“This tree isn’t ordinary,” Gao Jilin said. “Countless people come here to ask questions and seek divinations. Just think how much power of belief that must have accumulated.”

Old Ge added, “According to legend, although Venerable Muling passed away here, a strand of his spiritual sense merged into the Dao-Seeking Tree. That’s why it has the power to divine fortune and misfortune.”

Jiang Tao looked unconvinced. “That’s possible?”

“Have you never heard of the phrase ‘to entrust one’s body to the same mountain slopes’?” Old Ge had these lines memorized backward and forward. “If one can share oneself with mountain slopes, why not with a giant tree? What problem is there?”

Everyone promptly agreed that the guide was right and there was no problem at all.

He Lingchuan scratched his head. The mysteries of the world were hard for mortals to fathom completely.

At last, they reached the front of the queue. The visitors entered through a stone cavern beneath the roots, only to find a whole hidden world inside.

The cave was vast and hollow. The opening overhead really was astonishingly smooth. For all anyone knew, it might truly have been sheared off in a single sword stroke by some immortal of old.

Glowspores had been set all through the cavern, illuminating every tiny detail.

The Dao-Seeking Tree’s main root plunged straight into the stone cave, had already pierced through rock and mountain, and no one knew how much farther it extended below. After it emerged from the cave, it grew taller and taller, while the aerial roots it sent down grew thicker and sturdier, wrapping around the outer part of the cavern. That was how today’s strange sight had come into being.

As a result, the place where the roots wound together at the bottom of the cave had formed a natural basin. Rain and dew ran down the trunk and collected there, forming a limpid pool at the base of the roots, deep enough to submerge at least two people stacked on top of one another.

There were glowspores in the water as well, drifting up and down. But in the deeper parts of the pool, there was nothing but blackness.

The tourists were all crowded there now, packed around the banyan pool in three rings. Although the giant tree had many roots, only a dozen or so extended over or out of the pool in such a way that people could touch them. So in practice, only a little more than ten people could seek divination at once.

Everyone else had to line up behind them.

There was no real off-season on Tianji Peak, only a busy season and an even busier season.

Naturally, everyone was curious. “How does the divination work?”

Old Ge pointed to the other tourists. “Do what they’re doing. Place one hand on the tree root, silently think over the matter you want to ask about—that establishes communication with the spiritual tree—and then take one drop of blood from your fingertip and flick it into the pool.”

He Lingchuan looked and saw that the other visitors really were doing exactly that. Some of them moved so slowly that they took too much time, and the people waiting behind them started urging them on.

Leaves drifted down from above every so often, spinning as they landed on the water and floating straight toward the visitor in question.

That gave the whole thing an uncanny air. Every person seeking a divination ended up receiving a leaf.

“A green leaf means good fortune. A red leaf means bad.”

So simple and blunt? Gao Jilin found it odd. “Can one only ask about good or bad fortune?”

If the answer came in leaf form, it could surely be only one or the other.

“What else do you want to ask?” Old Ge chuckled. “This is a tree, not a person. It can’t open its mouth and explain things to you.”

Jiang Tao pointed to a leaf drifting past his eyes and asked, “Then what does that count as?”

The leaf was neither fully green nor fully red. The tourist opposite it looked equally baffled.

“That means it could go either way, good or bad.” Old Ge had guided not just one or two people here, but hundreds upon hundreds. At this point, he could practically count as a half-trained interpreter of omens himself. “It depends on what the person does afterward.”

He Lingchuan could not help but feel a little disappointed.

The last time he had sought a divination at the shrine by Immortal Spirit Lake, the turtle monster had at least given him a bad lot with an actual verse attached to interpret.

This time was even more ruthless. The answers effectively boiled down to only two possibilities: yes or no.

If the tree’s very name contains “asking the Dao[1],” then what exactly should he ask?

One of the tourists pointed at the pool’s surface. “That leaf sank.”

