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Chapter 417 Divination
Richard developed a meticulous work style at sea.

This doubt, like a steel needle, remained firmly embedded in his heart.

Boris, weak and supported by the doctor and the knight, came to express his gratitude.

Richard had originally planned a combination of carrot and stick tactics to persuade the three men to pay the money, so that they would not only not hold a grudge against him, but would also be grateful to him.

But now, he had a thorn in his side, something he couldn't understand. He had no desire to deal with the three of them and said firmly, "Huangming is charging each of you three thousand pounds, and you must pay that money."

Then, without saying a word, they chased the three of them out.

The three were indignant, but dared not disobey.

The knight and the doctor blamed Boris together: "You tricked us!"

"Now we have to pay a full three thousand pounds!"

"You have to compensate us for this money!"

The two men, who had been supporting the weak Boris, suddenly pushed him to the ground.

The friendship between the three was originally quite strong; they could commit murder and robbery together.

But it absolutely cannot withstand the test of three thousand pounds!

Boris refused to acknowledge this: "The three of us are doing this business together. If it makes money, will you give me a share of your share?"
You absolutely refuse!

So now that the business is losing money, everyone should be responsible for their own share!

The three of them are arguing and bickering, and it's likely that even when the mission ends, none of them will be satisfied with the outcome.

……

Richard came out, found the wizard, closed the door, and left only the two of them in the dark room.

"I need you to perform a divination. I have some doubts about the future and need guidance from a mystical force."

The wizard smiled; his face was like a dried orange peel.

“Of course, no problem. However… my lord, you should know our rules; even you cannot be exempted from the divination fee.”

“Of course, no problem,” Richard said. “This money will be paid from the mission’s dues.”

Since someone was paying, the wizard happily began his divination.

He lit a special pine branch.

Soon the room was filled with smoke and a strange smell.

It didn't look like burning pine branches, but rather like burning... a corpse.

Richard smelled the scent and felt as if his soul and body were in two dimensions, yet not completely separated.

Both body and soul seemed to be in a state of drunkenness.

Then, in this mysterious state, the wizard asked him some questions, which Richard answered truthfully.

The wizard began adding some mysterious ingredients to the cauldron in front of him.

Flames and smoke occasionally rose from the crucible.

Richard seemed to hear the whispers of ancient gods from some distant and mysterious realm…

"boom!"

Suddenly, a flame shot up more than a meter high, and Richard heard an angry roar.

Then everything fell silent.

The smoke in front of them slowly dissipated, revealing the wizard's figure.

"How is it?" Richard asked anxiously.

The wizard sat at the table, staring intently at the crucible on it, motionless.

The crucible was empty, and two thin cracks had appeared in it.

……

In the inn, Xu Yuan felt a slight movement in his "unfettered" destiny.

Lord Xu frowned slightly: "Is someone targeting me?"

……

"So? What's the result?" Richard asked again when the wizard didn't answer.

The wizard raised his head, his cloudy eyes filled with doubt.

“The divination… failed.” Richard was taken aback: “Failed? But since we entered Huangming’s territory, your divination has never failed.”

"Yes, that's why it's strange."

Before each contest with the demon-slaying army, Richard would have a wizard perform a divination.

Then, based on the "revelation" from the divination, they arranged their troops and won all three times.

Richard: "Have you found the reason?"

The wizard did not answer, but got up and went to the bedside, opening a worn-out box.

This box looks a lot like the kind of box that wandering Gypsies in the West use to store their mysterious objects.

They even deliberately hung a large padlock on it.

In the West, if you walk into a Gypsy camp, you'll find similar boxes in every Gypsy tent.

Their other luggage was simply rolled up haphazardly, tied with a rope, and tossed onto the cart.

But everyone has such a box to keep what they call their "treasures".

The wizard searched inside for a long time.

He even crawled his entire upper body into the box.

Judging from the size of that box, this is completely unreasonable.

It's as if the box connects to some mysterious space.

"Found it!" The wizard held up a deck of cards. "This time we'll definitely succeed."

He returned to the table and used the cards for a second divination.

The playing cards were long and thin, with strange images drawn on them.

There are human figures, animals, and objects.

But everything depicted above is ambiguous.

As the wizard began shuffling the cards, Richard sensed that some mysterious and powerful beings, transcending the limitations of time and space, were casting their gaze upon this place.

Under their interference, this place seemed to have been removed from the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Richard nodded to himself: This time there shouldn't be any problems.

The wizard chanted some obscure and ancient song.

To please some ancient being.

He laid out seven cards in front of Richard for the first time.

They formed a mysterious shape.

Then the wizard began asking questions and flipping cards.

Richard answered earnestly, following his heart.

But the moment the first card was turned over, a strange gust of wind suddenly swept up the table and flipped over the remaining cards as well!
Then everything was messed up!
Richard heard some ancient beings that clearly did not exist in this time and space, and let out a frustrated and disgusted roar, after which all the "mystery" that had surrounded the room disappeared.

The wizard released his hands, and all the cards scattered on the ground.

He plopped down, his forehead dripping with cold sweat, and then slowly raised his hands.

His hands were covered in scars, so deep that the bone was visible!

That was from being cut by playing cards.

The wizard's voice was hoarse: "How could this be..."

Richard's expression instantly turned extremely sinister.

As expected, my suspicions were correct.

There must be something big behind that suddenly appearing "mystery"!
Richard wanted to find out why this "mystery" had attacked him.

He hoped to get an answer.

But now it seems that this is beyond the wizard's capabilities.

Richard's mind raced.

Then, in his capacity as head of the mission, he spoke with an unquestionable command: "Let's divine again! This time, the solution—forget about seeking answers from the mystical; let's simply ask the mystical to provide us with an answer!"

"Yes, sir." The wizard rose tremblingly and picked up the playing cards.

My heart was filled with trepidation: the mysterious one had already warned me and insisted on questioning them; this time, they probably wouldn't let me off easily!
(End of this chapter)