Chapter 1 Seeking the Zouyin Man

According to Chu Changqing, the Wangchuan River (River of Oblivion) was in the underworld. To find the Sacred Relic at the bottom of the river, one had to go to the underworld.

And to pass through the underworld's Boundary Gate, one needed a zouyin ren (soul guide) to lead the way.

So, Chen Xiao's immediate priority was to find a zouyin ren.

A zouyin ren was someone who walked between the realms of yin and yang, doing errands for the ghost officials.

These people were born with weak Bazi (Eight Characters of Birth), and their souls easily left their bodies, so they were chosen by the ghost officials to capture the souls of the dying and bring them into the underworld.

They usually lived like normal people, only leaving their bodies when doing things for the ghost officials.

And their physical bodies would fall into a deep sleep.

However, finding such a person was not easy, and Chen Xiao didn't know anyone like that.

He quickly thought of a way: zouyin ren often dealt with the dead.

So, where were the most deaths? Hospitals, of course!

This was Chen Xiao's job!

But then, Chen Xiao realized that this approach might not be reliable.

After all, zouyin ren did their work in soul form, and didn't need to greet the doctors.

Then Chen Xiao thought of Gu Zhendong.

Among the people Chen Xiao knew, Gu Zhendong had some connection with the world of spiritual feng shui, so he might know a zouyin ren.

But when Chen Xiao found Gu Zhendong and explained the reason, Gu Zhendong showed a hint of disdain on his face, "Zouyin ren belong to the lineage of feng shui and fortune-telling. That is a low-class profession, and I have no association with them."

"..."

Chen Xiao was speechless.

Saying others were low-class, as if you were so high-class... the Five Great Heretical Sects, their reputation wasn't even as good as those low-class people!

But Gu Zhendong's words were not entirely useless, at least they helped Chen Xiao open up a new line of thinking.

If you wanted to find a zouyin ren, you could start with fortune-tellers.

Since ancient times, there had been no shortage of fortune-tellers in society. They belonged to the 'gold, commentary, color, hanging, bee, sesame, swallow, sparrow' of the Eight Great Swindling Professions.

They made a living with their mouths, and their skills were all in that one mouth.

Of course, there were also some feng shui masters with real skills among them, well-versed in the *I Ching*, who could make accurate predictions.

And the kind of person Chen Xiao was looking for was this type.

Chen Xiao didn't need to look for them himself. He made a phone call to Qi Tianhu and asked him to help find out who was the most accurate fortune-teller in the city.

This was the benefit of being a boss: when encountering some minor errands that needed to be run, you could hand them over to your underlings.

In just half an hour, Qi Tianhu called back.

"Boss Chen, I've found out what you asked me to do. There is a fortune-teller in the city named Yin San'er (Third Master Yin). It is said that his predictions are very accurate. Many bosses will go to him to divine before opening a business."

Chen Xiao was overjoyed when he heard this, and said, "Do you know where this master lives? I want to see him now."

"I've already found out. Boss Chen, where are you? I'll pick you up and take you there!"

"Okay, come pick me up at my house."

After hanging up the phone for more than ten minutes, Qi Tianhu came to pick up Chen Xiao, and the two went together to find that Yin San'er.

Qi Tianhu drove to the suburbs and stopped in front of a detached courtyard.

After knocking on the door, a boy of fifteen or sixteen opened the door, looking at the two suspiciously.

Qi Tianhu said with a smile, "Excuse me, is this the home of Mr. Yin San'er?"

"What are you here for?"

The boy asked, with arrogance between his eyebrows.

"We are here to visit Mr. Yin San'er and have something to ask."

Qi Tianhu said.

"My master said that today's divination is inauspicious and he will not receive any guests. You should go back."

The boy said impatiently.

Qi Tianhu frowned slightly and said lightly, "I am Qi Tianhu!"

The boy was stunned when he heard this. The Jinmen (Golden Gate Gang) belonged to the Jianghu (martial world), and he had naturally heard of Qi Tianhu's name.

The underground boss of Jiangcheng was not someone to be trifled with.

"Please wait a moment while I inform my master."

After Qi Tianhu reported his name, the boy's attitude became much more polite, and he trotted back to the inner room.

After a while, he ran back panting, opened the door, and made a gesture of invitation.

"Please come in."

Chen Xiao and Qi Tianhu walked into the small courtyard.

They saw a rockery in the courtyard, a self-dug pond, and various koi in the pond.

The furnishings in the courtyard were in harmony with yin and yang, and the five elements, which showed that it was carefully arranged.

From this, it could be seen that Yin San'er did have some real skills.

This made Chen Xiao look forward to it, hoping to get the news of the zouyin ren smoothly through this person.

The two followed the boy into the house, which was filled with smoke.

But it didn't give people a sense of being in a fairyland, but just made people feel smoggy.

Yin San'er seemed to be a northerner, and he had a large kang (a heated brick bed) in the house.

They saw a skinny old man leaning crookedly on the kang, closing his eyes to rest.

The black jacket on his body had not been washed for a long time, and it was shiny with oil.

The ashtray in front of him was full of cigarette butts, and it was obvious that the smog in the house had a great relationship with these cigarette butts.

"Master, Mr. Qi and the others have arrived."

The boy took a step forward and said respectfully.

Yin San'er slowly opened his eyes, a pair of old eyes, turbid and unbearable.

"You two are here to seek a divination, right? Unfortunately, my divination today is inauspicious and I am not suitable for divination. Come again another day."

Yin San'er gave an eviction order as soon as he opened his mouth.

Qi Tianhu was immediately anxious. If you didn't want to do our business, you should have said so earlier. What do you mean by letting us in and then driving us away?

Did you really think we were vegetarians?

Qi Tianhu was the underground emperor of Jiangcheng, how could he be easy to get along with?

But before he could lose his temper, Chen Xiao gently held him down and shook his head at him.

"Old sir, we are not here today to seek a divination, but just want to trouble you to ask about some other things."

Chen Xiao's tone was gentle and polite, making people feel like they were bathing in the spring breeze.

"What is it? Tell me about it first."

Yin San'er glanced at Chen Xiao and said commandingly.

On the surface, he didn't show anything, but he was a little puzzled in his heart.

This young man looked young, but he could suppress Qi Tianhu, so his identity was obviously unusual. Maybe he was the young master of a wealthy family.

Chen Xiao didn't beat around the bush and asked directly: "Old Mr. Yin, I heard that you have a wide circle of friends. I wonder if any of your friends are zouyin ren?"

Yin San'er was slightly startled when he heard this, then he hissed and stroked the few hairs on his chin, hesitating.

"Hiss, well..."

Chen Xiao understood at a glance and said, "Old Mr. Yin, if you can tell me something, I will definitely thank you handsomely."

As he spoke, he winked at Qi Tianhu.

Qi Tianhu understood and took out a wad of money from his pocket and put it on the edge of the kang.

"This is some incense money, nothing much, I hope Old Mr. Yin will accept it with a smile."