Four Misfortune Calamities, Kill Blade and Injury Owl

After listening to Corpse Head Song, my mind was in complete turmoil.

There was too much information to process, and I had trouble digesting it all at once.

A doomed early death? A bad fate? Haunted by ghosts? My girlfriend had been protecting me? Fortune Coins?

I fell silent for a while, my expression complicated.

I sorted through everything Corpse Head Song had told me.

According to him, my fate carried the Four Calamities: Kill, Blade, Injury, and Owl.

In fortune-telling, this was called having the Four Misfortune Calamities in one's Eight Characters. People with such a fate generally did not live long.

The main reason I had survived until now was my ex-girlfriend, Xiao Yu.

According to Corpse Head Song,

the coins she had given me were not Ghost-Falling Money meant to claim my life. Otherwise, I would have died long ago, and no other ghosts would have needed to haunt me.

What she had given me were Fortune Coins, also known as Life-Extending Money.

After Xiao Yu and I split up, I lost my source of Fortune Blessing.

On my own,

I could no longer suppress the Four Calamities in my fate.

The Four Calamities would constantly eat away at me, wrapping me in turbid energy.

Naturally, that made me someone close to death.

Ghosts would then set their sights on me and haunt me, causing these corpse spots to appear on my body.

This explanation completely surpassed everything I knew. It overturned my medical knowledge and imagination.

It was far too mystical and bizarre.

But it also explained why I could always see filthy things, and why those things kept coming after me.

Because my fate was bad, I was close to death, and my Yang Fire was weak.

Seeing my grave expression and lowered head, Corpse Head Song spoke again.

"This is how it is!

With a fate like yours, you should have lived no longer than twenty.

Yet you lived for more than another year.

And a year ago was exactly when you met your ex-girlfriend.

That proves one thing: you should have died a year ago.

For most ordinary people,

only those near death can see ghosts.

Yet because of this, you survived until now.

During that time, you received coins from her at specific times.

That shows your ex-girlfriend was using Fortune Coins to protect you."

Having said that, Corpse Head Song paused briefly before continuing.

"You gave her coins, and she returned longevity and luck to you.

What was consumed was the Four Misfortunes of Kill-Blade-Injury-Owl within you.

That was how you lived for another year.

Now, she can no longer protect you. Without Fortune Coins, you naturally have no more source of longevity and luck.

And your fate carries Kill-Blade-Injury-Owl.

Over time, the energy of those Four Calamities will keep accumulating, and you will die.

The filthy things will naturally come.

It is a vicious cycle, continuing until death."

Corpse Head Song flicked his fishing rod as he casually analyzed and answered my questions.

He explained my fate in detail, as well as why my ex-girlfriend had asked me for coins and why she had given coins back to me.

Because she had been silently extending my life...

Xiao Yu might have been a ghost, but when I thought of all this, I felt that she truly was a good girl. I owed her far too much.

At the same time, it was clear that Corpse Head Song's abilities in this field were indeed far superior to Uncle Yu's.

Based on my current condition and what I had experienced, he had identified the key details and reasons behind it all. His attainment in this field was clearly extraordinary.

But the conclusion he gave was hard for me to accept.

According to him, there was something wrong with my fate.

Surviving until now had already been my limit.

I was doomed to die. There was no saving me.

Even if Zhang Qiang, that Drowned Ghost, was sent away, a second or third ghost would still appear.

In the end, I would still die from being haunted by ghosts...

Unless Xiao Yu came back and continued giving me those "Fortune Coins."

If she let me use them once or twice every month, I could continue preserving my life.

But that was obviously unrealistic, because I did not even know where Xiao Yu had gone.

Besides, Xiao Yu herself might have run into serious trouble.

But I was unwilling to die like this...

So I looked at Corpse Head Song and said,

"Master Song, is there a permanent way to save my life?

I don't want to die. I still want to see my grandfather through his final days, and I still want to become a doctor.

I want to live."

Corpse Head Song continued casting his line and fishing. In the same casual tone, he said,

"There is a way!

Either your ex-girlfriend returns and does as she did before.

She can continue using her method to seek Fortune Blessing for you.

You take the Fortune Coins she gives you and use them once or twice a month.

Then you can extend your life and avoid death.

Or you learn to seek Fortune Blessing yourself.

