Chapter 0007: Entangled in Shadow Debts

The old gentleman's words sent a shiver down my spine

As soon as Uncle Li and I entered, the old man immediately put down the book in his hand, turned his head, and looked at me with bright eyes. Although he appeared to be quite old, his eyes were exceptionally bright. After a long while, he finally asked: "Are you a descendant of Ge Zhonghua?"

Isn't it just me that this dead person is talking about

The child's gaze was particularly strange, sending a chill down my spine, and the words spoken were especially displeasing to me

Uncle Li and I have finally managed to enter their door

The old man let out a long sigh and said softly, "It is truly strange; I have been reading faces for decades, yet I have never encountered such an unusual state as yours"

Grandfather, do you perhaps know about my family's matters

Do not consult the divination for the deceased

The child pouted, his appearance youthful, yet his eyes were remarkably lively. He spoke bluntly: "Looking at your facial features, although your appearance indicates some fullness, suggesting that you may accumulate a bit of wealth throughout your life, the configuration of the Five Mountains is rugged and uneven, destined to bring you numerous calamities and hardships, leading to a life of wandering and instability. This is a sign of a short life! To put it plainly, even if you acquire wealth, it does not guarantee that you will have the life to enjoy it. Perhaps you might not even overcome a single hurdle before you meet your end! This outlines the general fate of your life! Furthermore, looking at your illness and misfortune palace, it appears to be faintly dark, with ominous energy rising, indicating that you have likely been tormented by ghostly entities during this period, already entangled in debts of the underworld, which aligns with the overall pattern of your life as indicated by your appearance!"

The old man sighed and said slowly: "Before you came in, my grandson had already told me about his fate. My grandson's observations were both right and wrong. Although this young man from the Ge family has an overwhelming amount of misfortune in his illness palace, presenting a sign of a short life, there is a faint black energy in his life palace that is subtly suppressing that misfortune, holding onto his life and leaving him with a chance to survive. In other words, he should not die for the time being! Furthermore, the palace of his wives and concubines is also faintly glowing, which indicates that not only will he not die, but he is likely to marry a good match soon! Although this young man from the Ge family has an overwhelming amount of misfortune in his illness palace, presenting a sign of a short life, there is a faint black energy in his life palace that is subtly suppressing that misfortune, holding onto his life and leaving him with a chance to survive. In other words, he should not die for the time being! Additionally, the palace of his wives and concubines is also faintly glowing, indicating that not only will he not die, but he is likely to marry a good match soon! What puzzles me is that if there is a sign of life revealed in the life palace, it must be due to encountering a benefactor, and it should emit a faint red light. However, this young man from the Ge family is emitting black energy, to the point that the black energy in his life palace and the misfortune in his illness palace are almost blending together. If one does not look closely, it is truly difficult to distinguish between them, which is also the reason my grandson did not notice this, as the illness palace and the life palace on a person's face are too close together."

In the end, the old man's face had turned pale, and without any warning, he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of black blood. He swayed unsteadily, looked up at me in disbelief, and weakly said: "Life and death are hard to sever, fortune and misfortune are difficult to predict, hell does not accept, and the Bodhisattva does not save. Looking up, I cannot see the path to life; looking back, there is no way to retreat... Kid, what on earth have you provoked!"

Uncle Li's words stirred my heart, and I couldn't help but take another look at this flower wreath shop—judging by Uncle Li's tone, it seems that the person who runs this shop has some connection with our Ge family

The cabin is particularly simple, containing only a pair of tables and chairs along with some daily necessities. An elderly man, appearing to be over eighty years old and dressed in a black Tang suit, is sitting on the heated kang reading a book. (The kang is a common heating device in the northern regions, utilizing the smoke from the stove to warm the kang body through a flue, providing a cozy warmth for those sleeping on it, which is especially beneficial for the elderly.)

Because I was close by, I could see the changes in the old man's expression clearly, and my heart suddenly sank. I hurriedly asked, "Is it possible that I really have no hope?"

After speaking, the child earnestly advised Uncle Li: "I suggest you stay away from him as soon as possible; whoever is close to him is bound to be unfortunate!"

I have already turned pale!

It's acceptable

At this moment, I recounted to the old gentleman everything that had happened to me since I received the hundred-edged knife, from beginning to end

Uncle Li was taken aback, and with a wry smile, he handed a one-hundred-yuan note to the child. Only then did the little one scamper into the house, and it took a full ten minutes before he came out: "Alright, you two can come in now."

