Chapter 4: The Blood-Stained Sunset Clouds

  I immediately caught his drift and hastily asked: "That guy? Who?"

  Niu Er glanced at the talisman in my hand and said reluctantly, "The other day, a Taoist priest came to find me and said that my mother didn't have many days left. He asked me to help him with something. He wanted me to use a mournful stick to wait for you in the tube building at night. As long as you come out to open the door of the house across from us, he'll hit your head with the mournful stick. If he succeeds, he'll give me 5,000 yuan! I was just momentarily greedy."

  I waved my hand and asked him to describe the appearance of the man who had hired him to beat me. According to Niu Er's account, that person had a fox-like face, with a mole under his nose, single eyelids, and looked quite sinister. Based on his description, I drew a picture of this person (I studied at Jiamusi Sanhai Art Academy before going up the mountain).

  I had just finished drawing, and Niu Er hadn't even spoken yet, when Liu Wanwan suddenly covered her mouth and let out a cry of surprise. I hastily turned my head to look at Liu Wanwan.

  Liu Wanwan's face turned slightly red as she pointed at the person in the painting and said: "This, this person... I've seen him before."

  I sent off Niu Er and walked home with Liu Wanwan. On the way, Liu Wanwan told me that she had seen this person at a blind date, and it seemed that he was from the Zhang family. He didn't know what this person did in the Zhang family either. At first, she thought he was a relative, and at that time, the blind date seemed to be planned by this person.

  I and Liu Wanwan studied it, and felt that this matter wants to solve, still must go to Liu Wanwan's hometown. Liu Wanwan's home is in what village I temporarily don't say, here just call "Liu Village".

  Let's not talk about it, we simply packed up and left for Liu Village the next day. We took several buses and arrived at Liu Village by a donkey cart that was delivering fertilizer. It was already afternoon when we got there, and Liu Village looked very poor - really poor. Just as people were taking a break from work, they gathered in front of the grocery store to chat. The children around us were running and chasing each other, their sleeves were particularly dirty. This is my impression of Liu Village. I asked Liu Wanwan to sneak back home first, while I found a farmhouse to stay in outside.

  I took out the painting and inquired about this person with an old man from a rural courtyard. The old man gave me some useful information.

  I found out that the man's name is "Chen Shanzai", and his family has been geomancers since his grandfather's generation. He is now the geomancer for the Zhang family. The Zhang family has secretly contracted Linqu in Liuzhuang over the years, and they also flip houses in the county, making a lot of money. However, all their wealth comes from ordinary people, so their reputation isn't very good either. This geomancer is also a sly one, always looking down on others with his nose upturned. But no one dares to offend him.

  At this time, the old man's partner came out and followed me to nag, but one thing the old lady said made me feel at ease. The old lady said that on the day of the ghost marriage, the Zhang family moved earth. What was moved was the ancestral tomb of the Zhang family.

  Liu Wanwan never told me about this. And I recall the Zhu Long Ru Shui Ju in Ming Qing Da Yuan at that time, I'm sure there's more to it than meets the eye.

  After having a meal at the farmhouse, I discussed with Liu Wanwan and decided not to drag on, so we went over to take a look. People like Chen Shancan are known as guest masters of Fengshui for aristocratic families. They specialize in providing Fengshui services to specific aristocratic families, similar to the guest officials of ancient times. Although they are not members of this family, they are treated with courtesy and respect, and are supported by the family for many years.

  Why is it called "Shi Jia", because it is a family inheritance of Feng Shui. This kind of Feng Shui master has one thing that is very despicable, that is, many Taoist door rules do not allow the use of forbidden Feng Shui bureaus, but in their case, because they are passed down from generation to generation, there is no taboo, and you don't have to worry about damaging your heavenly virtue, because you haven't entered the Taoist door, nor do you need to follow some door rules.

  I and Liu Wanwan arrived at the gate of Chen Shanzai's house, as soon as I reached his gate, I felt something was not quite right, there was an inexplicable tension in the atmosphere around.

  Liu Wanwan didn't notice and directly went forward to push the door with her hand, suddenly sweat broke out on her forehead, and she retreated two steps while covering her head. I quickly supported her and asked if she was okay? She shook her head and said: "Just now maybe I didn't rest well, suddenly my head hurt like a needle prick for two seconds."

  I remembered that Liu Wanwan was just an ordinary person, and ordinary people can't casually break the door of a Feng Shui master. Uninvited visits to the Feng Shui master's house require "breaking the door", but the Feng Shui master's door is not something that can be easily broken. The entrance usually has "imperial energy" with things like copper coins, bronze swords and other ancient artifacts that give off a strong sense of vicissitudes and oppression.

  So I hastily told her not to rush in and wait a moment.

  As I spoke, I silently recited the "Observation of Mind" mantra and entered the "Observation Realm". This is a Taoist technique that allows one to see many things that ordinary people cannot. The Observation Realm has four levels: "Normal State", "Observing Objects", "Entering the Subtle", and "Mustard Seed". I have only reached the level of "Observing Objects" so far.

