Chapter 1
The night added a touch of oppression and horror to the cemetery. The wind blew up the fallen leaves and blew them to the gate.
Several teenagers with bags on their backs hid behind a tree and stretched their necks to take a look at the security room. The TV screen was flickering, and the fat security guard was snoring with his legs on the table and his mouth open.
The leader gestured and whispered, "Let's quickly climb over the wall and get in while he's sleeping."
A few days ago, they played basketball with the boys from Class 2, and the bet was that whoever lost would have to spend the night in the South City Cemetery.
As luck would have it, they were the unlucky ones who lost the game.
The teenagers nimbly climbed over the iron gate and made their way to the northwest corner of the cemetery.
This is an open area, very suitable for setting up tents, and the location is relatively remote, so security patrols generally don't come here.
"As expected of a cemetery, the temperature here is cooler than outside."
“It’s really spooky.”
"Okay, stop scaring yourself, everyone, hurry up and pack up your things."
Mobile phones, tablets, power banks, flashlights and other outdoor camping equipment were taken out of the bag. One of the boys in a black baseball jacket rummaged into the bag again, and under everyone's incredulous gaze, he took out a bunch of garlic, an aged peach wood sword, a green-faced and fanged Zhong Kui statue, and three palm-sized sweet potatoes.
"What's the meaning?"
"Oh, my family is in the funeral supplies business, so we're a little superstitious. Don't mind me, ha."
"I understand the logic, but can sweet potatoes also drive away ghosts?"
"That's not the case. My grandma brought this sweet potato back from the countryside today. It's said to be very sticky and delicious. I want to roast it and try it."
"Why don't you bring a barbecue grill?"
"I thought, but I can't take it all. But I brought some salad and a few cans of beer."
“…”
The chattering conversations echoed in the silent night, and the tent soon took shape. The despised sweet potatoes were once again in the spotlight.
"Actually, I think roasting the sweet potatoes wouldn't be a bad idea."
"Isn't that impolite? This is a cemetery after all."
"Give them a share when the time comes."
"That makes a lot of sense."
The boys looked at each other, with meaningful smiles on their faces.
The boy in baseball uniform took the initiative to take over the task of roasting sweet potatoes. He took the military shovel handed to him by his companion, raised his index and middle fingers together in front of his eyebrows, pretended to close his eyes and turned around in place, then found a perfect position and started shoveling the soil.
"This is the location. It's safe."
He dug a hole, found a few bricks and built a small tower. He found some branches to light a fire, threw three sweet potatoes in, clapped his hands, and said with a smile, "It's done."
When he returned with the military shovel, his companions all laughed at him: "You look quite professional."
In front of the tent, the camping lights emitted a dim light. The teenagers sat in a circle, talking about interesting things in school while eating. The occasional laughter dispelled the depression and panic brought by the cemetery.
"Let's play cards?"
"Okay, I'll go see how the sweet potatoes are baking."
"Don't look, I've already brought it to you."
Under the light, two hands reached out, their palms spread with a layer of broad leaves, and above them lay a charred sweet potato. The skin on one side had cracked, revealing the golden interior. A breeze blew, and a rich fragrance filled everyone's nostrils.
But all the boys, including the boy in baseball uniform, turned pale in an instant.
They were 100% sure that the voice did not belong to any of them, and they were also sure that the hand did not belong to any of them.
The boy in the baseball uniform stiffened his body, his eyes fixed on his companion's face. As his eyes flickered, he swiftly climbed up from the ground like a monkey, grabbed the peach wood sword and garlic, and threw them at the unfamiliar voice while shouting, "Run!"
In an instant, sand and rocks flew everywhere, leaving Rong Jing with only her eyes quickly closed, trying to block the dust from entering her eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, all the figures had disappeared completely, and the garlic head on his forehead rolled into his arms.
Rong Jing: “…”
He rubbed his forehead and muttered in his heart:
It's quite painful.
Five minutes ago, he smelled the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes in his sleep. He wanted to hold it in, but his stomach was growling so loudly that he couldn't help but opened his eyes.
