Chapter 266
Chapter 266
I had never studied Feng Shui deeply, but I had read the section about it in Mysteries of the Six Yao.
A single book could only hold so much, so when its author compiled the text, many fundamentals were omitted and only the essential insights remained.
I had asked Seventh Master about the fundamentals. They were simple enough, and that allowed me to learn something from the book’s Feng Shui section.
When grand residences like this one were built during the Republican era, both the designers and construction workers had to understand Feng Shui. Without that knowledge, they could not have constructed such an estate.
The Feng Shui of a building like this could not be poor. It could only be excellent.
Yet the better the Feng Shui, the more easily it could be ruined. As the saying went, the full moon waned and a brimming vessel overflowed. Anything that reached its zenith would begin to decline.
Once something that damaged Feng Shui entered a place blessed with an excellent arrangement, its Feng Shui would begin to shift from prosperity into decline.
As a ferocious beast, Qiongqi governed Fright and Strange Afflictions, murder, and souls unable to ascend.
“The Ninth Concubine clearly married into Luo Mansion with a purpose.”
Seventh Master said, “Bringing Qiongqi into the mansion shows how deeply she hated the Luo household. She wanted every one of them dead, their souls denied peace.”
My heart trembled. A truly ruthless woman could be terrifying beyond imagination.
“Could the Ninth Concubine really be the Seventh Concubine?”
“From what we’ve seen, it’s highly possible.”
If so, the Ninth Concubine’s agitation when Xiuzhu was abused made perfect sense.
She was Xiuzhu’s birth mother. How could she not be heartbroken after seeing her daughter endure so much bullying and abuse?
But she had returned for revenge and could not reveal herself to Xiuzhu. Then, before she could succeed, the wretched hag killed Xiuzhu. For the Ninth Concubine, that must have been devastating enough to push her hatred for all of Luo Mansion to its absolute limit.
Seventh Master took an envelope out of the chest.
It was addressed to Xu Xiu, and the sender was a man named Xu Changming.
Xu Xiu must have been the Ninth Concubine’s name.
Seventh Master opened the envelope and removed the letter.
It was a long letter, written in a man’s hand.
But its contents left both Seventh Master and me dumbfounded when we reached the middle. A familiar feeling washed over me.
Seven Deaths for Life Exchange!
The middle portion of the letter detailed the complete process of Seven Deaths for Life Exchange.
But this version differed from every other one we knew. It had no birth-date requirements, but it did impose a requirement for sex: one man and six women.
This version also required additional Living Sacrifices to summon back the dead person’s soul and increase the chances of a successful resurrection.
A Living Sacrifice meant offering up a person who was still alive.
The entire life-exchange process was described in intricate detail.
By the time I finished reading, a chill covered my body.
This version of Seven Deaths for Life Exchange was monstrously cruel, more evil than the darkest sorcery.
“Seventh Master, when did The Organization you mentioned first appear? How could Seven Deaths for Life Exchange already exist a hundred years ago?”
“I don’t know.”
Seventh Master shook his head, his expression grave. “I only knew The Organization had existed for a very long time. I never imagined it went back this far. They were already active during the Republican era.”
Seventh Master and I fell silent for a long time, sinking into thought.
The Ninth Concubine had obtained this version of Seven Deaths for Life Exchange, which meant she wanted to resurrect someone.
No matter how I considered it, the only person I could imagine was Xiuzhu.
If the Ninth Concubine was the Seventh Concubine resurrected, then she was actually the Seventh Concubine herself. Xiuzhu was her daughter, her own flesh and blood, so it made perfect sense that she would want to bring the girl back.
But certain details still failed to fit.
This version of Seven Deaths for Life Exchange had several restrictions. First, it required one man and six women. Second, it required additional Living Sacrifices to summon the dead person’s soul and improve the chances of resurrection.
Assuming the people of Luo Mansion died because the Ninth Concubine wanted to resurrect Xiuzhu, why had she failed?
And if she had failed, how had the Seventh Concubine successfully resurrected as the Ninth?
If the Seventh Concubine had successfully become the Ninth Concubine, then she should have mastered the art completely and been entirely capable of resurrecting Xiuzhu.
Unless…
“We’ve overlooked something obvious.”
I said to Seventh Master, “If the Ninth Concubine was the resurrected Seventh Concubine, then the Seventh Concubine borrowed someone else’s body to return. Why would the Ninth Concubine look so much like her?”
“Cosmetic surgery didn’t exist back then. Under what circumstances would two people look extremely similar?”
Seventh Master thought for a moment, then blurted out, “Sisters! Biological sisters!”
“Exactly,” I said. “If the Seventh Concubine had truly been resurrected, then Xiuzhu could have been resurrected as well. But Xiuzhu never returned, which means the Seventh Concubine was never resurrected.”
“The Seventh and Ninth Concubines may have been sisters. The Ninth Concubine married into Luo Mansion to use the household as Living Sacrifices and resurrect the Seventh Concubine through Seven Deaths for Life Exchange, but she ultimately failed.”
“Think about why there was an extra corpse at the scene. The Ninth Concubine needed a vessel in which the Seventh Concubine could resurrect. That additional corpse was probably the vessel. But something went wrong, and the vessel died as well, creating the situation people found afterward.”
Seventh Master considered my theory for a long time, then nodded. “Your analysis is reasonable. It’s a strong possibility and explains many of the mysteries. But why were everyone else in Luo Mansion frightened to death that night, while the other madams were hacked to death by Master Luo? And why did Master Luo hang himself afterward?”
“There were nine madams. Excluding the first wife, who had already died, the Seventh Concubine, and the Ninth Concubine, who had faked her death, there would have been six left. Six…”
Seventh Master’s eyes widened. “Six women and one man!”
Everything connected.
Master Luo and the remaining madams were the six women and one man.
Everyone else in Luo Mansion had been intended as Living Sacrifices.
“Something must have happened that night. If the Ninth Concubine wanted to use the servants of Luo Mansion as Living Sacrifices, her only option would have been poison.”
As I analyzed it, I continued, “But the coroner found no traces of poisoning. Those people were frightened to death, and only a ghost could scare people to death like that.”
“I believe the ghost that frightened them to death disrupted the Ninth Concubine’s Seven Deaths for Life Exchange and ultimately caused the ritual to fail.”