A gentle breeze blew at this moment, causing the willow branches by the lakeside to dance gracefully in the wind. The breeze that brushed their faces was not cold, and the scenery was quite pleasant. Madam Fan walked around the dam and found nothing unusual, so she decided to go down to the lakeside. The natural environment of Xiushui Village had never been particularly good, so there were no lotus flowers in the lake. However, even this several-acre lake surface was enough to refresh one’s mind. Yet Madam Fan had always felt something was off. On the dam, she had merely sensed something amiss, but now that she had reached the lakeside, she could confirm that something was indeed wrong. The lake on the dam was not a stagnant one but connected to the outer river channels, so technically, it should not be considered stagnant. However, upon closer inspection, Madam Fan noticed that although the lake surface appeared calm, the water was an extremely dark shade, and below a foot from the surface, nothing could be seen clearly. This clearly indicated that the lake was filled with an intense yin energy, just like those wild lakes found in desolate mountains and wilderness.
Leaning against a willow tree by the lakeside, Madam Fan frowned. In a typical village, theoretically, the yin energy should not be this intense. The yang energy generated by the gathering of hundreds of households should have neutralized the yin energy from the lake and the nearby cemetery. Even if the lake itself was inherently yin, it should not have reached a level where the yin energy pervaded the entire surface of the water. Could it be that she had overlooked something important?
Looking at the compass swinging in her hand, Madam Fan began to carefully ponder. The more she thought, the more her head ached. She asked Liu Dashao to find her a wooden stick so she could start calculating on the ground. As she was deep in thought, a sudden breeze blew, and a willow branch struck her face precisely. Madam Fan casually brushed the dead and withered branch aside and suddenly recalled something.
Madam Fan’s hometown was in Pingdingshan, Henan, a historically renowned coal-producing area. During the Japanese invasion of China, hundreds of thousands of civilians were enslaved here to mine coal. The ultimate fate of these cheap laborers was mass slaughter by the Japanese. After liberation, several mass graves discovered in the mountain valleys served as ironclad evidence. The Japanese military often included feng shui masters or Shinto priests, who, after the mass killings of Chinese people, would plant seven willow or Chinese scholar trees in the shape of the Big Dipper constellation over the mass graves. These two types of trees are inherently yin. If planted in the formation of the Seven Stars Binding Soul Array, the souls of the victims would be firmly anchored to the land, making it impossible for them to reincarnate or even become ghosts. Moreover, due to the formation’s extreme malevolence, even wandering spirits passing by would be trapped in the Binding Soul Array, unable to leave. Over time, the accumulated resentment of the buried souls would generate a deadly negative energy, transforming the burial site into an extremely dangerous killing formation.
Willow trees! A sudden realization flashed through Madam Fan’s mind. She immediately dropped the wooden stick in her hand and climbed up a nearby hill in one breath. From this high vantage point, she could overlook the entire dam. Standing at the hilltop, she looked down and couldn’t help but gasp in horror. She saw that on the west, south, and north sides of the dam, there were exactly seven willow trees planted, but the east side, which should have the strongest yang energy, was missing. The three Seven Stars Binding Soul Arrays formed by the extremely yin willow trees together constituted a Three Killings Formation. This formation, with its killing energy layered upon killing energy, undoubtedly locked the entire dam in place. Water itself is yin, and building a dam here could balance overly strong spiritual energy while using the village’s spiritual energy to neutralize the water’s yin energy. This was originally a very good layout. However, with the addition of dozens of willow trees, the three sides of willows formed a standard yin-binding array, firmly locking the lake’s yin energy beneath the water. No wonder the water looked so dark and murky—it was because of this.
Madam Fan exhaled deeply, finally understanding. The other two killing formations, although smaller in scale and weaker in killing energy, were positioned in a perfect equilateral triangle with this Three Killings Formation. This meant that the three killing formations together formed a larger killing formation, locking not only the spiritual energy of the entire mountain range but also sealing the mouth of the dragon vein. This place was undoubtedly the work of someone intentionally creating a killing formation!
Thinking of this, a cold sweat trickled down Madam Fan’s spine. Recalling the recent strange occurrences in the village, she now understood much of it. However, judging from the appearance of these willow trees, each so large that several people could barely encircle them, they must have existed for hundreds of years. Why did they not act up earlier or later, but specifically now? The dam! Yes, the dam!
Madam Fan’s eyes lit up. She grabbed her compass and quickly walked to the lakeside. Kneeling down, she floated the compass on the water’s surface. Suddenly, the compass needle clicked upright and then sank swiftly into the water.