He felt an itch on his forehead again, so he rubbed it with his hand, and a piece of yellow talisman paper floated down.
Some memories buried deep in the mind were awakened.
Rong Jing remembered that night when he suddenly developed a fever, his entire body burning as if on fire. The old Taoist priest who had raised him stroked his head with his rough hands and soothed him with a gentle smile, "Ah Jing, you're going to have a very long sleep next. Don't be afraid, everything will be fine when you wake up."
But when he woke up and pushed open the coffin lid, he did not see the old Taoist priest or Xie Changshi. He only saw the sweet potato pit above the coffin and a few young teenagers.
Rong Jing didn't really want to scare them, but the roasted sweet potatoes were just too fragrant... Xie Changshi once said that taking something without asking is considered stealing. If he wanted to eat the roasted sweet potatoes, he had to get the boys' permission, so he went over.
Rong Jing sighed, took a bite of the sweet potato that no one wanted, broke off a piece of garlic, and put it in his mouth. The spiciness made his face wrinkle.
After quickly eating three sweet potatoes to suppress the taste, Rong Jing searched in the tent left by the teenagers and successfully found a pen and paper. He wrote a message on the paper: I'm sorry for eating your roasted sweet potatoes. As compensation, I can do something for you. If you need anything, see you here next Saturday.
Now, he is going to find Xie Changshi.
Rong Jing patted his clothes and pants that were stained with mud and dust, picked up the tortoise shell, copper coins and talisman paper stored in the coffin, and left the cemetery.
…
Rong Jing circled the cemetery three times and finally found the exit.
But standing in front of the northeast gate of the cemetery, he blinked in confusion.
Where is Xie Changshi?
How should he find him?
Moreover, he seemed to have slept for a long time. Could it be that Xie Changshi had forgotten him?
Several questions kept bouncing around in Rong Jing's head, but there was no accurate answer.
He looked down at the tortoise shell in his hand, his eyes lit up, and he sat cross-legged on the ground. He put the copper coin into the tortoise shell, with the tortoise head pointing to his eyebrows, and after a moment he began to shake the tortoise shell.
The first hexagram: Kun below and Qian above, the upper nine lines say that bad times will be followed by good times.
In other words, if he insists on looking for Xie Changshi, there may be difficulties, but opportunities will come after the difficulties?
What if he goes to find the Taoist priest?
Rong Jing shook the turtle shell again.
The stems are on top and down, the first nine lines say, the hidden dragon is not to be used.
Why is this hexagram so strange? It would be fine if it showed that the time has not come yet, but it actually asked him to bide his time. Is there something wrong with the Taoist priest?
Rong Jing rubbed his messy short hair, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally decided to listen to the words of his ancestor. He put away the tortoise shell and followed the signs on the side of the road, walking down the mountain, intending to find Xie Changshi.
Rong Jing walked and stopped, and used the wide-angle mirror on the side of the road to take pictures of his current appearance.
Although he is a little zombie, he looks no different from a human, and his two small fangs are just like ordinary canine teeth.
Satisfied that his appearance would not cause panic, Rong Jing quickened his pace.
He looked at the road signs and saw that there was a county town called Changxi County at the foot of the mountain. He could go there to ask for directions. He remembered that before he fell asleep, he and Xie Changshi lived in a tube-shaped building in Sui County.
According to Rong Jing's logic, Changxi County and Sui County were probably not that far apart. After all, Xie Changshi and the Taoist priest wouldn't have carried his coffin across mountains and rivers to bury him so far away.
When we entered the county town, it was already around nine o'clock in the morning, and the flow of people on the county's busiest streets had dropped sharply.
Rong Jing moved the tip of his nose.
I haven’t smelled such delicious buns for a long time.
He had no money before, and Xie Changshi had no money either, but Xie Changshi could not resist his pleading and bought him buns.
Rong Jing stared at the bun shop for a few seconds, touched his empty pockets with some regret, walked to the steps on the side with his head hung and sat down.
Next to him was a woman selling vegetables. She glanced at him and saw him sighing. She couldn't help but laugh: "You're so young and good-looking, why are you always sighing?"
