Rongcheng, Sanfang Qixiang.
Sanfang Qixiang is a landmark of Rongcheng, existing since the Jin and Tang dynasties. Today, it is located in the central urban area of Rongcheng, with land worth its weight in gold. It still retains the original architectural features of ancient times. Ordinary people have long regarded it as a tourist attraction, unaware that some people of extraordinary status still reside in these alleys.
A light rain began to fall. Huang Hai of the Lushan Sect, holding a rustic oil-paper umbrella, walked into Wenru Fang, one of the three lanes, and stopped in front of an inconspicuous house.
He knocked on the seemingly dilapidated wooden door and identified himself. Soon, someone opened the door for him.
The person who opened the door was a young Taoist boy. Upon seeing Huang Hai, he respectfully called him Martial Uncle.
Huang Hai nodded, handed the oil-paper umbrella to the boy, and asked as he walked inside, "Has the Sect Leader returned?"
The boy shook his head and replied, "The Sect Leader was invited by the Lin family in Licheng and has not yet returned."
"And your master?"
"My master is fishing in the garden."
"Take me to him."
The boy led the way, and Huang Hai followed. After passing through the front courtyard, they arrived at a pond.
Within Sanfang Qixiang, any ordinary house could fetch a sky-high price of nearly one hundred million, let alone a property with a pond in its courtyard. Such houses were unattainable even with immense wealth.
However, considering Huang Hai's background with the Lushan Sect, this was not entirely surprising.
By the pond, a middle-aged man in a black robe, with a goatee, sat quietly fishing.
He was Huang Hai's junior disciple, named Zhou Yuquan. In terms of cultivation and Taoist practice, Zhou Yuquan was actually several times more powerful than Huang Hai.
Huang Hai walked forward, about to say something, when Zhou Yuquan made a shushing gesture, signaling Huang Hai to remain silent, lest he disturb the fish in the pond.
But Huang Hai was not deterred and spoke directly:
"Junior Brother, you'll never guess who I met."
Zhou Yuquan frowned and looked at Huang Hai with displeasure, "Who?"
"A successor of Lu Ban!"
At these words, Zhou Yuquan trembled all over, even his fishing rod shaking violently.
He immediately dropped the rod, grabbed Huang Hai's shoulders, and exclaimed, "Senior Brother, what did you say? A successor of Lu Ban?!"
"That's right, I can be sure that young fellow is a successor of Lu Ban!" Huang Hai nodded affirmatively and then quickly recounted the events of the previous day to Zhou Yuquan.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuquan's emotions were in turmoil.
With his hands behind his back, he paced back and forth by the pond, murmuring, "For decades, the successors of Lu Ban have disappeared, and everyone in the Xuanmen sect believed they had no descendants. Who would have thought they would reappear in the martial world... During that special period, various sects and factions suffered severe blows, and even the ancient texts left by our ancestors were reduced to less than a tenth. Conversely, those folk masters, who miraculously survived, passed down their legacies. And the 'Book of Lu Ban' is a profound work that draws upon the strengths of many schools. It might even contain records of some of our Lushan Sect's lost ultimate techniques!"
The successors of Lu Ban traveled the world, learning any useful magic without regard to whether it was a secret technique of another sect. Thus, many powerful spells from various sects were "stolen" by the shameless successors of Lu Ban.
The renowned sects of yesteryear harbored immense hatred for the Lu Ban teachings. Yet, after decades, they now needed to seek guidance from the successors of Lu Ban to recover their past traditions...
Truly, fortunes change like the turning of the wheel!
Zhou Yuquan stopped pacing and said to Huang Hai, "Senior Brother, the matter of Lu Ban's successor is of great importance. I believe we shouldn't rush to inform the Sect Leader. How about you first arrange for me to meet him, confirm the authenticity, and then we can make plans?"
Although Huang Hai's cultivation was not as advanced as his junior disciple's, with his years of experience in the martial world, he could see through Zhou Yuquan's ulterior motives.
He knew that Zhou Yuquan wanted to personally meet Yan Shouyi, ideally to obtain some of the Lushan Sect's lost ultimate techniques from him, and then return to claim credit with the Sect Leader.
But Huang Hai did not see anything wrong with this, and even wanted a share of the pie. "Junior Brother, I've thought of everything you're thinking. Since you have this plan, why don't we cooperate?"
Zhou Yuquan readily agreed, "That would be excellent. Senior Brother truly understands me!"
"Hurry and get ready, we'll go find Yan Shouyi now," Huang Hai paused and then asked, "Why did the Sect Leader go to the Lin family in Licheng again?"
Zhou Yuquan chuckled, "Didn't the eldest daughter of the Lin family in Licheng become a disciple of the Sect Leader some years ago? Although she has extraordinary talent, she is a woman after all, and has reached the age of marriage. The Lin family invited the Sect Leader to discuss finding a suitable husband for our Junior Sister Zitong!"
"So that's how it is," Huang Hai nodded, not thinking much of it. Since Lin Zitong had always been personally taught by the Sect Leader, despite being the senior disciple, he had not had much interaction with her, and had even seen her face only a few times over the years.
Therefore, it was more important to see Yan Shouyi at the moment!
The two quickly gathered their belongings and left Wenru Fang.
...
After his encounter with Lin Zitong last night, Yan Shouyi truly slept on a park bench for the entire night.
Magically, after sticking a Taoist charm on himself, not a single drop of rain managed to wet his body throughout the night.
The middle volume of the 'Book of Lu Ban' contained a small portion of incredible skills similar to the Golden Light Divine Incantation of Longhu Mountain, but it also contained more mundane, everyday spells that aided one in traveling the world, like the one he used at the moment.
Hunting ghosts, expelling demons, or fighting zombies were not things a successor of Lu Ban had to do. A successor of Lu Ban simply needed to do things that brought him satisfaction.
Waking up on the bench, Yan Shouyi stretched, looked at the bustling street outside the park, and pondered what he should do today.
This time, he did not use a compass. Instead, he calculated a rough estimate using his fingers, employing the Lesser Six Rens divine technique.
When used in conjunction with a compass, the Lesser Six Rens divine technique provided more accurate results, but it was not strictly necessary. His index, middle, and ring fingers, each with three segments, perfectly simulated the Nine Palaces divination of the Lesser Six Rens technique.
Yan Shouyi calculated with his fingers and couldn't help but beam, "Today, I've calculated great auspiciousness. It seems my luck is turning, and I will have a fortunate day!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Shouyi's phone rang. Upon answering, he heard Huang Hai's voice:
"Young Brother Yan, we have found the person you asked us to look for!"
Yan Shouyi's heart leaped with joy, "Really? Where is he?"
"It's a bit complicated to explain. How about this, where are you now, Young Brother Yan? I'll come and pick you up personally!" Huang Hai said enthusiastically.
Yan Shouyi did not object. After all, Rongcheng was a large city, and he was penniless. If the leg-crippled fortune teller lived in a remote area, it might take him a whole day just to reach him.
Moreover, Yan Shouyi was eager to meet the fortune teller.
So he replied, "I'm on the third bench at the southeast entrance of Niugang Mountain Park."
Huang Hai immediately praised, "Young Brother Yan has such refined taste, going for a walk in the park so early in the morning. Truly a role model for us!"