The old man suddenly realized that his spiritual energy had been suppressed and could no longer be controlled, leaving him shocked and filled with suspicion. His mind immediately turned to Shui Miao and the Miko sect.
“Was it you?”
He grabbed Shui Miao’s arm tightly—if Shui Miao resisted by channeling spiritual energy, that would confirm his suspicion.
“Senior, what do you mean by ‘was it you’? What’s wrong with you?”
Shui Miao offered no resistance, pretending to be completely clueless, staring at the old man with wide-eyed innocence. It wasn’t yet time to reveal his true intentions.
Seeing Shui Miao’s bewildered expression and lack of resistance, the old man reconsidered and withdrew his suspicion, loosening his grip and saying, “Never mind. It must be the wine. I’ve been deceived, most likely by the Miko Sect. Young man, help me protect my cultivation while I drive out the evil energy from my body. Once I’ve expelled it, we can deal with those Mikos together.”
“Senior, I think I’d rather handle that alone,” Shui Miao scratched his head, thinking he could go find a woman for dual cultivation. Bringing along an old man would just be awkward—people might think it was a ménage à trois or some weird father-son bonding. “Oh Senior, you’re probably just suffering from bad alcohol. You should throw it all up as soon as possible. Like this—just stick a finger down your throat and you’ll vomit it out…”
Shui Miao earnestly demonstrated the technique.
Seeing this, the old man was momentarily stunned, thinking that Shui Miao was merely a naive kid who had gone to the Shrine Maiden Sect for fun. After all, Shui Miao looked like a wealthy young master, with soft and tender skin; how could he possibly have mastered any dark arts? Even if he had, he couldn’t be very skilled.
“You don’t understand. This isn’t just low-quality alcohol. I have a personal vendetta to settle with the Shrine Maiden Cult. They must have sabotaged the wine using some sort of dark magic. Since we met by fate and you’re so interested in Taoist techniques, why don’t you keep watch over me until dawn? In return, I’ll give you my notes, which contain not only knowledge of Taoist cultivation but also many secrets of feng shui and formations. Just help guard me from now until sunrise.” As he spoke, the old man pulled a black wooden box from beneath the bed, removed a book, handed it to Shui Miao, and then retrieved a replica rifle from under the bed. He led Shui Miao outside to a small hill. After a few more instructions, he lifted a wooden board covering a hatch and climbed down into an underground bunker.
Sure enough, there really was a hidden cellar here.
The wine and roast duck had been his stored supplies.
The old man’s movements were clearly not as nimble as before. Once underground, he immediately sat cross-legged and began to meditate, trying to expel the abnormal spiritual energy from his body.
Shui Miao looked around, then curiously opened the notebook.
Under normal circumstances, no one could read the writing in the dark, but Shui Miao’s eyesight was exceptional—he could clearly see every word.
“I see…”
“This old fellow really has mastered the intricacies of water-based spiritual energy. He’s even developed such refined transformation techniques. Interesting, very interesting!”
“Combine spiritual energy with mental focus, and you can create illusions that seem completely real!”
Seeing the old man’s cultivation insights, Shui Miao became excited and tried the technique himself, conjuring up a large peach.
“Ha ha…”
Shui Miao laughed, and with a thought, the peach dissolved into spiritual energy and was absorbed back into his body.
Unfortunately, there was very little material on Taoist techniques.
The notebook contained many geomantic legends, the old man’s personal cultivation notes, and various geomantic layouts and formations.
Because the old man had recorded everything in great detail, Shui Miao read it carefully and attentively for hours. As dawn approached, he finally closed the notebook, shut his eyes, and reflected on the old man’s insights. Combining them with his own understanding of geomancy, he suddenly opened his eyes in excitement, exclaiming, “I get it now! The most powerful force in this world is the power of geomancy. Geomantic principles are actually the secrets of the universe’s laws. Master them, and you can harness the power of nature through grand geomantic formations. These formations can not only channel natural good fortune but also manipulate natural curses! In other words, I can use geomantic formations not only to help people, but also to kill them!”
Shui Miao was ecstatic—he had glimpsed the profound mysteries of geomancy.
With time, once he mastered geomantic formations, he could create a grand geomantic formation to deal with the Wuji Tianzun.
He never imagined that a chance arrival here would lead to such an unexpected and valuable discovery.
“Hmm?”
In the midst of his excitement, Shui Miao suddenly thought of the old man. It was already dawn—why hadn’t he come out yet?
“Click!”
Just as Shui Miao was pondering, the old man pushed aside the wooden board and climbed out from underground.
For some reason, the old man looked deeply dejected.
He sat on a nearby rock, sighing heavily. Shui Miao approached and asked, “Senior, what’s wrong with you?”
