Chapter 1214 The Returnee's Notes 288

The old lady took a breath and then pointed to the yarrow stalks on Xie Ning's table, saying, "You always use copper coins for divination in the past, try using yarrow stalks today... try to divine for me."

Xie Ning met the old lady's gaze steadily. The old lady's eyes used to be bright, but now they seemed to be covered with a layer of gray.

"I'll go cleanse myself first."

In fact, the dust and dirt around one's body may not necessarily affect the divination results, but Xie Ning was afraid.

She not only burned incense to purify herself, but also specially changed into a pure white robe, and tied her long black hair up with only a peach wood hairpin.

As the saying goes, the Great Expansion Number is fifty, but its use is forty-nine. Divide it into two to represent the two; hang one to represent the three; divide it into four to represent the four seasons; return the remainder to the leap year to represent the intercalary month; every five years there is an intercalary month, so the leap year is repeated and then hung again... Therefore, the four operations form the Yi, and the eighteen changes form the hexagram.

There are fifty yarrow stalks on Xie Ning's table. If there are no yarrow stalks, thin wooden sticks or bamboo strips can be used instead.

She first took out one of the yarrow stalks, because the number of the universe is fifty, and the number of the universe cannot be fully used, so she could only use forty-nine yarrow stalks.

Then, the remaining forty-nine strands were randomly divided into two parts, one for heaven and one for earth, to symbolize the two polarities.

Then Xie Ning took a yarrow stalk from one of the piles and placed it between his left little finger. This was the "one" he was holding. He then divided the yarrow stalks into two groups of four, continuing this process until he had four or fewer yarrow stalks in each hand.

This is a divination of four to represent the four seasons.

Then Xie Ning placed the remaining yarrow stalks in his left hand between his left ring and middle fingers; and placed the remaining yarrow stalks in his right hand between his left middle and index fingers.

Xie Ning looked at the remaining yarrow stalks between his fingers, then completed the first, second, and third transformations... to determine the hexagram...

Everyone has a destiny, which is predetermined by heaven and cannot be changed, but fortune is determined by human effort.

Xie Ning, his face growing increasingly somber, stared at the last yarrow stalk in his hand, unable to bring himself to put it down. When he turned around, he met the old lady's calm gaze.

"Grandma..."

Then, looking somewhat distressed, she lowered her eyes and asked, "Your fate is not to be like this, why?"

The old lady propped herself up and walked to Xie Ning's side, then took her hand and dropped the last yarrow stalk, saying, "Take a closer look."

"It's a dead end... No, there's still a glimmer of hope."

Xie Ning's eyes lit up, and she instinctively grasped the old lady's hand in return, "So that means..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but both of them understood what she meant.

"You brought it."

Black Egg tilted its head and looked at the two people sitting and standing above. The quietly lit candlelight cast their shadows on the curtain. It flicked its tail and jumped up as well, thus adding a cat's shadow above.

"What's the meaning?"

“I do not know where you came from, nor can I see your destiny, but I do know that your arrival has changed my fate, and it has also changed theirs.”

"they?"

For some reason, Xie Ning suddenly remembered Qing Nu's words, and his gaze involuntarily fell on his wrist.

Above are thirteen white porcelain beads and a bright red soul-stabilizing bead.

Qingnu said that thirteen souls were sleeping inside.

"I originally wanted to tell you when you were older, but I don't have much time left to spend with you, so I'll tell you everything now."

The old lady placed her hand on Xie Ning's wrist. "Thirteen souls are sleeping here. They were brought out when I first entered Guibei Mountain. Because of them, I was cursed. Or rather, I divided my lifespan among them, one year for each of them, which is thirteen years."

"It would take me three years of my life to equal one year of theirs."

It seemed like a losing deal, but she was happy to accept it. When they brought her out of Guibei Mountain, they simply said they wanted to see the sunshine.

So she turned the body of an infant whose soul had been lost into a semi-stiff.

This is the body Xie Ning is currently in.

There are four seasons in a year: spring flowers, autumn moon, summer sun, and winter snow. She should see them all; this is the limit of what she can do.