A Technique That Can Foretell Fortune and Calamity, Yet No Time to Spare for Her Childhood Sweetheart
A Technique That Can Foretell Fortune and Calamity, Yet No Time to Spare for Her Childhood Sweetheart
Inside a dim, damp dungeon.
A thoroughly wretched young man, his face covered in blood and grime, lay there bound hand and foot, his eyes wide with fury, terror, and unease.
It was none other than Tang Tian, who had been seized by Yin Mei at the Drunk Gods Inn.
By now, he already knew he had been set up.
Innkeeper Zhu of the Drunk Gods Inn had arranged everything from the very beginning—even going so far as to say all those reassuring words at the end just to put him at ease.
Yet back then, he had been stupid enough not to suspect a thing.
Tang Tian didn’t know what a “honey trap” was. If he did, he would have been unable to stop himself from roaring it out loud.
“Yin Mei, I have no grievance or enmity with you. Why would you scheme against me like this?”
Tang Tian glared furiously at the white-robed woman coldly looking down at him, his hatred completely undisguised.
Not long ago, he had held her in great respect and admiration, addressing her as Gifted Lady Yin Mei.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Even at this point, you still refuse to confess and insist on making excuses?”
Yin Mei looked at him icily, her beautiful eyes devoid of any warmth.
“You’re slandering me! All of this was arranged by you. That maid and Innkeeper Zhu were also planted by you. You did all this to get at my sister—that’s why you resorted to such despicable means.”
“I want to see my grandfather. Yin Mei, how dare you arrest me over a mere maid...”
At this moment, Tang Tian’s mind was actually working rather quickly, and he soon pieced everything together.
He believed Yin Mei was fighting his sister over something and had resorted to this scheme to threaten her.
“I don’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“You refuse to confess? Fine. My Nine-Tailed Fox Clan has no shortage of methods for dealing with people like you. We can just help you sever all thoughts of your lower half. Even as a Cultivator, you’ll never recover...”
Yin Mei’s expression remained icy. She then walked out of the dungeon and said flatly to the guards outside, “Since he won’t confess, carry out the sentence.”
Hearing this, Tang Tian’s face inside the dungeon changed drastically, and he panicked. “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Yin Mei, I’m the only heir of the Tang Family! If you do this to me, my grandfather and the others won’t let this go!”
If he were to become something neither man nor woman from now on, he would surely go mad.
Tang Tian didn’t doubt the truth of Yin Mei’s words in the slightest. The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan truly did have methods to reduce a Cultivator to such a state.
“What do you mean, won’t let this go? Do you really think the Tang Family dares to offend my Nine-Tailed Fox Clan? Given the long lifespans of Cultivators, does losing one generation of you even matter?”
Yin Mei sneered, then her voice turned cold. “Do it.”
“Yes, xiaojie.”
Hearing the order, the two guards outside the dungeon walked in with sinister grins, holding a pair of enormous golden pincers shaped like a crocodile’s maw, which they brandished at Tang Tian.
“Yin Mei, stop this at once...”
“Stop! Stop right now!”
At this sight, Tang Tian’s face instantly turned snow-white, drained of all color, and he trembled uncontrollably.
He never imagined Yin Mei would actually go through with it.
He would rather die than become something neither male nor female.
This was worse than killing him outright.
“Will you confess?”
Yin Mei smiled faintly from outside the dungeon, cradling her nine fluffy, snow-white fox tails, looking noble and breathtakingly beautiful.
“I confess... I confess...”
Tang Tian gritted his teeth in humiliation, hating Yin Mei to the core.
He wished he could cut her into a thousand pieces.
How had he never realized before that this woman, beautiful as a celestial fairy, had the heart of a venomous snake?
“Good. Then say everything that needs to be said.”
Yin Mei smiled, a Photographic Stone in her hand.
A quarter of an hour later, she walked out of the dungeon and arrived at a quiet, secluded residence.
In the courtyard, a white-robed man sat calmly sipping tea. His features were peerlessly handsome, his ink-black hair draped loosely, exuding an otherworldly, transcendent air.
It was hard to imagine that the various methods employed in that dungeon had been ordered from his lips.
“Did he confess?” Gu Changge raised his eyes to look at Yin Mei and smiled faintly.
“He confessed. Just as Master instructed, Tang Tian was nearly scared out of his wits—he confessed to everything,” Yin Mei said with a sweet smile.
She handed over the Photographic Stone that had recorded everything.
“Well done.”
Gu Changge nodded, glanced at it, and smiled. “Now we’ll prepare the banquet and simply wait for our honored guest to arrive.”
