A Prime Yang House

Xu Qing and Zhao Zhonghe already disliked each other. The moment they met, it was like sparks falling into cotton, ready to ignite.

Over there, Third Master Huang, who enjoyed watching the commotion, stopped the brokerage clerk who was trying to break up the fight. He just wanted the two to start fighting quickly. If anyone got hurt, their brokerage had a clinic just a few steps to the east.

For him, an event that brought profit to the brokerage just by watching was something he wished would happen more than once a day.

Inside the brokerage, Fourth Master Li, hearing the commotion, poked his head out. Seeing the two arguing and about to fight, he quickly came out to mediate.

"Captain Zhao, Brother Xu, we're all just trying to make a living. Can't we talk things out openly? Please don't let this ruin our harmony."

"Brother Xu, why don't you apologize to Captain Zhao quickly!" Fourth Master Li winked, implying that if you apologize, this matter will be over.

Xu Qing couldn't stand Fourth Master Li's persuasion, so he cupped his hands and said with a nasal tone, "It's my fault. Although Captain Zhao has tarnished a good person's reputation, I shouldn't have said those foolish words. How about this, if Captain Zhao comes to my shop in the future, I'll give him a 20% discount."

When Fourth Master Li heard this, he was initially full of relief, but when he heard the last sentence, he almost passed out.

How could this shopkeeper Xu's mouth be so loose? Who would care about the discount at your shop?

Captain Zhao's face visibly turned red.

"You little brat! Don't let me catch you later. When you commit a crime and end up at the Patrol Office, I'll give you a 50% discount too!"

With that, Zhao Zhonghe turned and glared at Third Master Huang, who was watching the fun. "Huang, we're not done with you! I'm not in a good mood today, so you better not try to play games with me later!"

Third Master Huang's face froze. What does this have to do with me? You guys are arguing.

Setting aside whatever business Zhao Zhonghe had with Third Master Huang.

Meanwhile, after Xu Qing explained his intentions to Fourth Master Li, he followed a brokerage manager to select a house for handling the corpse.

"May I ask what kind of house Shopkeeper Xu is looking to purchase?" the brokerage manager asked on the way.

"Preferably one that faces the shade and is more secluded. I prefer quiet. Also, the courtyard shouldn't be too small, and the soil shouldn't be too hard."

Hearing this, the manager, who was used to buying and selling houses, was clearly stunned.

Other people preferred the ground to be as hard as possible, but why did you prefer it soft?

Xu Qing's explanation was that he had no other hobbies besides tending to his vegetable garden and planting flowers and plants. If the ground in the courtyard was too hard, he feared he wouldn't be able to wield his hoe.

The brokerage manager thought it made sense.

And so, the two went around, looking at many houses for half a day, but none of them suited Xu Qing.

In his eyes, those houses either had too much yang energy or were too close to the bustling market. The one that was finally suitable had a natural hard stone foundation underneath the courtyard, not rammed earth.

When he tapped it with a hoe, sparks flew.

How much effort would it take to bury a body here!

As he reached the end of his choices, Xu Qing, unable to find a suitable one, thought he might as well buy the house with the hard stone foundation and make do.

At worst, he could put in extra effort, break the stones into pieces, remove them, and then transport some soil to fill it up.

Thinking this, he was about to speak when he suddenly realized that the brokerage manager had brought him to a very familiar courtyard.

Isn't this the place where that traitor Liao An hid the silver? I dug up three hundred taels of silver from under the rice jar through Liao An's spirit lantern back then.

Why did the brokerage manager bring him here?

Xu Qing pondered for a moment and figured out the connection.

Liao An was a member of the brokerage, and this empty house likely belonged to the brokerage.

Following the manager into the courtyard, Xu Qing looked around. He activated his Qi Gazing Technique, and the five-colored mist floated, revealing the Feng Shui of the entire courtyard without reservation.

There was black, white, and gray, and even a bloody aura, but absolutely no prosperous qi that a Yang House should have.

Xu Qing clicked his tongue in amazement.

To be honest, when I came to get that three hundred taels of silver, I didn't notice that the Feng Shui of this courtyard was so good.

It's clearly a good place where many people have died before!

Looking at the gray mist overflowing from the well, there were likely corpses still preserved inside.

