Chapter 1463: Feng Shui Arrangement
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Chapter 1461: Feng Shui Arrangement
Zhōu jǐn’s entire body surged with fierce energy, his gaze savage, faintly tinged with an indescribable trace of Yin Qi.
Iron Mountain Tiger and the other two also wore cold expressions, each activating their Magical Treasures.
The atmosphere in the desolate village instantly grew tense, as if on the brink of conflict.
Just as the two sides stood off, seemingly on the verge of drawing blades, a voice that was slightly hoarse yet clear rang out: “What’s with all this tension? Put away your Magical Treasures.”
Mo Hua, wearing the Ghost Mask, spoke in a calm tone.
Upon hearing this, Iron Mountain Tiger and the other two hesitated for a moment before each stowing their Magical Treasures.
Zhōu jǐn’s expression remained somewhat gloomy. After a moment, the energy around him gradually dissipated as he looked at Mo Hua and said in a low voice: “I… deceived you.”
Mo Hua responded with an “Mm.”
Zhōu jǐn frowned. “You don’t care?”
Mo Hua replied indifferently, “Who in this world doesn’t have secrets? Besides, we’re here for wealth. Whether you’re from this Little Zhou Village or not, what does it matter to us?”
Zhōu jǐn fell silent.
“So,” Mo Hua looked at him and asked, “are you really from this desolate village?”
Zhōu jǐn’s eyes flickered. After a moment, he sighed. “Yes.”
Mo Hua didn’t seem surprised, as if he had already guessed as much. He only shook his head and said: “No offense, but you’ve been too careless. Since you’re in the Entering the Earth business, you should at least change your name, or at the very least, your surname. How hard is it to come up with an alias? Using this name is just asking for trouble, isn’t it?”
Zhōu jǐn smiled bitterly.
He had used this name before and never encountered any issues.
Who would have thought that this “Black-Faced Fiend” young master would be so perceptive and insightful?
Recalling the earlier scene, Zhōu jǐn frowned again and asked: “That road sign was buried in the soil, rotted with age, its characters barely visible. What method did you use, young master, to restore it?”
Such a restoration technique might seem ordinary, but in his many years of life, he had never seen anyone else use it.
Mo Hua only said calmly, “Just a few minor tricks, not worth mentioning.”
Seeing this, Zhōu jǐn tactfully refrained from asking further, though deep down, he no longer dared to underestimate this seemingly frail, low-cultivation Ghost Mask-wearing young master.
Mo Hua, however, glanced at Zhōu jǐn, pondered for a moment, and slowly said: “I don’t care about your secret. But you must tell me the truth about this village and this tomb.”
“If you don’t explain clearly, it’ll be difficult for us to locate the tomb.”
“And you…” Mo Hua’s gaze grew profound, “since you called us here to rob the tomb and even gave us clues, I assume you, like us, want to dig it open.”
Under Mo Hua’s gaze, Zhōu jǐn felt a chill in his heart. Finally, he sighed and said: “To be honest with you all… this desolate village is indeed called Little Zhou Village. I am indeed from this village. I grew up here from a very young age.”
“Back then, my family was poor, but my parents were still alive, and I had a younger brother. We relied on each other to survive, enduring hardships together. Life was tough, but we managed to get by.”
“But then one day, for some unknown reason… people in the village started dying.”
“There were many causes of death—some contracted epidemics, others went mad, and some simply died without any apparent reason.”
“No one knew the cause, but after this disaster struck, the once lively village completely withered away.”
“I was fortunate to survive, but my parents and my younger brother all died one after another.”
“Left alone in the world, with no one to rely on, I had no choice but to leave the village and seek a living through cultivation elsewhere. This desolate village thus became a place of childhood sorrow and bitterness that I dared not recall.”
“Afterward, as if my fortunes had finally turned, I found a way to make a living, and my cultivation progressed unusually smoothly. I succeeded in Foundation Establishment, and by chance received guidance from a master. Through arduous cultivation, I even stumbled into Core Formation.”
“After achieving Core Formation, my perspective and insight became different.”
“When I looked back on my childhood experiences, I began to sense something… unusual and strange.”
