The black Honda slowly drove into town, not heading to Qin Yu's house but instead making a direct turn to stop in front of a newly built four-story unfinished house.
This house was the new home of Qin Yu's second uncle. In the countryside, there is a custom that when a new house is built, a completion banquet must be held. The timing of this is also very particular; the year the new house is built, a lucky day can be chosen, but if not chosen that year, it can only be done three years later, during which time no fireworks can be set off in the new house.
Qin Yu's second uncle was a person who loved lively scenes. Not being able to set off fireworks during festivals would be too unbearable for him. Therefore, once the house was built, he found a feng shui master and directly chose a lucky day, which was the next day, to hold the completion banquet.
Getting out of the car, Qin Yu scrutinized the new house, his brows slightly furrowed. He turned to look around the surroundings, and his expression immediately turned serious.
"Xiao Yu, what's wrong?"
Zhang Hua, who got out of the car from the other side, saw his cousin's expression and asked.
"Brother, who was the feng shui master who chose the location for this house?"
"The only family in our town that understands feng shui is the Li family. It was Master Li who chose the location!" Zhang Hua replied.
"Master Li? I remember that Old Master Li passed away last year due to a sudden heart attack!"
"It was Old Master Li's son, Master Li Guofang!"
Hearing his cousin's answer, Qin Yu nodded thoughtfully. Old Master Li had spent nearly half his life looking at feng shui for the town and should not have been unaware of such a layout. If it was his son, it was understandable, as he might not have been skilled enough.
"Everyone says that incompetent doctors harm people, but I didn't expect that an incompetent feng shui master could cause even greater harm!" Qin Yu muttered.
"Xiao Yu, what are you mumbling about?"
"Ah, nothing. Let's go, Brother. Grandma and the others are probably inside. We shouldn't keep them waiting."
...
Qin Yu was quite favored on his maternal side, which was evident from the different treatment he and Zhang Hua received when they entered the new house. Zhang Hua rolled his eyes at him, as if to say, "See, you, the grandson, are more favored than I, the real grandson!"
Among them, Qin Yu's grandmother and third uncle were the most affectionate. His grandmother held his hand tightly, unwilling to let go, while his third uncle smiled broadly, extremely satisfied with this smart and studious nephew. However, when his gaze turned to his own son, Zhang Hua, his expression was not so good.
Finally managing to free himself from his grandmother, Qin Yu came to the hall of the new house alone, closed his eyes, and sensed something. After a long time, his face had turned dark.
"Dead Wind Sha, it will bring financial ruin and family misfortune. I'm afraid that within a few years of the second uncle's family moving into the new house, something will happen."
Qin Yu had already noticed that the location of the house was extremely poor, similar to the Dead Wind Sha described in the Zhuge Nei Jing. Standing inside the house, he experienced it according to the Eight Trigrams, and he was now 100% certain that it was indeed the Dead Wind Sha.
The Dead Wind Sha is an extremely evil aura. The Zhuge Nei Jing records that if a house has the Dead Wind Sha, it will inevitably lead to the owner's physical discomfort, financial loss, and long-term residence will bring unrest and disaster to the family.
"Since I've encountered it, I can't let the second uncle's family suffer from the Dead Wind Sha!"
Qin Yu thought about the methods to resolve the evil aura described in the Zhuge Nei Jing. According to the Zhuge Nei Jing, there are many methods to resolve evil auras, but they can be summarized into three: suppression, resolution, and modification.
Suppression: This usually involves using special stones, peach wood, weapons, and talismans to forcibly change the energy field. However, this method is rather violent and only suppresses the evil aura. Over time, the evil aura will become more concentrated and eventually recur.
Resolution: This typically involves placing stone carvings of the Taiji diagram and other arrays underground to resolve the evil aura. The Taiji diagram, in particular, has the power to absorb all negative evil auras, and it is "boundless in its vastness and infinitesimal in its smallness."
Modification: As the name suggests, this involves changing the surrounding environment to fundamentally remove the source of the evil aura. However, this method is only suitable for small buildings, as the cost would be too high otherwise.
The third uncle's new house was already built, and the resolution method was no longer suitable. Moreover, since the next day was the lucky day for the completion banquet, there was no time to break ground and make changes. Qin Yu could only first try to suppress the evil aura and then gradually resolve it later.
"Brother, can you help me with something?"
To suppress the evil aura, Qin Yu needed tools. He directly asked his cousin Zhang Hua:
"I need a wolf-hair brush and cinnabar!"
The tools for suppressing evil auras are not just any weapons or peach wood; they must be consecrated. Qin Yu couldn't find such items now, so he had to use another type of tool: talismans.
However, truly effective talismans are different from those drawn by so-called Taoist priests today. True talismans must be drawn with a wolf-hair brush, which itself has the power to dispel evil auras, and the patterns of the talismans are not the same as those drawn by Taoist priests today.
