At the moment, I stand on the water, my feet shining with a blue light, an ancient art from the Celestial Palace of Beijing, the steps of Yu, made by invoking one of the Luoshu magic squares while performing rhythmic steps.
The reason I am out of my base right now is that I felt the destruction of one of my Yoguais.
One of the downsides of being a summoner is that a part of my life is allocated to each summon; this is the equivalent payment for bringing life into the world, and thus, a bond exists with each summoned creature.
And when a summoned creature is destroyed, I feel the allocated energy draining away.
Thatâs why I immediately ordered the remaining Yoguais to retreat, and I am waiting for their arrival.
While I wait, I take three bronze coins from my right pocket, then move my hand over the water, which rises and takes the form of a basin in front of me.
Normally, this should be written, but it works with spoken words.
âAm I in danger?â I then toss the three coins into the air, and they fall into the basin in front of me; this act must be done a total of six times.
The results are 6, 6, 9, 9, 9, 9; the result is the Hexagram of Withdrawal.
When it comes to divination, those made by humans without access to magic are completely useless. Among wizards and priests, only those predisposed to see the future can perform such acts, and even then, it is imprecise.
Because of this, it is always necessary to perform the method three times; if the result repeats, it means that it is correct.
I repeat the process two more times, leading me to the same result, so the outcome is the Hexagram of Withdrawal.
I am indeed in danger now.
âIs one of the causes of danger called Cassiel?â 9, 9, 6, 9, 9, 9, the Hexagram of Judgment.
I repeat the process two more times, producing the same result.
Perhaps I donât need to summon the Bull; I can kill her here! A slight hope fills my heart; if I manage to kill Cassiel before she becomes one of the twelve apostles, that future should be prevented.
I dismantle the entire mini-altar and start walking in circles, nervously awaiting the return of my Yoguais.
A sharp pain then strikes my chest; I grab it while falling to my knees in the water, a blue aura forming around my knees to keep me afloat.
That pain, one, two, killed two Yoguais at once; only one remains outside.
I am careless; I shouldnât have sent so many out!
I manage to rise after catching my breath; looking towards the main part of the city, I see something moving in the water towards me at high speed.
It must be the last one left.
I stand up; I cannot show weakness in front of the invocations and wait for the creature to arrive.
As the creature approaches, I assess its condition; one of its paws has been torn off, and it is having to swim with just one hand; it must be using some spell for that.
The creature, in desperation, finally reaches me, its strength abandoning its body the moment I grab it.
âFor Buddha, who did this to you? Letâs go inside,â carrying the young Yoguai, who canât even speak, I make my way to the tomb gate.
I toss a coin into the air, which spins three times in front of the gate, and then it opens.
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I pocket the coin and carry the Yoguai inside, the gate closing behind me, activating the Tomb's barrier.
The water I walk on eventually transforms into a stone corridor, allowing me to deactivate the steps of Yu, blue torches illuminating the corridor and protecting against vengeful spirits.
The Yoguaiâs pulse doesnât spill blood, cauterized by something; the pain must be unbearable.
Finally, we reach my workshop; the Yoguais that remain in the area look at me and then rise, rushing to the injured Yoguai.
Even demons protect their young.
Some Yoguais carry the injured one to an improvised stretcher made from a table, laying him on it, while the others move to fetch herbs, elixirs, and cloths.
This is my entire stock⦠I stare at the scene, feeling slightly depressed about the costs that will come.
The Yoguai on the table grits its teeth in pain while clutching its wrist, the other Yoguais around prepare a cloth with medicine.
If they werenât brutal killers, one might feel pity.
While they treat the boy, I head outside the workshop to the central altar with the organs.
Since the last one of them returned, I will perform a ritual to find the whereabouts of those wizards.
The blue flames at the entrance prevent the dead spirits from attacking me, but they will also block any interference in the divination.
Reaching the altar, I remove the small child from atop it and hand it to one of the guard Yoguais.
Then, I lie down on the altar.
âGreat Ruler of Destiny, Small Ruler of Destiny, Guide of the Balance of Destiny, Master of the Three Bodies, Powerful King of Flourishing, bring me the future,â I chant to the god Siming to summon a more suitable vision of the Future.
My eyes grow heavy with the end of the chant, and then I close them, falling into a deep sleep.
My body floats in the depths of a vast blue sea, countless red lines filling my field of vision, all directed toward a single direction, to the North.
There is also a red line coming from my chest, merging with the others along the way.
I never tire of seeing these lines.
The red lines represent divine divinations made by people throughout China and beyond, wizards seeking to assess their luck, specific information, or to glimpse the future.
Palace wizards with greater talent can summon the name of the god Siming, the deity that governs the timing of human life and our destinies, to enter this sea in dreams and seek the information they desire.
Naturally, there are two dangers in this sea; the first is that if I spend too much time inside, my spirit begins to dissolve. It is possible to escape, but the risks range from memory loss to becoming mentally disabled.
The second danger is a nine-headed sea beast, the minister of the water god Gonggong, the serpent Xiangliu; it roams this sea to determine where and when future floods will occur.
Since I donât want to be devoured, I grab my red thread and begin to swim toward the North, the thread guiding and pulling me toward the information I seek.
Swimming in this sea is mentally taxing; when I look at a line, I can partly see the person making the divination, lottery numbers, where to find the escaped cat, whether someone will have luck on a date, all divinations made by non-wizards, which will not be answered or yield correct results.
What a waste of time these inquiries are; civilians truly live simple lives.
The tips of my toes begin to dissolve in the waters, disintegrating in the flow of the sea.
Itâs happening faster than normal; the place must have some protection. Without the torches in the cave, I would probably have already lost my legs.
The red threads around me begin to dissolve in the water, the divinations without magical energy to guide them simply dissolving in this sea.
I have roughly fifteen minutes.
Still following the red thread, it eventually reaches a large old sewing route, the red thread merging into a large spool that the machine sucks to sew.
Upon reaching the sewing machine, I grab the thread again and once more invoke the titles of the god Siming.
The wheel then cuts the thread, the information I seek entering my mind.
I see a small house in front of a canal, one of the many streets of the main part of the city of Venice.
The appearance of the house is extremely ordinary: two stories, brown, one door, two windows per floor.
If I were to search solely by appearance, I would never find this house among the countless ones in the city.
No, what I must use to track this house is the trail of magic; itâs faint, but I can feel a spell affecting the house, focused on the second floor.
A barrier? No, it doesnât have a defensive factor...
Regardless of what it is, the caster is skilled; I can hardly sense the energy.
Having marked the information, I initiate another spell in the sea.
âGreat Ruler of Destiny, Small Ruler of Destiny, your Message has been received; I beg you to free this apprentice.â My consciousness then fades for a moment.
In the next instant, I awaken on the altar, lifting my body to go to my workshop, ordering them to place the child back on the altar.
Returning to my workshop, I find the young Yoguai sleeping on the table, its cauterized hand bandaged.
âDid they sedate him?â I glare at one of the Yoguais, who merely confirms; I then look at the fallen, empty vials on the ground and let out a sigh.
âI will eliminate those responsible tonight.â I sit at my table, grabbing some papers and ink to prepare a summoning ritual, the Yoguais watching me.
I will summon the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons; they will annihilate the wizards and everything around them, thus fulfilling my goal!