“Ahh!”
The old man sighed again, heavily. “This is a real mess. I don’t know what kind of dark magic the miko used, but I’ve exhausted all my spiritual energy just barely expelling a little of the evil energy. Now I can’t use any spiritual energy at all. The time for the Triple Dragon Guardian acupoint’s activation is approaching, and I can’t perform the activation. Those people definitely won’t let me go. No, I have to leave—I have to run far away, or they’ll kill me.”
The more he spoke, the more frightened he became. He got up and hurried into the bunker to pack his things.
“Senior, why are you in such a rush to leave? Isn’t it just an acupoint activation? I can do it for you!” Shui Miao followed the old man to the entrance of the bunker, then peered inside and realized—it was actually a converted shipping container.
How could there be a shipping container here?
Shui Miao’s mind raced. This container definitely hadn’t been brought here by the old man—it must have belonged to the original owner of the Triple Dragon Guardian’s tomb.
“You, doing acupoint activation?” The old man shook his head, picking up a large backpack and stuffing it with food. “Young man, I suggest you leave too. This place isn’t safe. If you run into those people, they’ll steal your car and take your life.”
“Car?”
At the mention of a car, Shui Miao’s mind clicked. “Senior, I have a car! Once I fix it, we can leave together. Who could catch you then?”
“That’s right! How could I forget the car!”
The old man immediately snapped out of his panic, grabbed his half-packed backpack, and quickly climbed out of the bunker. “Young man, take me with you, and I’ll teach you more real skills later.”
“Hehe…”
Shui Miao smiled. “Senior, that’s exactly what I was going to suggest. Getting you out of here isn’t an issue, but you must teach me acupoint activation. Your notes contain everything except that part. Now that the opportunity is here and we’re both leaving anyway, why not teach me how to activate the Triple Dragon Guardian point first? Then we can leave afterward.”
“Hmm…”
The old man stroked his beard and nodded. “That’s not a problem. Anyway, they won’t come until the day after tomorrow morning. Go down and get the shovels.”
“Okay!”
Shui Miao immediately went down into the container and retrieved two shovels.
The old man led Shui Miao to the large stone at the center of the Triple Dragon Guardian formation, took the shovel from Shui Miao, and began digging. He said, “This Triple Dragon Guardian formation is the masterpiece of my life. I never thought it would end up being ruined like this. Well, they didn’t pay me much anyway. I’m curious to see how the underground energy has accumulated over the years.”
“Senior, why don’t you explain acupoint activation to me first?”
Seeing that the old man wasn’t explaining the technique and was instead muttering to himself, Shui Miao grew impatient.
“Don’t rush. When I get tired and it’s your turn to dig, I’ll tell you then.” Though old, the old man dug quickly. Soon, he had dug a circular hole about a meter in diameter and fifty or sixty centimeters deep. The soil had changed from gray to a light yellow.
“Alright, I’m tired. Your turn.”
“Okay…”
Shui Miao quickly grabbed the shovel and started digging from inside the pit.
The old man sat on a nearby rock to catch his breath, then scooped up a handful of soil and said, “The quality of the soil varies depending on the穴. The better the穴, the better the soil. Why do third-tier geomancers wander all over the mountains? Because they assess the underground energy through terrain, vegetation, mist, and other surface indicators. Why do second-tier geomancers examine water outlets? Because groundwater reflects the underground conditions; thus, by observing water outlets, one can determine the underground energy. However, geomancers who have mastered this technique are extremely rare. As for the top-tier geomancers who interpret celestial signs, they are even rarer.”
The old man paused, took out a pack of Xiaosu cigarettes, lit one, took a few puffs, and continued, “Activating an acupoint means locating an auspicious dragon site and then choosing the right time to dig a grave. However, this grave is no ordinary hole—it cannot be dug randomly. You must first determine the main flow of energy at the site. For example, if you find a dragon vein and dig a grave at a random location, you might accidentally destroy the entire vein. Additionally, if you bury someone at the dragon’s whiskers, horns, or claws, their descendants will inevitably end up serving others, regardless of how high an official rank they may attain. You must bury them in the dragon’s mouth, positioning the site so that the depth is neither too deep nor too shallow, but just right—allowing the dragon to cradle the body in its mouth. Only in this way can the descendants achieve extraordinary success!”
“Senior, please continue…”
Shui Miao listened intently, thinking to himself how he would one day dig up the ancestor’s grave of the Wuji Tianzun and ensure he suffered endless misfortune.
“You really are a born geomancer, so interested in this!” The old man smiled, then brought the handful of soil to Shui Miao’s nose. “Now I’ll teach you how to identify a feng shui site. First, smell the scent of the soil…”
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