Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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It would take more than three hours by bus to get to Mao County, and Xie Lingya had already planned to stay overnight, so he decided to leave a little later and arrived at Xiaoba Village in the afternoon.
Pang Yuan came to greet them, along with two elderly villagers who managed the ancestral hall and the family genealogy— the ones who could make the decisions.
Because Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan had been to Fengping Village, and given the prevalent sacrificial customs in the area, the people of Xiaoba Village treated them very well, first leading them to see the feng shui pond at the village entrance.
It was along this route that they learned some details.
The Xiaoba Village feng shui pond was semi-circular, located in front of a large old house. Folk tradition dictated that a house with water in front and a mountain behind was believed to attract wealth and good fortune.
This feng shui pond, along with the late Qing Dynasty-style buildings behind it, was over a hundred years old. The most respectable family in Xiaoba Village originally belonged to the Shang family. After moving here, they built a large mansion with several courtyards, which later split into five branches. These branches then multiplied, producing many descendants. Gradually, the houses of the five branches separated, and later, the courtyard walls disappeared, with many more houses built around them. It was now only vaguely discernible which section belonged to which branch.
The old house was the first house you see upon entering the village, and it was the ancestral home of the eldest branch, passed down through the direct line. Even now, the oldest members of the families living there were cousins. Some of them had already bought other houses or even moved elsewhere, but in principle, the house was indeed jointly owned by several families.
Times have changed; such an old house in the village was no longer rare, especially since each family only got a few rooms. In recent years, the owners of the old house had been thinking about selling it, but due to the large number of people and differing opinions, it hadn’t been able to proceed.
Until recently, one family proposed that they could give all their relatives money to transfer the old house entirely to their own name, and then they wanted to open a guesthouse— only a truly old building like this would have a unique character. They also wanted to fill in the feng shui pond because they didn’t have enough space. The relatives could choose not to pay and instead take shares.
After all, this was their shared ancestral home, and it contained the only feng shui pond in the entire village, dug by their ancestors, making it quite special. When the villagers learned of this, they had some reservations. What truly caused the villagers to protest was the strange incident at the ancestral hall; everyone believed it was because they wanted to fill in the feng shui pond. Every day, people went to that family’s house to complain, making it impossible for them to start construction.
Even so, the situation inside the ancestral hall hadn’t completely calmed down, and the villagers speculated that their ancestors were too angry.
An old man from Xiaoba Village stood by the pond, nagging them, “Look, a gap has been dug in this place. These past few days, everyone has spontaneously filled it with soil, but you can still see some of it. Alas, this has let the energy leak out, hasn’t it? The ancestors built it this way for a reason, to bless our lives now.”
Shi Changxuan looked around. Xiaoba Village was backed by mountains, and the buildings clearly showed signs of feng shui being considered during construction, which was the custom at the time. Moreover, the person who advised on the feng shui here was probably one of the best feng shui masters of the time.
—The entire village resembled a winding dragon’s body, with a clear dragon head and tail. The “dragon head” was the ancestral hall, which used to also serve as a school. The village’s students all went to school in the ancestral hall. Next to the ancestral hall were two double-layered pagodas for cherishing written characters, pointed and towering, which were the “dragon horns.”
The so-called “Cherishing Written Paper Tower” was a place used to burn paper with writing on it. Other structures serving the same purpose included paper-burning furnaces and paper-respecting pavilions. This practice originated from the ancient tradition of valuing literature; people believed that even discarded paper with writing on it should be treated with respect, so a special place was set up to burn such paper.
It was said that doing so was also a way to accumulate good karma. A poem also said, “The world’s written paper contains scriptures; those who see it should return it to the paper. Or place it in a clean, flowing place, and naturally, blessings and prosperity will be endless.”
Therefore, after carefully examining the site, Shi Changxuan whispered to Xie Lingya, “The feng shui of Xiaoba Village is entirely based on its dragon shape. The entire village resembles a coiled dragon, with the ancestral hall at the dragon’s head and two pagodas for cherishing inscriptions at the dragon’s horns. This area is also a feng shui auspicious site. As for the feng shui pond, its role is merely supplementary; at most, the wind blowing through the pond brings coolness, making the villagers feel happy.”
Xie Lingya suddenly understood. He had just looked at it himself and vaguely felt that the ancestral hall had good feng shui, but he couldn’t explain the details like Shi Changxuan.
This matter was worth pondering.
If the feng shui pond didn’t have a significant impact, why were the Shang ancestors so angry?
Or was it just that their temperament was like that, meticulous and petty?
That was also possible.
The two whispered to each other, not revealing their initial conclusions. Xie Lingya only said, “We’ve already looked it over, but the most important thing is still the ancestral hall. Let’s go see it.”
They nodded and led the two away.
Xie Lingya suddenly called out to them, “Wait, what’s this?”
He had just noticed an old hitching post next to the feng shui pond. Turning it, he saw a pool of deep red blood on it. He went closer to examine it, but it didn’t seem like old blood. “Could it be that there was blood when they started construction?”
He suddenly remembered the old man saying that after digging a gap, the villagers filled it in, without explaining why they stopped. He assumed it was because of the incident at the ancestral hall that had frightened everyone.
