Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 33: The baby's fate is determined by the first birthday celebration; the class is favored.

Third Senior Brother Zheng Qian walked ahead to the table, lit three specially made Eight Treasures Auspicious Incense sticks, and inserted them one by one into the incense burner.

As wisps of smoke rose, the hanging yellow curtains moved without wind, and Wang Cheng stood thoughtfully in the center of the pavilion.

He knew that the traditional "first birthday celebration" ceremony had a long history and was generally an essential part of the celebration for children who had just turned one year old.

Wealthy families would set up a large table in front of their child's bed, displaying a pile of carefully prepared items for the "first birthday celebration":
"Seals, scriptures of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism; pens, ink, paper, inkstones, abacuses, coins, account books, jewelry, flowers, rouge, food, and toys."

If it's a girl's first birthday celebration, the following items should also be arranged: "shovel, spoon (cooking utensils), scissors, ruler and other sewing tools, embroidery thread, flower patterns and other embroidery tools."

Ordinary families, limited by their economic conditions, may simplify things a bit, but this kind of ceremony is still indispensable.

An adult brings the child over, has them sit upright on the bed, and allows them to choose whatever they pick up first and then next, in order to predict their interests, future prospects, and future career.

For example, when the famous Baoyu was born, he picked up cosmetics and hairpins, which foreshadowed his life.

"Fourth brother, when the three classes of officials enter the monastic order, they all use the 'first birthday ceremony' to test which class of official positions the newcomer is suited for."

Each of the thirty-six boxes in the building contains an item representing an official of the hall, chosen for a baby's first birthday celebration. Whichever box you pick is the one you choose.

Shen Yuting and Zheng Qian withdrew and left, leaving the ritual altar entirely to Wang Cheng.

Finally, I must add one last piece of advice:
"Staying here will gradually allow you to resonate with the energy of the objects used in the baby's first birthday celebration, activating the one with the strongest affinity."

By the way, the "first birthday celebration" here doesn't involve a one-year-old baby unconsciously grabbing something; rather, the "first birthday celebration item" comes and grabs you!

Subduing the object drawn by fate during the baby's first birthday celebration, and walking out the door completes the ritual.

Then Zheng Qian slammed the door shut.

The moment the door closed, the bronze lamps in the three-story pavilion automatically lit up, casting a dim yellow light that made the atmosphere inside the building even more eerie.

Woo woo woo.
A chilly, eerie wind swept through the enclosed room, permeating all three floors.

Wang Cheng stood silently before the incense table, goosebumps rising all over his body.

Looking around, he vaguely sensed dozens of pairs of eyes coldly staring at him from the shadows where the lamplight couldn't reach, and a chill ran down his spine.

I feel that things might not be as simple as Master said.

"Master! Senior Brother!" I called out twice, but no one answered; it was as if they had already left.

In the pavilion next to the attic.

The master and apprentice sat leisurely facing each other, sipping their tea.

Zheng Qian skimmed the foam off the teacup:

"This 'first birthday celebration' doesn't consider birth or education; it depends entirely on a person's character and destiny. On average, it takes three days for their vital energies to interact."

Back then, it took me half a day, which was the fastest record besides my senior sister's three hours.

Master, how long do you think it will take for Junior Brother to attract the baby's first birthday item?

Shen Yuting had great confidence in Wang Cheng, and even more confidence in his own discerning eye; there was absolutely no problem with this disciple joining his water-collecting lineage.

"If I were to tell you, wealth and honor are at most threefold."

Suddenly, he turned his head to look at the attic, the golden light in his eyes shrinking to a tiny dot, and the units of time he spoke of kept changing, and getting faster and faster:

"A day, a quarter of an hour."

Before Zheng Qian could react, it had already become:
"Three, two, one. It's starting?!"

The old man suddenly stood up, not even noticing that the teacup beside him had been accidentally knocked to the ground.

Wang Cheng, who was inside, naturally didn't know whether he was fast or slow among the disciples of the Mountain and Sea Society. He only felt an invisible thin line between his eyebrows, connecting him to something.

Then, the sound of a box being opened could be heard from the top floor.

Then came a series of furtive footsteps and the screeching sound of a heavy blade dragging on the ground.

"what?"

Wang Cheng suddenly looked up and saw a blurry figure coming down from upstairs, reeking of fish.

His face was obscured; he wore a brown short-sleeved shirt and had bare, chapped feet—a typical boatman's attire.

With its appearance, all the bronze lamps in the attic instantly changed from orange-yellow to oily green.

What caught Wang Cheng's attention the most was that it was holding a long-handled oar knife shaped like a boat paddle.

A zhuo is a long-handled oar; a short one is called a jī, and a long one is called a zhuo.

It is said that the majestic and imposing three-pointed double-edged sword was developed from the zhuo sword. Specifically, it is a three-pointed double-edged sword with two points removed. If we trace its origin further back, it is the modao, which is the ancient horse-slaying sword!
The water collector's external training method, "Eight Cuts of Breaking Waves," was originally a type of oar-wielding knife technique.

"coming."

The thing moved slowly but quickly, as if it had no weight, and arrived at the first floor of the attic in just a few breaths.

The rare commodity finally saw its true value.

[Evil Spirit: Tsukumogami]

After an object has been idle for a hundred years, it may accumulate negative karma and resentment, and thus transform into a tsukumogami (a spirit possessing simple consciousness), also known as "objects becoming spirits over time." Obsession: Being chosen for a baby's first birthday celebration.

