Stranger Danger

Yi Pin didn’t keep him in suspense. “I heard this from an acquaintance, but the Reincarnating Flowers of the Four Seasons is a plant-type Stranger that is left unclassified due to how special it was. It possesses the power of the four seasons of reincarnation and is supposedly immortal and eternal. Literally, it will never die unless a certain condition is met.”

“If a sinful, impure, and unworthy being were to make contact with the Reincarnating Flower of the Four Seasons, then it would wither and die. The people who made contact with it would also be afflicted with the power of time and reincarnation and perish along with the flowers.”

“Once they are dead, the flower would be reborn from their ashes and undergo a new cycle of reincarnation. It was said that every death creates a new Reincarnating Flower of the Four Seasons. Since there are enough flowers here to make up a whole field, that means…”

Ye Qing understood his meaning. There had to be thousands of flowers in this garden, meaning that at least thousands of living creatures had died here. Now he understood why there were no Strangers in the area. Everyone who got close had died and become a flower themselves.

Ye Qing and Yi Pin exchanged a glance and saw the severity in each other’s eyes. There was no way they were getting close to this flower, ever.

“By the way, you said that only sinful, impure, and unworthy beings who made contact with the Reincarnating Flower of the Four Seasons would die, right? Does that mean the opposite kind of person would be safe from its power?”

Ye Qing abruptly caught onto Yi Pin’s subtler point.

“I think so,” Yi Pin confirmed, “Longxiang is fine, isn’t he?”

“Despite having experienced the jianghu with me, Longxiang remained childlike and pure-hearted because he was born with an impaired mind. Forget committing a crime, he had helped many others during his journey. That’s most likely why he wasn’t affected by the flowers’ power of reincarnation.”

Ye Qing nodded in agreement when a devious idea suddenly occurred to him. “Brother, you’re a man who is untouched by the mortal coil, right? I am sure you wouldn’t be affected by the flower’s power of reincarnation either. You should go ahead and join your disciple.”

Does he think I’m stupid!?

Yi Pin hurriedly shook his head and argued, “Oh no, I don’t fit the bill at all. It is true that I’m a handsome, well-respected and greatly loved man who often lent a hand to those in need and performed countless good deeds, but I was also a young fool who committed many sins that I came to regret when I’m older. I may be a good person now, but I certainly didn\'t fit the bill when I was younger, so no, I dare not test the flowers.”

“You though, you’re a Patrolman of the Pacification Bureau who had slain countless evils, protected the people, and saved not one, but two territories from disaster. I am sure that a noble and pure-hearted man like you would be safe from the flowers. Why don’t you go ahead and keep my disciple company?”

Handsome, well-respected and greatly loved? More like sanctimonious and fake as hell! Ye Qing thought scornfully, but he said, “You are completely right, of course, but my hands are also coated in blood. Sinful blood, mind you, everyone I killed is deserving of death and worse, but a sin is a sin, so I don’t think that the flowers would overlook my sin of murder. It is a shame, but I will have to give up on this opportunity.”

How can someone be so shameless? Yi Pin thought scornfully as he met Ye Qing’s eyes. The duo stared at each other for a moment before exchanging a smile and backing a few steps more away from the garden. No one here was stupid enough to fall for the obvious.

Meanwhile, Li Longxiang finally couldn’t hold himself back any longer and cried out, “Master! Senior uncle! What should I do? Should I leave?”

Can you guys stop chatting and focus on more important things? Like me?

“Should I tell him to come out?” Yi Pin asked.

“No, wait.” Ye Qing explained, “The owner of the shed is obviously the one who planted the Reincarnating Flowers of the Four Seasons, and their goal is to protect the shed. But if it’s really just a normal shed, then there is no reason for them to enact such a… robust security. Therefore, I’m guessing that the shed is the owner’s grave and/or the place where he left his inheritance.”

“Since Longxiang isn’t affected by the Reincarnating Flowers of the Four Seasons, we should let him enter the shed. Who knows, that might be where his opportunity lies.”

“I…” Yi Pin hesitated. On one hand, he was worried for his disciple’s safety. On the other hand, he didn’t want his disciple to miss his opportunity simply because he was overly cautious.

More importantly, Ye Qing was here. He didn’t mind giving up his opportunity to his disciple, but could Ye Qing bear to do the same?

Ye Qing knew what Yi Pin was worried about, of course. He assured the old Taoist, “Don’t worry about me, brother. I have no interest in this particular opportunity. Just consider whether the risk is worth the reward for you and Longxiang.”

Yi Pin wrangled with himself a while longer before finally deciding that the reward was worth the risk. He didn’t tell Li Longxiang to head in immediately, however. Instead, he sat down on the floor and brought out his three magical Tongbao coins.

The three Tongbao coins were round-shaped with a square hole at the center. Their shape and size were almost the same as the strand Chu Tongbao coin, but these three were inscribed with ancient scripts and overflowing with an air of Dao. Anyone could tell that they were extraordinary.

Even better, there were a pair of invisible, cloud-like wings floating about the edges of the coins. They might be invisible to the mortal eye, but Ye Qing could see them as clear as day. The wings themselves were covered in mysterious runes that reminded Ye Qing of the Eight Trigrams or the Luoshu Square.

After the three coins manifested into existence, the wings flapped, and they slowly floated into the air. Yi Pin wore a serious expression on his face as he performed all series of hand gestures. The gestures made no sense to Ye Qing, but he could tell that there was a certain cadence and order to it. He was also mumbling something that sounded like some sort of edict of calculation.

