Chapter 152: The Cataclysmic Crypt

When I got home, I was startled to see a large crowd gathered at the door. Could it be true? Had Li Zheng brought people over so quickly?

Pushing through the crowd to get inside, I realized it was a false alarm. It was Goodwife Sun who had brought the villagers over to see the bride—to see Wan'er. In the countryside, there is a customary tradition: whenever someone's child brings a young woman home, the whole village comes out to take a look. Small villages are just like that.

Fortunately, Wan'er was a well-read and sensible young woman. Moreover, having been with me and coming straight from the city, her clothes were proper and pretty, though she felt just a little bit chilly. She managed to find some tea and sugar from somewhere, serving the tea to the elders and handing out the sugar to the children. At least the situation didn't become awkward. I heard some of the elders whispering, "Dachuan is such a lucky boy, actually bringing home such a pretty wife. If only her mother were still around."

I wanted to explain, but ultimately didn't. They were country folk, and it wouldn't be easy to make them understand.

Li Xiaofei pulled me aside. "Dachuan, you're amazing! That's not a wife you've got there—that's a celestial maiden!"

I forced a bitter smile, thinking to myself that if I were to tell him Wan'er was a female ghost, it would probably scare him half to death. But I couldn't tell him. No matter how good of a friend he was, he would eventually tell his family. Once word got out that I had taken a female ghost for a wife, I probably wouldn't be able to stay in this village anymore.

"Xiaofei, that's your sister-in-law. No staring, and no talking nonsense." The reason I gave him a stern warning was precisely because I was afraid of him getting too close to Wan'er. Although Wan'er was almost indistinguishable from a living person, she was not human after all, and a close inspection could reveal the truth. Therefore, I had to keep him at a distance. His eyesight was quite sharp, unlike those old folks.

"Where is your head at, Brother Chuan? Am I that kind of guy? An elder sister-in-law is like a mother; I hold her in the utmost respect!" Xiaofei said with a cheeky grin.

"Good to know!"

Xiaofei went back home. While Wan'er was chatting with the villagers, I slipped into the room. I needed to hide Wang Ying; it wouldn't do if someone came in and saw her. When I entered the room, I found that Wang Ying was gone, which gave me a fright. I hurried over to Wan'er's bedroom to check, and there she was, lying on Wan'er's bed, covered with a sheet just as if she were fast asleep.

It seemed Wan'er was quite thorough in her actions. I leaned over to take a look at Wang Ying—she was still in her previous state. I gently touched her cheek; it was soft. I figured that if I channeled some vital essence into her again tonight, she would probably recover quite soon.

Just as I stepped out of the room, the rumbling sound of a hand tractor echoed from the street. Li Xiaofei came running in from outside, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Brother Chuan, bad news! The people from Huangjiahe are here to cause trouble!"

With his shout, the courtyard instantly descended into chaos.

I hurried out and bumped right into Li Zheng. The fellow was holding a shovel and followed by a crowd of people, among whom was actually Li Jun.

"Son of Wang Jun, is the money ready? If it's not, we're going to tear down your house today," Li Zheng barked aggressively as he barged in.

"What do you think you're doing? Coming all the way to our village to pick a fight? Is there no law left?" Seeing that Li Zheng had brought men over, Li Xiaofei rushed forward as well.

I grabbed Li Xiaofei by the arm. "Xiaofei, this has nothing to do with you. Step aside!" I didn't want to escalate the incident. Once escalated, it was bound to trigger a brawl between the villages, and hurting anyone would end badly.

"Brother Chuan, we've got people in our village too. They've brought the fight right to our doorstep—dammit, are we scared of them?" Xiaofei was a hot-blooded young man who never shied away from trouble.

"Step aside, stop messing around! Are we the kind of people who go around starting fights?" I pulled Xiaofei aside and said.

Seeing that I was angry, Xiaofei turned and walked away.

"Uncle, I still want to negotiate this matter with you. I really don't have the money!" Aunt Li Jinglian had given me 450,000 back then, telling me to pay it back to Young Master Pang. But even if that money were in my hands, I wouldn't give it to Li Zheng. The feng shui of Li Zheng's house had nothing to do with us; we didn't disrupt his feng shui at all. It was simply that his family's ancestral grave was buried incorrectly, sitting right over an underground spring. Not only did it drain their wealth, but it also shortened their lifespans!

"No way, I want the money." Li Zheng swung the shovel in his hand forcefully and said.

