Since all these rules and superstitions are outdated, what's wrong with me indulging in some me

"All the Rules Are Strange Tales, So What's Wrong with Me Talking About Metaphysics?" is sparking a reading frenzy. Haven't you read it yet?

Shen Ye nodded, first opening Chen Xu's Xuan paper and unfolding it.

It reads:

Looking for something.

Shen Ye's pupils contracted slightly as he glanced at Chen Xu. Zhenren's disciple was indeed different.

Immediately afterwards, he unfolded Lu Changsheng's Xuan paper.

There were eight characters above, but when Shen Ye saw them, he was shocked, and his shock turned to ashen.

His hands began to tremble, and the Xuan paper made a faint rustling sound in his hands.

"You..." Shen Ye's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible, and he managed to utter only one word after a long pause.

Lu Changsheng didn't speak, he just looked at him calmly.

The castle owner had already lifted himself off the chair and leaned forward slightly, trying to see the words on the Xuan paper in Shen Ye's hand.

However, he was sitting too far away at too oblique an angle, so he could only see the back of the paper and not the contents on top.

"Ah Shen," the castle owner's voice remained slow, but a hint of urgency flickered in his tone, "What did he write?"

Shen Ye did not answer.

He lowered his head and stared at the sheet of Xuan paper.

Chen Xu stood to the side, his expression complex.

He looked at the sheet of Xuan paper that he had spent twenty minutes writing on, and then at the sheet that Lu Changsheng had finished writing on in just two minutes.

He knew he had lost, and lost completely.

"Mr. Chen," Lu Changsheng turned to look at Chen Xu, "your divination was correct. The hexagram was accurate, and the interpretation was also correct."

"I would appreciate your guidance, Mr. Lu."

Chen Xu was taken aback, not expecting Lu Changsheng to be willing to give him guidance.

"But the divination results are static, while people are dynamic."

"So-called divination is to predict future events based on the current situation and the laws governing the development of things. Therefore, a true diviner, like a doctor, needs to observe, listen, inquire, and feel the pulse. He not only needs to divine, but also needs to combine other numerological methods for comprehensive consideration."

Chen Xu was taken aback. He had never encountered this kind of rhetoric since he began studying metaphysics, and his teacher had never told him about it.

He didn't immediately agree with or refute Lu Changsheng's words. He quietly pondered for a few minutes, repeatedly savoring Lu Changsheng's words.

Then he began to observe Shen Ye, and looked down at his own divination. Suddenly he realized something, and then he turned around abruptly and bowed to Lu Changsheng.

"Thank you so much for your guidance, Mr. Lu. I am deeply grateful!"

Lu Changsheng looked at the young man who was several years older than him and his lips twitched slightly.

"May I ask who you are, sir?"

"The short-lived ghosts in the mountains are not worth mentioning."

Lu Changsheng waved his hand, skipping over the topic, "Seeing that you have some comprehension, I'll give you a few more pointers."

"Look at this divination result, does it give you any warning?"

Chen Xu was taken aback, then looked down at the divination results.

Lu Changsheng smiled and casually pointed to the divination symbol. Chen Xu focused his mind, and after a few seconds, he was covered in cold sweat.

It was an extremely subtle, almost negligible detail—in the middle of the yin line of the sixth line of the hexagram, there was an almost invisible break. It wasn't a smudge of ink, nor a crease in the paper, but rather the hexagram itself, which carried this crack the moment it was formed.

He studied the art for ten years and read countless divinations, but he had never noticed such a "flaw" within the hexagram. Or rather, he had never been taught to pay attention to such things.

"This is..." Chen Xu's voice was dry, as if something was choking his throat.

"A split hexagram," Lu Changsheng said, his tone as flat as if he were commenting on the weather. "Didn't your master teach you that?"

Chen Xu shook his head.

His master taught him the thirty-six variations of the hexagrams, how to interpret them, how to deduce their meaning, and how to extract information from them. But he never taught him that the hexagrams themselves can crack.

"Not all hexagrams will crack," Lu Changsheng withdrew his fingers and stood with his hands behind his back. "Only when the object of divination has been interfered with by some force will the hexagram crack. The stronger the intervening force, the larger the crack."

"Faced with this divination, there are only two interpretations: either run away or go against the will of Heaven."

Lu Changsheng didn't make the decision for him, but instead gave him two choices.