“Make an extra copy of this Photographic Stone, and find a way to deliver the rest to the Tang Family.”
“Mm.”
Yin Mei nodded, then asked with some confusion, “Master, what if the Tang Family suddenly panics? From what I’ve seen, Tang Wan doesn’t seem like a fool. Will she really fall for it?”
“She won’t fall for it. Not only that, she’ll inform her grandfather about this matter. That’s exactly why I want you to deliver the Photographic Stone to the Tang Family first. As long as the Tang Family isn’t stupid, they’ll understand that this matter isn’t so simple.”
Gu Changge smiled casually. He had calculated everything long ago—no matter how many tricks Tang Wan had up her sleeve, she would have no way to escape in the end.
He was still waiting to give Chu Hao, that Fortuitous One, a nice surprise.
Right now, just as he had predicted, Chu Hao was at the site of the Eternal Overcast eruption, dealing with the Vermilion Bird Empire’s affairs.
Where would he find the time to worry about his childhood sweetheart?
“I understand. Now it all depends on what attitude the Tang Family and Tang Wan take toward Tang Tian.”
Yin Mei nodded, quickly grasping Gu Changge’s intention.
With Tang Wan’s intelligence, she would very likely detect that this was a scheme.
Even if she came to the banquet, she would know it was a Hongmen Banquet.
So Tang Wan would certainly inform her grandfather in advance, and when the time came to ransom him, she might well bring along many of the Tang Family’s experts.
But now, by delivering the Photographic Stone of Tang Tian’s confession to the Tang Family first, the goal was to let them know that this matter could actually be resolved easily.
It was a matter of attitude—and, of course, it could also be considered a threat.
After all, the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan had no need to fear the Tang Family.
Strictly speaking, Tang Tian was a direct-line disciple of the Tang Family, while the maid at Yin Mei’s side was of far lower status than Tang Tian.
If the Tang Family took a hard stance, Yin Mei would have no moral ground to stand on, and the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan behind her would not completely turn against the Tang Family over a mere maid.
It was a simple matter of interests.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, in Golden Altar Ancient City.
It was not far from the Vermilion Bird Empire.
It was an important ancient city under a branch of the Alliance of Thousand Merchants, serving like a throat passage—a hub connecting the various great ancient cities nearby.
At this moment, within this ancient city, inside a quiet and elegant courtyard.
A graceful woman dressed in a plain gauze gown sat behind a curtain, quietly examining the many Jade Tablets before her.
Her features were gentle and lovely, her skin delicate and snow-white. In her jade hand, she held a brush, writing something.
As her brush fell, terrifying phenomena seemed to arise between heaven and earth, layers of mysterious power surfacing beneath her strokes.
Characters radiating golden patterns transformed with each wave of her brush, drifting down into the Jade Tablets before her.
Faintly, one could even see landscapes of mountains and rivers coming to life, condensing within, as if about to manifest out of the Jade Tablets.
“Xiaojie’s Dao Drawing has improved yet again. I’m afraid that now, just with the figures you draw, xiaojie could rival Sacred Realm Cultivators.”
The maid beside the gentle woman couldn’t help covering her mouth with a laugh at the sight, looking deeply admiring.
“So what if I can rival the Sacred Realm? Hao-gege is already a Perfect Prodigy.”
“And he’s about to break through to the Sacred Emperor Realm. Compared to him, I’m far behind. I really don’t know how he’s cultivated all these years—he’s truly a monster. But thankfully, I noticed his brilliance long ago...”
“Otherwise, who knows how many heaven-blessed maidens would have gathered around him by now.”
The gentle woman smiled at this, looking rather helpless.
But whenever Chu Hao was mentioned, she couldn’t help revealing joy and admiration.
She was none other than Tang Wan, who had quietly left the Vermilion Bird Empire using a Space Artifact.
But considering Chu Hao’s current unfavorable situation,
she hadn’t gone far, ultimately choosing to reside temporarily in this ancient city.
Although this courtyard appeared quiet and serene, it actually concealed numerous deadly traps, with Array Patterns hidden everywhere.
If anyone dared to barge in, they would surely be torn apart by the power of the many Array Patterns, body and soul annihilated.
Not to mention, Tang Wan had also stationed many experts from the merchant alliance outside—the weakest among them being Sacred Realm existences.
She wasn’t worried about anyone coming to her door.
Actually, she didn’t need to worry so much.
After all, her grandfather was the Alliance Leader of a branch of the Alliance of Thousand Merchants, wielding overwhelming power. Who would dare casually offend her?
It was just that this time, Tang Wan had considered many things.
