The Compass Needle Spun, an Omen of Great Disaster

It had been a long time since the fox with eight tails had appeared in my life. Master naturally knew that an Immortal resided within me, but she had been gravely injured during her tribulation back then. Her spirit was extremely weak, and she had remained inside me to recuperate. During my years of training with Master, I had faced several tribulations, yet I had survived each one safely. I knew Master had warded off those calamities for me, so the fox with eight tails had never appeared again.

Whenever I encountered danger, this Immortal would emerge to help me weather the tribulation.

At that moment, as soon as I stepped out the door, dizziness struck. The world spun around me, and I collapsed straight onto the ground.

The Eight-Tailed Fox transformed into an extraordinarily beautiful woman and solemnly warned me not to go.

She must have foreseen the danger and emerged to warn me.

Fortunately, this only lasted a few minutes, and I soon returned to normal.

Then I saw Zhang Yunyao crouching beside me, staring at me anxiously. She looked so worried that she was on the verge of tears.

"Young Master Wu, wake up... what's wrong?" Zhang Yunyao asked, biting her lip as she watched me nervously.

I quickly opened my eyes and looked at her. "I'm fine. Let's go."

With that, I stood up, only for another wave of dizziness to hit me. I nearly fell back onto the ground.

Zhang Yunyao came straight over and placed one of my hands on her shoulder. "Young Master Wu, I'll help you walk."

In all my life, I had never held a girl in my arms. With my arm around Zhang Yunyao, I couldn't help feeling awkward, but I really was terribly dizzy.

"Young Master Wu, what happened to you just now?" Zhang Yunyao hadn't noticed my discomfort and asked again with concern.

"I'm fine... maybe being hit by that teacup made me dizzy. Hurry and take me to the ancestral graves. We might be running out of time," I urged.

"Young Master Wu, can you still go in this condition?" Zhang Yunyao asked, looking at me worriedly.

"I'm fine. I'd go even if knives were raining from the sky. I can leave the others to their fate, but Uncle Huzi is family," I said firmly.

I had no choice. If I didn't go, the workers hired by the Zhang Family, along with Zhang Yunliang, might all lose their lives.

I didn't care whether Zhang Yunliang lived or died. What mattered was that Uncle Huzi was still with them.

He had watched me grow up and was practically family. I couldn't lose him.

Once we got into the car, I immediately urged Zhang Yunyao to start driving.

Sitting in the passenger seat, I felt increasingly uneasy.

If something really had happened, it would be no small matter.

During my training with Master, I had once heard him recite these words: "When dragon and tiger unleash baleful forces in the Yin Corpse Ground, peril arises from nine layers of coffins. Heavenly stems and earthly branches dictate the order; one mistake leads to the gates of hell!"

A Yin Corpse Ground was a rare feng shui phenomenon. Bodies buried there could remain intact for a thousand years without decaying, while also bestowing blessings on their descendants. When removing the bodies buried in a Yin Corpse Ground, they had to be brought out one by one in the proper sequence, and the timing had to be calculated precisely. A single mistake could spell utter doom, disrupting the qi field of the entire auspicious feng shui site. Anything could happen then.

All Zhang Yunliang wanted was to get the coffins dug up quickly so he could go home and rest. As soon as I left, he had ordered the workers to keep digging.

He had no idea of the dangers involved.

When something happened to Zhang Yucheng, I had hurried back without giving them enough warnings. Besides, I had assumed everything would be fine with Uncle Huzi there.

I truly hadn't expected Zhang Yunliang to be such an idiot.

Now even the Immortal inside me had warned me not to go. Something had almost certainly gone wrong.

I was restless in the car, my thoughts consumed by the matter. Zhang Yunyao spoke to me a few times along the way, but none of her words registered.

The Zhang Family Ancestral Graveyard wasn't far from their old residence. We drove fast, and just over half an hour later, we arrived at the Zhang Family Ancestral Graveyard.

After Zhang Yunyao parked, I hurried out of the car, and she followed behind me.

As soon as we approached the burial ground, I sensed something was wrong. The entire area was shrouded in dense baleful qi.

It was also eerily quiet. There wasn't a sound, not even the chirping of an insect.

Seeing this, I immediately stopped and said to Zhang Yunyao, "Miss Zhang, come with me. It isn't safe for you to stay here alone."

"Young Master Wu, you've been running all over the place for our family, and you even got hurt. I'm truly sorry," Zhang Yunyao said apologetically.

I smiled. "It's fine. If you feel bad about it, just ask your dad to pay me a little extra once this is settled."

Zhang Yunyao nodded emphatically and said that wouldn't be a problem. Then she stepped right up beside me, gripped my arm, and looked warily around us.

Before long, we reached the Zhang Family Ancestral Graveyard.

Just as I had seen earlier, there wasn't a single person in the Zhang Family Ancestral Graveyard. Only the large coffins that had been dug up lay scattered haphazardly across the burial ground.

"Where is everyone? Where did they all go?" Zhang Yunyao asked in confusion.

"Uncle Huzi, it's Little Jie! Where are you?" I called out, but no one answered.

"Could my brother have taken everyone away?" Zhang Yunyao asked.

"Impossible. The others might leave, but Uncle Huzi would never do that. I think they may have encountered some danger," I said gravely.

At that, Zhang Yunyao's face turned deathly pale. "Nothing's happened to them, has it? And my brother..."

Although Zhang Yunliang was a complete bastard, he was still Zhang Yunyao's own brother, and she cared deeply about him.

But I was a little bewildered myself. How could everyone have vanished just like that?

Including the drive there and back and the time we had spent at the house, less than two hours had passed, yet everyone was gone.

I took out my compass and began examining the earth qi here. The moment I brought it out, its needle started spinning wildly. One glance made me suck in a sharp breath.

A spinning compass needle was an omen of great disaster.

I hurriedly put the compass away and took out another ritual implement. It was a ruler called the Heavenly Canopy Ruler, about thirty centimeters long-a short, square rod with talismans carved into its four sides.

An ancient book stated: "In antiquity, peach branches were used to banish ill fortune. Hou Yi died beneath a peachwood club, so later generations used peachwood to slay ghosts. Today's Heavenly Canopy Ruler is of the same kind."

These elongated, graduated ritual rulers were made of either peachwood or iron. Heavenly Canopy Rulers were usually four-sided, with their six surfaces respectively carved with the twenty-eight lunar mansions, the sun and moon, the Ziwei Talisman, the Heavenly Canopy Talisman, the South Dipper Star Lord, and the North Dipper Star Lord.

Master had left this ritual implement to me. Holding the Heavenly Canopy Ruler gave me a little more courage for reasons I couldn't explain.

Just then, strange sounds suddenly came from somewhere not far from the Zhang Family Ancestral Graveyard.