For a moment, I was really impressed with the old woman in front of me. Her fortune - telling skills were truly amazing.
It's important to know that Walking in the Underworld and having one's fortune told are not the same thing.
Generally speaking, practitioners of Walking in the Underworld act as liaisons between the Yin and Yang realms. They can help inquire about things from the underworld and pass on messages.
To put it in a less appropriate analogy, practitioners of Walking in the Underworld are like special messengers. Their main function is to convey messages, rather than having extremely powerful personal abilities.
Having one's fortune told involves predicting a person's life trajectory based on their birth date and time. It belongs to the absolute technical category.
A powerful fortune - teller can even calculate a person's entire life trajectory from birth to death. That's why there are legends of fortune - tellers who can make infallible predictions.
Hearing what the old woman said, Huang Po showed a sad expression and said, "That car accident was so sudden. My parents died on the spot. I almost died too. I stayed in the hospital for more than a month before I was discharged."
I could understand Huang Po's sadness and pain. At the age of a sophomore in high school, he was still just a child, but he had suffered such a great blow. His parents died at the same time. Even though he was still alive, it was no different from being dead.
Jiang Lixin beside me also said, "Maybe it was just a life - and - death calamity. Huang Po was lucky enough to survive, or maybe his parents protected him. Parental love is really great."
But the old woman shook her head. "It's different. This is not the same thing. If his birth date and time are correct, he simply couldn't have survived."
"Grandma, I've heard that 'Fate comes first, followed by luck and feng shui' (a traditional Chinese concept suggesting that fate has the greatest influence on a person's life, followed by luck and the influence of one's living environment). There are still many factors that can affect a person's fate. He's clearly still alive. There must be something that helped him ward off the disaster," I couldn't help but remind her.
This was also what my grandfather had told me. Although the ups and downs of a person's fate are fixed, there are still many influencing factors.
For example, two people born at the same shichen (a traditional Chinese time unit). One is born into a scholarly family and is influenced by knowledge every day, while the other is born into a poor family and has no chance to go to school.
When they become adults, there will be a huge difference in their achievements and life trajectories.
"You also know that 'Fate comes first, followed by luck and feng shui'. Then you should know why fate is ranked first, because fate is the most important."
"According to his birth date and time, by the twelfth lunar month seven years ago, all signs of life would have completely disappeared. There was absolutely no chance for him to survive."
"Some people can survive a life - and - death disaster because there is still a glimmer of hope for them to be saved. But his life signs were completely gone. He definitely couldn't have survived that year, unless the shichen was wrong."
"Life and death are predestined, and wealth and honor are determined by heaven (a traditional Chinese belief that a person's life and death, as well as their wealth and social status, are predetermined by a higher power). You should have all heard this. Life and death cannot be changed. Feng shui and other things can only change a person's luck to a limited extent, but they cannot go against the will of heaven and change fate."
The old woman said all this in one breath and stared intently at the three of us.
Huang Po's face was pale, and he was covered in cold sweat. "Maybe I remembered the shichen wrong. Anyway, I'm lucky to be alive now, and I'm already very satisfied."
But the old woman shook her head. "If the shichen is changed, you won't have the fate of bringing bad luck to your parents and dying a violent death. Your situation is just too creepy. I even want to go down to the underworld to ask about it for you."
Hearing this, Huang Po's complexion changed instantly. "Grandma, please don't. First, figure out the situation clearly for my buddy. Anyway, I'm still alive. It doesn't matter if I know the reason or not. But my buddy's life is hanging by a thread."
"You two really have a good relationship. Brotherly bonds like yours are rare these days," the old woman said with a meaningful smile.
I got a sudden shock. I often saw this kind of smile on the faces of those fujoshi girls in my class. Could this old woman be an elderly fujoshi?
Huang Po also looked a bit uncomfortable and quickly said, "Grandma, please have Chen Zi's fortune told quickly. There will be plenty of time to look into my matter later."
Finally, it came to this moment. I still felt a bit apprehensive. But thinking that my life was at stake, what was there to worry about regarding my birth date and time?
Actually, I was really afraid that I would still dream about a wedding ceremony. If they tried one shichen after another, I wouldn't be able to avoid it in the end.
I was born at noon. They would only need to try a maximum of four more times to succeed. Even if I didn't say it now, how long could I hide?
Having made the decision, I told the old woman my birth date and time. After closing her eyes and calculating for a moment, she opened her eyes, looked at me strangely, and said,
"This is really strange. Are you sure your birth date and time are correct?"
"There shouldn't be any mistake. My grandfather told me this himself."
"That's odd. Your birth date and time indicate you're a Tongzi Ming (Child's Fate). You should have died before the age of seven. How did you manage to survive?"
"Ah?!" Suddenly, I remembered that I had absolutely no memory before the age of seven.
Although it's normal for kids to forget many childhood things, there should still be some memories left.
My childhood memories were completely blank, as if I had never had any memories at all.
My grandfather told me that I had a serious illness when I was seven. A high fever almost made me stupid, so it was normal that I couldn't remember the past.
I told the old woman about my illness. She shook her head and said, "It's indeed possible that it was because of the illness. However, once a Tongzi Ming reaches the end of their lifespan, they have to go back. There's absolutely no possibility of staying behind."
"What is Tongzi Ming?" Jiang Lixin asked curiously.
Tongzi Ming is a special kind of fate. It is said that it refers to immortal boys and girls who have made mistakes and are punished to come to the mortal world, so they won't live long and will die when their time is up.
My grandfather never told me this. It was the first time I had heard of it.
After the old woman's explanation, she couldn't help but complain, "It's really strange to be having your fortunes told today. One should have died at the age of seven, and the other should have died seven years ago, but both of you are still alive."
"And this girl is fine, but there's an extra corpse. I, this old woman, have really encountered all the oddities in my life today."
Facing the old woman's complaints, I could only force an awkward smile. But my mind couldn't help recalling what happened when I was seven.
Suddenly, a picture popped up in my mind. I was lying on a wooden board, surrounded by piles of firewood.
Someone took a torch and started to light the firewood around. The sorrowful cries of a woman rang out. Even though I'd never heard her voice before, I instantly recognized it as my mother's sobs.
People around were also trying to console and dissuade her. "He's dead. We can't keep his corpse. It'll just cause problems."
This voice really got on my nerves. Then, the sharp ringing in my ears returned. Suddenly, I felt an agonizing pain in my head, and a hot stream of blood gushed from my nose.
"Chen Feng, are you okay? Why are you suddenly bleeding so much from your nose?"