Chapter Sixty-Six: Not Human

The eyes of the crowd fixed upon Fang Nian, but he was not surprised; in fact, he rather enjoyed the attention. Guo Ji questioned Fang Nian, his doubt apparent.

"Brother Fang, though none of us are experts in ancient Huaxia culture, we can understand Brian's notes. The notebook makes it clear that Yi showed him a drawing, not any so-called star chart you mentioned."

Hearing Guo Ji's words, Fang Nian was exasperated. He truly couldn't tell whether these hunters possessed supreme wisdom or were merely simpletons who made everything unnecessarily complicated.

"Big brother, a drawing can very well depict a star chart, can't it? If he drew the celestial patterns on paper for Brian to see, what difference does it make?"

A wave of awkwardness swept through the group. Indeed, anything could be drawn on paper. Duan Rui knew this was possible, but she had combed through the diary four or five times without finding any reference to that drawing. How did Fang Nian know?

"How can you be so sure that the drawing depicted constellations? There's nothing about that in the notebook, is there?"

Fang Nian nodded, then explained.

"Indeed, if you take the text literally, that's what it seems. But if you have some understanding of ancient Huaxia culture, you'll discover that the 'Yi' mentioned in Brian's notes is not actually a person, but—"

"Wait, wait..." Xu Dong, who had remained silent until now, suddenly raised his hand to interrupt Fang Nian, his expression full of disdain.

"Fang, we placed you in the fifth position for this hunt with your consent. To my knowledge, we've done nothing to exclude you. But spinning these tall tales to fool us is going too far."

"I'm a man of action, not words. I don't know much about these mechanisms or codes, so I usually keep quiet. But this is too much—if it's not a person, then what is it? A ghost?"

Xiao Xueluan nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it's really not very convincing."

At first, Xiao Xueluan had a decent impression of Fang Nian, especially after he uncovered some secrets in the notebook, proving himself a competent companion. But his increasingly outlandish claims had drastically lowered her opinion of him.

---

Originally, Guo Ji had hoped Fang Nian would surprise them again, but was left disappointed and prepared to resume searching for clues.

At that moment, the two women, Jin Jin Hui and Duan Rui, stepped forward to support Fang Nian.

"Do any of you have a better clue? If not, just listen instead of whining like a bunch of old women."

Duan Rui, still deep in thought, seemed to grasp something from Fang Nian’s words. She urged him,

"Go on, don't mind them."

Fang Nian shrugged helplessly at the three men, then continued,

"I wonder how your essays are, but from Brian’s writing, it’s clear he was an excellent writer. Whenever he described someone important, his prose would become especially vivid."

He paused deliberately, and in that brief silence, Duan Rui—who had been frowning intently—suddenly became excited.

"Ah, I see now. Brian loved to use adjectives when describing people. But when he wrote about Yi, he used metaphorical language—it seems Yi might not have been a person at all, but Brian treated it as one."

Fang Nian nodded in agreement. Though his previous life had been far from perfect, his writing was decent; he'd even published a few unpopular books, so he quickly saw through the nuance.

The others listened and realized the same, feeling somewhat embarrassed for not noticing it earlier.

Having secured their attention, Fang Nian resumed,

"If Yi wasn't a person, why did Brian become so enamored with it—only to later hate it so profoundly that he destroyed it? If my guess is correct, this 'Yi' is actually a legendary tome from our ancient sages—the Classic of Changes."

The group was suddenly enlightened, and this time, no one interrupted him.

"I’m quite fond of ancient Huaxia culture myself. In my spare time, I’ve leafed through the Classic of Changes. The phrase in the notebook—'Let calamity not befall future generations; greed returns to dust; marsh-water distress, marsh-water restraint, fire-mountain journey, lunar catastrophe, all return to dust, but persist in the world'—the terms 'marsh-water distress, marsh-water restraint, fire-mountain journey, lunar catastrophe' are also from the Classic of Changes, referring to four hexagrams. When combined with geomancy, this forms a wondrous configuration known as the Four Stars in Alignment."

His words were so arcane and profound that those who'd doubted him earlier now found themselves bewildered and captivated.

---

Yet before Fang Nian could continue, Jin Jin Hui cut in.

"You mean you learned all this from the Classic of Changes? And you study it for fun?"

In his past life, Fang Nian had indeed been fond of the Classic of Changes, and had watched countless lectures, becoming quite familiar with the text. He nodded without hesitation.

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?"

Jin Jin Hui narrowed her eyes at Fang Nian, skepticism in her gaze.

"But as far as I know, ninety percent of the Classic of Changes was lost to history. The ten percent that survives was pieced together by later generations. And you claim to read it for leisure? Isn’t that a bit much?"

Fang Nian was momentarily speechless—he hadn’t considered this. In his world, the Classic of Changes was incomplete, but not by much, and the revised versions were readily available for reading.

But in this world, its status was unclear. For once, he didn't know how to talk his way out and could only cast a pleading glance at Duan Rui.

Seeing his discomfort, Duan Rui allowed herself a rare smile and addressed Jin Jin Hui,

"Enough, Jin Hui. Let him finish."

Jin Jin Hui rolled her eyes but relented.

Just as Fang Nian was about to continue, the carriage suddenly shuddered violently. An overwhelming chill swept through, as if they had plunged from sweltering summer into the depths of winter.

The group exchanged nervous glances—they all sensed that danger was close at hand.