𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧
“Is this Jiang Chu from the Martial College?”
Deng Ying curiously scrutinizes Jiang Chu and asks.
As a prominent figure in the academy, even if many students don’t recognize Jiang Chu’s face, they definitely know her name.
This is the first time Deng Ying has come this close to her, and she can’t help but feel intrigued.
“I am Jiang Chu.” Jiang Chu meets her gaze and nods with a smile.
This Deng Ying is also quite an interesting person.
According to Liu Lu and Yuan Fang, Deng Ying has the highest spiritual sense in the whole academy. Then why does the Dean want to send Zhong Huai to the Divination Master Guild instead of Deng Ying?
This is because Deng Ying comes from a martial arts family with a distinguished background. If her family had their way, they would, of course, want her to follow the path of martial arts.
However, Deng Ying is stubborn; she is interested in divination. Even if her family forcefully sends her to the Martial College, she won’t attend classes or practice martial arts. Eventually, the academy couldn’t take it anymore and contacted her family—
What are you going to do if your child refuses to attend classes and doesn’t participate in competitions or regular training?
Either you take her back, or, according to her wishes, transfer her to the Divination College.
At this point, the Deng family had to compromise under Deng Ying’s pleas.
You want to go to Divination College? Fine, go for two years. If you can make a name for yourself in that time, you can continue; otherwise, obediently return to Martial College!
Both parties agreed: Deng Ying would remain in the Divination College for two years and participate in the all-state Divination Master competition afterward. If she ranks in the top 50, she can choose her path; otherwise, she can never touch anything related to divination ever again!
The two-year period hasn’t yet ended, so Deng Ying can’t go to the Divination Master Guild and must stay in the academy.
Deng Ying also smiles at Jiang Chu, a quick glint passing through her eyes.
Jiang Chu seems quite pleasant and is not as arrogant and difficult as rumors suggest. It looks like the rumors are false.
Rumors of losing her martial skills and going insane, taking off her dudou in public, all are mere rumors!
Rumors are indeed not to be trusted!
“Seems like very few people have come to class today. It’s been a while and there are not even ten people,” Liu Lu observes as she looks around.
“Where is Yuan Tu?” Jiang Chu asks.
It seems like it’s time for class; the students are already waiting, but where is the teacher?
“He usually arrives a bit late. . . . . .” Yuan Fang whispers.
“Ahem, he’ll be here in another 15 minutes. Why don’t we find something to do in the meantime? How about we do some divination for each other?” Deng Ying suggests, her eyes gleaming.
“I’ve had enough of divination; you all go ahead,” Zhong Huai is the first to respond.
“Why don’t we pair up and do readings for each other to see if they’re accurate? Or we can all focus on the same issue,” Deng Ying proposes.
“I’d like to do a reading for Jiang Chu. How about we all see if her martial abilities can be restored? There might be good news,” Yuan Fang says.
Yuan Fang feels grateful because Jiang Chu just saved her, but also worried thinking about Jiang Chu’s situation. She wants to do something for Jiang Chu.
“Sure, sure,” Liu Lu happily agrees.
“Why should we do a reading for her? What does her recovery have to do with me? Besides, it’s pretty clear without divination.”
A lazy voice comes from behind. Everyone instinctively turns to see a skinny young man with a pointy face and cheekbones, casually sitting on a cushion, playing with his divining sticks.
“Hei Hou, what are you saying?” Yuan Fang frowned in displeasure.
“I’m not wrong, am I? She ruined her own martial arts skills with her practice. She gave up herself, otherwise, why would she come to the Divination College? Is there even a point in divining anything?” Hei Hou rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed. “When she was thriving, it had nothing to do with us. Now that she’s down, it’s also none of our business, or at least, none of mine.”
“I think Hei Hou has a point,” agreed a young girl behind him, nodding.
When she used to be a genius and looked down on them, why should they sympathize with her now that she has fallen?
“I know my own body, thanks for your concern. How about. . . . . .let’s predict when Teacher Yuan will arrive? Whoever gets the most accurate time wins, sound good?” Jiang Chu suggested.
She didn’t think there was anything wrong with what Hei Housaid.
To divine or not to divine is one’s own freedom. His words were just a bit blunt and tinged with a bit of bitterness, but he wasn’t wrong for speaking that way.
Besides, divining her own state wouldn’t be appropriate as it’s not something that could be proven in a short period, and it wouldn’t help improve anyone’s abilities.
Better to predict Teacher Yuan’s arrival time; the answer to that would be known quickly.
“Ah, that’s a great idea!”
“Not bad, I agree!”
“Sure, let’s predict when Teacher Yuan will arrive!”
Jiang Chu’s suggestion gained unanimous approval, and even Hei Hou and the girl behind him stopped voicing objections.
“We should hurry then, it would be awkward if Teacher Yuan arrives before we finish divining,” Deng Ying chuckled.
With that, everyone took their seats on the mats and pulled out their divination tools.
Jiang Chu observed that among the nine students present, everyone else except her used divining sticks.
She took out a wooden piece from her bosom.
Tools should be well-maintained, especially the ones you’re accustomed to, as familiarity with weight, feel, and scent minimizes disturbances during divination, making the results more accurate.
So, Jiang Chu had Hua Lan sew her a pouch with a drawstring closure to protect them from wear and tear and avoid losing any.
Being a newcomer, Jiang Chu caught people’s attention when she took out her divining piece, as they were curious about her divination methods.
Upon seeing it, they were baffled.
“Jiang Chu, what is this?” Yuan Fang asked, startled.
Their divining tools consisted of a canister and sticks, but Jiang Chu only had a wooden piece that differed in shape and size from their sticks.
Though Yuan Tu was not very dedicated to his work, he had taught them about basic divining tools and types.
But they couldn’t recall seeing this type of wooden piece before.
“I’ve never seen it either,” said Zhong Huai, turning his head to look and sounding puzzled.
“…Jiang Chu, where did you get this? You weren’t scammed, were you?” Deng Ying asked hesitantly.
“This is outrageous. What kind of store sells divining sticks like this? Isn’t this a scam?” Hei Hou was speechless, “You better go find the seller quickly, perhaps you could mitigate some losses if you act fast.”
(End of Chapter)
