Chapter 58: Hidden Yin Body

The owner sounded a bit uncertain as he spoke, his voice heavy.
Typically, customers were very unhappy to hear him say they were being pestered by malevolent ghosts, especially since many didn’t even know ghosts existed in the world.

To his surprise, I said excitedly, “Sir, your calculations are spot on! I am indeed being pestered by several ghosts. It’s truly been a life-and-death struggle.”

The owner was taken aback.
It was rare to see a customer who could be happy about being haunted, and what kind of situation was it to be pestered by several ghosts at once?

“Let’s try the Liu Yao method. Toss these three copper coins onto the hexagram chart. Just think about your problem in your heart and toss them randomly. Being too deliberate will make it inaccurate,” he said, giving me three copper coins.

He asked me to toss the coins onto the hexagram chart, and I did as I was told.

The owner frowned, looking at the position where the coins landed on the chart, and deduced, “The hexagram shows that you seem to owe the ghosts something. To resolve this problem, you need to repay the karma.”

“Indeed, that’s also correct. But which ghost do I owe specifically, and how do I repay them?” I asked.
Logically, I still owed the weasel a bag of blood, but it’s a demon, not a ghost.
Then it’s also possible I owe Xia Yubing’s parents.
But how am I supposed to repay them for their daughter?

“This…” The owner was stumped.
He had performed so many divinations, but he had never heard a customer ask which ghost they owed and how to repay them.
In the end, he could only say, “I’m not too sure either. Let’s cast another hexagram using the I Ching.”

He brought over a container filled with long, thin divination sticks.
I shook the container until two sticks fell out onto the table, overlapping each other.
On them were drawn horizontal lines, some connected, some broken.

The owner took the divination sticks, glanced at them, then checked his phone again before saying, “Li above, Xun below. This is a Jia Ren hexagram.”

“Jia Ren hexagram? What does it mean?” My heart skipped a beat.
My biological parents were already dead, so a divination about my future destiny couldn’t possibly be about those scoundrel parents.
When ‘family’ was mentioned, the most likely candidates were Xia Yubing’s parents.

“The Li hexagram is the hexagram of fire. In the Jia Ren hexagram, it represents separation, disagreement, competition, and conflict. The main hexagram being Li indicates that your danger comes from past family members, or current family members, such as siblings fighting over inheritance,” the owner said.

“The image of the Xun hexagram is wind, which in ancient times was synonymous with ‘modesty’ and ‘yielding’. The intention of this hexagram should be the solution: do not confront directly, but choose to yield. The overall direction of the hexagram points to a family reunion. A day of reconciliation will eventually come. Therefore, taking a step back will open up a wider world.”

“Yield, huh?” I muttered to myself.
I had no connection to Xia Yubing’s parents.
Moreover, they were targeting me, planning to use me for a ‘borrowed corpse resurrection’.
Reconciliation was likely impossible.
But ‘yielding’ was indeed similar to the solution Mo Qingyan had given.

“Yes. Since this hexagram is named Jia Ren, it signifies that the course of events is heading towards a family reunion. There may be rifts and conflicts within the family, but they will eventually reconcile. As the saying goes, ‘brothers quarrel at home, but stand united against outsiders’. Miss, you don’t need to be too anxious about your predicament. As long as you don’t clash head-on, the problem will resolve itself,” the shop owner said.

I had also thought about it before—with so many Dharma artifacts in this shop, should I buy a powerful one and directly annihilate the souls of Xia Yubing’s parents?
But using the money they earned to buy a Dharma artifact to scatter their souls seemed a bit too hellish.
It might even bring about some unknown karmic debt.

Since the owner advised me to yield, I would stick to the original plan Mo Qingyan had proposed.
I still felt a little uneasy and asked again, “Sir, could you cast one more hexagram for me, to determine the specific method or the risks involved?”

Unexpectedly, the owner shook his head this time, “No more divination. Things should not be done more than twice. I have already cast three hexagrams for you. Revealing more of heaven’s secrets might lead to a backlash. Besides, excessive interference with destiny can also cause unpredictable outcomes.”

Only then did I remember that the owner had only promised to divine one hexagram for me for free.
Unexpectedly, he had done three.
I had already taken advantage of his kindness.
So I said, “Thank you for your guidance. How much for the two hexagrams?”

“Hehe, Miss knows when to stop and not to covet what isn’t hers. That’s truly commendable. Some people are insatiably greedy, their hearts not content even after swallowing an elephant. Sooner or later, they will harm others and themselves. I said it was free, so it’s free. No charge,” the shop owner said, looking at me with appreciation.

I didn’t refuse his kindness but instead pondered his words.
They carried a hint of accusation and resentment, but it clearly wasn’t directed at me.

Thinking about how the entire commercial center was wildly absorbing wealth aura, even drawing in a lot of ominous aura and other negative energies into the mall, a thought suddenly came to me.
I remembered the notice posted at the entrance.

“Sir, I see you have such a sophisticated Feng Shui arrangement in your shop, and your business is good. Why the sudden move?” I asked.
In fact, customers had been coming into the Feng Shui shop continuously, but they were attended to by other staff.
Because Xiao Qing and I had seen through the Feng Shui arrangement, we received the owner’s personal attention.

“How can there be intact eggs under an overturned nest? A wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall. I’m very reluctant to leave, but I have no choice. You can go take a look at the central courtyard of the mall. With your level of skill, you should be able to easily see where the problem lies,” the owner sighed.

“Is it because your shop’s Feng Shui arrangement is connected to the entire mall’s Feng Shui formation, so when the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat are also affected?” I guessed.

“Tsk tsk, Miss is indeed exceptionally skilled in Feng Shui, having seen it long ago. Then I don’t need to say more. However, the final outcome might be more than just ‘the fish in the moat are also affected’,” the owner said appreciatively.

“Since you know there’s danger, why don’t you warn them?” I asked.
Even I could see something was not quite right, so others should be able to see it too, right?

“Hehe, I’m just a tenant running a shop. Which big boss would listen to me? Besides, don’t they know what they’re doing themselves? It’s just greed. Forget it, let’s not talk about this anymore. Miss, you shouldn’t say much either, you’ll offend people. Good advice is hard to give to a ghost bent on dying,” the owner said.

“Thank you for the reminder, sir,” I didn’t want to be nosy anyway.
I did manage to get some information out of the owner.
Something came to my mind, and I asked again, “Sir, do you know about the Hidden Yin Physique?”

This was a term Mo Qingyan had learned from Bixian and accidentally let slip.
The question was why Bixian specifically wanted my blood.
But she didn’t explain it to me afterward, instead changing the subject.
Now was a good time to ask an expert.

“Hidden Yin Physique? I think I’ve read about it. Wait a moment,” the owner said.
This time, he didn’t check his phone but took out a stack of old, worn-out books and began to search.

“Found it! Hidden Yin Physique refers to a male who is born with a yin body that leans towards female. Such males are usually introverted and timid, with insufficient yang energy and an excess of yin energy. They are very prone to attracting demons and ghosts. Their blood, according to legend, can attract demon-type ghosts and is very rare.”