The 120,000-Gold-Coin Divination Result Was in the Newspaper

By the time Roman Brown hit the floor, the hem of his magic-deflecting coat had only just lifted to wrap around him.

He truly hadn't expected the president of the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce to dare attack him.

He remembered that the president's son had died, but Wig Brown had killed him. What did that have to do with him, Roman Brown?

Besides, so many years had passed. Why was the man still holding a grudge?

Even setting that aside, wasn't his son even a little at fault for taking Sealed Artifact 3-0771 to the academy?

The man actually dared attack him...

Roman Brown's eyes turned red. He no longer cared about Sealed Artifact 3-0771. The pain of the cracked bone in his cheek was an insult, and the blood that flowed was an even greater humiliation.

Pure white flames of rage, formed from his mental power and almost solid, spilled from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth and surged back at Saidaiyang.

Cynthia sighed. Her younger brother was the youngest child in the family. Though their father, Miuan Brown, often belittled him with words, he had never let him suffer the slightest hardship in daily life. At heart, he was still spoiled and willful.

She had a faint suspicion that the two of them might indeed be in the wrong, but her brother had already attacked. She couldn't turn around and help an outsider, nor did she think she could stop either side anymore.

Once many things had begun, people's actions were no longer governed by conscience and reason.

Just like now, she didn't think Saidaiyang was in the wrong. She also understood that he might indeed not have Sealed Artifact 3-0771, and that continuing to fight was meaningless.

But she still struck.

She raised a hand over her head and turned her palm upward. As she glanced askance, a wide-area mental shock burst bloody sprays from the eyes, ears, noses, and mouths of the dozen or so chamber members in the front hall.

"Elder sister, help me kill them all," Roman Brown said.

"..." After a brief silence, Cynthia reminded him:

"We haven't found Sealed Artifact 3-0771 yet."

"It's in their hands. Kill them all, and we'll definitely find it."

He ordered Cynthia around, his words no longer following any reason.

He made no effort to lower his voice. He was angrier than the president of the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce had been earlier, and his voice carried even farther.

Even inside the carriages passing on the opposite side of the street, anyone whose windows weren't tightly shut could hear him.

On Pine Nut Avenue, a hired carriage stopped across from the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce.

An old man and a young man stepped out. They didn't approach the chamber, merely watching from a distance.

"Turning a small matter into a big one, and going in the wrong direction, too. Bai Luo, that's your third uncle," the old man said with a sigh.

If he wanted to settle the dispute, he could do it with a wave of his hand.

But the old man still wouldn't give up. He wanted to use Roman Brown to teach Bai Luo a lesson:

"Noble status is often like a shackle. You can't lose face, and you can't disgrace your family name. I'm afraid Roman won't be able to break free."

Bai Luo looked up from the newspaper and glanced across the street.

He had read the newspaper he'd taken from Kaiming Clinic two or three times over, but unfortunately, the Education Bureau had controlled the information it released very carefully. Apart from learning that Xie Yu was from Black Pine City and had looked like a thirteen-year-old boy three years ago, the entire article was full of empty words. It heaped praise on the outstanding young examinee Xie Yu for his unflagging efforts to better himself, but contained no actual details.

"At least third uncle is frank," he mused:

"In the end, you'll still go help third uncle, and so will I. None of us can escape the shackles of nobility."

That left Miuan speechless again.

"Do you think Wig Brown might be watching us, enjoying the sight? Watching the Browns take a wrong turn after his scheme succeeded?" Bai Luo looked around at the streets, trying to find a passerby who had stopped to admire his own handiwork.

"If he and Sealed Artifact 3-0771 were nearby, I'd recognize him," Miuan said.

His gaze remained fixed, but he had already scanned every passerby, as well as everyone in the buildings on both sides of the street. Whether they were at home or at work, all were within the range of his sweep.

"He really can hold himself back. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't be able to resist taking a look."

Bai Luo spoke in admiration.

For some reason, he felt a little admiration for "Wig Brown," the granduncle he had never met. He had ventured north alone, spent ten years honing himself and taming a sealed artifact, devised a scheme on his own, and played the Browns for fools by faking his death twice. Who could dare say he wasn't formidable?

With his own third uncle putting on such an energetic performance across the street, could anyone really resist coming to watch?

Of all the people on this trip to Black Pine City, the ones who interested Bai Luo most were the perfect scorer in the newspaper and Wig Brown.

"Do you think Wig Brown might be disguised as the president of the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce? That would be the best position to watch third uncle's reaction!" Bai Luo felt as though he had contracted some strange illness: everyone he looked at seemed to be Wig Brown.

Miuan's mouth turned down at the corners, marveling at how wildly his grandson's imagination ran.

"Do I look like Wig Brown to you?"

"Oh, right. That's not impossible either."

"..."

"Grandfather, I was joking."

Bai Luo smiled obediently, then looked across the street with a show of alarm.

"Oh dear, Aunt Cynthia really is going to kill someone. Aren't you going to stop her?"

"This is happening in broad daylight, in front of everyone. You can't kill every last person, can you?"

Cynthia had attacked the entire Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce.

Across the street, Saidaiyang, president of the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce, dodged Roman Brown's flames. The man cast spells slowly and, aside from his ability to shout and the few portable magic artifacts he carried, had little real fighting ability. In a one-on-one fight, Saidaiyang was confident he could toy with the inept noble.

