Jiang Wen once had a martial uncle, a young man who cultivated the Dao with his father and grandfather.
When he was very young, his family's Taoist temple was quite prosperous. During festivals, villagers would gather to hold ceremonies. Back then, the world hadn't changed much, and the countryside was still lively. Whether it was the harvest season or various festivals, people always liked to celebrate in various ways.
Jiang Wen still vividly remembers that festive atmosphere.
His martial uncle was a very sociable person. According to his grandfather, a disciple relied on skill for only thirty percent and on eloquence for seventy percent. A Taoist who could persuade people wouldn't starve even if he wasn't a Taoist; he was purely the kind of person who made a living based on his own abilities.
Although Jiang Wen was young at the time, he remembered that his martial uncle was very good at哄 (hōng - coaxing) children, and would always tell him many myths and stories. So, when he was little, he was very attached to his martial uncle, often clamoring to sleep with him.
Although his mother always caught him and took him back, he still vividly remembered his martial uncle's kindness.
Later, the Taoist temple gradually declined, and the young people in the village went out to work. His martial uncle also left the Taoist temple because of changes in his family. Jiang Wen still remembered that his father was very disappointed that day, sitting at the door smoking. He childishly asked where his martial uncle had gone, and was told that his martial uncle had gone out to perform rituals and would bring him toys and food when he returned. This filled him with anticipation, and he would sit at the door every day waiting for his martial uncle.
Until his grandfather died and the Taoist temple was completely closed, Jiang Wen never saw his martial uncle return. His father bore the pressure of life and eventually went down the mountain to do manual labor.
The past was like smoke, drifting through his mind and dissipating, leaving behind invisible traces. Now, seeing his martial uncle's photo again, Jiang Wen felt a sense of nostalgia.
He took a picture and sent it to the landlord to ask: "Excuse me, who is this person to you?"
Landlord: "Oh, you're talking about him. He's my uncle. This house is actually my uncle's, but later my uncle had some things to take care of, so he entrusted me to manage it for him."
Jiang Wen: "Is your uncle's name Li Zaiming?"
Landlord: "How do you know my uncle's name?!"
Jiang Wen: "I just happen to know, it's fate. By the way, where is your uncle now?"
Landlord: "My uncle is doing business and usually runs all over the country. I don't know where he is. If you want to meet my uncle, I can send you his phone number. The phone number is 159 * * *"
Jiang Wen looked at the phone number sent by the landlord and saved it on his phone. He thought about pressing the dial button, but he hesitated. After all, more than ten years had passed, and the time was too long.
Listening to the landlord's words, his martial uncle was doing very well now and had started a business. Being able to run all over the country meant that the business was quite large. Even if he called, his martial uncle might not remember him, or even want to meet him.
When his family was poor, he had never seen his father contact his martial uncle. Now that he thought about it, perhaps his martial uncle left the Taoist temple for some reason. As a result, his father never thought of asking his martial brother for help during those difficult days.
Exiting the dialing interface, Jiang Wen put down the photo frame in his hand. He didn't expect that coming to Yun Du would lead to such an adventure. Perhaps this was fate in the making, always allowing people who should know each other to meet.
Jiang Wen had a premonition that he might encounter someone related to his martial uncle.
He looked at his chat history with Wang Luxin and wrote down a name—Li Jiayi.
With nothing to do, Jiang Wen studied the art of miraculous calculation. The so-called ability to predict and calculate has always been something he couldn't understand. Regardless of how much truth there was in fortune-telling, it really took some skill to see a person's future clearly.
Jiang Wen had also tried to deduce some fortune-telling classics, but they were all useless. Perhaps his direction was wrong, and classics like the Book of Changes could only be viewed as theoretical texts.
"The Huangji Sutra that I deduced before can be cultivated a little." Jiang Wen was thinking when he heard the doorbell ring.
He went over and opened the door, and two beautifully dressed girls appeared at the door.
One of them looked at him with a smile and pointed to the girl beside her, saying: "She is Li Jiayi."
"This is the expert I told you about, so don't worry. With him here, you'll definitely be fine."
"Re-really?" Li Jiayi looked at the handsome young man in front of her, and couldn't associate him with the image of an expert. In her imagination, an expert should have a beard, wear a loose Taoist robe, and have an unfathomable expression.
Not the kind of young man in casual clothes and slippers, who smiled like the big brother next door.
"Come in quickly." Jiang Wen greeted.
Wang Luxin pulled Li Jiayi in, while Li Jiayi hugged her arm and suspiciously looked around.
Although she had doubts in her heart, she came anyway when she thought about what had happened to her.
After all, she still trusted Wang Luxin very much, and she was like an older sister in the dormitory on weekdays. Any small conflicts in the dormitory were resolved through her mediation.
Li Jiayi knew that Wang Luxin's family was very rich, but she didn't covet the other party's money. Although her own family was poor, they wouldn't lack anything for her to use.
"Do you want something to drink?" Jiang Wen opened the refrigerator and saw the drinks carefully prepared by the landlord.
"Cola." Wang Luxin shouted.
"I, I'm fine with anything." Li Jiayi said softly.
Jiang Wen took out two cans of cola and handed them to them, then sat opposite Li Jiayi and looked at her.
In his eyes, black mist was rising from the top of the girl's head. That was baleful aura, formed by being contaminated with something unclean. Similarly, there was no black mist on top of Wang Luxin's head, perhaps because she hadn't been contaminated with baleful aura yet.
"Jiang Wen, abbot of Jingxu Temple. I should be older than you, you can call me Brother Jiang like Luxin." Jiang Wen said proactively, seeing that the atmosphere was a bit silent.
Li Jiayi was a child from a single-parent family. According to her, her father ran away after getting her mother pregnant, leaving her mother alone at home to suffer all kinds of grievances.
However, her mother didn't complain about anything, but tried her best to raise her. Li Jiayi didn't have much impression of that father, but she heard her mother say that he was a very good person. It was just because of some things that he had to separate from them.
Li Jiayi didn't understand this very well. Clearly he was a scumbag, so why would her mother miss him?
"Your father is really scum." Wang Luxin complained. "Why does your mother still miss your father? Does he have such great magic?"
"I don't know either." Li Jiayi shook her head, looking at the cola in her hand with melancholy. "The family receives money every month. I heard my mother say that it was sent by that man, but I've always been unwilling to use it, feeling disgusted."
"It's okay, we just won't recognize this kind of scumbag dad." Wang Luxin patted Li Jiayi's shoulder.
Jiang Wen listened from the side, and after taking a sip of tea, he asked: "Is your biological father's name Li Zaiming?"
"Ah? How do you know?" Li Jiayi looked at Jiang Wen in surprise.
"It seems that my premonition was correct." Jiang Wen said with a wry smile.
