Chapter 19 The Corpse

It was a large white lantern, swaying in the thin darkness, as if floating.

The fatty had good eyesight. He stared in the direction of the lantern, his gaze gradually changing from doubt to surprise, until he saw the figure holding the lantern. “It’s Li Bai! And… and Yao Shun Yu!”

The lantern quickly approached them, and two familiar faces appeared in everyone's view.

Because the matter was urgent, Yao Shun Yu’s handling of Old Master Wu's body was quite crude. He simply wrapped it in a quilt, tied the corpse to his back with a rope, and carried it all the way, with Li Bai leading the way with the lantern.

After working together to place Old Master Wu’s body down, Yao Shun Yu gave everyone a wry smile, then plopped down on the ground, his chest rising and falling violently, too tired to say another word.

Now was not the time for catching up. Luo Tianhe pulled back the quilt and, together with Yuan Shanyuan, prepared to return Old Master Wu's body to the tomb. But suddenly, Luo Tianhe stopped.

He seemed to have discovered something very important. After placing the corpse on the ground, he actually reached out to touch Old Master Wu's face, then his forehead, and he didn't miss the top and back of his head either.

“Mr. Luo, hurry!” Li Bai couldn't help but urge. They had rushed all the way to deliver the corpse without missing the hour, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.

Hearing this, Luo Tianhe no longer hesitated. He quickly pushed the corpse into the tomb through the opening. Then, everyone symbolically paid their respects a few times before filling the opening with rubble and dirt.

After completing all this, the sky just began to turn a faint white.

Lin Qianqian took several deep breaths. Only then did she feel an overwhelming sense of lingering fear. This was the closest she had ever been to death, and the entire team had been in danger.

“Thank you both.” Everyone expressed their gratitude to Yao Shun Yu and Li Bai, their voices filled with sincerity.

Li Bai simply nodded, her face still the same as when she had first appeared. “You don’t need to thank me. If you’re going to thank anyone, thank Yao Shun Yu. These were all his decisions.”

Yao Shun Yu, however, seemed uninterested in these so-called expressions of gratitude. He leaned against the tree trunk, his head tilted to the side as he rested. “No need to thank me either. I wasn't trying to save you; I was saving myself. If you all died, I wouldn't be able to survive alone.”

This incident changed the fatty's attitude towards Yao Shun Yu. He suddenly felt that this roguish person might not be so difficult to approach after all, and that he was, at heart, a reliable person.

“Mr. Luo, what was wrong just now?” Yuan Shanyuan posed the question to Luo Tianhe, who was currently looking down slightly, his face gloomy, as he stared at Old Master Wu's tomb.

Just now, in the extremely urgent situation, Luo Tianhe had still prioritized examining Old Master Wu's body, which clearly indicated that he had discovered something important.

After a moment of silence, Luo Tianhe's first words stunned everyone. “That corpse just now was not Old Master Wu's. The real Old Master Wu died long ago.”

The fatty, who was standing close by, felt a buzzing in his head. “What did you say?!”

“The facial features and bone structure of that corpse didn't match. Judging from his facial features, this Old Master Wu had a full forehead and heavy earlobes, indicating a person with deep blessings and at least twenty years of life remaining.”

“But I accidentally felt his facial bones just now, and they were completely different from the fortune and prosperity reflected in his face. His forehead bone was narrow and thin, his skull was sharp, and there was a hard bone growing horizontally behind his head.”

Hearing this, Yuan Shanyuan's expression changed. “Are you saying that this Old Master Wu had a rebellious bone behind his head?”

“That’s right. According to the fate reflected in his bone structure, this Old Master Wu would have a major tribulation in his forties. He couldn't possibly have survived it. He… he should have died long ago!” Luo Tianhe's voice trembled.

Luo Tianhe's words plunged the survivors into a new round of panic.

But Yao Shun Yu, who had rested enough, staggered to his feet. “Senior Luo, I don't mean to offend you, but I'd like to ask, if your face reading is really so accurate, why don't you just cast a divination for yourself, see how long you'll live, and feel your own bones, calculate when you'll have a tribulation? That would be much more enjoyable.”

Luo Tianhe did not pursue his offense, but simply shook his head. “From the day my master took me as a disciple, the first rule he taught me was that a face reader must never predict his own fate.”

Jiang Cheng had heard of this rule to some extent. People in the Yin-Yang profession generally do not easily calculate their own fortunes, the general saying being that the more you calculate, the shorter your life becomes, and the more you predict disasters, the more they occur.

“Then would you mind feeling my bones?” Yao Shun Yu didn't take it seriously. This conversation seemed to be deliberately provoking Luo Tianhe.

“Face reading is for living faces, bone feeling is only for dead bones.” Luo Tianhe looked at Yao Shun Yu's face and shook his head gently. “Yao Shun Yu, there’s a wisp of evil between your eyebrows. It’s not a good sign. You should be careful.”

“Being able to come to a place like this, who can have a good life?” Yao Shun Yu shrugged indifferently at Luo Tianhe's slightly threatening tone. This person was becoming more and more unfathomable to the fatty.

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Luo Tianhe once again denied Yao Shun Yu's words, and at the same time reached out and pointed at the fatty. The fatty, who was being pointed at, felt terrible, as if he was about to be dragged out and executed.

“His life is very good, extremely good. There’s a rainbow between his eyebrows. He’s destined to have benefactors to help him, and more than one.” Luo Tianhe spoke these words with a very serious tone, even with the air of an enlightened master.

Being stared at by so many pairs of eyes, the fatty immediately became flustered. He didn't know how he should react, whether to say thank you for the compliment, or to refuse decisively, saying it wasn't him, don't talk nonsense.

“Which is more accurate, face reading or bone feeling?” Lin Qianqian's focus was accurate and singular. She just wanted to know what was going on with Old Master Wu, because it concerned whether all of them could live.

“Of course, it’s bone feeling.” Luo Tianhe answered without hesitation, “Bone structure is determined by fate and can absolutely not be changed.”

“So, the face doesn’t match the bones, which means Old Master Wu’s face… was altered?”

This time, Luo Tianhe was silent for an especially long time, and the atmosphere became strange for a moment. “Although it’s difficult, that must be the case. Old Master Wu used some means to forcibly alter his face, using the altered face to deceive fate and avoid the tribulation in his forties. This method of defying fate is something even my master wouldn't dare to touch.” Between his words, Luo Tianhe felt both fear and a sense of admiration for this Old Master Wu.

“Then can Mr. Luo roughly determine what methods Old Master Wu used?” Lin Qianqian asked cautiously.

Luo Tianhe's face was so gloomy that it seemed like water could drip from it. “I don’t know, but it must be some extremely sinister method, otherwise there would be no such miraculous effect of defying fate. Those wronged infants, and the female ghost blocking the way, are also缠上 (chan shang) the Wu family because of this matter, endlessly.”