A curtain separated a simple bed.
The curtain had now been pulled aside, revealing the patient lying on the bed.
The patient was a burly middle-aged man, but at this moment, he was emaciated, nothing but skin and bones.
A woman was sitting by the bed, carefully tending to him, her face filled with panic.
“Mother, I’ve brought the Fortune Teller back!”
The small child quickly came into the room and whispered to his mother.
Hearing the commotion, the woman inside quickly got up to greet them, but when she saw He Xiuyuan, she froze, then her expression subtly changed.
“Didn’t I tell you to invite a powerful Fortune Teller? Who is this person you’ve brought?”
The woman looked at He Xiuyuan, her expression somewhat displeased.
Seeing how young He Xiuyuan was, she subconsciously felt that He Xiuyuan had no real ability.
“Mother, this Fortune Teller is very powerful. The first moment he saw me, he asked if I was looking for a Fortune Teller, and then he said my parents at home wanted to invite a Fortune Teller.”
“Mother, this Fortune Teller is truly amazing!”
The child recounted what happened on the way to his mother.
The woman paused slightly upon hearing this, then looked up at He Xiuyuan, her expression filled with hesitation.
He Xiuyuan’s gaze had already swept around the surroundings, then he turned back to the woman and asked, “Has something happened to your husband that requires me to divine a hexagram?”
The woman subconsciously glanced at her husband upon hearing this. Worried about her husband, she could only nod, preparing to let He Xiuyuan divine a hexagram.
“My husband came back from cutting firewood in the deep mountains a few days ago, and that very night he developed a high fever that wouldn’t go down no matter what.”
“I invited doctors to see him, he took medicine, and I even invited some spirit mediums, but they still haven’t found the problem. If this continues, my husband will truly die on this bed.”
“If sir truly has the ability, please save my husband!”
As she spoke, the woman made to kneel before He Xiuyuan.
He Xiuyuan quickly stepped forward to help her up, then his gaze fell on the man in the sickbed.
The man on the sickbed was emaciated, his eye sockets sunken, appearing as if his days were numbered.
However, on his body, He Xiuyuan vaguely saw a trace of black Qi.
“When your husband returned, did he say anything to you?”
This man had a trace of black Qi on him, appearing as if some demon had entangled him.
Liu Shi thought for a moment then shook her head, “No, my husband only said that he had cut a lot of good firewood that day and that it should fetch a good price.”
He Xiuyuan frowned upon hearing this, “Is that all?”
As he spoke, He Xiuyuan began to pinch his fingers to divine, but as he did so, his brows furrowed slightly.
Strange, when he divined, he felt that what he was divining was extremely hazy and not very clear.
“I see black Qi lingering around your husband’s glabella. I’m afraid he has provoked something unclean.”
Seeing that he couldn’t divine anything, He Xiuyuan could only continue to ask Liu Shi.
Liu Shi’s face immediately turned pale upon hearing this. “My husband is usually honest and kind, never causing trouble. How could he provoke something unclean?”
As Liu Shi spoke, her face was filled with panic.
In the past, she had only heard of such unclean things, but she had never encountered them.
Now, hearing He Xiuyuan say this, her heart instantly became anxious.
“It seems, then, that I must go to the mountain your husband went to before and take a look.”
Seeing that he couldn’t divine anything, He Xiuyuan glanced at the man on the bed, thought for a moment, and decided to help him by going to the mountain to investigate.
This man was the pillar of this family; if he truly collapsed like this, this family might cease to exist.
Hearing He Xiuyuan’s words, Liu Shi was stunned for a moment, then quickly made to kneel before He Xiuyuan.
This man in the family was her family’s reliance; if this man left, her family would be finished.
Seeing her about to kneel again, He Xiuyuan quickly pulled her up, “Please go find your husband’s companion and have him take me to the place your husband went.”
Without someone to lead the way, He Xiuyuan wouldn’t know where to go.
“Please wait a moment!”
Liu Shi did not hesitate upon hearing this. She rushed out the door and, a moment later, brought in a somewhat short young man.
He didn’t seem very old, but he was full of lean muscle and looked quite burly.
However, perhaps because he hadn’t interacted much with people, he seemed a bit timid when he saw He Xiuyuan.
Looking at his face, he was probably only about fifteen or sixteen years old.
“Sir, this is Tie Wa. He went into the mountains to cut firewood with my husband before. He can take you into the mountains.”
He Xiuyuan looked at Tie Wa and nodded gently, “Then Tie Wa, will you take me into the mountains now, to the place you went a few days ago? Is that alright?”
Tie Wa looked at the man on the sickbed and asked, “If I take you there, can Brother Liu be saved?”
“Yes, if we go, there’s a high probability he can be saved.”
He Xiuyuan nodded in agreement.
Tie Wa immediately nodded upon hearing this, “Then I’ll take you.”
With that, he patted the firewood axe on his back and hurried towards the mountains with He Xiuyuan.
He Xiuyuan told Liu Shi to wait here, while he followed Tie Wa into the mountains.
Perhaps because he had lived in these mountains for a long time, Tie Wa’s speed was extremely fast. If He Xiuyuan hadn’t Cultivated, he would have truly found it difficult to keep up with him.
After continuously crossing three mountains, Tie Wa finally let out a sigh of relief and pointed to the deep mountains ahead, saying, “We were cutting firewood in there a few days ago. After cutting the firewood, we carried it to Tianxin Prefecture to sell. Two bundles of firewood can probably sell for fifty copper coins.”
He Xiuyuan looked back at the mountains they had just crossed. Those mountains were very difficult to traverse. Walking so far just to cut some firewood, this livelihood was truly not easy.
But because of this, the firewood was also very expensive. Fifty copper coins for two bundles of firewood, ordinary families would find it hard to afford to burn. No wonder firewood, rice, oil, and salt, firewood was ranked first.
“What rules do you have when you go into the mountains to cut firewood?”
He Xiuyuan looked towards the deep mountains, vaguely seeming to see something.
“Naturally, there are.”
Tie Wa licked his lips upon hearing this, “When cutting firewood, if we cut down old trees that have been around for many years, we have to put our hands together and bow.”
“Some old people say that some old trees that have been around for many years have spirits. If you cut them down indiscriminately and are not respectful, you will provoke their retaliation.”
“I heard that a woodcutter in the village once disrespected a tree. He and others from the village were cutting a centuries-old tree. Everyone else respectfully bowed to the tree, but he didn’t.”
“Later, several people worked together to cut the tree. When the woodcutter saw that the tree was about to fall, he went to relieve himself in the distance, leaving the remaining bit to the other woodcutters to cut.”
“However, the tree trunk had clearly only a little left to be cut, but the tree just wouldn’t fall. When that man returned after relieving himself, the tree suddenly crashed down, directly crushing him to death.”
