Chapter 87: Divination

Pan Yue: "Do you know that on the day we were injured, Little Sister sent us another fifty taels?"

Pan Yu exclaimed, "Where did Little Sister get so much money? She only sent us a hundred taels last time."

"That's right—she's only eight years old, and her body has always been weak. I truly can't imagine how hard she must work to earn this money," Pan Yue said coldly. "Father is upright, and at his age, he won't change. It's only natural for Little Sister to support him—but what about us?"

"Do we also rely on Little Sister to support us?" Pan Yue gripped his shoulder. "Second brother, remember: we must live, and live well. First, we must survive—then we can support Father."

Pan Yu interjected: "And lastly, support Little Sister."

Pan Yue looked utterly speechless. "Do you really think Little Sister still needs your support? Today's Little Sister is no longer yesterday's Little Sister. Think of the protective talisman, think of the two times she sent money—you're lucky if you're not dragging her down."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a knock came at the door.

Pan Yue went to open it.

The Minxin Bureau clerk held a box in his arms. "Is this the household of Pan Hong, Esquire of Changzhou Prefecture?"

Pan Yue pulled open the fence gate without expression and nodded. "Yes, this is the Pan household."

The clerk flashed a row of teeth in a broad smile. "Your household has a box urgently delivered from Guangxin Prefecture. It requires household registration to sign for."

Pan Yue's eyes lit up. "Is it from Yushan County in Guangxin Prefecture?"

The clerk: "Precisely."

Pan Yue immediately returned inside to fetch his household registration, showed it to the clerk, and after confirmation of the recipient, the clerk handed them the box.

Pan Yue asked: "Are urgently delivered items expensive?"

"Not expensive. We use escort agencies for such deliveries—only about two taels of silver."

Pan Yue: "You're robbing people."

The clerk: "Young Master, just the horse feed and escort guards' food and lodging from Guangxin Prefecture to Datong already exceed two taels."

"But you're not delivering just this one item."

"Yet escort guards can carry only so much. Two taels per item, ten items total twenty taels—but unless it's extremely small, they can't carry ten items at once," the clerk said. "Both escort guards and the Minxin Bureau only earn a hard-earned living."

Hearing this, Pan Yue paused, turned, and asked, "When was this box sent?"

The clerk: "Four days ago."

Pan Yue rushed back inside and opened the box. Inside was a yellow talisman, many bottles and jars, a cloth sack, and beneath them all, a letter.

Pan Yue glanced outside—his father wasn't there—poured himself a cup of boiling water, held the envelope over the steam, and after a moment, pried it open.

Pan Yu stared in shock. When he saw his brother actually pull out the letter, his face twisted in distress. "Big brother, isn't it wrong to read Father's letter?"

Pan Yue: "I'll put it back right away. I won't say a word, you won't say a word—who'll know?"

Pan Yu turned his back, pulled the blanket over his head. "I can't see anything. I see nothing at all."

Pan Yue ignored him and read the letter.

When Pan Yu saw his brother hadn't moved for a long while, he couldn't help turning to look. Seeing Pan Yue's grim expression, he spun around and asked, "Big brother, what does the letter say? Little Sister just sent us money a few days ago—why send so many things again?"

Pan Yue tucked the letter away, solemnly: "She sensed it. She divined it. There truly are forces in this world we don't understand."

The letter was written by Pan Yun after she sprinted back to Mount Sanqing, prepared everything, then descended again to send it.

To get it to Datong faster, she didn't use the urgent delivery shop in Dayuanwu—she had the big mule gallop all the way to Yushan County, found the Minxin Bureau, and paid a fortune to have it urgently delivered.

Pan Yun's legs had nearly worn thin from running.

Fortunately, her recent cultivation had borne fruit—otherwise, running from Dayuan Village to the mountain base, then up to the summit, she would have died.

When she returned to the summit, she glanced down at the two fields belonging to their temple. The rice ears hung low, yet the leaves and grains remained lush green—no sign of yellowing.

As she ran past the fields, she chanted qi techniques while sprinting uphill, muttering to herself, "Is this the rice Master Da said was ready for harvest?"

Up the mountain, sure enough, Wang Feiyin showed no intention of doing farm work—he was lazily practicing fist forms before the temple gate.

He turned to throw a punch—and came face to face with Pan Yun, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.

His fist froze halfway. He simply shook his whole body, dispersing the gathered qi.

The air trembled. In Pan Yun's eyes, the air rippled like waves.

Pan Yun raised her hand to dissipate the incoming qi wave. "Big Brother, how is my fortune today?"

Wang Feiyin ended his stance, glanced at her, and said: "Neither high nor low—plain and ordinary. Did you have bad luck again today?"

Pan Yun: "Yesterday I earned five taels of silver. Today I sensed something strange with the talismans I sent to Father and my brothers. Big Brother, did I affect them?"

Wang Feiyin carefully studied Pan Yun's features, thought for a moment, then led her into the main hall, took out a tortoise shell, and began divination. Pan Yun stared at the result, her heart pounding—she herself was an expert; seeing the outcome, her blood turned cold.

Wang Feiyin scratched his head. "Don't worry. Sit for a moment. I'll go get Fourth Sister."

Pan Yun grew even more uneasy, grabbing his arm. "Big Brother, is this because you couldn't divine it—or are you going to try again to confirm?"

Wang Feiyin looked torn, then admitted honestly: "I couldn't divine it."

Pan Yun looked up at him seriously. When she saw he spoke the truth, she released his arm. Her inner state became a flat line—utterly calm, not a ripple.

Wang Feiyin noticed nothing, hurried off to find Master Xuanmiao.

Master Xuanmiao was dragged over. She glanced at Pan Yun, sat cross-legged on the cushion, took Wang Feiyin's tortoise shell, and pulled out her own copper string. She untied the cord and laid out the coins one by one. "What do you wish to divine?"

Pan Yun said solemnly: "I wish to divine the safety of my family."

Master Xuanmiao began manipulating her copper coins. The coins shifted constantly; her left hand moved in rapid calculations. After a long while, she lifted her eyes to Pan Yun. "There is danger, but no death. Your kin are all alive."

Pan Yun's face hardened. That meant they were injured—severely. Otherwise, Fourth Sister could have said "danger but no harm."

!. Read

The injury occurred in Datong… likely external wounds—so they need medicine to stop bleeding and replenish blood.

Pan Yun looked hopefully at Wang Feiyin. "Big Brother, can I borrow medicine on credit? I only have five taels of silver."

Wang Feiyin: "I don't mind that five taels is little."

"Let me go to the county town to earn more and pay you back. These five taels I must use to send items and as startup capital."

Wang Feiyin agreed. "What medicine do you want?"

"Datong is a frontier post. My father and brothers are conscripted soldiers—they might be used as cannon fodder. So I want as much external wound medicine as possible."

Wang Feiyin glanced at her and said, "Let me prepare it for you. The deadliest thing about being used as cannon fodder isn't external injury—it's internal damage."

He took her to his alchemy chamber.

Pan Yun had never entered his alchemy chamber; neither Wang Feiyin nor Tao Ji required them to clean the alchemy chamber's hygiene—they taught alchemy and practiced in the large alchemy chamber next door.

Upon entering, besides the three alchemy furnaces—large, medium, and small—in the center, the walls were lined with shelves.

One shelf held nothing but medicinal herbs; the other held nothing but bottles and jars, all looking beautifully arranged.

Wang Feiyin led her to stand before the shelves to select herbs, saying, "For external injuries, the most critical thing is to stop bleeding and promote contraction. In Datong, a borderland, their wound ointments aren't worse than ours—the real gap lies in internal injury medicines."

"Our Qingxu Temple primarily cultivates the Dao of alchemy, emphasizing internal nourishment from within outward. Our understanding of the five zang and six fu organs rivals that of the imperial physicians," Wang Feiyin said. "If you wish to protect them in Datong, sending only external injury medicine won't help. What's most crucial is sending what Datong lacks."

Wang Feiyin picked out several bottles and jars from the shelves. "This one regulates the liver; this one regulates the spleen and stomach; oh, you'll definitely need this—this stops internal bleeding and regulates the five zang organs."

Pan Yun stared at the bottles and jars, her heart racing with longing. "Senior Brother, can I go to Datong?"

"No," Wang Feiyin said. "Didn't your Fourth Senior Sister tell you? If you meet them, they'll die. Of course, the issue isn't you or them—it's the evil people who want to harm you."

Pan Yun: "... You didn't even foresee what happened in my family."

"Don't you trust me? Wait here—I'll call your Fourth Senior Sister. Though my divination is weak, my face-reading is still excellent..."

Pan Yun pretended to object briefly, then fell silent and waited for Xuanmiao inside the alchemy chamber.

She had a flood of questions. If she didn't get answers today, neither Senior Brother nor Fourth Senior Sister would sleep—and neither would her cheap Master, Pan Gong.

Xuanmiao was dragged over, and her first words were: "If you wish to see your family before coming of age, you must reach the First Threshold and enter the Qi Refinement stage."

Pan Yun still didn't understand. "Fourth Senior Sister, if you say I'm not a curse upon my parents and family, why does seeing them harm them?"

"The Dao of Heaven is relatively fair. This happens because you can give them too much," Xuanmiao said. "The more they receive, the greater the price they must pay."

"So many people in this world are favored by Heaven—why can't my father and brothers be among them?"

Xuanmiao: "Perhaps it's because you've received too much. Heaven's blessings can't all belong to the Pan family."

Unlike her past defiance, Pan Yun began to seriously ponder: Was it because she was too talented, and possessed the Three Jade Spirit Realms, that Heaven deemed the Pan family had gained too much—and thus punished them with constant misfortune?

Xuanmiao seemed to know what she was thinking. She looked at Pan Yun's face and said, "Little Sister, don't dig yourself into a dead end. The Dao of Heaven matters greatly to mortals, yet it isn't that important."

Pan Yun's eyes grew hazy.

Xuanmiao said, "Immortals gaze down with compassion, yet they cannot interfere in mortal affairs. Otherwise, with so many events occurring daily, everyone would beg gods and Buddhas—how could they possibly keep up?"

"The Dao of Heaven is like the gods and Buddhas. The Pan family's affairs are mortal affairs. He won't interfere. Only you—you alone—are the exception."

Xuanmiao had made it clear enough. If she explained any further, she might be the one struck down next.

(End of Chapter)