The three youths panicked and rushed to support the suffering young man instead of attacking Shui Miao. The young man, terrified, cried out that something had entered his bottom and was moving upward, already reaching his stomach. Upon hearing this, the Black Snake Spirit quickly urged Shui Miao to leave immediately. Wanting to escape the three ghost embryo infant spirits, Shui Miao immediately left the waiting room.
As Shui Miao reached the entrance of the waiting room, the young man suddenly vomited, spitting out three dark purple dice!
Witnessing this, the three were filled with terror and couldn’t help but suspect that Shui Miao might be a蛊巫.
Seeing Shui Miao flee, the three ghost胎infant spirits flew into the trousers of the three youths, entering their bodies through their bottoms, attempting to possess them. These ghost胎infants had always been weak, but today, having attached themselves to Shui Miao’s hand, their strength had increased. Previously unable to control humans, they were now fully capable of doing so. After possessing the three youths, the spirits were ecstatic, jumping around and laughing like children.
“We did it, we did it!”
“Great, great! Finally, we can control a whole person!”
“Yes, yes! That person was truly nourishing—we became so strong all of a sudden!”
“Ha ha, he was so foolish—he could have expelled us from his body but didn’t. He even let us attach to his hand and absorb all kinds of energy. Let’s chase after him again—we’ll get even stronger!”
“But he ran off. Why don’t we go back first and tell Mom about this? Let her deal with that fool!”
“Great idea! Mom’s so powerful, she’ll surely drain him dry…”
“Let’s go, let’s go back to find Mom now!”
After possessing the three grown men, the ghost胎infants behaved like kindergarten children. After a brief conversation, they stumbled out of the waiting room together, clearly still unaccustomed to walking on two legs.
Shui Miao’s worry about being pursued and killed within seven days turned out to be unnecessary. However, their decision to seek out the ghost mother was even more sinister.
Bai Feng had been secretly watching them and knew they were going back to find their mother.
Shui Miao and the Black Snake Spirit were together. Although the snake spirit had sworn to protect Shui Miao, it now felt uncertain. Shui Miao ran to a nearby crowded shopping mall, wandered around for a while, and just as he came out, Bai Feng approached. She told him that the three ghost infant spirits had possessed the three young people and gone to a haunted building where the ghost mother was hiding. The Yin Holy Spirit was likely there as well.
There was another matter—Bai Feng had also seen Huoxiang and her family heading toward the haunted building.
Originally, Shui Miao had wanted to leave immediately and return to Zhonghai to assess the situation. But upon hearing that Huoxiang was in danger, he decided to storm the haunted building right away, using his Feng Shui measuring rod to carve a path. Since the train wouldn’t depart for another hour or so, he might still make it.
Without hesitation, Shui Miao asked Bai Feng to lead the way.
Upon hearing this, the Black Snake Spirit panicked and quickly protested, “No, no—we couldn’t even handle the little ones, and now we’re going after the old one?”
“If you’re scared, then don’t come. Huoxiang is my friend—I can’t just abandon her.” Knowing the haunted building wasn’t far, Shui Miao started running.
“But that doesn’t mean we should go there to get ourselves killed…” The snake spirit blinked, watching Shui Miao’s back, muttering under its breath, feeling frustrated. It had been ordered by the Yin Spirit to protect Shui Miao, so it couldn’t just leave. But it felt deeply resentful—it had joined the Yin Spirit, sacrificed its physical body, and expected to be rewarded and valued, not assigned such a difficult and thankless task. It wasn’t even on a journey to fetch scriptures from the West—what was the point of this? To make matters worse, it found the very person it was supposed to protect reckless and irrational, risking his life for some so-called friend. It was incomprehensible.
After all, a yao is still a yao—it simply couldn’t understand human emotions.
※※※
Shui Miao had overlooked one thing—Bai Feng flew, so when she said “not far,” she didn’t mean it literally. As a result, Shui Miao ran nonstop for over twenty minutes before finally arriving at a quiet, nearly deserted old street.
Everything on this street was old.
At a glance, the aged pavement, the worn-out shops, the ancient houses, and the outdated style.
Huoyuanliang didn’t have much money. His wife wanted to continue running her clothing store in the county town instead of moving to a big city where their daughter studied, so she chose to rent a place here. It suited her mood. But choosing to open a shop in such an old area was clearly a major violation of Feng Shui principles.
Old age inevitably brings decay and corruption.
Negative energies, filth, and bad luck accumulate.
It’s like with people—children are full of vitality and energy. Have you ever seen elderly people bursting with energy and bouncing around? Even if some do, it’s only a temporary burst and can’t last long. The same logic applies to houses. New houses bring fresh energy and vitality. Depending on the house’s size and design, they can bring good fortune for varying durations. Generally, a house can bring about thirty years of good luck. Of course, this doesn’t mean that fortune arrives immediately after moving in. First, the homeowner must have a strong Ba Zi (Eight Characters), and second, their moral character and behavior must be solid in order to gradually enhance their fortune. Larger houses with excellent Feng Shui can bring about fifty years of good fortune. Some houses that perfectly match the homeowner’s Ming Ge (fate) and possess exceptional Feng Shui can bring even longer periods of good fortune.
