Chapter 224

Yang Rui died?

This news was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky for us.

Following the bodyguards, we ran back at top speed to the Yang family's ancestral manor; the courtyard was filled with a mournful atmosphere. Everyone's face bore a look of grief, and Yang Shouren's wrinkled face was already streaked with old tears.

In the main hall of the house stood a large bed, on which lay a small child with a pallid face. Needless to say, everyone knew the child was Yang Rui.

After entering the house, I felt strange; clearly the plowshare iron talisman of the Yang family's ancestral grave had already been removed, and Yang Rui's body should gradually recover, so why did he lose his name overnight!

To avoid attracting Yang Shouren's attention, I kept my face tightly covered when entering the house, not letting him see the 'Yao' character on my face.

On the large bed, Yang Rui's face was pallid, but a black line ran vertically from the center of his forehead down to his upper lip; black signifies ferocity, signifies killing—this black line indicates that Yang Rui has been attacked by poisonous evil.

Seeing this, I became even more doubtful: hasn't the feng shui earthly evil already receded? Why is Yang Rui still affected and killed? Could it really be as Pangzi's book says, that the masked person has already entered the Yang family's ancestral grave?

I racked my brains but couldn't figure it out; however, there were too many people around, and I didn't dare to speak up, especially seeing Yang Shouren's old face full of malice, which made me even more afraid to ask.

The house remained immersed in a mournful atmosphere; the servants all bowed their heads deeply, and the bodyguards, with stern faces, stood motionless like wood.

"It's all your fault; if you hadn't done so many evil deeds in your life, there wouldn't be so many enemies coming to kill the Yang family. It's all your fault, it's all your fault that you killed little Rui…… it's all your fault." Suddenly, Ye Qi, who had been quietly weeping at the bedside, grabbed Yang Shouren's sleeve and fiercely scratched his face with her nails.

"Have you gone crazy enough!" Yang Shouren's face flushed with anger as he shoved Ye Qi away, raised his hand to slap her, but in the end it fell limp.

"Brother Yang, please accept my condolences; no one expected this to happen. I alone am to blame for my inadequate skills, failing to protect your son's life; I, Wang, feel ashamed before you." QingSongShu stepped forward, his face full of guilt.

Yang Shouren sighed, waved his hand at QingSongShu and said: "Master, your words are too much; you've already done your best; it's just that my son's fate is thin, and it's the karma I, Yang Shouren, incurred in the first half of my life."

Yang Shouren seemed to have aged ten years, his expression waned, his hair whiter. We knew that at this moment any consolation for this old man would be futile; the grief of losing a son pierces the heart, and it cannot be soothed by any material thing or a few words.

In this mournful atmosphere, QingSongShu suddenly stepped forward, furrowed his brows, and carefully examined the Yang Rui lying on the bed.

Then QingSongShu strangely turned and asked Ye Qi: "Sister-in-law, could you tell me what exactly happened last night? Could you roughly tell me the process leading to Rui'er's death?"

Amid Ye Qi's sobs, we learned the full story. Last night, Yang Rui, who had been improving, suddenly vomited white foam at four a. m.; his complexion abruptly turned a patch of purple-black. Then Ye Qi saw a black line spreading from his forehead to his nose.

As this black line swiftly moved downward, reaching Yang Rui's upper lip, he spat out fresh blood, then closed his eyes and departed from this world.

When QingSongShu asked Ye Qi whether she had felt anything unusual before Yang Rui's death, she nodded without hesitation and said yes.

She said that when the black line appeared on Yang Rui's forehead, the surrounding air suddenly became suffocating, making her unable to breathe and causing her to feel nauseous all over.

Ye Qi's statement further confirmed that it was the ancestral land's feng shui evil aura affecting the family's offspring. In feng shui, aside from yearly fortune, both yang and yin residences influence descendants; a good yin residence brings blessings to descendants, whereas a bad yin residence's fortune brings misfortune and harm.

Since feng shui is intangible, the evil aura is invisible to ordinary people; the only thing they have is sensation. Human senses can perceive the surrounding environment. A propitious feng shui location naturally feels comfortable to live in, while a place of vicious evil engenders aversion. Thus, when the harmful evil aura of a yin or yang residence reaches a certain level and is triggered at a point, ordinary people also feel it.

