Chapter 54

Hiding behind a thicket, the Supreme Treasure patiently waited for the two fat women to pay their respects at the grave. Who knew that these two women would chatter on and on, unable to finish their conversation. It seemed as if the wife and daughter had come to inform the deceased husband of the remarriage, but their words were so verbose and incoherent that they often ended up confusing themselves. The Supreme Treasure waited anxiously, his stomach growling.

In a moment of desperation, he came up with a mischievous idea. He reached down, picked up a small stone, and threw it far toward the grave...

"Thud!"

The two fat women suddenly turned around, looking around with some suspicion. There was no one in sight, and the surroundings were eerily quiet and cold. They began to feel uneasy: "Mother, is it Father's spirit?"

"There's no such thing!" The older woman looked around nervously but denied it: "Hurry up and pray, and let's leave as soon as possible!"

"Thud!" Another sound came from nearby.

The younger woman jumped up, screaming: "Mother, it must be Father's spirit! He doesn't want you to remarry, so he's come to find you!"

"Phew! I'm not afraid!" The older woman's face turned pale, but she suppressed her fear and shouted at the tombstone: "You dead ghost! I was never afraid of you when you were alive, and now that you're dead, I'm even less afraid! Let me tell you the truth, my daughter is the child of Fan Gao and me, and has nothing to do with you..."

The older woman's fierce and abusive words made her face tremble, and the powder on her cheeks fell off in a flurry, showing that she had endured much abuse from her husband when he was alive. However, her legs were trembling uncontrollably, revealing her fear. The Supreme Treasure found it amusing and threw another handful of stones.

But this time, it went wrong!

The stones, being different in size, required different amounts of force. One of them was thrown with too much force, hit a tree trunk, and bounced back, hitting the Supreme Treasure on the head. He hadn't expected this and let out a cry of "Ouch!"

He immediately covered his mouth, but it was too late...

The cry had already attracted the attention of the two fat women. They were hit by the stone and immediately guessed the truth. They were so angry that they rushed over and slapped him hard!

No one would hesitate to hit a beggar.

The older woman's large hand swung in a wide arc, slapping the Supreme Treasure repeatedly, forcing him to crouch on the ground, covering his head. Her daughter, meanwhile, kicked him in the head and face, cursing him as a "wicked child" and a "little beast," all while doing two things at once, perfectly in sync!

A half-grown child, already hungry and cold, couldn't withstand such a beating. Dizzy and disoriented, he fell to the ground, but the two women didn't stop—

Suddenly, a sobbing sound came from nearby, and someone started playing a fiddle. An old man's voice said, "Ladies, this child is young and can't withstand such a beating. Please spare him."

Three people stood nearby. One was an old man in a cloak, holding a black wooden fiddle and playing it with his eyes closed. Beside him was a girl with a topknot, holding a wooden cane and a bundle on her back, looking delicate and pretty. The third was a sturdy young boy, carrying a square wooden box on his back and a steel staff in his hand, standing solidly behind the old man.

They all looked over.

If no one had been there, the two women wouldn't have cared about beating a little beggar, but with witnesses, they had to stop. They spat and cursed, then packed up and left.

The old man put away his fiddle and opened his eyes. "Tianlong, go and revive the child, and bring him to the town with us—Qingmei, be careful, the child is weak and can't withstand rough handling." As he spoke, his eyebrows furrowed deeply, and his face showed great distress, as if someone owed him a lot of money.

The two children seemed used to it and showed no surprise, with no expression at all.

Qingmei made some gestures, and the boy, Tianlong, understood and picked up the Supreme Treasure. It seemed that Tianlong was deaf, and Qingmei was mute, and it was unknown who the old man was, to have brought such children with him.

The old man put the fiddle on his shoulder, took the yew wood cane from Qingmei, and headed for the town of Wuyan. Qingmei took the steel staff from Tianlong and helped carry the Supreme Treasure.

Night fell, and they arrived at an inn in Wuyan.

After the old man gave the Supreme Treasure some soup, he woke up. They all ate a bowl of noodle soup and some cornbread, and the Supreme Treasure rested for a while, recovering his strength. He was now resting in a room with the old man, Qingmei, and Tianlong.

The old man, known as "Mr. Bitter Tea," always looked worried, as if he had many troubles. The Supreme Treasure found this strange until he learned the old man's name, which matched his demeanor perfectly.

