[The seventy-first year of the Great Qiankang Dynasty, March 26, the sixth quarter of the hour, the east city of Chang'an]

Xu Ke came to Tsing Yi Wei at two o'clock in the morning, he chatted with Nangong silently for a while, and the two were about to lead the team out, but they heard the guard report that the head of Zhao Wangfu asked to see him.

Nangong was silent and hurriedly walked outside the official room to greet him, and Xu Ke saw that the person who came was Ma Yun, the head of Zhao Wangfu.

Ma Yun didn't say anything else, but said that Prince Zhao ordered him to invite the two adults to go to Deyue Tower for a banquet at the right time, and the prince would wait for him in Xiuchun Pavilion at that time. After that, Ma Yundang left in a hurry.

When the two of them saw it, it was already three quarters of the hour, and it was only an hour before King Zhao's banquet. At the moment, the two had to change their plan and change the original morning to patrol the city with troops to after the afternoon.

Xu Ke suddenly had a whim, so he said to Nangong silently, just have nothing to do, why don't we change into green clothes and go for a walk in Dongshi?

Nangong smiled and nodded naturally, and then, the two of them changed into cyan cloth clothes, walked out of the gate of Tsing Yiwei together, and went to the East Market together. The guards in the guard house, seeing that the two thousands of adults were dressed in Tsing Yi, also said that they had a secret business trip that required the two of them to go out at the same time, and after the two left, the Tsing Yi Wei couldn't help but have a burst of private speculation.

This Chang'an East City is a world-famous gathering place for businessmen. Before, there was news that the cat demon was haunted everywhere, and the East Market was also snubbed for a while, and now, for more than ten days, no new dead bodies have been found in Chang'an City, so the East Market has gradually returned to its former prosperity.

Xu Ke and Nangong entered the East Market from east to west without saying a word, and saw that the East City was really lively at this time. At a glance, there are red mansions and painting pavilions everywhere. On both sides of the road, there are shops and restaurants, and there are many stalls and tea houses. The streets are bustling with cars and pedestrians, and you can see peddlers and pawns everywhere. Rare and exotic goods, all displayed in the big cabinet and famous shops, mountain spirits and wild treasures, all over the Honglou Miaofang; BMW carved cars, Qiluo bursts, golden flowers are full of roads, pearls and emeralds faintly......

Xu Ke and Nangong Buyu were wandering around the East City at will, strolling around, looking at the grand scene of people coming and going in the East City, and they were unusually relieved.

The two were strolling together in the East Market, when they suddenly heard the voice of an old man behind them:

"The two sons, they look so good, it's better to ...... Let the old man make a divination for the two of them?"

Xu Ke turned around and saw a man wearing a rag robe with a clear and pale face, standing behind him with a smile. The old man had white hair and a dusty face, and he couldn't tell how many years he had lived. He holds a slender green bamboo in his hand, and a white cloth banner is on the top of the bamboo pole, and the white cloth is painted with a large "hexagram" character, and on both sides is the book: "Detect the good and evil, distinguish the yin and yang".

"Old man, where do I seem to have seen you?" Xu Ke blurted out when he saw that the old man looked familiar.

The white-haired old man smiled and said: "The world is so big, all living beings, which one is not déjà vu? Come on, come on, the two of you can have something difficult to decide, and let the old man break a hexagram for you, how about it?"

Xu Ke and Nangong glanced at each other silently, each nodded, they all had the same thoughts in their hearts, anyway, they had nothing to do, and the old man looked very miserable, so it was better to take care of his business.

So, Xu Ke and Nangong were silent, so they led the old man to a tea stall next to the road and sat down. Xu Ke asked the stall owner to bring some tea and snacks. The old man didn't seem to have eaten well for a few days, and when he saw these tea and snacks, his eyes immediately lit up, and he didn't care about etiquette, so he put the bamboo pole and hexagram in his hand, and his hands were linked, and in a short time, he had swept away the snacks on the table.

Xu Ke was about to call for some more snacks for the old man who told the fortune, but the old man waved his hand, burped leisurely, and said:

"Enough is enough, one meal and one meal, seven points are enough, if you eat too much, you will vomit when the time comes!"

