Chapter 143: Damn
Chapter 143: Damn
Without even looking or her saying it, Li Zian knew what her condition was.
Back then, he had wanted to use helping her find her parents as a condition to get information about Yu Meilin and Hank from her. He never expected the tables to turn, and now she was using the same method to make a deal with him.
“You know what my condition is, right?” Kun Li stared directly at Li Zian, her eyes full of expectation.
Li Zian nodded and asked her another question, “Are you prepared?”
Kun Li said, “I have been preparing all this time. I followed the method you mentioned. Even if I couldn’t find anything, I still looked.”
Li Zian reached out his right hand to Kun Li and opened his palm, “Since you are prepared, I will perform a divination for you now. Use your finger to draw on my palm. Draw with your eyes closed, thinking about what you are seeking in your heart. I will tell you when to stop.”
Kun Li placed a finger on Li Zian’s palm, closed her eyes, and began to draw.
Inside the Great Sluggish Cauldron, green smoke curled upward. The symbols and patterns on the cauldron emitted a faint green light. Those glowing symbols and patterns were like the working indicator lights of a computer: the power fan started, the CPU began to operate, the graphics card started working, the monitor lit up…
It was a very strange feeling.
After one minute, Li Zian said, “Okay.”
Kun Li stopped drawing and lifted her finger from Li Zian’s palm.
Li Zian closed his eyes, looking serene and composed.
The divination symbol appeared: two large birds flying toward the setting sun.
This symbol made Li Zian’s heart sink slightly. Even before the hexagram interpretation came out, he had a bad feeling.
The hexagram interpretation appeared: The wicked wolf parents joyfully have a son, and throw the year-old daughter by the roadside. The child wants to find them, but the parents are no longer there. The ancient moon sibling comes on his own.
Li Zian opened his eyes.
“How is it? How can I find my parents?” Kun Li was very anxious.
Li Zian remained silent for a moment before saying, “You drew two large birds flying toward the setting sun in my hand. That is a divination symbol meaning ‘riding a crane to the west’.”
“Ah?” Kun Li was instantly stunned.
Li Zian said, “I know it’s hard for you to accept this fact, but… this divination cannot be wrong. Your parents are no longer in this world.”
Kun Li’s emotions suddenly became out of control, “I don’t believe it! Your calculation is not accurate at all. I don’t believe it!”
Li Zian sighed, “I know you are hurting. Whether you believe it or not, I will still interpret it for you. The hexagram interpretation for your divination is: The wicked wolf parents joyfully have a son, and throw the year-old daughter by the roadside. The child wants to find them, but the parents are no longer there. The ancient moon sibling comes on his own. The reason your parents abandoned you back then was because you were a daughter. They preferred a son, so after your brother was born, they abandoned you. ‘And throw the year-old daughter by the roadside’ means you were only one year old at the time. ‘The ancient moon sibling comes on his own’ means your sibling’s surname is Hu. You don’t need to look for him; he will come to find you on his own.”
Tears welled up in Kun Li’s eyes.
In this short time, she had essentially suffered two heavy blows.
The first heavy blow was that she had never even seen what her parents looked like, never had a chance to say a single word to them, and yet her parents were no longer in this world, separated forever by life and death.
The second heavy blow was that her belief in finding her parents was almost what supported her entire life. She never expected her parents to be so heartless, to not love her at all, and to throw her away after having a brother. What good would it do to find such parents?
Li Zian comforted her, “Don’t be too sad. Just pretend I never performed this divination for you. Keep the image of your parents as you imagined them in your heart.”
Two tears rolled down from the corners of Kun Li’s eyes.
Li Zian didn’t know what else to say, but he knew Kun Li was not an ordinary woman. She had her own beliefs and was very strong. Perhaps she didn’t need any comfort at all.
Kun Li spaced out for a moment, wiped the tear stains from the corners of her eyes, took a deep breath, and then calmed down.
Li Zian felt quite impressed. If it were him, he couldn’t have walked away from two such heavy blows so quickly, but she did it.
“‘The ancient moon sibling comes on his own.’ You said my younger brother’s surname is Hu. What is the basis for this? I prefer it to be an exact name, that he is called Gu Yue.” Kun Li said.
Li Zian said, “That’s what you hope. You want to find your younger brother, right?”
Kun Li nodded, “He is my only relative in this world. No matter what, I want to meet him. He probably has photos of my parents. I also want to see what my parents looked like.”
Li Zian said, “If it were an exact name, the hexagram interpretation would reflect it. But this is not an exact name. I perform the divination, I interpret it. You hope it is an exact name, but it just isn’t. Otherwise, why doesn’t the hexagram interpretation directly tell you where he is? Wouldn’t it be better if it let you find him directly?”
Kun Li said, “Right, why not tell me directly?”
Li Zian sighed, “What does the world run on?”
Kun Li was slightly stunned, “What do you mean?”
Li Zian said, “The world doesn’t run on laws, airplanes, or cannons. Have you heard the saying, ‘There is a destined will in the unseen’? What is Heaven’s Will?”
Kun Li shook her head, confused.
Li Zian gave a wry smile, “I don’t know either. I just want to tell you that the destined connection between you and your brother hasn’t arrived yet. When the destined connection arrives, he will find you on his own. You don’t need to look for him; you wouldn’t find him even if you tried. Otherwise, if your destined connection had arrived, the hexagram interpretation would not only tell you the exact name but might even give you the exact address for you to find him. The hexagram interpretation is vague, which means your destined connection hasn’t arrived. You shouldn’t force it.”
