Chapter 12: The Orthodox School of Mysticism

  "Alright, nothing's wrong, Li Huan's family should be here soon, let's go."

  Xu Yi looked at Li Huan, who was lying in bed, and beckoned to Mei Shufen. This kid's head was wrapped up tightly like a mummy, it was unclear whether he was asleep or just pretending to be asleep, so he could avoid fulfilling the bet.

  Mei Shufen took a glance at Li Huan, who was sleeping soundly, shook her head, and couldn't help but admire the skill of Xu Yi. Even Grandfather might not be able to achieve this level of expertise. This Xu Yi was indeed an extraordinary master, and it was surprising that he was so young.

  "Come on, I'm hungry, let's go have some midnight snacks together."

  Mei Shufen had a bag in her left hand and was dragging a suitcase with her right, she gave Xu Yi a sideways glance. This guy really has no eyesight, how could he let a beautiful woman like herself drag a suitcase while he had nothing in his hands? He didn't know how to cherish and care for a woman at all, this guy definitely had never been in love before.

  "Let's find a hotel to stay in first, can't bring all this stuff to eat supper."

  Xu smiled and laughed, without any awareness of trying to win over the beautiful woman.

  "Xu Yi, you don't have a girlfriend, and you've definitely never been in love before, right?" Mei Shufen gave Xu Yi a sideways glance, proudly sticking out her chest. On the train, that guy Li Huan had been staring at her chest the whole time, his expression as if he wanted to bury his head in her chest.

  "Hmm, how did you know?"

  Xu raised his head, took a glance around, pointed forward with one hand, "Hey, there's a hotel ahead, let's stay there. And, there's a barbecue shop nearby."

  "Okay, then let's stay at that hotel."

  Mei Shufen smiled slightly and paused for a moment, "Hey, do you know why I knew you didn't have a girlfriend and had never been in love?"

  Xu Yi slowly shook his head, and Mei Shufen snorted, throwing the suitcase she was dragging in front of him. "You not only have never been in love, but you also don't have many opportunities to be with girls. How can you let a girl do physical labor when living together? You really don't understand how to cherish and care for women."

  "You have your own hands and feet, you should do things yourself. My master told me that when I was very young." Xu furrowed his brow, "Besides, as a member of the Mystic Sect, how can you be so weak like you're showing?"

  "You fool, you don't understand anything, and you're completely clueless about romance."

  Mei Shufen coquettishly gave Xu Yiyi a sideways glance, "Gentleness is the nature of us women, weakness is our opportunity to show you men our devotion, otherwise, how would you have the chance to flirt with us?"

  "What you said, I really don't understand, sorry to trouble you, beautiful lady." Xǔ smiled and scratched his head, picked up his luggage and walked down the stairs.

  They checked into a hotel and settled in quickly, but unfortunately, when they arrived at the barbecue restaurant, it was already closed. Fortunately, there were still some night stalls on the side of the road.

  Two people ordered a plate of stir-fried snails, a plate of small lobsters, dozens of skewers and two bottles of beer. At this time, there were not many guests, so the food was served quickly.

  "Let's have a drink to our acquaintance." Mei Shufen raised her glass and clinked it against Xu Yi's, then tilted her head back and downed the liquor in one gulp, every gesture exuding a girl's boldness.

  Xu Yi let out a bitter laugh, shook his head, and downed the wine in one gulp. This Mei Shufen was indeed a contradictory figure - one moment she was as delicate and weak as Lin Daiyu, and the next she was as bold and uninhibited as a tomboy.

  "You're the youngest fortune teller I've ever seen."

  Mei Shufen picked up a snail with her chopsticks and threw it into her mouth, her tongue rolled around, lightly sucking and blowing, the snail shell fell to the ground. She blinked her beautiful eyes, "Even if it was my grandfather, he would have to use tools for divination, but when you were divining auspiciousness or calamity for Li Huan today, I didn't see your tools."

  "Could it be that you have already entered the realm of heart possession?"

  Xu took a bite of the meat skewer, pulled it off with his right hand and threw the bamboo stick on the table, chewing loudly. "The essence of divination is to predict good or bad fortune by borrowing from sudden changes in things."

  "In ancient times, people believed that by burning the bones of fierce beasts or turtle shells and observing the cracks, they could predict good or bad fortune, which was the earliest form of divination."

  Xu Yi picked up the beer bottle and drank it all in one gulp, then grabbed two skewers of meat. "After thousands of years of evolution, many factions were formed, and many methods of divination were produced. From the initial use of animal bones and turtle shells to later on, the masters of the mysterious gate used changes in flowers, grasses, birds, and insects as tools for divination."

  "Of course, the person who practices divination needs to have a very deep cultivation, and be extremely sensitive to the primordial energy of heaven and earth. Not only does Taoism have divination techniques, but Buddhism also has them, although Buddhism calls it the 'Wooden Wheel Method'."

  A person's fate and future will change with their subjective initiative and the influence of social environment, so no one dares to predict a person's life course, because social environment and personal efforts can also change one's fortune.

  Mei Shufen's mouth was agape, although she had been exposed to these mysterious Taoist things since childhood, but this kind of simple and clear statement like Xu Yi's, was still the first time she heard.

