Master had deduced the principles of mutual generation and restraint among the Five Elements from a single dead snake.
It sounded mysterious, but I understood it clearly enough.
I nodded directly at Master.
Useful or not, I would remember it first.
After finishing, Master said to me again:
"This blessing from Grandmaster brought you a pig and a snake.
"But what you saw was that dead snake. That, too, was fated for you.
"But the snake died, and the fire went out.
"Water restrains fire, so in your life, it would be best to stay away from people whose fate carries water."
I nodded and said I would remember.
Seeing this, Master continued:
"Take this snake back to the shop and offer it up for one day.
"Consider it a blessing from Grandmaster.
"Then I can formally teach you some real skills."
I could not make sense of all the mystical stuff about snakes and pigs.
But since Master told me to do it, I had no objections.
I stepped forward and picked up the snake.
It was quite large, at least over two meters long, covered in black scales.
I had no idea what kind of snake it was.
Master, meanwhile, went over to the wild boar's corpse.
The boar had been gutted, a huge section of hide torn away, its intestines spilled everywhere.
Master took a stick of incense from his satchel, lit it, and planted it in front of the boar's head.
He spoke to the boar:
"Go be reborn! In your next life, you may enter the human realm and no longer have to be a beast."
At the same time, I put away the snake corpse.
Master waved at me, then turned and headed back.
In my daze, I seemed to hear a series of