“But I couldn’t figure it out myself until one day, I met a geomancer.”
“A geomancer?” Mo Hua was slightly taken aback.
Zhou Jin nodded. “One who practices geomancy, understands Earth Qi, and is proficient in tomb feng shui—that is a geomancer.”
“I met this geomancer, shared tea and conversation with him. During our casual chat, I mentioned past events. It was through this geomancer’s words that I finally learned the truth about what happened in my childhood…”
Zhou Jin took a deep breath, his gaze turning icy. “The villagers’ sudden deaths, the loss of my parents and relatives—it wasn’t an accidental disaster but a true man-made calamity.”
Mo Hua frowned slightly.
Zhou Jin suppressed his anger and said, “According to this geomancer, someone had set up a feng shui formation near the village, draining the health, fortune, and lifespans of the entire village to seek blessings for himself and his descendants.”
“And as I reflected on the past, I suddenly remembered that the month before the plague struck the village and the villagers died en masse was precisely when Old Village Chief Zhou was buried.”
“This Old Village Chief Zhou was a local miserly landlord, stingy his whole life, harsh toward others, and had even driven people to their deaths.”
“When he died, the villagers had set off firecrackers in celebration, never imagining… that this old bastard had set up a scheme to have an entire village buried with him.”
At this thought, Zhou Jin’s eyes reddened with rage.
Even Iron Mountain Tiger and the other two couldn’t help but show anger upon hearing this.
Zhou Jin sighed deeply. “It was only then that I realized my parents and my younger brother had all died at the hands of this old dog Zhou, sacrificed as fuel for his and his descendants’ wealth and prosperity.”
“When I heard this news, I suffered through sleepless nights, tormented by pain.”
“The thought that my loved ones had died for such a reason—my parents, who had struggled their whole lives, and my poor younger brother, who never enjoyed a single good day—all perished because of this… it felt like a knife twisting in my heart.”
“So, I resigned from my duties elsewhere and returned to this desolate village, a place I had never wanted to revisit.”
“I wanted to find Old Rich Zhou’s tomb, dig up his grave, and break his feng shui formation, to seek justice for my loved ones and the many innocent villagers who had died unjustly.”
“To this end, I even studied tomb raiding, learning many skills of the trade.”
“But…”
Zhou Jin looked around, his eyes filled with pain. “My skills are lacking. Over these days, I’ve searched this desolate village over and over, but no matter how hard I try, I still can’t find Old Rich Zhou’s burial place.”
“Therefore, I had no choice but to spread the word.”
Zhou Jin looked at Mo Hua and the others, sighing deeply. “I ask you, skilled hands in this line of work, to help me with this task. Help me… dig up that old dog Zhou’s grave and bring justice to my loved ones.”
Mo Hua’s gaze sharpened slightly as he nodded.
Iron Mountain Tiger and the others also chimed in repeatedly, “That’s only right. Good and evil have their retribution, and murder demands life—it’s the natural order of things.”
Pangolin then asked Zhou Jin, “Speaking of which, if you can’t find Old Rich Zhou, can’t you find his descendants? How can you not avenge such a deep, personal grudge? A father’s debts are repaid by his sons. If it were me, I’d definitely hunt down his descendants and wipe them all out.”
They were tomb raiders, holding a simple view of cause and effect, but their methods were ruthless.
Zhou Jin smiled bitterly. “I’ve searched… but that old dog is vicious and meticulous. He sent his children far away long ago, and now they’re who knows where, living in carefree luxury.”
Zhou Jin shook his head, his expression despondent.
Iron Mountain Tiger comforted him, “No matter. Digging up that old miser’s grave will do just as well. We…”
As he spoke, Iron Mountain Tiger suddenly stopped and glanced over at Big Brother Black-Faced Fiend.
Mo Hua nodded.
Only then did Iron Mountain Tiger continue, “We’ll help you find Old Rich Zhou’s tomb right now.”
Zhou Jin cupped his hands respectfully and said sincerely, “I’m grateful for your help, brothers.”
Iron Mountain Tiger didn’t dare to act on his own authority and looked at Mo Hua again, whispering, “Big Brother Black-Faced Fiend?”
