Chapter 288: Wen Daolun’s Method

Wen Daolun looked him up and down, stroking his long beard. "Good, you two can ride back with me in my carriage shortly," he said, signifying his agreement.

The two then moved to the side, waiting for the process to conclude.

Wen Daolun had to finish burning seven tall incense sticks before he could leave. By then, the common people's memorial services were also almost complete. He Lingchuan quietly asked his companion, "Why does Wen Daolun owe you a favor?"

"He occasionally visits Shumin Academy."

"...To teach children?" He was, after all, a trusted confidant relied upon by Commander Zhong. Was he so bored he'd go watch a bunch of chirping little fledglings?

"We teach more than just children." Shumin Academy was the best official academy in Panlong City, Sun Fuling said with a smile. "He comes to play chess with an old friend, my mentor Xu Shichu. Two months ago, he visited again, but my mentor wasn't there, so I played a few games with him."

"Mr. Wen said that if I won, he would owe me a favor, and then I..." She shrugged, "It was best two out of three."

"You used such a valuable favor for me?" He Lingchuan was touched.

"Favors are like currency; they increase with use, rather than diminishing," Sun Fuling glanced at him. "Now you owe me a favor."

"No problem," he patted his chest. "Just ask, and it's yours."

With nothing to do, He Lingchuan casually walked to the edge of the Spirit Descent Platform and looked down.

Remarkably, the cliff face was scorched black, with occasional faint flickers of electricity. This rocky area should have had vegetation, but after three bolts of heavenly lightning, nothing remained but bare rock. He Lingchuan also saw old lightning strike marks on some of the rocks.

"I just heard in the sacrificial prayer that the deity sent down lightning and collected the offerings." He Lingchuan pointed below. "Was this caused by that lightning?" Even solid rock had melted; no living thing could have survived.

"Yes, only a deity's power could achieve something like this," Sun Fuling said slowly. "Those lightning strikes brought us not just fear, but also precious confidence."

"Because the deity is on our side?"

"Of course," Sun Fuling sighed. "You weren't in Panlong City then, so you don't know how despondent and desperate everyone was... We were once again abandoned by our homeland, discarded like worn-out shoes, and even Commander Zhong fell seriously ill from anger."

After Panlong City became an exclave, Zhong Shengguang led his troops to defend the Panlong Wasteland for twelve years. They finally saw a lull in the fighting, and Panlong City reconnected with Xiluo Kingdom. However, the good times didn't last. In less than a year, war erupted again, and the weak Xiluo Kingdom lost contact with Panlong City once more. It even considered ceding Panlong City to Baling Kingdom.

This was a huge blow to Panlong City. Twelve years of holding firm amidst encircling enemies, only to face such an outcome. How many twelve-year periods does one have in life? The despair that permeated Panlong City, from top to bottom, was imaginable. Under such circumstances, if no deity had appeared to offer support and display astonishing miracles to boost morale, Panlong City might have crumbled long ago, without even needing its enemies to act.

He Lingchuan looked back at the altar. The thanksgiving ritual three years ago was a turning point in the fate of the entire Panlong Wasteland. Since then, everything had changed.

After another moment, the last incense stick was almost burnt out. Wen Daolun stepped down from the altar and personally approached them, saying, "Alright, come with me to the carriage."

His time was precious, and he intended to use the return journey to address He Lingchuan's questions and clear his doubts. At this moment, however, He Lingchuan pointed down the cliff and exclaimed, "Look, there's something alive down there!"

The wasteland directly below the Spirit Descent Platform originally had vegetation, but after three bolts of lightning struck, even the ground was scorched black. Thus, the figure running across the bare, burnt ground stood out remarkably. He Lingchuan's diligent practice had long improved his eyesight, and despite the distance of several dozen zhang, he could still discern that the small black dot below was sniffing around, its tail visible behind it.

Wen Daolun also looked down, then sneered, "Still plotting evil."

"Are those also Jin Crossing specters?"

"Yes. The Great Wind Army I stationed below has already caught up to them."

Indeed, just as he spoke, dozens more people appeared from the bushes below, surrounding the black dot.

"Why are these monsters going down there?"

Wen Daolun casually replied, "They want to sense the aura of the deity." This was perplexing: the aura of the deity? How did he know to set up an ambush here in advance? It seemed Panlong City had a considerable understanding of the Jin Crossing specters.

He Lingchuan didn't ask, because Wen Daolun clapped his hands and said, "Let's go." The two followed Wen Daolun into his carriage, with their own carriage trailing behind.

Wen Daolun's carriage was more spacious, padded with soft cushions for comfort, and even had a brazier and a small table. Compared to the elaborate setups of wealthy families, this was remarkably unpretentious.

Once the three were seated and the carriage began to move, Wen Daolun immediately spoke, "Let me say this upfront, so Xu Shichu doesn't pick on me later. The premise that destiny has a fixed number is based on the constant order of heaven. However, since the great natural catastrophe shook the very foundations of existence, there's no telling how accurate various divination methods can be."

He spoke plainly, stating that after the great catastrophe three thousand years ago, divination methods became less accurate. He Lingchuan nodded; this wasn't the first time he had heard this explanation.

