Chapter 6: Hou Yi's Group

  His sister, not only did not inherit the roughness of his third uncle's house, but was gentle and tenacious, more like her own father. It has to be said that genetic inheritance is a wonderful thing. Thinking of his own father, Shī Yǐ ān suddenly remembered the question he had always wanted to ask, and asked in a low voice: "Why didn't my dad practice any Taoist skills?"

  "Ah, you're asking this." Shi Yiming paused for a moment, his expression somewhat complicated.

  "Mm." Shi Yi'an nodded, looking at Shi Yi Ming with eyes full of expectation.

  Shi Yiming said: "Actually, we're not very clear about this matter either. When Second Uncle left the Shi family, none of us had been born yet. I've never seen Second Uncle come back either, I just heard my dad mention him."

  Shi Yi'an had also asked his father about the matter of his grandfather's house at that time, but his father always looked embarrassed. At that time, Shi Yi'an thought it was because something bad might have happened in the family and didn't want to mention it, so he didn't dare ask more questions. Now it seems that he had just been overthinking.

  However, about Old Man Shi leaving the Shi family home, these people either didn't want to say or didn't know. Who would believe there's no problem with this? No, not even a ghost would believe it in this mansion.

  "But big brother might know a bit, go ask him. I still have to see grandpa, we'll meet again later." Shi Yiming pushed the question away and hastily ran off.

  Looking at Dad's expression when he mentioned Shifu's family, it didn't seem like there was any deep-seated hatred.

  Ahhhhh, come on, someone satisfy my curiosity already!

  The next afternoon, Shi Yian sat in the middle of Si Wei's residence, fanning herself and drinking iced sour plum soup. The sour plum soup was brewed by Yun Mo himself, using the large vat in the backyard to chill it. When you drink it, it's cool and refreshing, and after drinking, your lips and teeth are fragrant. After Shi Yian drank three big bowls in one breath, she lay down on the rocking chair and couldn't move.

  The sound of the engine came from outside the hospital, Shi Yi'an had no understanding or interest in cars, and pushed up the magazine that was covering his face, continuing to enjoy the cool breeze.

  He heard footsteps outside the door, the sound of hard-soled shoes hitting the bluestone pavement with a clear rhythm. Shi Yi'an knew that this absolutely wouldn't be Yun Mo, Yun Mo's walking was always silent, and he would appear beside him without warning, startling him at first but now he had gotten used to it.

  Shi Yi An sat up straight, and the book on his face slid down due to gravity and fell into his hands. Only then did he truly see the person in front of him.

  He has been living here for several days, and I dare not guarantee how much of the Taoist skills he has learned, but at least he has practiced a calm demeanor that is unchanging even if Mount Tai collapses before his eyes. The young man in front of him looks quite handsome, wearing a slim-fit short-sleeved shirt with a gray and white two-tone design, a pair of cowboy shorts on the lower half of his body, plus a pair of lace-up leather shoes.

  What a ghostly dress, it's simply the exclusive style of the hair salon designer in the neighboring urban-rural area. The taste is simply on par with the big red and green clothes worn by my little uncle every day.

  "Who are you?" Shi Yi An hastily stood up.

  "Hello Second Brother, I am Shi Yiqun."

  Shi Yi An rummaged through his dual-core CPU, searching hard on his hard drive for information about the Shi Yi group. Finally, he found it in the recycle bin: Shi Yi Group, Third Uncle's son, and Yi Ming's older brother. To be honest, Shi Yi An had never thought that Third Uncle's son would have such a feel to him.

  "You live in this yard, it's so remote, you must be used to it." Shi Yiqun didn't stand on ceremony, poured himself a bowl of sour plum soup, sat down in the rattan chair by the side, and started drinking on his own.

  Seeing that Shi Yi was a carefree and uninhibited person, Shi Yi An also put his mind at ease, lying on the rocking chair and fanning himself: "It's okay, anyway I'm studying Taoist techniques and reading books all day, and I don't go out much." Even if he wanted to go out, it would be better to go out in a decent manner.

  "It's a torture to listen to Old Man Wang's lectures, he's so rigid and meticulous that it's really annoying. Moreover, he likes to beat around the bush when teaching and refuses to get to the point until the critical moment, just like those university professors nowadays."

  For Shi Yi's rant, Shi Yi An truly had a lot of sympathy, smiling and nodding in agreement. This shared resentment towards the same thing instantly drew the distance between the two people closer.