“Then how will he find me?” Kun Li was still a bit puzzled.
Li Zian said, “Your parents probably left some information. They might also have known you were taken in by Dean Kun. Wouldn’t checking your records reveal it? You said you looked for Dean Kun after returning to the country. If your younger brother goes to that Dean Kun to get your phone number, calls you, and arranges a time and place to meet, wouldn’t you siblings be able to meet?”
“Okay.” Kun Li looked at Li Zian, “Although the result is not what I wanted, you let me know how I was abandoned… Thank you.”
Li Zian said, “You’re welcome. Talk to me, what else have you found out?”
He actually wanted to talk to Kun Li more about Hank and Yu Meilin’s story, but he guessed Kun Li wouldn’t tell him. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have waited until today, using the investigation of Pan Renlong as a bargaining chip to make a deal with him. If she didn’t want to say, why force her? From another perspective, he actually admired Kun Li’s loyalty to Yu Meilin.
Kun Li said, “I hired a hacker on the Underground Network. The information you saw was all found by him. Additionally, he intercepted an email sent to Pan Renlong, which is related to you.”
“What email?”
“Of course, it was an encrypted email. The person who sent the email to Pan Renlong had the surname Huang, but there was no full name, just a surname.”
A name suddenly popped into Li Zian’s mind—Huang Bo.
Kun Li continued, “That person surnamed Huang told Pan Renlong to arrange for you to treat him and to use a virus called SA01. I asked the hacker to look into it, but he found nothing. We don’t know where that virus came from.”
Li Zian fell into deep thought.
He didn’t expect things to become so complicated.
He had a strong feeling that the person who sent the encrypted email to Pan Renlong was Huang Bo. But what was strange was exactly this: Huang Bo and Pan Renlong were two people who had no connection whatsoever. How did they get involved?
“That’s all. Information worth a hundred thousand dollars. Was it worth it?” Kun Li asked.
Li Zian said, “It was worth more than the price. Later, teach me how to access the Underground Network.”
“Why do you want to go on the Underground Network?”
Li Zian said, “There should be many people on the Underground Network who need help with their troubles. I am a Master. I think I should have a market.”
Kun Li shook her head, “Believe me, you wouldn’t want those clients.”
“Why?”
“The people on the Underground Network are those who can’t see the light. What they seek are also things that can’t see the light. You are a person with a wife and child living in the sunlight. Why would you contact those people?”
Li Zian thought for a moment, “Then lend me your account. I’ll just take a look to satisfy my curiosity, okay?”
Kun Li said, “I have to ask Meilin about this. If she agrees, I’ll lend you the account and teach you how to access the Underground Network. If she doesn’t agree, I won’t lend it or teach you.”
Li Zian: “…”
Her loyalty to Yu Meilin was a good thing, but sometimes it could also be exasperating.
“What do you think about this?” Kun Li asked.
Li Zian said, “I need to think it over. You go back first. If I still need you to investigate something, I’ll provide the funds. Don’t let Meilin get involved in these matters.”
Kun Li nodded, “Okay, I’m going back to the company.”
After Kun Li left, Li Zian sat on the edge of the bed, thinking.
As he thought, the words he heard Huang Bo say to Hong Baohui that night when he caught Huang Bo and entered the Incense Burning State suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Huang Bo said he had been discovered and was going to the United States. That Hong Baohui even looked forward to going to the United States with him to enjoy a good life, but instead, Huang Bo strangled her to death.
“Huang Bo stole that skeleton over ten years ago. Did he go to the United States? If he went to the United States and committed crimes here, did he take the risk to come back because he was looking for something? He could send an encrypted email to a major like Pan Renlong, telling Pan Renlong to poison me. That means his status and position are higher than Pan Renlong’s… Damn, could he be a big secret agent boss?” Suddenly realizing this possibility, Li Zian was startled. He hurriedly took out his mobile phone and found Liu Jun’s number.
But just as he was about to tap the contact Liu Jun, his finger retracted.
Liu Jun was just a police captain, not a secret agent. That night, if Huang Bo hadn’t discovered there was someone behind the courtyard wall, he would most likely have killed Liu Jun. Getting him involved again would be like harming him, wouldn’t it?
Moreover, the sender of that encrypted email was only surnamed Huang. There was no evidence proving it was Huang Bo.
This matter also involved a major-level military attaché from the U.S. embassy. Liu Jun’s identity as a police captain wouldn’t be useful either.
Li Zian continued his analysis, “Assume that person surnamed Huang is Huang Bo. He instructed Pan Renlong to trap me using the SA01 virus. Huang Bo killed because of that symbol. The thing he came back to look for must also be related to that symbol. Then Pan Renlong is also related to that symbol. If Huang Bo is his superior, then he is helping Huang Bo look for that thing. What they are looking for couldn’t be my Great Sluggish Cauldron, could it?… Damn!”
Damn. Although this word was very rude, it was enough to express any emotion—joy, anger, sorrow, happiness. It could be considered the all-purpose word in the Chinese language.
Ring ring, ring ring…
The mobile phone he had just put down rang with an incoming call.