Although the dinner wasn't great, the tea Mr. Bitter Tea drank was of the highest quality, with a strong and refreshing aroma, like walking in a green and clear mountain. The Supreme Treasure, unsure of the old man's intentions, chatted aimlessly, avoiding any truthful answers. However, as a child, he didn't realize that the more he talked, the more he revealed. Mr. Bitter Tea didn't point this out but kept serving tea with a worried look.

After yawning several times and seeing the moon rise, the three still showed no sign of leaving. The Supreme Treasure was about to go to bed when Mr. Bitter Tea suddenly put down his teacup and said, "The time has come, Qingmei, set up the altar."

Qingmei got up, took out a dark green nine-palace divination board from the box Tianlong was carrying, placed it on the table by the window, and poured water into it. She then took out a strange bone plate from the box. The bone plate was not quite a turtle shell but resembled one, with two flat bone plates. However, the edges were square and slightly curved, and the bone plate was divided into nine sections, forming a natural nine-palace pattern.

More surprisingly, the nine sections contained black and white dots, arranged in a specific pattern: nine at the top, one at the bottom, three on the left, seven on the right, two and four on the shoulders, six and eight on the feet, and five in the center, clearly representing the Luo Shu, a mystical diagram of the universe.

The bone plate, when placed in the water, created a thin mist that grew thicker, eventually enveloping the divination board and the bone plate. The mist was so thick that the Supreme Treasure felt as if he were in the middle of the ocean.

In the mist, a giant prehistoric beast emerged, its head and tail towering like mountains, its eyes flashing like lightning, summoning wind and rain, riding the clouds and mist, creating massive waves that split the sky and sea, and speaking in a human voice, though the words were strange and incomprehensible.

The Supreme Treasure, lost in the vision, was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. He turned to see Mr. Bitter Tea's worried face. "The moonlight illuminates the board, connecting the spiritual and the divine. If you have any unsolved problems, light a stick of incense and see if you can gain some insight."

This...?

The Supreme Treasure turned back, but the ancient beast and the waves were gone. He was just standing near the window. The moonlight shone through the window, illuminating the divination board. The scene was just a dream. Qingmei and Tianlong stood by the board, smiling at him, and six incense sticks were burning in the incense burner on the table.

The Supreme Treasure was still pondering the words of the ancient beast, feeling a vague connection deep inside. He accepted the incense stick from Qingmei, held it high with both hands, closed his eyes, and silently made a wish. He bowed three times, knelt, and performed the three prostrations and nine bows, then stood up, made a three-flower hand gesture, flipped his wrist, inserted the incense, swept the dust, purified the altar, and completed the ritual in one smooth motion.

Suddenly, Mr. Bitter Tea laughed. "Supreme Treasure, Supreme Treasure, you've been pretending all this time, but now you've revealed yourself. Tell me, who is your master in the Five Wheel Sect? Shi Lu, Bai He, Qian Song, or Wan Zhu?"

"Ah?" The Supreme Treasure was startled and backed against the wall. "I'm not, I don't know anything about the Five Wheel Sect..."

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid!" Mr. Bitter Tea reassured him. "I am the current leader of the Yin-Yang Sect, and I have a deep connection with your sect. It seems you are in trouble, so I helped you. Feel free to speak your mind."

"But, but I really don't know..." The Supreme Treasure, now more cautious, pretended to be confused. "What are you talking about?"

After several attempts to evade, Mr. Bitter Tea decided to be straightforward. "Let me tell you the truth. Although you didn't reveal your sect's secrets in your conversation, you did when I made you light the incense. No one but my Yin-Yang Sect disciples would perform the three bows, three prostrations, and nine kneels. And only the Five Wheel Sect's Yin-Yang lineage likes to flip their wrist when lighting incense and finish with a dust-sweeping ritual. You can't deny it all."

Mr. Bitter Tea's words were so precise that it was as if he had stripped the Supreme Treasure bare. Realizing he had met an expert, the Supreme Treasure knew he couldn't hide anymore. He nodded and bowed. "So you are truly a senior of our lineage. I greet you, Senior."

Recognizing the truth, the Supreme Treasure decided to be honest. "Since you've recognized me, I'll be frank. But I'll decide what to say based on the situation."

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The story continues on the next page.