A single divination predicts life and death; the entire internet begs me to start a live stream.

"gentlemen?"

Chen Bufan looked at the man in black in the photo.

The old photos have yellowed.

Edges and corners worn.

But the black jade pendant on the man's chest still exuded a chilling aura, as if it were more than twenty years later.

The patterns on the jade pendant are fine, long, and twisted.

Like a snake.

It also resembles a closed eye.

Black life mark.

This wasn't the first time Chen Bufan had seen it.

It's on the ancestral money under Shen Qingyue's bed.

The ancient bronze coin that Old Liu from the Wang family sent has this on it.

It's on the copper plate in Zhao Qiming's basement.

The same energy was also present in the life-protecting talisman on Jiang Kun's body.

Now, it has reappeared in an old photo of the Qin family from more than 20 years ago.

What does this tell us?

This shows that the Qin family's affairs did not begin with Qin Yuanshan seeking out Xuan Qingzi.

This debt was sown long ago.

Qin Ruoxue stood in front of the table.

"Mr. Chen."

"Did you figure something out?"

Chen Bufan did not answer immediately.

He placed the photo on the table and gently pressed the edge of it with his fingertips.

What happened to the Qin family twenty years ago?

Qin Ruoxue frowned and waved for her assistant to wait outside.

"I was young then."

"I can't remember many things."

"But I heard from the old housekeeper that the Qin family really had a hard time during those years."

"My grandfather started his business in shipping, and later he bet on several big projects, which almost caused his cash flow to dry up."

"At its worst, the Qin family was already preparing to sell their old house."

Chen Bufan looked at her.

"And then?"

Qin Ruoxue remained silent for a few seconds.

"Later, the Qin family suddenly rose to prominence."

"First, we secured a large order for a port logistics project."

Then several long-stalled payments suddenly came back.

"Later, my grandfather acquired a piece of land in the south of the city."

"That piece of land truly turned the Qin family's fortunes around."

She paused for a moment.

"I always thought it was because my grandfather had good judgment and was very bold."

"In business, many families have built their businesses on one or two key opportunities."

Chen Bufan said calmly:

"Opportunity doesn't just fall into the lap of someone who's about to go bankrupt."

Qin Ruoxue felt a little displeased; she didn't like others talking about her grandfather's affairs.

But she herself admitted that those words hit the nail on the head.

Luck certainly plays a role in business.

But the more desperate the situation, the less likely anyone is to believe you.

Banks won't lend you money just because you're about to die.

Partners will not reduce their profits just because you are in trouble.

Projects won't just be handed to you because you need to turn your life around.

The Qin family's rise to power back then was too smooth.

It was as if someone had paved a road and placed it directly under Old Master Qin's feet.

"You mean, that gentleman helped the Qin family change their fate back then?"

Chen Bufan looked at the photo.

"It's not about helping."

Qin Ruoxue was taken aback and blurted out the answer subconsciously.

"What is that?"

She even began to get used to the way she talked to Chen Bufan.

Chen Bufan looked up at her.

"trade."

The room fell silent again.

Qin Ruoxue could hear her heart pounding.

"What are you trading?"

Chen Bufan did not answer directly.

He picked up the photo and pointed to the background behind Grandpa Qin in the picture.

It was an old house.

Red lanterns hung on the wall.

In the center of the courtyard, there was an incense table.

On the altar, there were three items.

A bowl of water.

A lamp.

There was also a black wooden box.

Because the photo is blurry, ordinary people can't see it clearly.

But Chen Bufan was all too familiar with this; it wasn't an ordinary ancestral worship ceremony.

That was a plea for permission.

Qin Ruoxue followed his finger and noticed the details, then suddenly seemed to remember something.

"I've seen this wooden box before."

Chen Bufan looked at her.

"Where?"

"Qin Family Ancestral Hall".

Qin Ruoxue squinted as she recalled.

"I saw it once when I went to pay respects to my ancestors when I was a child."

"The housekeeper said that it was something Grandpa valued very much and he wouldn't let anyone touch it normally."

Chen Bufan became somewhat interested.

"What's inside?"

Qin Ruoxue shook her head.

"have no idea."

"All I know is that when my grandfather was alive, he would personally go to the ancestral hall to burn incense every year during Qingming Festival and Winter Solstice."

"It's not for our ancestors."

"It's for that black box."

Chen Bufan sneered.

"That's right."

Qin Ruoxue felt increasingly uneasy.

"What's right?"

Chen Bufan put down the photo.

"The Qin family's wealth didn't come from prosperity."

"It was borrowed."

boom.

It felt like a string had snapped in Qin Ruoxue's mind.

She thought she was mentally prepared.

But when Chen Bufan said those words in person, she still felt a chill creep up from the soles of her feet.

"Borrowed?"

"From whom should I borrow it?"

Chen Bufan said:

"Borrow from fate."

Qin Ruoxue was puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Bufan looked at her and began to speak slowly, as if telling a story to a child.

There are several ways a family can rise to power.

"The virtues accumulated by ancestors bring blessings to their descendants."

"When someone breaks the deadlock in modern times, fortune will naturally follow."

"Catch up with the times and rise with the wind."

"These are all considered good fortune."

Qin Ruoxue listened without interrupting.

"But there is another kind."

If you don't have it in your own destiny, borrow it from others.

"Borrowing someone else's good fortune."

"Borrowing someone else's lifespan."

"Borrowing money from others."

"Borrowing the fortune of other people's descendants."

Qin Ruoxue's fingers tightened little by little.

"Which one did the Qin family borrow?"

Chen Bufan looked at the black jade pendant with the life pattern in the photo.