Old Ge grunted. “Once the divination’s done, if the visitor doesn’t take the leaf, it sinks to the bottom. Otherwise, the whole surface would be covered with leaves, and no one would be able to tell whose was whose.”

“And where do the leaves sink to?”

“Maybe they flow out with the water, maybe the roots take them back.” Old Ge shot back, “Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘fallen leaves return to their roots’?”

Jiang Tao’s eyes flickered. “If the queue is too slow, why not just jump into the water and touch the roots directly?”

“No good.” Old Ge cut him a sidelong glance. “You think you’re the first clever one? People have tried that before. It doesn’t work. The Dao-Seeking Tree simply ignores that sort of person!” Then he pointed at the trunk. “Back in the day, someone failed to get an answer by jumping into the water, so he drew a blade and tried to carve on the tree instead. The guards threw him out on the spot, straight off Tianji Peak!”

He Lingchuan was speechless. Scribbling carelessly here can get one killed?

Evil people have to be dealt with more fiercely. Old Ge gave a nasty little grin. “Order. We have order here! The best part was, the moment that man was thrown out, the Dao-Seeking Tree dropped a leaf, and it was bright red!”

If you got thrown off the mountain, was there any chance you would survive? Of course, that was great misfortune!

After waiting nearly an hour, it was finally their tour group’s turn.

Jiang Tao went first. He placed his hand on the tree root and muttered under his breath, then dripped blood into the pool. A leaf floated over to him, green.

“Good fortune!” He snapped his fingers delightedly. “Excellent!”

Another tourist, however, went pale as dirt. “Red, it’s red!”

The leaf he picked up was so red it looked as though blood might drip from it.

“Whoa, that’s a viciously bad omen. You’ve got bloodshed in your near future.” Old Ge instantly pulled a stack of talismans from his belt. “Would you like a protective talisman? These were consecrated in the Hall of Worship! When the crucial moment comes, nothing is more important than staying alive.”

He Lingchuan gave him a contemptuous glance.

So the rascal had come prepared for this all along, had he? And the price was extortionate.

The tourist’s face went even whiter. “Does this tree really divine accurately?”

“Didn’t I say already? Who dares claim certainty in these matters?” Old Ge patted him on the shoulder. “But deep down, you’ve had some foreboding already, haven’t you?”

“I, I...” The tourist wore a pained expression. “There is something that’s been making me uneasy. I just never imagined the outcome would look this bad!”

“Come, come, let me help ward it off for you.” Old Ge was already hanging a talisman around the man’s neck.

The tourist did not hesitate to take it and paid up.

If losing some money could dispel disaster, who would not pay generously?

“And once you get back, be careful in what you do. There may yet be room to turn things around.”

The man clutched at that hope like a drowning person clutching driftwood. “Can this disaster actually be avoided?!”

Old Ge soothed him, “Maybe!”

Off to the side, Gao Jilin was also seeking a divination. This time, the leaf that came to him was mostly glossy green, though a small portion of it carried a faint reddish tint.

His expression became rather interesting too. “Both good and bad?”

He Lingchuan laughed when he saw it. “I’d say it depends on how you handle things afterward. Handle them well, and it becomes great fortune. Handle them badly, and it turns into a small misfortune.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Though the system seemed to boil down to only red and green leaves, the depth and shading of the colors also appeared to matter. It was not as simple as it first looked.

At last, he placed his own hand on a tree root and silently asked one question in his mind, “If I keep walking the road I’ve chosen, will the outcome be fortune or disaster? Will I live, or will I die?”

Since the tree might very well have the ability to read the heart directly, he did not dare phrase anything too explicitly. He absolutely did not dare mention words like the Generous Pot, Panlong City, or opposing Beijia.

However, He Lingchuan truly wanted to know. After all, all those who had walked this road before him had ended by sacrificing their lives for the cause.

To say he had never felt unease in his heart would have been a lie.

He dripped his blood in, and then he waited, along with everyone else.

Five breaths passed.

Fifteen breaths passed.

Leaves floated over, but all of them went to other people. In front of He Lingchuan, there was nothing at all.