“There was blood, but it had nothing to do with anyone,” the old man said, his expression somewhat subtle. “What I was just about to say, when they were working, it started raining. A villager’s cow was returning home when it was struck by lightning under a nearby tree. It struggled a few steps and then plunged its head into the hitching post, leaving the bloodstain. That same night, the commotion at the ancestral hall happened. This was a warning! Construction stopped afterward!”
Lightning strike? Xie Lingya was somewhat surprised. Was this an accident, or were there some details they didn’t yet know?
Xie Lingya, who initially thought everything was clear, gradually began to sense things were more complex than they appeared after arriving in Xiaoba Village. No wonder the ancestral master had given him such a hint.
….
The two followed the villagers to the ancestral hall. Passing the screen wall, they saw the imposing ancient hall. The main gate was locked during the day, but an old man took out a key and opened it.
The hall had a courtyard, but no water. The tall, thick pillars were a bright red, and the ancestral portraits on the tables were adorned with red and colorful decorations. The ceiling was decorated with various ornaments.
The old man lit incense and pointed to the table, saying, “Look, these were marks left when the offerings were overturned.”
Indeed, the tabletop was somewhat pitted and uneven.
Xie Lingya looked around the hall but didn’t see anything unusual. However, perhaps it was just his imagination, but he still felt something was off.
Xie Lingya turned to look at Shi Changxuan, who also shook his head, unable to see anything strange.
“Little darling?” Xie Lingya tilted his head, wanting to ask Liu Lingtong.
Liu Lingtong was very anxious, “I… I can’t figure it out.”
Xie Lingya revealed a playful expression. This was interesting; Liu Lingtong couldn’t figure it out, not that there was nothing wrong. In fact, this indirectly proved that there was indeed a problem with this place, but the little darling couldn’t figure it out due to some limitations. Just as Xie Lingya was pondering this, he noticed that Pang Yuan, the old man, and the others were staring at him strangely. He looked embarrassed, “???”
Just as he was wondering what was going on, Xie Lingya suddenly remembered that he had turned around and called out “little darling” earlier, and Shi Changxuan was standing right next to him. So, in the eyes of outsiders, he had just called Shi Changxuan “little darling”?
Xie Lingya: “………………”
Damn it, what should he do? Should he explain? But he and Shi Changxuan really did have a thing!
While Xie Lingya was still confused, Pang Yuan and the others silently shifted their gazes, some looking at the roof, some looking at the ground, pretending not to have heard anything in the hopes of giving him face.
Although the old man, after his initial surprise, chose to respect the latter between “How could two boys act like this?” and “They are masters,” his poor acting skills only made the atmosphere more awkward.
“The sun hasn’t set yet, let’s come back tonight,” Xie Lingya said, his lips twitching slightly, before changing the subject. He thought for a moment and decided to wait until the yin energy was stronger; right now, with the yang energy so abundant, it seemed unlikely they could see anything unusual.
The people of Xiaoba Village led them to Pang Yuan’s house to rest and have a meal.
At Pang Yuan’s house, Xie Lingya asked Shi Changxuan if he had any ideas.
Shi Changxuan was also clueless, “It’s just… I always feel it’s somehow connected to the ancestral hall.”
“I feel the same way,” Xie Lingya said absentmindedly, “Hopefully, we can see something tonight.”
….
It was past midnight when they finally went out with flashlights. Every household in Xiaoba Village had a streetlamp in front of their door, but it was usually only on from dark until 11 p.m., after which it was turned off, leaving most of the village in complete darkness.
The nights in the countryside were different from those in the city. City nights had various lights, while the nights in the countryside were a deep, dark void, almost devoid of any light; as far as the eye could see, it was all black, making it impossible to distinguish the village from the forest.
In this situation, they could only rely on their flashlights to illuminate a few meters ahead, walking silently along the stone path.
The old man led them back to the ancestral hall and took out a key to open the gate.
Just then, a very clear sound of a plate shattering on the ground came from inside! Clang, clang, exceptionally clear in the quiet rural night!
What a coincidence?
The old man shuddered and glanced back at them.
Xie Lingya stepped forward and took the key, thinking for a moment before saying, “Perhaps you should go back first.”
He saw that the old man was getting on in years, and what would happen if he stayed here?
The old man refused. He and another old man, one responsible for managing the ancestral hall and the other for keeping the family genealogy, believed in his old-fashioned way that he should also stay here.
Xie Lingya had no choice but to carefully unlock the door and open it with a bang!
The moment he pushed the door open, the sound inside vanished instantly, as if the sound had just been an illusion.
The beam of the flashlight swept across the room, revealing a messy table, a smiling clay statue, bright couplets… nothing at all.
Xie Lingya tilted his head. “Little cutie, what do you think?”
Liu Lingtong was clearly stumped; he wondered if the innate wood spirit had any inspiration.
Phytolacca God made a sound as if it were struggling to defecate: “Ugh…uh…uh…uh…uh…”
Xie Lingya looked at it expectantly.
….
In the darkness, a faint, somewhat embarrassed voice came from behind: “Two masters, I’ve thought about it, and I think I’ll go back.”
Xie Lingya: “………………”
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