Seeing that reasoning wouldn't work, I pulled Li Jun over. I remembered Li Jun as a relatively reasonable person. "Uncle Li, talk some sense into your brother. This really has nothing to do with my family! It's just that your family's ancestral grave is poorly placed," I said honestly.

"My good nephew, you can see how he is—he's like a stubborn donkey, I can't stop him!" Li Jun said helplessly. Looking at Li Zheng's attitude, I really had the urge to slap him to death, but reminding myself that my cultivation techniques weren't meant for dealing with ordinary peasants, I held back.

"Uncle Li, how about this? I don't have the money, but why don't I go take a look at your burial site and have your ancestral graves relocated?" I had told myself I wouldn't meddle in geomancy anymore. Today was pure necessity, and it wasn't for profit, so it didn't count.

"My nephew, it really is strange. Ever since that ghost marriage ceremony failed last time, our family has been plagued by endless bad luck. Could it be that our feng shui has been disturbed?"

"Take me to see it." Ever since mastering the Soul-Siphoning Great Technique, I felt different from before. My mind was unusually sharp, and things seemed to make sense to me naturally.

Li Jun walked over to his older brother and whispered a few words. Li Zheng swung his shovel a couple of times, turned around, and left with his men. Li Jun walked up to me and said, "My good nephew, then I'll have to trouble you to go and take a look at our family's ancestral graves."

I nodded. "You go ahead, I'll be right over. I know where your family's ancestral graves are."

They left. Li Xiaofei arrived with a group of villagers carrying farming tools, declaring they would defend the village to the death, but I chased them back.

With all this commotion, nobody had the heart to look at the bride anymore, and the crowd dispersed.

Wan'er walked up to me and linked her arm through mine. "Brother, don't be angry. Would you like me to teach these people a lesson for you?"

"No need. They're just villagers, it wouldn't be good to hurt them. I'll go take a look at their ancestral graves." I gave Wan'er a reassuring hug to let her set her mind at ease, then set off. Li Xiaofei rode his motorcycle, and the two of us quickly arrived at Huangjiahe Village.

When we reached Li Zheng's ancestral graves, I found all of them waiting there. A single glance at their ancestral tombs gave me a start, and the phrase "Ominous Death Pit" popped into my head. This was a site of grave disaster feng shui. Master Wei Qi had taught me about this, and the thought had surfaced in my mind on its own.

Their ancestral graves were buried on a fairly flat earthen mound. To the east of their tombs was a large ditch; whenever it rained, water would rush down this channel. I remembered that last time, his son's grave had been washed away by water. Thinking back further, my Second Uncle hadn't mentioned this issue at the time. It certainly wasn't because he couldn't see it; rather, he had been angry at Li Zheng's attitude and chose to ignore it. Now that I saw it, I naturally had to tell the truth to Li Jun and his brother.

"Uncle, your family's burial site is an Ominous Death Pit. The grave site was chosen wrongly by your ancestors. Don't take offense at my blunt words, but your nephew's death is connected to this pit. If your ancestors hadn't been buried here, your nephew wouldn't have died." Nobody had told me these things; I relied entirely on my intuition, but I knew my intuition was extremely accurate. This was the result of absorbing the essence of heaven and earth.

Hearing my words, Li Jun was stunned, and the expression on his face instantly turned respectful. He pulled a pack of rolled cigarettes from his pocket and offered me one. "My nephew, what should we do?"

"Relocate the graves. Just move your family's ancestral tombs away from here," I said.

"Then where would be a good place to move them?" Li Jun asked me.

I carefully inspected and surveyed the surroundings, then pointed to a spot ahead. "See that? That's a small hill. In front of it is a small stream, and the middle of the valley forms the shape of a traditional gold ingot. It gathers wealth and lengthens lifespans—it's a rare and precious burial site. You can relocate your ancestral graves there." Even I was impressed with myself. Where did all these theories come from? Did absorbing the essence of heaven and earth grant such knowledge?

Li Jun walked over to negotiate with Li Zheng.

Li Zheng flung his shovel aside. "Don't listen to him, he's a fraud! I'm worried he's up to no good and intentionally trying to move our ancestral graves to a bad location."

I smiled bitterly. What kind of person was this! I tossed my head and turned to walk away. Measuring the heart of a gentleman with the measure of a villain—I'm not playing your game anymore.

How could Li Zheng let me off so easily? He gathered several villagers to block my path. "Want to leave? It's not that easy! We didn't dare touch you in your village, but do you think we won't dare here?" As he spoke, he swung a heavy slap directly across my face.