Realm: Mastery of both internal and external strength, equivalent to an ordinary cultivator.

As Wang Cheng predicted, the baby's first birthday gift, which came from the interaction of Qi, represented [Bai Shuilang].

Om-!
A flash of cold light appeared before his eyes, and a swift and unparalleled blade struck down on his head.

Wang Cheng gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist, but instead of drawing it from its sheath, he quickly dodged to the side, his toes barely touching the ground.

It wasn't that he didn't want to block it, but that he couldn't.

The army's top swordsmen all claimed they could break a spear with a single sword, and when they went into battle, everyone went with a spear.

It takes twelve parts of effort from a short weapon to achieve the same combat effectiveness as eight parts from a long weapon; this is an unchanging truth since ancient times.

"Fortunately, this is a one-on-one private duel, which allows for some maneuvering. Once on the battlefield, short weapons are completely useless and can only serve as secondary weapons at most."

How desperate would someone have to be to fight a single-edged sword against a broadsword?

The blade grazed his cheek and struck the ground. In that instant, Wang Cheng seemed to smell a thick, lingering stench of blood.

The blade bounced back amidst sparks, and with a sweeping motion, the ring-pommel sword was finally drawn, held in place by Wang Cheng's hands.

clang!
Using a clever technique to propel himself backward, he took several steps on the thick pillars of the pavilion behind him before leaping over the pursuing spirits.

In the instant they passed each other, the longsword transformed into a flash of lightning, crashing down on its head.

Low-level evil spirits mostly lack intelligence and only act according to instinct and obsession. Even if this tsukumogami is no weaker than a rokusei, in encounters, humans are often the victors.

This is why various lineages dare to use evil spirits to determine fate during a baby's first birthday celebration.

Wang Cheng exhaled and spoke in mid-air:
"die!"

It looked like he was about to behead the tsukumogami with a single blow.

A copper coin sword covered in verdigris was grasped by a chubby hand and silently stabbed into his back.

Wang Cheng dared not continue to deliver that fatal blow, and quickly parried with his sword on his back.

With nowhere to grab hold in mid-air, Wang Cheng was knocked to the ground by the sudden force of the sword, tumbling over before springing back to his feet.

Only then did he realize that there was another tsukumogami behind him.

Like the previous one, his face was blurry, his body was round and plump, he wore a rich man's silk robe, and he held in his hand the object representing the "Chaofeng Lang" (a title for a young master in the imperial family) he had chosen for his first birthday: a copper coin sword.

This is not over yet.

A chilling wind swept around Wang Cheng, making it impossible for him to open his eyes. The sounds of wooden boxes opening and closing upstairs blended together, and countless tsukumogami (spirits) seemed to crawl out of the boxes indistinct shadows.

The compass of the "Star Gazer," the hook of the "Corpse Retriever," the abacus of the "Traveling Merchant," and the carrying poles of the "Peddler" all descend the stairs in groups.

In the end, even the red mandarin duck bodices of the West Lake boat girls and the sharkskin water vests of the pearl divers came to join in the fun. It was truly outrageous and a complete collapse of morality and social order!
But Wang Cheng, whose throat was dry, immediately understood.

This was the blessing that I, a first-generation direct descendant of the sea god believer, received randomly.

Not only will they be protected by the vast ocean and never drown, but they will also be favored by the officials of the thirty-six halls of the Water Ranks, making it twice as effective in cultivating the unique skills and extraordinary arts passed down through generations.

Regardless of which official position you choose, you are sure to have a bright future.

The key point is that not every direct descendant of the sea god believer receives this treatment; it is obtained randomly and is not universally applicable. He had never heard of anyone else experiencing this situation.

Zheng Qian, who had already pressed his eyes against the crack in the door, couldn't help but widen his gaze:
"How could it be so fast? So many? Junior Brother actually has connections with all thirty-six officials of the Water Rank? This...this is unheard of!"

In fact, not to mention the young Zheng Qian, even Shen Yuting, who had lived for so many years, had never seen such a situation.

Under normal circumstances, let's not even talk about whether an ordinary person's fate can affect the lineage of several official positions.

When key human resources are limited, it is extremely difficult to excel in one industry, let alone multiple industries or hold multiple positions.

Throughout history, many people have tried to hold multiple positions, but few have excelled in any of them.

The once-powerful water collector, Prince Jinghai Wang Zeng, was just an ordinary "water collector."

Relying on the popular official positions and the "Guide to Sending People with Favorable Winds" passed down by the Wang family, he was almost invincible throughout the East China Sea.

Had he not rashly gone ashore and been ambushed, no one in the world could have killed him in the sea.

Therefore, having more official positions and titles is not necessarily better; the best position is the one that suits you best.

but!

For these officials, who were capable of "selling official positions," this was of extraordinary significance.

Judging from how this junior disciple can attract all the items for the baby's first birthday celebration from the officials of the thirty-six halls, you can tell that no matter which hall's official skills he uses in the future, he will probably not be inferior to those full-time officials.

The side effects they experience from practicing magic are much lower than others, making it incredibly easy for them to be versatile and multi-talented.

An uncontrollable surge of joy rose within the old man:
"The fourth brother was born to be a water collector. I thank the Heavenly Princess for protecting my lineage of water collectors."

Then his expression changed drastically, and he shouted urgently:
"Quickly, Zheng Qian, extinguish the incense and save the person! If you hurt even a hair on my precious disciple's leg, I'll break your legs!"

(End of this chapter)