Chapter 32: Deceiving the Heavens!
As Lu Si Si stepped into the chamber, her delicate frame was wrapped in an air of unease. She hesitated, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, before casting a wary glance at Chen Yan. “This… is this your home?”
“No,” Chen Yan shook his head, his tone even. “This place is rented just for you. I only received the keys less than twenty minutes ago.”
For me?
Lu Si Si was momentarily stunned.
Chen Yan waved a hand, gesturing toward the bed. “Sit. Let’s talk.”
“Ah?”
She swallowed hard, hesitating to obey. The room was small, and the situation precarious—a lone man and woman, behind closed doors… and he wanted her to sit on the bed?
Sensing her thoughts, Chen Yan sighed and took a step back. He settled into the lone chair in the room, deliberately creating distance.
“Don’t overthink it,” he said plainly. “This is serious business.”
He paused, gathering his thoughts before speaking again. “I’ve found a way to resolve the ill fate lingering upon you. However, it requires time. This spell is intricate. It must be cast once per day, for several consecutive days.
“That’s why I rented this place.”
Lu Si Si nodded in bewilderment. “A spell?”
Chen Yan inclined his head. “Exactly.”
He wasn’t lying. The rental was indeed for this purpose.
As for why he didn’t simply bring Lu Si Si to his own home—
That would be foolish. Would you invite a walking embodiment of Death’s Omen into your sanctuary?
A hotel wouldn’t do either. A man and a woman, booking a room together for multiple nights? If word spread, how would that look? Lu Si Si was, after all, a young lady.
“Starting today, you must come here daily. I will perform the spell for you. It could take a day or two, or maybe three to five. At worst, no more than seven. The duration will depend on how effective the spell proves.”
“Mmm…” Lu Si Si listened in silence, though doubt still flickered in her eyes.
Chen Yan smiled faintly, his gaze shrewd. “You used the talisman I gave you, didn’t you? How did it work?”
The effect had been unbelievable!
Her eyes lit up with renewed trust. It had been an entire day and night, and misfortune had not befallen her once! Her exam that morning had even contained questions she had studied!
And then…
She recalled how the talisman had combusted instantly upon touching the flame—consumed in a single, brilliant flash.
It was nothing short of mystical.
At this point, Lu Si Si was already ninety percent convinced of Chen Yan’s abilities.
“Each session will take about two hours,” Chen Yan continued solemnly. “When the process is complete, your fate should return to normal.”
Then, with an air of quiet authority, he pointed once more at the bed. “Now, sit.”
“…Okay.”
She complied, albeit with visible tension, her legs pressed tightly together and her hands folded neatly atop her knees.
“Now, lie down.”
“Huh…?” Lu Si Si bolted upright, startled.
Chen Yan exhaled in exasperation, his voice softening to reassure her. “I am not a villain, nor will I do you any harm. I abide by the laws of the land.
“Besides, you encountered people outside before entering this place. They saw you walk in with me. If I had any nefarious intentions, you could report me and there would be witnesses.”
He spoke calmly but firmly, before once more indicating the bed. “Lie down.”
Reluctantly, Lu Si Si obeyed, but her entire body was stiff, trembling faintly with unease.
Chen Yan cast her a sidelong glance. “Close your eyes. Relax. Empty your mind.”
“But… what does ‘empty my mind’ even mean?”
“It means not thinking about anything.”
Lu Si Si bit her lip. “I… I can’t do that…”
Chen Yan sighed. “Then count sheep. You know how to count sheep, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then do it. And listen carefully:
“From this moment on, you must not speak. You must not open your eyes. You must not move.
“No matter what you hear or feel—you must not react.
“Not until I tell you it’s over. Understand?”
Lu Si Si pressed her lips together tightly.
“Rest assured,” Chen Yan added, “I won’t touch you. Not even once.”
At this, she finally let go of a small fraction of her anxiety.
Chen Yan reached into his bag, retrieving ink, talisman paper, and cinnabar. He arranged his tools on the desk, taking up his brush. Summoning his Vital Energy, he guided the ink onto paper, his strokes fluid and decisive—like a dragon soaring through the heavens.
In mere moments, seven or eight talismans were complete.
“Let us begin!”
Chen Yan’s eyes flashed with sharp brilliance as he activated the spell.
A few minutes later…
Failure.
“Didn’t I tell you not to open your eyes? Not to speak?”
Chen Yan looked at her, a mix of helplessness and frustration in his gaze.
The moment his formation had been set, the runes had burned into place—only for Lu Si Si to blink, disrupting the flow. The script had collapsed in an instant, consumed by self-immolation.
The girl looked utterly remorseful. “I… I couldn’t help it…”
She had heard unfamiliar footsteps circling her bed. Then, suddenly, a strange buzzing sound had filled her ears. Reflexively, she had blinked and let out a soft noise of surprise.
Chen Yan rubbed his temples and sighed. “Alright. I won’t blame you. But this won’t work if you can’t stay still.”
He paced the room, deep in thought, before halting and fixing Lu Si Si with a piercing gaze.
“Do you trust me?”
“…Yes.”
Despite her lingering fear, the girl nodded resolutely.
A few moments later…
Lu Si Si lay obediently on the bed.