What’s going on? He Lingchuan scratched his head. Could it be that the tree simply can’t handle the calculations it would take to divine my fate?

He waited a little longer still.

No leaf came.

Jiang Tao found it odd and asked, “What’s happening? Did you actually ask a question?”

“I did.” Otherwise, why would I even be here? He Lingchuan turned to Old Ge. “Has this ever happened before?”

“Uh...” The gibbon scratched its own forehead. “I can’t say I remember anything like it.”

The Dao-Seeking Tree had always been industrious. Its results might not always be correct, but they came quickly. Otherwise, with so many tourists over so many years on Tianji Peak, how could it ever keep up?

The tourists waiting behind them began to grow impatient. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“If you can’t make it work, then step aside first! There are so many people waiting!”

Old Ge wheeled around and let out a roar. “Shut it! Are you all in such a rush to reincarnate? If you wait a few more breaths, are you going to piss yourselves?”

When he opened his mouth, his fangs showed, and his whole face grew savage. With the two burly mandrills behind him, he might as well have had “I am not to be messed with” written across his forehead.

So the waiting tourists did not dare argue openly. They only muttered under their breath. Old Ge, with hide that thick, naturally could not hear a thing.

And then, finally, a leaf came floating toward He Lingchuan.

A red leaf.

No, to be more accurate, it was red shot through with gold, its colors as brilliant as evening clouds set ablaze by sunset.

And the waxy surface of the leaf gleamed with a metallic sheen.

“Huh?” Is this really meant for me? He Lingchuan shifted two steps to the side.

The water’s flow changed accordingly, and yet the leaf still kept drifting toward him.

So he had no choice but to pluck it up and wave it at Old Ge. “And what exactly is this supposed to mean?”

The monkey’s face was just as blank as his own. “I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing.”

He had led thousands of guests here in his time. He had never seen the Dao-Seeking Tree produce a leaf like that.

“Doesn’t the tree ever drop yellow leaves?”

“It does,” Old Ge said, pointing at the pool. “But yellow leaves sink the moment they touch the water. They never float out to us. Watch.”

By now, the other tourists in the group had seized the chance to begin their own divinations. He Lingchuan watched carefully and saw that, sure enough, the mountain banyan did occasionally shed yellow leaves, but once they touched the water, they spun once and sank immediately. They never lingered on the surface, let alone drifted over to visitors.

So the red-gold leaf in He Lingchuan’s hand was truly something rare. The surrounding tourists all crowded over to look, clicking their tongues in amazement.

Quite a few local people had brought friends or relatives along for divination that day, and they all began saying the same thing:

“Rare, very rare! Never seen anyone get a leaf like that!”

The two guards in the stone cave were disturbed by the commotion and came over to have a look. Once they saw the unusual leaf, they asked He Lingchuan for his name and address. He gave them a fake name and a fake address with perfect ease.

The two men were clearly just following procedure. Once they heard, they returned to their posts with blank faces, without asking a single further question.

After dealing with this many noisy tourists day after day, they had long since learned to empty their minds and avoid thinking more than necessary.

At that moment, a tourist who looked to be around fifty said, “I heard someone got one before.”

The instant those words came out, the bustle around them quieted at once, and everyone turned toward him.

“Who? Who got one too?”

“The current Qingwu General, General Hong! Though I heard what he got was a yellow leaf, so I’m not sure whether it’s this same sort of red-and-gold one.”

He Lingchuan’s heart stirred. Hong Chenglue had also once gotten a yellow leaf from the Dao-Seeking Tree?

Gao Jilin spoke up. “Are you certain?”

“How could I?” The man waved both hands quickly. “It’s just something I heard!”

Since there was no definite answer, the stone cave soon returned to its previous noisy crush.

Other tourists, hearing the commotion, came over hoping to buy He Lingchuan’s red-gold leaf as a collectible, and one of them even offered five taels.

1. What I translated as Dao-Seeking can also be translated literally as asking the Dao. ☜