The three coins began ringing and vibrating slightly as a profound energy spread across the air. They quickly formed the shape of a mysterious trigram and displayed the threads of fate itself. Theoretically, anything and everything could be divined from it.

Ye Qing took one look and felt unbelievably dizzy. He felt like he was caught a glimpse of some sort of book that contained an infinite amount of information.

Yi Pin didn’t break eye contact with the trigram, however. By now, his hands were moving so fast that they were a blur even for Ye Qing. However, the divination attempt seemed to take a lot out of Yi Pin because his eyes were bleeding, and his face had turned as white as a sheet in just a matter of minutes.

“Pwack!”

In the end, Yi Pin spat out a mouthful of blood, and the trigram abruptly shattered into pieces. The three coins also fell to the floor looking far less profound than they were before.

“Are you alright, brother?” Ye Qing voiced his concern.

“Cough! Cough… I am fine.” Yi Pin waved him off and put away the three coins on the ground. “I was trying to divine the outcome of this encounter using Thirty Six Methods To Divine Fate, and…”

“And?”

“I got nothing. This place is completely shrouded from the rivers of fate, and I am unable to divine if the house contains some sort of danger.”

Ye Qing: “...” You put on a fabulous light show and even spat blood in the end, and all you got for your pains is nothing? Are you serious right now?

“Cough… That is why I changed my method and calculated Longxiang’s destiny next. This time, it told me that it will be a frightening but ultimately harmless experience,” Yi Pin continued.

“Huh. You can divine a person’s destiny and even look into the rivers of fate? I’m impressed, brother!” Ye Qing flattered.

“It is nothing, nothing!” Yi Pin replied humbly, but it was obvious from his expression that he was proud of his abilities. Then, he seemed to recall a certain memory and grew forlorn all of a sudden. “To be honest, divination is just the ability to catch a glimpse of one or several ways the future might unfold. It is hardly omniscient, much less omnipotent. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be the saying, ‘One mustn’t look into fate, just as one mustn’t peer into one’s destiny’.”

“I and all others pursuing this art are but ants who are trying to catch a peek at the skies. But even if we succeed, how can an ant truly comprehend the totality of the sky?”

“Brother…”

Ye Qing frowned. He could tell that Yi Pin was a man with a past. He was about to give him some words of consolation when Yi Pin returned to his casual self and waved him off, “Don’t worry about me. My age is getting to me, is all.”

He then rose to his feet and called out to Li Longxiang, “You may enter the shed and check out if there’s anything good, disciple! But remember! If you find a person’s remains or a grave, you must kneel three times, kowtow nine times, and perform a junior’s salute wholeheartedly. Two, you may take what is out in the open, but not those that are hidden within. Three, you must never damage any items inside the shed.”

“Finally, just be careful. Don’t hesitate to leave if anything feels even remotely off.”

“I will remember!” Li Longxiang responded obediently. He had always listened to his master’s words faithfully, so he obediently walked up to the shed and put a hand on the wooden door. But before he could even exert his strength, the wooden door abruptly opened on its own. Then, a gigantic hand reached out of the darkness, grabbed Li Longxiang, and pulled him into the shed! The door slammed shut right after that.

“Longxiang!”

Outside the garden, Yi Pin turned as white as a sheet when he saw this. He was about to charge in and fuck the consequences when Ye Qing stopped him and forcefully turned the old Taoist toward him. “Longxiang is fine! I couldn’t sense any killing intent from the giant hand, and if it really wanted Longxiang dead, it could have crushed him on the spot. There is no need for it to pull him into the shed, is there?”

“Also, didn’t you say it yourself that Longxiang will have a frightening but ultimately harmless experience? There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I know, but…” Yi Pin still looked scared and worried.

“No buts. Even if we assume the worst case scenario, this whole place is surrounded by Reincarnating Flowers of the Four Seasons. If you charge in, you would only lose your life. Do you think your disciple would want that?”

“What should we do?” Yi Pin looked like he was burning with anxiety. “Are we really just going to do nothing and wait for Longxiang to come out?”

“Unfortunately, yes. That is all we can do from the looks of it,” Ye Qing said with a sigh.

He didn’t really have any evidence to back up his theory, but Ye Qing strongly believed that Li Longxiang would be fine. In fact, he was certain that the disciple would come out with an opportunity that would earn everyone’s envy. The only reason Yi Pin hadn’t figured it out himself was because his emotions had gotten the better of him.

“Relax. Longxiang is a pure-hearted man. The heavens will not punish such a person.”

Finally, Yi Pin calmed down and stared at the shed for a moment. Then, he let out a sigh and said, “I hope so…”

……

Creak…

About half a teatime later, the wooden door suddenly creaked open. Yi Pin, who had been stewing in anxiety this whole time, immediately looked to the entrance.

Two or three breaths later, a brawny figure swayed out of the entrance like he was drunk. He was also carrying a few items. He was Li Longxiang of course.

As soon as his foot left the threshold, the door swung shut once more. Li Longxiang placed the items he got on the ground, faced toward the shed, and kowtowed three times with respect. He said, “Thank you, senior.”

After he was done, he picked up the items and slowly made his way out following a small path; a path that did not exist until he was about to set foot in the flowers.

“Are you okay?” Yi Pin rushed forward and asked with a voice that was full of concern after Li Longxiang finally left the garden.

“I’m fine. Thank you for the concern, master.” Li Longxiang shot him a simple smile before praising him, “You truly are a master diviner, master. Senior’s deceased body is inside the shed, and once I performed a junior’s salute as per you told me, those items suddenly appeared in front of me!”