The courtyard was quite large, paved with blue bricks. Dead grass filled the gaps between them.
Directly opposite the main gate stood a screen wall, with the character for "fortune" carved into it. The lotus pedestal beneath it was already badly damaged.
Beyond the screen wall lay a square courtyard, with side rooms to the east and west and the main hall to the north.
Every door and window was tightly shut. The paper windowpanes were riddled with holes, and the rooms beyond were pitch-black.
Shen Hui quickly swept his gaze over the house, his brow furrowing slightly.
A layer of ashen mist shrouded the entire house, like a veil of dirty gauze. He couldn't see through it.
The mist seeped up from beneath the ground, creeping along the base of the walls, through the cracks in the doors and the latticework of the windows. Wisps of it drifted outward, soundlessly, yet enough to make one's skin crawl.
A man stood in the middle of the courtyard. He was none other than Daoist Ji Chen, the one the old constable had just been talking about.
The Old Taoist stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the eaves. Suddenly, he asked, "What do you see?"
Shen Hui knew he was asking him.
He examined the house again before replying in a low voice, "Yin energy."
"Be more specific."
Shen Hui raised his head. His gaze traveled from the roof of the main hall to the eaves of the side rooms, then settled on the pillars supporting the main hall.
Those pillars were where the yin energy in the entire house was strongest.
The ashen mist crawled up from the bases of the pillars, all the way to the roof beams, then spread along the rafters to either side. It was as if all the yin energy in the house was seeping out from those pillars.
"The roof beams and the tops of the pillars have the strongest yin energy."
Shen Hui pointed toward the main hall. "It looks like there's something over there."
The Old Taoist nodded without a word and started toward the main hall.
Shen Hui followed close behind, and the others hurried after them.
The threshold was very high and mostly rotten. As soon as someone stepped on it, it creaked, and rotten wood crumbled across the ground.
A stench of mold and decay rushed at them. Shen Hui raised a hand and fanned the air in front of his nose. The old constable, quick to catch on, held up his lantern and shone it inside.
The main hall was bare and empty. The only thing inside was an Eight Immortals table against the wall, with a few overturned bowls on top, covered in a thick layer of dust.
The place where a hanging scroll would have been displayed on the wall was bare, save for a few nails and a faded patch.
Following the direction of the yin energy, Shen Hui walked farther inside, went around the Eight Immortals table, and stopped in front of a pillar.
It was a thick pillar, thicker than any of the others in the main hall.
Shen Hui reached out and touched it. It was icy to the touch, colder than wood ought to be.
Then he lowered his head to look at the floor.
The bricks beneath the pillar were new, their color a little lighter than the rest. The edges still bore marks where they had been chiseled.
The gaps between these bricks weren't filled with mortar, either, but with something black and crumbly, like the ashes of burned paper money.
"This is the place," Shen Hui said.
"What do you see?" the Old Taoist asked again.
Shen Hui pointed at the ground. "Something's buried beneath here."
As he spoke, he formed a hand seal with his right hand and pointed at the ground.
The earth immediately seemed to be lifted from below by an invisible hand. Several blue bricks thrust upward, bubbling up like the Baotu Spring, while dirt trickled from the cracks.
With a sudden pop, something was forced out of the ground and rolled across the floor.
Everyone instinctively took a step back.
It was a skeleton.
A very small skeleton, curled up like a shrimp that had been crushed underfoot.
The bones had turned black, with scraps of rotten cloth stuck to them. It was probably the swaddling cloth that had wrapped the corpse.
The skull was tilted to one side, its eye sockets packed with dirt. The lower jaw had fallen away, revealing several baby teeth that hadn't fully grown in.
Most horrifying of all was the skeleton's pose.
Both hands were raised, all ten finger bones spread wide as if reaching for something.
"Amitabha." Monk Faming chanted a Buddhist invocation, his fingers halting on the prayer beads.
The young constable's face went pale, and his voice shook. "Th-this... what is this?"
The older constable held up his lantern and brought it closer. After looking for a long while, he sighed. "It's a child... judging by the bones, it can't have been a year old."
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Someone asked in a low voice, "Was it one of the Liu Family?"
Shen Hui shook his head. "Probably not."
He pointed to where the skeleton had been.
"It was buried right against the foot of the pillar, directly beneath the main beam. If it had been a child of the family who died young, why would they bury it here?"
The Old Taoist first glanced at Shen Hui, then turned to the older constable and asked, "Xu Bantou, are you from Qu County?"
The old constable hurriedly nodded. "This humble one's family has lived in Qu County for generations."
The Old Taoist nodded, then asked again:
"Do you know when the Liu Family's house was built?"
Old Xu thought for a moment, counting on his fingers. "It must have been... thir... no, forty years ago. Back then, the head of the Liu Family was Liu Dehou. He made a fortune in the cloth trade and opened several shops in town. He was one of the wealthiest men in Qu County. He thought the old house was too small, so he tore most of it down, expanded eastward, and built the houses you see now."
"Did anything happen while the house was being built?"
The constable froze, frowning as he thought for a long while. Suddenly, he slapped his thigh. "Yes! Now that you mention it, Daoist, I remember. When they were putting up the main beams, a carpenter fell from the roof and died on the spot. Later, while they were laying the foundations, the earth caved in and buried a laborer. By the time they dug him out, he was already dead. It caused quite a stir at the time. The Liu Family paid a lot of compensation."
The Old Taoist listened, then slowly nodded.
"That explains it."
He pointed at the skeleton. His voice was quiet, but every word was clear. "This is a living stake."
Everyone looked at one another.
"A living stake?"
The young constable stared in confusion. "What's a living stake?"
"Amitabha!"
Monk Faming chanted a prayer and explained on the Old Taoist's behalf. "When building a house, if the site is inauspicious or one has offended the earth's baleful intent, evil men may bury a living person in the foundation, using their soul to suppress the house. This is known as 'driving in a living stake.' The buried person's soul is forever pinned here, unable to be reborn. The fortunes of the house rest entirely upon them. When the house prospers, they suffer; when it falls into ruin, they suffer as well."
As he spoke, he glanced at the skeleton, his voice dropping. "This method is a grave sin against the natural order, despised by the righteous path. I thought no one in the world still used it."
Scholar Li listened from the side, his expression changing again and again. His fan slowed in his hand without him realizing it.
He cleared his throat and forced himself to speak. "Well... I've heard people talk about this, too, but I always thought it was just a rumor. I never imagined it was real..."
Shen Hui glanced at him without saying anything.
The man had been trembling ever since they entered, yet he could still force himself to stand there and offer his opinion. That was no small feat.
"So it's this thing causing trouble..." The young constable pointed at the skeleton, his voice trembling. "This child?"
The moment the words left his mouth—
Crack!
A deafening crash sounded from overhead.