Chapter 27: Little Brother Tells a Lie

  What spring dream? I was almost scared to death! I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and replied, "What spring dream? However, I did have a real dream about that girl Autumn Swallow from Phoenix Inn."

  The little brother came over with a sly smile and said with a grin, "Tell me, what did you do with Qiu Yan in your dream?"

  I know what's on your mind, little brother. His face turned red as he replied, "N-nothing..."

  "What didn't happen? Impossible? Between a man and a woman, it's just that kind of thing, how can nothing have happened?" The young man wouldn't let up.

  I was speechless, recalling the scene in my dream, and still feeling a lingering fear, I replied, "It's nothing, just a dream about her."

  The young man smiled and said, "As the saying goes, 'day has its thoughts and night has its dreams.' If you didn't like Autumn Swallow, how would you dream of her? In my opinion, you wouldn't have fallen for that little girl, right? But I'm not saying you did. Although Autumn Swallow may look pretty, she's still young and doesn't have the charm of a woman. How could you possibly like her? Compared to Boss Jin, it's like heaven and earth...

  That little brother's nonsense made me laugh and cry at the same time, how could I possibly like that girl? But in my dream, she said I looked like her long-lost older brother, which gave me a very strange feeling, it felt weird, as if she were really my family.

  I couldn't take the younger brother's nonsense, interrupted him and said, "Younger brother, stop talking, didn't you say you'd invite me to lunch? I'm starving!"

  The little brother patted his forehead and laughed, "Look at my memory, I was just here to wake you up for breakfast!"

  My little brother and I came out of the room and saw that Rocky was already sitting at the dinner table waiting for us, with another old man with white hair and beard sitting next to him.

  That old man looked like he was in his sixties or seventies, with two dull eyes that seemed to have a thick fog over them.

  I knew that was the Eighth Grandfather in Xiao Ge's mouth. I walked to the dinner table and respectfully shouted, "Eighth Grandfather..."

  "Who are you?" Eighth Grandfather stared at me, as if he could see through my soul.

  I suddenly felt a strange tension, just as I was about to respond, the young man smiled and spoke up, "Eighth Grandfather, his name is Lan Tian, he's my friend."

  "Ah," said Old Man Ba, continuing to stare at me, "Xiao Lan, I see that you have a lot of yin energy in your body. Were you born in the year, month, day and hour of Yin?"

  "How did this old man see through my birth time at a glance? I was shocked and replied, 'Yes, Eighth Grandfather!'"

  "Ah..." Old Man Ba let out a deep sigh and continued, "You child, judging from your expression, it seems like you've just gone through an especially strange experience. Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

  As soon as he finished speaking, I knew I had met a superior person.

  "This is a long story..." I told the truth, from attending Liu Tingting's classmate gathering to Xu Peilong disappearing from my side, I told everything to Grandpa Ba. But thinking of the mysterious person who sent me a text message warning me not to reveal his secrets, I omitted that part and didn't say it.

  "Is that so? It seems you've encountered a vengeful spirit's physical form... The Soul Summoning Technique is a very mysterious spell, long lost to the people. In my opinion, that Lin Jie is not simple!" Eighth Grandfather replied.

  "But... I saw him die right in front of me at the psychiatric hospital!" I cried out.

  "Not necessarily!" said Eighth Grandfather, stroking his chin whiskers. "Since that Lin Jie can summon souls, perhaps what you saw were just illusions... Ah, never mind, let's eat first!"

  "Eat, eat..." Yan Long chuckled thickly.

  This meal I ate was tasteless, and my mind kept thinking of the words spoken by this old man in front of me. He said that Lin Jie's death was an illusion, how could it be? Unless everything I experienced before was also fake!

  After dinner, Yan Long busied himself with something, and Xiao Ge chatted idly with Eighth Grandfather, but didn't mention anything about the map or village matters. I sat on the side, awkwardly smiling and occasionally helping Eighth Grandfather refill his tea.

  "Little brother, tell me the truth, you left the village when you were young, where did you learn your magic from?" Eighth Grandfather suddenly asked Little Brother.

  It turns out that this little brother has a magical technique, no wonder his whole body is full of a murderous aura!

  When Old Man Ba asked about this matter, I quickly concentrated my mind and listened on. Perhaps, from what Old Man Ba asked, we can gain some understanding of this mysterious young man.

  The little brother seemed a bit hesitant, but still replied, "This... I met a master outside and he taught me a few tricks."

  "Oh, do you still remember the surname and given name of that gentleman who taught you?" asked Eighth Grandfather.

  The little brother shook his head, "He didn't tell me, just said that people who meet in the rivers and lakes have a destined relationship, why bother with worldly bodies? He's quite mysterious, over the years I've also wondered when I'll be able to see him again, after all he's also my master... unfortunately I've never been able to find him!"

  I caught a glimpse of panic in Xiao Ge's eyes, he wasn't telling the truth!

  "Oh..." Grandpa Ba looked somewhat disappointed, "Is that so? I thought that Mr. analyzed you to have a good heart, that's why he taught it to you."

  "Brother Eight is being too kind!"

