Chapter 308: Haunting

I and Pangzi arrived at Boss Liu's house, and naturally we placed the problem on feng shui, but we overlooked that antiques can also cause trouble.

Yes, it's not strange for antiques to cause trouble. If an antique is a burial object from an ancient tomb, and the tomb, for some special reasons, has nurtured a spirit, once the antique leaves the tomb, the spirit inside the tomb will attach to the antique and follow it out of the tomb. If an antique has been offered sacrifices, exists in a temple, or is an ancient warrior's weapon, then it's not surprising for the owner's family to dream of ghostly shadows or warriors' silhouettes. Even if it is carved with god or Buddha images, human-shaped wood or stone, or wood or stone resembling an animal, sometimes a ghost may lodge its soul within; if someone obtains it, it will manifest great or minor trouble.

But what was this jar used for before? To know what is causing trouble, the best way is to clarify the jar's origin and what it was previously used for.

I had Yuan Qiu call Boss Liu, pointed at the jar and asked him: "Where did this ancient jar come from?"

Boss Liu answered without hesitation: "You mean this jar? I bought it from a friend for several tens of thousands of yuan."

When further questioned about the jar's origin, Boss Liu said the jar came from a Miao village in Guizhou; after his friend brought it back, Boss Liu liked it and resold it at double the price.

Hearing this, I suddenly realized; the problem indeed lay in this ancient jar.

Boss Liu, Yuan Qiu, and Pangzi were all puzzled, unable to see what was miraculous about this jar.

I had Boss Liu take down the ancient jar, then asked Pangzi to smell it to see what odor was inside.

Pangzi shoved his nose in, inhaled a few breaths, and muttered: "It smells of snakes, herbs, and there's a lingering centipede-like aura."

"Miao frontier Gu cultivators..." Pangzi seemed to also understand the mystery, and immediately exclaimed.

I nodded; it was indeed Gu. This jar comes from the land of the Miao ethnic minority; since ancient times, the Miao's greatest mystery has been Gu cultivators. If my guess is correct, the jar's previous owner was a Miao Gu master. Inside were kept various Gu such as snakes, insects, rats, and ants. After the Gu master died, the Gu went through many twists and ended up in Boss Liu's hands.

Although the owner is gone, after years of countless poisonous insects fighting inside, the jar has already formed an insect spirit aura. Moreover, the jar is placed in the house's Five Ghosts direction. Boss Liu's family has nightly nightmares of being torn by snakes and insects; this must be the insect spirit in the jar causing trouble.

This is an unknown aspect of geomancy; although unrelated to feng shui, its threat is greater than ordinary feng shui harmful formations.

"So it's this thing messing with Gu, no wonder we searched so long and found no source; it basically has nothing to do with feng shui." Pangzi muttered with a grin.

As soon as Boss Liu heard the jar was so dangerous, he immediately opened the cabinet, took out the jar, and smashed it.

"No," Pangzi and I shouted in unison to stop him.

"What's the point? This jar isn't worth much money. Smashing it is better than leaving it here to harm people," Boss Liu thought we were feeling sorry for the jar's value.

"It's not a matter of worth, but you can't smash it like that." Pangzi picked his nose and said: "If you smash the jar this way, the insect spirit won't just disappear; it may attach to other places in your house and lie in wait to take revenge on you."

Boss Liu hesitated for a moment, then asked Pangzi: "Master Pang, what do you suggest we do?"

Pangzi said: "The best way is to use talisman methods to seal the insect spirit inside, then wash it with pomelo leaves and suppress it with Five Emperor Coins, so the residual toxic insect aura in the jar can gradually be eliminated."

If it were an ordinary person, they might say to use dog's blood or chicken's blood, or just leave it out in the sun to sunbathe. But that approach... frankly, is something only a half‑educated person would think of. Some spirits attached to antiques don't fear blood; on the contrary, after smelling blood they become even fiercer. Take this jar, for example—it once raised Gu; if you pour blood in, you won't subdue the poisonous insects and may instead provoke their ferocity. As for leaving it in the sun to use yang to dispel yin, that is not a bad method. However, it would lose the artifact's value, and the weather isn't up to you—when the sun comes out, rain may follow. Placing a spirit‑charged object outside the house can also attract other spirits to take residence; when the wolf leaves, a tiger even fiercer than the wolf might be drawn in.

The best way to handle it is what Pangzi said: first use talismans to seal the insect spirit so it can't cause trouble, then wash it with pomelo leaves, and finally suppress it with Five Emperor Coins.

As everyone knows, pomelo leaves naturally repel evil and purify impurity. Even we Daoists, when drawing talismans and worshiping gods, must first wash our hands with pomelo leaves. Five Emperor Coins are copper coins minted during the prosperous reigns of the Qing emperors Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing. The outer circle represents heaven, the inner square hole represents earth. They gather the power of the Three Powers of heaven, earth, and humanity, relying on the mighty authority of the Five Emperors to ward off harm, neutralize petty people, and at the same time are the utmost yang object for dispelling yin. With the supreme yang authority of the Five Emperor Coins, dispelling this bit of insect aura is naturally no problem.

Pangzi drew a talisman, burned it inside the jar, sealed the insect qi, and then instructed Boss Liu to put Five Emperor Coins in the jar to purify the insect spirit.

