Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Soul-Capture Bureau

After the formalities were over, Zhou Zhengqian got down to business. “Doctor Lu, would you prefer to rest a while and take care of things tomorrow, or should we handle it now?”

“Now, then. Take me first to the kitchen, the water source, and the other places connected with food and drink.” As he spoke, Lu Feng rose to his feet.

“Fuqiu, help Grandfather to rest. I’ll take Doctor Lu for a look around.” Zhou Zhengqian also stood at once, instructed Zhou Fuqiu, and then led Lu Feng out of the sitting room.

With Zhou Zhengqian accompanying him, Lu Feng inspected the kitchen and the well.

This country estate used running water; the Zhou family was not short of money, so of course the plumbing had been installed.

But running water was not as sweet as well water, so a well had been dug at the villa.

This well was not left open at the mouth. It had been sealed, and a hand-operated pump had been built over it, the kind one pushes up and down by hand, in truth a piston pump that required human effort to draw water.

Lu Feng had seen many such pumps before. He stepped up, gripped the handle, and worked it up and down a few times. At once, water began to flow from the outlet.

He cupped a handful in his palm, brought it to his lips, and took a sip. It was fresh and sweet, far superior to chlorinated tap water.

“How is it?” Zhou Zhengqian asked.

“No problem. The water is clean,” Lu Feng replied.

“The old man doesn’t like drinking tap water. Usually the servants draw well water for cooking and boiling water,” Zhou Zhengqian added.

“Are there any other edible things here?” Lu Feng asked again.

“Oh, there are a few patches of vegetables planted behind the house. Shall we go take a look?” Zhou Zhengqian said, pointing toward the slope behind the main house.

Lu Feng nodded and walked in the direction indicated.

Dozens of meters behind the house, three or five vegetable plots had been opened up, planted with seasonal vegetables. No pesticides had been used, so the produce was not very attractive, and there were occasional insect holes.

Lu Feng looked them over and still shook his head.

“If even this is fine, then there’s nothing else. The remaining food is all bought by the servants in town, and if the problem lies there, then it will be very hard to trace,” Zhou Zhengqian said.

Lu Feng considered it for a moment, then said, “Take me to Mr. Zhou’s room.”

“All right, this way. My father doesn’t like living upstairs, so he stays in the main room on the first floor.” Zhou Zhengqian pointed toward a window on the ground floor.

Lu Feng glanced at the tightly shut window, then followed behind Zhou Zhengqian, going around to the front entrance and into the sitting room before knocking on the bedroom door.

After two knocks, Zhou Fuqiu opened the door, and Zhou Zhengqian invited Lu Feng inside.

As soon as Lu Feng stepped into the room, he immediately felt a strange, oppressive force. He quickly swept his gaze around, and his brows could not help twitching violently.

Old Master Zhou had been watching Lu Feng all along. Seeing the change in his expression, he stood up and asked in surprise, “Is something wrong?”

Zhou Fuqiu went to support one of the old man’s arms, and Lu Feng hurried over to support the other. “Please help the old gentleman back to the sitting room to rest first. The arrangement in this room is odd.”

At those words, both Zhou Zhengqian and Zhou Fuqiu changed expression.

Zhou Fuqiu was just about to help her grandfather out when the old man pressed down on both her hand and Lu Feng’s, saying, “It doesn’t matter. I’d like to know what is strange about this room as well. I’ve lived here for more than ten years; staying a little longer won’t do me any harm.”

“All right.” Lu Feng released the old man’s arm, walked once around the room, and pointed to the window, the doorway, the wooden bed, and the various feng shui objects on the table. “This layout must have been deliberately arranged by someone. It faintly forms a pattern. The room is in the northwest of the house, which is a yin position. The bedroom door faces the bathroom directly, and water belongs to yin. The bed is placed on the west side of the room, which is an especially yin position. The painting hanging above the head of the bed is also inauspicious, and so is the clay figurine on the table. Together, these form a feng shui pattern suited to a house for the dead. It is not something that the living should occupy.”

Old Master Zhou, Zhou Zhengqian, and Zhou Fuqiu all looked utterly shocked upon hearing this.

Still, none of them were the sort to believe everything they heard at once.

Old Master Zhou frowned and asked, “The orientation and layout are indeed, as you say, inappropriate. But what is wrong with the painting on the wall?”

Lu Feng looked at the painting without answering, and instead asked, “Does the old gentleman know what is depicted in it?”

The painting showed a deity in the form of a mountain spirit, though the brushwork itself was upright and dignified.

“It depicts the Mountain God of Cloud-Glow Mountain to the north. There is also a legend behind it, that the Mountain God saved a hunter from the village, and was thus enfeoffed as the Mountain God,” Old Master Zhou replied.

“The Mountain God may seem harmless on the surface, but in truth, the local earth deity and the mountain deity are both yin spirits. Especially the Mountain God—many of them are transformed mountain spirits, and they may not necessarily bring good fortune to people,” Lu Feng explained.

“Are you saying that just because of a painting of a Mountain God, I could be struck down by a grave illness?” Old Master Zhou still did not believe it.

Lu Feng shook his head. “In fact, this painting of a yin deity is not the key. The real issue is the clay figurine on this table.”

Old Master Zhou frowned and asked, “What is wrong with this figurine? It is a clay image of the Three Star Gods of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity.”

Lu Feng shook his head. “Its outward appearance is indeed not the problem. The problem is its placement. In Daoist texts, that position is precisely the central point of a soul-seizing pattern. And I can sense a dark and sinister aura within this figurine.”

Old Master Zhou and Zhou Zhengqian exchanged a glance, uncertain whether they should believe Lu Feng.

Although Lu Feng had cured Old Master Zhou’s illness, that only proved his medical skill. It did not prove that he was versed in feng shui or physiognomy.

“Doctor Lu is not only highly skilled in medicine, but also so knowledgeable in feng shui and physiognomy?” Zhou Zhengqian asked, hearing Lu Feng speak with such certainty yet unable to fully trust it.

“The ancestor of my school, Sun Simiao, was not only revered by the common people as the King of Medicine, but was also a true master of the Daoist tradition. In the learning of Cloud Mountain, medicine and Daoism have never been separate. Though my own studies are far from profound, I can at least see that this room contains a soul-seizing pattern, and I can say with certainty that it was deliberately set up by someone,” Lu Feng said firmly.

Old Master Zhou exchanged another look with his elder son, Zhou Zhengqian. After much thought, he finally said, “This room was indeed arranged with a feng shui pattern.”

“Could you explain in detail? Why did you agree to have such a pattern set up?” Lu Feng asked in surprise.

Zhou Zhengqian and Zhou Fuqiu also looked at Old Master Zhou with confusion. Clearly, neither of them knew that a feng shui master had arranged anything here.

“It was like this. More than half a year ago, a feng shui master came to the estate as a guest. He said this estate had excellent feng shui, but was even more suitable as a place for the dead. At first I did not believe him, but his physiognomy was very accurate. He could even deduce my family background, and some secrets that even Zhengqian here did not know. That master stayed at the estate for three days, and the more we spoke, the more I felt he truly understood feng shui, so I asked him to arrange this room to resolve the problem,” Old Master Zhou explained.

Lu Feng looked again at the clay figurine on the table. “This figurine should have been brought by that man, then?”

A trace of surprise appeared on Old Master Zhou’s face. He went on, “Yes, it was brought by that feng shui master. He said it had been consecrated, and if placed to the due west it could at least ensure three generations of glory for the Zhou family, with the blessings of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity shining upon the household.”

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