chsdbacks Chapter 411 Destiny
Chapter 411 Destiny
"If a father treats his child like a vengeful ghost returning to collect a debt, I can only imagine what kind of life Ning-ge is living!"
Long Nier quietly took my hand and said, "When I crawled out of the Yin Marriage Cave, the people in the village looked at me like I was a demon. I know how painful that feeling is, especially since Brother Ning was treated like that by his own father!"
I didn't say anything, I just held Long Ni'er's hand tightly.
"Uncle Nan, why did Tailor Ning ask his own son, Brother Ning, to extend his life?" Fatty Lin asked.
"Zhenbang was born on the anniversary of his wife's death, and coupled with the fact that Zhenbang had the exact same birthmark as his wife, he became increasingly frightened and sought out a fortune teller to have his fortune told!"
"That master said Zhenbang has the destiny of being ruled by Xuanwu!"
"When Xuanwu (the Black Tortoise) is in power, his nobility is immeasurable, but his ties with family are weak, and he will bring misfortune to his father and mother!"
Hearing this, Fatty Lin interrupted the White Dragon King and said, "Uncle Nan, that person wasn't wrong, was he? Is Brother Ning really destined for the Black Tortoise to rule?"
"I've seen it; Zhenbang is indeed destined for the Black Tortoise to rule!" said the White Dragon King.
"Fatty, is the destiny of having Xuanwu in power very valuable?" I asked.
"You know about fortune telling by weighing bones, right?" Fatty Lin didn't answer, but asked a question in return.
"I know, it's your family's specialty!"
I nodded and said, "I remember I even memorized the rhyme with you back then. The average person's bone weight is generally between three and four ounces, right?"
Bone-weighing fortune telling is a unique skill of Lin Pangzi's family, but he rarely uses it.
When Lin Pangzi was a teenager and working with his grandfather, he got into trouble because of his sharp tongue and love of showing off. He secretly told fortunes by weighing bones, which led to the death of a family's son.
It was only because he said that the son of that family had a noble destiny, weighing over six taels, and would surely achieve great things in the future.
As a result, the neighbor of that family overheard this conversation. The two families had a feud, and the neighbor was afraid that he would come back to take revenge when he grew up, so they killed him.
Afterwards, Fatty Lin was beaten half to death.
For many years afterward, I almost never saw him perform fortune-telling by weighing bones.
"The average person's bone weight is generally between 3.2 taels and 4.8 taels. This is the common range for people's fate. A weight below 3 taels usually indicates a life of hard work, while a weight above 5 taels indicates a life of wealth and nobility!"
Fatty Lin picked up where I left off and corrected me.
"How many taels and coins is Brother Ning's Xuanwu ruling destiny equivalent to?" I asked.
"Six taels and two mace!"
"That's what Fatty Lin said."
"It must be higher than this, never lower!"
After saying that, Fatty Lin added another sentence.
"Normally speaking, six taels signifies a top scholar who will pass the imperial examination with flying colors and bring glory to their ancestors; six taels and two mace signifies a high-ranking official; six taels and five mace signifies a king or nobleman; and seven taels and two mace signifies an emperor, a sign of divine intervention!"
Fatty Lin continued, "Leaving aside China's five thousand years of history, just looking at our current 1.4 billion population, how many officials hold the first or second rank? Brother Ning's Xuanwu ruling destiny is very strong!"
"Xiao Lin is right, Zhen Bang's destiny is extremely precious!" The White Dragon King nodded.
"What was Ning's biological father's reaction after he learned about his destiny?" I asked.
"I was both shocked and terrified!"
The White Dragon King sighed and said, "No matter how strong the destiny is, there's still the saying 'weak ties with family, bringing misfortune to the father and mother!'"
"Furthermore, Zhenbang was born on the anniversary of the death of Ning the tailor's wife, so he prejudicially considered Zhenbang unlucky and has been hostile towards him for many years!"
"Until he became seriously ill, that master gave him an idea: to use Zhenbang Xuanwu's ruling destiny to prolong his life!"
"The father sacrifices himself for the son!" Fatty Lin clicked his tongue and sighed.
"Did Brother Ning agree on his own, or was he tricked into agreeing?" That's what I want to know most.
"I agreed to it myself!"
The White Dragon King sighed again and said, "Zhenbang lacked love since childhood, so when his father, Tailor Ning, said he was going to die and asked Zhenbang to sacrifice himself to prolong his life, Zhenbang agreed without hesitation!"
"Just because the tailor Ning said to Zhenbang, 'Dad, please!'"
"Why!"
Hearing this, I also sighed; it was so heartbreaking.
I understand now why Ning was so easily swayed. He was so starved for love. If someone was even slightly nice to him, he would become addicted and unable to extricate himself.
"Later, when Ning the tailor fell seriously ill again, he went to Zhenbang and asked him to sacrifice himself to save him. Zhenbang agreed once again!" the White Dragon King continued.
"But man proposes, God disposes. By a twist of fate, Ning the tailor died in the car accident orchestrated by Tan Jinwen, while Zhenbang escaped unscathed!"
"That's just how things are—man proposes, God disposes!" I said.
"Actually, it's not that man proposes, God disposes; it was Little Tang who played a crucial role!" said the White Dragon King.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The meaning is simple: Zhenbang agreed to sacrifice himself to save his father, but Xiao Tang disagreed!" said the White Dragon King.
"In Xiao Tang's eyes, Zhenbang was his lover. If Zhenbang died, who would he love?"
"At the crucial moment, he barged into the sacrificial site, disrupting the ritual, saying it was feudal superstition and unacceptable. Ning the tailor was almost driven to death on the spot!"
"Did they arrive at the scene at a crucial moment, or was it premeditated?" Fatty Lin interrupted.
"Uncle Nan, some things are indeed coincidental, but some things are simply not so coincidental!"
Before the White Dragon King could answer, Fatty Lin spoke again.
"I think it was premeditated. From the very beginning, Xiao Tang disagreed with Zhenbang sacrificing himself to save his father!"
After thinking it over, the White Dragon King agreed with Fatty Lin's assessment.
"The ceremony failed, and Ning the tailor was both angry and resentful. She immediately fell seriously ill. Xiao Tang calmly directed people to carry Ning the tailor into a car and take her to the hospital!"
"Because the car belonged to Zhenbang, Tan Jinwen's men mistook it for Zhenbang's, and crashed into it, resulting in the death of Tailor Ning!"
"What a twist of fate!"
Hearing this, I clicked my tongue.
"Afterwards, Tan Jinwen learned that the person who was hit and killed was not Zhenbang, but Zhenbang's biological father. He sent people to investigate the cause and unexpectedly learned about Zhenbang's destiny. It was this investigation that foreshadowed his later involvement in helping Li Er murder Zhenbang!"
The White Dragon King continued.
"Now that the car accident didn't happen, has Tan Jinwen calmed down?" I asked.
"No!"
The White Dragon King shook his head and said, "Tan Jinwen is a poisonous snake. He won't be satisfied until Zhenbang is brought down!"
"He's resorting to another underhanded tactic when one fails!"
"In order to break Zhenbang, he deliberately leaked Zhenbang's whereabouts to some fanatical fans, inciting them to attack Zhenbang!"
"At the same time, because his father was killed in the accident, Zhenbang's family blamed him, accusing him of causing their father's death!"
"Zhenbang is now caught in the middle, caught between a rock and a hard place, and is on the verge of collapse once again!"