Xu Ke hugged his fists and said: "Then ask the old man to make a hexagram for the next divination." ”

The white-haired old man picked up the tea bowl on the table, drank the tea inside, and immediately took out three ancient coins from his arms. I only heard him holding the ancient money in both hands, and there were words in his mouth, as if he was praying to heaven:

"The way of heaven and earth, all things are one, yin and yang interaction, there are all living beings, all living beings, each has its own life, the origin of life, the variables of the transporter, there is no luck, such as retort without fire, there is luck without life, such as fire and air, luck and destiny, life is ...... There are people who are lost, hesitant on the road ahead, do not know the blame, and dispel their doubts, if they can, only God and spirit, and they will be retribution!"

The prayer was over, and the white-haired old man threw the three ancient coins in his hand into the tea bowl......

The white-haired old man looked at the ancient money in the tea bowl and said:

"Kun is on the top, Xun is on the bottom, it is a 'rising' hexagram!"

"What's the explanation of this hexagram?" Xu Ke hurriedly asked.

The white-haired old man stroked his snow-white long beard and said slowly:

"Kun, the earth, the Xun, the wind, the kun is the soil, the Xun is the wood, the wood is born in the soil, there is the meaning of endless life, this is a good hexagram!"

Nangong sat silently beside the old man who told the fortune teller, and when he heard the old man say that it was a "good hexagram", he couldn't help but smile, and said in his heart, these wandering Taoists said that they were people who were taking advantage of their doubts, but they were just relying on their sharp teeth, saying some good things, and defrauding some small money. At that moment, he picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, just to watch the play.

The white-haired old man said again: "This son, what is it difficult for you to decide today?"

"Difficult to decide?" Xu Ke thought for a while, and then said:

"Old man, I am looking for an important person to deal with an important matter, can you tell me where this person is now?"

He naturally thought of the cat demon case in his heart, and for nearly a month, he and Nangong were busy without saying a word, in order to catch the cat demon.

The white-haired old man said: "The ascendant Yuan Heng, use it to see the adult, the soft is to rise in time, just in the middle of the response, the southern expedition is auspicious......! The man in you should be on the south side!"

"In the south, isn't it ......" Xu Ke thought in his heart, it stands to reason, isn't Mao Jiaojiao hiding in Cuiyun Tower at this time?

The white-haired old man seemed to see the doubt in Xu Ke's eyes, and said with a smile:

"Whether you believe it or not, the hexagram is ...... That's it!"

Xu Ke arched his hand and asked, "Can the old man tell me where this person is in the south and how many miles away from Chang'an City?"

The white-haired old man shook his head and said, "You don't need to ask so carefully, you can't find that person, but he can find you!"

"Oh......?"

"The hexagram says, 'Although the southern expedition is auspicious, don't be compassionate and celebrate', which means that no matter how you look for it, you can't find that person, but one day, he will take the initiative to find you......"

"Is there such a strange thing?" Xu Ke was a little skeptical.

"The old man still has a word to say!"

"Please!"

"The ascender, the earth grows wood, the water is born, borrowed by the wind to nourish! The meaning of the ascending hexagram is also to warn you, 'The gentleman is cautious and virtuous, and the small is tall and tall'!"

"A gentleman is cautious and virtuous, and a small man is tall and ......" Xu Ke repeatedly recited this sentence in his heart, as if he had gained.

The white-haired old man took back the ancient money in the tea bowl into his arms, and stretched out his hand to Xu Ke again:

"Hexagram money is twenty wen, Tong Su is not bullied!"

Xu Ke hurriedly took out a piece of silver cake from the pocket on his waist, about ten taels, and handed it to the old man.

The white-haired old man took the ten taels of silver cakes with a smile, put them in his pocket happily, and said with a smile: "Since the son gave ten taels, but the old man is disrespectful, he will make another elephant for the son to see......"

After that, the old man raised his eyes to the sky, gestured with the fingers of his right hand for a moment, and then said:

"Childe's elephant today should be in the ninth three and sixty-fifth lines. The ninety-three is the 'ascending void'...... Tut-tut...... How could this be?"

