Chapter 99 The Formation of Five Elements
Xie Yuqing curiously approached and started to sniff, "What demon Qi? I don't smell it."
"You won't be able to smell it."
"Is there an...undead inside there?" Xie Yuqing nervously asked.
"Nope," Ye Shaoyang said, "There's something even more powerful than an undead inside here. But there is an undead right behind you."
"Behind me?" Xie Yuqing turned around in fear and only saw Old Feng, who stood a short distance away, "You're kidding, right? I don't see any…."
Ye Shaoyang did not answer her. He put both of his hands on his waist and asked Old Feng, "How old are you?"
"Sixty-five," Old Feng answered in a very deep and weak voice.
Zhou Jingru frowned when she heard this, "Manager Zhang, why are you hiring elderly people?"
Manager Zhang chuckled and answered in a polite tone, "Miss Zhou, he is actually not one of our employees. He was a beggar, and he came to the worksite. I pitied him, so I gave him a job and paid him a salary."
Then, Zhou Jingru replied, "Well, at least you have a little conscience."
Ye Shaoyang shook his head in despair and said, "Too bad that you created even more problems for the man." Then, he looked at Old Feng and asked, "Where are you from?"
"Jiang Bei state...that's all I remember," Old Feng answered in a very slow, machine-like manner.
Ye Shaoyang looked at his dull eyes and let out a sigh. Then, he asked, "Do you know that you're dead?"
Ye Shaoyang's words shocked everyone present as if lightning had struck them. They all stood still and looked at Old Feng. Then, Old Feng's expressions slowly started to change. He began to frown, and his eyes seemed to show killing intent. "I'm not dead; I am not dead!" Old Feng groaned. Then, he proceeded to pick up a metal rod off the floor and slowly walked toward Ye Shaoyang.
"Old Feng, what are you doing! Put it down, now!" Manager Zhang yelled furiously.
But Old Feng did not seem to care at all. He inched forward slowly; he raised the metal rod and swung it down hard toward Ye Shaoyang. Naturally, Ye Shaoyang dodged it. Then, he went closer to Old Feng and slapped his Mian Men point. It did not seem like a powerful strike, but it knocked Old Feng completely back. When he landed on the floor, he instantly shattered into pieces. This sight shocked everyone. Manager Zhang asked in a trembling manner, "Wh...at...happened, did you just break him into...pie...ces?"
"He wasn't a human anymore. Go and see for yourself."
Xie Yuqing walked over first. She went close, worked up her courage, and picked up a piece of Old Feng. It had a red coloration and felt hard like frozen meat, "Oh my; how is this possible? Why isn't there any blood?"
"His blood has been sucked dry. Just now, he was merely a corpse that still possessed a thread of Yang Qi." Then, out of nowhere, Ye Shaoyang caught something in his hand. He brought it in front of him, and a figure slowly appeared. It was Old Feng's spirit! He kneeled in front of Ye Shaoyang in a very respectful manner.
"Gho..st, ghost!" Manager Zhang screamed.
Xie Yuqing rolled her eyes and said, "What's the big deal? What a puss." By now, Xie Yuqing had gained a certain amount of experience; she had seen her fair share of evil beings. She had a level of immunity toward the average spirit. At least, the ones that were not very horrifying.
"Mister, please spare me. Please," Old Feng's face expressed a range of emotion, as he tried his best to plead for his soul.
"Where are you from? And how did you become a beggar? Tell me the truth."
After a person dies, they would usually recall all the things that had happened. Old Feng answered truthfully, "My name is Feng Bao. I'm from Jiang Bei state, Tai Hang district. I have a son. I also have dementia, so that's how I wandered to this area."
Ye Shaoyang continued to ask, "How did you die?"
Old Feng shook his head and said, "I don't know. I was eating food. Suddenly, I was attacked. I felt something stick into my neck. Then, it sucked away all my blood. I really have no idea what it looks like…."
Ye Shaoyang let out a sigh. He drew a Soul Guiding Talisman Paper and told him, "Now, go report to the Netherworld Council. You'll be compensated in the next life."
Old Feng thanked Ye Shaoyang. Then, he became a wisp of smoke and fused with the talisman paper.
Xie Yuqing asked, "So, who was the killer? Or shall I ask, what was the killer?"
Ye Shaoyang shook his head and replied, "Usually, after a person dies, they will recall everything that has happened to them during their lifetimes. Nothing is missed, even when they are murdered. Normally, they would learn who killed them. But Old Feng had no idea about who killed him, which means that the killer is so powerful that they have the ability to conceal themselves."
Manager Zhang felt shocked, "Mr. Ye, you can catch...ghosts?"
Ye Shaoyang did no respond. He took out seven copper stakes seven inches in length. Then, he stood before the well and used his hand to stick the stakes around the mouth of the well. After all seven nails were put in, shocking Manager Zhang and Zhou Jingru, Ye Shaoyang proceeded to take out some cinnabar strings and looped it several times around the nails. Finally, he formed a net. When he finished that, he took out a talisman paper. Then, he chanted, "O' I stand where the room is, sharing with the Mighty King Chakarvarti. With the ray of light he brings, no evil dares to bar his path!" and stuck the talisman paper on the well.
