Chapter 358

It mentions Fan Wuchang, Chen Zheng, Dong Yumin, Guangdong, Aomen, and uncle.

Fan Wuchang, Chen Zheng, Dong Yumin, Aomen.

After Chen Zheng's uncle passed away, this residence remained vacant. The reason we were invited to examine the feng shui is that there is a deeper cause behind it.

Chen Zheng's great-grandfather, Portugal, Qing.

Afterwards, due to the Qing government's weakness and incompetence, and the lack of manpower and supplies in the anti-foreign forces, the anti-foreign army vanished into historical obscurity. Many passionate patriots had to flee everywhere, living under assumed names. And Old Master Chen was one of these fleeing patriots.

After leaving the anti-foreign forces, Old Master Chen did not change his ruthless nature; he opened a gambling den in the populace and pursued shady livelihoods. Although his life was somewhat colorful, the rather clever Old Master Chen remained only in the middle-lower tier of this trade, never truly making a name for himself.

Old Master Chen, who firmly believed in feng shui, always felt that what he lacked was merely a bit of luck; as long as he could find a master to give him guidance, his chance to rise would be imminent.

Although Old Master Chen had killed foreigners and possessed some martial arts skills, frankly he was merely a lowly scoundrel; not to mention masters, he had never even come into contact with the children of high officials.

However, fate truly gave Old Master Chen, who was desperately seeking hope, a glimmer of opportunity.

Chen Zheng's great-grandfather, by a strange coincidence, roadside, blind old man who starved to death.

To repay Old Master Chen's lifesaving kindness, the blind man advised him: "Although you are intelligent and possess an uncommon steadiness, you are a person whose partial wealth destiny is especially strong; without the assistance of a feng shui arrangement, your partial wealth will not manifest, and you will forever remain a mere chicken-head phoenix-tail, unable to achieve great things."

Old Master Chen was greatly startled, and thus asked this blind man for guidance.

At that time, the blind man pointed to the area behind Old Master Chen, which is now the site of this ancestral home; back then it was a pond, unfilled.

The blind man then said to Old Master Chen: "The land behind you is a fast-acting serpent site; I have calculated with my fingers that tomorrow at the hour of You, when the sun sets westward, the spirit serpent will appear. Remember to cast seventy-seven forty-nine black turtles into the pond when the spirit serpent appears; then fill it with earth, and I will later set up the arrangement for you."

Speaking of Old Master Chen, he firmly believed the old blind man's words; the next day he had a gang of sycophants prepare the turtles, waiting until five in the afternoon when the sun set westward and the slanting sunset shone on the water, and indeed he saw a huge serpent's illusory form in the pond.

Old Master Chen hurriedly did not dare to hesitate; following the blind man's instructions, he had his subordinates cast the turtles into the pond.

After about half a quarter-hour, the water surface churned, black waves surged, and a completely black python over two meters long emerged in the water.

However, the snake did not attack anyone; it merely kept tumbling in the water like a madman who had taken the wrong medicine, struggling for over half an hour before ceasing its motion and floating on the river's surface.

By this point, perhaps everyone understood that only dead things float in water; otherwise, given a snake's familiarity with water, it would be absolutely impossible for it to remain motionless afloat on the surface.

At the same time, perhaps everyone also found it strange: how exactly did this python die? Could it be that tossing in a few turtles caused it to die inexplicably?

The Black Tortoise is a tortoise-snake composite.

A folk proverb says: 'When a snake eats a turtle, both perish together.'

The blind man saved by Chen Zheng's great-grandfather.

Afterwards, it was simply the snake eating the turtles, and they perished together.

The blind man's purpose in doing this was precisely to secure this spiritually potent site for Old Master Chen. Wherever there is an outstanding blessed land, there are often strange beings coiled there cultivating, or guardian spirits arise. If the spirit being is not dead, and the living forcibly occupy the place, they will surely suffer the spirit's frenzied retaliation. By then, one might fail to gain the land and instead lose one's life first.

Returning to the main story, after Old Master Chen killed the python nurtured in the spirit pond, he followed the blind man's instructions, filled the pond with sand and stones, laid a thick foundation, and built a residence upon it.

Five Ghosts Wealth-Bringing Feng Shui Bureau.

Five Ghosts Transport Technique and Five Ghosts Wealth-Bringing Feng Shui.

The technique of the Five Ghosts' Conveyance involves using sorcery to borrow money from ghosts for future expenditure, which must be repaid—there are gains and losses. The Five Ghosts' Wealth-Generating Arrangement, however, borrows wealth through feng shui, arising naturally from the feng shui itself, with the Five Ghosts delivering money and riches to the doorstep; the difference in effect goes without saying.

However, the conditions for this Five Ghosts' Wealth-Generating Feng Shui Arrangement are very stringent: first, in terms of terrain, one must sit facing the mountain dragon and face the water dragon. The land must be a spirit site, with the Lianzhen and Jumen stars corresponding to the mountain and water double dragons, forming a flow.

