The Wu Song Temple

The people of the Divine Land paid particular attention to the rule that "a beam must not hang empty" when building houses.

In other words, there could be nothing absent from the beam, or else "the household would lack its backbone."

There were also particular customs regarding what to place on the beam.

A red thread strung with copper coins was nailed to the beam, symbolizing "suppressing the beam and guarding the residence, with steady wealth flowing in"...

But the coins had to be genuine. Netherworld money and damaged coins were forbidden...

A Bagua Mirror was hung at the center of the beam to dispel feng shui Baleful Intent. If the house faced a crossroads or a graveyard, the mirror was turned outward to reflect the "rushing Baleful Intent"...

A "residence-protecting talisman" or a small Peach Wood Sword was placed there to drive away ghosts and avert disasters...

Five grains wrapped in red cloth were placed in the gaps of the beam, symbolizing "bumper harvests and a flourishing household"...

Sorghum and sesame were scattered across the beam, taking the meaning of "rising higher with every step"...

A writing brush represented literary fortune, expressing the wish that one's descendants would study and succeed...

In short, the varieties were numerous, and there were plenty of particularities to observe.

Some were purely for praying for blessings, while others were conservative arrangements meant to suppress troublesome feng shui.

After all, the roof beam was the core area of a building.

And those who wanted to use magic arts to harm people often chose the roof beam as well.

Hearing Zhao the Donkey, quite a few inn workers hurriedly spoke up.

"Exactly, exactly! We've been suffering from ghost oppression in our sleep all day these past few days!"

"Me too, but I was afraid the