Treasure

Yu Xiaoxue and Zhao Qian could only go over to help. With the strength of all three of us, we finally moved the iron lump down and placed it in the courtyard.

After the pottery-making tools had been unloaded, I planned to drive out and get some yin soil. This wasn't the yin soil from a birth horoscope, but soil of the utmost yin nature—pottery clay that had been exposed to yin energy year-round and altered by influences such as ghostly aura.

For example, mud from a mass grave where dead people had been buried. It was best if the dead had died unjustly. Better still, they should have had no coffins or burial goods, so their flesh and bones had been in direct contact with the soil.

The best place to find this stuff was actually Yinphoenix Town. Unfortunately, the dead town was too far from here. I was afraid that if I went there, I might never make it back, so although it was my first choice, I abandoned the idea outright.

"Zhao Qian, you still have a spare feng shui compass, right? I need to find some yin soil. Will you bring a feng shui compass and go with me? Don't bring that counterfeit one from last time. It'll probably be a little dangerous this time," I said. I really couldn't do this without Zhao Qian.

In Little Yi Village, Zhao Qian was the most reliable person when it came to locating yang and yin energy. All I could do was detect the yin energy nearby. When it came to finding yin soil, I was completely blind.

"I still have an ancestral Star-Fixing Compass. I'll bring that this time," Zhao Qian said, heading back to her room to get it.

"Good. Going by its name, it sounds like something valuable. But you'd better bring some talisman paper too. We'll probably run into something filthy." Since we were looking for something as ominous as yin soil, we naturally needed talisman paper. Although I had bought a complete set of talisman-making tools, talisman paper wasn't something that could simply be drawn on the spot and used.

Talismans and incantations were profound secret arts. Whether they worked depended on one's own great concentration. If one lacked sufficient concentration, anything drawn would be useless. Moreover, to make up for insufficient concentration during the drawing process, one had to practice by drawing tens of thousands of talismans. After increasing one's drawing speed, one could make up for the shortcoming of insufficient concentration.

Zhao Qian had some ability to exorcise ghosts and would occasionally draw paper talismans. I had seen her talismans back in Little Yi Village, and they were quite good. She had clearly put in a tremendous amount of hard work.

"Oh, then I'll bring some exorcism talismans and similar incantation talismans," Zhao Qian said. In truth, it wasn't realistic to ask her to produce some high-level incantation talismans.

For example, she couldn't draw a high-level talisman like the Ghost-Passing Talisman, which could directly ward off demons and evil spirits and communicate with ghosts and gods. Even I couldn't do it now, not even after squeezing out all my pure yang essence blood.

Exorcism talismans, on the other hand, were more practical. They came in many varieties, were easy to draw, and were highly targeted. When used in the right place, they could often catch the enemy off guard.

"Brother Tian, what about me?" Yu Xiaoxue became anxious when she heard that I wasn't taking her.

"You're a high school student. Stay home and watch TV. You'd better review your lessons too—you're about to start school. Leave adult matters alone." I threatened her. She wasn't very brave. Even now, I didn't dare let her see Xijun, because she fainted every time she saw her. Fortunately, she forgot everything after waking up. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have known what to tell her.

"Oh." Yu Xiaoxue pitifully pinched the corner of her clothes, but I pretended not to notice.

"Snow, why don't you go to Sis's place? Sis has lots of snacks at home, and a big television too," Han Shanshan coaxed.

"No. You'd better go home and sleep. If she follows you, you'll only lead her astray." I glared at Han Shanshan. Both of them were missing a few screws in their heads. I couldn't let them get together.

"Hmph." Han Shanshan continued to huff and puff, still wanting to say something, when the mobile phone in her pocket rang. "Captain Huo?"

It seemed Huo Dadong had also returned safely to the station.

Halfway through the call, Han Shanshan asked me, "Captain Huo's treating us to a meal. Do you want to go?"

"No. I have something urgent to do. Tell him for me." I refused the meal. Everything was already on fire—why was he still inviting me to eat?

"Oh, all right. I'll tell him." Han Shanshan went back to her call.

When I drove the car out of the gate, Zhao Qian had also brought a small cloth bundle and a shoulder bag.

The cloth bundle held her possessions, while the shoulder bag contained a girl's personal items, which she placed in the car. Seeing her carrying so many bags, I began to feel rather pathetic. I had brought nothing but Xijun.

After saying goodbye to Yu Xiaoxue and Han Shanshan, Zhao Qian and I drove away.

On the road, I released Xijun. Zhao Qian was already accustomed to Xijun's presence, so I didn't need to hide her deliberately.

In the passenger seat, Zhao Qian took a red bundle from among her belongings. When she opened it, an ancient-looking, extremely steady feng shui compass lay inside. One glance was enough to tell that it was an antique, and its value was impossible to estimate.

The appearance of the Star-Fixing Compass made Xijun, who had been pressed against my face, suddenly turn her gaze toward it. She bared her teeth arrogantly.

"Xijun, don't cause trouble." I frowned and stopped Xijun from flying into a rage.

When Zhao Qian saw the unfriendly look on Xijun's face, she immediately wrapped the red cloth back around the compass, concealing it.

"This is the Star-Fixing Compass?" I asked. I didn't know what it was made of, but it could definitely drive away demons and evil spirits. Xijun's reaction at that very moment was proof enough.