"What do you need these for?" Zhang Hua asked, puzzled.
"Just get them for me first, and I'll tell you later!"
Qin Yu didn't have time to explain. Although the Zhuge Nei Jing contains the methods for drawing talismans, it was his first time drawing one, and he hadn't memorized the pattern of the talisman for suppressing evil auras.
The wolf-hair brush was not easy to find. Zhang Hua finally borrowed one from an old man. With the wolf-hair brush, cinnabar, and yellow paper all ready, Qin Yu kicked him out of the room, ignoring his cousin's shouts of betrayal outside the door.
The room where Qin Yu stayed was a rough unfinished room in the new house, with only a bed and a table, but it was clean and tidy.
Before drawing the talisman, he had to wash his hands and then silently worship the Nine Heavens Fairy, the ancestor of feng shui.
After completing these rituals, Qin Yu spread the yellow paper on the table, dipped the wolf-hair brush in cinnabar, and mentally visualized the talisman. He lifted the brush and began to draw, the brush moving like a dragon and a phoenix.
"Ah! I made several mistakes."
Qin Yu put down the brush, looked at the talisman he had drawn, and compared it to the one in his mind. He shook his head; drawing talismans was not a simple task.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Yu didn't give up. He replaced the yellow paper and continued to draw.
One, two, three... A stack of failed attempts was already piled on one side of the table, and sweat was beading on Qin Yu's forehead. Drawing talismans was very draining, and he felt a bit exhausted after just a short time.
"Did I miss something?"
Qin Yu recalled the description of talismans in his mind: "Talismans are the gathering of spiritual energy in objects. Those who draw talismans are the transmitters of spiritual energy."
"Transmitters of spiritual energy..." Qin Yu muttered. As a Chinese literature major, the classical Chinese didn't stump him, but what was spiritual energy?
It was said that objects consecrated by Buddhist monks were full of spiritual energy, which could suppress evil auras and ward off evil. This spiritual energy was infused by high-ranking monks, but where did the monks get their spiritual energy from?
Qin Yu carefully reviewed the Zhuge Nei Jing in his mind. The book was over ten thousand pages thick and had no table of contents. He could only flip through it page by page to see if he could find any records related to spiritual energy.
"Found it!"
After about half an hour, Qin Yu finally found the description of spiritual energy.
"Spiritual energy is the energy of heaven and earth, existing within the universe..."
After reading this page, a light flashed in Qin Yu's eyes. The so-called spiritual energy was actually the energy of heaven and earth, and talismans were a way to gather this energy into the talisman to suppress evil auras.
High-ranking monks and Taoist priests had special cultivation methods to guide spiritual energy, similar to the Buddhist concept of "Buddha's light shining on all," which was a method of using spiritual energy.
The Zhuge Nei Jing also contained a method to gather spiritual energy through incantations. Qin Yu memorized the incantation, lifted the wolf-hair brush again, and recited:
"Do not let your thoughts wander, the pure land can be attained through enlightenment,
Do not be confused by the present, and constantly cultivate within,
Rely on deep cleansing to achieve perfection."
As he recited the incantation, Qin Yu felt a refreshing energy flow through his body, gathering in his arm and flowing into the tip of the wolf-hair brush.
Without hesitation, Qin Yu took a deep breath and drew a stroke. The brush moved like a dragon and a phoenix, and a faint yellow light, visible to the naked eye, followed the tip of the brush on the paper.
"Done!"
As Qin Yu put the final dot, the entire yellow paper glowed for a moment, then returned to normal. A special pattern formed on the yellow paper, identical to the one in Qin Yu's mind.
After completing the talisman, Qin Yu looked out the window and saw that it was already dark. It seemed that drawing the talisman had taken quite a while.
"Let's put it away for now. I'll talk to the second uncle about it when we raise the beam tonight!"
...
Dinner was lively, with most of the relatives from his mother's side present. Everyone chatted with each other, and some children ran around the house, playing and laughing, occasionally accompanied by a stern reprimand from the adults.
After dinner, no one left, especially the younger generation, who stayed to wait for the raising of the beam. In the countryside, the completion of a new house is marked by a lucky day for raising the beam, which usually starts at midnight.
The weather in March was still a bit chilly, so most of the elderly and children went home to sleep, while the younger ones gathered around the fire pit, joking with each other.
The charcoal fire reflected on everyone's faces, making them glow red. Laughter and joy filled the air, a warm family atmosphere.
"Do any of you young men know where the custom of raising the beam comes from?"
Third Uncle Zhang Yuanqiao walked over and asked the young people gathered in a circle.
"Uncle, that's not a problem for us!"
The one who spoke was a woman, Zhang Min, the daughter of the first uncle, who had been married for over five years and was now a teacher at the town's primary school.