002 Fighting Stick of God

  "Hao Ge!"

  "Su Hao!"

  "How dare you!"

  “……”

  The people on the scene all exclaimed, they were shocked not only because the sacred and inviolable official was beaten, but also because the person who beat him was Su Hang, a scholar who had always been weak in both body and character!

  No one knew that the Su Hao standing in front of everyone at this moment was no longer the past acid bookworm. He had only the body of the former bookworm, but his soul came from more than 400 years later. This soul belonged to a chief engineer of a geological department in a certain republic, and his name in his previous life was also Su Hao.

  Geological expert Su Hao was a legendary figure in his previous life, with footprints all over the country's mountains and rivers. The reserves of various minerals he discovered were calculated in hundreds of billions of tons. He had a solid theoretical foundation in geology and rich practical experience, earning him the reputation as "genius" or "saint" in the industry. This time, he led an exploration team deep into the mountains to search for a certain mineral deposit, but encountered a rare and massive flood that occurs only once in a century. At that critical moment, he gave up his chance of survival to his teammates and sacrificed himself, allowing his soul to cross over into the body of Su Hao, a scholar who had fainted from worshiping gods.

  Just now, amidst the hustle and bustle, Su Hao was absorbing the memories left in this body he possessed, so no matter what others said or did, he remained unmoved. In everyone's eyes, he was either frightened silly, heat-stroked, or his natural foolishness had relapsed again. However, just as Zheng Chun was about to kick Lu Xiuer in a fit of rage, Su Hao returned to reality.

  From the memory of that Juren, he knew that Lu Xiuer was his sister who grew up with him, to be exact, a little girl adopted by his family as his future wife when they were young. As a geological expert, Su Hang didn't have any romantic feelings for this little loli who hadn't grown up yet, but seeing a strong man trying to beat up a little girl, he still couldn't help but step in.

  Su Hao from his past life had a great physique due to years of traveling through mountain valleys. To defend himself, he learned some combat skills from several retired military personnel in the geological team. His IQ was higher than average and he picked up things faster than others. After a few years, according to his colleagues' evaluation, he should be able to handle a wild boar in the mountains with ease. Although Su Hao's new body wasn't as capable after crossing over, he could still effortlessly kick away an inferior officer with some clever force.

  "How dare you hit an official!" Zheng Chun slammed his fist on the table, stood up and scolded. The several yamen runners he brought with him also surrounded him, shouting and yelling. Some said they wanted to give this scholar a good beating, while others said that a scholar's body should not be taken lightly, it was better to catch him and send him back to the county government office, wait for the magistrate to deal with him.

  "Don't move my brother!" Lu Xiuer only then realized what had happened, she hastily turned around, opened her arms and blocked Su Hang behind her: "I was the one who did something wrong, if you want to catch someone, catch me instead!"

  "Xiu'er, don't be afraid of them." Su Hao pressed down Lu Xiu'er's hand and then walked in front of Zheng Chun with a serious face, sizing him up from head to toe without hurrying to speak.

  Zheng Chun was originally furious, thinking about how to deal with this bold scholar. Now seeing Su Huan's face without a hint of fear, instead staring at himself deadpan, he couldn't help but feel a bit hairy, wondering if he had been caught in some kind of trap by the scholar. After all, scholars were already accomplished individuals, and as an ordinary clerk, Zheng Chun didn't have any psychological advantage over him.

  "Xiucai, what are you looking at me for?" Zheng Chun asked sternly.

  Zheng Chun couldn't help but speak up, and Su Hao knew that his psychological tactics had worked. He let out a cold hum and said, "You're the official in charge of digging wells, but you can't even get water out of them. Instead of thinking of a solution, you're here causing trouble and disturbing the countryside. If the county magistrate finds out about this, do you think he'll punish me or you?"

  It used to be that Scholar Su Hang would never dare question an official like this. But now, Su Hang was different - in his past life, he had at least entered the grand hall, been received by the number one leader and commended as a celebrity, how could he be intimidated by this small miscellaneous official? He knew from his residual memories that Zheng Chun was sent to dig wells, and had dug more than ten wells in one breath, all of which were abandoned, so he asked this question.

  "You... have someone in your village who disrespects the gods, which has caused trouble for the Dragon King. I had you make offerings to seek the Dragon King's forgiveness. Mr. Chen said that this woman offended the Dragon God, and from now on, within a radius of ten miles, no one will be able to draw water again. Such a great sin, what can I do by beating her?" Zheng Chun hastily explained, he was somewhat intimidated by Su Huan's scholarly title, in his mind, scholars were always a bit strange, and he couldn't afford to say anything wrong.

  Su Hao turned his head, looked at the well being dug, and glanced around at the surrounding hills, couldn't help but smile faintly: "Ridiculous, this Taoist priest doesn't even know how to choose a well location, yet he's talking about the Dragon King."

  "What's that?" When Su Hao mentioned the well location, Chen Guanyu's face was somewhat unconvincing. As a Feng Shui master, he certainly knew the importance of choosing a well location. The distribution of underground water is not uniform, and in the same area, some places have water and some do not, so selecting a well location has become a technical task. The problem is that neither he himself nor his predecessors from several decades ago could explain the matter clearly.

