Chapter 212: Chapter Fifteen: Yin‑Yang Eyes and the General

I and Pangzi summoned all our strength and ran over to where QingSongShu stood. Seeing Pangzi's figure approaching, QingSongShu's stern face also showed a kind of half‑smile, his indulgent look like that of someone watching a child who never grows up.

"Dad," Pangzi called out happily after running to QingSongShu's side. I stood beside Pangzi and also respectfully called him "uncle."

Beside QingSongShu stood an elderly man about sixty, his complexion ruddy, eyebrows thick; though his hair was white and he leaned on a cane, his bearing showed no sign of age, his vigor surpassing even that of the ruddy‑complexioned steward just seen. Yet a hint of worry and fatigue lingered in his brow, for the worry of the hall of reflection arises from thought, not bodily toil.

This old man…… Why does he seem so strange to me! Especially his eyes—one big, one small—it feels like I've seen them somewhere; what's this called again?

"You two must be Master Wang's top disciples!" the old man chuckled, looking at us and using the term "high disciple" to describe us both. QingSongShu nodded, acknowledging his words, then pointed at the old man and said to us, "Call him Uncle Yang, or Uncle Shou Ren."

It turned out this old man was the head of the Yang family, that benevolent and charitable wealthy man, Yang Shou Ren.

Still, to me his appearance doesn't look like that of a benevolent and charitable person.

After greeting Uncle Yang, Pangzi and I respectfully stood behind QingSongShu. While Yang Shou Ren and QingSongShu were talking, I pulled Pangzi back a few steps and, doubtful, asked him, "Pangzi, if I'm not mistaken, Yang Shou Ren's appearance clearly shows a selfish, deceitful person—how could he possibly be the great benevolent you spoke of?"

From the first moment I saw Yang Shou Ren, his impression on me was absolutely not that of a great benevolent and compassionate person.

Although his right brow bone and cheekbone were prominent, his ears evenly rounded, giving him the general's bone that signifies authority and power, yet at the back of his skull he also bore the rear mountain bone.

The so‑called general's bone is a rare precious bone in bone physiognomy; bone physiognomy is one aspect of physiognomy. If physiognomy is divided into ten parts, the face takes six and the body four. Bone physiognomy claims two parts from the face and one from the body. In physiognomy, bone and flesh support each other like the body's qi and blood, inseparable. This is what is meant by "the flesh's sound and blood hide the bone," its likeness being that of earth giving rise to all things and becoming all things.

In physiognomy, bone is divided into the five phases and also into noble and base; where auspicious land bears rare nobility, bone naturally does too. For example, the position on the left brow ridge is called the sun corner, the right brow the moon corner; between them a bone that grows straight and protrudes is named the golden fortress bone, from which one's official fortune can be read. A bone running from the celestial palace down to the base is called the heavenly pillar; if it extends from the celestial palace to the base, it indicates the person will hold high office. The general's bone refers to the moon bone joining the ear's base, level with the ear. It represents power and authority in bone physiognomy; one need not hold office, yet commands respect everywhere, enjoys fame in the underworld and reputation in the world.

The rear mountain bone, plainly speaking, is the rebellious bone. In southern slang, a "rebellious bone" describes those who are hard to tame and, at a critical moment, bite back like a white‑eyed wolf. In the Three Kingdoms, the Shu general Wei Yan, who narrowly escaped unjust execution, was such a person with a rebellious bone at the back of his skull. The reason Zhuge Liang killed Wei Yan was simply: "I see that Wei Yan has a rebellious bone at the back of his head; he will surely rebel against me someday, so I must slay him."

Thus it is clear that although Yang Shou Ren possesses authority and prestige, he may not be a loyal and righteous person. Moreover, his eyes…… why do they always give me a strange feeling?

When I voiced my doubts to Pangzi and frowned while looking at Yang Shou Ren's eyes, Pangzi leaned in and whispered, "Are you trying to say his eyes are the yin‑yang eyes?"

