Black Snake coiled around Lone Crag, his enormous, savage head reaching over its summit as he watched Xu Jin with one eye.
Xiao Yu tilted her head and leaned toward the strange instruments, looking left and right. She touched one lightly with a claw, then drew it back, her eyes brimming with curiosity. Xu Jin crouched on Lone Crag, trying every method available to him over and over.
No matter how he calculated it, nothing came out right.
In his frustration, he tugged hard at his hair, first on the left, then on the right. Strands of white hair stood on end, a tangled mess like a clump of withered grass perched on his head.
He muttered under his breath.
"I don't think it works on cultivators, not even demons..."
"It might also be that my cultivation falls short of yours, Snake Brother. Your fate carries too much weight for me to see through..."
"Sorry, Snake Brother. I really can't do anything. Unless you learn it yourself and give it a try, or leave everything to fate and wait patiently."
With his white hair in disarray, Xu Jin gave a rueful smile. During his travels beyond the mountains, he had told many people's fortunes, divining marriages, worldly success, good luck, ill fortune, disaster, and blessing. Every prediction had been accurate.
Those people had crowded around him, calling him a living Immortal at every turn, all but ready to burn incense and paper offerings in his honor.
He had never expected to hit a wall with Black Snake.
Black Snake thought for a moment, then raised his head and spoke earnestly.
"I want to learn."
Xu Jin took out several books, opened them, and pushed them beneath Black Snake's eye. Faced with densely packed characters and winding diagrams, Black Snake fell