169: Chapter 167: Full Effort in Divination 169: Chapter 167: Full Effort in Divination PS: I’ve revised the text, and modified the last two chapters a bit, I will just post these two chapters totaling 6000 words for today!
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“Dark clouds obscure the sun, do not travel far, fortune and life and death are all unfavorable, beware of disaster approaching your doorstep…”
With his eyes half-closed, Chen Hai pondered the escape divination he had just cast and silently recited its deciphering in his mind.
He had just finished silently reciting the deciphering of the escape divination.
In that instant, he seemed to see an endless surge of green sweeping across heaven and earth, rushing towards him like a torrential wave.
The next moment, he only felt darkness before his eyes, and his entire front and back were drenched in cold sweat.
In the past, even if he was perfunctory when divinating for others, it would only lead to ambiguous results at most.
But now, having completed his divination, he obtained no information, sensing only the seemingly boundless greenery.
This was clearly very abnormal.
“I wanted to divine the source of the forces binding Yu’s feet, but I saw this scene instead.”
“Could it be that the greenery is the presence behind those forces?”
“I divined about him, it involved karma, it must have sensed this and caused my vision to go black, preventing me from observing its existence further…”
Frowning, Chen Hai pondered to himself.
He paced back and forth in the room for quite a while, and besides this factor, he could not think of any other reason that could have led to this outcome.
“Chen Hai, is there a problem with the divination?
Can’t figure anything out?”
Seeing Chen Hai’s appearance, Ye Qingqing hesitated for a long time before attempting to ask.
“Yes!” Chen Hai nodded, “There are indeed some problems.
Yu’s situation is very troublesome; whether I can solve it or not will depend on the circumstances!”
He sighed and smiled bitterly.
“What should we do then?” Ye Qingqing responded, stunned.
“What else can we do?
In cases like Yu’s, those folk experts who are skilled in this area may have the capability to resolve it, but whether or not such people can be found depends on luck!”
“I need to find the root cause behind this matter to resolve it!”
“Wait a moment, let’s have Sister Fang think it over thoroughly and see if she can remember anything!”
“If that’s not possible, then I can only expend all my effort to divine another gua for Yu.”
…
Sighing, Chen Hai explained.
The only folk expert he knew was Hou Donggui.
However, Hou Donggui specialized in the Five Ghosts Transportation Technique, and didn’t seem particularly adept at handling matters involving peculiar spirits.
Moreover, he had left the country for Xiangjiang.
The pager number he left for Chen Hai didn’t work in Xiangjiang.
Unless he took the initiative to contact Chen Hai and inform him of his new contact details in Xiangjiang, Chen Hai really didn’t know how he could reach him.
“Chen Hai, Qingqing, breakfast is ready; come and have something to eat first!” Zhu Fang’s calling voice came from the living room and reached the ears of both Chen Hai and Ye Qingqing.
Looking at each other, they both smiled wryly and walked towards the living room.
Hot dog sausages, sunny-side-up eggs, fragrant toasted bread, and warm milk—Zhu Fang’s prepared breakfast was quite lavish.
As for its taste, not to mention its color and scent, she surely put a lot of effort into it.
After hearing about Yu from Chen Hai’s mouth, Zhu Fang, who originally seemed in a good mood, wore a bitter expression and fell silent again.
Speaking of the strange and suspicious events she encountered, she racked her brain but still couldn’t articulate any logical explanation.
After breakfast and cleaning up the table, Aunt Liu, the nanny hired by Zhu Fang’s family, finally rushed over.
After spending some time in her son Yu’s room, Zhu Fang handed him over to Aunt Liu to take care and then returned to sit on the sofa in the living room.
“Chen Hai, can you really think of no other way to solve Yu’s problem?” Zhu Fang asked with a long sigh.
Just now, in her son’s room, hearing Yu’s disappointed face saying that something was binding his feet again and that he couldn’t walk, Zhu Fang couldn’t help but feel her eyes moisten uncontrollably.
She was usually quite cheerful.
But when it came to her son Yu’s matters, her mood couldn’t improve.
“Sister Fang, as I said before, if Yu’s condition recurs, we must find the root cause to completely resolve the issue!”
“Otherwise, even if I remove the mysterious objects binding his feet today, those things will reappear tomorrow, and that would just be a waste of my mana without any real result!”
“For now, I can only do my best to divine another gua for him to see if we can pinpoint the issue!”