Xu Ke saw that the old man was groaning to himself, and kept shaking his head, as if he was not very satisfied with the words, and immediately asked:

"This is a remark...... And what's the explanation?"

The white-haired old man shook his head, sighed again, and said:

"Those who are in the city, the city, the void, the ruins, the void, the cage! Cough!...... Childe, I am afraid that you will be imprisoned during this time!"

"Prison disaster?" Xu Ke couldn't help but change his face slightly when he heard this, he said in his heart, I have just been out of prison for more than a month, and now I am patrolling thousands of households, what will happen to me to re-enter prison? Could it be that because I am not effective in handling the case, I have not been able to capture the cat demon so far? He thought that he had let go of the cat demon more than ten days ago because of the benevolence of a thought, and then immediately thought again, just because of this incident, I will return to the edict prison? Impossible!

Xu Ke hurriedly bowed his hand again and asked:

"The old man, Zai Zeng was in a cell a month ago. You 'prison scourge'...... Are you talking about the next month?"

The white-haired old man waved his hand and said:

"Neither is it! Divination has always been the same, divination is all about the future, those things of yesterday, what else can be divined?......

Seeing that Xu Ke couldn't help but have a trace of worry on his face, the white-haired old man comforted again:

"Childe doesn't have to worry too much! Although the ninety-three no. s.

Xu Ke listened to it without understanding, and hurriedly asked:

"Old man, what is the explanation of this six-five?"

The old man stroked his beard and smiled:

"The one who ranks, the stone platform also! This 'promotion' means that you are out of the shackles and climb the steps...... Ascend to Xuyi, there is no doubt, Zhenji is promoted, and Dadezhi is also ...... Rest assured, although you are in prison, as long as you are loyal and have no doubts, you can finally get out of the cage and be free! ”

The old man glanced at Xu Ke again, and then said:

"Moreover, this 'promotion' also has the meaning of going to the next level, and after you get out of the cage, there is a bright future waiting for you!"

Xu Ke asked with some trepidation, "So...... If you are in prison, please ask the elderly...... How many days will I stay in prison?"

The white-haired old man said: "Since the ninety-third has the promotion of 'Xuyi', to the sixty-fifth 'promotion', there are two lines in the middle, if you count according to the days, it should be 2918 days!"

Xu Ke immediately clasped his fists at the white-haired old man and said, "Thank you for your advice!"

The white-haired old man stood up, shook off the dust on his body, and was about to turn around to leave, but he heard Nangong beside Xu Ke say silently and disdainfully: "Brother Xian, how can you believe the words of these Jianghu warlocks?

The white-haired old man turned around and said, "This son, today the old man got ten taels of silver, which is really a little more, why don't you buy one and get one free, and also take a hexagram for you?"

Nangong snorted coldly, turned his head and ignored it. He said in his heart, if it weren't for the disease-free brother by his side, see if I didn't coax you flamboyant charlatan!

However, Xu Ke was unusually polite to the old man, and he hurriedly said: "Old man, my brother is not a simple person. If you can calculate accurately, you will have a piece of silver to give you next!"

So, the white-haired old man sat on the low stool in front of the table again, he stroked his long beard, and said slowly to Xu Ke:

"Hmm...... Dry on the top, shocked down, your brother, should be a 'vain' hexagram......"

Nangong Bu, who was sitting next to the white-haired old man with his back on his back, sneered: "What...... Even if you deceive people, you should deceive people in a decent way, so hastily, and look at the eight words on your white cloth, 'Detect good luck and evil, and distinguish yin and yang'?"

While speaking, Nangong was silent and stretched out his hand, pointing to the white cloth banner on the green bamboo of the old diviner.

The white-haired old man heard Nangong's silent ridicule, and he was not annoyed, he stroked his long beard in his hand, and said with a smile:

The old man has been practicing hexagrams for many years, and he does not dare to say that he can understand the mystery of yin and yang, but he also slightly discerns the mechanism of creation, and the ancients have a saying, "The way of sincerity can be known in advance", but whoever asks for divination has the meaning of the essence, and asks about it as sincerity, and the old man can determine the good fortune and evil for him, and take advantage of the blessing and misfortune. If the official doesn't believe it like this, the old man will leave!"

