When I was five years old,ǐwē an old beggar came to the door. My father gave him six steamed buns and a small bag of rice, but he refused to leave. He claimed that my horoscope was very special and demanded 888 yuan from me for a fortune-telling session.

Back then, in the 1990s, it was considered generous if someone could give you five cents to get by. Eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan, although our family was better off than some, that was still my dad's monthly salary.

As expected, my dad held back from beating him up. He just took back the bag of rice and six mooncakes.

Even the old beggar didn't get angry, he just grinned and pointed at me and said: "This child has a bad omen in his eight characters, his destined wife is related to snakes, he's different from ordinary people."

Then, just as my dad was about to grab his shovel, the old beggar vanished into thin air.

Who in their right mind would just happen to have a connection with a snake?

My dad was furious, but he just thought the old beggar had gone crazy. He pointed in the direction of the old beggar's departure and cursed for a while before letting it go.

Just after the old beggar left, I inexplicably came down with a high fever and was ill for several days. The hospital was also helpless.

Before this, I was also weak and often got sick. I would often see hallucinations and hear things that weren't there.

Later, I talked nonsense incessantly and even made inhuman cackles in the middle of the night for no reason.

As the family couldn't handle it, they brought my distant aunt from our hometown.

Speaking of this great-aunt, she was a godlike person.

This is not an exaggeration, it's true.

Our family name is Chu. This aunt was almost eighty years old that year. It is said that in her youth, she was a renowned "horse-calling fairy," and people nicknamed her "Chu Daxiangu."

This old man has traveled all over the country his whole life, curing countless people. It is said that he used folk remedies, some of which seem quite unorthodox, even involving poisonous insects and herbs. Some say he once tested a medicine that doctors diagnosed him as not living past forty years old. But relying on his skills, he lived to be over seventy!

In our hometown, almost no one doesn't know about the story of Chuxian Gu.

At that time, my aunt came to my house. She just glanced at me, felt my pulse, and then her face changed drastically. She remained silent for a long while.

"That old man who came to the door, does he have a tumor on his head, with a few strands of beard below, and speaks incoherently?"

Upon hearing this from my aunt, my father was greatly surprised. The old beggar did indeed match her description, but he had never told my aunt how he knew about him.

When my father nodded in confirmation, Tai Gu stomped her foot and sighed, “You missed a great opportunity! That old man is a very famous itinerant doctor named Cui Bancheng. The fact that he came to your house is fate for this child, and he’s here to save Xiao Fan.”

Tai Gu said Xiao Fan, of course, is me. My given name is Chu Yi Fan, born on July 15, 1988, at the hour of Hai (midnight). I have a complete birth chart.

Tai Gu said that Cui Bancheng, to be honest, my dad doesn't know either. He just works as a technician in the factory; he wouldn't understand these mystical things.

Tai Gu didn't bother explaining, she slapped my head again and suddenly put her finger inside, sucking on it for a long time.

My dad and they could only watch helplessly. But in just three or five minutes, Tai Gu suddenly gushed out of her mouth, and the whole child also shook violently.

"No, this child's fate is too special. I can't save his life, nor can I see his future. But I can tell you that there must be something wrong with your family's ancestral graves. Just now, I saw a solitary grave on the hillside with several trees growing on it. The grass was overgrown and wild. There were also two large snakes and a litter of smaller snakes coiled up in your family's ancestral grave."

Tai Gu is a distant relative of our family. We haven't been in touch for many years. We didn't even know where the ancestral graves of our branch of the family were buried.

But what you said about my ancestral graves is not wrong.

Back then, my grandfather was still alive. My great-grandfather and great-grandmother's graves were in our hometown, on a hillside. There was a single grave there with several trees growing on it. My grandfather had trouble walking up the mountain, so the ancestral grave was overgrown with weeds, which was inevitable.

Seeing my aunt's grim expression, as if facing a great enemy, my dad was also terrified. He begged my aunt to save me. My aunt shook her head and after performing some calculations with her fingers, she said weakly to my dad: "A master like Cui Bancheng is untraceable. You should seek another expert instead. Don't waste time on this."

After finishing her words, Tai Gu went out.

This time, my dad was dumbfounded.

He got married to my mother three years before I was born, naturally he treated me as a precious treasure. After my aunt passed away, the man who always considered himself an egoist finally made up his mind. He took leave from work and embarked on a journey of seeking medical treatment and divination.

In just over ten days, my father had contacted over twenty "folk experts," both local and from other places. But no matter who it was, as soon as they saw me, they immediately shook their heads and said, "You'd better prepare for the funeral. None of us can see a future for this child."

Later on, my father was desperate and grabbed a fortune teller's hand, kneeling down begging him for help. The fortune teller hesitated for a long time before finally saying something to my father.

He said, "This child is Zǐwēi's reincarnation among mortals. We ordinary people can't possibly calculate his fate. He's destined for a short life. Moreover, such an exceptionally noble birth often comes with heavenly punishment. The fact that he has lived to five years old is already a blessing."

Upon hearing this, my father refused to let him go. After much wrangling, the fortune teller, resigned, gave my father an address, claiming it belonged to Cui Bancheng, a renowned figure in Northeast China. However, Cui Bancheng was like a dragon, rarely seen. Whether I could find him depended entirely on fate.

With the address in hand, my father didn't say a word. He scooped me up and boarded the train straight to Cui Bancheng's city.

According to my father, I was already in a drowsy and unconscious state at that time. I couldn't eat anything and was barely hanging on, close to death at any moment.

It's a pity that I was spared, perhaps my fate wasn't sealed. My father went to the address and surprisingly found Cui Bancheng, the old beggar himself.

But when we got to Cui Bancheng's house, my dad was dumbfounded. Cui Bancheng's house was too extravagant! The gate was almost big enough for a horse to run through, and the steps leading up to the front were seven or eight levels high. Even from across the wall, you could see the tall small buildings inside.

Most importantly, his doorstep was completely blocked by people layer after layer, reportedly all there to see Master Cui for a fortune telling. Some had even been waiting outside his house for half a month.

There are many small cars lined up outside his house, all looking very wealthy. But no one dares to cause trouble; they all queue up patiently and obediently.

Looking at the long queue and then at me, exhausted, my dad gritted his teeth and charged in.

This instantly provoked a wave of anger. A group of people blocked my father, arguing in seven tongues. Just as my father was caught between two sides, the door to Cui Bancheng's house suddenly opened. A little girl of about seven or eight years old walked out, looked at my father, then at me, and asked: "Is he Chu Yi Fan?"

My dad nodded repeatedly, the little girl gave a small nod, then pointed at me and said something to those around her.

"My grandfather has passed away, and from today onwards, the divination is officially sealed. His last divination reading remains with him."

(Editor in charge：stephen king novels)