Chapter 86

When Fan Wuchang finished telling the story of Chen Zheng and Dong Yumin, we had already arrived at Chen Zheng's ancestral home. Chen Zheng originally came from Guangdong, but his great-grandfather's generation had once wandered in Aomen, so when Chen Zheng committed a murder in Guangdong, he fled to Aomen to seek his uncle.

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

Chen Zheng's great-grandfather, as a youth, was also a ruthless figure who walked the crooked path with a broken bowl on his head. When the Portuguese first took this plot of land from the Qing dynasty in Aomen, the locals had once formed an anti-foreign militia, and Chen Zheng's great-grandfather was one of its members; his fiercest exploit was beheading twelve Portuguese in a single night.

Afterward, due to the Qing government's weakness and incompetence, and the lack of numbers and supplies in the anti-foreign militia, the militia vanished into historical obscurity. Many passionate patriots had to flee everywhere, hiding their names and living in secrecy. Chen Zheng's great-grandfather was one of those fleeing patriots.

After leaving the anti-foreign militia, Chen Zheng's great-grandfather did not change his ruthless nature; he opened a gambling den in the populace and pursued shady livelihoods. Although he lived a flamboyant life, the rather clever great-grandfather remained only in the middle-lower ranks of that trade, never truly making a name for himself.

The great-grandfather, 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 point him the way, his chance to rise would be imminent.

Although this great-grandfather had killed foreigners and knew some martial arts, frankly he was merely a lowly scoundrel; not to mention masters, he had never even come into contact with the children of high officials.

Nevertheless, fate truly gave the desperately hope-seeking great-grandfather a sliver of opportunity.

When Chen Zheng's great-grandfather was thirty, a twist of fate moved him to spare a moment of kindness, rescuing a blind old man who had starved to death by the roadside. Coincidentally, this blind old man was a master of the Ma Yi Physiognomy School.

To repay the great-grandfather's lifesaving kindness, the blind man advised him: "Although you are intelligent and possess an uncommon steadiness, you are a person whose destiny heavily favors partial wealth; without the aid of a feng shui formation, your partial wealth will remain unnoticed, forever stuck as a chicken's head and phoenix's tail, unable to achieve great things."

Startled, the great-grandfather then asked the blind man for guidance.

At that time, the blind man pointed to the area behind the great-grandfather, which is now this ancestral home; back then it was a pond, unfilled.

The blind man then told the great-grandfather: "The land behind you is a swiftly active spirit-snake site; I have calculated with my fingers that tomorrow at the hour of the rooster, when the sun sets westward, the spirit snake will appear. Remember to cast seventy-seven forty-nine black turtles into the pond when the spirit snake appears; afterward fill it with earth, and I will later set up the formation for you."

Speaking of this great-grandfather, having faithfully believed the blind old man's words, the next day he had his gang of dubious friends prepare the turtles, waiting until five in the afternoon when the sun set westward and the evening sun slanted across the water; indeed they saw a huge serpent's illusory form in the pond.

The great-grandfather hurriedly did not dare hesitate; following the blind man's instructions, he had his subordinates cast the turtles into the pond.

After about a quarter of an hour, the water surface churned, black waves surged, and a wholly black python over two meters long emerged in the water.

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

By this point, everyone likely understood that only a dead thing can float in water; otherwise, given a snake's familiarity with water, it could never remain motionless afloat on the surface.

At the same time, everyone might also find it strange: how did this python die? Could simply throwing in a few turtles cause it to die inexplicably?

Yes, it was precisely these turtles that killed the python. Do not think that Xuanwu, the union of turtle and snake, means they always engender each other; in fact, they mutually restrain.

A folk proverb says, "When a snake eats a turtle, both perish together." Although the python is the top beast in the animal kingdom, it fears the slow-moving turtle; once it swallows a turtle, the snake is certain to die.

The blind man whom Chen Zheng's great-grandfather had saved had indeed grasped this key point; he had calculated that on that day the spirit python in the sacred pond would certainly emerge to feed, so he had beforehand instructed the great-grandfather to prepare the turtles, and as soon as a snake's shadow appeared, he immediately cast those turtles into the water.

Afterward, it was simply the snake eating the turtles, mutual destruction.

The blind man's purpose in doing this was precisely to secure this spiritually auspicious site for the great-grandfather. Any outstanding blessed land often has strange creatures coiled there cultivating, or gives rise to guardian spirits. If the spirit being is not dead, and living people forcibly occupy the place, they will surely suffer the spirit's frenzied retaliation. By then, they might not even gain the land before they themselves die.

Returning to the main thread, after the great-grandfather killed the spirit python nurtured in the spirit pond, he followed the blind man's instructions, filled the pond with sand and stone, laid a thick foundation, and built the house upon it.

The house's layout was designed by the blind man for the great-grandfather; this layout is the lost Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth Feng Shui formation within feng shui.

Speaking of this, someone might think of the Five Ghosts Transporting Technique, but the Five Ghosts Transporting Technique and the Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth Feng Shui are two different concepts.

The Five Ghosts Transporting Technique uses sorcery to borrow money from ghosts for future spending, which must be repaid, involving gains and losses. Whereas the Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth formation draws wealth from feng shui, arising naturally from the feng shui itself, with the five ghosts delivering wealth to the doorstep; the difference in effect goes without saying.

