Chapter 167: "Redundant" Physics

Chapter 167 -71: “Redundant” Physics

“Oh?” Su Mingyuan sounded a little surprised on the other end of the line, his tone tinged with amusement.

“Divination? Our dear Yiyi is starting to study this stuff now? Then why aren’t you asking your master? Why come to me instead? If your master finds out, he might get jealous, you know.”

Shao Yiyi’s mind stalled. She stammered,

“Well… my master is just so serious… And, after hearing your presentation at the university last time, what you said made so much sense. I think you’re even better than my master, so I thought I’d ask you…”

The flattery was so clumsy that even Shi Zuozhou, who was sitting nearby, couldn’t help but cover his face.

The line went silent for a second, then Su Mingyuan’s hearty laughter rang out.

“Hahahaha, you silly girl, you’ve got it all wrong. ‘Everyone has their own area of expertise,’ as they say. If that’s what you want to ask about, I’m afraid I can’t teach you.”

“You’re too modest… You and my master are like brothers, so you must be an expert too!” Shao Yiyi recovered a bit of her composure, her acting skills noticeably improving.

Su Mingyuan’s voice held a trace of nostalgia.

“While your master and I are brothers, we were brothers in university. I studied literature, and he studied history. We were just good friends and classmates. What little I know about the Book of Changes is all thanks to your master teaching me over the years.”

“Huh?”

Shao Yiyi was dumbfounded. She stared blankly at her phone, her mind a complete void.

It wasn’t just her. The three eavesdroppers, including Yu Xian, were also stunned.

‘How is this different from the version we heard before?’

Yu Xian had always assumed that since Su Mingyuan was Shao Yiyi’s “uncle,” he must be some kind of hidden master, an expert in the study of the Yi. He was certain the “Torrential Calamity Water” prophecy must have come from him.

But now, he was claiming to be a mere layman with only a superficial understanding?

Shao Yiyi was clearly thrown by this answer. She stammered,

“Un-Uncle, I thought… I thought you and Master both understood the Zhou Yi and its trigrams…”

“Hahaha, you’ve got that wrong. Your master and I were both in the first class of university students back in ’77, right after the college entrance exams were reinstated. Not many people were admitted back then, so everyone living on the same floor grew very close. And we’ve stayed that way for all these years!” 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

Su Mingyuan’s laughter grew even happier. He reminisced about their glorious past for a moment before his tone shifted, becoming more curious.

“Alright, enough about ancient history. So, kiddo, tell me, what trigram did you divine? I had no idea you were so studious. Let your uncle see if I can help you figure it out.”

‘Here’s my chance!’

Although the conversation hadn’t gone as planned, she still had to ask the important questions.

When Shao Yiyi glanced over, Yu Xian’s expression was grave, but he gave her a nod, signaling her to proceed with the plan.

Whether Su Mingyuan was genuinely clueless or just pretending, they had to bring up the topic of the “great flood.”

Shao Yiyi bit her lip and finally summoned her courage.

“Um… Uncle, it’s just that… I saw how the rain hasn’t stopped, so I thought I’d try to divine when it would end…”

She paused, then forced the words out through gritted teeth.

“But the trigram… it was really strange. It said the rain isn’t going to stop, and that… that there’s going to be something like a great flood…”

After saying this, Shao Yiyi held her breath, staring intently at her phone screen, waiting for his reaction.

The lounge once again fell deathly silent.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

On the other end of the line, the previously relaxed atmosphere vanished.

In its place was a suffocating silence.

Yu Xian’s heart leaped into his throat.

‘This reaction… something’s wrong.’

If an ordinary elder heard a younger person spout such a ridiculous “doomsday prophecy,” their first reaction would be to laugh or to tell the kid not to overthink things.

But he didn’t.

This silence was like some hidden secret that had suddenly been dragged out from a dark corner and exposed to the light of day.

After a long while—so long that they started to wonder if the call had dropped—Su Mingyuan’s voice finally came through again.

This time, the kindness and casualness in his voice were gone. They were replaced by an unprecedented seriousness, and even a hint of… an interrogation.

“Yiyi,” he said, his voice low.

“Did you divine this yourself?”

Shao Yiyi was clearly startled by his abrupt tone. She nodded instinctively before remembering he couldn’t see her and quickly said,

“Yes… I did it myself.”

“Using what method?” Su Mingyuan pressed.

“J-Just with the Meihua Yi Shu, and the Iron Plate Divine Number, and things like that…” Shao Yiyi’s voice grew quieter and quieter.

The other end of the line fell silent again.

A moment later, Su Mingyuan spoke. He didn’t answer her directly, but instead asked a seemingly unrelated question.

“Has your master ever taught you what ‘Yi’ means?”

“Yi?” Shao Yiyi paused, thought for a moment, and recited,

“‘Yi is change. It means simplicity, mutability, and immutability.'”

“Correct. It is mutability, yet it is also immutability.” Su Mingyuan’s voice became somewhat ethereal.

“Everything in the world is in a state of constant flux. However, the principles behind this ‘mutability’ are eternal and unchanging. The sun waxes and wanes, the stars align in the heavens, cold gives way to heat, and autumn’s harvest is followed by winter’s storage. The universe has its own order.”

He sighed, his tone carrying a note of sorrow.

“What we are facing now is an unprecedented ‘mutability.’ This is not just a rainstorm, and it is not just a flood…”