Chapter 139: Chapter 103: Explanation (Part 3)

When they saw this gentleman traveling with two beautiful companions, everyone became even more curious about him.

The two women stepped back slightly, smiling as Chu Xuan was surrounded by people, satisfying their curiosity one by one.

Finally, it was time for the routine setup of his stall. Considering that the villagers here might only have one chance in their lifetime to ask for a fortune-telling, he deliberately lowered the divination fee, only asking for a few coins.

Despite this, more than half of the people around the stall dispersed with a clamor.

Chu Xuan just smiled and had no intention of lowering the fee further; the rest was left to fate.

Among the remaining villagers, a middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before sitting in front of the stall to ask for a fortune, mainly about the matter of moving houses.

Chu Xuan calculated an auspicious date for him and also picked a good spot that faced south for his house.

Although the man was not sure of Chu Xuan’s abilities, listening to his jargon filled with terms like ’Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches’ and ’Earth’s dragon energy,’ he appeared very knowledgeable, thus he gratefully took the red paper with a thousand thanks.

Other villagers in need, seeing this, also came forward one after another to ask for fortunes.

However, in the end, it amounted to about three or five people, with the rest just there for the excitement, spending not a dime; seeing that no one else came for fortune-telling, they gradually returned home to continue their work.

Chu Xuan was indifferent, casually taking out a Taoist scripture to read.

But just then, a pale young man, appearing lost and confused, hurried back from outside the village.

Someone familiar approached to inquire, but the young man only shook his head in despair, his face full of hopelessness, which drew sighs from the onlookers.

Chu Xuan raised his head to look at the man, frowning slightly.

Gu Haitang and Qingqing simultaneously transmitted their thoughts, "There’s a demonic aura."

This did not mean the man was a demon, but that he was tainted with a faint demonic aura, and he had heavy dark circles under his eyes, looking as if he hadn’t slept for days and nights. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The villagers surrounded the young man, discussed for a while, and then pointed towards where Chu Xuan was.

The man appeared skeptical but still dragged his weary body slowly over.

He asked with a hint of nervousness and unease, "Sir, can you find people?"

Chu Xuan, unfazed, replied, "Of course, finding things and people is an old trade of ours; have a seat."

Only then did the man sit down, urgently saying, "It’s like this, my wife disappeared three days ago, I, I can’t find her anywhere."

"At home, in the fields, on the mountain, nowhere. She never strays too far from me, let alone being gone for so long."

"Calm down, be more specific. What hour was it three days ago? Was there any omen before she disappeared? Have any strange occurrences happened to you and your wife recently?"

While asking, Chu Xuan secretly began calculating.

To his surprise, the calculation this time resulted in rather murky omens, only vaguely indicating that the person hadn’t died yet.

The young man took a deep breath, closed his eyes in thought, "The specific time should be around the hour of the dragon three days ago."

"Omen... there seemed to be no omen. My wife, as usual, was home grinding and working while I went to plow the fields for spring planting preparations."

"But when I returned, the door was wide open, nothing was missing from the house, just the person was gone."

"As for strange occurrences..." The man hesitated, "There weren’t any strange occurrences."

Unknowingly, Gu Haitang and Qingqing had already drawn closer, quietly listening to the man’s account.

Upon hearing this, Qingqing shook her head, "You’re lying."

The man suddenly became embarrassed, lowering his head to defend himself, "No, no, I’m not."

Chu Xuan didn’t rush to question him further, asking instead, "Do you know your wife’s birth characters?"

"There is a saying: Suitable people in the house mean people on the premises; suitable people on the branches mean people on the road; if the fortune shows no guide, the trail is further; it can be pursued on the destiny of the year."

"If I could get the birth details, my calculation would be more accurate."

"The birth details, well..." The young man hesitated, "It was about ten years ago, she was born at night, but I can’t remember the exact time, only that it was the end of June."

Gu Haitang, hearing this, was puzzled, "Why do you sound as if you were there when your wife was born?"

The man quickly waved his hands in a panic, "No, no, no, this is what she told me herself."

Qingqing had already quietly walked away to inquire with other villagers, and a little later, returned and spoke to Chu Xuan, who was quietly calculating:

"This boy is Ah Qing, who lost both parents at a young age, only left with a mare, which died shortly after giving birth."

"So Ah Qing and the young horse depended on each other, growing up with the village’s help."

"About three years ago, Ah Qing went to the county town with the horse, meant to visit the market, but returned without the horse and with a young girl instead."

"When villagers asked Ah Qing, he just scratched his head and said he sold the horse and got a wife in return."

"Hearing this, some said it wasn’t worth it; others said it was, otherwise, poor Ah Qing might stay single for life."

"Until villagers found out that the girl was quite clueless, unable to speak, only able to gesture with ’ya ya’ sounds, they agreed that Ah Qing was duped, mostly likely."

"However, even if the girl was a bit simple-minded, she was strong and diligent, and over the past few years, the young couple lived hardworking lives. Even without the horse, their days were still pretty decent."

Upon hearing this, Chu Xuan secretly sighed, for it aligned with his calculations.

Ah Qing’s wife was probably a demon, and a horse demon at that.

Chu Xuan was puzzled, though, as to how an ordinary mare could suddenly become a demon and transform in just one day.

Because it should be known that even pure-blood demon clans with heritage, not just ordinary wild little demons, must at least reach the third stage to transform.