Then, on the rafter of the main hall, a rope mark, invisible to ordinary people, was emitting black smoke. It seemed someone had once hung a scarf there.

Xu Qing said with some curiosity, "Whose house was this before? Why does its Feng Shui seem so potent? I'm afraid many people have died here, haven't they?"

The brokerage manager coughed twice, a little embarrassed. "Shopkeeper Xu also knows Feng Shui?"

Xu Qing glanced at him and said lightly, "I deal with the business of the deceased. Besides arranging funerals and burials, the most common thing I do is Feng Shui geomancy for people. These are my bread-and-butter skills. Do you think I know how to do it?"

Hearing this, the manager knew that this gentleman in front of him truly had some skills!

"Please don't be offended, Shopkeeper Xu. To be honest, this house was indeed considered half a haunted house back then. I didn't plan to bring you here, but all the houses I could show you before were seen, and there was nowhere else to go..."

"This is my fault. I'll take Shopkeeper Xu back right away!"

The brokerage manager judged people by their appearance. Seeing that he had met a master of Feng Shui, he quickly began to apologize.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have cursed and left by now.

But Xu Qing was no ordinary person; he wasn't even fully alive!

"Wait a minute, why the rush to go back? I've always been a non-believer. Tell me first, what happened in this house to make it a haunted house?"

The manager watched Xu Qing tilt his head to stare at the rafter and even reach up to measure his own neck, looking as if he wanted to hang himself. This made him feel uneasy.

"Master Xu, don't joke around. This house really does have a history."

As the steward recounted the dusty old tales of the mansion, he deliberately stepped back two paces. Only when he reached the doorway, where the sunlight could reach him, did he feel a bit more at ease.

The story of this mansion wasn't long, or rather, the story of each owner wasn't long.

To be precise, it all started ten years ago. Back then, this was still a dilapidated old courtyard. Third Master Huang, a brokerage owner, saw that it wasn't too remote and bought the courtyard at a low price, hiring craftsmen to rebuild it.

Third Master Huang's nickname was Huang the Skinflint, and he was a notorious broker in the area at the time.

After the house was built, the foreman mason went to him to settle the wages.

How could Third Master Huang honestly pay? After a thorough inspection with a lamp, he claimed the construction was shoddy, with flaws everywhere.

In the end, he managed to cut the wages owed by half!

It was from that point on that the house started to become strange.

The guests who rented or bought the house either hanged themselves or fell into wells, or fell gravely ill, losing half their lives.

Slowly, some people started saying that the mason from back then had used Yinmen methods to set a trap in the completed house, which was why the Feng Shui had turned bad.

Upon hearing this, Third Master Huang's anger surged. He immediately ordered someone to find that mason, but after searching all over Linhe, they couldn't find the man.

At this point, he couldn't deny it anymore. So, he invited monks and Taoist priests knowledgeable in Feng Shui Geomancy, as well as various shamans who performed rituals and sprinkled holy water, to diagnose the house.

After a series of treatments, not only did the house's problems not improve, but three of the Taoist priests and monks who came to ward off evil fell ill. He even had to pay to find doctors for them.

Can you believe how unlucky he was!

Finally, someone suggested that since the house was problematic, why not tear it down and rebuild it? What could it do against them then?

When Third Master Huang heard this, if he tore it down and rebuilt it, wouldn't that mean he'd have to pay for construction twice?

He wouldn't do such a losing business.

And so, this house became a sticky item that brokerage merchants often used to deceive and trick others.

Why sticky? Because the moment you sold it, before long, the buyer would sell it back at a lower price. Some buyers didn't even get the chance to sell it; the mansion would return to the brokerage's hands through various channels.

After hearing the steward's account, Xu Qing thought to himself, "This Third Master Huang is quite unscrupulous. No wonder he set up a stall that day to collect gift money for Fourth Master Li when Yang Chunfu was being buried."

It turns out he was the kind of person who wouldn't get up early without profit, greedy and stingy.

Seeing that Xu Qing remained silent, the brokerage steward tentatively asked, "Shopkeeper Xu, the Feng Shui is hard to change. If it's really not possible, we can go back for now and come another day..."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard Xu Qing say:

"I like this house. I'll take it!"