A person’s destiny is innate, but it does not determine everything.
The biggest variables affecting one’s destiny are: 1. Residence (both yin and yang宅), 2. Luck, 3. Feng Shui, 4. Accumulated virtue, 5. Education. Residence includes ancestral tombs (yin宅) and living homes (yang宅). Yin宅 can bring fortune quickly, while yang宅 takes longer. Skilled practitioners can change fate in a day, while ordinary ones need more time. However, yin宅 fortune enhancement isn’t something to be done lightly. Nowadays, there are many frauds—mistakenly attempting it might invite misfortune instead of fortune, which would be a great loss. Yang宅 fortune is slower but more stable and pleasant when done correctly. After all, good Feng Shui means a pleasant layout and decoration, which brings joy and positivity, naturally improving one’s luck.
Compared to new houses, old houses aren’t necessarily without good Feng Shui.
However, houses each have their own unique characteristics. Over time, their energy fields develop distinct patterns. When individuals with different destiny profiles enter these homes, they may be influenced by the existing arrangements, which could alter their fortunes. Additionally, broken corners and deterioration in old houses allow negative energies to accumulate. Newcomers who have strong Ba Zi profiles might be able to withstand these effects, but those with weaker Ba Zi may suffer from illness, financial loss, or even death.
Therefore, Shui Miao disliked the old houses on this street.
Following Bai Feng, Shui Miao arrived at an old dormitory building and saw a large-pockmarked, masculine-looking middle-aged woman stepping out. Seeing Shui Miao, she pointed at him loudly, “Hey! What are you sneaking around for?”
“…”
The woman’s appearance was extremely ominous—she seemed likely to have brought doom to several men. Shui Miao was taken aback, possibly because her八字 (Eight Characters) clashed with his. Seeing her, his mood immediately turned sour; however, for Huoxiang’s sake, he gritted his teeth and forced a polite smile. “Auntie,” he said, “I’m just looking for someone. What do you mean by sneaking around?”
“Looking for someone?” The woman eyed him suspiciously. “Who?”
“A few people who just moved in—I’m with them.” Shui Miao pointed upstairs. Bai Feng had already told him that Huoxiang and her family were living upstairs, even specifying the floor and room number.
“Looking for them? Then why didn’t they mention you? I charge utility fees per person—if you’re staying here, you need to pay extra. Don’t try to trick me with some excuse. I, Auntie Luo, am not that easy to fool.” Auntie Luo was famously known as “Cannon Luo” on the old street. Her greed was fake—her real hatred was toward young men. She had a daughter, seventeen or eighteen, who was ruined by a group of delinquents. She was furious! So whenever young men came to rent, she not only refused but scolded them harshly.
Moreover, as fate would have it, Auntie Luo’s八字was extremely strong, and she was a person of metal element—her aggressive aura was truly nothing to joke about.
Shui Miao was held up by the landlady Auntie Luo and couldn’t go upstairs for now.
At that moment, on the fifth floor, Huoxiang and her mother were tidying up a room. Originally a dormitory for factory workers, the building was too old and abandoned, so the residents entrusted Auntie Luo with full management. Since Auntie Luo was originally a supervisor at the factory, and the factory trusted her, she had been managing the place for years.
Meanwhile, Huoyuanliang, introduced by Auntie Luo, had rented a shop and was unloading goods with a van driver.
“Mom, give me my tuition and living expenses now—I’ll buy a ticket and go to school.” Huoxiang quickly packed her things and reached out for money.
Her mother glanced at her and continued tidying, “School hasn’t started yet—why go so early? Stay home and help me with the shop. It’s a new place, and we need help. Don’t think about Shui Miao anymore. He’s delicate and wealthy—he’s just some rich kid out for fun. He wouldn’t look twice at you.”
A mother knows her daughter best—Huoxiang’s feelings were obvious to her mother.
Huoxiang wanted the money to go to the station, hoping to catch up with Shui Miao. After parting ways, she found herself thinking of him more and more, unable to bear it any longer.
Seeing her mother refused to give her money, Huoxiang felt annoyed. Just as she was about to speak, they suddenly heard a loud “bang!” from the bathroom—the door had slammed shut!
There was no wind outside…
And no one was in the bathroom—how could the door have slammed shut so violently?
Both Huoxiang and her mother were startled, staring at the bathroom door in fear…
“Grrr…”
Then came the sound of water from the bathroom, as if someone had just flushed the toilet after using it!
“Who… who’s in there!?”
Huoxiang’s mother quickly took out a pair of scissors from her bag.
Huoxiang snatched the scissors and rushed toward the bathroom door…
At that moment, the bathroom door slowly creaked open again…
The small bathroom was clearly visible—there was no one inside.
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