Second, it concerns one's destiny pattern. Firstly, the partial wealth in the master's eight characters must not only be strong, but also must reveal the Hua Gai star; only then dare one set up this feng shui arrangement, and only such a person can employ this yin wealth and ghost wealth.

Feng shui geomancer.

Hemp Cloth Physiognomy School.

On the day the feng shui residence was completed, the blind man gave Old Master Chen a word of warning, then went to cultivate in a remote mountain forest, claiming it was cultivation but actually to avoid disaster. Although a blessed feng shui site is for the capable to dwell in, the spirit beings within such a site cannot be slain if they do no evil; this is heaven's virtue of cherishing life, granting these spirits a place to practice.

Yet, to repay Old Master Chen's lifesaving kindness, the blind man did not hesitate to urge him to release the turtles and kill the spirit serpent. Consequently, Old Master Chen will surely incur heavenly retribution and must seek a secluded Daoist temple to cultivate, borrowing the Dao's qi movement to evade this great calamity.

As the blind man was leaving, he warned Old Master Chen: once the feng shui arrangement is completed, from then on he will soar to great heights and become unrivaled. But remember to always do good; do not let authority cause harm, nor let profit and desire cloud your mind into committing acts that both men and gods resent. Moreover, after twelve years, this house must be demolished, and Old Master Chen must desist, never again engaging in shady pursuits.

Initially, Old Master Chen kept the blind man's words in mind at all times; however, in this world there is a saying: profit confounds wisdom, lust bewitches the people. As his business grew ever larger and his power ever greater, Old Master Chen completely forgot the blind man's parting instructions—not to mention doing good, he became a great villain who committed ten unpardonable evils within a hundred-li radius, forcibly seizing virtuous women from good families.

At that time, the nearby townsfolk all said, "Heaven truly is blind, allowing this wicked man to become rich and noble and enjoy leisurely comfort."

However, is Heaven truly blind? Certainly not.

Twelve years later, when it came time to demolish the feng shui residence, Old Master Chen completely forgot the blind man's words.

What of people? Once they have power, they fear losing it; once they have money, they fear returning to their former impoverished days.

Old Master Chen thought that this Daoist blind man was stingy, granting him only half a lifetime of wealth and rank, unwilling to bestow lifelong prosperity. Under such suspicion, Old Master Chen naturally refused to dismantle the feng shui treasure residence, fearing that after demolition he would become powerless and penniless.

Thus, Old Master Chen decided not to heed the blind man's words and to keep the feng shui treasure residence. Yet what he did not expect was that, once the twelve-year limit passed, the residence turned into a haunted house; overnight, all twenty-seven members of the household died violently, including Old Master Chen's father, who instantly went mad, and the family's wealth turned into blank paper while gold became stone.

Moreover, Chen Zheng's grandfather and his granduncle were also Old Master Chen's two sons. Having studied abroad, they narrowly escaped a disaster. After returning, Old Master Chen's eldest son invited a feng shui master to conduct a survey, only to find that the residence could no longer be demolished at this point.

Why? Because the Five Ghosts' Wealth-Generating Feng Shui Arrangement borrows feng shui to convey the wealth of the Five Ghosts; if the occupant of the dwelling wholeheartedly practices goodness, there remains a chance for redemption. But the occupant's heart is too wicked, and he also failed to demolish the house after the twelve-year period. At this point, the Five Ghosts guarding the residence turn against each other and will come to take revenge on the master's family.

The Five Ghosts' retaliation is not directed solely at the master himself, but at his three generations. Having granted the master of the dwelling a lifetime of wealth and rank, they will cause the subsequent three generations to be lonely and destitute, impoverished and struggling.

This is the karmic debt Old Master Chen incurred, and also the workings of fate, requiring his descendants' three generations' qi movement to repay it; thereafter, his three generations will all suffer the torment of the Five Ghosts, living in poverty and hardship for life.

If at this moment the feng shui residence were demolished, the Five Ghosts would have no object to vent upon, and they would surely cause the Chen lineage to be cut off, with no heirs. However, if one wishes to preserve a trace of incense, then Old Master Chen's descendants through three generations must honestly endure the punishment of the Five Ghosts, living in poverty and hardship for life.

This is cause and effect; once committed, whether overt or covert, you must honestly bear the consequences.

Under the feng shui master's advice, Old Master Chen's son also came to know the full story; in order to preserve the Chen family's incense, he did not demolish the residence, instead sending his younger brother far away while he himself silently endured all of this.

The one who went far away was precisely Chen Zheng's grandfather; after arriving in Guangdong, he still could not escape the Five Ghosts' curse, and together with his son he spent his life in poverty, tormented by illness, reduced to begging on the streets. Only in Chen Zheng's generation did the Five Ghosts' curse gradually fade away.

Afterwards, Chen Zheng committed a crime in Guangdong, fled for his life to Aomen to seek his uncle. This uncle was the last generation afflicted by the Five Ghosts' curse; on his deathbed, he bequeathed this residence to Chen Zheng.