Chen Xu froze, and the next second, he suddenly bowed deeply to Lu Changsheng.

"I am willing to repay your kindness, sir, even with the humblest of deeds."

Then, he turned around and looked at the castle owner and Shen Ye.

"Mr. Shen Ye, my skills are not up to par. With Senior Lu here, I really can't offer any help. Therefore, I am unable to fulfill your request."

At this moment, Shen Ye was still immersed in the four words "Lu Changsheng" and nodded upon hearing this.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Chen. I'm grateful for your company on this trip."

"Master," Chen Xu looked at the castle owner again, nodded slightly, his posture respectful but not humble, "I came here today at the request of Mr. Shen. Now that the divination is over, I am not skilled enough to be of any help and have no face to bother you any further. I will take my leave now."

The castle owner raised an eyebrow.

"Leaving so soon?" His voice held just the right amount of regret. "There's a banquet tonight, Mr. Chen, aren't you attending?"

"No, thank you," Chen Xu said. "I want to return as soon as possible to ask my master for guidance on what I have learned today."

The butler bowed slightly, walked to Chen Xu's side, and gestured for him to enter.

Chen Xu glanced quickly at Lu Changsheng, then left with the butler.

After Chen Xu left, the castle owner turned his attention back to Lu Changsheng.

"So," the castle owner's voice came from the other side of the table, slow and deliberately relaxed, "what exactly did Mr. Lu calculate? Now that the competition is over, shouldn't the results be made public?"

Lu Changsheng turned to look at him.

The number on Lu Changsheng's forehead has jumped from 80 to 90.

The castle owner still wore that gentle, jade-like smile, but his eyes betrayed him. There was no smile in those gray eyes, only something cold, cautious, and sharp as a knife.

"That depends on Mr. Shen's opinion." Lu Changsheng shrugged, acting as if it were none of his business, and pushed the problem onto Shen Ye. "After all, this is Mr. Shen's business of divination."

"Ah Chen——"

The castle owner smiled and stepped forward.

Unexpectedly, Shen Ye simply reached out and placed the note on the candle beside him.

The flames spread.

Eight characters were instantly engulfed by the flames; those eight characters were—

"Long time no see, deep in the mountains and forests."

The moment the flames engulfed the Xuan paper, the hall was so quiet that you could hear the paper curling, turning black, and cracking.

The flames crawled from the edge to the center, sweeping over the strokes of the eight characters, twisting and deforming in the firelight, until finally turning to ashes.

No one speaks.

The castle owner stared at the dying flame, his grey eyes reflecting a flickering light.

His expression remained unchanged, but Lu Changsheng noticed that his fingers, which were resting on the edge of the table, tightened slightly, and his fingertips pressed against the edge of the wood, leaving a shallow indentation.

Shen Ye raised his head.

His eyes were still red, but his expression was no longer one of utter despair.

"Xiao Yuheng, isn't it about time? Shouldn't the banquet begin?"

Shen Ye turned his head and looked at the owner of the castle.

Xiao Yuheng's expression froze for only a moment, and then everything returned to normal.

A smile returned to his face. He loosened his grip, straightened up, and patted non-existent dust off his cuffs, his movements as composed as if nothing had happened.

"Shen is right." Xiao Yuheng's voice returned to its leisurely rhythm. "It's almost time."

He glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner.

"The banquet starts at seven o'clock. Five minutes to go."

He turned around and walked towards the door.

"Mr. Lu," Xiao Yuheng's voice came from the doorway, "you'll be attending too. I've already had clothes prepared for you in your room."

He didn't turn around.

The black robe flashed in the doorway and then disappeared.

Only Lu Changsheng and Shen Ye remained in the hall.

Shen Ye remained seated, head bowed, staring at the pile of ashes on the table. The ashes had cooled completely, the black powder scattered across the tablecloth in a small patch, like a tiny grave.

Shen Ye suddenly stood up and bowed to Lu Changsheng.

"Sir, since you know why I've come, please help me."

Lu Changsheng nodded. If he wasn't mistaken, the key clue to his success in clearing the game was probably related to Shen Ye's purpose for this trip.

At the same time, a system notification suddenly sounded in Lu Changsheng's mind.

[Player has triggered a key plot point.]

[Hidden mission unlocked now: Help Shen Ye.]

Lu Changsheng's eyes lit up slightly; he had guessed correctly.