A strip of gauze covered her eyes, held in place by adhesive tape. More gauze filled her mouth, sealed shut by another layer of tape. With sight and speech stolen from her, even if she wished to scream, no sound would escape.
Chen Yan surveyed his handiwork and found himself lost in thought.
[Good heavens…]
If an officer of the law were to break in at this moment, no words in the world could explain this scene away.
Shaking off unnecessary distractions, Chen Yan once again reminded Lu Si Si of his instructions, then turned his focus to the next step—sealing the formation!
—
Standing at the bedside, he held a Talisman between his fingers. With a flick of his wrist, infused with Primordial Qi, the runes ignited, burning into a wisp of azure smoke.
Muttering an incantation, Chen Yan watched as the smoke shot forward, slipping into Lu Si Si’s nostrils in an instant.
“Hearing—Sealed!”
“Sight—Sealed!”
“Taste—Sealed!”
“Speech—Sealed!”
“Touch—Sealed!”
His voice flowed like an unbroken river, and each time he spoke, another Talisman left his hand, burning away in rapid succession. One after another, the incantations fell, binding the five senses in a shroud of silence.
By the time the last of the five talismans turned to smoke, a fine sheen of sweat dotted Chen Yan’s brow.
These five alone had drained nearly half of his Primordial Qi.
[Fortune truly smiles upon me these past days,] he mused. [My cultivation has advanced greatly, or else I would have lacked the strength to perform such a high-level technique.]
—
All living beings possess five senses.
The mouth to speak, the nose to smell, the ears to hear, the eyes to see, and the tongue to taste—these are the five fundamental faculties of life.
And Fate, by its very nature, does not distinguish between kings and beggars. Before one’s Destiny Pattern is determined, one must first be recognized as a living being.
Whether it be Heavenly Qi, Spiritual Essence, fortune, or misfortune—all things in the world pursue the living.
A lifeless stone bears no Destiny Pattern, nor does it attract fate’s designs.
Thus, if one’s five senses are stripped away…
Heaven and earth shall cease to acknowledge their existence.
Without senses, one is no longer perceived as a complete living being in the eyes of Heaven’s Dao.
But even this was not enough.
One final step remained.
—
Chen Yan took a deep breath and lifted the last Talisman from the table.
This was the most intricate and Qi-consuming Talisman he had drawn that day—its symbols twisted like a madman’s script, its pattern a maze of esoteric sigils.
Raising it between his fingers, he chanted in a slow, deliberate cadence. A spark of flame blossomed at his fingertip, but the Talisman resisted, its burning sluggish, as though reluctant to fade.
Though he stood firm, his arm trembled as if bearing a mountain’s weight. Sweat streamed down his temples, and his complexion paled by several shades.
“Spirit Sense—Sealed!”
—
Among the myriad creatures, there exists one distinct from all others.
A human being is not merely defined by flesh and bone but by something greater—
The ability to think, to feel, to imagine.
This is what the sages call the Sixth Sense.
—
As the final Talisman burned to nothingness, its curling smoke drifted, settling over Lu Si Si’s form before sinking into her very being.
Her body relaxed instantly.
To the naked eye, she still appeared as a sleeping maiden, her skin still fair, her cheeks still rosy. But under Heavenly Eye Qi-Observing Technique, she was transformed beyond recognition.
With her Six Senses sealed away, she no longer exuded the aura of the living.
She was like a stone.
A breathless husk, neither claimed by life nor by death.
The Dao of Heaven no longer took notice of her existence, nor did fortune or misfortune seek her out.
With no Fate, there could be no Seven Absolutes Destiny Pattern.
And without this cursed Destiny Pattern, the tide of calamity that once clung to her would scatter like mist before the morning sun.
—
This was the method Chen Yan had devised to save Lu Si Si.
By severing her ties to Fate, she would elude its grip.
To the world, she would appear as one already dead, and the dead owe nothing.
Emperors or beggars, once they die, all debts are erased. Their fortunes, their misfortunes, their glories, their disasters—
All dissolve into the void.
—
As the last Talisman faded, Chen Yan’s legs gave out beneath him.
Staggering, he retreated two steps before collapsing into a chair, chest heaving with exhaustion.
Opening his Heavenly Eye, he looked toward Lu Si Si once more.
As expected, the black aura looming over her head had begun to shift.
The ominous miasma that once coiled so persistently around her crown now wavered, uncertain, as though its tether had been severed.
Thread by thread, it began to unravel…
Without the Six Senses, she was no longer recognized as a living being.
Without a soul for fate to cling to, the Seven Absolutes Destiny Pattern had crumbled.
Without the Seven Absolutes Destiny Pattern, the misfortunes it attracted had lost their anchor.
Like a flood with no basin, the tide of calamity dispersed, vanishing into nothingness.
Yet, while Lu Si Si’s false death had freed her from misfortune…
Chen Yan himself remained a living soul within the room.
The severed strands of ill luck, finding no other host, now drifted toward him.
Grinding his teeth, he mustered the last of his strength, pulling another Talisman from his robes.
Biting down on a silver needle, he drove it into his fingertip, drawing forth a bead of crimson lifeblood. With practiced precision, he pressed the blood onto the Talisman, then without hesitation, smacked it against his forehead.
A crisp pa! rang out as golden light erupted around him.
The residual misfortune recoiled as if encountering something loathsome, curling away and dispersing into the void.
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