"I shouldn't have gotten involved with you!" The old cripple was full of resentment as he limped away.

Chen Weichen sincerely grabbed him, "Old Cripple, we're friends despite our age difference."

"Who wants to be friends with you!" The old cripple was very disdainful.

"Old Cripple, if not for my sake, then for the sake of that pot of peach blossom wine. Xiao Dao picked the best flowers and dew this time of year, sealed it with clay and buried it under the peach tree. If Wen Hui can't be found, do you think Xiao Dao will have the heart to brew wine?"

Hearing this, the old cripple's eyes darted around, "Your family's wine is indeed a delicacy."

Seeing hope, Chen Weichen refused to let him go, "I'm just asking about Chi Juntian's whereabouts, she won't do anything to you."

The old cripple twirled his sparse white beard, "That witch is really formidable. I made a bet with her. This old man is advanced in years and no longer has the ambition to compete. If she wins, let her win. But the stakes are high, I absolutely can't let her catch me."

Chen Weichen's eyes lit up, "So I just need to stay by your side and wait for her to come collect the debt from you?"

The old man looked around but couldn't find a handy weapon to hit this clueless youngster. He snorted, "Even if she wins, it will take another six or seven months."

Chen Weichen was very disappointed and had no choice but to pester him, "Old Cripple..."

The old cripple had no wife or children in his life. His old bones were about to fall apart. In the end, he finally experienced the feeling of being clung to and wheedled. A chill ran through him as he waved his hands, "Shut up, shut up!"

People on the side of the road gathered in twos and threes to look over. Young Master Chen immediately felt the fear of being recognized and used Xie Lang's horsetail whisk to cover his face.

Old Cripple: "..."

He really didn't know what to do with this thing. He slowly sat down and regained some of the immortal bearing a fortune-teller should have, "Come, let me ask you."

Chen Weichen obediently stood in front of him.

Xie Lang still looked like a mortal Daoist priest, while the other two clearly weren't ordinary people. Therefore, Ye Jiuya and Lu Hongyan didn't get out of the carriage. The old cripple peeked at the carriage window. Through a layer of gauze, he vaguely saw Ye Jiuya's profile. He laughed strangely, "You went out to play and brought back a family!"

Young Master Chen was very pleased by these words. He secretly rejoiced and glanced at the carriage. He didn't mind that this old cripple with poor eyesight couldn't distinguish between men and women from two zhang away. He smiled at him, "Old Cripple, you know me best."

The old cripple chuckled. After a moment, he stopped smiling and said, "Did you look at the divination stick you drew before leaving?"

"I did," Chen Weichen replied, "The rivers and lakes are turbulent, the boat may capsize. In my life, apart from drawing the worst lot, I've never drawn anything else. But even the divination texts were written by my own hand, how can I believe them?"

It turned out that this old cripple had not received the teachings passed down through generations of jianghu diviners. Besides observing the stars and drawing some talismans, he didn't know much. Seeing that other stalls had divination sticks to draw, he also wanted them very much. But he had difficulty with the divination texts. In the end, he conspired with the young master to let him write some poetic lines to replace them.

The old cripple spread out a white cloth and said mysteriously, "In the winter of this year, I was staring at your fate chart and suddenly it changed."

Chen Weichen's curiosity was piqued, "What kind of change? Can I live a few more years?"

The old cripple said, "No, no, it's roughly how you will die."

Young Master Chen closed his fan and gave him a cold look, "There's no need to say such things."

The old cripple: "Your luck is so bad, I originally thought you would die a spectacular death, your soul scattered and punished by heaven and earth. But I didn't expect your death to be rather inglorious."

Chen Weichen glared at him without speaking.

The old cripple took a deep look at the peach tree on the side of the street and sighed, "That woman Chi Juntian definitely won't do anything small. If you get involved, it will be another mess."

"Although Wen Hui and I have a master-servant relationship, we are more like brothers. I can't rest easy, so naturally I want to find him as soon as possible." Chen Weichen's tone became serious.

"Your servant boy, his background is not simple," the old man made a few changes on the fate chart and studied it, "If he hadn't met you, his life would be smooth sailing, a man above men. If you hadn't met him, misfortune would follow you and you would have died an unnatural death long ago. But you were born on the same year, month and day. It's really hard to say if it's fate or a karmic obstacle."

Chen Weichen only said, "You all say that if he leaves me, he will have a smooth life. It seems to be true. In the future when I die, I can also rest assured. But now I still need to find him. Who knows what Chi Juntian will do."