  Even if it's her grandfather, when he talks about these things with her, he also has a mysterious and profound attitude.

  "Xu Yi, you're too awesome, I can understand everything you say."

  Mei Shufen exclaimed in a low voice, "Unlike my grandfather, he speaks mysteriously and murmurs some incantations that even he himself can't understand. Right, how long have you studied, how come you know so much? And what school of magic did you learn?"

  "I studied for a full twenty years, starting from the age of two and a half. I followed that old man, reciting incomprehensible sentences. After studying for so many years, I still don't know which school of Taoist magic I'm learning. However, the old man is always proud, never putting so-called Taoist masters in his eyes."

  "It's likely that he didn't bother to learn from others' so-called Taoist methods, and probably 80-90% of it was his own innovation based on his understanding of Taoist classics. So, our Zhe Yi sect can barely be considered a genuine Xuanmen sect."

  "Taoist schools have been passed down in our country for thousands of years, and the number of factions that have emerged is countless. Those who can create factions are not surprising talents, and it's possible that only a few well-known sects have survived."

  "What sect is unimportant, after all everyone comes from the same source and shares the same ancestry, they are all based on Taoist teachings and then developed into different kung fu styles, just with different focuses."

  Xu let out a soft sigh and raised his right hand to beckon the boss, "Boss, bring a bottle of white wine."

  "Boss, two bottles of Hengshui Daqu."

  Mei Shufen giggled and said, "Actually, I've been wanting to say that drinking beer is really not worth it."

  Two people each drank a bottle of white wine, ate two plates of stir-fried field snails, three plates of small lobster, and one hundred and twenty-three skewers of meat. After getting drunk and full, the two people supported each other back to the hotel.

  The next morning, Mei Shufen invited Xu Yi to have a last characteristic breakfast in Hengchuan, and then led him into a very luxurious jewelry store.

  "Do you want to buy jewelry?"

  Xu Yi carried his luggage and followed Mei Shufen into the jade store with a puzzled expression.

  "Xiao Fen, why are you just getting back now? I called your cell phone last night and you didn't answer." A middle-aged beautiful woman came up to greet her, casting a wary glance at Xu Yi. "I even asked friends specifically, the train wasn't delayed."

  "Mom, this is my friend Xu Yi."

  Mei Shufen smiled and walked over to hug the middle-aged woman, "Xu Yi, this is my mom. If we go to Qi Xi today, having her car will save us a lot of time."

  "Auntie, hello."

  Xu Yi smiled and slightly bowed to the middle-aged woman. "I'm Xu Yi, a man of my word, it seems you have many good things in your store."

  "Xiao Xu, hello, I'm Mei Fang. Has Xiao Fen been giving you any trouble?" The middle-aged woman smiled and nodded slightly at Xu, "How is it that you also understand jewelry and jade?"

  "Just learned a little bit about identifying jade artifacts."

  Xu smiled and said, "The others are completely outsiders."

  "That's not easy either..."

  Mei Fang smiled and was about to continue, when Mei Shufen suddenly shook her arm, "Mom, can you guys talk later? We need to go to Qixi now. By the way, can we borrow your car?"

  Her voice sank and she whispered in Mei Fang's ear, "Mom, remember to give me some face in front of my friends."

  "Alright, I knew you'd be using the car, so I filled up the gas yesterday afternoon. Remember to drive slowly." Mei Fang affectionately stroked Mei Shufen's head, turned around and grabbed the keys from the tea table, putting them in her hand. "By the way, make sure to come home for dinner tonight."

  "Thanks, Mom, I knew you're the best! You're really my own mom." Mei Shufen was overjoyed and excitedly gave Mei Fang a big kiss on the face, then grabbed the keys and turned to leave.

  "Auntie, goodbye." Xu Yijian was stunned and stared with wide eyes, at this moment, Mei Shufen's girly temperament was revealed without a doubt.

  The car sped along the highway, Mei Shufen's driving very fast, the scenery on both sides of the road flew backward quickly.

  "This road was repaired by the Qixi County government, all the way to Longtou Village in Guanyin Town. They want to curry favor with General Xu."

  Mei Shufen smiled and stepped on the brake, stopping the car. She pointed forward, "Look, that house in front is General Xu's former residence. Although it's at the edge of the village, the feng shui is the best."

  "Let's go and take a look."

  Xu Yī pushed open the car door and got out, scanning the house in front of him with a glance. He silently praised it to himself - this old mansion was indeed built on a site with excellent feng shui. As he slowly walked towards the old brick house, his expression turned solemn, and indeed, someone had set up a feng shui formation here.

  "Xu Yi, it seems that someone has set up a feng shui formation here. I can't tell what kind of formation it is, but the killing energy is very strong."

  Mei Shufen's face changed color.

  "This is the Three Yin Gathering Evil Formation, using the principle of Five Elements to clash and dispel the spiritual energy of the land dragon, and gathering the evil spirits nearby into our old mansion. No wonder Grandfather's health has been poor."

  "Indeed, someone is plotting against us!"

  "What's with your family's old house?"

  Mei Shufen's mouth opened wide in astonishment, "You, you, you are General Xu's grandson?"