Chapter 20: Four Spirits Neutralize Evil, Four Waters Returning to the Hall (Seeking follow-reads, chapter reviews, and monthly tick

After the big cleaning, the Xu family indeed cleared out quite a few things; dust, clutter, whatever needed to be thrown out was thrown out, whatever needed to be dumped was dumped.

The operation made things look much fresher; at the very least, all sorts of broken and incomplete items, including a broken bowl, were thrown away by Xu Jia, as these were all unfavorable for the household.

Household Feng Shui relies first on cleanliness, having no places to hide evil; second on lighting, which can put people in a good mood; third on ventilation, which can allow people to breathe fresh air; and fourth on completeness, where things that need repairing are repaired, and problems are not left unattended. The fifth is peace of mind—the head of the household should do whatever makes them comfortable.

Based on the layout of the Xu family residence, Xu Jia set up a "Four Spirits Formation" to gather Vitality, clear away baleful energy, and made the "Qian Position" for "gathering Vitality"—which is the northwest corner room of the square-shaped outer residence—his own room.

The Qian Position is the location of the "head of the household," gathering Yang Qi.

Xu Jia, if nothing else, is currently suffering from low Yang Qi; living here where Yang and Vitality are abundant is just right for recuperation.

At the same time, as the head of the household position, one will gradually receive the support of family fortune. Although the "Works Official" character-shaped main room in the middle is actually the central position, that room is large, making it difficult for Vitality to gather. Only when Xu Jia's aura is strong enough to blend with the Yang Dwelling Feng Shui aura can he transform the household into a "Living Person Daochang."

A so-called Living Person Daochang is one where one serves as the god, the house as the temple, meals as offerings, and clothing as fine robes. While there is no need to burn incense or light candles, it still requires the gratitude and appreciation of others, which is "Merit." The more one cultivates this way, the more vast their Divine Ability becomes. Official rank is divine rank; gods can command Yin soldiers and ghost generals, just as a County Official can manage Yamen Runners, Grand Clerks, and Rural Militia.

The largest Living Person Daochang is the imperial palace, and the Emperor is the greatest "True God."

The True Gods of all dynasties on Blue Star were all conferred by the Emperor.

And any Daoist with extremely high cultivation must have received offerings from the imperial family.

All the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, classics, and histories under heaven can be found with a single command from the Emperor.

But that was Blue Star; Xu Jia has not yet figured out how this world truly works.

He can only slowly explore the rules, utilize the rules, and then create his own rules.

The cleaning continued until the Hour of the Horse.

Within the Hour of the Horse, there is a quarter-hour that is the time of "Extreme Yin." As the saying goes, when Yang reaches its extreme, Yin is born. The time of extreme Yang is the third quarter of the Hour of the Horse; executions take place at this time. After the third quarter of the Hour of the Horse, it is the moment when Yin is born from extreme Yang.

A vortex of Yin wind rose from the flat ground.

The woman drawing water was blown by the Yin wind, and suddenly her stomach ached, making her want to go to the latrine; she sneezed twice violently.

She tightened her sleeves and muttered, "Why is there Yin wind blowing even in the daytime?"

They had just finished wiping things down and were covered in sweat; as soon as the Yin wind blew, a streak of evil energy immediately entered their bodies.

The woman sneezed, "Ah—ah—choo!" Thinking nothing of it, she continued to draw water. Looking down, she saw that the rope used for drawing water, which clearly had a wooden bucket hanging from it before, was now hanging a corpse, and that corpse was staring fixedly at her.

"Ghost!"

The woman was so scared that her hand loosened, and the bucket fell back into the Well.

"What are you screaming about! Where would there be any ghost?"

Master Xu is most superstitious about such things.

Xu Jia, however, saw it all. When sneezing, the three souls are unstable, and the body's Yang Qi will also weaken. It was just right that the Yin wind blew, and the Life Fire had weakened a bit, so seeing something unclean was normal; besides, one had already been let in last night.