Mo Hua nodded. “Proceed.”
With permission granted, Iron Mountain Tiger immediately said, “Good,” and then, along with Skinny Cicada and Pangolin, began using their techniques to search for Old Rich Zhou’s tomb in the abandoned Little Zhou Village and the desolate mountains nearby.
The three of them were seasoned tomb raiders, highly skilled, each with their own unique methods for tomb exploration.
Iron Mountain Tiger used the “Mountain-Moving Pillar.”
He would insert a massive stone pillar into the ground and rotate it with brute force. With each rotation, mechanisms inside the pillar would transmit the underground Qi back to him.
Through the resistance felt underground, Iron Mountain Tiger could determine the flow of Earth Qi.
This was his exclusive inheritance, passed down to him by his master.
Skinny Cicada excelled at “Wind Listening,” cultivating a secret art called “Golden Cicada Soil Listening.” He could discern the flow of wind and soil through his ears.
Pangolin was skilled at “Soil Tasting,” able to distinguish the levels of Yin Qi, Corpse Qi, and Blood Qi by tasting the soil.
This cultivation method could only be practiced by cultivators with a single earth spiritual root.
The various tomb-raiding techniques of these three were not only mysterious to Zhou Jin but also drew quiet admiration from Mo Hua, even though it wasn’t his first time seeing them.
Under heaven, there truly was a dazzling variety of cultivators.
Many cultivators, while not particularly strong in terms of raw power, always possessed some unexpected, unique inheritance.
Anyone who could make a living in the cultivation world was no simple individual.
The skills of Iron Mountain Tiger and his companions were no exception.
After probing the Earth Qi for a while and trying both Wind Listening and Soil Tasting, the three indeed made a discovery.
Iron Mountain Tiger sketched a rough map of the nearby terrain on the ground and marked five points, looking rather puzzled as he said: “I found two points, Skinny Cicada found one, and Pangolin found two.”
“Added together, that’s five points, all eerie with Yin Qi, each suspected to be a burial site.”
“This is a bit strange. Does that Old Rich Zhou have five tombs?”
Skinny Cicada frowned. “Was that Old Rich Zhou ‘drawn and quartered’ and buried in five different places?”
Zhou Jin sighed. “I wish that were the case, but it’s unlikely.”
“Old Rich Zhou sought wealth and blessings. He himself had to occupy good feng shui; if he were torn apart in five pieces, how could his descendants receive good fortune?”
Skinny Cicada pondered, “That makes sense.”
Mo Hua contemplated, “Let’s first find a random tomb, break it open, and see what’s inside.”
Iron Mountain Tiger nodded, “Alright.”
Afterward, the group chose the nearest location suspected to be a tomb and headed there.
This place was located at the edge of Little Zhou Village.
All present were Golden Core cultivators, swift in movement, and within a few breaths, they arrived at the target location.
Iron Mountain Tiger glanced around, seeing the area empty and overgrown with weeds, with no tombstones, stones, or anything else.
But this was the spot he had located using the Mountain-Moving Pillar—it couldn’t be wrong.
Pangolin reached out, grabbed a handful of soil, tasted it in his mouth, then spat it out with a “ptui,” cursing: “It’s filthy, something buried quite deep.”
He spoke simply, but everyone understood.
Iron Mountain Tiger said, “I’ll dig.”
With that, he channeled his strength, using his formidable Golden Core power to tear open the ground and dig deeper.
He dug for a long time, going deeper and deeper, but still found no tomb. Iron Mountain Tiger was starting to struggle.
The deeper underground, the closer to the earth veins, the denser the Earth Qi, and the greater the pressure on cultivators.
Relying on brute force alone was no longer enough for Iron Mountain Tiger.
Pangolin then said, “Let me.”
He was a single earth spiritual root cultivator, attuned to earth properties, so the Earth Qi’s repulsion wouldn’t be too severe.
Iron Mountain Tiger climbed out.
Pangolin jumped down, activated his Cultivation Method, and with Golden Core power coating his hands, he continued digging deeper like a pangolin.
After an unknown amount of time, the movement underground stopped.
