The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

In Xiqi City, at late night, Shen Gongbao sat beside the oil lamp using hands to nip it and suddenly said with a smile on his face, "Haha, alas, I did not waste my time for fortunetelling and I finally got this chance. Tomorrow will be time to see whether I will succeed or not." Shen Gongbao waved his hands to put out the oil lamp, leaving a streak of smoke rising slowly in the shinning of moonlight.

There was a queue in front of his door waiting for their fortune to be told when Shen Gongbao opened for business the next morning. But Shen Gongbao just glanced at them with a smile on his face. The first one who wanted to have fortune-telling was a young man. Shen Gongbao looked at this young man and said with a smile, "What fortune do you want to predict?"

This young man smiled at Shen Gongbao and said, "Since Taoist Priest is good at prediction, why do you ask me?" Looking at this young man’s smile, Shen Gongbao understood that this young man wanted to sound out his abilities. Therefore, he picked up teacup on the table and threw it, with one word appearing on the ground.

This young man turned pale when he saw the word "Father" on the floor. Then he continued to say, "Taoist Priest really has good skills of prediction. So do you know when the person I seek would return?" Shen Gongbao counted his fingers and used an ink brush to write a line of words a bamboo slip. "He will return after seven years of disaster." Then he gave it back to that young man.

This young man facial changed slightly after receiving the bamboo slip, thus he got up and said, "Taoist Priest really has good skills, and since you could predict this, I assume you have already know who I am. I am Bo Yikao, the eldest son of Marquis of the West. I heard that a fortune-teller came to our city, and that’s why I came here to visit you."

This man was Bo Yikao. He heard that a genius came to Xiqi City. He planned to recruit some talented men here, so Shen Gongbao was naturally one of the best choices. However, he was also afraid that Shen Gongbao was a fraud so he dressed up to test Shen Gongbao. If Shen Gongbao really was a genius, he would invite him personally.

The two predictions Shen Gongbao gave to him was what Bo Yikao wanted. He had already calculated the luck for himself when Ji Chang was about to leave. He had seven years of imprisonment in Zhaoge. It just fitted, "He will return after seven years of disaster," which was written by Shen Gongbao. No one knew it except Ji Chang and Bo Yikao. Now that Shen Gongbao wrote this prediction, it must be calculated by him.

Shen Gongbao looked at Bo Yikao with a smile and said, "You wanted to test me. Do you have an answer now?" Yesterday night, Shen Gongbao had figured out he would have an honored guest today. But he never thought that this person was the lord of Xiqi. It was really unexpected to him but he was satisfied with it because he had planned to approach Bo Yikao.

Shen Gongbao was ecstatic at Bo Yikao’s arrival. He found that Bo Yikao was surrounded by Zi Wei Emperor Aura, which was the symbol of an emperor. Shen Gongbao was delighted for having come to the right place. This Bo Yikao was more likely to be the wise master his teacher told him. If he could assist Bo Yikao, he could make a difference someday.

After seeing Shen Gongbao’s unshaken face, Bo Yikao asked, "I don’t know where Taoist Priest is going to, and why did you come to Xiqi? I guess setting this stand for fortunetelling in Xiqi was not just to help people escape from their disasters." Bo Yikao was smart, and he should understand the intention of Shen Gongbao.

Shen Gongbao laughed and said with confidence, "My name is Shen Gongbao. I’m a disciple of the Sage, Zhunti, who is the master of the Western Religious Sect. This time, my teacher Zhunti ask me to come down to find a wise master. I saw Xiqi was surrounded by roaring Zi Wei Aura, so I came here to check it out. After meeting you today, I saw you surrounded by Zi Wei Emperor Aura and I understood my teacher’s words."

Hearing this, Bo Yikao started to ask, "Taoist Priest was a disciple of a Sage. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. Xiqi is eager to recruit some talented men. Would you like to devote your talent to Xiqi and work as the Imperial Astronomer, which is equal to the Ordinary Grand Master? What’s your opinion?" Imperial Astronomer was a position especially for fortunetelling and it was really suitable for Shen Gongbao.

Shen Gongbao listened and smiled. "I won’t refuse you since you invited me sincerely." He had planned to get close to Bo Yikao and this goal had been met. The position of Imperial Astronomer and Ordinary Grand Master was not the most important thing, but the only thing he did was to let Bo Yikao see his talents and won his trust.

Compared to Shen Gongbao, Jiang Ziya was not that lucky. When he left Mount Kunlun, he returned to Zhaoge City and went to his godbrother’s house which was more splendid than ever. There were green willows at the gate of the door. What’s more, this place was a treasure house. And living here could bring a lifetime of riches.

Song Yiren was excited when his doorman told him that his old friend Jiang Ziya came to visit him. He had lost contact with Jiang Ziya for 40 years and was worried about him. Therefore, he was delighted to see Jiang Ziya return safely and went to welcome him immediately. They both sighed with emotion when they met with each other.

Song Yiren asked many questions. He found out that Jiang Ziya was still a bachelor. "As an old saying goes, there are three forms of unfilial conduct, of which the worst is to have no descendants. My brother, I will introduce a marriage to you so that you can have your own children and carry on the family line, without losing the Spiritual Inheritance of Jiang.

Jiang Ziya wanted to refuse but due to Song Yiren’s insistence, he gave up for later discussion. To his surprise, Song Yiren went to Majia village to introduce a girl to him in the next morning. Landlord Ma had a daughter who was 68 years old. But she was still a virgin and never got married. Landlord Ma was full of joy for Song Yiren’s introduction.

With the help of Song Yiren, they had feasts, invited neighbors, relatives, and friends to celebrate Jiang Ziya’s wedding after they set an auspicious day. Although Jiang Ziya resisted it, he could not refuse Song Yiren’s a piece of kindness. Therefore, he went to the nuptial room with Ma and they became an old couple who were worthy of the name.

After the wedding, Song Yiren also helped Jiang Ziya with his business. But Jiang Ziya was too unlucky to have any success. He sold bamboo strainer first with several days of hard work, but he sold nothing at all. Later, he sold flour, which most were blown off by the wind and only sold a little. Because of it, Ma often quarreled with him.

It was lucky that Song Yiren had a large fortune and let Jiang Ziya run a restaurant. However, Jiang Ziya still suffered from great losses every day. Finally, he gave up and began to tell fortune like Shen Gongbao. After that, his life became much better and his wife was much settled.