Back in the previous instance where everything was destroyed, he had performed a divination for Shen Ye, whose alias at the time was Deep Mountain Forest.

The subject of the divination was his deceased wife.

The divination indicates that Shen Ye's wife likely suffered from an eye ailment or leg problems before her death. On the day she passed away, she probably went to a place she shouldn't have gone to and encountered something she shouldn't have encountered.

There's water there. By a river or a lake. It's nighttime, and the moon is very full.

These features now seem to correspond perfectly to the lake behind the castle and the woman with the number 99 on her forehead beneath the lake.

Just as Lu Changsheng was about to say something, he was suddenly interrupted by a bell.

"Ding-dong—"

As the bell rang, a group of waiters rushed into the banquet hall, while outside, laughter and chatter filled the air.

Lu Changsheng knew that the banquet had begun.

The ringing bell was still echoing.

It wasn't the crisp, melodious sound of a bell, but a deep, drawn-out sound, as if it were coming from the bottom of a deep well. One sound after another, unhurried and unhurried, as if counting something.

Lu Changsheng and Shen Ye exchanged a glance but remained silent.

The waiters had already poured in. They were dressed in uniform dark gray uniforms and lined up in two rows, stretching from the entrance to the depths of the hall. Each of them carried a silver tray with wine glasses, food, or some kind of utensil that Lu Changsheng couldn't name.

Xiao Yuheng also walked in. Just now, he went to change his clothes. He still had that gentle and refined smile on his face, and his gray eyes shone with an amber light under the lamp.

A woman was with him on his right.

The woman looked to be in her thirties, very well-maintained, with no signs of aging on her face. She wore a dark blue long dress with a low neckline, revealing a section of her fair collarbone and a thin pearl necklace around her neck.

The number 83 was written on her forehead.

An Zhiyu followed behind the woman. Her eyes met Lu Changsheng's for a moment, and then they looked away instantly.

"Ding ding ding—"

Xiao Yuheng stood up, holding a small silver spoon, and gently tapped the wine glass in front of him. The crisp sound echoed in the hall, and everyone fell silent at the same time, all eyes turning to the person in the main seat.

Xiao Yuheng looked around, and everyone in his sight lowered their heads.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Xiao Yuheng's voice was not loud, but it could be heard clearly throughout the hall, "thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate the arrival of my friend Shen Ye."

He paused for a moment, then smiled.

He raised his glass, pointing it towards the window.

There is a lake outside the window.

The lake surface under the night was as calm as a black mirror, reflecting the moonlight and starlight. There was nothing unusual to be seen, but Lu Changsheng knew that something was awakening at the bottom of the lake.

Lu Changsheng suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Ten years ago, when I first came to this castle, I had nothing. No friends, no family, no one cared who I was. Only she treated me like a person and made me feel the warmth of home."

Shen Ye, who was standing to the side, froze, looking at Xiao Yuheng in disbelief.

The woman next to Xiao Yuheng also seemed to look unwell.

But tonight is different.

Xiao Yuheng's voice suddenly rose, so high that it sounded like he was announcing something extremely important.

"She's back tonight."

The hall erupted in chaos, and Lu Changsheng noticed that Shen Ye's body was trembling beside him.

No way...

Lu Changsheng had a vague guess in his mind.

Everyone was whispering and talking amongst themselves. Some were asking, "Who's back?", some were guessing, "Is it the lady?", some were gaping, some were staring wide-eyed, and some almost dropped their wine glasses.

Lu Changsheng did not move.

He looked at Xiao Yuheng, at his gentle and refined smiling face, and at the burning light in his gray eyes.

Then he looked out the window.

The lake remained calm.

But Lu Changsheng knew that the calm was fake.

Because deep, deep beneath the surface of the lake, something is awakening.

Xiao Yuheng put down his wine glass and clapped his hands.

The moment the applause began, the hall doors were pushed open.

It wasn't blown open by the wind; it was pushed open by someone. But there was no one at the door.

No, there is someone.

Lu Changsheng saw it.

A woman was standing at the door.

She wore a long white dress, the hem trailing on the ground like a thin layer of mist. Her hair was long, cascading over her shoulders, and gleamed black under the lamplight. Her face was very white, not pale, but the white of porcelain—delicate, smooth, and without a single flaw.

Her features were so exquisite they seemed unreal.

Lu Changsheng had seen this face before.