This sparked Xie Yuqing's curiosity, so she asked, "What does this do?"
"There's some creature down here, but I don't want to deal with it yet. So, I sealed it up first."
Then Ye Shaoyang wanted to check something else, so he took out his Yin Yang compass, activated it with a chant, and began to examine the temple grounds. After a while, he looked up, saw the main temple, and muttered, "I see…."
"Big brother Shaoyang, what's wrong?" Zhou Jingru approached him and asked.
"This place has a formation that is called the Formation of Five Elements," Ye Shaoyang pointed at the bell and the well. Then, he said, "There's a bell in the Qian position, which represents metal. There's a well in the Kun position, which represents water. Some grass at the Zhen position, wood…." As he spoke, he took three big steps and rubbed his shoe on the ground, which revealed the red soil underneath. Then, he continued, "Red soil that represents earth, and it's in the Kan position."
He turned around, walked toward the main temple, and began to search for something on the door. He felt a bump and dislodged it. Then, he revealed an oval-shaped red stone.
"Flint that represents fire, and it's in the Li position. Now, take a look at the tile that is oddly placed in the middle of everything. In fengshui, this represents a place of gathering. So, to sum it up, the formation absorbs energy from the sun and the moon. Then, it gathers all the energy to the tile that is in the middle of the temple."
After they listened to such a long explanation, the three of them seemed somewhat confused. Zhou Jingru muttered, "I'm not too sure what that means...but it sounds awesome."
"Of course, a very powerful sorcerer must have created this formation. Using this formation, he managed to completely seal off the evil Qi within the temple and hold back whatever is inside it."
After he explained all of this, Ye Shaoyang went in front of the bell and said, "This bell seems like it's at least a few hundred years old, which means that this formation has been around since then. Normally, with the power of the formation, there should be a balance of Yin and Yang; this means that no one will get hurt when they enter. Which leads me to wonder; how did the couple and Old Feng die…."
Ye Shaoyang muttered, as he walked into the main temple. He looked around and saw dust everywhere. Cobwebs filled the ceiling, and a big incense burner had fallen to the ground. The place looked messy. It seemed like no one had come here for a while. There were no other rooms, only one statue that sat in the middle of the temple. But the statue only had its bottom half. The other half was on the floor, shattered into pieces. Ye Shaoyang turned to Manager Zhang and asked in a shocked manner, "What happened to the statue?"
Manager Zhang scratched his head. He was about to explain, when Ye Shaoyang felt something unusual in the temple. He chased everyone out to the courtyard. Then, he came to Manager Zhang and asked, "It's safe now; you can tell me."
Chapter 100 Broken Statue
Manager Zhang reluctantly explained, "The statue in the temple was broken on my orders...it was back when we were buying the lands of the villagers. They held a strong stance against us demolishing the temple. They told us that it wasn't about the money, but they believed that Madam Chee was very much real. They thought that if we did destroy her temple, it would anger her."
"That's when Director Li told me to bring some people to smash the statue in front of all the villagers. All of them felt extremely scared after that incident. Not long after, all the villagers left. At that time, I did not feel scared at all, but now, after experiencing this…" Manager Zhang continued with a worried face, "Mr. Ye, do you really think that this place is haunted? Will something bad happen to me?"
"Something has already happened," Ye Shaoyang looked at him and said, "Open your mouth."
Manager Zhang had a stunned expression; he looked at Ye Shaoyang. Then, he turned to Zhou Jingru. After that, he raised his hands and slapped his own face.
His actions puzzled Ye Shaoyang, who asked, "What are you doing?"
"Didn't you ask me to slap my mouth?" Manager Zhang looked at him innocently.
Ye Shaoyang rolled his eyes and said, "I asked you to open your mouth, not slap your mouth. It's the first tone, not the second. Do you have hearing issues?"
[TL note: Open and slap have the same Pinyin in Chinese, Zhang. The difference being they are read in different tones.]
Manager Zhang scratched his head. Then, he opened his mouth. The two curious girls approached to take a closer look, but to their surprise, they saw something very strange. His two rows of teeth were somewhat normal but other than that; his whole mouth was pitch black like an abyss.
"Don't you know that your mouth is black?" Ye Shaoyang asked.
"I know. I even went to a few hospitals. But none of them could tell me the reason. They all said that I'm fine. I do want to try some Traditional Chinese Medicine though. Mr. Ye, please save me!" Manager Zhang pleaded desperately.
"It's corpse Qi, and it has entered your body. If left untreated...you'll become an undead within a week, and someone will control you." Ye Shaoyang shook his head and continued, "Luckily for you, that someone wants you as a servant. Or else, you would become like Old Feng."
When Manager Zhang heard these words, his legs gave out, and he kneeled in front of Ye Shaoyang, "Mr. Ye please...please save me. I'll give you everything I have, even my wife…."