The old gentleman said: "Just write down the first character that comes to your mind!"

Ge Zhonghua is my grandfather, it seems that this old gentleman should belong to my grandfather's generation, I nodded immediately

The old man looked at my face and his expression suddenly changed, turning pale with anger.

The old man raised his eyebrows, said nothing, took out an object resembling a tortoise shell and scattered it on the table, then began to arrange it. He appeared to struggle while arranging, and before long, his face had turned somewhat pale, with beads of sweat continuously dripping from his forehead onto the table.

I nodded, and although I felt somewhat disappointed in my heart, I still followed his words and walked over, sitting on the edge of the kang, facing the old man.

The old man sighed deeply: "Poor child, the entire family has been sacrificed for that matter, leaving you to live in solitude and misery. I never expected that in the end, you would still be unable to escape this calamity"

My eyes lit up: "Can you tell me what exactly caused the incident with my family?"

Could it be that the date written on the marriage certificate is the limit of my life?

At this moment, Uncle Li's expression was not very pleasant, but at least he had not lost his composure. He suddenly asked, "Are you the grandson of Senior Zhou? Could it be that you also understand the art of divination?"

At this point, the old gentleman gently closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought. Neither Uncle Li nor I dared to interrupt, and we could only wait anxiously on the side.

The old gentleman furrowed his brows and, after a long contemplation, said: "Write a character for me, and I will give you a divination!"

At this moment, I am somewhat irritated, and I no longer care that he is just a child and speaks without restraint. I frowned and said, "Child, how can you speak without any consideration? Here I am, a living person standing right here, how have I become a dead person?"

As I thought about it, what I most desired at that moment was undoubtedly to survive, so I dipped my brush in the water from the teacup and wrote the character "活" on the table

The outcome is difficult to predict

Write whatever comes to mind

At this point, the child pointed at me with an air of maturity and said, "Kid, you have encountered a significant hurdle in your life. Unless something unexpected happens, you won't live past the end of this month. Am I wrong to say you are a dead man?"

After nearly ten minutes had passed, the old man finally opened his eyes, his gaze carrying an indescribable nuance. He spoke softly, saying: "Indeed, this is a sign of being entangled in debts of fate. The one who can turn the misfortunes of the Ge family boy into blessings is likely not a mere noble person; to be precise, it may not even be a human being! Otherwise, the energy that binds his life palace should not be black."

The old man shook his head, leaving me utterly disappointed.

The child pouted, one hand touching the large rooster raised in front of the flower wreath shop, while speaking to the ground through his nostrils: "This kid doesn’t even know what kind of karma he has created, his entire being is plagued with misfortune, burdened by debts of the underworld. Not only is he a short-lived ghost, but after death, he probably won’t even be able to reincarnate; most likely, his soul will be scattered. You want my grandfather to read his fortune? Isn’t that just sincerely trying to harm my grandfather?"

The dead child, however, did not accept the money, raised his head and said: "Don't try to fool me with this small amount of money, bring me a red one!"

Come, Ge family boy, tell me about everything that has happened to you recently

I ask: "What characters should I write?"

The first floor of this wreath shop is for business, filled with coffins, burial clothes, and wreaths, creating a rather eerie atmosphere. Uncle Li and I hardly stayed here for long and went straight up to the second floor, where we were eventually led by that child into a dark little room

The old gentleman remained silent, occasionally nodding and shaking his head. In the end, even Uncle Li became anxious and couldn't help but say, "Senior Zhou, could you at least say something!"

After speaking, the old man rolled his eyes and fainted.

The old gentleman waved at me and said, "Let me take a look for you"

Do not doubt my words

Come here, child

The child said that I would not live past the end of this month if nothing unexpected happens, which inevitably reminded me of that strange marriage certificate, on which the wedding date is set for the end of this month

I was quite angry, but before I could lose my temper, Uncle Li grabbed me and took out some change amounting to several dozen yuan from his pocket, handing it to the child with a smile, saying: "Regardless of whether it is accurate or not, I still appreciate your kindness. However, I cannot simply ignore the son of an old friend. How about this: you go ask your grandfather and tell him that the descendants of the Ge family are in trouble now. Whether he will help or not is up to him. If he chooses not to help, then let the Ge family come to an end!"