When Uncle Huzi learned that the bank card I was holding had a hundred thousand yuan on it, he nearly cried with excitement. After all those days of hardship, we had finally made it through. He tossed the bag of takeout straight into the trash.
"To hell with it! I'm having meat and booze!"
But Uncle Huzi quickly came to his senses. He looked at me and said, "Young master, why did you agree to take on the Zhang Family's problem? Have you forgotten the rules the master left before he went away?"
"No. I asked Zhang Yunyao in the car just now. The problem is with their ancestral graves, which are in Yongfeng County, hundreds of kilometers from Yanbei. Master only said I couldn't take jobs in Yanbei. This job is in Yongfeng County, so that doesn't count as breaking the rules, does it?" I said.
Uncle Huzi pondered this for a moment, then nodded. "That does seem to make sense. Still, something feels wrong, though I can't put my finger on it. Every rule the master left has a deeper purpose. Once you break one, something unpredictable is bound to happen. You'd best be careful, young master."
"Are you sure? What deeper purpose is there behind the first rule, making me earn ten million for him in a year? Go on, tell me." Just bringing it up gave me a headache. That old man had taken me as his disciple and taught me for eight years, and now he planned to recoup all his tuition fees in a single year. He certainly wasn't losing out.
Uncle Huzi gave an awkward smile. Naturally, he couldn't come up with an explanation.
Uncle Huzi and I went to the bank specifically to check the balance on the card. There really was a hundred thousand yuan in it. Only then did we relax. These past few days had left us terrified of being broke.
I immediately withdrew ten thousand and gave it to Uncle Huzi, keeping the rest in reserve.
If Uncle Huzi and I were frugal, it would be enough to last us a whole year.
As for that ten million, to hell with it. He might as well sell me, and even that wouldn't fetch ten million.
Early the next morning, Zhang Yucheng's Rolls-Royce pulled up outside the courtyard house.
When Huzi and I came out, Zhang Yucheng greeted us with a smile and warmly ushered us into the car.
As soon as we got in, Zhang Yucheng said excitedly, "Young Master Wu, you've finally agreed to help. It looks like there's hope for my son!"
Beside him, Zhang Yunyao said with a touch of smugness, "Dad, I'm the one who persuaded Young Master Wu to come. You have to give me the credit for this."
"Yes, well done. My daughter really is capable," Zhang Yucheng said approvingly.
I couldn't be bothered to explain. I hadn't agreed to help for his daughter's sake, and there was no point saying more.
On the way, I asked about their ancestral graves. Zhang Yucheng said the site had been chosen back during the former Qing dynasty by a feng shui practitioner passing through. At the time, the Zhang Family had been an utterly ordinary household in Yongfeng County.
It had all come about through a chance encounter.
Toward the end of the Qing dynasty, the country had been in turmoil. Foreign invaders threatened it from outside, while soldiers and bandits plagued it within. Brigands ran rampant, and disasters struck year after year. Ordinary people suffered terribly and didn't have enough to eat.
The Zhang Family had also lived in dire poverty back then.
With life so difficult, who had the inclination to hire a feng shui practitioner?
The Zhang Family's ancestor had been a very kind man. One day, he came across a Taoist in a tattered robe outside his home, so hungry that he was sitting on the ground, unable to stand. He brought the old Taoist inside and gave him the only two steamed cornmeal buns he had, saving his life.
To thank the Zhang Family, the old Taoist offered to assess their feng shui. He spent several days wandering around Yongfeng County before announcing that he had found an auspicious burial site. He said that if they buried all their deceased forebears there in the orientations he specified, several generations of their descendants would enjoy great wealth and standing.
At the time, the Zhang Family's ancestor hadn't thought the old Taoist was particularly gifted. He had saved him purely out of kindness.
Unexpectedly, after they buried their deceased forebears at the auspicious site the old Taoist had found, the fortunes of the Zhang Family's descendants truly changed dramatically.
During the Republican era, one of the Zhang Family's ancestors became a wealthy magnate, with businesses throughout the country.
Even when the Zhang Family later declined, some of its assets were passed down.
By the generation of Zhang Yunyao's grandfather, the Zhang Family used the assets handed down by their ancestors to rise again. When Zhang Yucheng inherited the family business, it reached its peak. He founded the Dragon Gathering Group, which ranked among the largest companies in all of Yanbei, and his net worth was at least several billion yuan.
But just over twenty days earlier, something had gone wrong at the Zhang Family Ancestral Graveyard. All the pines and cypresses planted around it had withered overnight. They had brought in several feng shui practitioners, but none could find the cause, much less do anything about it.
His only son, Zhang Yunliang, was plagued by nightmares every day. Every night, he dreamed of jumping off a building.
The feng shui practitioners said it had to be connected to their ancestral graves.
When they tried to relocate the graves, they had dug less than a meter down before red, bloody water began seeping out of the ground. The feng shui practitioner and the workers were so frightened that they quit on the spot.
With no other options, Zhang Yucheng had come to seek help from my master and me.
Unfortunately, my master was away, and the rules he had left me forbade taking jobs in Yanbei.
If I hadn't asked Zhang Yunyao for the details, I would have missed this job altogether.
After hearing all this, I began to get an idea of what was happening.
We drove for several hours, heading straight to the Zhang Family Ancestral Graveyard.
When we arrived at the Zhang Family Ancestral Graveyard, people were already waiting there.
They were Zhang Yunyao's older brother and a few workers.
After the car stopped, Zhang Yucheng led Uncle Huzi and me toward the ancestral graves.
As soon as we met, Zhang Yucheng introduced me to Zhang Yunliang. "Liang, this is the master I invited from Yanbei. He's Young Master Wu, a disciple of Li Xuantong, the Feng Shui King. Our Zhang Family is saved!"
Zhang Yunliang looked to be in his twenties. He was fair-skinned and clean-cut, with the looks of a young heartthrob and a stud in one ear.
His attitude toward me was lukewarm. When he saw me, he merely gave a slight nod by way of greeting.
Perhaps he thought I was too young to handle his family's problem, which would explain his attitude.
But when I took a closer look at Zhang Yunliang, I discovered that his life palace was darkened and baleful energy shrouded the top of his head. He looked as though he didn't have long to live, and I couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
"Mr. Zhang, have you gotten involved with anything unclean lately?" I asked right away.
Zhang Yunliang glanced at me and sneered. "Enough. Quit putting on an act. Several feng shui practitioners have already come, and none of them could solve our family's problem. Now you're trying to pin it on me. Don't tell me you're another fraud here to swindle our family out of money?"
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