The person Chu Hao had offended was Gu Changge. From this young man, Tang Wan felt unprecedented pressure.
Tang Wan didn’t know why, but she always felt that Gu Changge was no simple character.
Although back then, in front of everyone, he hadn’t made things difficult for Chu Hao again,
somewhere deep down, she had a premonition that Gu Changge was plotting to move against Chu Hao.
Because ever since her birth, she had possessed a special Talent to Attract Good Fortune and Avoid Bad Luck.
Eventually, through continuous refinement, she developed it into a technique for attracting fortune and avoiding calamity.
Relying on this talent, Tang Wan had thrived in the Alliance of Thousand Merchants.
Everyone who knew her had to respectfully address her as “Miss Wan.”
For hundreds of years, this talent had never been wrong.
Only some time ago, when Tang Wan used her Quill of Destiny to divine Gu Changge, attempting to glimpse a trace of heavenly secrets,
she unexpectedly suffered a backlash.
This left her shocked, horrified, and baffled, because such a thing had never happened before.
After much thought, Tang Wan came to a conclusion: Gu Changge concealed a great terror within himself.
For this reason, she had even risked great danger to warn Chu Hao.
Although Chu Hao’s current cultivation was already at the Sacred King Realm, and he would soon break through to the Sacred Emperor Realm,
in the eyes of the Alliance of Thousand Merchants’ upper echelons, it still wasn’t worth antagonizing Gu Changge over a single Chu Hao.
So Tang Wan had no choice but to be careful.
Although Tang Wan had created considerable value for the Alliance of Thousand Merchants over the years,
when it came to matters involving fundamental interests, she had no power whatsoever to sway the alliance’s decisions.
She didn’t even dare tell her grandfather about this, because back then, her grandfather had looked down on Chu Hao’s origins.
So what if his talent was strong? Without a powerful background backing him, he would ultimately only become a chess piece manipulated by the various powers and orthodoxies.
Unless Chu Hao could grow strong enough to establish his own immortal orthodoxy.
“I hope Hao-gege can understand my painstaking efforts, otherwise all this work will have been for nothing. He shouldn’t have been so impulsive back then... In the end, I can only hope the Supreme Cave Heaven will stand by Hao-gege’s side.”
“If he can successfully succeed as the future Lord of the Supreme Cave Heaven, his voice will carry much more weight, and Gu Changge won’t dare act so recklessly.”
Tang Wan sighed deeply. Never before had she imagined that one day she, too, would be so wary of a young man.
The strength Gu Changge had displayed—in her view, he could likely even match a Sacred Emperor.
When he activated the Sacred Emperor Artifact that day, Gu Changge’s nonchalant demeanor was enough to show that he was nowhere near his limit.
Something like that couldn’t be faked.
Having spent so many years in the Alliance of Thousand Merchants, Tang Wan still had a discerning eye and would never casually underestimate anyone.
Especially someone like Gu Changge—overwhelmingly domineering, an existence no one of the younger generation dared provoke.
“Xiaojie, xiaojie... something terrible has happened, something terrible...”
However, just then.
From outside the courtyard, a guard suddenly came running with a panicked expression, his words utterly flustered, as if some great calamity had occurred.
“What is it? Such panic—what kind of behavior is this?”
Before Tang Wan could speak, the maid beside her frowned and said disapprovingly.
“It’s fine. What happened to make you so flustered?”
Tang Wan waved her hand, signaling the guard not to rush.
But for some reason, a feeling of unease rose in her heart once more—and it was incredibly intense.
The last time she had such a premonition was when she encountered a great calamity in an ancient cave dwelling and nearly lost her life.
Only that time, she ultimately turned calamity into fortune, even obtaining the legacy of an ancient mighty figure—the Quill of Destiny—entering the Dao through drawing.
“Da-xiaojie, something terrible has happened. The young master has offended the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan and is now in the hands of Gifted Lady Yin Mei of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan...”
The guard reported with a trembling voice, knowing that da-xiaojie usually doted greatly on Young Master Tang Tian.
Now that such a huge incident had occurred, only da-xiaojie could think of a way to resolve it.
“Tang Tian offended the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan? What’s going on? Wasn’t Tang Tian staying peacefully in the city? How could he have offended the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan? What exactly happened?”
Hearing this, Tang Wan was stunned, then her expression turned grave and solemn as she quickly asked.
When it came to her younger brother, she couldn’t afford not to take it seriously.
Although she knew her brother Tang Tian was a good-for-nothing with a domineering, wastrel temperament,
he wasn’t stupid. How could he have offended the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan out of nowhere?
Could there be some misunderstanding in all this?
