Chapter 1895: Blood Disaster The Day After Tomorrow
At the top of Mount Yuquan, a group of people looked at the woman in black leggings. Jiang Luofu remained completely calm as she said, “The libationer is my master. In my heart, the word libationer is synonymous with master and father. If someone else wanted to become the libationer, wouldn’t it be the same as trying to become my father?”
Zu An was really sweating now. He replied, “It’s not that serious, right?”
The previously tense atmosphere became a bit lighter as a result.
Jiang Luofu said with a smile, “Ah Zu, even though we"re familiar with each other, I"m someone who judges matters as they stand. I also feel that it"s still senior brother who is more suited to everyone’s expectations. You won’t blame me for that, right?”
Zu An sighed and said, “That"s why I don"t understand why the late libationer gave me the ring. I"m still young, and I don"t have much skill…”
“Sir Zu, please do not undervalue yourself,” said an old farmer dressed in a vest as he walked over. His entire body was tanned from being in the sun, and there was a hoe hanging from his waist. However, no one would truly treat him as just another old farmer.
“Seventh brother!” The others greeted him respectfully. This person was the libationer’s seventh disciple, w.a.n.g Shuyang.
w.a.n.g Shuyang nodded slightly. Then, his gaze landed on Zu An as he said, “Sir is young, but your knowledge is vast. In the field of agriculture in particular, your knowledge leaves this old w.a.n.g in amazement. The hybridized paddy concept has truly enlightened me. After two years of testing, there are already signs of progress. Judging from what we can see so far, it will definitely enable farm crops" yield to increase tremendously. When that happens, who knows how many more lives we will be able to provide for. Just that fact alone is already enough for sir to become the new libationer.”
Hei Baizi said with a chuckle, “Sir Zu’s achievements in chess aren"t bad either.”
Zu An"s invention of five-in-a-row had already left him stunned. The barrier to entry for the game of Go was very high, so it had never become popular among the common people. Hei Baizi didn’t want his beloved craft to be simplified down to a mere commoner"s game, but he hadn"t really found a solution to that. However, the five-in-a-row game Zu An had come up with quickly became the most precious treasure for him. Even though he discovered that the game was very simple after he thoroughly a.n.a.lyzed it, and that it couldn"t compare to the game of Go at all, what it was good at was its simplicity. By spreading it among the common people, he could attract more people to learn about Go. As such, even though he"d realized that Zu An wasn"t a chess saint the way he imagined, he was still very grateful.
“I didn’t expect Sir Zu to be such an erudite man. His skills in alchemy and puppetry have also filled me with admiration,” said a voice, accompanied by several cracking noises.
A ma.s.sive puppet slowly appeared from the distant stairs. On the shoulder of the puppet sat a small and stooped person. He was the late libationer’s fourth disciple, alchemy master Shen Xuzi. The mechanical puppet extended its hand and removed a wheelchair from behind it. Then, it gently lowered him into it.
Shen Xuzi rolled the wheelchair up to Zu An and held his hand tightly, saying, “Right, Sir Zu, the steam engine and that "Gundam" you spoke of before, I still don’t fully understand them. Can you give me a bit more pointers to alleviate my puzzlement?”
Zu An had a strange expression. He had just casually mentioned those things in the past without really knowing many of the details, so he would definitely be exposed if the other side continued to ask him about it. However, now that he had learned the Baopu Sutra, there were details regarding artifact refinement, so he could now actually discuss some of the details.
Qi Yaoguang blinked. Her senior brothers were normally all eccentrics with strange tempers, so why were they all so close to Zu An now? It was almost as if he were their father.
“Big brother Zu!” Xie Daoyun exclaimed cheerfully just then. She pointed at a thin elder next to her, saying, “This is my teacher. Teacher, this is my big brother Zu, the one I mentioned many times.”
“I greet Great Disciple Yan,” Zu An said, not daring to show him any disrespect. The great formation on Violet Mountain was the work of this man, and even Zhao Han had been banished to another s.p.a.ce because of it.
“The young master speaks with too much courtesy. Furthermore, you are the new libationer, so it should be me who greets you with respect,” Yan Xiangu said with a chuckle. At the same time, he was examining Zu An. He was quite shocked, because he didn’t feel as if he could see through this youngster’s depths.
Qi Yaoguang grumbled, “Great brother, I actually feel that everyone would be more convinced if you became the new libationer. This kid is so much younger than you, so how can he a.s.sist me in my cultivation from here on out?”
Jiang Luofu didn’t speak up in agreement; instead, she observed quietly. At first, she had been worried that Zu An would be in a difficult situation, since these senior brothers were all incredibly proud. That was why she had taken on the responsibility of going against Zu An. After all, they were close to each other and she could control the level of embarra.s.sment better. However, she"d never expected that apart from Qi Yaoguang, her senior brothers would all support Zu An!
Yan Xiangu said with a chuckle “Even if I became the libationer, I still couldn"t give you pointers on your cultivation. I definitely don’t know as much about celestial divination and fortune-telling as you.”
Qi Yaoguang grumbled, “But even so, you could help me in other ways, right?”
Shen Xuzi spoke up just then and said, “Great brother is very formidable, but only in the way of talismans. He won’t be of much help to our respective domains, but Sir Zu is different. He really can help us in our respective fields.”
w.a.n.g Shuyang and the others all nodded.
“Maybe that’s just a coincidence, right? Just how old is he? How could he possibly know that much?” Qi Yaoguang asked, feeling extremely confused. “If you have the skill, convince me using fortune-telling and divination!”
Before Zu An had a chance to reply, Xie Daoyun said, “Big brother Zu is actually really good at fortune-telling. Why don’t you do it once for her?” Judging from her proud tone, it sounded almost as if she were promoting her own boyfriend.
