空亡

空亡, the void, is the two branches missing from the decade (旬) the day pillar belongs to.

Cutting the sixty in tens leaves twelve branches against ten stems, so two remain over, and those two are the void.

Where the day branch is void, the seat of the closest person is read as standing empty.

**The day branch, however, can never be void.** The void is what is missing from the decade the day pillar belongs to, and that decade contains the day pillar itself.

The seat of the Root Soul stands empty. The more expectation is laid on the closest person, the more it goes awry; the tighter the hold, the further they go.

It lasts longer precisely when the one beside is not owned.