"Yes. It was always locked in the safe. My grandfather secretly left it to me, along with a special incantation. He said he hadn't passed it on to my father or my second uncle because their minds weren't upright. Especially my second uncle—even if he gave it to them, they wouldn't be able to bring out its effects." Zhao Qian stroked the red cloth bundle, her expression full of remembrance.

"Have you ever considered that perhaps your second uncle and the others targeted you because of this antique?" This thing hadn't even been activated, yet it had already provoked a reaction from Xijun. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like a divine artifact. Still, I had no covetous thoughts, because controlling the Star-Fixing Compass required a special incantation and knowledge of feng shui. I definitely couldn't manage it.

"My brother and I knew that long ago. They set traps for me several times, but I relied on the Star-Fixing Compass to break them. We simply never said anything. As long as we didn't take it out, they couldn't be sure. Grandfather told me that no matter what happened, I had to protect the Star-Fixing Compass. It was more important than family." Zhao Qian sighed.

I felt that the Star-Fixing Compass must be a treasure of the same caliber as Wang Cheng's dog-beating whip and Lin Feiyu's mourning nails—definitely an inherited treasure of some great aristocratic clan.

It was a pity that although I had inherited Grandma's Taoist tradition, all I had received was a pile of broken pottery jars. Not one of them could be called an heirloom. Perhaps the Ghost-Nurturing Path simply didn't have many ancestral treasures. Then I remembered that Grandma's chest had contained more than half of a ghost mask. That might have been something belonging to the sect patriarch of the Ghost-Nurturing Path. Though it didn't look useful, it should still count as an heirloom.

While my thoughts ran wild, I casually asked who her teacher was. "By the way, who did you study under? Who taught you to make talismans?"

"I don't know. When I was in high school, I met a starving old woman who was wandering around. I invited her to stay at my house for a while, and she taught me many things about Taoism. But one day, she went out and never came back." As Zhao Qian spoke, tears fell again. "She couldn't remember things very well. I'm afraid she might have gotten lost..."

"So she was a female cultivator. Don't worry. An expert like her will definitely be fine. After all, experts are like divine dragons—one can see their heads but never their tails. Maybe she'll appear at your door one day." I immediately comforted poor Zhao Qian.

I realized that Zhao Qian cried especially easily. She must have been a crybaby as a child. On top of that, she had always been protected by Zhao He, which had shaped her comparatively timid nature.

"Thank you, Brother Tian," Zhao Qian said with a nod.

"Words don't cost anything. What are you thanking me for?" I said with a laugh.

I drove toward the suburbs, heading for the shooting range on Liancheng Mountain. It was the only place I could think of with heavy yin energy.

Zhao Qian didn't find anything strange about it either, so I continued driving.

By the time we reached the shooting range, the sky had darkened. I picked up a shovel and headed toward the ancient bridge. Zhao Qian was somewhat frightened and kept looking up at the sky.

"Do you think staring at the sky will stop it from getting dark? Relax. We're not going to provoke them. We're only digging up some yin soil. It's not as if they're going to kill or punish us. Take out the Star-Fixing Compass. I still need you to confirm the location. Hurry and see whether I'm heading in the right direction." I felt that Zhao Qian was timid too. Perhaps before meeting me, she hadn't encountered anything particularly dangerous, so she hadn't been that afraid. But after meeting me—especially after someone died at Zhang Kaifu's place—she had begun to fear these things.

"Oh." Only then did Zhao Qian remember why she had come. She took out the Star-Fixing Compass and began measuring for the direction with the strongest yin energy.

The direction she indicated happened to coincide with the path I was taking.

After winding this way and that, we still crossed the ancient bridge. Sure enough, the place with the strongest yin energy was where I had burned incense and fled for my life that night!

It was the same place, the same spot. Sister-in-law suddenly tugged at my clothes again.

A thread of chill rose all over my body. I glanced at Xijun. This time, Xijun wasn't as terrified as before, but the guarded look on her face was still unmistakable.

"Brother Tian, we can't go any farther. There's definitely something waiting for us there." The needle of the Star-Fixing Compass trembled, and Zhao Qian's face had begun to pale. She didn't dare go any farther either.

I thought it over, looking at the ancient stele more than ten meters ahead and the spot nearby where the grave robber had been beside the unjust-death tomb. Then I said, "This is the place, but we need to go a little farther. See that ancient tomb over there? Get the talisman paper ready."

I wanted to dig up the yin soil where the grave robber had died. That place looked the most ferocious. If the soil had once been stained with blood, even better. Although I found the thought terrifying and disgusting, I had to take the risk for Xijun.

After going another two or three meters, the stench of decay grew even stronger. Zhao Qian covered her nose with one hand and seemed about to ask what the smell was.

I didn't dare tell her. If I did, she might turn around and vanish in an instant.

"Brother Tian... Shouldn't we turn on the flashlight? It's dark." Zhao Qian suggested this and handed the flashlight to me.

I thought it was a good idea and immediately turned it on. The instant the flashlight came on, I swept it toward the direction of the old grave shaft. After all, that was the spot I considered the best.

At that sight, I nearly wet myself! A hand was dangling right at the mouth of the grave shaft!

Zhao Qian followed the flashlight beam and let out a scream. The stack of talisman paper she had just taken out fell all over the ground.

"Hurry! Hurry and burn the incense!" Wasn't it still underground before? How had it crawled out? What was going on?