Although Ye Qi's statement further confirmed that Yang Rui was affected by the ancestral land's feng shui, QingSongShu's face showed no relaxation; his brows furrowed even tighter.

"Boom—" a loud sound rang out; see, the just‑grieving Yang Shouren stamped his cane and rose to his feet. Yang Shouren glanced at the bodyguards guarding the house and shouted sternly: "Investigate—get out there and investigate! If you can't find out who killed my son Rui, you needn't come back at all."

All the bodyguards dared not speak; each shrank like a mouse and retreated swiftly.

As those bodyguards filed out of the Yang manor, Yang Shouyi's figure began to walk slowly in from outside the door.

Upon entering, Yang Shouyi's face initially showed deep suspicion; but when he saw the grief‑stricken Yang Shouren and Yang Rui's corpse covered with a white cloth on the large bed, his complexion instantly turned deathly pale, and he staggered back a few steps.

"Big brother...?" Yang Shouyi looked toward Yang Shouren, who could only lower his head, let out a feeble sigh, and slumped to the ground.

Instantly, Yang Shouyi clutched his pallid chest, staggered back several steps, and fell before Yang Rui's bed, wailing and crying out Yang Rui's name.

It seems Yang Shouyi also just learned this news.

"Big brother, it's only been one night—how did little Rui suddenly leave? What on earth is going on?" Yang Shouyi wept, coughing repeatedly.

Yang Shouren remained silent, so Yang Shouyi had no choice but to turn his gaze toward us.

Seeing Yang Shouyi look at us, QingSongShu could only stroke his beard and offer an explanation: "The Yang family's burial site—its feng shui is closely tied to the family's descendants. Damage to the dragon veins brings disaster upon the offspring."

To echo QingSongShu, Pangzi also stood up and related the matter of the masked person and the discovered tunnel.

Upon hearing the explanation, Yang Shouyi couldn't help but startle.

"Big brother, if that's the case, the three evil‑suppressing steles placed by our ancestors and the great feng shui array set up in the graveyard have gone wrong." Yang Shouyi stepped forward quickly, panicked, and asked Yang Shouren: "Big brother, what are we to do? If the three evil‑suppressing steles fail, not only will our Yang family's century‑old foundation be destroyed, but our descendants will also be cut off, lacking heirs!"

"I have already been cut off, without heirs." Yang Shouren roared with bloodshot eyes, and only after a long while did his heaving chest settle.

"For now, don't worry about that; tell me, how did the matter I assigned you to investigate turn out? Is it really the Yao people who did this?" Yang Shouren, full of malice, pressed Yang Shouyi for an answer.

Hearing Yang Shouren ask this, I also felt nervous, after all this concerns the Yao family, so I also rallied my utmost concentration.

Yang Shouyi hesitated not at all, and recounted to Yang Shouren what he had found. He said that besides sending people to the Yang family village, the Yao family's heir Yao Wenju had supposedly summoned several family occultists; Yang Shouyi did not know exactly what these people were tasked with, but he often saw them slipping out at midnight.

What shocked us even more was that, according to Yang Shouyi's description, two of these occultists were people we knew.

Among the people Yang Shouyi described, there was one man and one woman. The woman wore a minority ethnic headpiece, red clothing and red boots, with a long whip tied at her waist. The man was a sickly, sallow‑complexioned, short young man.

These two…… aren't they Han Duo and Wu Fei, who first came to ruin the Yang family ancestral grave's feng shui?

At this moment, Yang Shouyi added another sentence.

"Our surveillance personnel discovered that these two individuals, resembling occultists, have both appeared in the Yang family village."

This time, Yang Shouren was truly furious; without even thinking, he ordered Yang Shouyi to mobilize all the Yang family members, prepare firearms, unite the forces, and surely kill Yao Wenju to offer a sacrifice to the spirit of Yang Rui in heaven.

"Wait, this is not appropriate" While Yang Shouren was on the verge of madness, I, as if possessed, stepped out and spoke up to interrupt him.

As soon as I spoke, every pair of eyes in the room turned toward me, each expression different. Pangzi was bewildered and surprised, while the Yang brothers' faces were filled with gloom and incomprehension.

The atmosphere in the room grew ever more still, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. The fixed gazes of everyone made me, standing at the center, feel an unprecedented pressure.

How should I speak to smooth things over!

The second floor again offers tribute to Dou Ge three…… Dou, I can't regain my senses!