"Fifty million, three months?"
Hearing this, I felt an urge to crawl through the phone and ask him what on earth he was thinking.
Did he think I was a bank? Or was I Warren Buffett?
He said it so casually, earning fifty million in three months. I had spent a whole month getting the seven million that was just transferred, and I even resorted to some less-than-honorable means – blackmail.
As for the process of making money, it was a tear-jerker, a true tale of my travels this past month, a history written in tears and snot. I had even visited the gates of hell a few times.
Facing my protest, Master coldly told me that my father's condition had worsened, and his money was also mostly spent. Even with the seven million you transferred, it could only last for three months. If we don't use the new medicine after three months, you can wait to become an orphan.
Hearing this, I wanted to cry. I really wanted to ask Master what kind of medicine he was giving my father, was it an elixir?
But considering Master's warehouse was emptied, there was no need for him to lie. Although I didn't know how much truth there was in Master's words, the possibility of him deceiving me was slim. I could only grit my teeth and agree to his terms.
"Master, are you safe now? And Sun Chuang..."
Before I could finish, I was interrupted by Master.
"You are now the successor of the Yin Gua lineage. I'm temporarily handing over my house to you. Since you're back, hurry up and start divining and making money. You're already out of apprenticeship, why are you still asking me about everything? You're truly embarrassing me. I don't care if you steal or rob. If you don't transfer funds to the account after three months, wait for my notice to come and mourn for your father..."
Beep beep—
Listening to the dial tone of the phone hanging up, I suddenly felt my mind was overloaded. Was this still my "cute and respectable" Master? Why did he feel even more ruthless than Zhou Bapi?
The amount of fifty million, though giving me a headache, was given with ample time. Three months, if I took on more jobs, it wasn't impossible.
Just this trip to Molu Village, including the bet and the 'blackmail,' if I hadn't split it with Zhang Dabiao, my income for this month would have been nearly twenty million. Earning fifty million in three months wasn't impossible.
From Master's tone, I could tell that Master was safe now. At least he wasn't being held at gunpoint and forced to leave, as "Widow Ma" had said. As long as he wasn't controlled by some big shot in the capital, everything was manageable.
Thinking of this, I still needed to take Bai Ling'er to Widow Ma's house first to see her situation. Whether she was truly mad or pretending, I needed to have a clear understanding.
If she was truly mad, considering her kindness to me when I was young, I would have to take good care of her. After all, when I became an "orphan," she always gave me candy and played with me. If she was pretending, then don't blame me for disregarding our past relationship. I'll settle old scores and new ones together.
"Ling'er, come with me. I'll take you out for something delicious."
Faced with my tempting words, Bai Ling'er didn't show the expected excitement. Instead, it lazily covered its head with its tail.
"Something delicious? Are you trying to fool a ghost? I've been waiting all afternoon, what did you bring back? No wonder Fifth Princess said a man's mouth is a lying ghost. You're a fool, fooling ghosts is one thing, now you're trying to fool a snake. Do you have any conscience..."
My face turned red from Bai Ling'er's words, but I didn't know how to refute it. I originally planned to buy it some food, but who knew I would run into a bunch of "fake police"? What could I do?
Seeing its unmoving stance, I felt helpless. But Widow Ma might not be the "Widow Ma" of the past. Going to Widow Ma's house alone on such a late night gave me a creepy feeling. I couldn't waste this little bodyguard, Bai Ling'er, could I?
The most important thing was that I was afraid that if I left, it would attract more demons and monsters, and my Yin Gua lineage's reputation would be ruined by it.
"A pig, once the job is done, I'll pay up immediately."
Although I couldn't buy meat at Wang Mazi's house, there were still other families in the village who raised pigs. I didn't believe they wouldn't sell for money!
Hearing there was food, Bai Ling'er immediately perked up, its small eyes showing excitement and said: "And a sheep..."
"You ate so many chickens this afternoon and you're still eating? Aren't you afraid of getting fat like a pig..."
Bai Ling'er patted its belly with its tail, looking displeased and said: "Fifth Princess, she said..."
"Deal, plus a sheep. No more conditions."
"Heh heh... you should have said so earlier!"
Feeling Bai Ling'er coiled around my head, I felt a surge of speechlessness. How did this little guy have me so completely under its thumb? Who was the master here!
Before going out, I first paid respects to the Patriarch, then hung two white lanterns at the door. One lantern contained a white candle, and the other contained a red candle.
The white lanterns represented that the matter to be divined was of Yin nature. The red candle lit within one represented that living people could come to inquire about Yin matters, while the white candle represented that Yin spirits could come to inquire about their fate.
Bai Ling'er was curious about my actions and couldn't help but ask: "Fool, who died in your family? Why are you hanging lanterns?"
"Pah! You crow's mouth! Your family is the one who died! I'm about to start divining..."
Bai Ling'er curiously floated down from my head, looking at the lantern with the white candle lit. Its two small nostrils twitched, and it strangely said: "Your Yin Gua lineage is truly peculiar, using corpse oil for candles?"
I almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Why did it see my Yin Gua lineage as an evil existence?
But I was too lazy to explain to Bai Ling'er. It was like a blank sheet of paper. In the relatively secluded Molu Village, the people and things it had seen were only those from the semi-Yin realm. The fact that it could use modern electronic devices was already beyond my expectations. As for the divination procedures of the Yin Gua lineage, I had no intention of explaining them to it.
White lanterns and white candles were generally used for funerals. However, the white candles used by the Yin Gua lineage were different. Although they contained corpse oil, they also incorporated yellow talismans with the purpose of the white candles written on them. Thus, Yin spirits would understand it as a signal for Yin Gua divination upon smelling it.
I checked the time, it was not yet eight o'clock, and the sky had just darkened. At this time, there would definitely be no "people" coming to divine. Taking advantage of this time to go to Widow Ma's house and then return to divine would be perfect timing.
Widow Ma's ancestral home was at the eastern end of the village, near the foothills of the eastern mountain. Just outside her door was a babbling stream, and the mountain was planted with plum trees by her deceased 'husband,' making it an ideal Yin residence.
It was precisely because of this that I suffered a severe beating from Master. At that time, I had just begun to study Yin residences and was always looking for auspicious spots, wanting to earn some pocket money from Master.
I had proposed to Master at the time that the location where Widow Ma lived was a good冥堂 (míngtáng - a place for ancestral worship or a place for spirits), how could living people reside there?
Although looking at Yin residences was different from looking at Yang residences, there were still similarities. Yang residences needed to be airy front and back, bathed in sunlight, with the wind driving the radiance of Yang. Yin residences were different; they needed to be backed by mountains and sheltered from the wind, nourished by water, with the aim of gathering Yin energy within the residence to make the Yin spirits comfortable.
Master's words at the time were still vivid. He said, "You know nothing, your eyes are on your backside. The mountain is planted with plum trees, '得李抱子' (dé lǐ bào zǐ - a pun meaning 'get plums holding children,' implying prosperity and many descendants), with water nourishing the energy, the Ma family will surely have many descendants..."
"Then... then why did Old Ma die of priapism?"
"..."
Master's face turned red, and he directly took out a bamboo strip and gave me a "stewed meat with bamboo strips." Finally, he told me fiercely that priapism had nothing to do with Feng Shui, it was because he was too eager. Who asked Widow Ma to be so... Why was a child asking so many questions?
Slap slap—