After that, the old man was about to get up and leave, Xu Ke hurriedly stepped forward to hold him up, and said sincerely: "Old man, my brother doesn't know your ability, he has a bad temper, and if he offends, please don't blame the old man!

Xu Ke hurriedly looked at Nangong silently and asked him to apologize to the old man. Nangong was a little puzzled in his heart, he said in his heart What is wrong with you Xu Ke today, you are so gullible about the words of a wandering Daoist, and you still want to pull me into the water? However, he glanced at the white-haired old man beside him, and suddenly saw a faint flash of light in the other party's eyes, although that ray of light was fleeting, it was also breathtaking.

Nangong couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, he didn't dare to make a mistake at this time, he was busy at the table and bowed to the old man, and said earnestly:

"This old man, Nangong's words were offended, and he still looked at Haihan, please be sure to give Nangong some guidance!"

"Hmm......" The white-haired old man nodded, slowly sat down on the low stool, stroked his snow-white long hair, and said:

"The wrong hexagram of the 'ascending' hexagram is the 'no delusion' hexagram, and the two hexagrams are interdependent and inseparable. Today, you come with this son, this son is a 'sheng' hexagram, and you are naturally a 'vain' hexagram......"

Nangong was silent, and then he knew why the white-haired old man thought that when he was divining a fortune, he didn't need to throw a copper coin. He listened to the old man say slowly:

"Those who are 'innocent', Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen...... It was a good hexagram, but it was ......"

"Then what's wrong?" Nangong asked silently.

The white-haired old man said again:

"However, the world is thunderous, things are innocent, and its bandits are in danger, and they are not conducive to leisurely!"

"What's the explanation?" Nangong was silent, becoming more and more uneasy.

The white-haired old man couldn't help but sigh:

"The meaning of this hexagram is that you will have no calamity!"

"Disaster?" Nangong exclaimed:

"Nangong asked himself, he has always been diligent and thrifty in doing things, and he has never acted beyond the norms, where did he come from'?"

The white-haired old man said:

"Those who are not delusional are just from outside, but the Lord is inside, moving and healthy! If they just think that they should be, then the tycoon will be right, and this is the destiny of heaven! If they are right, it is not conducive to having a leisurely ......."

The white-haired old man couldn't help but sigh again:

"Ahem...... What is the point of not going in vain? The destiny is not right, and the line is good?!"

Xu Ke couldn't help but say:

"Old man, what do you mean by this? What exactly is the 'unjustified disaster', and how should my brother Nangong avoid this disaster?"

The white-haired old man shook his head and said:

"All things in heaven and earth are born out of nothing, 'being' is the master of all things, and 'nothing' is the mother of heaven and earth!

Xu Ke said a little anxiously:

"If my brother Nangong does nothing wrong, how can I do it? If God doesn't bless him, how can I avoid disasters, and I hope for the old man's guidance!"

Unexpectedly, the white-haired old man stood up, shook the smoke and dust on his body again, and lightly threw down a sentence: "I'm just a diviner, not a disaster solver." Then he went west.

Xu Ke hurriedly walked in front of the old man, stopped him, and took out a silver ingot of twenty taels from his pocket, wanting to hand it over to the old man.

Xu Ke pleaded: "My brother Nangong, what is the cause of this unwarranted disaster, and how can it be broken?

"The heart is self-contained, and since it is a disaster without vain, there is no way to start, and there is nowhere to break it...... the old man replied indifferently.

This time, the white-haired old man didn't take the silver ingot in Xu Ke's hand, but just pushed Xu Ke's hand away, and said lightly:

"Today, the old man received ten taels of silver from you, which is already an exception, how can you be greedy for more profits......?

The white-haired old man pinched his fingers and calculated for a moment, and then said:

"Today he should be in the sixth three, the six three, no false disaster, or a cow, the gain of pedestrians, and the loss of people in Yi!"

"Old man, what does it mean to 'gain for pedestrians and lose for people'?" Xu Ke asked hurriedly.

The white-haired old man didn't say anything more, his legs moved slowly, and he was already walking slowly towards the west.

