Chapter 40: The Method of Borrowing from Ghosts

He realized the ambiguity in his words, offered an embarrassed smile, and quickly raised his glass. "I’ll punish myself with a drink. Look at me—I don’t know how to speak, yet I’m spouting nonsense."

After finishing the drink and setting down the glass, he continued, "Junior brother, the reason I’m planning to leave isn't because you're young, nor is it because you live in a rented room while wearing a security guard's uniform. I didn't come here for those things. I came because you are the one chosen by our Master. I have faith in him; it’s no surprise how far or how high a successor chosen by a man of such celestial caliber might go."

This was exactly what Uncle Yong had said.

I had been struggling with the concepts of the Spirit Tuning Sect and the Triple Origin Convergence, but no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't find an answer. The books contained no introduction to the Spirit Tuning Sect, nor did they explain what the Triple Origin Convergence actually was. Yet, from Uncle Yong’s interest in me to this senior brother traveling thousands of miles to find me, everything seemed to revolve around it.

I smiled at Lin Chongsheng and said, "The Master’s books once said that itinerant swindlers all rely on 'thousand-trick' scripts—a set of fixed phrases that, in just a few words, can make you willingly hand over your money. Do you think the Master might be using the same tactic? He prints a huge batch of these books and hands them out to every young person he sees, saying their future is limitless. If he guesses right and the person succeeds, they will inevitably revere him like a god; if he guesses wrong, it’s just the loss of a book."

Lin Chongsheng shook his head with a smile. "You underestimate our Master. However, I once had similar thoughts, until I met an expert of the Profound Arts. He told me that the Spirit Tuning Sect is the most mysterious of the 'Eight Outsider Trades' of the underworld. It is divided into an outer sect and an inner sect. The outer sect travels the world as sorcerers—usually a man and a woman—calculating fortunes, reading faces, determining feng shui, casting talismans, prescribing medicine, and performing shamanic rituals. While they make their living on the road, they are different from other itinerant charlatans. They wander to seek out extraordinary people. Once the outer sect identifies such a person, the inner sect makes its move. After a final screening by the inner sect, the chosen individual is gifted a profound text. The ancestor they revere is Huang Shigong. You know Huang Shigong, right? The one who gave Zhang Liang the 'Art of War of the Grand Duke'."

"I know Huang Shigong, of course, but you can’t trust such myths and legends. The Thousand Sects even claim Fuxi as their ancestor. If Lord Fuxi actually knew, wouldn't he be amused to death?" I took a sip of wine.

Lin Chongsheng looked at me with unwavering intensity. "Junior brother, believe it or not, the Spirit Tuning Sect is truly different from other underworld sects. They are skilled at recognizing people, and their methods for doing so are incredibly profound. Those they choose are people of extraordinary talent capable of great achievements, even if those people seem entirely ordinary to everyone else."

"Senior brother, what you're saying sounds a bit too mystical," I said.

Lin Chongsheng shook his head. "The real Spirit Tuning Sect might be even more mysterious than what I've described. If I’m not mistaken, the Master is an inner-sect disciple. Before he gave you that book, the outer-sect disciples had already vetted you, and he made the final decision. At certain specific moments, the Spirit Tuning Sect might even intervene in the trajectory of your life. For instance, the bankruptcy of my business, or the overwhelming resentment you felt after being bullied and forced to drop out of school—these things could all have been orchestrated by the Spirit Tuning Sect."

I didn't quite know how to respond.

I also enjoyed reading books on these subjects; I was a fan of mythology and Taoist culture. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been holding a copy of *The Eye into the Earth* on the train. I also believed that Senior Liu Qingshan was no ordinary person, and I was very happy to be a "chosen child of heaven." But my reason told me that my senior brother might have become a bit "obsessed."

"What does the Spirit Tuning Sect want with us, anyway? There must be some kind of return on their investment, right?" I laughed.

"Assessment. This might just be the first test. If you succeed, there may be other missions and trials. Clearly, I am one who was eliminated." He finished his drink in one gulp, his face etched with bitterness.

I raised my glass and said, "To us both being chosen—cheers."

