Blood Seeping from the Ancestral Graves

After I finally managed to deal with my classmates, the banquet was about ready to end.

I saw Uncle Huzi take out a plastic bag and secretly pack some food into it. I pretended not to notice. We still had nothing lined up for breakfast tomorrow, so he had little choice.

Suddenly, I needed to pee. I let Uncle Huzi know and headed toward the restroom.

On my way back, I heard an argument coming from behind the door of a room. The voices sounded very familiar.

I wasn't the sort who liked to eavesdrop, but they seemed to mention my name during their argument, so I had to listen more closely.

I stopped and paid attention to the sounds coming from inside.

The people arguing were Wang Chaoyang and Li Na.

Their argument was fierce.

"You bitch! Are you still hung up on that Wu Jie? I knew it. You still want to be with him! I saw the way you looked at him today!"

"I'm not... I really am not!" Li Na protested weakly.

"Don't deny it. When Wu Jie arrived today, you kept looking over at him. Did you think I didn't see?" Wang Chaoyang sneered.

"Wang Chaoyang, so what if I looked at him? Aren't you being a little too controlling? There were so many people in the hall. How do you know I was looking at him?" Li Na retorted.

Smack! The slap rang out so sharply that even my own cheek seemed to sting.

"Li Na, you've got the fucking nerve to talk back now? Let me tell you something. When you chased after Wu Jie back then, he wasn't interested in you, and he still isn't. Even if you stripped naked and lay down in front of him, he wouldn't spare you another glance. You're just a desperate bitch!" Wang Chaoyang raged, sounding almost unhinged.

"I never wanted to be with you in the first place. You forced me..." Li Na sobbed.

"Fine! Then I'll force you again today. Let's see what you can do about it!"

Li Na's stifled cries came from the room, followed by the sound of clothes tearing.

At that point, I stopped listening. I merely shook my head with a bitter smile and walked away.

Whatever else was going on, they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Everyone in our class knew that. What would it look like if I barged in now?

They might even turn it around on me and accuse me of sticking my nose where it didn't belong.

Back at school, I'd barely exchanged a few words with Wang Chaoyang, and the same went for Li Na. I hadn't expected their relationship to look so unhappy.

Still, it had nothing to do with me.

I left the hall and met Uncle Huzi at the entrance, where he stood holding his bag.

As soon as he saw me, Uncle Huzi gave me a conspiratorial smile. "Young master, we've got tomorrow's meals covered."

Before I could reply, I heard someone calling to me from nearby. "Wu Jie..."

I looked toward the voice and saw Zhang Yunyao waving at me a short distance from the hotel entrance.

A luxury car was parked beside her. Though I'd never ridden in one, I knew it was the legendary Rolls-Royce. It was worth a fortune.

I was about to walk over when Uncle Huzi grabbed me. "Young master, you can't break the rules your master left you just because that girl is pretty. Remember, your first job can't be in Yanbei City."

"I know. I'll just go over and talk to her. I'll be right back."

With that, I walked straight toward Zhang Yunyao.

Zhang Yunyao smiled a little awkwardly, then opened the car door. "Wu Jie, shall we talk in the car?"

"Did you drive here?" I asked curiously.

"No, the driver brought me. He's stepped away to take care of something," Zhang Yunyao said.

"Wouldn't it be a little inappropriate for us to talk alone in the car? If our classmates saw us..." I said hesitantly.

"There are some things I'd rather other people didn't hear," Zhang Yunyao explained.

I nodded and agreed to get in.

Soon, we were sitting in the back seat. The interior smelled lovely and was very spacious. Once the doors closed, all the noise outside disappeared.

It really was a luxury car. There was a reason it cost so much.

Once we were inside, I began, "Zhang Yunyao, thanks for helping me out today. Otherwise, things would've been pretty awkward."

"It was nothing. I only told the truth. You're the disciple of Li Xuantong, the Feng Shui King. They just didn't know it," Zhang Yunyao said.

I nodded and got straight to the point. "Even though you helped me today, I might not be able to help you. Before my master left, he told me that my first job couldn't be in Yanbei City."

After a pause, I added, "But you can tell me what's been happening in your family. I can help you figure it out, free of charge."

A trace of disappointment crossed Zhang Yunyao's face, but it vanished almost immediately. "Young Master Wu, it seems you're the only one who can help me with this."

"You don't need to be so formal. We went to the same school. Just call me Wu Jie," I said.

"All right, Wu Jie. I'll tell you what's been happening in my family. Could you help me work out what's wrong?" Zhang Yunyao asked cautiously.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"It's like this. There seems to be something wrong with our ancestral graves. Twenty days ago, all the pines and cypresses planted there withered overnight. Every morning, black vapor rises from the burial mounds. We pulled out all the dead trees and planted new ones, but by the next day, they'd all withered again. And ever since the trouble started at the ancestral graves, my older brother has been having nightmares every night. Sometimes he even sleepwalks. In the middle of the night, he went up to the rooftop alone. If my dad hadn't gotten up to use the bathroom, noticed something was wrong, and followed him up there, he would've jumped. It nearly scared our whole family to death. Lately, we've been locking him in his room every night when he goes to bed. That's helped a little, but now he's too afraid to sleep at all. Whenever he falls asleep, he has nightmares," Zhang Yunyao said in one breath.

"Nightmares? What kind of nightmares?" I asked curiously.

"Nightmares about jumping off a building. Every night, he dreams of leaping from a very tall building and hitting the ground. He told us it feels incredibly real, as though he's actually jumped. It's terribly painful. We had several feng shui masters come and take a look. They all said something was wrong with our ancestral graves, and they even rearranged the feng shui there. But nothing improved. In fact, things got even worse. Even my dad has been affected. He's been distracted lately, and yesterday, while walking down the street, he nearly got hit by a car," Zhang Yunyao said, still shaken.

I considered this for a while, then said, "If something's wrong with the ancestral graves, have you tried moving them and finding another site with good feng shui?"

"We tried that too... But when the workers started digging, they hadn't even gone a meter down before bloody water began seeping out of the burial ground. They were so frightened that they didn't dare dig any further."