"The old man stays, can you give a few more words of advice to Brother Nangong?" Xu Ke hurriedly stretched out his hand, and was about to hold the old man's shoulder again, but unexpectedly, his right hand stretched forward, and the old man's figure was already three steps away, he took three more steps, and then stretched out his hand, but the old man was already ten steps away.

Suddenly, the old and thin figure of the white-haired old man had quietly disappeared, leaving only Xu Ke and Nangong silent, leaving them in place, with a blank look on their faces......

"Pedestrians gain, people lose!" The air seemed to be echoing the long and deep voice of the white-haired old man.

......

......

After two moments, Xu Ke and Nangong came to the Deyue Tower without saying a word. Although they had arrived a moment in advance, they saw that Li Yi, the king of Zhao, was already sitting in Xiuchun Pavilion and waiting.

Li Yi saw that the two of them entered the pavilion, one seemed to be preoccupied, and the other seemed to have lost his soul, and his heart was very strange, and when the two of them sat down in turn, he couldn't help but ask:

"What's wrong with you two? Today is the king who has feasted you, and you don't need to pay for the money, as for worrying about it?"

Xu Ke smiled, and hurriedly saw an old man of divination in the East Market with Nangong silently, and the old man told Li Yibei about the process of divination for the two of them.

At the end, Xu Ke asked:

"Senior brother, what does the old man mean by 'the gains of pedestrians and the loss of people in Yi'?"

"Hey, no disease......" Li Yi smiled: "Such a simple sentence, thanks to the two of you reading poetry and books, you can't understand it for a while......"

At this time, the shopkeeper had already led the three runners, serving food for the three of them like flowing water. After they slowed down the dishes at a large table in front of the three of them, and the shopkeeper personally brought three pots of 30-year-old "Fenyang Drunk", these people closed the door of Xiuchun Pavilion and retreated.

Nangong hurriedly opened the wine jug and poured wine for King Zhao and Xu Ke. Li Yi raised his wine glass and drank a glass with Xu Ke and Nangong silently, and then continued:

"The old man's words 'the plague of innocence, or the ox of the tyke' should mean that the 'plague of innocence' is like a cow tied to the countryside in the wilderness. "Pedestrians gain, people lose too!" "Pedestrians, pedestrians on the road, people in the towns, farmers in the countryside!" The meaning of this sentence should be that the pedestrians pass by and lead the cattle away, thus causing the peasants who have lost their cattle to cry and grieve!"

Xu Ke hurriedly asked: "Even if there are passers-by who lead the peasants' cattle away, what does this have to do with Brother Nangong's 'unwarranted disaster'?"

Li Yidao: "This is a Taoist parable, for example, the cow used to graze beside the road in a dignified manner, if the pedestrians do not take it away, the peasants will not be sad." This is what this so-called 'unwarranted calamity' means, if you keep your body upright and don't touch the ploughing ox that grazes, there will be no calamity. The so-called pedestrian's gain is precisely the disaster of the Yi people!"

Xu Ke didn't seem to understand, he hurriedly picked up the chopsticks, took a piece of "fried venison with shrimp" and put it in his mouth, only to feel that the taste of this venison was really spicy and delicious, and it was extremely delicious......

Nangong silently held the wine glass in his hand, thought for a moment, and asked:

"Your Highness's meaning is not the same: as far as the pedestrian is concerned, although he has gained a cow, but for the people of the city, he has lost another cow, and when he gains the cow, it is also the time when he loses the cow, and the gain and loss are only in one thought. If I let go of the idea of gain and loss, and don't think about getting a cow, I won't lose a cow ......?"

Li Yi nodded, but waved his hand again, and said, "This is not what I meant, this is what the old diviner said, as for whether it is right or wrong, you can only understand it yourself!"

Nangong said silently: "The so-called 'disaster of innocence' is the disaster between nothing. If I take people's cattle for pedestrians, he may lose cattle in other days, if I let go of the idea of gain and loss, have no way to do anything, and let the cattle eat freely, the people of other cities will not lose their cattle...... It seems that this 'unwarranted calamity' or not, should be all in my ears!"

After figuring out the meaning of the hexagram that the white-haired old man had taught him, Nangong was silent but still sighed secretly:

"However, when life is between heaven and earth, how can we let go of the idea of gain and loss?"