Otherwise, in as little as one day and at most three,

you will be haunted by other ghosts again, and you will still die..."

Xiao Yu could barely protect herself, and her situation was unknown.

That meant I could only rely on myself. "Master Song, then how do I seek Fortune Blessing on my own?"

Corpse Head Song smiled.

"Seeking Fortune Blessing is not difficult.

Pick up some trash when you go outside, help an old lady cross the street, and you will gain longevity and Fortune Blessing."

I froze slightly.

If that was enough to extend my life, then it was too easy.

If I wanted to live, I would definitely have to do great deeds.

And the greatest deeds were nothing more than saving people's lives.

"So as long as I save people, I can gain the greatest Fortune Blessing?"

I asked without thinking.

Corpse Head Song chuckled.

"You catch on quickly.

That's right, saving people brings great Fortune Blessing.

But people are not so easy to save.

Even if you were a practicing doctor right now, you probably still could not withstand the Four Misfortune Calamities in your fate."

Hearing that, a worried look crossed my face.

Then I continued asking,

"Master Song, aside from that, is there any other way?"

Corpse Head Song still did not look at me directly. He answered absentmindedly,

"Of course there is.

People have life and death; the world has yin and yang.

The living can be saved, and so can the dead.

In this world,

there are always people unwilling to breathe their last.

Corpses unwilling to enter their coffins.

Ghosts unwilling to go to the underworld.

If you can resolve such things, the Fortune Blessing you gain will be greater than saving ten people.

The fate of the Four Calamities upon you will naturally be broken, and you will be able to keep living."

After hearing that, I was speechless.

Were those things not exactly the filthy things?

I was currently being haunted by filthy things and could barely protect myself.

If I had the ability to deal with them, I would not have needed to come beg him for help.

At that moment, Corpse Head Song turned around.

He looked at me again with that strange gaze and said,

"Of course, an ordinary kid like you definitely cannot deal with those filthy things.

But since you were recommended by my junior brother,

and I can see you have some aptitude,

how about this? I happen to be short-handed.

Become my disciple and work as my apprentice.

I will teach you some skills to preserve your life.

Afterward, follow me and collect corpses along the Yangtze River. Make a living from the dead.

That way, you will have the ability to seek Fortune Blessing yourself and extend your own life.

You can even become a Corpse Collector like me. What do you say?"

Hearing that, I froze on the spot.

He wanted to take me as his disciple?

Become the disciple of this hot-tempered fishing old man?

Become a Corpse Collector?

To be honest, I did not want to at all.

My goal was to become a doctor. All these years of hard work had been so I could eventually work at a major hospital.

Not become a Corpse Collector.

But we had only met for the first time.

And Corpse Head Song had already taken the initiative to ask me to become his apprentice.

Why?

Because I was handsome? And he would not even charge me money.

Or simply because he needed an apprentice to run errands for him?

I did not think there were such easy bargains in this world.

Or perhaps...

he had taken a liking to my messed-up Eight Characters?

After all, when he finished calculating my Eight Characters earlier, he had stared at me with an excited expression.

Could my Eight Characters be useful to him?

Corpse Head Song saw that I remained silent.

His expression instantly darkened.

"Kid, what are you still thinking about?

Your life only has a day or two left.

If you want to live, you can only learn to seek Fortune Blessing yourself.

But in Mountain City,

apart from me, Song Decai, no one else can teach you such skills."

I raised my head, looked at the proud Corpse Head Song, and said,

"Master Song, you want to take me as your disciple? Are there conditions?"

Corpse Head Song was stunned for a moment by my question.

Then he smiled faintly.

"You're not stupid, kid.

Naturally, there are conditions.

After all, I do not lightly pass my skills on to others.

If you become my disciple, I will teach you methods to preserve your life.

But for the next five years, your life will belong to me, and you must work for me.

If I tell you to go left, you cannot go right.

Even if I told you to die that day, you would have to do it.

Otherwise, I would personally take your life.

If you were willing, I would be your master.

If you were unwilling, I would still do as I said before and protect you for one night.

And for Yu Long's sake,

I would even help send away that filthy thing clinging to you.

As for what happened afterward, you would have to fend for yourself.

You and I would have nothing to do with each other anymore.

I would not help you again.

Now, choose for yourself!