The old cripple closed his eyes in the breeze, "What she can do is nothing more than use this world as a chessboard and living beings as pieces, leveraging luck to fight her way out of a losing game. We once bet on who would break free from the constraints of the Heavenly Dao first and find the method for immortality."

Chen Weichen leaned in, "Then quickly tell me, where can I find traces of her?"

The old cripple shook his head, "If she doesn't want to be discovered, no matter how divine your powers are, you won't find a single trace. But since she has left the mountain, she must be ready to bet everything and gamble with the Heavenly Dao again. At this time, she is either participating in the Heavenly Dao at Tianyan Valley, meditating on the world at Zaohua Terrace, or stirring up trouble in the imperial capital."

Chen Weichen asked him, "Do you believe she can defeat the Heavenly Dao?"

"It's not up to me to believe or not," the old cripple stretched his joints. The setting sun shone through the crisscrossing branches, casting mottled and shifting shadows on his body, just like the talisman on the fate chart. He slowly said, "I have also tried to divine her fate, but stopped halfway through, unable to continue. It seems the Heavenly Dao cannot restrain her either. For a single person to fight against the heavens, the outcome is unknown."

Chen Weichen thoughtfully parted ways with the old cripple and turned to leave.

He heard the old cripple say faintly behind him, "Little Chen, meeting is fate. I don't care where you come from, where you go, or what you want to stir up. Since you came to my stall today, why not draw another divination stick."

Young Master Chen walked away leisurely, "It will only add to my troubles, I won't draw."

Xie Lang followed, listening to the conversation between the two. He was very puzzled.

Chen Weichen returned to the carriage, "Let's go to the imperial capital to join in the excitement."

The carriage was about to leave quickly when a shrew-like female voice was heard, "Heartless one! Come back!"

A woman in fine clothes, followed by several sturdy servants, pointed her delicate jade-like finger at the carriage, her face full of anger.

Xie Lang was calm and collected: "This poor Daoist has calculated that this is probably what the mortal world calls a 'romantic debt', Young Master Chen, I'm afraid you can't explain it clearly today."

"Daoist, you've gone bad, speaking nonsense." Chen Weichen lifted the carriage curtain, looking resigned: "Sister."

It seemed that while he was standing on the street, some sharp-eyed neighbors had indeed spotted him and ran to the Chen manor to report like the wind.

Naturally, this matter ended with the immortal elders in the carriage being respectfully invited into the residence, while the second young master of the Chen family was dragged home in a most undignified manner by his furious elder sister.

The lady of the Chen family kindly attended to the immortal elders, saying "Thank you for looking after this little scoundrel along the way", and wanted them to stay the night. Turning her head, she fiercely glared at the meek little scoundrel: "Why aren't you personally attending to the immortal elders!"

Young Master Chen had wandered through the Daoist and demonic realms, entered ghost cities, descended to the underworld, traversed the void, shared a pool with the Demon Emperor, and even dared to tease the icy Swordmaster Ye, but in the end, he met his nemesis in his hometown in the mortal world.

By this time, it was already dusk. The family insisted they stay, so they remained for the night.

After being lectured by his parents and receiving their concerned inquiries, and finally hearing Madam Chen express how much she missed him, he was released.

As soon as he left the room, he saw Xiao Dao. This somewhat spoiled maidservant, like Wen Hui, had grown up with him and was very much favored by the lady of the house, with a status in the household almost equal to that of the young miss.

Xiao Dao's clear eyes stared at him: "Young Master, where did you take Ah Hui?"

With that, she was about to shed tears.

He had no choice but to hug the girl and comfort her with gentle words, promising that Wen Hui would return home safe and sound within a year.

Xiao Dao sobbed a few times: "Then I'll wait."

Young Master Chen, with a faint fragrance of powder on him, looked up at the stars in the sky, feeling that life had been very difficult lately and that he was very upset - it was not easy being an immortal, and it was not easy being a young master either. He really missed the carefree days before he was nineteen, when he was a rogue without any worries.

However, when he saw that slender figure in white robes standing by the courtyard railing through the sparse flowers and trees, that shallow, light smoke-like worry and sadness immediately vanished, replaced by another kind of sadness.

He had lived in this courtyard for nineteen years, smelling the faint fragrance of grass and trees, which was also familiar. The person in the courtyard was also familiar. For a moment, it seemed as if he had returned home late at night and someone was waiting for him in the moonlight.

This feeling made his eyes sting.

Even his footsteps became lighter as he passed by, for fear of startling the person under the sky.

As he passed by, he heard that person call out: "Chen Weichen."

Author's Note: Good night, going to bed early today~ Let's talk about love in the next chapter _(:3j∠)_