I discovered a world bug.

Yarrow stalks possess spiritual power, tortoise shells reveal omens; I now offer my sincere prayers, but the omens foretell good or bad fortune...

Lin Shu was completely stunned as she looked at the words on the letter.

He could hardly imagine what mental state Xu Changshun was in when he wrote those words.

Of course, he himself is also very unpredictable.

A college student from the 80s eventually became a master.

According to him, it was for the purpose of studying so-called rituals.

Most of these rituals are useless...

Most of them are useless.

According to him, at least the rituals of "snake raising" and "divination by yarrow stalks and tortoise shells" are useful!

This logic seems coherent and self-consistent.

This explains why he was able to give up his government job and devote himself to the study of so-called "rituals," and also explains why he was much richer than the average shaman.

If divination is truly effective, it would be strange if he didn't have money, given his desire to avoid misfortune and seek good fortune.

But the problem is...

This is incredible!

Lin Shu vaguely felt that the door to another world was being pushed open in front of her, but did that world really exist?

Last night's snake divination, and today's yarrow stalk and tortoise shell divination...

Why did he tell me this? Why did he choose me?

In any case, I should probably try to verify the authenticity of these rituals first.

What if?

What if it's true?

Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune... getting rich... these all seem to have become trivial matters.

If the existence of the "ritual" could be proven, my view of the entire world would probably change!

Lin Shu carefully laid the letter flat on the table and typed the symbols on the paper into the chat box one by one.

He then contacted a linguistics blogger he had previously interviewed, whose ID was "Lingfeng," and sent him the string of text.

"Are you there, Teacher Lingfeng? Could you help me figure out how these characters are pronounced in Classical Chinese?"

After a brief pause, Lin Shu continued typing:

"I'm currently working on a project on ancient culture, and I'll contact you again if there are any future collaboration opportunities."

After sending the message, he also sent a 200 yuan red envelope—200 yuan is not much, but it shows his respect.

Soon, the blogger with a regular schedule responded.

"This is probably ancient Chinese from the Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in the Central Plains. I don't know what it means, but your phonetic annotations are quite accurate."

Next, there was a voice message bar, which contained the pronunciation of those few sentences about "divination by yarrow stalks and tortoise shells".

Lin Shu sent a thank-you emoji and repeated the voice message until she had memorized the pronunciation.

Immediately afterwards, he took out his phone again.

Chinese pond turtle... these things aren't hard to buy.

But yarrow?

Lin Shu tried searching on food delivery apps and found it easy to find. He then realized that yarrow, which was associated with mysterious powers and witchcraft in ancient times, is actually a common flower that is everywhere in this day and age.

Moreover, it's often used in dried flower arrangements, as a complement to the main flower...

He quickly placed an order for all the materials and waited half an hour for the tortoise and yarrow to arrive.

what's next?

Kill the turtle and take its shell.

Lin Shu really didn't do this job well. The first turtle's plastron was scratched by the knife as soon as it was removed, so he had no choice but to kill another one.

With his hands covered in turtle blood, Lin Shu silently recited in his mind:

Forgive me, forgive me. You're all just tortoises that live a few days anyway, you won't live much longer. Help me test this ritual, and if it works, I'll definitely give you a proper burial...

Finally, the second attempt to obtain the nail was successful.

After cleaning it, he used fine-grit sandpaper to smooth the tortoise shell until the surface began to shimmer with a slight reflection.

Is that enough?

The dried yarrow was right next to me, and then....

Burn the armor with fire?

Lin Shu hesitated.

Actually, this wasn't the first time I'd done something so "strange".

When I was a child, I really believed in things like gods, ghosts, magic, and even spells.

After reading Harry Potter, I would secretly pick up a stick on my way to school, find a corner of a wall, and knock on it three times, hoping that one day the wall would suddenly open.

