Liu Neng didn’t open his eyes. Instead, he tightly hugged the tree, murmuring Amitabha Buddha. Seeing this, Lao Wutou began cursing at Liu Neng and even broke off a branch to beat him. Liu Neng remained motionless, not only refusing to open his eyes but chanting Amitabha Buddha even louder. After a few strikes, Lao Wutou threw away the branch and grabbed a firewood axe to attack Liu Neng. Liu Neng felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as the axe landed a solid blow. In panic, Liu Neng quickly swung his own axe in retaliation and accidentally severed the rope binding Lao Wutou. Lao Wutou plummeted from the十多-meter-high tree and lay motionless after the impact.
Liu Neng clutched his shoulder, enduring the pain, when he sensed a chill creeping around him, like icy, venomous snakes slithering around his neck.
But not long afterward, screams from two imperial martial arts experts echoed one after another!
Shortly after, Liu Neng heard a strong gust of wind near his ear, and soon everything fell silent again.
Then Master Liu’s voice rang out, and only then did everyone dare to open their eyes.
When Liu Neng and the other two reached the foot of the tree, they saw Lao Wutou had died from the fall. Looking at the two imperial experts, they had stabbed each other’s hearts with their swords and stood lifeless.
Master Liu summoned Liu Neng and the other two, gave them silver coins, and warned them all that this matter was extremely serious and must never be disclosed. As a token of gratitude, Master Liu also told everyone there was actually a water dragon vein here. Around it lay thirty-six water dragon energy points. If the three of them were buried there in the future, their descendants would surely prosper and enjoy wealth and honor generation after generation. As long as the water dragon points remained undisturbed, they would continuously enjoy prosperity and fortune.
However, Master Liu didn’t reveal the exact location of the main water dragon point to the three men.
Instead, he had his bookboy stay behind on the ridge while he returned to the imperial court to report. If he could return, that would be best. If not, he instructed the bookboy to occupy the main water dragon point himself. If the bookboy married and had children, the blessings would extend to his descendants. If he remained alone until old age, he would become the local yin deity.
In other words, Master Liu had told the bookboy the location of the main water dragon point.
In the end, Master Liu never returned.
The bookboy remained on the ridge practicing Daoism, but decades later, he vanished without a trace.
After the bookboy disappeared, the feng shui of the Water Dragon Ridge changed. The souls of the deceased from nearby villages grew unusually strong. Meanwhile, the descendants of Ma Fu, Long Xiang, and Liu Neng enjoyed wealth and honor for several generations, although their fortune gradually declined after three generations.
※※※
Old Man San took his time and told Shui Miao the story of his great-grandfather.
Shui Miao found it very mysterious but somewhat believable.
After a pause, he asked, “Third Uncle, since you’re already dead, you must know what happened on that ridge. So tell me, is there really a yin deity on that mountain?”
“Hehe, I can answer that question for you. But you must promise me one thing in return,” Third Uncle seemed prepared. “Of course, I won’t let you down. I’ll definitely offer you an unexpected reward.”
“Hmm…”
Shui Miao’s eyes flickered with thought before he smiled slightly. “Alright then, tell me what it is.”
“It’s simple—continue impersonating Zhang Ling until his parents pass away naturally.” Third Uncle sighed softly. “I’m not doing this for any other reason. The Zhang family lineage is about to end. I received a request from their ancestors to protect them, but I failed to help at all. So I want to do my best one last time to make up for it.”
“I see. Then what’s the reward you promised me? You don’t seem to know what I want, do you?” Shui Miao also sensed something—the old man, surnamed Liu, was a descendant of Liu Neng. The bookboy had become a yin deity protecting the Ma, Long, and Liu families. But Shui Miao was a bit skeptical. Had the bookboy’s yin deity already disappeared? Otherwise, how could Liu Third Uncle dare to offer such a reward in exchange?
“Of course I know. You’re from the Daoist sect—how could you not be passionate about cultivation?” Third Uncle smiled faintly and whispered, “I can tell you this much—our yin deity is tired of life in the mortal realm and wants to find a successor. I think you’re quite suitable, so I’d like to recommend you to him.”
“You…don’t seem to have that much influence, do you?”
Shui Miao narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “If you held any real authority with the yin deity, you should have spoken up to help when Long Wu killed several members of the Ma family…”
“This…you don’t understand. The yin deity has said he won’t interfere in the disputes among our three families. The strong prevail, and the adaptable survive—that’s the natural way. He won’t spend his time worrying about our affairs. Besides, our generation is already beyond the third generation, so he cares even less.” Third Uncle had his own difficulties. If he had any real influence with the yin deity, he wouldn’t have needed to beg Shui Miao for such a small favor.
“Fine! I agree.”
Shui Miao suddenly agreed readily. His reasoning was simple: the yin deity must be very powerful and might help him break his seal. Even if that wasn’t possible, he wouldn’t lose anything—just weakening the seal a little would be worth it.
“Great! I’ll go report to the yin deity right away and come back to tell you exactly what to do.”
Third Uncle was excited. Seeing that Shui Miao had no intention of backing out, he quickly vanished.
Shui Miao casually returned to his reclining chair, closed his eyes, and thought to himself: here were the Ma, Long, and Liu families protected by the yin deity, but who exactly was the female ghost Bai Feng attached to Madam Ma? She seemed quite weak. The yin deity must be a solitary figure, not even taking Bai Feng under his wing while letting a thousand-year-old female ghost from far away do so. What had he been doing all these years on the ridge?
Also, that Master Liu seemed extremely capable. Could he possibly be Liu Bowen, the semi-immortal from the Ming Dynasty?
If he was indeed the semi-immortal Liu Bowen, then that bookboy must have been extraordinary. He must have practiced celestial Daoism. In all these years, perhaps he had been meditating the entire time, and now he was probably at the peak of his cultivation, ready to ascend to the heavens.
Shui Miao had the jade pendant of Ling Shuai. Establishing contact with such a yin deity shouldn’t be too difficult.
As he pondered, Shui Miao realized his luck had been particularly good lately, probably due to the purple aura’s influence. The last few times he’d seen that aura had been at a casino and a slot machine room…
“That’s right!”
Shui Miao suddenly opened his eyes, stood up excitedly, and murmured to himself in excitement. “How could I be so stupid? Only now do I realize that there must be more than just the seven types of qi—yin, yang, and the five elements. There’s also chaotic misfortune and purple fortune. The places where purple fortune manifests are casinos, where human greed and desire are most exposed. I should definitely visit these places more often!”
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