Chapter 87: Divination

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

Pan Yu was startled. “Where did Younger Sister get so much money? She only sent us a hundred taels last time.”

“That’s right. She’s only eight, and her body has always been weak. I truly can’t imagine how hard she must work to earn this,” Pan Yue said coldly. “Father is upright—he’s past the age of change. It’s only natural for Younger Sister to support him. What about us?”

“Are we supposed to be supported by Younger Sister too?” 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 added: “And lastly, support Younger Sister.”

Pan Yue looked at him with a face full of unspoken exasperation. “Do you really think Younger Sister still needs your support? Today’s Younger Sister is no longer yesterday’s. Think of the talismans she sent, think of the money she sent twice—just don’t drag her down, that’s already enough.”

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

Pan Yue went to open it.

A Minxin Bureau clerk held a box in his arms. “This is the household of Pan Hong of Changzhou Prefecture, correct?”

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

The clerk grinned, showing his teeth. “Your household has received a box urgently delivered from Guangxin Prefecture. You must present household registration to sign for it.”

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, the clerk handed them the box.

Pan Yue asked: “Are urgent deliveries expensive?”

“Not expensive. We use escort agencies for these. It’s only about two taels.”

Pan Yue: “You’re robbing people.”

The clerk: “Sir, 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—unless it’s something tiny, you can’t carry ten. The guards and Minxin Bureau only earn their hard-earned wages,” the clerk said.

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 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, he looked torn. “Big brother, isn’t it wrong to read Father’s letter?”

Pan Yue: “I’ll put it back. I won’t say a word, you won’t say a word—who’ll know?”

Pan Yu turned his back, pulled the quilt over his head. “I can’t see anything. I see nothing.”

Pan Yue ignored him and read the letter.

When Pan Yu saw his brother remained silent, he couldn’t help turning to look. Seeing his solemn face, he hurriedly turned back. “Big brother, what does the letter say? Younger Sister just sent money a few days ago—why send so many things now?”

Pan Yue tucked the letter away, serious. “She sensed it. She divined it. There truly are forces in this world we don’t understand.”

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

To get it to Datong faster, she didn’t use the urgent delivery post in Dayuanwu—she made the large 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.

Luckily, 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 Daoist temple. The rice ears hung low, yet the leaves and grains remained lush green, showing 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 Brother said was ready for harvest?”

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

Just as he turned to throw a punch, he faced 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, dissipating the incoming qi wave. “Master 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. Today I sensed something strange with the talismans I sent to Father and Brother. Master Brother, did I affect them?”

Wang Feiyin carefully studied Pan Yun’s features, then led her into the main hall and took out a tortoise shell for divination. Pan Yun looked at the result, her heart pounding—she was an expert herself. One glance, and her heart sank.

Wang Feiyin scratched his head. “Don’t rush. Sit for a moment. I’ll call Fourth Sister.”

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

Wang Feiyin looked conflicted, then admitted honestly: “I couldn’t divine it.”

Pan Yun looked up at him seriously. Seeing he spoke truthfully, she released her grip. Inside, her mind went utterly still—no ripple, no tremor.

Wang Feiyin noticed nothing, hurried off to find Xuanmiao.

Xuanmiao was dragged over, glanced at Pan Yun, then sat cross-legged on her 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 want to divine?”

Pan Yun solemnly replied: “I want to divine the safety of my family.”

Xuanmiao began arranging the copper coins, her left hand constantly calculating. 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 grew grim. That meant they were injured—severely. Otherwise, Fourth Sister could have simply said “danger but no death.”

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The injury occurred in Datong… likely external wounds—so they need hemostatic and blood-replenishing medicines.

Pan Yun looked hopefully at Wang Feiyin. “Master Brother, can I borrow medicine on credit? I only have five taels.”

Wang Feiyin: “I don’t mind five taels being little.”

“Let me go to the county and earn more to repay you. These five taels I need to send goods and use as startup capital.”

Wang Feiyin agreed. “What medicine do you want?”

“Datong is a frontier. My father and brothers are conscripted soldiers—they might be used as cannon fodder. So I want as many external wound medicines as possible.”

Wang Feiyin glanced at her. “I’ll prepare it for you. Being used as cannon fodder—the deadliest threat isn’t external wounds, but internal injuries.”

He took her to his alchemy room.

Pan Yun had never entered his alchemy room. Neither Wang Feiyin nor Tao Ji ever required them to clean their alchemy rooms—they taught and practiced alchemy in the adjacent large alchemy hall.

Inside, besides the three alchemy furnaces—large, medium, and small—were shelves lining the walls.

One shelf held herbs; the other, countless bottles and jars, all beautifully arranged.

Wang Feiyin led her to the shelves. “For external wounds, the most critical are hemostatic and astringent herbs. Datong is a frontier—its wound ointments aren’t worse than ours. The real gap lies in internal injury medicine.”

“Our Mount Sanqing focuses on the Dao of Elixirs, cultivating from within outward. Our understanding of the five zang and six fu organs rivals even the imperial physicians,” Wang Feiyin said. “To protect them in Datong, sending only external medicine won’t help. The most vital thing is to send what Datong lacks.”

Wang Feiyin selected several bottles from the shelves. “This regulates the liver. This regulates the spleen and stomach. Oh, you’ll definitely need this—it stops internal bleeding and regulates the five organs.”

Pan Yun stared at the bottles, her heart racing. “Master Brother, can I go to Datong?”

“No,” Wang Feiyin said. “Didn’t Fourth Sister tell you? If you meet them, they’ll die. But the problem isn’t you or them—it’s the evil ones who want to harm you.”

Pan Yun: “...You couldn’t even divine that my family was in trouble.”

“Don’t you trust me? Wait—I’ll call Fourth Sister. I may be bad at divination, but my face-reading is excellent…”

Pan Yun pretended to object briefly, then quietly waited in the alchemy room for Xuanmiao.

She had a hundred questions. If she didn’t get answers today, neither Master Brother nor Fourth Sister would sleep—and neither would her fake Master, Master Pan.

Xuanmiao was dragged over. Her first words: “If you wish to see your family before adulthood, you must reach the First Threshold—enter the Qi Refining stage.”

Pan Yun still didn’t understand. “Fourth Sister, if you say I’m not a curse upon my parents and kin, why does seeing them harm them?”

“Heaven’s Dao is relatively fair. This happens because you give them too much,” Xuanmiao said. “The more they receive, the greater the price they must pay.”

“So many people are favored by Heaven’s Dao—why can’t my father and brothers be among them?”

Xuanmiao: “Perhaps because you’ve received too much. Heaven’s blessings can’t all belong to the Pan family.”

Unlike before, when she’d only resented it, Pan Yun now seriously pondered: Was it because she was too talented, because she possessed the Three Jade Spiritual Realms, that Heaven’s Dao deemed the Pan family had taken too much—and thus punished them relentlessly?

Xuanmiao seemed to know what she was thinking. She looked at Pan Yun’s face. “Little Sister, don’t dig yourself into a dead end. Heaven’s Dao matters greatly to mortals—but not that much.”

Pan Yun’s eyes were lost.

Xuanmiao: “The Immortals gaze down with compassion, yet cannot interfere in mortal affairs. Otherwise, with so many events happening daily, everyone would beg gods and Buddhas—how could they possibly manage?”

“Heaven’s Dao is like the gods. The Pan family’s affairs are mortal affairs. It won’t interfere. Only you—you alone—are the exception.”

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

(End of Chapter)