He walked up and patted the woman on the shoulder: "It's nothing."

This seemed to have magic, causing the woman to calm down: "I saw a dead person down there, hanging by the edge of the Well, two eyes staring fixedly at me."

"This is water for drinking; where would there be a dead person?" Master Xu glanced into the Well; there was nothing there.

Xu Jia also said to the woman: "Bring a mirror to shine some light in, let's all take a close look together; you must have seen wrong."

Soon a bronze mirror was brought over. The bronze mirror reflected light into the Well; there was only moss and ferns, but the goldfish kept inside had turned belly-up.

The woman instantly felt at ease and wondered, "Perhaps I really did see wrong."

Xu Jia smiled. In his eyes, the hanging ghost under the water was grabbing the belly-up fish and shaking it, creating the illusion that the fish was still alive. "Why is this fish about to die?" Master Xu said, "Scoop it out and replace it with another."

He no longer concerned himself with the matter here.

Xu Jia had long known that this ghost was trapped in the Xu residence, only he hadn't found where it was hiding.

Divination can only ask about the affairs of the living, not ghosts; after all, what is a great omen of disaster for the living might be an omen of good fortune for a ghost.

If one asks about ghost affairs, the ghost might come to answer in person. With his current abilities, he has some taboos against such spirit-communication divination.

Seeing this ghost hiding inside the Well, he felt confident in his heart. He chuckled and immediately began to calculate the position of the Well according to the Nine Palaces directions.

He intended to use this Well as the core to set up an "Evil-Neutralizing Feng Shui Formation."

This Well is actually connected to the patio of the main hall, which is the "Gathering Water to Attract Wealth" in the Feng Shui layout.

As the saying goes, fertile water does not flow into outsiders' fields; whenever it rains, the rainwater is collected.

Under the patio of the main hall, there is also a "water pool," which was originally built according to the format of a "fire pit."

This is also the so-called "receiving wealth bowl, treasure basin."

This layout is called "Four Waters Returning to the Hall."

Not only does it gather wealth Qi, but it can also unify the household, allowing a large family to live together in harmony for "four generations under one roof."

The water well is a full nine meters away from the main room, located in the "Kan Position."

It is a place of danger, and also a place that "gathers Yin."

Water flows to lower places; when this gathered water becomes too much, there is an outlet connected to a channel that leads to the water well.

Rainwater is not dirty and can be used.

Now Xu Jia wants to "nurture Yang with Yin," neutralize evil into wealth, and seal this ghost in the Well.

After a slight thought, he had a plan.

Xu Jia decisively entered Master Xu's study. Last time he swiped the Mountain-Backing Painting, Xu Jia felt that the things here were the most suitable for use as Magic Tools. Firstly, they had some symbolic meaning, and secondly, what Master Xu used were all the best, not bad at all.

Looking around, he saw a "Copper Fish Paperweight" and was immediately satisfied. Copper fish, gold and water generate each other; a paperweight has the meaning of suppressing and smoothing, which is just right for dealing with it.

Taking the paperweight, Xu Jia went to the main hall. Where the patio of the main hall collects rainwater, there are four stone turtles looking upward.

Xu Jia looked at the water in the hall; it was already faintly turning green and black, clearly living water turning into dead water, and a faint, fishy stench was wafting out.

The Evil Qi of this hanging ghost was already ruining the Feng Shui and family fortune.

Yinzhai looks at Earth Qi; Yang Dwelling looks at Vitality.

Once Vitality is ruined, the fortune is ruined.

Xu Jia touched the heads of the stone turtles and looked toward the roof of the hall; a "Gourd Roof" stood in the center of the eaves.

It is indeed a "Four Waters Returning to the Hall Fortune and Prosperity Formation."

Xu Jia already had a plan in his heart, and he went to Xu Mu's Buddhist shrine again.

After offering an apology, he took the Pure Bottle from the hands of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

(End of chapter)