Then Wen Daolun asked for He Lingchuan's birth characters (Ba Zi). He Lingchuan was about to report them when he suddenly realized something was wrong: Oh no! His birth year was more than a hundred years after the fall of Panlong City! If he gave his true birth characters, the discrepancies would be too significant, no matter how one calculated. Why hadn't he thought of this beforehand?

He could only stammer, "I... I'm not sure. I was adopted."

"Unclear birth characters?" Wen Daolun thought for a moment, then leaned in to examine his face, then his hands, took his pulse, and even pulled open his eyelids to look. His demeanor was no different from an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor's four diagnostic methods: observation, listening and smelling, inquiry, and palpation.

Wen Daolun casually added a piece of charcoal to the brazier before saying, "Judging by your appearance, you don't look like someone without parents!"

"Perhaps they're still alive?" He Lingchuan lied brazenly, but inwardly he was distressed. It was like seeing a doctor; if he concealed something, could the doctor's diagnosis be reliable?

"Your fortune is abundant, your future boundless, at the very least you possess the talent of a general. And you call this an ill omen? Then common folk truly have no way to live."

It seemed He Chunhua's constant talk about his eldest son being a lucky general wasn't entirely baseless. He Lingchuan and Sun Fuling exchanged glances. "The one who divined for me was a great demon with over three hundred years of cultivation. It has been studying the *Tianhe Collection* passed down by Daoist Dongli for many years, and it even left me two verses."

"Daoist Dongli?" Wen Daolun paused, thinking for a long while. "Daoist Dongli of the Great Return Sect?"

"Ah."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Daoist Dongli himself had clearly stated in his cave dwelling that it was a gift for future generations, so how could it be wrong? "It accidentally entered the cave where Daoist Dongli attained immortality and acquired his relics."

"In the post-spiritual energy era, this person was also very famous." Wen Daolun asked for the two verses and meticulously scrutinized them.

"Body like a cage... a cage..." He pondered for a while, then frowned, "Could it also mean 'the body as a prison'?"

He Lingchuan immediately asked, "What does that mean?" He didn't miss the word "also."

Wen Daolun sighed. "Purely in terms of fortune, you've far surpassed ordinary people. To have such luck in the Panlong Wasteland is truly strange and wondrous. Think about it yourself, has your life been smooth sailing from childhood?"

"Yes." The original body had indeed grown up indulging in food, drink, and leisurely comfort.

"Without your birth characters, I can't determine your fate palace, making it truly difficult to calculate. If there's a shift from good fortune to ill, there must be a crucial turning point, but I can't discern it. However, the verses emphasize 'magpie occupying a dove's nest' and 'body like a cage.' Why single out these phrases?"

He Lingchuan remained silent and contemplative. He took the old turtle demon's prophecy seriously, primarily because of the phrase "magpie occupying a dove's nest." He was an outsider, and no one else in this world should have known that. Wen Daolun pondered for a long time, then suddenly opened the carriage curtain and gave a few instructions to the outside.

Soon, several guards brought a large tarpaulin and covered the entire carriage with it. Both doors and windows were blocked, allowing only a faint glimmer of light to filter through.

"There's another method; let's try it." He suddenly lit a thin incense stick and asked Sun Fuling to hold it. The incense was pale blue and had a remarkably pleasant aroma. Wen Daolun then took a small piece of wood from his pocket and gently blew on it. The wood was so common it could be found anywhere, and it seemed to have traces of moss growth and two small holes. After he blew on it, a white shadow actually floated out from one of the holes. When it took form, it was a small figure, half a palm in size, resembling a little girl. After it floated out, it eagerly began to inhale the smoke from Sun Fuling's hand, and a joyful expression appeared on its face.

Souls emerging from wood? He Lingchuan re-examined the piece of wood. There weren't many spirit artifacts that could house departed souls. Could this be seabed wood?

"This is a Child Husk, formed from the aggregated souls of young children who died tragically but held no malice in their hearts," Wen Daolun tapped his temple. "Relax your mind, don't resist. I'll let it go into your Sea of Consciousness to investigate thoroughly."

Sea of Consciousness? He Lingchuan remembered the glowing mark.

He closed his eyes, and the Child Husk flew a circle around him before entering through his ear. For He Lingchuan, the sensation was like inhaling a breath of mint—his entire mind immediately felt cool. But that was all; he didn't experience the agonizing pain he had felt during the previous divine intrusion.

Ten breaths passed. Twenty breaths passed.

He Lingchuan opened his eyes to see the two men gazing intently at him in the dim carriage. Wen Daolun seemed a little surprised. "You can open your eyes? What do you feel now?"

"My head just felt cool for a moment, then nothing."

Wen Daolun seemed disbelieving and pressed further, "No pain, no hallucinations?" He Lingchuan shook his head.

After another dozen breaths, a wisp of white mist floated out from his ear, transforming back into the little girl's spirit in mid-air. She appeared unharmed, and He Lingchuan secretly let out a breath of relief. Was it because her method of entry wasn't as forceful as the deity's last time, resulting in less backlash?

She darted to Wen Daolun's ear and spoke incessantly to him. Strangely, He Lingchuan couldn't hear a single sound, as if he were watching a silent film.