"Exactly, that's the yin‑yang eye!" Pangzi's words were like a single sentence that awakens a dreamer. The yin‑yang eye means one eye large, the other small, similar to the yin‑yang eye in pictographic writing. Of course, the yin‑yang eye in physiognomy is merely a type of eye; it does not guarantee the ability to see ghosts and gods. Those with yin‑yang eyes likewise have one large and one small eye; this facial feature can gather wealth, making one rich beyond compare, but they are innately crafty, greedy, and deceitful, always putting profit first—even if you let them stab someone in the back for profit, they will do so without hesitation.

"Since you know all this, QingSongShu must have noticed it too? Why……"

"Why else would we come to do his feng shui, handle the yin cemetery's foundation?" Pangzi voiced my doubt; after he finished, I nodded vigorously.

Who would have thought, Pangzi shook his head, sighed at me, and said, "You only know one part, not the other."

I didn't understand, so I seized Pangzi and pressed him hard, asking, "Did I get it wrong?"

Pangzi shook his head and said, "You're not wrong, but you've forgotten a golden saying of physiognomy."

Under my doubtful gaze, Pangzi slowly uttered four words: "Appearance arises from the mind."

"Appearance arises from the mind, appearance arises from the mind……" I murmured those four words Pangzi had said, feeling a bit puzzled and confused.

Pangzi looked at my bewildered expression, smiled, and then said, "With mind but no form, the form follows the mind's sound; with form but no mind, the form follows the mind's demise. Although innate appearance governs character and wealth or poverty, a person's appearance can indeed be changed."

"You mean changing it with the heart, right?" I suddenly began to understand a little.

"Exactly, that's it—change comes from the heart. If a person starts learning to do good, even the most violent will become gentle, and fierce facial tendencies will develop toward the better. If a hot‑tempered person is willing to cultivate self‑restraint and nurture their nature, then the impression they give may well be one of tranquility."

After Pangzi finished explaining, he leaned in again, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered, "Although Yang Shou Ren's earlier life was lacking, in his later years he has indeed done many good deeds. Whether donating money to build schools in poor mountainous areas, providing funds and effort to help the children and patients there, or giving money to support Daoist temples in hopes of finding an enlightened master to enter the Dao, he is sincerely seeking repentance. That's why looking at his face makes you feel strange—it is because he is gradually improving his appearance with his own good heart."

"Don't believe me? Look at his yin‑yang eyes—aren't they going from one big, one small to both eyes becoming the same size!" Pangzi said this, and when I looked more closely, it really seemed to be so.

"Cough‑cough……" QingSongShu, who had his back to us, suddenly coughed twice, startling Pangzi and me into straightening up, afraid to continue whispering.

Gossiping behind someone's back is never good; even though I had pulled Pangzi back a little farther, Yang Shou Ren might not hear our private talk, but with QingSongShu's hearing, it would be perfectly clear to him.

Pangzi and I dared not speak of Yang Shou Ren any longer, standing straight and not moving for a while.

Yang Shou Ren kept standing beside QingSongShu, not knowing what he was whispering, but his expression showed great anxiety and worry; and as QingSongShu listened, he too would furrow his brow from time to time.

Yang Shou Ren's ancestral grave lies more than ten meters down the slope behind us, with dense woods on both sides, and a small stream runs horizontally through the woods, resembling the central line of the yin‑yang eight trigrams, its water murmuring as it comes, encircling the plot of the Yang family ancestral tomb. Viewed from above, it looks like an island surrounded by the sea. This water is the affectionate water, also coming toward the desk mountain. The mountain faces me with affection, the incoming water enters the bright hall and is stored; one hard, one soft, one moving, one still—the mountains and waters are perfectly matched, exactly conforming to the principle of yin and yang.

QingSongShu stepped forward a few paces, hands behind his back, and pointed at the desk mountain ahead, asking me and Pangzi, "Xiaoqiang, Hai Sheng, tell me, what kind of place is this?"

The terrain seemed familiar, but I couldn't recall it at once; Pangzi, however, was versed in feng shui. Before QingSongShu had finished speaking, Pangzi blurted out without thinking, "Dad, if I'm not mistaken, this should be an offending master site."

"What? An offending master site……" Pangzi's remark made me suddenly realize that this terrain's layout is exactly the same as the legendary corpse‑offending site, with no difference. I, too, was greatly startled.

This place…… is actually the legendary deadly spot that a feng shui master's pointing to means certain death…… an offending master site.