Rong Jing blushed a little at her words "good-looking" and squeezed closer to her, whispering, "Grandma, is this place far from Sui County?"
"Sui County? It seems to be in Tingyang City next door. It takes more than an hour to get there by car."
It takes more than an hour to get there by car, and it would take him forever to walk there.
Rong Jing thought to himself that the hexagram was correct, there were indeed many difficulties.
He held up his tortoise shell towards his grandmother and said with a smile, "Thank you, grandma. Let me tell you a fortune. I can tell you the answer to whatever you want to ask."
grandmother:"……"
A well-behaved child suddenly turned into a swindler and deceitful charlatan.
The old man's expression became a little strange.
After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Do you want money?"
Rong Jing shook his head: "No charge, just ask."
Hearing the key words "free of charge," the old man breathed a sigh of relief, mentally dismissing Rong Jing's behavior as childish play. After all, Rong Jing looked incredibly young, and it was unclear whether he was an adult.
She smiled and said, "Then you can calculate my son's career for me."
Rong Jing responded, stuffed the copper coin into the tortoise shell, shook it, and repeated it six times to form a hexagram.
"What does this mean?"
The person who spoke was the owner of the bun shop next door. He had just come out for a walk to relax, but he didn't expect to see Old Lady Fang and a child together. When he looked closely, he saw that the child was holding a tortoise shell that looked particularly old.
As a Chinese, my first reaction when seeing tortoise shells and copper coins is fortune-telling.
Boss Liu stood with his hands behind his back and watched Rong Jing's movements with great joy. When he saw Rong Jing taking back the last copper coin, he couldn't wait to ask.
Rong Jing: "Zhen is below, Dui is above. Zhen represents thunder, Dui represents marsh. This is the Sui Gua."
Boss Liu looked confused: "I don't understand."
Rong Jing explained to him, "It means that when doing things, you must seize the opportunity and act accordingly. But the divination line is the ninth and fourth line, hmm..."
Rong Jing tilted his head to look at the old man and asked, "Is your son having troubles at work recently? It must be a situation where he has to choose between two options."
Boss Liu still had a confused expression, but Old Lady Fang's expression suddenly changed, and even the way she looked at Rong Jing became different.
Over the weekend, her son, his wife, and son returned to the countryside for dinner and a night out, to spend some time with her. It's said that a mother knows her son best, and last night at the dinner table, she could clearly sense her son's absent-mindedness. Worried, she asked a few more questions.
Fortunately, her son was not the kind of person who would simply evade his mother's questions with an answer like "You don't understand". Instead, he explained the troubles he had encountered in simple terms.
He said that he discovered that the leader who had always been leading him was doing something not so good, and he didn't know whether to tell others about it.
Although her son had only used the word "not very good" at the time, Mrs. Fang could still realize from his expression that things were not as simple as he said.
Doesn’t that fit the situation of choosing between two options that Rong Jing mentioned?
Mrs. Fang didn't care about anything for a moment. She excitedly reached out and grabbed Rong Jing's fingers, and asked hurriedly: "Young man, how do we solve this problem?"
He curled his eyes at the old lady and soothed her, "It's very simple, just stick to your principles."
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Fang picked up the scattered vegetables on the ground, said "Thank you, young man," turned around, and walked away with her stool. Her hurried back and neat steps made it impossible to tell that she was in her sixties.
Boss Liu was stunned, but when he looked at Rong Jing again, there was a bit more scrutiny and tentativeness in his eyes.
Changxi County wasn't very big, and most of the residents in the county town knew each other a little. Not to mention that Old Lady Fang would come to set up a stall next to his bun shop almost every day, and after chatting a few times, they became familiar with each other. As soon as he saw the change in Old Lady Fang's expression, Boss Liu had a guess in his mind -
Could this kid really be right?
He coughed lightly, leaned over, and asked with a smile: "Young man, can you calculate it for me too?"
The smile on Rong Jing's face gradually blossomed: "Okay."
Boss Liu rubbed his hands excitedly, and the next second he heard Rong Jing say again: "Five hundred for one divination."
Boss Liu: “…”
Sorry to bother you.
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