  Chen Guanyu relied on some fortune-telling to determine the location of wells in the past, but this time in Longkou Village, he made mistake after mistake. He had thought that by using Lu Xiuer's case, he could say there was no water within ten miles and thus extricate himself, but unexpectedly, this trouble-making scholar actually dared to point his finger at him again.

  "I'm proficient in the I Ching and the Eight Trigrams, and I've even been to Mount Longhu to receive personal guidance from Daoist Master Zhang Ximing. How dare you say I don't know how to select a well location?" Chen Guanyu argued hastily, his face turning red with anxiety.

  "Zhang Ximu?" Su Hao smiled slightly, "Use the Pre-Heaven Eight Trigrams to determine its body, use the Post-Heaven Eight Trigrams to flow its function; Qi momentum is the main thread, time and day are the application; in the midst of fusion and convergence, retrieve its harmony; in the midst of peace and tranquility... how many lines can you recite?"

  Zhang Ximu was a famous Feng Shui master in Jiangxi during the Jiajing period. Su Hao, as a geological expert, also had some knowledge of Feng Shui theories. The passage he read out was precisely the core of Zhang Ximu's theory, and he dared to bet that this unorthodox little Feng Shui master couldn't recite it so fluently.

  "This..." As expected, Chen Guanyu was immediately stunned. In fact, he had said something about going to the Dragon and Tiger Mountain before, but it was just bragging. He had heard people mention that Zhang Xiumu was a great master, but as for what specific methods he had, he didn't know at all. If you say Su Hao is talking nonsense, this conversation seems to be in line with the principles of Feng Shui, and it doesn't seem like something made up out of thin air.

  Su Hao's words left Chen Guanyu speechless, and Zheng Chun was also somewhat surprised. He restrained his arrogant tone and asked: "Xiucai, you said Mr. Chen can't choose a well location, do you have any evidence?"

  Su Hao said, "Looking for water in a syncline and looking for oil in an anticline is basic common sense. Take a look at the well locations he chose, they are all anticlinal structures. In this severe drought season, it would be strange if we could strike water."

  Don't bully us old folks like this! If Chen Guanyu knew what Su Hang was talking about, he would definitely be so aggrieved that he'd knock his head against the wall. This "toward strike" and "reverse strike" business is a term in modern geology, referring to the direction of rock folds. A toward strike is like a basin, conducive to water accumulation, while a reverse strike is like a turtle shell, not conducive to water accumulation, but there might be oil underneath. The well location chosen by Chen Guanyu just happens to be on top of a reverse strike structure, just as Su Hang said, it would be strange if they could get water out of it!

  Toward the inclined back, all of them are the structure of the underground rock layer, but as an experienced geological expert, Su Hao can still roughly determine the direction of the underground rock layer from the surrounding terrain. If it were in modern times, he wouldn't dare to make such a hasty conclusion without using some instruments for something like frequency spectrum or electrical resistivity analysis. But now there are no such tools, so he has to rely on his own eyesight. Fortunately, this is just a matter of drilling a well, and Su Hao has enough confidence in his judgment.

  "Mr. Chen, does what he said about the slope and the back slope make sense?" Zheng Chun may not be educated, but having been in the official circles for a long time, his discernment was still quite good. He clearly saw that Chen Guanyu's face was changing with uncertainty, guessing that this godly man must have been shocked by that scholar.

  "This...," Chen Guanyu hesitated, "His Qimen Dunjia is not the same as my family's traditional teachings. Whether this makes sense or not, I'd rather not comment rashly. My ancestors were orthodox, while he... at most, can be considered a side door, left path..."

  "What's left or right," Su Hao said. "Being able to dig a well is the right way, you just said that within this ten-mile radius there won't be any water, is that so?"

  Chen Guanyu forced a smile and said: "That's right, I've just calculated it with my fingers."

  "Snap your fingers? Alright, if changing the well location can bring out water, are you planning to snap your fingers off?"

  "Are you looking for Jing Wei?" Chen Guanyu was shocked, he was invited from outside the village and had been staying in the village for over a decade, but had never heard of such a person.

  "Will this scholar find a well location?" Zheng Chun asked Li Changsu in a low voice.

  Su Zhong shook his head: "This Su Hao, is completely a bookworm, hasn't heard of any skills. His father died early, at home there's only an old mother and a younger sister, cultivating a few acres of land, the whole family lives frugally. This big fellow, doesn't do any farm work, just thinks about getting top honors on the imperial exam, I spit, can his family's ancestors produce such a person?"

  In other matters, Su Zhong still had some affection for Su Hua, and wouldn't say such unpleasant things. However, when it came to academic matters, Su Zhong was not so kind to Su Hua. The reason was simple: currently, only two people in Longkou Village held the title of "Xiucai", one being 17-year-old Su Hua, and the other being Su Tingzhao, a Xiucai from the Jiajing era, who was now 70 years old. And this Su Tingzhao, the old Xiucai, was Su Zhong's father.

  On the other side, Chen Guanyu had been forced into a corner by Su Huan. He shouted: "If you can find the well and see water within 60 feet, I...I'll drink all that water!"

  "Let's drink one-tenth of it and leave nine-tenths for later, we still have to farm after all." Su Hao said calmly.