When the curtain was completely drawn, the guests exclaimed in surprise.

Imprisoned in the cage was a monster, half-man, half-ape.

Its skull was generally triangular, with a flat, wide forehead, prominent brow ridges, and sunken eye sockets.

A collapsed, flat nose connected to large, flared nostrils.

Prominent cheekbones were covered with a layer of light brown fluff, transitioning to its entire face and body.

Its chin protruded unusually far forward, with thin lips. When it grinned, one could see pale, messy teeth.

This half-man, half-ape was slightly shorter than a normal person. It wore no clothes, only a dense layer of brown fluff covering its body.

It sat cross-legged, its back hunched, its relatively slender arms resting on its knees.

Heavy, sturdy metal shackles were fastened to its wrists and ankles.

It ignored the cries of shock and fear, ignored the curious and probing gazes.

Silently, it sat in the cage, staring at its palm, occasionally wiggling its slender fingers, seemingly indifferent to everything outside.

Without a doubt, it, or rather he, possessed intelligence no less than that of humans.

"Is this the auspicious omen?"

The Prince of Shu sat in his seat, craning his neck to look at the half-man, half-ape in the cage, muttering to himself, "It's a little different from what I imagined."

This Prince of Shu had seen auspicious omens that were either gilded pigs disguised as Qilin (mythical hooved Chinese creature),

or odd-looking animals like giraffes presented as tribute by natives from overseas.

He had never seen an ape-man before.

The Prince of Shu turned to look at the thin Annamese (Vietnamese) old monk and asked, "Venerable Monk Farde, this auspicious omen can speak, can't it?"

A trace of imperceptible sorrow flashed across the Annamese monk's face. He put his palms together and said in fluent Central Plains language, "Reporting to Your Highness, the auspicious omen can indeed understand and speak human language."

"Then why is it just sitting there?"

The Prince of Shu asked, "Could it be that we need to prepare some livestock offerings to win the auspicious omen's favor?"

The Annamese old monk shook his head and replied in a low voice, "The auspicious omen transcends the mortal world and does not care about worldly etiquette. Whether it speaks or not is entirely up to him."

Up to him?

The Prince of Shu frowned slightly. So this auspicious omen had a temper and wouldn't answer just anything.

One of the purposes of his banquet was to witness the abilities of this so-called auspicious omen. In that case, he needed to find some good questions to ask first.

"Hmm..."

The Prince of Shu thought for a moment and asked the ape-man, "Where do you come from?"

The ape-man looked up at him, "Heaven."

"Heaven? Are you a banished immortal?"

"No."

"A demon?"

"No."

"A god or Buddha?"

"No."

"Then what are you?"

"A cultivator."

"A cultivator?"

The Prince of Shu sized up the ape-man. This auspicious omen was short, covered in messy fur, and had ugly, hideous features. Even a rough-looking man with a face full of橫肉 (heng rou – excessive flesh/fat) was better looking than him.

The Prince of Shu shook his head, "If you are a cultivator, how could you be reduced to being trapped in a cage?"

"..."

The ape-man was silent for a long time, then said somewhat blankly, "Forgot."

He forgot?

The Prince of Shu rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to ask another question, he heard the ape-man in the cage say in a low voice, "It's going to rain..."

It raised its hands, covered its ears, and waited for something.

Everyone subconsciously looked outside the hall, only to see a starry sky with a bright moon and no clouds drifting by. It didn't look like it was going to rain at all.

"Where's the rain coming from..."

Before the Prince of Shu could finish speaking, a gust of nameless wind howled,

violently lifting the silk curtains on all sides of the hall, sending them flying.

A flash of lightning disappeared in the far distance,

and two or three seconds later, a deafening "Boom!" was heard.

Fine raindrops fell to the ground, then quickly turned into moderate rain, heavy rain, and even torrential rain.

By the time everyone reacted, a gale was blowing outside the hall, thunder was rumbling, and a downpour seemed intent on overturning the heavens and the earth.

It really was raining!

Everyone looked shocked, except for the Annamese monk, who lowered his head and silently chanted scriptures, completely isolated from the outside world.

"It's... quite accurate."