"They've all been borrowed."

Qin Ruoxue felt a wave of dizziness.

She instinctively took a half step back and bumped into the chair behind her.

The chair legs scraped against the ground, making a screeching sound.

"Have you borrowed them all?"

Chen Bufan said calmly:

"Yes, I've borrowed them all."

"The Qin family almost died out twenty years ago."

"That person gave the Qin family a way to make money."

"The price was that, ever since then, the Qin family has had to pay a life debt every few years."

Qin Ruoxue took a deep breath.

Many old things that she had never paid attention to before suddenly surfaced in her memory.

Her second uncle's eldest brother died in a car accident more than ten years ago.

Her aunt fell off a horse in an accident when she was young, and her health has been poor ever since.

Her father was in good health, but he suffered a sudden heart attack before he was even fifty years old.

Her grandfather lived in the old house in his later years and refused to leave the ancestral hall.

These things, in retrospect, all seem like accidents.

Large, wealthy families are full of people, and therefore prone to unexpected events.

But now that I think about it, it was too dense.

It was as if someone was collecting debts one by one according to a schedule.

Qin Ruoxue's voice was a little hoarse.

"So it's not a coincidence that someone in the Qin family dies a violent death every few years?"

Chen Bufan said:

"no."

"That's paying off a debt."

Qin Ruoxue looked at him, her eyes filled with undisguised shock.

"But I didn't borrow these debts."

Chen Bufan looked at her.

"But your surname is Qin."

These four words are more powerful than any explanation.

Qin Ruoxue fell silent instantly.

Yes.

Her surname is Qin.

She benefited from the Qin family's resources.

They lived in the Qin family's house.

Take over the Qin family's company.

Use the Qin family's platform.

To seize the power of the Qin family.

If the Qin family's fortune was borrowed, then her current position is not simply an inheritance.

Instead, he was sitting at a table that had been in debt for over twenty years.

Chen Bufan lowered his voice slightly.

"Qin Ruoxue".

"You used to think you were saving the company."

"Now you need to understand."

"You saved a family that owes you a life debt."

Qin Ruoxue felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown.

She just clutched that old photograph tightly.

"Then how am I supposed to pay it back?"

Chen Bufan looked at her.

"Find the creditors first."

"That gentleman?"

"right."

Qin Ruoxue whispered:

"But he appeared more than 20 years ago."

"They might not even be alive now."

Chen Bufan said:

"It doesn't matter whether this kind of person lives or dies."

Qin Ruoxue frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Chen Bufan picked up the old copper coins on the table.

"People can die."

"The bureau won't."

"As long as that life-borrowing contract from back then still exists, the Qin family will continue to be collected for debts."

"It was no coincidence that Qin Yuanshan sought out Xuan Qingzi to set up the Seven Killings Wealth-Stealing Formation."

"It's the old debts starting to backfire."

Qin Ruoxue finally understood.

"So Xuan Qingzi didn't suddenly set his sights on the Qin family."

"It's because the Qin family already had an heir."

Chen Bufan nodded.

"The Qin family opened their door twenty years ago."

"Now, the people behind the door have come to collect the things."

Qin Ruoxue always felt that the recent crisis of the Qin family was a scheme orchestrated by Qin Yuanshan and Xuan Qingzi.

Once Qin Yuanshan falls, Xuan Qingzi will suffer a backlash, the Seven Fiends Formation will be broken, and the Qin family will be able to catch their breath.

But now Chen Bufan is telling her that the Seven Fiends Stealing Wealth Formation is only the surface.

The real thing was buried twenty years ago.

Buried in the year the Qin family rose to power.

It's buried in the deal between Old Master Qin and that "gentleman".

"Mr. Chen."

Qin Ruoxue looked up.

"Can you help the Qin family settle this old debt?"

Chen Bufan looked at the photos on the table without saying anything.

The man in black in the photo is standing next to Old Master Qin, but his face is blurry.

But the black jade pendant with the life pattern on his chest seemed to be staring at him.

Chen Bufan knew that this matter was difficult to resolve.

The most troublesome part of the life-borrowing contract is not the scheme itself.

It is a debt.

The situation can be resolved.

Debts cannot be evaded.

The Qin family has taken wealth that they shouldn't have, and they will definitely pay the price.

But can we please avoid paying this price with human lives?

Just then, Qin Ruoxue's phone rang.

The screen displays:

Uncle Fu, the housekeeper of the old house.

Qin Ruoxue's eyelids suddenly started twitching wildly, like an ominous sign.

She answered immediately.

"Uncle Fu".

On the other end of the phone, the old housekeeper's voice trembled violently.

"Miss."

"Something terrible has happened!"

Qin Ruoxue's expression changed.

"Something happened at the old house?"

Uncle Fu's voice trembled.

"A corner of the ancestral hall suddenly collapsed just now."

"The old man's memorial tablet fell down."

Qin Ruoxue gripped her phone tightly.

"Is anyone injured?"

"no."

Uncle Fu swallowed hard, as if he found it difficult to say what was about to come.

"But……"

Qin Ruoxue said coldly:

"explain."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then, almost in tears, Uncle Fu said:

"The old man's coffin..."

"It's cracked."

Qin Ruoxue froze on the spot, staring blankly at Chen Bufan, her mind completely blank.

Chen Bufan slowly raised his head as well.

The old copper coins on the table are spinning on their own without any wind.

a circle.

Two laps.

Three laps.

Snapped.

The copper coin fell down.

The fierce side faces upward.

Chen Bufan yawned and slowly got up.

"Walk."

"Go to the Qin family's old house."