…
Frowning and hesitating for a long time, Chen Hai finally spoke.
Since he had learned that divination could still yield vague results even if all procedures were skipped, Chen Hai had never again given his all when divining for others.
After all, the extreme weakness he felt after putting forth all his effort in divination was something only those who had truly experienced it could understand—it was absolutely unbearable!
At Zhu Fang’s place, he genuinely wanted to help her son, Yu.
With no other options available, Chen Hai could only put in some effort and try divining for Yu again.
“Chen Hai, thank you for this!”
“Whether you can divine any result or not, I will always remember your kindness!” Hearing Chen Hai’s words, Zhu Fang quickly expressed her gratitude.
“Sister Fang, we’re like sisters; no need for such formalities!”
“Poor kid Yu really has it tough.
If Chen Hai’s divination can truly help, then putting in a bit of effort is nothing!” Ye Qingqing quickly added her thoughts.
Ye Qingqing was Chen Hai’s girlfriend and she considered Zhu Fang a sister.
In such a setting, it was natural for her to speak on behalf of Chen Hai.
As for Chen Hai, he had already started busying himself.
Since he was preparing to give his all in the divination, he naturally had to go through the full ritual.
He went to the bathroom not just to cleanse his hands, but he carefully cleaned his whole body.
Returning to the living room, he sat cross-legged facing south.
Then with his hands together, he prayed sincerely to that unknown existence in the vastness for nearly ten minutes.
He then picked up his three copper coins and began the divination.
This time, knowing that the unknown spirit that had crippled Yu’s ability to walk was fairly powerful and could sense his divination efforts.
He shifted the focus of his divination to the location behind the incident that had led to Yu’s accident.
The first Gua revealed two yang and one yin, a lesser yang Gua.
Composedly, Chen Hai picked up the coins again and began a second divination.
Finally, after six Gua were completed, they combined into a complete pattern.
This Gua, made of Lower Kan above Li, stacking water below fire, with fire overstressing the water—fire uncontrollably strong above, but ineffective in saving fires below, hence called ‘Unfinished.’
This was the last of the Sixty-Four Gua, the Unfinished Fire-Water Gua.
“Li plunges a few meters into the earth, thwarting thieves and besiegers; With Tai Sui later branded as malignant, carefulness prevents disasters…” With eyes barely closed, Chen Hai started to mutter the deciphering of the Gua.
In just a few breaths’ time, a stream of information surged into Chen Hai’s mind from the unknown depths, evolving into a series of visions flourishing in his mind.
When Chen Hai put forth all his effort in the divination,
his predictions of the future might have been slightly inaccurate, with potential variables appearing, but his divinations of the past were based on facts unless a powerful entity interfered.
Almost simultaneously, the backlash from divining Heaven’s Secret also began to affect him.
At that moment, his face turned pale as if he was about to collapse.
“Chen Hai, what’s wrong with you?
Please, don’t scare me!
If you can’t divine anything, please don’t push yourself too hard…”
Ye Qingqing, who had been anxiously watching, quickly embraced Chen Hai, who was still sitting cross-legged; she looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
“I’m okay, Qingqing!” His voice weak, Chen Hai managed a wry smile.
He knew that the backlash from divination, when exerted to its fullest, was predictable, and he had mentally prepared himself beforehand.
Yet, the severity of this backlash was still unexpectedly intense.
Previously, his full effort in divination had only involved ordinary people.
But this time, the subjects he was divining were tied to a particular existence.
Perhaps, it was this reason that the backlash he was enduring was much more severe than before.
“Chen Hai, if it’s really too much, then let it be.
Maybe this is just Yu’s fate.”
Zhu Fang looked disappointed as she saw Chen Hai’s frailty distinct from his earlier state, voicing her concern with a heavy sigh.
“Sister Fang, by saying that, you’re showing you don’t believe in me!”
“If I hadn’t divined anything, would I have ended up looking this wretched?”
Compared to the anxious expressions of the two women, Chen Hai, supported by Ye Qingqing and sitting on the sofa, seemed much more composed.
After all, no one knew better than him about his own condition.
Even though he appeared to be in a terrible state and extremely weak,
with his experience, he knew that he would most likely recover completely within three to five days.
Keep in mind that when he returned from the Liu Family’s ancestral grave before, he was in a far worse state than now.
Yet, with the Undying Characteristic contained within his Divine Soul, his full recovery took only a few days.