So that’s it! The dam was the key mechanism of the formation. Once this Three Killings Trapping Dragon Formation was activated, not only would the dragon vein be lost, but the yin energy within dozens of miles would continuously enter a deadly cycle, increasing several times over, and then pouring into the lake water. If this continued for a long time, who knows what other evil things might emerge? No wonder so many ghosts and monsters had appeared recently, popping up to cause chaos. But what exactly was hidden at the bottom of this lake, absorbing so much yin energy?
“Let me give you a piece of advice before I leave! As you said, a person must know when to advance and retreat. This thing—no single Madam Fan could handle it, let alone ten or a hundred!”
“Just like that!” For some reason, the snake spirit’s parting words echoed in Madam Fan’s ears like a hallucination, lingering endlessly.
“Child, I originally had some doubts about the snake spirit’s words when it left, but now, in just a few dozen days, so many strange things have happened in our village. Now I believe completely. Alas! When things go against the norm, there must be something supernatural at play. What could possibly be causing such a massive disturbance…”
After walking for a while, Wang Banxian saw Madam Fan and Liu Dashao standing by the lakeside. As he approached, he overheard Madam Fan speaking these words.
“Senior sister, you really are here!”
“What do you want?” Madam Fan’s tone turned icy the moment she saw Wang Banxian.
“I know I was a bit harsh last time. I came to apologize,” said Wang Banxian. Although Madam Fan and Wang Banxian were like fire and water, in truth, over twenty years ago, they were fellow disciples under Master Daogong, a revered and decisive figure who was the village’s pillar and leader. When Master Daogong was alive, Wang Banxian naturally behaved himself and diligently learned some skills, doing several commendable deeds. The relationship between the two disciples was quite harmonious. But after Master Daogong’s death, Wang Banxian completely changed. Without any oversight, his previously hidden vices gradually surfaced. Worse still, he ignored his senior sister, who had feelings for him, ultimately leading to their estrangement. Wang Banxian was quite ambitious and proud, yet now he was humbly apologizing to her. Madam Fan thought he must have truly reformed after years of hardship and felt her anger subside.
“Fine, I’m not that petty,” Madam Fan muttered, giving him a sharp look.
Wang Banxian dared not utter another word now. After this recent zombie incident, he had no choice but to acknowledge his senior sister’s abilities. Otherwise, burning Li Yang’s corpse would have added another sin for him. At that time, King Yama would surely punish him after death.
Seeing Wang Banxian’s timid demeanor, Madam Fan truly believed he had reformed. Her tone softened as she said, “Forget it, don’t flatter me. Today, fortunately, I arrived in time; otherwise, wouldn’t your burning of Li Yang’s body have been in vain?”
Wang Banxian immediately agreed, “Yes, yes! Thanks to my senior sister. Otherwise, I would have had a hard time facing King Yama after death.” Saying this, Wang Banxian even bowed respectfully to Madam Fan, showing complete submission.
Liu Dashao watched the two, like a big sister scolding her younger brother, even though they weren’t that young anymore. He couldn’t help but secretly chuckle.
“You little brat, what are you laughing at?” Madam Fan noticed Liu Dashao quietly enjoying himself and curiously asked.
“Eh? Nothing? I just wanted to know, was that zombie Li Yang really that formidable? Although Master Wang’s abilities aren’t as strong as yours, he should have been able to handle a single zombie, right?” Liu Dashao quickly changed the subject, though it wasn’t really a change—he genuinely wanted to know.
Hearing Liu Dashao say his magical abilities were inferior to Madam Fan’s, Wang Banxian felt a bit displeased but couldn’t deny it. He muttered softly, “Who knows what happened? I lost two apprentices over it.”
“Mm,” Madam Fan nodded in agreement with Liu Dashao’s question. “It’s mainly because the burial site was chosen incorrectly.”
Madam Fan explained, “Li Yang’s birth chart was deficient in water. Therefore, there should have been a connection to water, whether in the design of the tombstone or in the selection of the burial site. However, the dragon carving on Li Yang’s tombstone, known as ‘Dragon Sipping Water,’ actually drained away all the water. Furthermore, the burial site completely cut off underground moisture from all directions. This is one of the reasons why Li Yang transformed into a black jiangshi.” As she spoke, she cast a meaningful glance at Wang Banxian, who felt distinctly uneasy beneath her gaze.
“So, just because the auspicious site was chosen incorrectly, could a dead person become a black zombie? If that’s the case, wouldn’t the entire world descend into chaos?” Liu Dashao was shocked, his mouth wide open. He never expected such a small mistake to lead to such a dire situation.