  "Are you working or studying now?" Shi Yi'an asked, this Shi Yiqun looked like he was not much younger than him. If he said he was working, he felt that the sense of maturity was insufficient. If he said he was studying, it didn't seem like a typical student's foolishness.

  "Half and half, when there's work I go to work, no work then I attend classes. Luckily it's university now, those teachers won't nag even if I miss one or two classes." Shi Yigun smacked his lips, seemingly thinking the sour plum soup wasn't bad, and poured himself another bowl.

  "What major are you studying?"

  "Feng shui is actually related to architecture, modern home decor and other fields, and also involves geography, climatology, psychology and other disciplines, although there are also some mysterious aspects to it."

  Shi Yi's group saw Shi Yi An still looking silly and gave an example: "Have you noticed that there is no reflecting wall behind the main gate of the Shi family?"

  "There isn't one." The entrance of the master's house, whether it was a large mansion or a small courtyard, indeed did not have a screen wall. Master Yi An didn't have any knowledge about ancient architecture and didn't think this was anything strange.

  "Because the screen wall is used to block the path of ghosts entering the door, those little ghosts with no cultivation will only walk in a straight line, so they can basically be blocked outside. Of course, this is from a Taoist perspective. From an architectural perspective, this kind of traditional Chinese house has a main hall and gate directly opposite each other, so as soon as the door is opened, everything inside the house can be seen by outsiders, hence the need for a wall to block their line of sight. The Shi family's house doesn't have a screen wall because small ghosts and monsters often come to visit, so it wasn't designed with one."

  "Oh, I see those ghosts doing things in the yard can turn corners."

  "In the yard of the master's house, those who work are not ordinary little ghosts. They were all souls who died unjustly before they came, but were brought back by their ancestors before they became evil spirits. This place is full of spiritual energy, and with the unique heart-cultivation method of the master's family, after a hundred years of cultivation, one can basically return to the cycle of reincarnation."

  It's unclear what he meant, but Shi Yi'an nodded in understanding.

  "Have you gone to the hospital to see Third Uncle? How is he now?" Shi Yian recalled that these siblings had put aside their work and classes, and returned home solely because of Third Uncle's hospitalization. It seemed they had already visited him at the hospital. He himself had also wanted to go to the hospital to take a look, but was stopped by his younger uncle on the way back.

  "I had a minor surgery, and I'll probably be able to leave the hospital in over 10 days. But unexpectedly, my dad actually learned a small spell of necromancy. How careless of me." Although the people from the Shifu family each have their own specialties, catching ghosts and exorcising demons are basic skills, so everyone more or less knows some of it.

  "It doesn't matter."

  Shi Yi Qun and Shi Yi Ning are siblings, but their economic situations are vastly different. Shi Yi Ning wears clothes from girl brands, not to say that she is struggling financially, but she is by no means wealthy either. Although Shi Yi Qun's taste is questionable, it can be seen that he is wearing high-end designer clothing.

  "It seems like fortune-telling and Feng Shui are quite profitable, right?" Shi Yi'an asked.

  The fortune teller, Shi Yi, stroked his hair with a pleased smile and said: "Exactly, who cares about this if they don't have money? Those rich and powerful people, they'd even hire a master to take a look at them moving a table. A while ago, I helped some real estate tycoon's old man pick out a burial site, and he handed me this amount of money with just one hand."

  Looking at the amount of money drawn by Shi Yiqun, Shi Yiqun was slightly taken aback.

  "It seems like asking Mi Tongling doesn't earn much, does it?" Generally feels that Shi Yiming's shy personality, even if he wants two more, is not too embarrassed.

  "It's not what you think, actually most people in this line of work don't charge openly, it's all about seeing the other person's intention. So I'm not very clear on the specific numbers either, but after doing it for a long time, you'll understand that money is basically meaningless and unnecessary to us, some Taoist sects even require their disciples not to accumulate wealth, all the money has to be used for good deeds, you also know about karma."

  Actually, for Xuanxue, Shi Yinan's only understanding was when he was in elementary school, the school organized a documentary about anti-feudal superstition. The documentary recorded some rural areas where people pretended to be gods and ghosts, deceiving people of their money and even harming their lives. At that time, he felt that this feudal superstition was not enough to calm the anger of the common people. It wasn't until he came to Shi's house that he gained a new understanding of this profession and understood why something with no scientific basis could be passed down for thousands of years in China.

