A Good-for-Nothing 15: Half a Page of Divinatory Symbols

After Li Zong produced that little lacquered wooden box, the hall of Zhu family instantly fell into an eerie hush.

As they laid eyes on that page half of which had been burnt, members of Zhu family, including Old Master Zhu, trembled all over and hurtled up to it.

"It's...It's..." all of them were too excited to finish their sentences.

Holding that half a sheet of paper, Old Master Zhu limply sat down leaning against the back of the chair, his rugged face covered with wrinkles, eyes swimming with tears.

"What is this?" He Zheng couldn't help asking as he saw their abnormal reaction.

"These are divinatory symbols written by your mother," said Old Master Zhu, his voice hoarse with grief.

Li Zong had run an eye over it, but all those symbols were uncommonly special and the meanings of them were beyond his understanding. When he heard Old Master Zhu's reply, Li Zong muttered to himself, "Mrs. He?"

"Yes." Old Master Zhu's voice hoarsened thoroughly. "Those are our exclusive symbols used for recording divinatory results. Except for members of our family, nobody can understand them."

Li Zong had never attached great importance to that paper. He was just conveniently returning it to its rightful owner. 'Currently, that emerald pedant is the key,' he thought.

"Since these things belong to Zhu family, I think–"

Old Master Zhu's face suddenly grew solemn. With that, he interrupted Li Zong, "Li Zong, something is going to happen."

Hearing this, both Li Zong and Zu Zhichong were puzzled. In the knowledge that Old Master Zhu would never joke with them, Li Zong also fell fairly serious. "What makes you say that, Old Master Zhu?"

Old Master Zhu shook his head in deep grief, a wry smile on his face.

"For generations, my family believe in Wu Xian, the God of Divination. Many years ago, by a curious twist of fate, our ancestors had an extraordinary encounter with the God of Divination, who decided to grant one of Zhu family's descendants the privilege of getting access to oracle when necessity arose.

I practiced divination the day my daughter was born and the result told me that she could only perform divination three times all her life. Both of her first two prophecies have come true, and the divinatory symbols she recorded on both occasions were very unusual."

Zu Zhichong was confused, "Unusual how?"

"The first prophecy was made thirty years ago, when our enemies launched a retaliatory attack on us." Old Master Zhu's hand, with which he was holding a walking stick, slightly trembled. "Three decades ago, Zhu family bred enmity with another family. They joined hands with some evildoers who were in collusion with demons. If it weren't for that my daughter foresaw it and told me to inform Supernaturalism Management Bureau (SMB) to come to our help, there wouldn't have been a so-called Zhu family by now."

All outsiders believed that it was Old Master Zhu who had foreseen that retaliatory attack. Unexpectedly, it was a prophecy of Zhu Ning, his daughter!

"The second prophecy." Old Master Zhu's voice gradually became deep with sorrow. "It was made seventeen years ago, when demons threatened to resurge." Seventeen years before, when there were signs of resurgence of demons, it was also Old Master Zhu who first detected them. By using turtle shells and yarrow, he divined for three days and three nights and finally managed to acquire a definite result, which was brought to the forefront by SMB immediately. Seven elders of the Counter-Demon Committee joined hands with the director of SMB. Eventually, with their collective exorcist power, they managed to seal up that puff of demonic Qi, which had already come into the shape of a human, and an Armageddon was nipped in the bud.

Li Zong tapped his fingers on the table. "The misfortunes happened in Fengdu might have something to do with these divinatory symbols. I'm afraid all of us rely on you to decipher them."

Old Master Zhu replied in a deep voice, "An oracle given by the God of Divination is beyond human understanding. Even I won't be able to decipher it any time soon. But all members of Zhu family will do our level best to bring the meaning of it to light, whatever the cost."

It would be after quite a few days that the significance of these divinatory symbols on the half a piece of paper came to their knowledge. However, at this moment, all people present were totally unaware of what the future held for them. It seemed as if a giant invisible hand was pushing the wheel of fate rolling forward.

Li Zong bobbed his head and forbore to ask why half of the page was missing. While pondering over this, Li Zong observed that He Zheng's eyes had been fixed on that jade pendant all along.

"Is there a problem with the pendant?" asked Li Zong abruptly. It seemed vague who he was asking, but He Zheng was well aware that Li Zong was expecting an answer from him.

"I've seen this jade pendant before." He Zheng fished that jade pendant out of the little box. It was sparkling reflecting sunlight, but for some reason the light it was giving off seemed to be faintly ominous, which made people feel very uncomfortable if they stared at it for long.

The warm look in He Zheng's eyes gradually went cold. "This jade pendant was taken from Qiao family. I once saw Qiao Peiyu holding a pendant identical to this one."

Chapter end