gate.

Seeing that the other party was doing business, Li Yan stood outside the door in silence.

Wang Daoxuan clearly had already seen him, but didn't pay attention, instead put down the brush, picked up the paper full of writing, looked at it carefully for a while, and then said to the young man with an expectant look:

"You gave a 'Gold' character. Gold is the treasure of the world, the burden of people; it is good after long refining."

"According to your eight-character life theory, you should have been carefree in your youth, but in the past few years, your life has been bumpy, and your family has fallen..."

"Also, your recent financial luck is not good, and there are villains making trouble..."

"Yes, yes, yes, Daoist is right!"

The young man nodded hurriedly, full of admiration.

Li Yan saw this and couldn't help but laugh in his heart.

He had seen some things with his own eyes and developed an interest in the Mystic Sect, but he was skeptical about the matter of life theory; even if there was one, he didn't think mortals could peek into the future.

Furthermore, he didn't smell any special scent.

This set of methods, his father had roughly mentioned, called "Tethering the Ma Zhuang," meaning to tie the guest up tightly first, and then lure them into the game.

This young man looked weak, his hands had no calluses, but his clothes were a bit tattered; one look and he was a scholar who had been pampered but whose family had fallen.

Besides, who would come to ask for a divination if they were smooth sailing?

The young man measured a "Gold" character; even without splitting the character, he knew this person was very short of money recently.

As for villains, who the hell doesn't have a villain behind them!

Li Yan saw through it but didn't point it out.

First, it's the Jianghu rule; pointing out someone else's game is smashing someone else's rice bowl, unless it's too excessive and he can't stand it.

Second, this method is not rare at all.

In his past life, selling goods with fake slogans, inciting emotions to cut leeks, using profit to lure and plot capital... there were many such methods; which one wasn't a "Tethering the Ma Zhuang"?

The Jianghu doesn't change, the human heart remains the same, it's just changed into a look. If there's no accident, the next step is the time to harvest.

Sure enough, without Wang Daoxuan saying much, the young man sighed with a bitter face: "To tell you the truth, I am from Xingping County. My family had a silk shop, but I met a scammer and was cheated out of everything."

"My father was angered to death, my mother cried until she was blind, and I didn't read any books, only to find that 'a hundred uses are useless for a scholar'."

"I feel sorry for my wife and children who suffer with me, and I am mocked by my classmates; I really can't live anymore, what should I do..."

Li Yan was a bit speechless after hearing this.

When people are in suffering, most will talk endlessly and find someone to confide in.

But this young man simply laid out his family background; anyone who had just entered the door could play him around.

Wasn't this a sheep entering a tiger's mouth?

Wang Daoxuan didn't rush either, his expression unchanged, listening while stroking his beard.

After the young man finished speaking, he picked up the paper and looked at it for a long time, then said thoughtfully:

"But it's not without a solution."

！.

The young man's eyes lit up. "Please point it out, Daoist."

Wang Daoxuan pointed to the paper and said: "Look at this 'Gold' character; the 'person' character is at the top, upright and powerful, indicating that the solution lies in the 'person'!"

"Noble person?"

The young man thought thoughtfully. "Does Daoist mean that there will be a noble person to help?"

Wang Daoxuan nodded slightly. "Of course there is a noble person, but this noble person is not someone else, but yourself."

"Me? How is that possible!"

The young man was clearly a bit stunned.

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and said: "You have this tribulation in your life, but there is a saying that gold is not perfect, and people are not perfect; true gold needs fire to refine. As long as you resist this tribulation fire, you can turn the tide; although I won't say you will be rich and noble, you can live peacefully."

"Also, this 'person' character head also represents villains making trouble, suppressing your fortune; if you avoid them, the bad luck will go away on its own."

A glimmer of hope rose in the young man's eyes, and he hesitated for a moment, asking carefully: "Daoist, a yin-yang master came to the door and asked my mother to worship an 'Yin Immortal,' saying it could change fate and protect fortune..."

"Nonsense!"

Wang Daoxuan's eyebrows stood up. "The Master once said, 'Be close to gentlemen and far from villains, respect ghosts and gods but keep them at a distance.' There is a saying that it is easy to invite gods but hard to send them away. Inviting those people is no different from welcoming villains into the door?"

"If your true gold is afraid of fire, how is it different from rubble?"

"Cutting off your own fate is the only way to be hopeless!"

The young man was instantly ashamed. "Daoist is right, I was wrong."

Then he touched his chest, showing a difficult expression. "I don't know about the divination fee..."

Wang Daoxuan stretched out three fingers and said indifferently: "Your fortune is blocked; I don't dare to charge more, just three copper coins. As for the rest, if you can resist the fire, come back to me to make up for it."

The young man was instantly grateful and bowed deeply:

"Thank you, Daoist."

With that, he took out three copper coins and turned to leave.

When he went out, his eyes had become firm.

Li Yan watched this and felt a bit stunned, and respect rose in his heart.

Ghosts and gods can't change fate; the human heart does.

He had already seen that the young man's fate might have changed at this moment.

This was the true pointing out of the maze!

Thinking of this, he walked into the door directly, first cupped his fists, then smiled: "Daoist Wang, this set of 'Tethering the Ma Zhuang' and 'Ringing the Linked Flowers' let the sheep go; you are smashing your own pot."

He used this "Spring Code" to indicate his identity and talk about the previous matter.

Wang Daoxuan laughed after hearing this, stood up, shook his head, and said: "This path of mine can decide life and death, and can also accumulate yin virtue; I dare not mess around."

"Besides, this thin sheep doesn't have much oil, so there's no need to take it."

Li Yan nodded slightly. "Daoist is benevolent."

However, Wang Daoxuan didn't seem to hear his compliment, first looked at the saber at his waist, then looked out the window, shook his head and sighed: "I dreamed of evil ghosts haunting me yesterday, and today I saw magpies carrying flowers, knowing someone was coming, but whether it's a blessing or a curse, I can't calculate."

"A saber-wielder comes to the door—is someone going to take my life?"

"Daoist, don't misunderstand."

Li Yan hurriedly cupped his fists. "Actually, I have doubts to ask; if Daoist can solve my difficulty, there will definitely be a heavy reward!"

At this moment, his supernatural power was out of control, so how could he care about the Lu family matter.

Wang Daoxuan breathed a sigh of relief in secret, stroked his beard and smiled: "Is the guest asking for divination, or choosing feng shui?"

Li Yan said in a low voice: "May I ask, what is a Cold Pool Guard soldier?"

Wang Daoxuan almost broke his beard upon hearing this, his face changed slightly:

"Who exactly are you?!"