However, the conditions for this Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth Feng Shui formation 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 spiritually auspicious site, with Lian Zhen and Ju Men corresponding to the mountain and water double dragons, forming a flow.

Second, it concerns destiny. First, the individual's eight characters must have strong partial wealth, and that partial wealth must reveal the Canopy Star; only then dare one set up this feng shui formation, for only such a person can utilize this yin wealth, ghost wealth.

Third, the most important point is the skill of the feng shui geomancer; one must understand the four methods of flipping hexagrams and the fenjin theory of the twenty-four mountains, in order to mediate with ghosts and spirits and welcome wealth into the household.

Coincidentally, this blind old man is a hidden-lineage inheritor of the Ma Yi Physiognomy School, quite familiar with the method of establishing the formation. And Chen Zheng's great-grandfather is also a person who encounters the Canopy Star with partial wealth; his partial wealth is exceptionally strong, his destiny is established, the spiritually auspicious land has been found, and naturally he can be saved to begin setting up the formation.

On the day the feng shui residence was completed, the blind man gave the great-grandfather a piece of advice, then went to cultivate in a remote mountain forest, claiming it was cultivation but actually to avoid disaster. Although a blessed land is inhabited by the worthy, the spirit beings within such a land, if they do no evil, cannot be slain; this is heaven's virtue of cherishing life, granting these spirit beings a place to practice.

Nevertheless, to repay the great-grandfather's lifesaving kindness, the blind man did not hesitate to urge Chen Zheng's great-uncle to release the turtles and kill the spirit snake; therefore he will surely incur heavenly retribution and must seek a secluded Daoist temple to cultivate, borrowing the Dao's qi flow to evade this great calamity.

As the blind man departed, he warned the great-grandfather: "Once the feng shui formation is complete, from then on you will soar to great heights, unbeatable. But remember, you must always do good; do not let authority bring disaster, nor let profit and desire cloud your mind into committing acts that anger both gods and men. Moreover, after twelve years, this house must be demolished, and you must cease your involvement in shady trades."

Initially, the great-grandfather kept the blind man's words constantly in mind; however, in this world there is a saying: profit befuddles wisdom, lust confuses the mind. As his business grew larger and his power greater, the great-grandfather utterly forgot the blind man's parting instructions; not only did he cease doing good, he became a great villain who committed the ten unforgivable sins within a hundred-li radius, forcibly seizing virtuous families' women.

At that time, the nearby populace all said, "Heaven truly is blind, allowing this wicked man to attain great wealth and status and enjoy a carefree, happy life."

But is Heaven really blind? Certainly not.

Twelve years later, when the time came to demolish the feng shui residence, the great-grandfather had completely forgotten the blind man's words.

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

The great-grandfather thought this Daoist blind man was stingy, granting him only half a lifetime of wealth and rank, unwilling to allow him lifelong affluence. Under this suspicion, he naturally refused to dismantle the feng shui treasure house, fearing that after tearing it down he would become powerless and possessionless.

Thus, the great-grandfather decided not to heed the blind man's words and to keep the feng shui treasure house. 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 the great-grandfather himself, who overnight became raving mad, while the family's wealth turned into blank paper and gold into stone.

Chen Zheng's grandfather and his granduncle were also the two sons of the great-grandfather. Having studied abroad, they narrowly escaped a disaster. After returning, the great-grandfather's eldest son invited a feng shui master to examine the premises, only to discover that by this time the house could no longer be dismantled.

Why? Because the Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth Feng Shui formation draws wealth via feng shui from the five ghosts; if the occupant of the dwelling wholeheartedly practices good, there remains a chance of redemption. But the dweller's heart is too wicked, and he also failed to demolish the house after the twelve-year limit. At this point, the five ghosts guarding the residence turn against each other and come to retaliate against the master of the house and his family.

The five ghosts' retribution is not aimed solely at the master of the house, but at his three generations. He grants the dwelling's master a lifetime of wealth and rank, yet causes the following three generations to be lonely and destitute, impoverished and downtrodden.

This is the karmic debt incurred by the great-grandfather, and also the dictation of fate; it demands that his descendants' three generations' qi flow repay it, so that the later three generations will suffer the five ghosts' torment, living a life of poverty and hardship.

If at this moment the feng shui residence were torn down, the five ghosts would have no outlet for their wrath and would surely cause the Chen line to be cut off, leaving no heirs. But if one wishes to preserve a trace of the family's incense, then the great-grandfather's later three generations must honestly endure the five ghosts' punishment, living a life of poverty and hardship.

This is cause and effect; once committed, whether overt or covert, you must honestly endure it.

Under the feng shui master's advice, the great-grandfather's son also came to know the full story; in order to preserve the Chen family's incense, he did not dismantle the residence, instead sending his younger brother far away while he himself silently bore 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 they spent their lives in poverty, tormented by illness, reduced to begging on the streets. It was not until Chen Zheng's generation that the five ghosts' curse gradually faded.

Afterward, Chen Zheng committed a crime in Guangdong, fled to Aomen to seek his uncle. This uncle was the last person afflicted by the five ghosts' curse; on his deathbed, he handed over this residence to Chen Zheng.