  Actually, most people who understand the trade will know this move, but they just call it differently and use it differently. Those wandering Taoist priests who have not formally entered the Taoist gate generally call it "opening the heavenly eye" to inspect, or something else. But my master's side has a specialized cultivation system.

  Everyone doesn't need to think of this as too subtle, it's just a method that concentrates spiritual power and attention highly. Let me give an example and everyone will understand.

  Sometimes when you close your eyes, someone's fingers are pointing in front of your eyes. Even if you have your eyes closed, you still feel threatened and sense that something is going to poke your eyes, and you will unconsciously avoid it or shut your eyes tightly. Entering the "realm of observation" is like expanding this feeling outward, so that even at a relatively far distance, you can still sense when someone is staring at you or wants to do you harm.

  In ancient times, people who practiced martial arts would notice if someone was following them because their senses were extremely keen. Anyone can train and cultivate their five senses by finding the right method.

  After entering the scene, I immediately discovered that this threat came from Chen Shancan's house, where there was a strong aura of powerful objects.

  It was just that the breath came from above the door. I touched it with my hand and found a square thing hanging on the side of the door frame. I pulled it out, and to my surprise, it was a fake jade seal. My heart became more cautious.

  The jade seal was used by the true dragon in ancient times, so there are things hanging on the door that ordinary ghosts and gods dare not venture to enter, let alone ordinary people. I have no problem entering the door, after all, I have practiced, but Liu Wanwan can't. And the energy of the jade seal is far beyond that of ordinary ancient objects, it can't be removed.

  I thought for a moment, and finally used the "Heart Mantra Technique", drawing an empty symbol on Liu Wanwan's forehead, so that in a short time, Liu Wanwan had my Heart Mantra Technique symbol, and didn't have to worry about not being able to enter.

  I and Liu Wanwan entered the courtyard, passing through the hall, and immediately saw this Chen Shancan. He was wearing ordinary clothes, only with a jacket similar to what Guo Degang wore when performing crosstalk, thin, with a mole on his face, and looked about 70% or 80% like the person I drew. This man seemed not to have expected us to enter his home directly, and I clearly felt that he was shocked.

  "You..." Chen Shancan said two words and then stopped, probably because he didn't expect that just yesterday he had framed me, but today I and Liu Wanwan had already broken through his door.

  Liu Wanwan raised her head and looked at me. I smiled and said: "A guest from afar, doesn't Chen Dafeng, the master of Feng Shui, recognize us?"

  As I spoke, Chen Shancan also reacted and looked up at the sky with a puffed out belly. He had an extremely disdainful expression. People like him, who are from a family of geomancers, generally look down on those wandering Taoist priests. Only he didn't know that in the past, I might have been a wandering Taoist priest, but now I already have a sect and have entered the Taoist path, belonging to the authentic Spirit Binding tradition.

  I looked at Chen Shancan and couldn't help but secretly exclaim, "Good bridge horse!" Why did I say that? A bridge horse is usually referring to someone who arches their back in a U-shape, like the legendary Golden Iron Bridge. Chen Shancan looks down on me, I've figured it out. But his posture was a bit too arrogant, his upper body leaning backwards with his face flushed red.

  Didn't even look at me, proudly "hmmph"ed. Probably because it's too tiring to talk in this pose.

  Next to Liu, Yan couldn't help but timidly open his mouth and say: "Mr. Chen, what exactly happened yesterday? Why did you hire someone to attack my friend?"

  Chen Shanzai gave me a white eye and threw out a sentence in a strange tone: "Hmph, I don't know. Aren't you capable? You see for yourself."

  I saw that Chen Shanci had made up his mind not to tell me the truth, so I swept my eyes around the room and happened to see a strange thing. It was strange because this thing shouldn't have appeared here. But it did.

  This thing was hung beside the law stage, a brand new set of paper-cut red tassels, originally used for festive occasions, but made of paper, with an inexplicable sense of eeriness. I thought about it and suddenly realized that this was the same set I saw in my dream, the color of the red paper had an inexplicable sense of weirdness, deeper than ordinary red.

  I only felt a chill in my heart, and coldly said to Chen Shancan, who was facing upwards with his nose: "One death one life, one life one death, blood tears on the horizon!"

  Chen Shanzai's eyes widened suddenly, and with a "crack", his waist twisted. From his reaction, I could tell that my guess was correct. I knew there was no need to ask further, so I pulled Liu Wanwan around and turned to leave. At that moment, I was extremely angry in my heart, because this Qiuxia Pa was absolutely evil and would harm the innocent, and Liu Wanwan would even lose her life. Even her soul wouldn't be able to rest in peace.

  Specifically what kind of situation it is, I will clearly state in the following text.

  As I walked out of the gate, I could still hear Chen Shancan wailing in pain inside the house. I didn't bother with him, it was a matter of great importance. Liu Wanwan asked me what I had seen, and I waved my hand at her, saying: "Don't mention this for now, I'll tell you later, do you know where Zhang Jianjia's ancestral tomb is?"

  Liu Wanwan looked a bit perplexed when I mentioned the ancestral tomb, but nodded and said: "The day before the ghost marriage, we went to pay our respects once. We can find the general area, but the specifics are a bit forgotten."

  A picture of rural ghost marriage!