After reading Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, I always felt like I would encounter some kind of fox spirit or female ghost whenever I went up the mountain to sweep the tombs. Although I didn't understand what those stories of scholars and female ghosts meant, I couldn't help but look around when I was on the motorcycle.

I also remember a book that said wearing a special pair of shoes could allow you to enter another world in your dreams, so for a long time I would clean the soles of my shoes thoroughly and sleep in them...

These little things are actually a reflection of one's true nature.

Although these thoughts were suppressed by a stronger materialistic worldview as I grew up, I cannot deny that at certain unintentional moments, I sometimes hope that something special will happen.

And now, it seems I really am standing at a crossroads...

Looking at the tortoise shell and yarrow in her hand, Lin Shu took a deep breath.

He found a large wok for stir-frying and put the yarrow in it.

With a "click," the lighter emitted a flame.

Immediately afterwards, the yarrow began to burn gently and steadily.

it has started.

Lin Shu brought the tortoise shell close to the flame, and the moisture that had not been completely wiped dry in the crevices of the shell made a "sizzling" sound under the high temperature.

As the moisture evaporated, the tortoise shell began to tighten, and Lin Shu began to recite the "incantation" that Xu Changshun had written in the letter.

"Xi cao tong leng, giu giap hien ziang; nga gim gien jieng, diao shi jit iang!"

"The yarrow stalks possess spiritual power, the tortoise shells reveal omens; I now offer my sincere prayers, may the signs foretell good or bad fortune!"

"The yarrow stalks possess spiritual power, the tortoise shells reveal omens; I now offer my sincere prayers, may the signs foretell good or bad fortune!"

Lin Shu repeated the recitation, gradually entering a state of immersion.

He chanted incantations aloud, and his consciousness began to drift.

Repetitive actions can easily create a sense of detachment, just like how staring at a word for too long can gradually make you forget how to recognize it.

Lin Shu felt an especially strong sense of detachment at this moment. He even felt that it was not him who was burning the tortoise shell, but a... stranger.

He himself was actually standing to the side, silently observing the stranger's actions.

I don't know how much time passed, but at some point, this sense of detachment reached its peak, and then suddenly dropped.

Nothing happens.

Lin Shu stared at the tortoise shell in disappointment; its edges were blackened by the fire, and all the moisture had evaporated.

It seemed as if it would completely shatter at any moment.

So, "omens"...

where?

Lin Shu sighed subconsciously, and in that instant.

"predict!"

The tortoise shell cracked with a sharp sound and shattered into pieces.

An endless darkness swept in!

Lin Shu dropped the tortoise shell in terror, but at that moment he could no longer see anything.

He felt as if he were trapped in a completely dark cage, with all his senses completely stripped away.

Just as he was at a loss, a ray of light suddenly broke through the darkness.

Countless mottled, blurry shadows began to emerge in the darkness.

He saw a dense, ghostly mass of people crowding together, heading towards some high place.

The clouds and mist swirled around, resembling the interwoven black lines of raindrops.

He saw pale yellow snowflakes falling in droves, almost filling the sky and earth.

He saw three figures walking far ahead of the crowd, their faces and figures indistinct, as if they were merely outlines drawn with animal blood and lines in an ancient mural.

He saw a snow-white, blindingly bright streak pierce through the entire dark space and land directly above the three of them.

In one breath, the three little figures turned to ashes.

Then, the shadows became increasingly blurry, and all the figures dissolved away.

Followed by.

"boom!"

Lin Shu suddenly opened her eyes!

That was...

Hallucination?

The flames had already burned his fingers.

The tortoise shell has crumbled, and the scattered marks have formed an abstract, yet still faintly recognizable, picture.

That was exactly what he saw in his "hallucination"...

A sword-like mark pierced through the three small human figures at the bottom of the tortoise shell from top to bottom...

This scene was exactly the same as what I saw in my "hallucination".

The hallucination coincided with reality.

Is that hallucination still a hallucination?

Or perhaps...

This is the real... prophecy??