But after hearing this, Boss Liu waved his hands repeatedly and said: "I don't dare to keep this thing; if you want it, just take it."

Pangzi and I stared blankly; what use would giving this thing to us be? We're not collectors, we don't raise Gu—giving it to us would just be wasteful.

"I want it, give it to me." At that moment Yuan Qiu reached out with both hands, took the jar, and gave us a light smile.

I also smiled lightly, nodded—Yuan Qiu doing this carries deep meaning. If it were me and Pangzi, we would certainly not take the jar, after all, accepting something that isn't ours would make us feel guilty. But if we don't take it, Boss Liu, being a businessman, would inevitably suspect something.

You keep saying there's nothing wrong, but when I offer it to you and you refuse, saying there's no ghost—who would believe that?

So Yuan Qiu taking it at that moment just right resolved our embarrassment and also won Boss Liu's favor, letting him get rid of this hot potato; truly a case of killing two birds with one stone.

Indeed, after Yuan Qiu took the hot potato, Boss Liu's attitude toward him greatly improved; thereafter followed some polite business talk.

Pangzi and I are tired of that businessman's routine, so we ran outside, leaving the two inside to laugh and chat, bonding.

Not long after, Boss Liu came out beaming, pulled out a check from his pocket, and handed it to Pangzi and me.

"Boss Liu, you should wait a while, make sure you're no longer having nightmares, then give it to us." I did not take the check from Boss Liu's hand; let him confirm everything's fine, then give it to Yuan Qiu, and have Yuan Qiu pass it to us.

After the problem was settled, the three of us turned down Boss Liu's dinner invitation and left his house.

On the way, I asked Yuan Qiu doubtfully: "You really dare to take that jar back? Aren't you afraid we were just spouting nonsense to fool Boss Liu?"

Yuan Qiu laughed heartily, patted his chest, and said only five words: "I believe you."

"By the way, Weige brother, this is for you." Yuan Qiu took out a card from his pocket and handed it to Pangzi.

Pangzi stared at the card for a long time and asked Yuan Qiu: "What is this thing?"

Yuan Qiu scratched his head and said: "It's a flower shop card; I got it under my father's name. With this card you can freely pick flowers in the shop without paying, but there's a limit—only ten bouquets a month, no more."

After Yuan Qiu finished speaking, I instantly raised my opinion of him in my heart. To be precise, I admired his skill in handling affairs. Pangzi's fondness for Silijing is known throughout the school, and he occasionally complains about lacking money to buy flowers for Silijing. Now Yuan Qiu giving this card is undoubtedly catering to his taste, satisfying his need, and besides, it's not as vulgar as directly giving money.

"Haha, buddy, kind of interesting." Pangzi laughed heartily.

Yuan Qiu said in Burmese: "Actually, there's not much meaning."

"No meaning, then next time remember to give me a proper meaningful share," Pangzi said with a raised eyebrow, lecherously.

"Er," Yuan Qiu's face flushed from being choked by Pangzi's words: "Um, I remember my mom cooked soup waiting for me to come home and drink, so I'll go ahead first and not see you off." He fled in panic.

Watching Yuan Qiu flee in disarray, I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Previously, when Pangzi and I followed QingSongShu to run errands at wealthy people's homes, the flatterers and those who collected gifts would always come out with this routine.

The gift‑receiver frowned: "What do you mean by this?"

The gift‑giver, frightened, hurriedly waved his hands: "Please don't misunderstand; I actually don't mean anything."

"You really aren't sufficiently thoughtful."

"Nowhere, nowhere, it's just a token gesture."

"How am I supposed to feel good about this?"

"Please don't disdain it; this is merely a tiny, insignificant token."

"Then I only feel embarrassed."

"It's only proper, it's only proper."

A single word "meaning" can be interpreted in a thousand ways, fully elucidating the profound obscurity of classical Chinese culture; this makes me, a scholarly sort, sigh my inadequacy, and I almost want to go out and buy a block of tofu to kill myself by hitting my head.

Every time Pangzi and I hear such a conversation, a lump rises in my flesh, my intestines churn, it's practically an upheaval of the five viscera and six bowels—nauseating to the point I can't bear it.

Thereafter, whenever someone gave a gift to QingSongShu or gave something to Pangzi, if anyone told Pangzi: "Actually this is just a tiny token, no meaning," Pangzi would always take it, then instead of taking the usual route he'd add: "Next time remember to bring a properly meaningful portion." His thick‑skinned brazenness makes people sweat; usually the gift‑giver ends up embarrassed, face red and ears hot, fleeing in panic.

So, just now Pangzi definitely wasn't unintentionally letting Yuan Qiu take the loss; he did it on purpose. Who let him encounter Pangzi, this lively rascal who doesn't follow the usual path, who dislikes business routines, and who loves to make people nauseous?

When I and Pangzi were about to return to Meditation-Ease Hall, I saw the entrance crowded with a bustling throng of people, everyone gathered there, pointing and commenting on Meditation-Ease Hall.

We pushed through the onlookers and saw another person we weren't really familiar with. Instantly, both Pangzi's and my expressions turned into a mix of laughter and tears.

Big brother, what are you doing? Is this really necessary?