He didn't move his glass, instead saying bitterly, "I know you don't believe me. You think I’m a lunatic, or perhaps you think I’ve lost my mind after experiencing the highs and lows of life."

His gaze began to grow vacant, similar to someone having a mental breakdown. I didn't know his temperament well enough yet and was afraid he might say something like "a conversation is useless if our paths don't align," so I quickly said, "I believe you! Why wouldn't I? The Master said I have the 'Triple Origin Convergence' and that there is wealth in the south, which gave me immense confidence and hope. If I hadn't met him, I might not have known which way to go at all. And I don't know why, but after reading that book, I felt like I had a direction, and I’ve also become incredibly lucky."

That was the truth. Without that book, I wouldn't have fought so desperately. Without knowing the underworld jargon, Uncle Yong would have just dismissed me as a greenhorn and wouldn't have given me a chance, and a girl like Xiaowen wouldn't have spared me a second glance.

Only then did Lin Chongsheng's eyes slowly regain their light. He said, "The further you go, the deeper your understanding will become. The Spirit Tuning Sect calls this 'Momentum.' Your momentum will grow stronger and stronger. You haven’t experienced it yet, so you don’t understand how it works. Regarding the contents of the Thousand Sects' 'Blue Way,' the Master tore them out because of me. I will tell you now: there were three chapters in those torn pages—'Borrowing Techniques,' 'Borrowing Situations,' and 'Borrowing Ghosts.' 'Techniques' are tricks derived from the Color Sect but refined by the Blue Way—shuffling, cutting, and memorizing cards are all techniques. 'Situations' are about the landscape—how to leverage all the surrounding circumstances. The Thousand Sects rely on the situation, not the techniques; without the right situation, even the highest technique is useless. But whether it's 'Borrowing Techniques' or 'Borrowing Situations,' they are child's play compared to 'Borrowing Ghosts.' Of these three, the techniques come from the Color Sect, the situations from the orthodox Thousand Sects, and the 'Ghosts' are the methods of the Spirit Tuning Sect."

"'Borrowing Ghosts'? What does that mean? Raising spirits to help you gamble?" I asked, bewildered.

If anyone else had said this to me, I would have thought they were a complete idiot or a lunatic. But coming from my senior brother, it carried a seventy-percent air of credibility.

"Borrowing things invisible to ordinary people for your own use is all part of 'Borrowing Ghosts.' You could call it the power of spirits and gods, but gods don't enter casinos, and gamblers are called 'gambling ghosts,' so this method is called 'Borrowing Ghosts,'" Lin Chongsheng said.

Having said that, he reached out to the owner. "Boss, bring me a deck of cards."

Lao Hai brought over a deck of cards. Seeing me there, he nodded with a smile. "Uncle Yong didn't come?"

"No, the old man says eating late-night snacks isn't healthy," I replied.

Lao Hai didn't say anything else. "Alright then, I'll go tend to the others and come back to chat in a bit."

I stood up to see Lao Hai off.

After sitting back down, Lin Chongsheng pushed the deck of cards toward me. It was brand new and unopened. He asked, "What games are you most familiar with?"

"These past two days, it’s been *Zha Jinhua* (Three-Card Brag)," I said excitedly. I knew my senior brother was about to demonstrate the legendary Blue Way techniques that had once traversed the underworld.

He pointed at the cards. "You open them and shuffle."

I tore them open and shuffled.

He nodded again. "You deal."

I dealt three cards to each of us with extreme caution.

Before I even opened my cards, he said, "You lost."

From start to finish, he hadn't touched the cards, and I had been very careful not to let him see the bottom cards while dealing. Yet he suddenly said this. Half-doubting, I flipped over both our hands. I had a pair of 2s with a 7, while he had a 3-5-8 flush.

He ignored my astonishment and said, "Continue."

I gritted my teeth and continued dealing.

He said, "Ten rounds. You will only win three."

I dealt for ten rounds straight. The result was exactly as he had predicted.

"Why? How did you do that? You didn't even touch the cards!" I exclaimed.

He took a sip of wine and said, "Change your seat. Come sit next to me."