  Shi Yi Qun and Shi Yi An were both tired of talking, they looked up at the sun and saw that it was time for lunch. Shi Yi Qun and Shi Yi Ming didn't stay home for long, after seeing Third Uncle was fine, they left with peace of mind. The huge Shi family courtyard was left with only a few people and a large group of ghosts.

  Third Uncle was hospitalized for over ten days before he was discharged, but although he's out of the hospital, he still needs to rest at home. Eldest Uncle and Fourth Uncle took turns covering Third Uncle's work, so Third Uncle just had to take their place and instruct Shi Yan in the ways of Taoist magic every day. However, most of those instructions were probably just empty words on paper, since it seemed like nothing had worked since last time when Shi Yan coincidentally used Third Uncle's talisman to subdue the Corpse King.

  For a period of time, the entire Si Wu Residence was almost submerged in talismans, and Shi Yi An's Dao techniques didn't improve one bit.

  Summer has passed and winter is coming. In the blink of an eye, it's already the end of the year. Shi Yinan has also started practicing and exercising from simply talking about tactics on paper.

  "These things can't be rushed, look at the chemistry you've studied from junior high to university, it's been so many years and you're still not a top talent in the field of chemistry. Now you've only studied Taoist magic for a few months and you want to become a master, it's simply impossible." In the biting cold wind, Third Uncle, who had just recovered from a serious illness, was wearing only a thin practice uniform.

  Shi Yi An hid in his down jacket, his nose frozen bright red, stiffly pulled out a talisman from his pocket, poured spiritual energy into it, and stuck the talisman on the scarecrow in front of him. The talisman suddenly ignited with a whoosh, but before it could set the scarecrow ablaze, it fizzled out with a puff. I'm going, this is...this isn't even as effective as a matchstick.

  Shi Yi'an pulled out another one and fiercely poked it onto the scarecrow's head. This time, the talisman didn't even stick, but was stuck crookedly to its head by the snow water, and when blown by the wind, it fluttered wildly, as if mocking Shi Yi'an in front of him.

  "Your attitude is wrong." San Shu stood there motionless with his hands behind his back.

  In this weather, who can be in a good mood after freezing for several hours? Shi Yi'an silently rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh, calming himself down. He held the third talisman paper in his hand, the yellow paper lying flat on his palm, with the red vermilion markings seeming to seep through like they were alive. Slowly, he felt that this paper was different from the other two, it had an unusual warmth flowing through it, a heavy and substantial feeling in his hand, just like that day.

  "Stick!" Third Uncle shouted loudly.

  Scared, Shi Yian's soul was startled, and he hastily pasted the talisman paper in his hand onto the scarecrow. The talisman paper, along with the scarecrow, ignited with a whoosh under the strong wind, quickly turning into a pile of ashes. This was the first time Shi Yian's self-drawn talisman paper had such a huge effect.

  "It's fine for today, let's end it here." San Shu summoned Guardian to sweep the ashes on the ground clean and called Shi Yi'an to return together.

  It started snowing heavily outside at night, and before Shi Yian could fall asleep, he heard the sound of shoveling snow coming from outside.

  "Cloud Ink." Shi Yi'an opened the door and felt a cold wind blowing in, carrying snowflakes that rushed into the house, freezing him to the point where his teeth chattered.

  Yun Mo was still dressed in his usual childish attire, hugging a broom that was even taller than him with both hands tucked into his sleeves, looking at the doorway where Shi Yi An asked: "Is there something?"

  "It's late at night, don't sweep anymore, you're working so hard but no one will give you overtime pay." said Shi Yidao.

  "I'll keep it down and won't disturb your rest."

  Shi Yi'an didn't expect Yun Mo to misunderstand, so he quickly explained: "I didn't mean it that way, look outside, it's still snowing, sweeping now would be pointless."

  Although he knew that Fang Ling didn't need to sleep, on a cold snowy night like this, he couldn't bear to let the other person sweep the snow outside while he slept warmly in his air-conditioned room under the quilt.

  "Thank you." Yun Mo slightly bowed and put down the broom, then turned around and went back into the house.

  Shi Yi An closed the door and sneezed several times in a row, rubbing her itchy nose with her index finger before going to rest.

  It was midnight when a sudden cry came from outside the house, the cry was so mournful and intermittent that it made one's hair stand on end. Shi Yi lay in bed with no sleepiness at all, propping up his ears to listen to the movement outside, where did this cry come from in the courtyard of Shi's family on such a cold winter night?