The woman had fair skin and wore expensive clothes, but there was a hint of worry on her face, as if she had something on her mind. She was absent-minded when walking and almost tripped on the way.
After paying for the Five Emperor Coins, <Time Flows Swiftly Like Flowing Water> introduced her to An Rugu. “Master, this is Zhang Ling, one of my biggest clients. Something happened to her family recently. I thought that since you are so capable, you should have a way to help, so I brought her here to talk to you.”
An Rugu’s gaze fell on Zhang Ling, but she didn’t see any haunting spirit, so she asked, “What happened?”
Right now, Zhang Ling felt a little uncomfortable.
She had a good relationship with <Time Flows Swiftly Like Flowing Water>, and she had heard the other party talk about the miraculous fortune-teller she met over a livestream, and Zhang Ling had thought that the master was older with fluttering, white hair.
When confronted with reality, it was true that An Rugu looked fairy-like, but she was about the same age as her son.
As the saying goes, without age, there was no experience1. Could such a young Taoist priest really solve her problems?
But according to her temperament and upbringing, she was not one who would easily tear off other people’s face, so she could only answer truthfully, “Master Daoist, to tell you the truth, my son seems to have been touched by something unclean.”
An Rugu became interested. “What do you mean?”
Because of this matter, Zhang Ling has been depressed for a long time, and she was desperate to talk to someone about it. “My son graduated from college this year. He has a very good relationship with his girlfriend. And we have already met his future in-laws, so we want to make things clear and have them settled down early.
“However, as soon as the engagement date was fixed, something strange happened to my son.
“About ten days ago, when I passed by his room, I heard him talking to himself, saying things like ‘don’t come to me, stop, you are so persistent’. I thought he was talking to someone, and I opened the door to see, only to find that he was sleeping.
“My husband and I only thought that he was under a lot of stress recently, so he had a nightmare.
“But in the past few days, he’s been having nightmares every night, saying such words every time. But he couldn’t remember what he said or what happened in his nightmares when he woke up.
“What’s even more frightening was that when I was passing by the bathroom yesterday, I saw him suddenly give a horrible scream and smash the mirror. With his right hand all bloody, he hugged me, crying, saying that he saw something in the mirror…”
Zhang Ling hesitated to speak and didn’t say it out loud, but everyone else could guess what she was talking about.
It must be something unclean.
The more Zhang Ling talked, the more frightened she became, and she couldn’t help but raise her hands to hug herself. She said, with a hint of pleading in her voice, “Master, Sister Xu said that you are very good, and you even helped people move graves last time. Do you think this matter with my son can be resolved? If it can be solved, rest assured, there would be a big reward!”
In just a few days, her son was driven to scream and smash the mirror by unclean things, hurting himself. Wouldn’t he be forced to jump off a building if he was left entangled for much longer?
She only had this one son, and she couldn’t even begin to imagine losing him. During this period of time, she had invited all the masters she could possibly invite, and she even visited the remote Daoist temple mentioned by <Time Flows Swiftly Like Flowing Water>, just to ask this master to save her son.
There were not many evil spirits in this world—there hadn’t been one in Tangchi Village2 in a hundred years. It was rare to encounter what she suspected was a ghost making trouble, which sparked An Rugu’s interest a little.
“Alright, I’ll go with you,” An Rugu agreed.
… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com
An Rugu packed her bags and went down the mountain with the two women. Zhang Ling drove a luxury car, which was quite comfortable to sit in. After more than an hour of driving, she pulled into a villa community in the city center.
Zhang Ling’s home was located here. Filled with curiosity, <Time Flows Swiftly Like Flowing Water> also followed.
Zhang Ling led them into the community and was about to show An Rugu the way to her home, but before she could speak, this young Daoist master went straight to a particular villa. She stood at the door and looked back at Zhang Ling, as if asking, Well? Why won’t you open the door?
Zhang Ling gripped the key in her hand tight, questions hovering in her mind, and turned to look at <Time Flows Swiftly Like Flowing Water>. “Have you told the Daoist priest my home address?”
<Time Flows Swiftly Like Flowing Water> hurriedly waved her hands in negation. “I didn’t even know that your family lived here, so how could I tell her?”
Surprised, Zhang Ling’s eyes were wide open. “Master, how do you know that my family lives here?” she wondered.
An Rugu’s gaze fell on the faint, black miasma around the house, imperceptible to most people. “Your house is special, and there is an unusual atmosphere surrounding it.”
Zhang Ling: “!”
Sister Xu seemed to be correct in her estimation… This master really had some genuine skills!
An Rugu walked into the gate, and the faint smell of burning incense wafted their way. Looking around, the house was bustling with activity.
There were Daoist priests in Daoist robes, monks in saffron-colored tunics, astrologers holding crystal balls, blind old women…
When those assembled saw another person coming in from outside the house, they each frowned to varying degrees of severity, looking unhappy at the new addition.
Zhang Ling’s husband, Wang Jianguo, obviously didn’t know the rules of metaphysics, so he invited everyone here all at once, and was even now enthusiastically asking the housekeeper to arrange seats for everyone.
An Rugu was led to a seat next to the marble table, and a glass of freshly brewed tea was placed in front of her.
Wang Jianguo bowed to everyone and spoke with clear sincerity, “You have already been told of my son’s situation, and I will now leave this matter to everyone’s expertise. Please, cure my son, and rest assured, I will show you my deep gratitude afterwards.”
A young Daoist, about seven or eight years old, turned his head and glanced at his master’s calm expression. He frowned and said, “It’s enough for my master alone to solve this matter. Why do you have so many people here?”
Wang Jianguo paused the agitated movements of his hands and replied with a calm voice, “Three ordinary people are better than one great general3; many people working together have great strength.”
An old lady, whose eyes were out of focus, was a little upset in her heart because the other party did not know the rules. Seeing that the other party seemed to look down on her and her skills, she snorted coldly, “Who are you calling an ordinary person? I won’t take this job.”
The Daoist priest, the astrologer, and many others were as unhappy as the old woman. Seeing that someone had raised the issue, they felt relieved and stood up immediately, turning around to leave.
“We can’t help you with this matter, you can find someone else.”
“There are a lot of ordinary people, all over the street, please invite someone else.”
Only the old monk and An Rugu still sat calmly in their original positions, showing no intention of moving at all, each bearing a look of tranquility.
I Livestream Divination to the World translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com
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FOOTNOTES:
- 嘴上沒毛, 辦事不牢 ‘no hair above the mouth, not firm in doing things’— young people have no experience and are not reliable in doing things. ↩︎
- In case you forgot, Tangchi Village is the name of the village at the foot of Cloud Rise mountain. ↩︎
- Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang (a renowned military genius and master strategist) ↩︎
WHITE MOONLIGHT TRANSLATIONS 
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