Chapter 484

I and Pangzi summoned our strength and ran toward where QingSongShu stood. Seeing Pangzi running over, QingSongShu's stern face also showed a kind of half‑smile, his indulgent expression like looking at a child who wouldn't grow up.

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

Beside QingSongShu stood an old man about sixty or more years old; his complexion was ruddy, his eyebrows thick, though his hair was white and he leaned on a cane, his bearing showed no sign of age, his vigor and spirit even surpassed that of the rosy‑cheeked steward just seen. Yet a hint of worry and fatigue lurked in his brow. The brow's center is the yintang; worry there springs from mental strain, not bodily toil.

This old man…… I keep finding him strange! Especially his eyes—one big, one small—as if I've seen them somewhere before; what's this called?

"You two must be Master Wang's top disciples!" the old man chuckled, looking at us and calling us "high disciples." QingSongShu nodded, acknowledging it, then pointed at the old man and said to us, "Call him Yang Uncle, or Shouren Uncle."

It turned out this old man was the head of the Yang family, that benevolent and generous wealthy man, Yang Shouren.

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

After Pangzi and I greeted Yang Uncle, we respectfully stood behind QingSongShu. While Yang Shouren and QingSongShu talked, I pulled Pangzi back a few steps and, doubtful, asked him: "Pangzi, if I'm not mistaken, Yang Shouren's appearance clearly shows a selfish, hypocritical person—how could he possibly be the great benevolent one you spoke of?"

From the first glance at Yang Shouren, I felt he was absolutely not a great benevolent and compassionate person.

Although his right brow bone and cheekbone are 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 has a rear mountain bone.

The so‑called general's bone is a rare noble bone in physiognomy; bone structure is one aspect of appearance. If appearance is ten parts, the face takes six and the body four. Bone structure accounts for two parts of the face and one of the body. In physiognomy, bone and flesh depend on 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 earth gives rise to all things and becomes all things.

In physiognomy, bones are classified by the five phases and by nobility; auspicious sites have rare noble bones, so bones naturally do as well. For example, the spot on the left brow is called the sun corner, on the right brow the moon corner; between them lies a bone that grows straight and protrudes, named the Golden Wall Bone, from which one's official fortune can be read. A bone called the Heavenly Pillar runs from the yintang to the forehead; if it extends from the forehead down to the base, it indicates the person will become a high official. The general's bone refers to the moon bone connecting to the ankle of the ear, level with the ear. It represents power and authority in bone reading; one need not hold office, yet commands awe, gains repute in the underworld and fame 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 will bite you at a critical moment—white‑eyed wolves. In the Three Kingdoms, the Shu general Wei Yan, who almost was unjustly beheaded, had a rebellious bone at the back of his skull. Zhuge Liang's reason for executing 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, therefore I cut him down."

Thus we see that although Yang Shouren 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 at Yang Shouren's eyes, Pangzi leaned in and whispered, "Are you saying his eyes are the yin‑yang eyes?"

"Exactly… that's right, it's the yin‑yang eyes!" Pangzi's words were like a single sentence that awakens a dreamer. Yin‑yang eyes mean one eye large, one small, similar to the yin‑yang eye in pictographic script. Of course, the yin‑yang eye in physiognomy is merely a type of eye, not necessarily enabling one to see ghosts and gods. Those with yin‑yang eyes likewise have one large and one small eye; this appearance 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 gain, 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 geomancy and handle the yin‑grave foundations, right?" 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 forgot a golden saying in 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 Pangzi's four words carefully, feeling a bit puzzled and uncomprehending.

Pangzi looked at my bewildered expression, smiled, and then said, "With mind but no form, the form follows the mind's voice; with form but no mind, the form follows the mind's demise. Innate appearance may govern character and wealth or poverty, but a person's appearance can be changed."

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

"Exactly, it's change from the heart. If a person begins to learn kindness, even many violent ones will become gentle, and many fierce appearances will develop toward the good. If a hot‑tempered person is willing to cultivate self‑nurture, then the impression he gives may well be one of tranquility."

After Pangzi finished explaining, he quietly leaned in, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered, "Although Yang Shouren's earlier life was lacking, in his later years he has indeed done many good deeds—donating money to build schools in poor mountainous areas, contributing funds and effort to help the children and sick there, or donating money to support Daoist temples in hopes of finding an enlightened master to enter the Dao; he sincerely wishes to repent. That's why his appearance seems strange to you—it's because he is gradually improving his looks with his kind 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 that, and when I looked again, it really seemed so.

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

Gossiping behind someone's back is never good; even though I pulled Pangzi back a bit farther, Yang Shouren might not hear our murmurs, but with QingSongShu's hearing, it would certainly be crystal clear.

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

Yang Shouren 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 from time to time furrow his brows.

Yang Shouren's ancestral grave lies on a slope more than ten meters away from us, with dense woods on both sides; within those woods a small stream runs across, resembling the central line of the yin‑yang bagua, its water trickling gently. This is affectionate water, also flowing toward the facing hill. The hill 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 match perfectly, exactly conforming to yin‑yang principle.

QingSongShu stepped forward a few paces, hands behind his back, and pointed at the front facing hill, asking Xiaoqiang and Hai Sheng, "Tell me, what kind of place is this?"

The terrain looks familiar, but I can't recall it at once; still, Pangzi is versed in geomancy. As soon as QingSongShu finished his question, Pangzi blurted out without thinking, "Dad, if I'm not mistaken, this should be a 'culprit‑master' site."

"What? A culprit‑master site? ……" Pangzi's remark made me suddenly recall that this terrain exactly matches the legendary "corpse‑culprit" site, with no difference. I was instantly shocked.

This place…… is actually the legendary deadly spot that a geomancer's pointing dooms one to die…… the culprit‑master site.