Everyone else was shocked as well.
Qi Yaoguang asked suspiciously, “You know about that too?”
When he saw Xie Daoyun’s expectant expression, Zu An was put on the spot. He replied, “I understand a bit.”
“A bit? You’re quite arrogant, aren’t you?” Qi Yaoguang replied as she put her hands on her hips. “Why don’t you try it out on me then? Tell me, what major things will happen to me soon?”
After some hesitation, Zu An said, “Do you have a tortoisesh.e.l.l or some copper coins?”
Qi Yaoguang"s lips curled as she replied, “Are you even going to borrow divination items from someone else?” Despite that, she still fished out a tortoisesh.e.l.l and said, “This is a tortoisesh.e.l.l I got a while back. I’ve never had much of a chance to use it, so I’ll just lend it to you. As for copper coins, I don’t have any.”
What she was proficient in was celestial divination, which was different from what Zu An knew.
“I have some, I have some!” Xie Daoyun cried as she took out a few copper coins for Zu An. Her beautiful eyes were glistening.
Qi Yaoguang almost facepalmed. She was doing her best to help her great brother get the position of libationer, while great brother’s very own disciple was on the side of the outsider!
In contrast, Yan Xiangu had a benevolent smile on his face, as if he didn’t mind at all. Rather, he was curious as to how Zu An was going to carry out his divination.
Zu An showed Xie Daoyun a smile. Then, he picked up the tortoisesh.e.l.l and waved it toward her palm, collecting the coppers within it. Then, with a wave of his hand, the tortoisesh.e.l.l began to rapidly spin in the air.
Qi Yaoguang harrumphed.
You’re not even throwing dice, so what are you putting on such a huge display for?
However, her expression quickly became serious, because with just a light tap of Zu An’s finger, streak after streak of ancient and profound lines appeared on the tortoisesh.e.l.l. She could sense that they seemed to vaguely align with the natural laws of the world. After all, knowledge was interconnected, and this was her field of expertise to begin with. She quickly sensed the profundity of what he was doing. A bit of surprise appeared on her face.
Could it be that he really does understand this?
The tortoisesh.e.l.l quickly trembled, and the copper coins flew out one after another. They floated in the air and seemed to connect in a certain strange pattern.
“Hm?” Zu An exclaimed, clearly a bit stunned.
Qi Yaoguang couldn"t help but laugh, remarking, “You couldn"t do the divination after all, right?” To think she was almost fooled by this guy!
Zu An seemed to be a bit puzzled. He trailed off as he said, “I did manage to do it, but it seems a bit contradictory…”
Xie Daoyun couldn"t help but worry when she heard what he said. The other disciples of the libationer were even more curious now.
Jiang Luofu said with a smile, “Why don’t you tell us about it?”
Zu An was a bit embarra.s.sed, but he still replied, “I divined that Miss Yaoguang would experience a disaster of blood the day after tomorrow, which should be a sign of a great tragedy. And yet, when I examined it more closely, there wasn"t the slightest sign of danger. It almost seems as if she can safely pa.s.s through this experience without even doing anything. I wonder just what is wrong here…”
This was, after all, the first time he had carried out a divination after learning the Baopu Sutra, so he was still a bit unfamiliar with divination. It wouldn"t be too surprising if he had made a mistake somewhere.
Suddenly, Qi Yaoguang’s face became entirely red. She cried out, “You scoundrel!” This guy had actually divined her first blood so accurately! She had never spoken about that with anyone before.
Everyone present was sharp and quickly realized what was going on. They all had knowing smiles.
Zu An was really embarra.s.sed.
I didn’t do this on purpose! Who knew this kind of thing would be the result?
Shen Xuzi laughed the hardest of all, saying, “Junior sister, you don’t have any objections now, right?”
“Even if I don’t, so what? You’re only four in total, and if you add me, that’s five. There are twelve disciples in total, so we haven’t even met half of the votes yet. How can we easily appoint him as the new libationer with that?” Qi Yaoguang muttered.
Surprisingly, Jiang Luofu was the one who spoke up. “That may not necessarily be the case. Second brother’s relationship with him is quite close, and third brother met him previously in Cloudcenter Commandery and respects him greatly. Sixth sister and him are even more so one family, while ninth sister has a very good relationship with him too. Apart from tenth brother,[1] whom he hasn"t met, almost all of the martial siblings have very good relationships with him.”
Zu An was stunned. He wondered who the second brother[2] and ninth sister[3] she was talking about were.
Why don’t I have any impression of them? And they have such good relationships with me?
Yan Xiangu said, “See? Teacher’s arrangements weren’t made blindly. He is the most suitable candidate to become the new libationer. Yan Xiangu greets the libationer!” He took the lead to bow.
Xie Daoyun immediately had a huge smile. She also bowed respectfully, saying, “Xie Daoyun greets the libationer.”
The others had strange expressions when they saw that.
Why do you look as if you’re bowing to your husband?
Shen Xuzi, Hei Baizi, w.a.n.g Weiyang, and Yin Shi had supported Zu An to begin with. They also followed up with their greeting.
Jiang Luofu sized up this young man in front of her. She suddenly felt a bit moved by everything that had happened. After all, this man had to respectfully call her princ.i.p.al in the past, and yet now, she was the one who had to greet him respectfully. However, she"d already intended to help him from the very start, so she also followed suit, saying, “Jiang Luofu greets the new libationer.”
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Qi Yaoguang was the last one left. When she recalled that ‘brilliant’ divination method Zu An had shown, in the end, she still bowed down and said, “Qi Yaoguang greets the new libationer!”
1. Tenth brother specializes in military strategy, and resides on the border. ?
2. Second brother is a doctor whose whereabouts are unknown. ?
3. Ninth sister is a singer. ?