“I told you, this is only one of the reasons. Wang Weizhen, how did Li Yang die? When I left, I still saw him harassing a young girl at the village entrance. How could he die just a few days later?” Madam Fan turned to Wang Banxian beside her.
“He…” Wang Banxian hesitated, eventually telling Madam Fan in detail about Li Yang being bitten by Alan. Regarding their secret relationship, Wang Banxian, who loved gossip, had picked up some whispers and now honestly recounted everything to Madam Fan.
Upon hearing Wang Banxian’s account, Liu Dashao immediately recalled something. He had been present when the village chief burned Alan’s body, even serving as a vanguard.
“That’s right, what Master Wang said is correct. At that time, when the village chief ordered the militiamen to place Alan’s body into the coffin, Li Yang requested one last look at her. As Li Yang stood beside the coffin, Alan suddenly sat up and bit his arm, scaring all of us. But the doctor at the clinic said a bite like that wouldn’t do much harm, unlike being bitten by a cat or dog. They just wrapped his arm a few times and that was it,” Liu Dashao chimed in, recalling the incident vividly and feeling a chill down his spine.
“Alan? The girl picked up by the old mason? How did she die again?” Madam Fan frowned upon hearing Alan’s name, feeling a bit confused. The tangled relationships were indeed complicated.
“This, the first to discover Alan’s death was Village Secretary Li Yang,” Wang Banxian couldn’t help exclaiming. If that was the case, then all that had happened was connected to Alan, the widow.
“No wonder. Perhaps Li Yang did something despicable to Alan. It was truly a case of retribution!” Madam Fan sighed.
“Maybe that’s exactly what happened. According to the gossip from the village women, Alan had an affair with a man from the county construction team, but she also seemed to have an ambiguous relationship with Li Yang,” Liu Dashao immediately recalled the rumors upon hearing that the zombie was related to Alan.
“Then where is that man now? I’d like to meet him,” Madam Fan asked Liu Dashao.
“Don’t, you won’t be able to see him. He’s probably buried around here somewhere,” Liu Dashao scratched his head in reply.
“What? Dead?” Madam Fan was startled. This was getting chaotic—had they all died?
“They say he was scared to death. At that time, the construction team was building the dam. Since many machines and tools were inconvenient to move back and forth, someone had to stay behind to guard them. This dam is very close to the chaotic burial ground. Perhaps there was something uncanny there that this young man happened to encounter. I’ve heard about this before. The way he died was quite horrifying,” Wang Banxian recalled something upon hearing Liu Dashao’s words.
“Unclean things? Why didn’t they appear when I was here?” Madam Fan found it somewhat hard to believe. Although she lived in the town, she was extremely familiar with Xiushui Village. She had never heard of any unclean things there.
“Hehe, that’s because my senior sister is so powerful. Those wandering spirits and lonely ghosts wouldn’t dare to show their faces!” Wang Banxian took the opportunity to flatter Madam Fan.
“Enough with the flattery! Don’t try to get close to me with that kind of talk—I don’t buy it!”
“Hehe, senior sister, what are you saying…” Wang Banxian put his hands in his sleeves, smiling as he approached and nudged Madam Fan with his shoulder. “Thirty years ago, I was wrong. I used to speak my mind about everything, but when it came to crucial moments, I couldn’t bring myself to speak up. As a result, I angered you. I thought you were just temporarily upset and didn’t go after you. Then, sigh! You left and married a man from a neighboring village. I never had the chance to say those words again.”
“What words?” Madam Fan actually knew what Wang Banxian meant. Back when they were apprentices, they had spent considerable time together and had indeed developed some feelings. At that time, Wang Banxian was quite presentable, and Madam Fan was quite fond of him. However, for some unknown reason, Wang Banxian never took the initiative. Madam Fan’s family was also pressuring her to marry, with matchmakers coming to propose. Eventually, unable to wait any longer, Madam Fan invited Wang Banxian to a small pond in the village for a final chance. If he confessed, she would go with him; if not, they would part ways forever. But Wang Banxian, for some inexplicable reason, avoided the topic, so Madam Fan became disheartened and returned home, hastily marrying, giving birth to a child. Thirty years passed, Madam Fan’s husband died, and Wang Banxian remained steadfast, never marrying—perhaps waiting for Madam Fan all along. Now, meeting Madam Fan again, decades of suppressed feelings erupted in an instant, like wildfire that could not be extinguished, reigniting with the spring breeze.
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