Chapter 150: The Surname

To be honest, Chen Jin still felt it was a great pity that he had not crossed paths with Lü Dongbin during his "prime period." Of course, alongside that regret, there was also a trace of relief. After all, a Lü Dongbin in his "prime period" walking among mortals was not someone just anyone could afford to provoke. At that time, he would undoubtedly have been the foremost figure in the mortal realm; even if those immortals and Buddhas descended in avatar forms, they likely would not have been his match. Well, these were merely Chen Jin's own wild imaginations, for after all, Chen Jin was currently just a little tot, indulging in such fantasies mostly inside his own head.

As for the power of Lü Dongbin during his mortal peak, Chen Jin had referenced the legendary figure Ge Hong. After all, Chen Jin had only ever witnessed such a great person executing spells. Even Chen Jin's former, rather unreliable master, True Person Yunxiang, had never been seen displaying such grand divine power by Chen Jin, who had only ever listened to a single one of his abstruse, wondrous sermons. Yet since his master had already attained the status of a heavenly immortal, Chen Jin found it even harder to predict the true extent of his strength.

Lately, Chen Jin had been indulging less and less in idle fancies, but this time he still turned the matter over and over in his mind, for it was intimately connected to his own person and had a great bearing on his subsequent actions.

Pondering Lü Dongbin was tantamount to pondering his wife, Wei Sangzi, because anyone capable of matching a future immortal in this day and age could certainly not be simple. Otherwise, they would surely be cursed to death by association. After all, the spiritual standing of these immortals was not low; in terms of fate and destiny, their fortune was immensely abundant. One had to be extremely careful around individuals with such overflowing destiny lest one's own fortune be drained by them. Just as water naturally flows downward to converge into a great river, these great figures blessed with abundant fortune were like great rivers, while those who drew close to them were like small streams. The waters of the small streams would naturally rush to merge into the great river, and throughout this process, neither party would be aware of it at all.

Consequently, whenever we read mythological tales, we often see that the family members of heroes who have not yet ascended to immortality always suffer misfortunes—this is simply their luck being drained away.

The fact that Lü Dongbin's wife, Wei Sangzi, had been able to accompany him up to this age of thirty was already quite remarkable, so it was naturally necessary to conduct a more thorough investigation.

Regarding the investigation into her ancestors eighteen generations back, however, Chen Jin had only managed to find out that her family descended from the State of Wei during the Warring States period.

The rulers of the State of Wei bore the Ji surname, a lineage that could be traced back to the Yellow Emperor of ancient legend. Such a surname spoke volumes. In this day and age, a mere name could win one special prestige. A bloodline and surname stretching down unbroken from antiquity could make even a pig a member of the nobility if placed upon its head.

Of course, this very same name could also bring about the slaughter of that pig. If those in power were to ponder how special the pig's bloodline was, they would surely conclude that its flesh must be equally extraordinary, perhaps possessing great restorative and tonic effects, and thus they would butcher it...

In short, this had both advantages and disadvantages, though the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

As for the present Wei Sangzi, it was possible she was being implicated precisely because of this name of hers. After all, Chen Jin had not seen anything out of the ordinary in her eight characters of birth; he had merely used those characters to divine the appearance of the person secretly casting curses of cursing and aversion upon her. Therefore, Chen Jin could only investigate Wei Sangzi from the perspective of her family background and physical constitution.

It was a pity that Wei Sangzi's physical constitution was no different from that of ordinary people, being merely slightly stronger than the young mistresses of ordinary wealthy households, with no special constitution to speak of. Thus, the only truly special thing about Wei Sangzi was her family background, and particularly her name.

"I wonder if my sister-in-law still has any relatives left in her family?" Chen Jin asked this of Lü Dongbin, who was riding a donkey alongside him.

By this time, they had already departed from Niulan Town, setting off at noon just as the light drizzle ceased, while scattered clouds hung in the sky and the sun was prevented from becoming scorching.

Lü Dongbin was indeed wealthy; he had managed to purchase a cart pulled by an ox, two donkeys, and in addition, there was a carriage—this carriage was something Lü Dongbin's party already possessed, and moreover, there were no horses available for purchase in the town.

Chen Jin rode a donkey, and Lü Dongbin also rode a donkey, the two of them leading the way at the front while everyone else sat inside the vehicles.

"Yes, though not many are left. Sangzi has had a bitter life; her father passed away when she was three, and her mother when she was ten. Afterward, she lived with her maternal uncle, fortunately a kind and good-hearted man who treated her well. Then, at the age of sixteen, she was married to me, and she has lived with me ever since."

"Oh, she also had one elder uncle and two younger uncles, but these elders have also passed away. Most of the descendants they left behind were forced to leave their native places. In former years, when I was serving as an official, I happened to run into one of them, but unfortunately, due to a transfer in my official post, we parted ways again. Later on, I left officialdom due to certain matters, and so I lost touch with him as well. Truly a pity," Lü Dongbin said, shaking his head and sighing.

Receiving such news, Chen Jin became even more certain that Wei Sangzi's predicament was related to her family lineage, and even more intimately connected to the surname she bore.

"Does this matter have anything to do with the curse upon Sangzi?" Lü Dongbin immediately caught on that Chen Jin had not asked this question without reason.

"It does, but it still requires verification," Chen Jin nodded, then shook his head.

"Could it be that..." Lü Dongbin's expression suddenly changed, as if he had thought of something.

"What is it?" Seeing the strange look on Lü Dongbin's face, Chen Jin immediately pressed for an answer.

"I once heard Sangzi mention that when her father passed away, strange things happened..." Lü Dongbin said in a low voice.

"What strange things?" Hearing this, Chen Jin's curiosity was piqued even further.

"Before Sangzi's father passed away, a visitor came—a rather strange-looking person. Because Sangzi was very young at the time, she was not clear on *how* he was strange, only that whenever Sangzi recalled the matter, she would say this person was bizarre," Lü Dongbin spoke even more softly, almost as if he wanted to pull Chen Jin's ear right up to his mouth to whisper.

Chen Jin's hearing was quite good, so he did not lean in closer, though the strange attitude with which Lü Dongbin spoke aroused his suspicion all the more.

"Why is Brother Lü speaking in such a low voice?" Not one to keep things hidden in his heart, Chen Jin asked directly.

"Sangzi's ears are exceedingly sharp, and moreover, she dislikes it when I speak of this matter, so I spoke quietly," Lü Dongbin glanced back at the ox cart trailing behind them, the one in which Wei Sangzi was riding.

Ah, it seems a single sentence has yielded two pieces of information... Chen Jin thought to himself inwardly. "Why?"

Since he had already asked, he naturally had to be a busybody and inquire *why*, otherwise the two of them would have nothing to do but endure an awkward silence atop their donkeys.

"Because she doesn't remember," Lü Dongbin said helplessly.

"Just because of this?" Chen Jin found it hard to believe.

However, the human heart is multifaceted, and mental afflictions take on countless forms due to a multitude of causes, so the things that trouble the distressed naturally vary as well.

Therefore, Wei Sangzi's reason could be believed to a certain extent; after all, mental hospitals were filled to the brim, and every single patient's mental illness was entirely different.

"And also because of the passing of Sangzi's mother..."