Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When we reached the chosen burial site, everyone put on masks and carried my dad out of the car.

I followed beside them, sobbing as I shook his arm again and again.

“Dad, wake up. Dad, are you okay?”

My dad weakly raised a hand and stroked my head. The moment he opened his mouth, another thick cloud of black vapor poured out.

Once he exhaled it, he passed out cold.

In a pavilion not far away, a gaunt old man covered his mouth and shook his head in obvious disgust.

“With that much death energy on him, how is he supposed to keep lying in yin? How is he supposed to draw out the baleful qi?

“This man is finished!”

Master Wu immediately grew anxious.

“Then what do we do? Master Mo, didn’t you say the rules don’t allow us to switch people? Is this priceless feng shui grave of mine just going to be wasted?”

Master Mo was probably the feng shui expert Master Wu had paid a fortune to hire. He swept his gaze over me, looking thoughtful, then asked, “Who is this boy? Is he related to that Yin Guest?”

“He’s Master Sun’s son.”

Master Mo nodded.

“He’s got a tough fate. There’s no other way. They share the same bloodline, so let him take the place for now.

“If he can hold out for two days, we’ll see if we can find someone else.”

They wanted me to be the one lying in yin.

I was only seventeen, an age when a person’s courage burned hottest.

When I heard Master Wu’s request, I wasn’t afraid. Instead, I seized the chance to bargain with him and told him to get a doctor for my dad first.

Master Mo gave a scornful laugh.

“No doctor can save your father.

“If you succeed at lying in yin, you’ll cut off the connection between your father and the things down below. Then your father will naturally recover.

“If you fail too, then father and son can keep each other company on the road to the Yellow Springs. Either way, you’re not losing out.”

All I had to do was lie there for two nights, and I could save my dad?

Thinking of his half-missing shadow, the corpse spots on his body, and the black vapor in his mouth, I found myself half-believing Master Mo.

My dad’s strange condition really didn’t seem like something conventional medicine could treat.

So I nodded and agreed.

“Take good care of my dad, and I’ll do it!”

I thought this place was the burial site Master Wu had chosen, but after I agreed, someone blindfolded me with a strip of black cloth, took me by the arm, and led me along for a long time.

I felt like I was walking downhill the entire way. The ground beneath my feet was covered in loose stones, and whenever I stepped on them, I could hear pebbles rolling downward.

After about half an hour, the cloth over my eyes was yanked away.

I squinted, letting my eyes adjust to the sunlight, then carefully took in my surroundings. Only then did I realize I seemed to be at the bottom of a canyon.

On both sides were winding, bare mountains in bands of color. Moss grew across the cliff faces, while the valley floor stretched into the distance as an endless emerald-green meadow, so vivid it almost burned the eyes.

I’d read about the colorful rock formations beside me in books before. They were called Danxia landforms.

I hadn’t expected this burial site to be nothing like the gloomy, terrifying place I’d imagined. Instead, the scenery was fresh, magnificent, and breathtaking.

Master Mo looked extremely pleased with himself.

“Didn’t expect this, did you? This place is at the bottom of a lake. Only during the dry season in February and March, when the lake dries up, can we come down here.”

An acupoint beneath the water was called a “Hidden Dragon,” also known as a “Dragon Vein Submerged in the Abyss.”

Water governed wealth. With a water dragon guarding the acupoint, immense riches could remain hidden from the public eye. One could quietly make a fortune without drawing envy or resentment, ensuring wealth and peace for one’s descendants for dozens of generations.

I didn’t really understand all the technical terms Master Mo used, but I understood one thing: this was an extraordinarily rare feng shui treasure land. No wonder Master Wu refused to give it up no matter what.