Chapter 184

I lay prone under the stage, snoring as I fell asleep, sleeping with a cumin-like flavor, even forgetting the passage of time.

Until…… around noon, when the sun slanted in, this scene happened on the stage.

"Brother, let's have a contest to see who can pee farther!"

"But…… this is the stage for putting on a big opera!"

"Don't be scared, we'll all pee together, I'll go first!"

Lying prone on the ground in zero-distance contact with the yellow earth, as I was sound asleep I suddenly heard the pattering of raindrops, and immediately a gentle trickle dripped from the cracks in the stage onto my head.

After feeling this dampness on my face, I was frightened and jerked awake, thinking a downpour had fallen from the sky. But when I touched the water droplets on my body, brought them to my nose and smelled them, and then…… inexplicably licked them.

"Damn, you bunch of little brats, don't you have any shame?" I gloomily spat out a mouthful of old blood and yelled angrily upward.

Besides the urine stench on my body, there was also a strong foul smell, which seemed like the odor of cockroach feces; I suppose it was the snakes, insects, and rats under the stage that, taking advantage of my sleep, crawled over me for a while.

Anciently there was Liu Guozhong eating feces; now I, Chen Hai Sheng, have licked a bit of boy's urine…… This life, isn't it a bit too dramatic?

I wanted to cry but had no tears as I heard those brats' hippish laughter fading away overhead; I patted my shoulder and could only silently admit to myself that I was unlucky.

As I crawled out of the stage's edge while prone, a big face came crashing toward me upside down. Upon locking eyes, we all startled and stepped back in unison.

With a bang, the back of my head hit the edge of the stage, and I cried out in pain.

"I say, Hai brother, what are you doing sneaking under the stage?" The person who almost bumped into me was Song Lin.

After getting up, I brushed off the dust on my body; when Liu Guozhong asked that, I could only stammer: "This……"

Of course the truth couldn't be spoken, otherwise if it reached Liu Guozhong's ears he'd again curse Pangzi soundly. But…… why did I crawl under the stage?

Suddenly, inspiration struck, and I blurted out: "Song Lin brother, actually I crawled into the stage to cultivate, yes, that's right, I crawled under the stage for the purpose of cultivation."

Song Lin scratched the back of his head: "You crawled into the stage to cultivate."

I took a deep breath and said seriously: "That's right, it's for cultivation. You also know I'm a Daoist of the Yin Mountain Sect; the Yin Mountain Sect emphasizes the yin character, so cultivation naturally means finding a secluded, uninhabited corner."

I furrowed my brow, with a solemn and earnest expression, and gave Song Lin a popular science explanation.

Song Lin suddenly understood: "Oh, so the Yin Mountain Sect needs to find a secluded, dark place to cultivate."

"Exactly, that's the fact!" I leaned close to Song Lin's ear and mysteriously urged: "This is a secret of my sect; I hope you, Brother Song Lin, won't spread it."

After Song Lin brother nodded vigorously in agreement, I looked around again and asked him doubtfully: "By the way, Brother Song Lin, have you seen Pangzi?"

Song Lin didn't even think, pointing to the northwest of the stage: "Strong brother seems to have run that way! He's holding a compass and keeps wandering around nearby."

"Alright, I'll go look for him now. Remember, today's matter must absolutely not be spoken of, especially not to Instructor Liu, and certainly not let it reach Instructor Liu's ears." I brushed off the dust on my body and turned cleanly, running toward the direction Song Lin pointed.

After I had walked a considerable distance, a loud shout came from behind me—Song Lin's voice.

"Sheng brother, next time…… if you Yin Mountain folks need to find a place to cultivate, remember to tell me; I'll prepare a good spot for you, absolutely secluded and quiet."

"Bang……"

I lost my balance and fell; that sudden tumble, my posture was so perfect. Standing up, I turned and saw Song Lin's honest smile; I could only twitch the corner of my mouth, with a grief-stricken face, and returned his smile, which had been fiercely moved.

Children raised in the countryside are indeed too simple and honest…… The problem is, no matter how simple, it doesn't reduce you this much.

……………………

Running toward the direction Song Lin pointed, I found Wang Da Pangzi, holding a compass, with a solemn face, wandering around.

Wang Da Pangzi held the compass in one hand, the other hand constantly calculating; his face alternated between astonishment and frown, and he muttered solemnly: "Not good, very not good, extremely not good."

This dead Pangzi is increasingly showing potential to be a godman. I cursed him in my heart and quickly ran up to him.

"How is it, did you figure out the situation……" I stretched lazily, yawned, and asked.

"The feng shui here is very problematic……" Upon seeing me come, Pangzi handed over the compass in his hand.

"Try taking the stage as the center, distinguish the twenty-four mountains' sand and water, and tell me what you see." Pangzi pointed at the surrounding terrain and asked me.