Bai Yongyan muttered to himself, reaching out and patting the ground.

Immediately, wooden steps grew out of the floor around the edges of the hall, keeping the rain out.

"Oh? Knowing the seasons, not bad, not bad."

The Prince of Shu's eyes lit up, "When will the rain stop?"

"After half an hour."

"When will it be dawn?"

"After three hours."

The Prince of Shu asked a series of questions, from simple to difficult, and the ape-man answered them one by one.

When he asked about the general trend of the world and governance policies, the ape-man answered fluently as well.

The Prince of Shu was overjoyed and pressed on, "Can you tell if I will live to be a hundred years old?"

The Fang Shi (Taoist priest) and Yonglin Temple monk beside the Prince of Shu's expression changed drastically. Before they could dissuade him, they saw the ape-man slowly raise his head and scan the crowd,

muttering to himself as he stared at each person.

The Prince of Shu couldn't hear clearly and hurriedly asked, "What is he saying?"

"Time..."

Song Shuqing's expression changed slightly, and he repeated in a low voice, "Half an hour, fifty years, thirty-one years, eleven years...

He reports a time for each person he looks at."

The one called "Lord Lian," the Prince of Shu's military advisor, had a strange expression on his face, "What... does this mean?"

"Could it be that he's calculating the marriage times of everyone present?"

Bai Yongyan gasped, "To be honest, besides feng shui (geomancy), I'm also good at face reading.

The time reported by this auspicious omen happens to be exactly the same as the marriage fate I deduced from reading everyone's faces.

Fate is predestined, happiness is your own. Want to know the marriage time between you and your tA (him/her)? Edit a message with the male's name plus the female's name, such as Guo Jing plus Huang Rong,

Send the letter to Bai Yongyan, a guest of the Prince of Shu's mansion,

Enclose copper coins or silver notes in the letter,

and you can find out your love index with ta and the auspicious date for your marriage."

???

Everyone present, including the Prince of Shu, was dumbfounded. How did this turn into an advertisement for a matchmaker?

The ape-man, as if he hadn't heard Bai Yongyan's骚话 (sao hua - flirtatious remarks), continued to scan the guests and report times, "Seven years, eighteen years, six months..."

"It's not marriage."

Song Shuqing heard the ape-man's evaluation of him, 'fifty-five years,' and his gloomy expression eased a lot.

He said quietly, "What he's reporting is our death dates..."

Death dates?

The guests present came to their senses, and those with short times reported had drastically changed complexions.

Those with long times reported had equally strange expressions, wanting to say something but hesitating.

The ape-man reported the times on his own, occasionally skipping a few people, such as Bai Yongyan, the Prince of Shu, the Annamese monk, Yu Qingqiu, and so on.

After the ape-man made a circle, he lowered his head again and fell back into silence.

"This, this..."

The Prince of Shu opened his mouth and looked at the Annamese monk, "Master, what the auspicious omen just reported, is it really our death dates?"

"This humble monk does not know."

The thin old monk slowly shook his head, "The auspicious omen transcends the mundane and is far beyond our ability to fathom. It could be, or it could not be."

"Nonsense!"

The Dance Spider Elder's face was extremely ugly, and he said bitterly, "All beings in the three realms, the six paths of reincarnation, are like a whirling fire wheel.

Life and death are probably only accurately described in the Book of Life and Death.

How dare a mere brown-haired ape-man speak recklessly?"

It was no wonder the Dance Spider Elder was so agitated. The ape-man's evaluation of him just now was only half an hour.

"If you want to know if the auspicious omen is reporting death dates, why not try it?"

Bai Yongyan whispered from the side, "If Brother Wei dies bizarrely after half an hour, then it is.

If he doesn't die, then it isn't, or it isn't accurate."

"Bai Yongyan!"

The Dance Spider Elder turned around, his hair and beard bristling, and said gloomily and angrily, "You better shut your mouth."

Bai Yongyan laughed, "Brother Wei, don't be angry, I haven't finished speaking yet.

If you're worried that the auspicious omen is talking about your death date, and you might die suddenly after half an hour,

then why not take action before the time limit expires, end your own life in advance,

and break the auspicious omen's death prediction. How about that?"