  Old Eighth's face flashed a hint of a smile, but immediately dimmed again. "Young man, you should know that doing our line of work will eventually lead to retribution."

  Doing this line of work, will they eventually suffer retribution? If they already knew they would suffer retribution, why learn magic then? I was shocked to hear the young man answer with great respect, "Eighth Grandfather, I know."

  "Alas..." Grandpa Ba sighed, "Actually, some things can't be forced. It's fate, and no matter who it is, one shouldn't have too deep of an attachment."

  The little brother nodded silently.

  Old Man Ba said, "Young man, there are some things I must tell you today... Actually, the successors of the Yin Yang Kan Yu technique have never had many people making a name for themselves in Jianghu. They have always been secretive and low-key. Although they think that as long as they don't go against heaven's will, they can develop peacefully, but no one has ever been able to escape their own obsessions. You're always running around outside, you must be extra careful."

  The young man nodded gloomily, as if his concerns had been hit on by Old Man Ba.

  "In the past, there were some remarkable figures in the Yin Yang divination technique. If you want to listen today, I can tell you about them." Eighth Grandfather continued to say.

  "Eight Grandfather, you speak!" Little Brother replied respectfully.

  As soon as I heard there was a story to listen to, I immediately became interested and stared at Grandpa Ba without blinking.

  My grandfather saw my eager expression, cleared his throat and said, "It's said that in the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China, there was a strange person named Mo Qintian. This man traveled all over the country, making a living by performing magic tricks. To ordinary people, he seemed like nothing out of the ordinary, but what they didn't know was that Mo Qintian had an extraordinary skill - the art of divination and geomancy."

  "In those days, fortune tellers were everywhere. These fortune-telling masters also had their own hierarchy, with the lower three levels wandering around streets and alleys, shouting like vendors, but mostly having no great skills, at most giving people a rough idea of their appearance. The middle three levels were considered to have some real ability, mainly doing face-reading and divination, but only knowing about the past ten days or next half month, knowing about recent disasters in your family, but unable to see far into the future. As for the top three levels, they would normally not engage in such mundane activities, as they knew the heavenly principles and wouldn't reveal heavenly secrets, mostly traveling through mountains and rivers, or hiding away from the world. But this kind of person, who seemed to be unaffected by worldly affairs, was actually the most dangerous..."

  "What's the most dangerous?" I couldn't help but ask loudly, "What's that for?"

  "It's indeed the case that this kind of person knows the heavenly secrets, and although they may not be able to attain enlightenment or become an immortal, they know about their past lives and future generations. They all have secret methods in their hands, if they want to save people, it's still possible, but if they want to harm people, then bringing calamity to three to five generations of descendants is just a small matter." Eighth Grandfather said, narrowing his eyes slightly as he slowly stroked the whiskers on his chin.

  "If so, what kind of fortune teller is Mo Qin Tian?" the young man asked.

  Old Man Ba stopped, thought for a moment and said, "This Mo Qin Tian is neither high nor low, belonging to the sixth grade of Taoist priests. Although it's not possible to harm three or five generations of descendants, it's still possible to play some small tricks to deceive people... This story is going to be long..."

  I knew Grandpa Ba was getting to the key point and listened even more intently.

  "It was said that in the summer of that year, the sun was scorching hot. Mo Qintian came from the south and arrived at our Huanglong Village. As soon as he entered the village entrance, he saw that crooked-necked old locust tree and was startled, walking into the village with a jolt. He walked while beating the copper gong in his hand and chanting, 'To understand the Three Origins and Ten Thousand Dharmas, first observe the Emperor's Chariot and Divine Merit...' " Eighth Grandfather said slowly.

  "This Mo Qin Tian was born into a family of acrobats, strong and healthy, with plenty of energy. This one shout shook the heavens and moved the earth, and many people in the village were drawn out by this sound. My grandfather had some knowledge of yin-yang geomancy, and hearing him recite the Heavenly Way theory, he quickly grabbed hold of him to ask questions."

  Mo Qin Tian was caught by my grandfather, saying that he was just a wandering performer who came to the treasure land to ask for food. My grandfather understood the password he recited and knew that this person was not ordinary, so he took him home without saying a word.

  Mo Qin Tian was not ambiguous either, seeing my grandfather so anxious, he must have something big to do. He immediately bowed to the crowd and said, "I'm new here, thank you for your hospitality, I don't dare to accept it. After I finish this matter with this brother, I will help each of you villagers with divination." After finishing speaking, Mo Qin Tian followed my grandfather and left together. The rest of the villagers had no choice but to give up and go about their own business, waiting for Master Mo to finish his business before doing anything else.

  The crooked-necked old locust tree at the village entrance? Suddenly, the rusty old copper bell that fell off and the ancient well that couldn't be drunk from flashed in my mind. Could it be that Eighth Grandfather's story is related to this crooked-necked old locust tree?

  When entering the village, the sigh heard at the village entrance and the faintly smiling face seen, was it an illusion or did it really exist? A thick chill involuntarily rose up my back...

  That can't be true, right? Yin Soul Forbidden

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