I looked carefully and then said: "Nothing much, just there's sand and water, trees and a pond; although not excellent, it's just like that."

The so-called twenty-four mountains are also twenty-four directions, based on the twelve earthly branches as positions, then further subdivided into twenty-four mountains.

When the compass was first invented, it had only the north and south poles; after east and west were added, it roughly had the four directions of southeast, southwest, northwest, northeast. Finally, after adding eight directions, it became twelve directions.

Of course, those who study it academically do not divide by southeast, southwest, northwest, northeast. If one holds a compass, one can clearly discern that on the compass, direction is not indicated by those four terms. Instead, starting from north, one uses the twelve earthly branches of the ancient Chinese sexagenary cycle: "Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai" to represent.

So, when studying it academically, we must first completely forget the terms southeast, southwest, northwest, northeast, and must memorize by heart Zi, Wu, Mao, You—Zi for north, Wu for south, Mao for east, You for west. And these twelve earthly branches represent the twelve directions.

For example, on a compass, Xu earth is the central palace; outside the central palace are the eight trigrams; after the eight trigrams come the twenty-four mountains; these twenty-four mountains are a fine subdivision based on the twelve earthly branches.

Each trigram represents three mountains: the Kan trigram represents 【Ren, Zi, Gui】 (true north) three mountains; the Gen trigram represents 【Chou, Gen, Yin】 (northeast) three mountains; and so on, making eight trigrams and twenty-four mountains. Thus, if a house sits north and faces south, we do not speak of southeast, southwest, northwest, northeast, but only call it Zi (north) mountain, Wu (south) facing.

As for sand and water, put simply, they are the static and dynamic things. Taking the house as the central palace, we discern which of the twenty-four directions contains sand or water, whether it is harmful sand or auspicious sand, harmful water or auspicious water.

Of course, the meaning of sand and water is not merely referring to silt and water. Outdoors, utility poles, hills, etc., are static yet have a strong influence on the magnetic field—they count as sand. Mountain gullies, ponds—dynamic things—count as water. Indoors, paintings, furniture count as sand; toilets count as water.

Discerning sand and water is very important for improving feng shui, because these static and dynamic things are a kind of energy that can affect the magnetic field of a dwelling. For example, if a house has utility poles disorderly arranged in the Yin direction, when the Three Elements Nine Luck activates and the owner reaches the metal luck phase, they are easily disturbed by the magnetic field of those harmful utility poles, leading to lawsuits and disputes.

In feng shui studies, whether it is form or principle, we must always compare the central palace with the twenty-four mountains to mitigate clashes and harms, thereby judging the quality of the feng shui, and then improve it in conjunction with the Three Elements Nine Luck and the owner's life trigram.

Pangzi had me look at the sand and water around this stage shed; I looked for a long time and only discerned that the shed leans against a barren mountain, in the Hai direction, Qian trigram, there is both sand and water; although there is some harm, the problem is not serious. Note (Hai, Xu, Qian these three directions are all northwest, belonging to the Qian six white trigram of the eight trigrams).

"The crux of the problem lies right here!" Pangzi pointed at the surrounding terrain and said: "Do you still remember the classic saying, 'Six White One Entity Sand, in the middle and upper periods it ruins the family, the father loses his mind and acts in chaos, then after passing Chen, Xun, Si, the apricot and wild peach blossoms appear, the son and daughter are few and severed, it is definitely slanted flying sand.'"

This meaning of the classic is: if a residence belongs to the Six White Qian trigram's mountain direction and is entirely harmful sand, then the eldest son and third son born in the household will surely be ruinous; the father, angered, will lose his six spirits and spit blood, and will also find it hard to manage the household and control his children.

If the Chen, Xun, Si directions also have mountain gullies and ponds reflecting water, then the household's daughter-in-law will surely be like a red apricot climbing over the wall, wanton and unrestrained.

But…… although it is said that the Qian direction is all chaotic wires and bald, barren mountains, isn't there also water? Hey, isn't that highway water?

At that moment, Pangzi gave me a violent chestnut from behind, harshly saying: "You idiot, who told you that a highway is water?"

"Damn, isn't it? I remember last time we followed Uncle to look at feng shui, Uncle pointed at the highway in front of people's shops and told us that highway belongs to water." I likewise raised an example and stubbornly rebutted,

"I really can't believe you, you've completely forgotten that feng shui is about adaptation." Pangzi rubbed his forehead, weakly retorting: "In feng shui, a highway can be either sand or water. If it is in a place with heavy traffic and constant flow, with people moving the earth's qi, then this highway counts as water. But conversely, if this road is barren and lifeless, with no grass growing, then it counts as sand. Feng shui talks about the transformation of qi flow. Otherwise, where would the saying 'wind and water rise' come from."

Pangzi clutched his chest, gazing at me with an expression of exasperated disappointment……

I: "……" Really like this?.