Go all out

Chapter 29: Discovery

I guess I was “getting ahead of myself.” Old Man Tang’s son, with his greenish eyes, kept scanning the three of us. He grinned, revealing two sharp fangs that looked like a zombie’s—very long and pointed. “The rat demon is truly enraged now—it wants this entire family dead! Look at its teeth; they’ve already grown very sharp. In another three or four days, once its teeth have grown longer and are ground to a fine point, that’s when it will strike. Fortunately, this rat demon’s spiritual cultivation is still shallow—it seems to have only just begun to grasp the ways of magic—otherwise, it would have struck long ago,” Tian Zhan said slowly. I nodded as I listened. I had indeed seen anger on the face of this “young man.” I imagined that when construction began on the house, the workers must have killed quite a few rats. So this rat spirit’s current act of revenge was, in a sense, settling a karmic debt. Everything in the universe is governed by cause and effect. If this rat spirit were harming people for no reason at all, the three of us could go ahead and kill it—it would count as accumulating virtuous merit. But since there’s a reason behind its actions, if we were to kill it rashly, that “consequence” would be transferred to us—and that would be a loss of virtuous merit. Yin Fang glanced at him and spoke up, “So, which method do you choose?” Old Master Tang was already at his wits’ end. He hurriedly asked, “Master, you didn’t explain the second method properly just now.” Yin Fang replied calmly, “I’ll find the spot in your villa with the best feng shui and set it aside for the spirit. Once your two families reach an agreement, there naturally won’t be any negative consequences.” “Well…” Old Master Tang looked hesitant; I could tell from his expression that he was still afraid. After all, having a rat that had attained spirit-like powers living in his home—how unsettling is that? “Rest assured, it’s even more trustworthy than we humans. As long as you sign an agreement with it, there won’t be any problems,” Yin Fang continued. “All right!” Old Mr. Tang gritted his teeth and nodded, then asked with a hint of concern, “But is it willing to do this now? I’ve killed quite a few rats in the past. Now that it’s possessed my son, it’s trying to take my son’s life!” Yin Fang replied, her expression unchanging, “As long as you agree, I’ll talk to it!” “All right.” Old Man Tang hesitated for a moment, then stood up. Strangely enough, after Yin Fang said that, the “young man” fixed his gaze solely on Yin Fang and stopped struggling. “The three of you step outside first. I’ll talk to it alone,” Yin Fang said to me and Tian Zhan. I had actually wanted to hear how Yin Fang would talk to this rat spirit, but to my surprise, she didn’t let us stay to watch. I was frustrated, but I had no choice but to walk out. The door closed. The three of us didn’t say a word—there really wasn’t much to talk about anyway. I’d assumed Yin Fang would be talking to the rat spirit for a long time, but to my surprise, in less than a minute, she walked out with a blank expression on her face. “It’s already agreed. So now I’ll help it find a place,” Yin Fang said. “Thank you so much, Master,” Old Tang said, his expression shifting instantly from surprise to deep respect. I was genuinely curious—what on earth had Yin Fang said to it? That was way too fast, wasn’t it? This woman is such a mystery. Before I could even ask her, she had already pulled out a compass and began searching with a blank expression. “What’s up? Interested in her?” Tian Zhan nudged me with his elbow and asked. I shot him a look, and Tian Zhan just chuckled and said nothing. And just like that, half an hour later, the three of us walked out of the villa, still completely baffled. In less than an hour, had Yin Fang really made 100,000? The gap between people is just too vast. The spot Yin Fang found for that rat spirit was “perfect”—right in the basement. I have no idea how that rat spirit agreed to it, but when I saw all the rats marching orderly into the basement, I was nothing but stunned and baffled. The three of us walked down in silence, got in the car to head back first, and then went back up the mountain. Along the way, Yin Fang showed no intention of explaining anything, so naturally, I wasn’t going to make a fool of myself by asking a million questions. Tian Zhan, however, did offer me an explanation: the rat spirit had sought to kill the Tang family as a “cause,” and had achieved its “effect,” but would still face punishment in the end. It’s like if someone attacked your entire family and you killed them in retaliation—you’d still end up in prison. These spirits care deeply about such things. They’ve worked so hard to awaken their spiritual intelligence and aspire to cultivate and ascend, but if they suffer divine retribution for killing people, is it really worth it? Well, I suppose every person—or every spirit—would make a different choice, but clearly, this rat spirit chose the future… We made the trek in silence. After climbing the mountain, the three of us headed straight for that spot. By the time we arrived, it was already three or four o’clock—we’d traveled at top speed without any delays along the way. Yin Fang first carefully surveyed the surroundings, then fixed her gaze on that tree and remained silent. As “laypeople,” Tian Zhan and I naturally didn’t disturb her. A full ten minutes later, Yin Fang finally spoke. “The feng shui here is very strange. Look—the trees all around are tall and massive, but when it comes to that particular tree, they’re noticeably smaller.” “And… I just took a look—this spot is the most yin place on the entire mountain, meaning it’s the mountain’s center. Normally, the center of a mountain is where the sunlight is strongest, but haven’t you noticed that no sunlight is reaching this spot at all?” Saying this, Yin Fang slowly walked over to the rock. She circled the rock and the tree back and forth. Hearing this, Tian Zhan and I, naturally curious, walked over as well. “If my guess is correct, no sunlight ever reaches this spot—not in the morning, at noon, or in the afternoon. That means there’s something here that needs to be protected, and it can’t be exposed to sunlight…” Yin Fang continued. “Are you saying there’s something hidden beneath this spot?” Tian Zhan and I stared at the rock and said almost in unison. “I think so.” Yin Fang nodded. “And whoever knows this kind of feng shui isn’t just an ordinary person!” If not an ordinary person, then who could it be? Tian Zhan and I exchanged glances, both of us suddenly realizing the truth. If there was something down there, then it was highly likely that my master, Uncle He, Carpenter Chen, and the village chief—all four of them—knew about it. And someone, fearing they might reveal the secret, had been killing them off one by one! But three of the four people in the photo are already dead—only my master is still alive… and where is my master now? Having analyzed the situation to this point, I fell silent. “So what do you think is in there?” Tian Zhan couldn’t help but ask. “Hard to say. Something that can’t withstand sunlight—what do you think it could be?” Yin Fang said meaningfully. Tian Zhan furrowed his brow. He stared at the boulder for a moment, then slowly looked up at me and asked, “Xiao Tian, you must have figured something out, right?” I remained silent. “Only four people knew about this place. Three are already dead—only your master is still alive. Do you believe me now?” Tian Zhan said in a deep voice. I looked at Tian Zhan, not knowing what to say. A complex expression crossed Tian Zhan’s face. “Sigh… What did your master tell you the night before last?” “I…” “There’s no need to hide anything from me. As soon as that spirit appeared, I knew your master would show up next. The reason I felt confident enough to go after it was because I’d set up a barrier at the entrance to your master’s shop—even he couldn’t get inside,” Tian Zhan said calmly. No wonder my master had let out a mysterious little snort back then, hadn’t taken a single step inside the shop, and had told me to go to the back room to fetch the box. I felt a pang of guilt. My master and Tian Zhan were the two people I trusted most, yet I had sided with my master. Tian Zhan had always been there for me, and yet, after just a few words from my master, I had actually begun to doubt him… “Tian Zhan, I’m sorry…” I said earnestly. Tian Zhan suddenly smiled and shook his head. “Don’t say that. You didn’t do anything wrong, and besides, I don’t want to hear my brother say things like that to me.” Seeing Tian Zhan smile made my heart ache so much I wanted to cry. They say a man who cries isn’t a real man, but I don’t think that way anymore—because I have a good brother, a brother who can move me to tears. “Huh…” Yin Fang let out a soft “Hmm” and pointed beneath the rock, saying, “Look…” Hearing Yin Fang’s words, Tian Zhan and I instinctively looked down and discovered that the massive rock seemed to have shifted slightly. Where there had once been lush green grass around the rock’s edge, a dark, sunken indentation was now exposed. Moreover, beneath the rock, there was a distinct dampness that contrasted with the rest of the area—which meant the rock had been moved before we arrived. I was filled with shock and doubt. Could it have been my master? In other words, was my master now very likely trapped beneath it? I stared at the boulder. What on earth was beneath it that would make my master go so far as to kill three people just to cover up this secret? “Come on, the three of us should give it a try and see if we can push this boulder aside.” As Tian Zhan spoke, he placed both hands on the stone. Yin Fang and I naturally did the same, and we all strained together—but the stone was simply too massive. Even with all three of us giving it our all, it didn’t budge an inch. It’s too heavy—how did my master move it? “This won’t work—we’ll have to find some help!” Before I could even figure out what Tian Zhan meant by “some help,” I saw him take a deep breath and reach into his backpack. He pulled out a sheet of yellow paper, an inkstone, and a talisman brush. Right there on the spot, he began drawing an intricate talisman. I watched as Tian Zhan’s hand moved with the grace of a dragon soaring and a phoenix dancing; soon, a talisman depicting a giant was complete. The giant on the talisman looked strange—like a caveman, with a muscular build, a large head, and pointed ears. He was clutching two axes in his hands. I froze for a few seconds—that looked just like the Giant Spirit God! Could it be that just to move a rock, Tian Zhan was summoning a deity? That’s way too mystical!