“I get it! That’s exactly what they mean by ‘breaking to rebuild’!”
Inspired by Shui Miao’s words, Director Zhang suddenly had an epiphany.
Director Zhang recalled a story he had once heard about breaking to rebuild: a king wanted to pass the throne to his son. To test his son’s wisdom, he handed him a raw egg and asked him to stand it upright on the table without any assistance. The prince tried repeatedly but failed. In the end, the king took the egg, cracked it slightly on the table, and successfully stood it upright.
This story conveyed a lesson to the prince: a nation is vast, and there will always be problems that cannot be perfectly resolved. There will always be people who seek to destabilize the country. If perfection is impossible, then it’s better to eliminate the troublemakers to ensure stability.
Inspired by this story, Director Zhang suddenly understood. He quickly turned to the SWAT team leader and ordered him to fire into the air.
However, the SWAT team leader was just a man of action, lacking the higher wisdom of governance.
He knew that firing a weapon, even into the air, could cause a public uproar. If the incident went viral online, he could be dismissed and lose his job.
Seeing the SWAT leader’s hesitation, Shui Miao frowned in frustration. “I knew you wouldn’t dare to take responsibility. That’s why I asked for your gun. If things calm down, it’s your credit. If things go wrong, blame me. If it escalates, just say I was a temporary worker and fire me. You’re too rigid-minded. Fine, I’m out. Handle this mess yourselves.”
Shui Miao had no intention of getting further involved. After all, he was only here to visit the millennium-old female ghost.
Without another word, Shui Miao turned and walked toward the car parked by the roadside.
Zhang Hanya quickly followed him into the car.
Shui Miao even backed the car aside to avoid it being smashed by the crowd.
“The police aren’t that powerful—they’re paper tigers! We’re not afraid of them!”
“That’s right! We must protect our ancestors’ coffins. We’re not wrong. The police are the ones who desecrated our ancestors’ graves. We won’t let them get away with it!”
“Useless cops! They can’t even reclaim Diaoyu Island, yet they dare to bully ordinary people. We’ll fight them!”
“They won’t dare to shoot. Don’t be afraid. Charge!”
In the crowd, two middle-aged men wielding wooden sticks incited the people and led the charge toward the warehouse.
The crowd was about to reach the warehouse when Director Zhang, who was responsible for protecting the ancient copper coffin, became desperate. He told the SWAT leader, “I’ll take responsibility,” grabbed the gun, and fired several shots into the air.
The gunshots rang out!
The crowd was instantly startled and froze.
However, the two instigators continued shouting and inciting the people to rush into the warehouse.
Director Zhang glared at the SWAT leader. “Hey, what are you waiting for? Do I have to personally arrest those troublemakers?”
“Alright! Arrest them!”
Shamed by Director Zhang’s words, the SWAT leader quickly ordered his men to arrest the two instigators, tape their mouths shut, and shove them into a police car.
It turned out the two were outsiders from another village, so the locals didn’t defend them.
Director Zhang then took the gun, stood up, and loudly lectured the crowd about the law.
The SWAT team stood ready to suppress any resistance, ready to arrest anyone who spoke out.
The remaining crowd, mostly there for selfish reasons, quickly lost their nerve in the face of the police’s force.
However, a few people possessed by ghosts began to grow more violent.
Possessed by spirits and surrounded by yin energy, these individuals suddenly became incredibly strong, overpowering the officers trying to restrain them.
Surprisingly, even the elderly Zhang Shanren seemed transformed. He pushed a police officer to the ground and slammed another onto the floor.
“You dare to unearth the Lady’s coffin! I’ll kill you today!”
Furious, Zhang Shanren roared and lunged at the nearest officer.
“Good-for-nothing cowards…”
“Dare to hit me? Let me show you what’s what…”
Feng An cursed and swung his fists in both directions, fighting the police as if they were children.
“I’m joining in too!”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a fight. What are you holding? A stick?”
Xiao Nan, Professor Ma, and others joined in the brawl.
Seeing the police and SWAT team overwhelmed, Director Zhang’s scalp prickled with fear. He hurriedly handed the gun to the SWAT leader and rushed to help.
The SWAT leader joined the fight as well.
In an instant, over twenty SWAT officers and police surrounded the four spirit-possessed individuals and engaged in a chaotic struggle.
The crowd watched in stunned disbelief!
They all knew Zhang Shanren. In their eyes, he was just an old man with no strength. Now, he was like a strongman, throwing punches and kicks with great force. Clearly, he was possessed by a ghost!
Those with weaker nerves immediately turned and fled.
Even the brave ones instinctively backed away, unwilling to stand too close.
Suddenly, Zhang Shanren glanced at the crowd, and even the bolder ones scattered in panic.