But Cynthia, who stood nearby, was immensely troublesome. Every move she made came without warning, and every spell was cast without an incantation. Even her simplest mental attacks were packed with power. Clearly, she had spent many years immersed in the field of mind and soul.

There were also many others in the building. Saidaiyang had intended to retreat and carry two innocent people out with him, but Cynthia seized the chance. Pure white flames shot out like a fiery serpent, about to pierce the back of his neck.

"Those two, always causing trouble instead of doing anything useful."

Miuan Brown sighed softly and reached across the street, giving a gentle tug.

Dozens of meters away, invisible threads seemed to catch Cynthia Brown and Roman Brown by their brainstems. The two suddenly felt weightless and lost their footing, falling backward involuntarily.

The siblings' mental power collapsed in that instant, and the spirituality around them and their harmful magic dissipated. Even their breathing and heartbeats became difficult to sustain, their minds and souls hanging from those invisible threads.

Miuan Brown walked slowly across the street and into the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce. Looking at the two Browns on the floor, he said coldly:

"What did I tell you at the beginning? Keep a low profile. Have you forgotten?"

"F-Father..." Roman Brown lay on the floor and struggled to push himself into a sitting position. His madness had faded, replaced by fear.

Cynthia didn't dare speak and merely kept her head lowered.

Miuan turned and walked toward Saidaiyang, a smile lifting his aged cheeks.

"Long time no see, Mr. President. I thought there was no longer any hatred between us. After all, I compensated you on Wig Brown's behalf with the gold coins you demanded, and I helped your business too. If those things couldn't dispel your anger, why did you ask for them at the time?"

Saidaiyang was filled with endless resentment, yet facing the old man's face, he couldn't say a word. What reason could one appeal to with a Magister? Whether before or now, had he truly had any room to refuse?

"All right, let us put everything behind us. We both know perfectly well that nothing happened just now," Miuan said.

The old man stood quietly as pure white flames poured like waterfalls from his eyes, his cuffs, and beneath his robes.

They instantly engulfed the entire front hall of the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce, climbing from everyone's ankles to their eyes before piercing into their brains.

The white flames flowed into the street, seeking out passersby who might have heard something and clinging to them without their knowledge.

The process was quick, taking only a few minutes.

Miuan took Roman and Cynthia away and rejoined Bai Luo.

Soon, it was as though nothing had happened in the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce building. It returned to operating as it had before Roman's visit: the front desk welcomed guests, security made its rounds, and Saidaiyang discussed a food deal in the reception room.

Everything was as usual, except that everyone had a faint ache in their head, as though they had suffered a mental shock, and everyone was a little more tired, as though the pleasant daytime sun had made them drowsy.

"We suspected 3-0771 was at the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce, so..." Roman protested.

Miuan raised a hand, signaling him to shut up. "I've already heard your report. There's no need to say more. Wrong is wrong."

"Father, what should we do next?" Cynthia asked respectfully.

"Choose the best restaurant, have lunch with Bai Luo, and then have afternoon tea," Miuan said.

"Yes, that's what we should do." Bai Luo nodded.

Before receiving the Sage-level divination result, acting without a goal was meaningless.

Judging by the time, the process might take a while longer: his father had to write to the Sages on friendly terms with the family, the Sages had to find time to handle this little divination and watch the gold coins come in, and then his father had to pass along the result. There was just enough time for lunch and afternoon tea.

The family sat together, chatting about amusing things, a little gathering on their travels.

What a wonderful day it was.

Though his third uncle and aunt might not have been in the mood.

The Browns found a restaurant and soon ate and drank their fill.

Bai Luo waited for the divination result to come back. Finally, his hat reacted.

A passage of text dropped from the cloud, sped through the restaurant window, and landed in Bai Luo's head.

"Please note that the bill is 120,000 gold coins. The following is the divination result, repeated verbatim."

"[Silly Bai Luo, at the moment you read this message, 3-0771 is on the first seat on the west side of the reception room in room 1002, on the tenth floor of the Pinewood Inn in Black Pine City. It is being worn and held by a person named Xie Yu, who is accompanied nearby by Two-Star Magister Yize, head of the Inspection Department of the North Province Provincial Education Department. I have a faint feeling that little Bai Luo will be very unhappy with this result.]"

Xie Yu? The newspaper said that North Province's perfect-scoring examinee was also named Xie Yu... Bai Luo froze for a moment.

A waiter passed through the restaurant. Seeing that the guests in this booth were generous with their money and seemed silent and bored, he took the initiative to approach. He carried newspapers in his arms and wanted to ask whether they would like some to read with their tea and refreshments, to pass this lovely, peaceful afternoon.

"The Northern Morning News has an extra edition printed especially for today. Would you care for one?"

Bai Luo was still shocked by the divination result and wanted to tell his grandfather the result that had cost 120,000 gold coins. He was about to send the annoying waiter away.

But when he looked up, he saw the large headline on the front page of the newspaper the waiter held:

"North Province's perfect-scoring examinee Xie Yu accuses the Brown Family of persecuting him! Sealed Artifact 3-0771 contains shocking evidence of the Brown Family's crimes! One cannot help but ask: what are the Browns plotting?"