His words left Ye Shaoyang speechless, Why would I want your wife? Is she hotter than these two beauties here?
Ye Shaoyang helped him up and asked him to bring them to his office. Ye Shaoyang locked the door behind him. Then, he took out a bowl and mixed, realgar, cinnabar powder, and the ashes of a paper charm. He handed the bowl to Manager Zhang and told him to drink it. After that, he threw a handful of cinnabar powder into the bin.
"You'll vomit any second now; vomit into this," Ye Shaoyang handed him the bin that had the cinnabar powder.
Soon after he drank the concoction, his face flushed red, and his breathing grew rapid. Suddenly, he crawled toward the bin and started to vomit profusely. After ten minutes or so, he stopped and laid back on the wall. Zhou Jingru and Xie Yuqing felt curious again, so they approached the bin. What they saw inside shocked them. Countless black bugs crawled inside the bin, as they tried to escape out.
"My god, what are these?" this sight gave Zhou Jingru the chills as she asked this question.
Ye Shaoyang answered, "Death Beetles. These bugs are formed because of the great amount of corpse poison in his body. Fortunately for you, I came in time. Or else, the Death Beetles would have burrowed through your organs and spread the corpse poison all over."
"For three days, drink a mixture of realgar powder and water. That'll help clear all the corpse poison from your body."
Manager Zhang felt very thankful; he was practically in tears and mucus dripped from his nose.
"What do we do with the Death Beetles?" Zhou Jingru asked with worry.
Ye Shaoyang covered the bin with the lid and said, "This will do. Without the corpse poison to support them, the Death Beetles will not live long."
When Manager Zhang seemed slightly better, Ye Shaoyang asked, "Now, tell me. What does Madam Chee look like?"
"She's a woman."
Everyone in the room rolled their eyes…. Then, Xie Yuqing said, "Can you not state the obvious? Doesn't Madam already tell you that it's a woman and not a man."
Manager Zhang scratched his head, paused for a bit, and said, "I really don't recall what she looks like. She definitely isn't pretty. She has a monkey like protruding mouth; she's somewhat like a human, but not really."
So, she's a demon? Ye Shaoyang quickly asked, "Think real hard; did she look like any animal?"
Manager Zhang thought for quite some time, "I really don't know. I've only seen her statue once. Umm…maybe you can ask the villagers about it? They probably know more than I do."
Ye Shaoyang nodded in agreement, Maybe we can even find out some history of the temple.
After they finished up, Manager Zhang went back to the worksite, grabbed a car, and drove the three to a nearby resort. As they arrived, the skies suddenly turned cloudy and dark; it seemed like a heavy rain was imminent. Worried about of this, manager Zhang explained to them, "I think I need to go back and ask the workers to cover up the materials. It seems like a storm is coming."
Ye Shaoyang added, "In that case, can you please also notify the workers to not go into Madam Chee's temple and not wander around the area?"
Manager Zhang nodded and quickly exited the building. But as soon as he got out, the rain began to pour. As the road to the worksite had some dirt roads, which had probably become mud roads now, Manager Zhang was forced to walk his way back. From his current location, Manager Zhang had to pass the temple to get to the worksite. Even though there was another route, it would take him an additional half an hour more. Then, Manager Zhang decided; he would take a gamble. So, he went on the dangerous route….
When he got close to the temple, Manager Zhang instinctively took a glance in the temple's direction. At that moment...he saw a person run into the temple courtyard. Due to the darkness, he could not make out who it was. Then, a flash of lightning illuminated the whole area. It revealed a man that wore green work clothes and an orange helmet. The average worker wore a yellow helmet and blue work clothes. A safety inspector would wear this particular outfit. There were not many safety inspectors around today, in fact there were only two. Manager Zhang rushed in his direction and yelled, "Is it Old Chui or Old Wang? Don't go in there!"
"I'm just taking shelter!" It was Old Wang's voice.
"Come back! That place is dangerous!" Manager Zhang nervously screamed, but he heard no response.
Manager Zhang felt afraid that something might happen to Old Wang, so he built up the courage and ran into the temple courtyard. Manager Zhang saw Old Wang walk into the main temple and stand still in front of the broken statue.
"Old Wang, come out now! Now!" Manager Zhang yelled and yelled. But thanks to the volume of the thunder and the rain, Manager Zhang suspected that Old Wang could not hear him. He saw Old Wang stand still, unresponsive.
Now, Manager Zhang felt torn. Should he risk his life, or should he save himself? At last, his compassion got the better of him. He rushed into the temple and started to scold, "Are you deaf; can't you hear me? Let's get the f*ck out of here!" as he pulled on Old Wang's sleeve. But Old Wang did not respond; he merely stood motionless. Then, abruptly, Old Wang's hands moved toward his own face. He seemed to be doing something. Manager Zhang had a really bad feeling. He slowly walked beside Old Wang and chills went up his spine. He slowly stepped back, as he witnessed what Old Wang was doing to himself….