“Here’s what happened, da-xiaojie. According to Cultivators who witnessed it firsthand, that day at the Drunk Gods Inn, Young Master Tang Tian abducted a Nine-Tailed Fox maiden with ill intentions, but at the critical moment, Gifted Lady Yin Mei of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan tracked him down and caught him red-handed...”
“This matter has already become known throughout the entire city.”
The guard frantically reported the whole sequence of events—though of course, he hadn’t witnessed it himself; it was news passed along from there.
“How could Tang Tian be so stupid, and so bold...”
After hearing it all, even with Tang Wan’s gentle temperament, she was left dumbfounded.
Then, coming back to her senses, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger, utterly furious.
Toward this worthless brother who did nothing but cause her trouble, her feelings had long gone beyond mere disappointment.
At this moment, she only wanted to lock him up within the clan and strictly forbid him from taking a single step outside.
“I know Tang Tian’s character. Even if he had lustful thoughts, he wouldn’t have the guts to act on them. Someone must have egged him on. Who else was with Tang Tian at the time?”
However, Tang Wan quickly calmed down and couldn’t help asking, her gaze carrying a dignity that was hard to look directly at.
“Well... according to the Cultivators who witnessed it, the young master acted on his own initiative. Seeing Gifted Lady Yin Mei’s maid out shopping with no one following her, he acted on a sudden impulse, sent people to knock her unconscious, and took her to the Drunk Gods Inn.”
The guard hurriedly answered, not daring to conceal anything.
“Really? Is that really how it happened? What about the Cultivators protecting my brother? Where are they? I want to question them.”
Tang Wan was taken aback. Her intuition told her this matter wasn’t so simple, and she asked coldly.
Her iron-fisted methods over the years were no mere talk.
At this moment, a terrifying, unapproachable majesty emanated from her.
Even the maid who had followed her for a long time felt a sense of palpitation and fear.
“Reporting to da-xiaojie, the Cultivators protecting the young master were killed on the spot by Gifted Lady Yin Mei, who arrived in a rage. Their bodies and souls were destroyed—not a single one survived.”
The guard’s voice trembled as he stammered.
“All killed?”
Tang Wan’s voice rose sharply, showing just how angry she was now.
Although it sounded reasonable enough—arriving in a rage, yet the first thing done was not searching for the maid, but killing Tang Tian’s protectors?
No matter how one looked at it, it gave the feeling of destroying evidence and silencing witnesses.
Though, if one said Gifted Lady Yin Mei had come in a rage and could only vent her fury this way, it was somewhat plausible.
But it was still far too strange.
Tang Wan’s intuition told her this matter was not so simple.
“I understand. Where is Tang Tian now? Did Gifted Lady Yin Mei state any demands?”
Tang Wan asked in a deep voice, already calm.
“Young Master Tang Tian is currently imprisoned by the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan, and it’s not easy for the family to intervene...” the guard hurriedly replied.
“I understand.”
Tang Wan nodded. She knew that in this matter, the family had no moral ground to stand on. Whether it was real or a setup, it had already become known throughout the city.
The Tang Family’s face had been completely lost.
In her view, if this matter was a scheme, then Yin Mei would most likely raise some demands.
Although the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan stood behind the Alliance of Thousand Merchants, it was not the sole dominant power.
Yin Mei had held power for only a short time and was young, so her authority within the Alliance of Thousand Merchants was not strong.
Thus, friction and conflict between the two of them were sometimes unavoidable.
As her senior, Tang Wan was far more mature and capable than Yin Mei in terms of skill and maneuvering.
If she had been schemed against by Yin Mei because of this, it was somewhat understandable.
“I overestimated Yin Mei’s character. To think she’d use such methods to pressure me...”
“I just wonder if she’ll pull any other tricks.”
Tang Wan frowned, then left the courtyard, preparing to set off.
However, before that, she intended to contact Chu Hao first—but the news she received left her somewhat helpless, and in the end, she could only give up on the idea.
Because Chu Hao was currently not in the Vermilion Bird Empire; he had rushed to the site of the Eternal Overcast calamity.
Even if something happened, he was too far away to help.
She had originally planned to have Chu Hao accompany her, for an extra measure of safety and assurance.
“This ransom probably won’t be simple. I need to notify the family. Although Grandfather is disappointed in Tang Tian, he won’t just sit by and watch him be taken by the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan.”
“The experts on my side aren’t enough either. This vague sense of unease is growing stronger... I need the family to send more experts.”
Thinking this, Tang Wan set off while sending a message to notify her family, making sure to be fully prepared.
This technique of foretelling fortune and calamity had helped her avoid many crises.
