Chapter 18: Destiny
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My sudden collapse to the ground made Hu Tieshou, who was standing nearby, visibly tense.
He feared that the Miaojiang Gu master from earlier had taken my life. Just as he was about to strike and kill her, I slowly regained consciousness.
“Why did you save me? I don’t believe we’ve ever met.”
I regarded Hu Tieshou warily. At that moment, I did not trust him completely.
“Qiyue, as long as you’re unharmed, I’m relieved.”
Hu Tieshou clasped his hands behind his back. A trace of awe and reluctance flickered in his resolute eyes.
“I am Hu Tieshou, one of your grandfather’s friends. Your grandfather was also the man who saved my life. To me, he was both my savior and half a teacher. Now that his descendant is in trouble, I cannot simply stand by and do nothing.”
He spoke with solemn sincerity, and his words sounded nothing like an act.
His attitude immediately improved my impression of him.
In this vast provincial capital, it felt as though I had found a relative.
“Uncle Hu, since you were my grandfather’s friend, I have a few questions. Why does Chen Yanlong want his grandson to marry Liu Qingqing? And what kind of person is this Ghost Fox?”
I voiced the doubts in my heart. Everyone at the Chen residence seemed rather strange.
The moment he heard me, Hu Tieshou’s expression changed slightly. He stared at me in astonishment, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“As expected of my mentor’s grandson. Your natural gifts are extraordinary. You have only just arrived in the provincial capital, yet you have already noticed that the Chen family is up to no good.”
“Qiyue, you’re right. The Chen family’s purpose is very simple. They want to seize the opportunity and destiny your grandfather left you, so that their family can remain standing forever.”
“To put it plainly, they want to exchange fates with you!”
At his words, a cold sweat drenched my back.
No wonder Chen Yanlong had treated me with such hostility. He wanted his own grandson to exchange fates with me!
The Ghost Fox from the Chen family’s residence had come here to fight me, but was merely being used as someone else’s tool.
If my cultivation had not been somewhat stronger, the Chen family might truly have stolen my fortune.
It was far too dangerous.
If Hu Tieshou had not intervened just now, the Ghost Fox might already have had me completely under her control.
“Thank you for arriving in time, Uncle Hu. Otherwise, my situation would have been extremely dangerous. That Miaojiang Gu master known as the Ghost Fox seems to have another trump card she has yet to reveal.”
I spoke to Hu Tieshou gratefully. If he had not helped me just now, I feared I would already be in grave danger.
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Hu Tieshou waved his hand, then pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
Only after a long while did he speak to me slowly.
“Qiyue, you don’t need to be so nervous. Chen Yanlong’s methods may be formidable, and he may be known as the greatest feng shui master in the provincial capital, but taking your fortune from you will not be easy.”
Hu Tieshou exhaled a ring of smoke, then looked at me seriously.
His words stirred a fresh fighting spirit within me.
Seeing that I remained silent, Hu Tieshou assumed I was afraid. He came over, patted me on the shoulder with a smile, and said earnestly:
“Qiyue, don’t worry too much. Your grandfather was once a feng shui master famous throughout the entire Northeast. The betrothal he arranged for you by sacrificing half his accumulated merit is destined to conceal an opportunity of immense proportions. Rest easy. As long as I’m here, Chen Yanlong can forget about taking your fortune.”
His gaze was unwavering as he spoke.
When he mentioned my grandfather’s life, his expression carried profound reverence.
My grandfather had once told me many tales of extraordinary people and strange events in the world of feng shui, but he had rarely spoken of himself.
Even the final divination of his life—when ten thousand people gathered in a mountain village to witness that spectacular scene—had failed to leave a deep impression on me, for I had been too young at the time.
Now, seeing the respect Hu Tieshou held for my grandfather, I could not help but grow curious about those events of the past.
“Uncle Hu, what kind of person was my grandfather, really? How great was his reputation in the world of feng shui?”
At my question, Hu Tieshou took a deep drag from his cigarette before answering calmly:
“One Blind, Two Deaf, Three Lame, Four Golden Point—those were the most famous feng shui masters in the country at the time. And among the four, your grandfather was the only one who emerged completely unscathed!”
“Moreover, among these four, your grandfather’s Green Hemp Physiognomy was the most revered. He was unquestionably the strongest of them all!”
His words left me rooted to the spot. A storm of astonishment surged through my heart.
My grandfather had told me about the first three: One Blind, Two Deaf, and Three Lame.
In the south lived a blind man. Though he had lost his sight completely and could not perceive the slightest glimmer of light, he was capable of reading landscapes and faces, offering guidance in times of confusion, and slaying countless demons and monsters with a single pair of fingers.
In the northwest lived Sun the Deaf. His hearing had been deficient from birth, making it extraordinarily difficult for him to hear.
Yet he excelled at locating veins of earth and determining the positions of burial sites. Ancient tombs were filled with hidden mechanisms, secret passages, shifting sands, and flying arrows. Whenever he entered a tomb, he could always avoid them all flawlessly. He, too, had become a legend of the martial world.
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In Miaojiang lived Li the Lame, who was skilled at making paper figures and recognizing ghosts.
With his pair of ghostly hands, he could supposedly create three thousand worlds out of paper.
When my grandfather had traveled to their village in his youth, he had personally witnessed the astonishing abilities of those paper craftsmen.
He had filled the courtyard with paper figures dressed for work, each one so lifelike that they seemed like real people laboring throughout the yard.
What I had never expected was that my grandfather could stand alongside those three extraordinary men as their equal.
That realization caused his image in my heart to grow suddenly taller and more imposing.
My grandfather had spent half his accumulated merit preparing this opportunity for me. I would never surrender it to anyone so easily.
Not only would I claim the merit he had left behind, I would also change the fate of the feng shui masters of this age.
The moment I thought of this, I knew that the year ahead would be anything but easy.
“Qiyue, don’t be afraid. I’ll help you while you’re in the provincial capital.”
Hu Tieshou extinguished his cigarette and spoke to me with grave sincerity.
“Thank you so much, Uncle Hu. You’ve truly helped me enormously this time!”
My heart filled with gratitude, and I repeatedly bowed to him in thanks.
Without his help, my situation might have become even more difficult.
For that very reason, my gratitude toward Hu Tieshou grew stronger by the moment.
I had just been about to thank him again when I suddenly noticed that the Tear Hall beneath Uncle Hu’s eyes was deeply sunken, while a faint black aura coiled around his Children’s Palace.
That was not a good omen.
It suggested that Uncle Hu was destined to have no descendants in his next generation.
I was not an ungrateful man. Hu Tieshou had shown me kindness, and I could not bear to see him harmed.
I had to find a way to resolve this calamity for him.
I could choose to ignore what happened to Liu Sihai’s family, but Uncle Hu’s troubles were something I would absolutely take responsibility for.
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