Chapter 59: Divination with the Tortoise Shell

"R... really that serious? Don't try to scare me!" Wu Yun's face changed slightly, a hint of nervousness slipping into her voice.

Yang Rui smiled indifferently. "You can call my words alarmist. But you must understand that everything in the universe, every cause and effect, is predestined. The ancients said 'man can conquer nature,' yet this 'man' does not refer to ordinary mortals, but to those who comprehend the secrets of heaven and can manipulate creation! We wandering fortune-tellers have existed for thousands of years for a reason. In specific space-times, we can glimpse a thread of heavenly destiny and light a lamp for the lost. You may sneer at it, but how could the profound and subtle metaphysics passed down through thousands of years of Chinese civilization be ordinary?"

"Hmph! You make it sound so real!" Wu Yun curled her lip, mercilessly tearing down his facade. "If you're really that divine, how did you end up reduced to cleaning toilets in our company?"

Yang Rui's smile froze. Just as he was about to retort, the young woman beside Wu Yun gently tugged at her sleeve and reproached, "Sister Yun! He's here to help you, at least save him some face!"

"This young lady speaks wisely!" Yang Rui immediately cast a grateful look her way, and seizing the opportunity, said to Wu Yun, "Yun, trust me, and I will make an exception today to resolve this disaster for you. If you don't believe me, then I'm afraid I can't help you." He shook his head regretfully, wearing an expression of utter helplessness.

"Alright, alright! I believe you, okay?" Remembering Yang Rui's warning from the afternoon, Wu Yun's tone softened. "Quickly tell me, how do we resolve this?"

A flash of approval crossed Yang Rui's eyes as he refocused his gaze to examine Wu Yun's face. Upon this closer look, his heart suddenly plummeted, and his complexion instantly turned extremely unsightly!

"What is it?" "Is there a problem?" Seeing his expression change drastically, Wu Yun and her companion spoke in unison, their hearts leaping into their throats.

Ignoring them, Yang Rui muttered to himself, "Impossible... It's only been half a day, how could the baleful energy have condensed to this extent? Could someone..." His brows locked tightly together as he fell into deep thought.

"What on earth is going on? Didn't you say this afternoon it was just a minor trouble? Don't scare me!" Panic was clearly evident in Wu Yun's voice.

Yang Rui snapped back to attention, his gaze burning like a torch, piercing deep into Wu Yun's eyes. In the morning, her glabella had only been faintly entwined with a greenish qi, but at this moment, it was shrouded in a dense, dark gloom, and the luster in her eyes had dimmed, like dust-covered pearls. Books on physiognomy stated that this was the "omen of sudden change," predicting that within a few days, an event would occur that would overturn the trajectory of her entire life! As for the specifics, it was beyond his full comprehension. It seemed he had no choice but to use his ultimate trump card!

With a solemn expression, as if lifting a sacred relic, he drew from his bosom a palm-sized tortoise shell, deep brown in color, its edges worn smooth and warm by the passage of years. The natural patterns on the shell were profound and mystical, and its central area seemed to have been artificially polished, faintly revealing meticulously carved, acquired hexagram symbols that exuded an ancient, desolate aura. This tortoise shell was a treasured artifact passed down from his sect, carrying the secret arts to communicate between heaven and earth.

"Give me your birth date and time, according to the lunar calendar!" Yang Rui's voice was as low and solid as a boulder, carrying an unquestionable majesty that made the air feel suddenly heavy.

Swept up in this solemn atmosphere and daring not to be negligent, Wu Yun hurriedly and clearly stated her birth year, month, day, and hour.

Yang Rui took a deep breath, holding his breath and concentrating as he carefully cradled the tortoise shell—steeped in heavy history—in the palm of his right hand. He closed his eyes, his lips moving silently in recitation of an ancient and obscure incantation. Meanwhile, the five fingers of his left hand rapidly formed magical hand seals in an extremely complex, rhythmic manner, his fingertips seeming to guide invisible threads. An indescribable energy field, carrying a scorching heat, began to pervade his surroundings and slowly converge toward the tortoise shell in his palm.

Wu Yun and her companion instinctively held their breath, their eyes glued unblinkingly to this unprecedented spectacle. The fortune-tellers they had seen at most shook copper coins or flipped through books of destiny; when had they ever witnessed an act so filled with primitive ritual and raw power? This looked more like some lost sacrificial rite!

A scalp-tingling sight unfolded: that heavy tortoise shell began to tremor slightly, less than an inch above the palm of Yang Rui's hand! Following that, as if lifted by an invisible force, it slowly and defying all logic began to hover in mid-air! The natural patterns and acquired hexagrams on the surface of the shell seemed to gleam with a faint, ghostly light in the dim environment. It began to spin, at first slowly and sluggishly, emitting a faint "humming" sound like a sleeping ancient beast groaning softly. As the speed of Yang Rui's left-hand seals grew faster and veins slightly bulged on his temples, the rotation speed of the tortoise shell surged abruptly! It transformed into a brownish blur carrying an ancient aura, spinning at high speed above his palm and emitting an increasingly sharp piercing sound as it cleaved the air. Even more frighteningly, no matter how fast or violently it spun, it remained firmly confined to that tiny space just above his palm without the slightest deviation!

Just as this high-speed rotation reached its peak, almost tearing the air apart, Yang Rui's left hand suddenly retracted, his five fingers clenching into a fist! A short, powerful low shout burst from his mouth: "Freeze!"

As if struck by an immobilization spell, the rapidly spinning tortoise shell instantly solidified in mid-air, hovering for a fleeting fraction of a second before dropping with a crisp "pop" to land steadily back in Yang Rui's open palm. Across the surface of the shell, a tiny yet exceptionally clear, lightning-like new crack ran straight through the original patterns and the center of the hexagram!

The entire process took merely a few breaths, yet it seemed to have drained all of Yang Rui's strength. His face was as pale as paper, and large beads of sweat instantly covered his forehead, sliding down his temples. A few drops even fell onto the tortoise shell, making a faint sizzling sound as they instantly evaporated. Too exhausted to wipe them away or even catch his breath, he poured his entire focus into the scorching tortoise shell in his hand, his gaze locked dead onto that newborn, shocking crack! At just a single glance, his pupils shrank to the size of needlepoints, all the color draining from his face, replaced by a complex expression mixed with shock, realization, and extreme solemnity.

"How is it?" Having witnessed that miraculous scene, Wu Yun already believed seven or eight parts of it, her voice trembling as she asked.

Staring fixedly at the hexagram revealed on the tortoise shell, Yang Rui's heart surged violently! The hexagram clearly foretold: within three days, Wu Yun would encounter the greatest turning point of her life! If she could safely cross through it, the rest of her life would be smooth and worry-free; if she failed to cross it, she would plunge into an abyss deep enough to rewrite her entire destiny!

He rapidly calculated the cause and effect—this tribulation should have descended two years from now, so why had it advanced? There were only two possible reasons: either the surrounding feng shui pattern had suddenly shifted and triggered her destiny's baleful qi, or... someone had enlisted an expert to cast a curse against her in secret!

If it were merely a feng shui issue, that would be simple! But if someone was secretly playing tricks, then it became tricky. In other words, someone had hired a feng shui master or another sorcerer to target her, otherwise such an effect would be utterly impossible!

Moreover, the source of this baleful qi pointed directly at her workplace! The company would become the turning point of her destiny!