Then, rustling sounds could be heard, as if something was being dragged.
Iron Mountain Tiger, experienced, immediately said, “Got it!”
Not long after, Pangolin climbed up from underground, his rough hands like iron pincers pulling a coffin as tall as a person from deep below.
Pangolin dragged the coffin out and tossed it on the ground, panting heavily.
Everyone looked at the coffin. It was made of deep black refined iron, without a single gap, covered in soil and exuding a cold Yin Qi.
Seeing this, Zhou Jin was somewhat enlightened and said: “No wonder I couldn’t find it no matter what—it was buried so deep.”
Moreover, without a tomb or burial site, ordinary cultivators, unless forewarned, would never dig this deep underground to search for such a coffin.
Zhou Jin examined the coffin, then frowned and said: “Is this… that old dog Zhou’s coffin?”
But Iron Mountain Tiger shook his head, “Not necessarily.”
After all, there were five suspected coffin locations, and this was just one of them.
And besides…
Iron Mountain Tiger said, “This coffin looks too plain, unlike a wealthy man’s coffin. Moreover, it’s buried deep underground with heavy Yin Qi. Unless Old Rich Zhou had a grudge against himself, he wouldn’t bury himself in such a place.”
Zhou Jin frowned, “Then whose coffin is this…”
Iron Mountain Tiger’s gaze darkened, “Hard to say.”
Matters of Yin Residences are strange, complex, and ever-changing. One cannot understand everything just by looking at a coffin.
Only a true master among masters could discern the feng shui layout at a glance.
“Then… shall we open the coffin first?” Skinny Cicada pondered aloud. “After opening it, we can see what’s inside and then make a judgment?”
Otherwise, they’d just keep guessing here without reaching any conclusion.
Iron Mountain Tiger nodded. “That’s the only way.”
He was about to reach out and use brute force to open the iron coffin when he suddenly heard Mo Hua say: “Let me do it.”
Iron Mountain Tiger looked at Mo Hua, somewhat surprised. “Such a small matter isn’t worth troubling you, Big Brother.”
He knew that although this Black-Faced Fiend had a fearsome reputation, he appeared scholarly and frail, not suited for such physical labor.
But Mo Hua shook his head. “This coffin isn’t right. If you open it, it will be very dangerous.”
Iron Mountain Tiger tensed.
Zhōu jǐn and Skinny Cicada also paled slightly.
After a moment’s thought, Iron Mountain Tiger nodded and said, “Alright, then I’ll trouble you, Big Brother.”
Mo Hua said, “Step farther back.”
Iron Mountain Tiger and the others hesitated briefly, but remembering that this Black-Faced Fiend had saved their lives and was unlikely to try to monopolize any benefits, they each retreated some distance away.
Zhōu jǐn was reluctant but could only follow Iron Mountain Tiger and the others, stepping aside to watch helplessly as Mo Hua opened the coffin.
Then they saw this mysterious Ghost-Faced young master simply reach out and lightly tap the coffin.
On the coffin, some mysterious pattern seemed to flash briefly.
In that instant, it was as if some seal had been broken.
An extremely sharp, almost ear-piercing shriek suddenly echoed all around.
An intense stench of decay instantly spread.
Extremely cold, bone-chilling Yin Qi—so intense it made even Golden Core cultivators tremble—swept through the area like a gale.
Then all the Yin Qi violently surged toward Mo Hua, who stood closest to the coffin.
Within this dense Yin Qi was an extremely fierce aura of resentment and malice, even seeming to carry the screams of vengeful ghosts.
The sinister, chilling energy engulfed Mo Hua completely like a tidal wave.
The faces of Iron Mountain Tiger and the other three changed drastically, but before they could react, the terror on their faces transformed into astonishment.
Because this seemingly eerie and terrifying Yin Qi completely dissipated within just a few breaths.
And that Ghost-Faced young master remained standing in place the entire time, wearing his Ghost Mask as if nothing had happened at all.
He appeared just like a “Ghost-Faced Wúcháng” who feared not even the Nine Netherworlds.
(TN: 无常(Wúcháng) = Impermanence / Reaper — Ghostly Reaper of Chinese folklore who collects souls)