Seeing her father being attacked, Zhang Hanya grew anxious. “Shui Miao, you’re so capable. Please help my dad!”
Shui Miao watched intently and replied calmly, “I don’t have any magical powers. How can I help? Those people are possessed by ghosts and empowered by yin energy. If I fight them, I’ll just get beaten up too. Besides, I warned them twice, and they didn’t listen. It’s good for them to learn a lesson.”
“But Shui Miao, my dad is there too!”
Zhang Hanya tugged at Shui Miao’s arm anxiously.
“Don’t worry about your dad. Haven’t you noticed that they haven’t attacked him at all?”
Among those possessed, only Director Zhang was spared. Shui Miao felt puzzled. Was it because his father was familiar with these ghosts? Did they know that Director Zhang was not an outsider and thus showed mercy? Earlier, he had dreamed of the millennium-old female ghost. It must have been his father’s ghost spirit bringing his soul here. If that was the case, they wouldn’t harm him either.
With this thought, Shui Miao told Zhang Hanya to stay in the car and not to get out.
In fact, Zhang Hanya was so frightened that she wouldn’t dare to leave the car anyway.
After getting out of the car, Shui Miao rushed toward Director Zhang. Before he could act, Zhang Shanren suddenly stopped and looked at Shui Miao.
“Dear nephew, you don’t need to get involved. We know what we’re doing.”
“What did you call me?”
Shui Miao’s heart skipped a beat.
“Hehe…”
Zhang Shanren chuckled, pushed Director Zhang aside, and waved his hand. “Alright, everyone, stop fighting. Let’s just carry the Lady’s coffin away.”
“Got it!”
“Alright…”
Professor Ma, Xiao Nan, and Feng An stopped fighting. Together, the four entered the warehouse.
On the ground, the police and SWAT officers were all injured and unable to stand.
Fengshui master Cai Enkang was terrified.
Director Zhang was pushed to the ground…
Shui Miao quickly followed them into the warehouse. As he approached Zhang Shanren, he felt an unusually strong yin energy radiating from them. Such intense yin energy could only belong to extraordinary ghosts. “Senior, I know you must be a friend of my father. I want to know, is the millennium-old female ghost in my dream really the Lady you mentioned?”
“The Lady is your father’s master. We are your father’s martial brothers,” Zhang Shanren stopped, lowered his head, smiled warmly, whispered to Shui Miao, patted his shoulder, and continued, “Dear nephew, the Lady has prepared a gift for you. At the spot one hundred and fifty steps north of the dry well, dig three feet underground, and you’ll find it. As for them, they’ll be fine. No need to worry.”
“But… but I want to see the Lady.”
Shui Miao was deeply shocked and longed to meet the millennium-old female ghost from his dreams to clear all his doubts.
“Not everything in this world can be achieved by desire. That was just a dream. Don’t overthink it.”
Suddenly, Zhang Shanren waved his hand. A gust of cold wind surged from the ground, sending Shui Miao flying backward. He crashed into Cai Enkang, who had just approached the warehouse door to eavesdrop, and knocked Director Zhang over as well.
When the three got up, they heard a sudden loud explosion from inside the warehouse, like a bomb detonating, shaking the earth. Everyone quickly got up, cautiously approaching the warehouse door and peering inside. They saw a three-meter-wide hole smashed into the west wall. Where the copper coffin had been placed, the ancient copper coffin weighing several tons had vanished!
“How is this possible!?”
“No! Someone stole the copper coffin!”
“Hurry! Chase them!”
Director Zhang instinctively shouted. The few SWAT officers who had just managed to stand rushed to the hole in the west wall and looked out. To the west was a ditch about three to four meters wide, lined with messy reeds. Except for footprints, there were no signs of any vehicles.
In other words, the ancient copper coffin weighing several tons had been carried away by those four elderly men!
How was that possible?
Everyone was stunned.
It was simply unbelievable.
The ancient copper coffin weighing several tons had been carried away by four elderly men. No one would believe such a story!
“Quick! Chase them!”
“Everyone, follow the riverbank and chase them!”
Director Zhang shouted anxiously. Losing the ancient copper coffin was a grave responsibility that he, as a mere police chief, could not afford to bear.
Just as Director Zhang was about to exit through the hole in the west wall, a sudden “哗啦” sound came from outside. It started raining heavily—blackish-gray rain. Everyone looked closely and realized that it wasn’t rain at all—it was soil!
Soil was falling from the sky!
Everyone was stunned.
Thus, strange and inexplicable events unfolded before their eyes.
In no time, the soil blocked the hole completely.
At this moment, outside the warehouse, Shui Miao was driving a car, taking Zhang Hanya straight toward the dry well he remembered.
What would be buried one hundred and fifty steps north of the dry well?
Shui Miao was eager to find out what gift the millennium-old female ghost had prepared for him.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage