The Charismatic Charlie Wade

George, noting Maria’s horrified expression and her unusual nervousness in speech, wasted no time in inquiring, “Miss Clark, what do you make of this sight?”

Maria responded, “This… The dark clouds appear chaotic and unruly, yet there’s an underlying complexity, a sense of… it feels akin to the Zen Gua image from the Book of Changes’ sixty-four hexagrams.”

“Zen Gua?” Geena exclaimed, clearly taken aback, “Could this cloud actually represent a hexagram?”

Maria nodded, murmuring, “Zen hexagrams are always intricate. Ancient wisdom tells us that when upheaval arrives, laughter turns bitter; a shocking event in the distant field, no mourning for the blade. When this hexagram appears, it’s a merging of the main hexagram and the guest hexagram, signifying an unforeseen, earth-shattering occurrence.”

George, now even more astounded, inquired, “Who possesses the ability to divine from the sky’s clouds?”

Maria appeared befuddled, “I’m not sure… But… This divination seems to have commenced precisely when we arrived. I don’t think it’s man-made.”

“Unnatural, then…” Geena questioned, “Could it be a natural occurrence?”

Maria shook her head, saying, “The secret eludes me…”

As they spoke, the sky’s dark clouds continued their rapid transformation. Thick clouds seemed to draw from an unending well in the heavens, covering the entire Heaven Lake valley in a relentless surge.

Maria frowned, gazing skyward with wide eyes, whispering to herself, “The hexagrams shift too swiftly… I… I cannot fathom it. What are you attempting to convey? Can you clarify? At all?”

The enigmatic clouds, of course, remained indifferent to her muttered queries, their transformation unabated.

anxiously noted, “There are so many variables, each demanding extensive comprehension. With their rapid changes, another hexagram emerges in

retrieved his mobile phone, activating video recording. “Miss Clark, fret not. I’ll capture all these shifts. If need

head, saying, “The hexagram’s transformations are relentless. Everything is encapsulated within this turbulent hexagram. It hints at a plea for aid, but it does not clarify who or what seeks

not someone or something,

locked on the ever-changing clouds, responded in a hushed tone, “I haven’t quite grasped it yet… It’s neither someone

eyes widened, and she exclaimed,

“What have you

Maria’s eyes as she pointed to the barren ground

Mother of

Mother of Pu’er fail to transcend three hundred years ago? Why would she seek our aid now? And… Is she communicating

but I can sense it.

the Mother of Pu’er appealing through the clouds, what does she require of us? How

appeared equally anxious, “I don’t know… all I perceive is her plea. This ceaselessly shifting hexagram suggests she’s trapped within this tumultuous hexagram,

air now teemed with moisture, and the atmospheric pressure was plummeting, making it

her anxiety apparent as she paced restlessly. She lamented, “The hexagrams are becoming increasingly ominous, with the main hexagram gradually succumbing to Ke Gua’s influence. If I can’t devise a solution soon, I may

hexagrams, could only stand there, his worry etched across his

thicken and descend, creating a potent low-pressure system above Heaven Lake. Maria’s breathing grew strained, and her anxiety

to Ke Gua. If I can’t find a solution soon, I may not be able to rescue her… What